Chapter 408 Academician and Fellow Townsman Are in a Hurry
After some exchanges with Dr. Jiang Lixin, Li Xiaofan learned that Dr. Jiang also had a PhD in computer science from Tsinghua University. He had worked at Tsinghua Microelectronics Institute for a period of time and was a top student from Tsinghua University. He has studied under a group of masters such as Professor Yang Zhilian, deputy director of the Institute of Microelectronics of Tsinghua University and a well-known domestic semiconductor expert. He himself is also an expert on the current EDA system in China.
His background and experience reminded Li Xiaofan that the main team recruited by Dr. Chen Datong for the Haowei Technology Project basically came from the Tsinghua Microelectronics Institute where Dr. Jiang worked.
"Dr. Jiang, what do you think of the current chip industry?" Li Xiaofan asked.
Dr. Jiang Lixin thought for a moment and replied:
"I personally believe that the current development of the global chip industry has two pillars. One pillar is the wafer foundry, which includes manufacturing in IDM that integrates chip design, chip manufacturing, chip packaging and testing and other industry chain links. Part. Another major pillar is chip design, and the core pillar of chip design is EDA tools..."
Li Xiaofan asked: "Dr. Jiang, since EDA tools are so important, then our country must not invest in research every day or two, right?"
"Yes! When it comes to the history of EDA development in China, it should have started when our Tsinghua Microelectronics Institute received an ICCAD design system called Applicon from Boston, USA in 1984. This ICCAD design system is what we now call EDA tools. In 1984, Tsinghua Institute of Microelectronics also purchased the DEC data center in Boston, USA. The DEC company's small computer PDP-11 was considered very advanced in the world at the time. This DEC company was one of the most influential computer companies besides IBM in the mid-1980s. In the 1980s, the American EDA company. The operating mode provides both design software and the computer platform on which the software runs, including workstations, etc..."
"The introduction of the Applicon design system and the PDP-11 minicomputer laid the foundation for the development of our CAD room at Tsinghua Institute of Microelectronics. My mentor, Professor Yang Zhilian, was responsible for the preparation of the CAD room at Tsinghua Institute of Microelectronics. Then this system was used in Tsinghua Institute of Microelectronics The Micro Institute has been widely used. The layout design and verification work of various integrated circuit research and development within the institute are carried out on this system. You often have to make an appointment and queue up to get on the machine..."
Li Xiaofan asked: "Then when did we start independently developing the domestic EDA system?"
Dr. Jiang Lixin replied:
"The independent development of domestic ICCAD design tools has actually been carried out for a long time, but the scale is small, the layout is scattered, and it is mainly concentrated in some domestic universities and scientific research units. The ICCAD conference held in Yangshuo, Guilin in the autumn of 1978 was the first time that our domestic EDA System research The starting point of the research was when the Fourth Ministry of Machinery (later the Ministry of Electronic Industry) gradually came up with the idea of organizing national efforts to develop a complete ICCAD system. The main promoters in the early stages were Academician Wang Yangyuan of Peking University and Professor Yang Zhilian of Tsinghua University. Waiting for a group of domestic experts..."
"Our domestic EDA research and development started not late. Ten years ago, in July 1986, the Fourth Ministry of Machinery established the Beijing Integrated Circuit Design Center in the Jiuxianqiao Electronics Industry Cluster in Beijing. By the end of that year, the project was officially established The domestic EDA system project was launched, considering the high starting point of the system. With the goal of developing an independent and complete integrated circuit CAD system that is in line with international standards, the Fourth Machinery Department also made an exception and hired Dr. Lian Yongjun from Taiwan as the chief designer. Dr. Lian Yongjun completed his postdoctoral studies in the United States and was in Austin, Texas at the time. A senior executive in a computer company and an expert in EDA systems.”
Dr. Jiang Lixin continued: "Dr. Lian has worked in a large multinational company in the United States, and his level of modern management is very high. He subdivided R&D into DB database, LE layout editor, SE layout editor, SIM circuit simulation, UI user interface, Testing test, GDS-II layout data output and Design Verification design verification and other subdivided topics. The research and development team is mainly composed of experts and technical personnel from nearly ten key universities in China, such as Peking University and Tsinghua University. Most of the time, our team has. More than 120 R&D personnel from 16 units..."
"Ten years ago, we hired overseas experts with high salaries as chief designers. It seems that our minds were very liberated at that time!" Li Xiaofan praised.
"Well, it was really amazing to be able to do that back then!"
Dr. Jiang Lixin continued:
"The research period for this domestic EDA system lasted for five years from the beginning of 1987 to 1992, with the departure of Dr. Lian Yongjun in 1992 as the end of the stage. During this period, Dr. Lian Yongjun proposed that this phase be replaced in 1990. The domestic EDA system is called the Panda system. After the completion of the research in 1992, the domestic Panda EDA system was taken over by the integrated circuit design company in Beijing and continued to be developed and promoted..."
"This is our first complete and independent integrated circuit computer-aided design system. After our Panda EDA system was launched in 1993, it also won the first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, making us one of the very few in the world that can One of the countries that provides EDA tools with independent intellectual property rights. Unfortunately, after our successful research and development, Western countries relaxed EDA export restrictions, which compressed the market of our domestic Panda EDA system. Currently, the development of our domestic EDA system is in a slump. Entering the stagnation stage..."
After listening to Dr. Jiang Lixin's detailed introduction, Li Xiaofan thought of a company in his previous life: BGI Jiutian Technology Co., Ltd.
BGI Jiutian Technology Co., Ltd. is known as the first domestic EDA stock at the 2021 IPO. It was founded in 2009 and was formerly the EDA department of BGI Group. Huada Group was established in October 2003. It is an integrated circuit design group company formed by integrating seven state-invested "909" design companies on the basis of the original Huada Integrated Circuit Design Center.
Liu Weiping, the founder of Huada Jiutian Technology Co., Ltd., was the former vice president of Beijing Integrated Circuit Design Center and China Huada Integrated Circuit Design Group Co., Ltd.
BGI Group was not established until 2003, and BGI Jiutian Company was not established until 2009.
But it's only 1996 now, and we have to wait until 2003 and 2009, which are already 7 and 13 years later. It's too late!
At the moment, Li Xiaofan only had one idea: to assist the Beijing Integrated Circuit Design Center and continue to invest in the research and development of the domestic Panda EDA system to compete with the three old and American EDA giants such as Synopsys, Cadence and Mentor Graphic. Time waits not for us!
…
The next day, Li Xiaofan, Yang Feiyan and others, accompanied by Dr. Jiang Lixin, flew directly from Shanghai to Beijing.
On the first trip, they went to Peking University and visited Professor Wang Yangyuan, director of the Institute of Microelectronics of Peking University and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Ten years ago, the Mainland established the National ICCAD Expert Committee, with Academician Wang Yangyuan as the chairman.
In his previous life, Academician Wang also served as Chairman of SMIC.
"Director Li, your hometown is in Mingzhou? I didn't expect that we are both fellow Mingzhou residents!"
After listening to Li Xiaofan’s introduction of his purpose, Academician Wang Yangyuan’s opening remarks surprised Li Xiaofan. Academician Wang was actually from Mingzhou.