Chapter 128 Future Plans
Professor Kikuchi picked up the small CD in front of him and looked at it carefully.
Judging from the appearance alone, it seems to be no different from an LD disc, except that it is much smaller.
"The biggest difference between it and LD discs is that it uses digital signals to restore information during the information conversion process.
The current CD disc technology is still limited to the audio field.
Of course, it will have broader application space in the future, but for now, Shirakawa Electric only needs to focus on the audio field.”
The so-called digital audio is the use of digital signals to record the waveform of sound.
Before the advent of CDs, all audio products, such as vinyl records, portable tapes, and films, were analog audio.
We all know that sound is a kind of wave. This method of imitating the original waveform of sound at the physical level by recording the waveform, saving it and playing it back is called analog audio.
Although analog audio has served mankind for nearly a hundred years since its appearance.
However, analog audio also has its shortcomings, such as poor anti-interference ability and background noise.
Anyone who has listened to a Walkman can all understand this; the rustling sound in the background is the best proof of this.
In addition, since analog audio requires a stylus and a magnetic head to restore the signal, wear and tear is inevitable.
Just like Shirakawa Electric's Obsidian record player and Flashman, these two areas are the most likely to have problems in terms of service life.
But the real reason that prompted the development of CD audio was that analog audio was not suitable for large-scale copying and distribution.
Whether it is a vinyl record or a Walkman tape, their copying and transcription are done at the physical level.
However, the speed of physical copying is limited, which also limits the production of vinyl and tapes.
In addition, vinyl records are not easy to preserve and rewinding tapes takes a long time, which are major factors that affect consumers' experience.
Therefore, whether from the perspective of usage demand or large-scale production, the emergence of CD technology is almost inevitable.
Professor Kikuchi put down the CD in front of him and thought, "This is a very interesting storage method, but its application field should be more extensive.
Images, texts, videos, etc. can all be stored and reproduced using this carrier.
In addition, perhaps laser technology is the key to its information conversion, and the subsequent decoding is also more complicated. "
"Teacher Kikuchi has a keen eye," Shirakawa Kaede flattered him at the right time.
However, he also admired from the bottom of his heart that the other party was able to guess the two core issues of CD audio technology with just one glance.
Tsk, he is worthy of being the person in charge of a national experimental project. His knowledge reserves in different fields are terrifyingly high.
Professor Kikuchi didn't pay attention to Shirakawa Kaede's praise. Instead, he frowned and thought about it.
He picked up the commission application materials submitted by Baichuan Feng again and went through them.
Just when Baichuan Feng thought something was wrong, he quickly picked up a pen and started writing and drawing on it.
In just five minutes, Professor Kikuchi put down his pen and returned the commissioned documents to Shirakawa Kaede.
“Meiji’s capabilities in precision servo technology and digital signal processing technology are so-so.
However, Meiji was far behind in terms of ultra-large-scale integrated circuit technology.
So if you want to gain something in this area, you have to think of other ways.”
After receiving such unkind comments from Professor Kikuchi, Shirakawa Kaede, Yamashita Daiji and Yamazaki Teru, who were born in the Meiji era, felt a little embarrassed.
But they couldn't refute anything because this big guy was a technical expert himself.
What’s more important is that the other party is not wrong. The areas where Meiji University really excels are actually social sciences and humanities, such as law and business.
"Teacher Kikuchi, what do you think of the ultra-large-scale integrated circuit technology..." Shirakawa Feng had no choice but to continue asking the big boss for guidance.
If Meiji doesn't have it, we can't just not do it. Shirakawa Electric needs to rely on Meiji's foundation, but it can't rely on Meiji.
If you want to establish yourself in the future with technology, you have to do it no matter how difficult it is.
Professor Kikuchi seemed not surprised by Shirakawa Kaede's shamelessness and he raised his chin.
"Go find Mr. Masayoshi Matsumura from Tokyo Institute of Technology. I've left you the contact information, and I'll say hello too .
As for whether you can convince the other party, that is up to you, Baichuan."
"Teacher Kikuchi, Shirakawa is grateful for your care." Shirakawa Feng, feeling a little excited, bowed sincerely.
Professor Kikuchi waved his hand nonchalantly. He was actually quite impressed by this junior.
Where you can, you can also help grab a handful.
As for future achievements, that will only be left to time to prove.
Seeing that Professor Kikuchi said no more, Shirakawa Kaede tactfully said goodbye and left.
To be honest, Shirakawa Kaede was very grateful to have met a big shot like Professor Kikuchi.
As it stands now, all the technical problems encountered by Shirakawa Electric will eventually need to be solved by him to a greater or lesser extent.
Although Professor Kikuchi did not take part in person, his identity was there.
If he reveals even a little bit of his connections, it will be enough for Shirakawa Electric to go far.
To be honest, if he wasn't afraid that Professor Kikuchi would look down on him, Shirakawa Kaede would have wanted to directly write a share transfer letter to him.
It's a pity that this big guy who has the support of national resources doesn't care about these things at all.
It would be cliché to force it, so we can only wait for the future.
Outside the laboratory door, Shirakawa Kaede grabbed Yamazaki Teru again.
"Senior Yamazaki, please come to Shirakawa Denki more often. Yasuda-san and the others miss you very much."
Baichuan Feng did not lie. After all, they had worked together happily for half a year and there was still some affection between them.
Yamazaki Hui also nodded happily, "Of course, of course. Say hello to Yasuda-san and the others for me."
"No problem, see you later, Yamazaki-senpai."
Waving goodbye, Yamazaki Hui looked at the backs of Shirakawa Kaede and the others as they left, and remained silent for a long time.
…
The industry-university-research cooperation plan with Meiji University has come to a temporary halt.
Shirakawa Kaede has already submitted the specific commission plan through Professor Kikuchi.
According to the current preliminary budget, Shirakawa Electric will provide 20 million yen in funding each year.
This will provide Meiji University's professional teams with the opportunity to conduct targeted research and development on precision servo technology and digital signal processing technology.
As for the target, it is naturally the CD.
Although the CD format has not yet been officially released, both Philips and Sony held technical conferences for related products a few years ago.
So it is not difficult to get a CD, and what Baichuan Feng wants to do is to make a CD decoding device, a CD player.
Meiji University needs to come up with a specific decoding design plan within the next two years. Of course, the main goal is still the circuit design part.
Shirakawa Electric will also be involved in precision servo technology, so there shouldn't be any major problems.
The difficulty lies in the digital signal processing part, and a design solution that can be used commercially must be produced within three years at the latest.
This is already the longest time limit that Baichuan Feng can accept. The reason why he spends so much money and makes arrangements in advance is just to be one step ahead.
If this cannot be done, then the so-called industry-university-research cooperation will be meaningless.
Baichuan Feng knew very well what was the point of formatting competition and participating in the formulation of standards.
Shirakawa Electric is still far from perfect now. Even if he comes forward with a shameless face, people won't even look at him.
So we have to take it one step at a time. Shirakawa Electric will first develop a matching player for CD discs.
Wait until you have enough strength in the future, and then participate in higher-end competition.
