The Red Era, the Opening University Speech

Chapter 177: About million times per second

Ask: "I know, Li, you are also an expert in wilderness survival. I have seen the video of you surviving alone in the wilderness. It's amazing."

"I didn't understand it at the time. It was just mountains and trees. I could see them by just clicking on a picture or video."

“But now I understand that seeing it is different than experiencing it.”

"I still decided to work hard to live up to my childhood dream of becoming a great scientist!"

"Congratulations. I look forward to seeing you at the Nobel Prize one day." Li Mu said with a smile.

Well, although it was a bit tortuous, I managed to persuade Ask in the end.

It not only preserves the opportunity to continue downloading the supercomputer, but also protects the friendship.

However, seeing that the download speed had dropped to 87 BIT/s, Li Mu couldn't help but frown and said, "By the way, you should go back quickly. You've been out for two days."

"Well, it's time to go back. I'll leave in a moment." Ask replied.

Li Mu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Gan!
Or the cheat code is not powerful enough! Even if it is not the whole system, it would be much better to directly use the whole super library, or WIFI that ignores the distance!
……

Although we were not able to get all the supercomputer data immediately, if nothing unexpected happens, the download will be completed soon.

As for whether there really was an accident, Li Mu thought it was impossible.

Don't forget that Ask used fruit. Someone must know where he is. It seems free, but in fact...

So Li Mu felt that it was time to propose a supercomputing plan.

Through this period of study, he has basically become familiar with the principles and overall structure of supercomputers, so it is not difficult for him to make a plan.

Of course, this is not the main reason.

The main reason is that the investment in a supercomputer is extremely huge. Each unit of the CRAY-1 supercomputer costs as much as 500 to 900 million US dollars.

If Xia Guo wants to build it, it may cost several million.

Such a huge investment, even if he proposed it, would still need to go through layers of approval before it could be decided.

Unless they build it and then sell it, knowing the performance of supercomputers, even if they set a sky-high price of tens of millions of dollars, other countries will snap it up.

But this is unrealistic.

Not to mention that supercomputers are high-tech and cannot be sold, even letting other countries know about it would cause a lot of trouble.

Not to mention anything else, the Type 01 computer that was originally planned to be sold to foreigners to make money after several rounds of elimination, now everyone knows that you have such a good thing as a supercomputer. Who would buy it? It will definitely be a waste of money.

……

While thinking about the supercomputer development plan, Li Mu came to the Semiconductor Research Institute.

Standing in Wu Youxiang's office, Li Mu raised his hand and knocked on the door twice.

"Please come in."

Wu Youwang, who was making tea inside, paused. With the sound of the door being pushed open with a "creak", he turned around.

When he saw Li Mu, a look of surprise appeared on his face.

Wang Shoujue was basically in charge of research matters, and Li Mu seldom came directly to him.

However, Wu Youxiang still hurriedly called out, "Come quickly, come quickly, try the Biluochun that someone gave me."

"Then I'd be honored to refuse." Smelling the fragrance of tea, Li Mu sat down aside, picked up the teacup handed to him by Wu Youxiang, sniffed it, and the fragrance was refreshing.

Take another sip and you will find the taste is mellow and lasting.

"Good tea." He exclaimed, and his eyes subconsciously looked at the bag of tea that Wu Youxiang placed next to him.

Seeing this, Wu Youxiang picked up the tea bag and said distressedly:
"This was just given to me by someone else, and I drank it for the first time today."

"Forget it, take it."

"But you don't get this tea for free. I heard that Leader Dong and Leader Qiu said that if they give you a bag of tea, you should give them a surprise in return."

"Today I want to see if it's true."

He looked at Li Mu with a smile and made a joke.

It’s just a bag of tea. I feel bad about it, but it depends on who it’s for.

If I give it to Li Mu, not only a pack, but even a whole truckload would be worth it.

“It’s not really a surprise.” Li Mu took the tea leaves happily. In this era, there were no drinks like happy water. Drinking tea was the ultimate enjoyment.

Seeing Wu Youxiang staring at him, he put the tea leaves aside and continued, "I suddenly had an idea to build a supercomputer."

"Supercomputer, what is that?" Wu Youxiang was stunned, not understanding what this thing was.

After thinking for a while, he asked tentatively: "How super is your supercomputer? What is its estimated computing power?"

"About 100 million times per second." Li Mu said.

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Youxiang couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of tea. He was so nervous that he couldn't speak clearly:
"Snatch, seize the young master?"

……

Ten minutes later, Wang Shoujue and Huang Xinhua were urgently called to Wu Youxiang’s office.

He thought that he might be ignorant and had never heard of supercomputers.

But after calling the two over and telling them about it, it turned out that they had never heard of it either.

"What exactly is this supercomputer and why is it so powerful?" Wang Shoujue asked seriously.

He knew that Li Mu would never lie, but one hundred million times per second, what did that mean?

Even if Li Mu said the improvement was several times or even dozens of times, he would believe it directly because of past examples.

But a 100-fold improvement really seems like a fantasy.

The computing speed jumped directly from millions to billions. He wouldn't even dare to do it in his dreams, let alone think about it.

If this succeeds, then Xia Country's computers will be like holding rocket launchers in their hands while other countries are still hunting with stone axes and stone guns.

Li Mu explained: "Supercomputers, which I call 'supercomputers' for short, have basically the same components as ordinary computers, but they are very different in performance and scale."

"In my vision, supercomputers can be divided into two categories, those that use specialized processors or those that use standard compatible processors."

"The former can efficiently handle the same type of problems, while the latter can be used for multiple purposes in many fields such as military, medicine, meteorology, and finance."

After listening to his explanation, the three people in the room were silent for a long time.

After a while, Professor Wang continued, "How confident are you that you can complete the development of this supercomputer?"

As he asked the question, Wu Youxiang and Huang Xinhua's breathing became heavier.

Just based on the computing speed of 100 million times per second, it is actually difficult for them to refuse.

Li Mu looked at the download speed which had risen back to 10KB/s and said, "In theory, I am at least 6% sure that it will succeed, but when it comes to actual research and development, I am afraid it will be less than 5%."

He didn't exaggerate.

It is not easy to realize a supercomputer with a speed of 100 million times per second, even with a complete plan, and we need to leave some room for error.

"5%? That's enough, enough." Wang Shoujue murmured.

Not to mention that the probability of success is as high as 5%, even if it is only 1%, he thinks it is worth a try.

He immediately looked at Wu Youxiang, who immediately said, "I will apply for you right away. Our Semiconductor Research Institute will definitely fully cooperate with your research!"

"Director Wu, please wait a moment." Li Mu hurriedly stopped him and rubbed his hands, saying, "If it's just the Semiconductor Research Institute, I'm afraid it's not enough."

Hearing this, Wu Youhao was stunned for a moment, then he reacted and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I know that this level of research is not a small project."

"I asked Dean Guo to transfer some more people from the Institute of Computing Technology."

"If you need anything, you can tell me and I'll tell him later." "Manpower is definitely needed." Li Mu coughed lightly and continued with gritted teeth: "But more importantly, funding. This supercomputing research will probably cost a lot of money."

Wu Youxiang waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, the higher-ups value your research very much and will not refuse to allocate funds."

He still has this confidence. With Li Mu around, no matter how much money he asks, he won't be approved.

Wang Shoujue and Huang Xinhua standing by also had smiles on their faces.

"What if it costs 700 million?" Li Mu said dimly.

The smile on Wu Youxiang's face, who had been full of confidence just now, froze in an instant.

700?
This means that even if the current National Academy of Sciences is emptied, it still cannot be taken out! After all, the funds that should be allocated have already been allocated! There must be not much money left in the account.

No wonder Li Mu dared to claim that the computing power could reach 100 million times per second. The computing speed is exaggerated, but the research and development funds are even more exaggerated!

Wu Youhao asked carefully, "Is there any way to reduce this capital investment, even by 100 million?"

“It can’t be reduced much further, and it will affect the performance of the supercomputer.” Li Mu shook his head.

In fact, he underestimated the estimate of 700 million, and the subsequent investment may increase.

"It seems that we can only report it to our superiors and let them make the decision." Wu Youxiang was silent for a long time, then said helplessly.

The cost investment is no longer something he can decide.

Even Guo Mo couldn't make the final decision.

If it costs one or two million, the Chinese Academy of Sciences might be able to think of this method. After all, the initial funds cannot be obtained in one go, so just invest slowly.

But with 700 million, it might cost one or two million to start.

The country’s important research projects include more than just supercomputing. If all the money is taken away, what will happen to other research?

……

After Li Mu went to the laboratory to do research, Wu Youxiang hurried to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

When he arrived at Guo Mo's office, he quickly told him about the supercomputer.

When Guo Mo heard that 700 million yuan would be used, his jaw dropped.

Not to mention that the Chinese Academy of Sciences does not have such a large amount of funds, even if it did, he could not give it to Li Mu for use.

So after Wu Youxiang left, Guo Mo worked in the office for a while and then went to a small courtyard somewhere to prepare to report the matter to his superiors.

Following Secretary Song into the courtyard, the superior leader happened to walk out after receiving the notification and reviewing the documents at hand.

Looking at Guo Mo's expression, he smiled and said, "Did one of Li Mu's little fellows come up with something incredible again?"

"Leader, you have a keen eye, but this time not only the product is extraordinary, but the price is also extraordinary." Guo Mo smiled bitterly and explained the whole story.

Hearing the calculation speed of 100 million times per second, even the superiors could not help but be amazed at the concentration.

"One hundred million times. If this number is used in the research of giant mushrooms..." the superior fell into deep thought.

700 million? Too much.

There are so many important national research projects. If we invest 700 million here, what about the other research projects?

Without much hesitation, the superior made a decision:

"Do it, and support him vigorously."

"But before you do that, you need to have a good meeting and discuss it."

"As long as Li Mu's idea is feasible, we will start researching it immediately."

After the Type 01 computer was put into use in the Northwest, it was originally expected that the Big Mushroom would be produced two years later, in 63.

If a supercomputer can be improved 100 times, can the speed be further increased?

The superiors think it is possible.

Even if it only cuts the time in half, it’s worth the investment!

……

Li Mu returned to HKUST and looked at the download speed which had increased to 49KB. He roughly estimated that the download should be completed by tomorrow afternoon.

But he couldn't wait any longer, so he opened the online data in the National Supercomputing Research Center at the University of Illinois and immediately began to draw and analyze the various architectural designs of the supercomputer.

He worked until the early morning hours before he finally wrote out a rough plan for the overall architecture of the supercomputer.

So when Guan Jianmin came to the dormitory the next day, he saw the dark circles around his eyes and ordered him to rest that day, otherwise he would go to his superiors to complain.

"I'm contributing to national development. Besides, it's no big deal to endure it occasionally." Li Mu looked at Guan Jianmin with a dark face.

The overall architecture has only been preliminarily completed, and he plans to go to the Institute of Computing Technology today to ask Yan Peilin to ask people to discuss it further.

Don’t think it’s useless to look for them. The reason why these geniuses cannot build supercomputers is that they are limited by the times and their cognition.

Give them the plan, and everyone can draw inferences from it.

Facing Li Mu's gaze, Guan Jianmin did not give in at all and said, "If it happened the first time, there will be a second time. We must not set a bad example."

“And if you take good care of your body, you are also contributing to national construction.”

"If you want to go, go ahead. I guarantee that when you walk through the gate of the Semiconductor Research Institute, your superiors will hear about your late nights."

His tone was very confident, but he was actually not very sure about it.

To bother the superior for such a small matter is tantamount to dereliction of duty.

Li Mu was obviously aware of this, but he still gave up his plan to continue going to the Semiconductor Research Institute.

There is no way. If the higher-ups think Guan Jianmin is not good enough and replace him with someone with a more rigid personality, then it would be a waste of time and effort.

"Okay, okay, then I won't go today." Li Mu waved his hand.

After thinking about it, since it's a rare opportunity to rest, I might as well go home and take a look.

……

On the other hand, Guo Mo came to the Institute of Computing Technology after receiving instructions from his superiors.

After finding Yan Peilin, he told him about Li Mu's idea of ​​researching supercomputers.

After listening, Yan Peilin immediately said:

“It is indeed feasible.”

"Besides, it's a plan proposed by Li Mu, so it's more feasible."

"But didn't you agree with all the research Li Mu proposed in the past? Why did you come to ask me this time?"

His doubts are not without reason.

"This time it's different. Li Mu estimates that he will have to invest at least 700 million." Guo Mo smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Even though his superiors agreed, he still felt that it was a bit unrealistic. 700 million, it was too much of an investment!

Yan Peilin was also deeply shocked for a long time. After a while, he said, "700 million is indeed a lot. It's so much that I feel scared."

"This is no longer a question of investment, but a question of whether we have the ability to achieve it."

"What if, what if it fails in the end, it will undoubtedly cause great property losses to our country!"

His words were also Guo Mo's concern.

Li Mu became famous at a young age. His scientific research achievements came one after another and he was deeply loved by his superiors.

But this is actually also a risk. People who become famous at a young age are most likely to become proud and complacent.

Just like this time, the first thing they said was an investment of 700 million. Anyone who heard that would inevitably have doubts in their heart.

Continue to thank the commissioner "You are the sand that cannot be held" for 100 points of reward
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(End of this chapter)