The Red Era, the Opening University Speech

Chapter 101 Just tell us what you want us to do. We’ll do whatever you want us to do!

Wu Xi’s views cannot be said to be wrong, but at least they are not entirely correct.

Developing computers simply to catch up with Emperor M is actually not the right direction.

"Do you think there is any problem?" Wu Xi asked curiously when he saw that his brows were slightly frowned.

He graduated from Masheng University and has a deep understanding of foreign computers. He is also convinced that this is the general direction of future development of the semiconductor industry.

Li Mu thought for a moment and said, "It's right to study computers, but it's not entirely right."

"If technology is to develop and progress, it cannot just be about competing for the sake of competing, but must also be implemented in the fields of economy and military."

"For example, we can use computer upgrades as a basis to create a storage program to form a digital switching network and let it serve the communications industry."

Wu Xi was a little surprised when he heard what Li Mu said. From Li Mu's tone, it seemed that he had some wild ideas.

But he still shook his head and said:
“Communications are certainly important, but I think given the current situation in our country, we shouldn’t consider this first.”

Faced with his questioning, Li Mu did not argue.

Living in different times naturally leads to different perspectives on issues.

Wu Xi feels that it is more important to deal with the country’s current difficulties.

But he knew that if they did not change their existing R&D ideas, one day in the future, when a large number of foreign semiconductor products entered the country, they would face a devastating impact.

Li Mu smiled and said, "This is not a question of order, but a question of application."

"Computers are important, but you should not underestimate the radio. Since the radio can receive signals, why can't it send signals?"

"If we use the chip to make a portable device that can perform mobile communications, will its application be more extensive?"

"This...is this possible?" Wu Xi's eyes showed shock.

Aren't all telephones wired? How come according to Li Mu, it seems possible to make a wireless phone?
Li Mu explained: "It may not be impossible. The principle of radio is to transmit information based on electromagnetic waves."

"Let's change our thinking. Since we can receive, why can't we send?"

"What you said is somewhat similar to radio, but if you want to achieve the same communication accuracy as a telephone, it may not be easy, right? There is also the cost issue. Radios are not cheap." Wu Xi questioned.

Without telephone lines, sound travels only via electromagnetic waves, which become less effective the farther away it travels.

Li Mu smiled and said, "We just need to build a base station responsible for relaying signals."

"As for the cost, isn't it to reduce the cost that we are making the chip integration higher and higher?"

Hearing this, Wu Xi suddenly understood.

Yes, if the cost really comes down, then wireless calls are not impossible.

Even if it cannot cover the entire country, covering major cities will be a good thing that benefits the country and the people!

Li Mu saw Wu Xi's eyes shining and smiled slightly.

But he soon realized that he must not lead the founder of the future microcomputer astray.

He quickly said, "Ahem, but in the long run, the most widely used field for semiconductors in the future will still be computers."

"What do you mean?" Wu Xi had already been a little misled, and when he heard Li Mu suddenly affirm the computer, he couldn't help but feel a little strange.

"Have you ever thought about what the ultimate direction of computer development is?" Li Mu did not answer directly, but asked a question.

Wu Xi said without any hesitation:
"It is applied to all aspects of mining industry, including exploration, design, construction, production, management and overall development planning, including scientific computing, data processing and automatic control."

"In the military, code breaking, ballistic calculation, mushroom calculation, etc...."

Li Mu smiled after listening to this: "You, or no one has considered yet, to use computers for civilian purposes, right?"

"Civilian use, how is that possible?" Wu Xi showed surprise in his eyes, but he felt that Li Mu would not speak without a purpose, so he frowned and said:

"At least right now, computers are not up to standard for civilian use."

Not to mention the problem of its huge size, just talk about the price. Apart from the country, how many people can afford the cost of a computer?

Li Mu said:
"It is still possible. The continuous improvement of chip integration and industrialization will gradually reduce the cost of computers."

"As more and more transistors are integrated, the size of computers will become smaller and smaller."

"By then, perhaps every household will have a computer."

"This, is this really possible?" Wu Xi opened his mouth in surprise.

Li Mu waved his hand and said with a smile: "I am not sure about this either. I am just speculating, speculating."

His words almost caused Wu Xi to suffer internal injuries.

It was like drawing a huge pie in front of him, but Wu Xi ate it willingly.

Li Mu looked at Wu Xi who was lost in thought and did not interrupt him.

These big guys are all smart people, he doesn't need to waste any more words.

As for whether what is given will be too advanced?

Of course not, he was just "speculating".

After saying goodbye to Wu Xi, Li Mu was about to leave.

When he reached the door, he met Wang Shoujue who was hurrying out.

Seeing him, Wang Shoujue's eyes lit up slightly, and he trotted forward a few steps and said, "You haven't left yet, come on, I just have a problem."

"Is it a problem with the mask?" Li Mu thought for a moment and asked.

Wang Shoujue waved his hand and said as he walked away: "No, no, it's a problem with chip application."

“The technology of large-scale integrated chips is about to succeed, but we haven’t thought about what to do with it.”

"I just thought of this question. Tell me, is it possible to achieve breakthroughs in large-scale integration technology and practical chips at the same time?"

Hearing this, Li Mu nodded slightly and said, "It may be possible, but if we want to make practical chips, I'm afraid that the level of large-scale integration is not enough."

"Integrating 1001 transistors is a large-scale operation, and integrating tens of thousands of transistors is also a large-scale operation. To make practical chips, this is a big requirement."

Wang Shoujue highly agreed with his words, but he smiled and said, "At most, I will just spend more time. I will eventually achieve my goal."

"But we haven't figured out what practical chip we want to make yet!"

……

As they were talking, the two returned to the laboratory.

There are fewer people than before, and only a few researchers and professors are still discussing the issue of practical chips:
"I think we can consider using chips to replace the original diodes, triodes and electron tubes, and replace the parts on the existing machines."

"No, no, the existing technology is already quite mature, and it is not a good idea to replace it hastily."

"Then we should study a chip that can coordinate, control and execute the operation of various electronic devices and give full play to the technological advantages of chips."

…Listening to these discussions, Wang Shoujue stepped forward and said, “Everyone, be quiet for a moment. Let’s listen to what Li Mu has to say.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the researchers and professors who had been discussing quite heatedly suddenly became quiet, and their eyes were focused on Li Mu.

Facing everyone's expectant gazes, Li Mu closed the chat page and spoke slowly:
"I have an immature idea here, which is to study a new type of memory to replace the magnetic drum and disk auxiliary memory in transistor computers."

As soon as he finished speaking, several researchers and professors in front of him couldn't help but show surprise on their faces.

Wang Shoujue was also surprised and said, "Li Mu, you are right, our country is still developing transistor computers!"

Li Mu said firmly:
"Director Wang, it is only a matter of time before integrated circuits replace transistors, and it is only a matter of time before transistor computers are replaced by integrated circuit computers."

"Since we are already studying large-scale integration, why not be bolder and consider how to realize the production of integrated circuit computers."

After hearing his words, everyone present looked at each other in disbelief.

They just wanted to make an electronic device and add to the existing industry.

Unexpectedly, Li Mu was already considering rebuilding a building.

"I agree with Li Mu's point of view. Since we are going to do it, we must do our best and let those M Emperors and Big Infants who look down on us see it!" Wang Shoujue said with clenched fists.

Hearing this, other researchers and professors applauded and agreed: "You are right, the M Emperor Baby is just a paper tiger!"

"Li Mu, tell us what you want us to do. We'll do whatever you say!"

……

Looking at the excited crowd, Li Mu thought for a moment, took out a piece of manuscript paper from his bag, and said:
"I have tentatively named this memory dynamic random access memory, which is mainly composed of capacitors and transistor switches."

As he spoke, the pencil in his hand slid quickly across the paper, drawing a sketch of the dynamic memory.

Then he said: "Each storage unit here contains a capacitor and a transistor."

"Capacitors are used to store charge, and transistors act as switches to control the charging and discharging process of capacitors, thereby enabling data storage and reading."

"This type of memory structure is simple and suitable for high-density integration. The only problem is that the charge stored in the capacitor may gradually leak out."

“But as long as the charge is replenished periodically, the stability of the data can be guaranteed!
Everyone looked at the manuscript on the table, and their eyes were filled with shock.

They originally thought that Li Mu had at most proposed an idea, but they didn't expect that he already had such a complete principle and plan.

Wang Shoujue couldn't help but ask, "Did you just come up with this?"

He had just proposed making practical chips, so it was impossible for Li Mu to be prepared in advance.

"Of course not. How could it be possible in such a short time?" Li Mu shook his head and laughed, saying, "I started thinking about it when the 300-transistor integrated circuit was successful."

“But dynamic random access memory not only requires large-scale integration, but also requires integrated transistors, so I didn’t bring it up.”

"So that's how it is." Wang Shoujue nodded and said, "There are definitely difficulties, but I believe our researchers will be able to overcome them."

"It's decided. The research direction of practical chips will be towards dynamic random access memory!"

……

After the research direction was decided, the entire semiconductor research institute soon became busy.

As the research tasks became more intense, Li Mu naturally could not stay out of it as he did at the beginning.

At the entrance of the institute, Wang Shoujue rubbed his hands and said rather embarrassedly: "Now we have masks, lithography machines, and the dynamic random access memory you mentioned. The task is very heavy!"

Seeing his expression, Li Mu understood and said with a smile: "Director Wang, don't worry, I will definitely spare more time to help in the institute and share the pressure for everyone."

"Okay, okay." Wang Shoujue was overjoyed when he heard that.

After all, I just said not long ago that I would leave everything to them, and now I ask them to come back, which is a bit embarrassing.

……

Leaves the Semiconductor Research Institute.

Li Mu rode his bicycle to the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative, ready to buy some meat to eat.

Just as I parked the car and was about to queue, there was suddenly a commotion in front of the line.

A salesman came out and shouted, "No more meat, no more meat, go back, come earlier tomorrow."

This news caused complaints from people who had been waiting in line for a long time.

Who wouldn’t be angry after waiting in line for so long and finding out there’s no meat?

Someone held onto his last hope and asked, "No meat will be delivered today?"

"Yes." The salesperson answered simply.

Now, they could only talk and leave.

Li Mu thought about it and realized that it had become a routine for him to bring meat back every time. His two younger sisters, Li Lan and Li Yu, would be disappointed for several days if they couldn't eat it.

He got on his bicycle and prepared to go to a supply and marketing cooperative farther away to see if there was any meat for sale.

He had just taken two steps when he heard someone calling his name from behind:
"Li Mu, wait for me."

When I looked back, it was Sun Fendou whom I hadn’t seen for a long time.

Li Mu stopped his bike and greeted him with a smile: "Brother Sun, what a coincidence."

"What a coincidence." Sun Fendou came over, looked at the empty back seat of the bicycle, and asked curiously, "I didn't buy any meat today. Is it sold out?"

He knew that every time Li Mu went home, he would come to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy meat, without exception.

"Yeah, I'm a little late." Li Mu sighed.

After chatting with Wu Xi for a while, I was pulled over by Wang Shoujue, which indeed took a lot of time.

Sun Fendou's eyes moved when he heard this, and he said, "Are you in a hurry? If not, wait until tomorrow and I'll go to the factory to find a solution for you."

He did have half a pound of leftovers at home, but it would be nice to give that little to others, but it would be shabby to give it to Li Mu as a favor.

"No, no." Li Mu waved his hand and said, "I'm only free to go home today. I don't know when I'll be free to go home next time."

The task at the Semiconductor Research Institute is arduous, and he will definitely focus on research in the future.

Sun Fendou smiled and said:
"Don't be in a hurry to refuse. It's not impossible for you to ask for it now."

"You know the black market, right? There are many people selling chickens, ducks, fish and meat privately there."

"The price is definitely much higher than buying it from me, but the key is that you don't need a ticket. Do you want to buy some?"

"Black market?" Li Mu was a little confused when he heard this word. It didn't sound serious at first. It couldn't be some gray area.

Sun Fendou smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's just a small market spontaneously organized by some farmers in the suburbs. There's no problem."

"Okay, then I'll trouble you, Brother Li, to give it a try." Li Mu finally felt relieved and followed Sun Fendou to the black market.

(End of this chapter)