Chapter 239: Tape-out Analysis, PASS!
On a morning in early April, Shirakawa Kaede was standing on the top floor of the SIC building, looking out at the street scene near Shibuya.
Not far away across the street, there is a unique white covered bridge-style building, which is the Malaysian Embassy.
Not far from the embassy is Xixiangshan Park. With the arrival of early spring, the trees, flowers and plants in the park are already showing signs of lushness.
Further away is the ancient shrine and the modern Shibuya Christian Church.
This is the busiest time of the day, with pedestrians hurrying along the streets, busy with their own lives.
All of this was seen by Shirakawa Kaede who was standing on the top floor of the SIC building.
He likes it here. He likes standing on the top floor of the building and taking in the sights and sounds of Shibuya.
Every time this happens, he feels a sense of satisfaction and control as if everything is within his grasp.
Baichuan Feng, who was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, slowly withdrew his gaze from the distance, and at this moment, a cup of steaming coffee appeared in front of him.
"Would you like a drink?" Asuka Kobayashi's clear voice came from the side.
"Thank you." Baichuan Feng took the coffee and took a sip. The warm current slowly spread from his throat.
"Are you still worried about Shima-san?" Asuka Kobayashi, who was wearing an OL suit, took two steps forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with him in front of the window, looking out casually.
Baichuan Feng smiled and tapped the coffee cup lightly with his fingers. "After all, we have invested so much money. Success or failure depends on this one move."
In front of other people in SIC, Shirakawa Feng always appears confident, open-minded and cheerful.
But after all, I have invested too much, how can I not care at all.
From the construction of the building, equipment procurement, staff recruitment, to the final wafer production, all of this has added up to an investment of more than 1 billion yen.
It is no exaggeration to say that chip development is the largest R&D expense among all of Baichuan Feng's current products.
If everything went to waste, not only would SIC's morale be affected, but Baichuan Feng himself would be heartbroken.
After all, Shirakawa Electric's revenue is currently on a downward trend, and this trend may become the main theme this year.
The landlord doesn’t have any surplus food, I hope everything goes well.
"As a well-known designer, Shima-san shouldn't have any problems." Asuka Kobayashi also knew about Masatoshi Shima.
She was not simply comforting Shirakawa Kaede. It was not an exaggeration to say that Shima-san was the best in Japan.
If you don't have any confidence in him, then there is no need to make this investment.
"That's right." Baichuan Feng nodded, then he raised his wrist to check the time.
It's almost ten o'clock, and Fujitsu should have finished the tape-out.
The reason why Shirakawa Kaede didn't even go to Ota City today, but arrived at SIC early, was to wait for Shima Masatoshi to return from his filming.
Not only that, he also brought Asuka Kobayashi with him.
At such an important moment, I must take her with me to feel at ease.
Be it joy or loss, emotions always have to be shared with someone.
Shirakawa Kaede didn't know why the first person he thought of was Asuka Kobayashi.
Perhaps it’s because she has been a part of my career for a long time.
"I'm already a senior and will graduate soon." Looking out the window, Asuka Kobayashi sighed in a way that surprised Shirakawa Kaede.
"Hey, are you graduating?" Baichuan Feng suddenly remembered that he still had the identity of a student.
It has been so long since I last went to class at Meiji University that Shirakawa Kaede almost forgot that he hadn't graduated yet.
"You've graduated, that's great. From now on, I'll leave the position of the head of the HR department of Shirakawa Electric to you, Kobayashi."
For Shirakawa Feng, there was nothing wrong with graduation. He had already achieved the purpose of going to university, and the connections he made were his biggest gain.
However, after hearing what Shirakawa Kaede said, Asuka Kobayashi did not smile as usual.
Instead, there was a trace of melancholy between his brows, and he stared out the window in a daze.
"Eh?" Baichuan Feng realized it later and turned around to ask something.
Suddenly the office door was pushed open, "President, Shima-san and the others are back!"
Assistant Komatsu's crisp voice sounded unusually clear in the spacious president's office.
"Really?" Bai Chuanfeng perked up instantly, "Xiao Lin, let's go take a look together!"
After saying that, Baichuan Feng took the lead and walked quickly towards the door. He had been waiting for this moment for too long.
Asuka Kobayashi, who was standing by the window in the office, raised her eyebrows and sighed softly, then she gathered her thoughts and quickly left.
…
Fifth floor, SIC chip laboratory.
The laboratory, which is usually spacious and bright, is now crowded with people.
Everyone huddled together, raised their heads, and looked eagerly towards the end of the corridor.
Suddenly, the elevator door in the corridor opened and several figures stepped out.
The leaders were none other than Shima Masatoshi and Yamazaki Teru, and beside them was Shirakawa Kaede who was willing to accompany them.
"Here they come! Here they come!" The crowd unconsciously made a noise.
They are all members of SIC's chip design department, and most of them are postgraduate students.
Today is a big day for SIC, and even more so for those involved in the project.
Nothing is more exciting than the harvest season, especially chips, Japan's first independent processor chip!
So they felt as anxious and expectant as Baichuan Feng.
"Shima-san!"
"Yamazaki-kun!"
"Shirakawa-san!"
As the figure approached, various greetings began to be heard one after another.
The three people involved nodded to everyone from time to time.
Everyone's earnest expectations made them feel the same way, but also a lot of pressure.
It is no exaggeration to say that what Shima Masatoshi has in his hand is the hope of the entire SIC.
"Everyone, spread out a little. We are about to start the logic test. We must not affect the progress of the test!"
Looking at the crowded scene, it was finally Masayoshi Matsumura who stepped forward to maintain order.
There is no way, there are too many people. Everyone is crowded together, which affects the normal work.
And as Matsumura Masaakio called out, everyone slowly dispersed.
As a professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Masayoshi Matsumura was quite prestigious among students, so the laboratory gradually became quiet.
However, those who had gone out did not leave. Everyone crowded outside the door, quietly waiting for news.
"Shima-san, Yamazaki-kun, thank you for your hard work!" It was only then that Shirakawa Kaede had time to greet them.
Shima Masari held up the small dark blue shielding tape in his hand. "Things are going well with Fujitsu for now, but now is the most critical moment."
The production of a chip does not necessarily mean that the tape-out has been successful.
The physical object is just what is on the drawing, made according to the plan.
What is the core function of the chip? It is logical operation.
Only when the device can run successfully and without any bugs after being powered on can it be considered a successful tape-out, which is also the most critical step.
The quick-moving Yamazaki Teru and Masu Kazuya have already turned on and debugged various test equipment, putting them on standby at all times.
At this time, Shima Masatoshi also put on gloves and carefully took out a small chip from the shielding tape.
Facing the light, the light-colored words "SIC8081" on the surface of the black shell are extremely clear.
On both sides of the rectangle, densely packed metal pins are neatly arranged.
"It's so beautiful!" Baichuan Feng looked at the tiny chip in fascination and couldn't help but sigh.
Whether it was Shima Masatoshi or Matsumura Masayoshi, they all nodded in approval.
It seemed as if at this moment, several people were looking at a peerless beauty rather than an industrial product.
"Then let's get started."
After admiring the appearance of SIC8081, Shima Masatoshi turned around and looked at Shirakawa Kaede and Matsumura Masayoshi.
"Please!" Bai Chuanfeng and the others all nodded seriously.
Taking a deep breath, Shima Masatoshi walked to the logic analyzer and gently inserted the chip in his hand into the workbench.
After confirming that the chip's pins and circuits were fully connected without any omissions, Shima Masatoshi straightened up with a sense of relief.
Looking at the "RESET" button on the device at hand, Shima Masatoshi suddenly felt as if his fingers weighed a thousand pounds .
Just press it gently, and all the results will be revealed in a few minutes.
Hundreds of millions of yen! Shima Masatoshi turned around and looked behind him.
Shirakawa Kaede, Matsumura Masayoshi, Yamazaki Teru, and Masu Kazuya were all waiting for him.
Holding his breath, Shima Masatoshi raised his finger and firmly pressed "RESET".
"drop-!"
The device emitted a long beep that was unusually loud in the laboratory, and then lines of numbers began to jump on the logic analyzer's display screen.
Everyone stared at the lines of numbers intently, and even their breathing became cautious.
The other employees at the door looked extremely nervous, some clenched their fists, and some clenched their teeth.
"Ding ding ding!" Suddenly the numbers on the analyzer became a little confusing.
Baichuan Feng's eyes widened, and in the laboratory there were more open mouths and round eyes.
No way?! Although Baichuan Feng didn't understand, he knew that garbled code on the logic analyzer was definitely not a good thing.
As for the nervous Yamazaki Teru beside him, his forehead was covered with sweat, his face was pale, and he seemed unable to speak.
"drop-!"
Just when the employees outside the door were looking depressed, the garbled display suddenly returned to normal.
Rows of numbers flashed and flowed by.
Huh~ Shirakawa Feng felt his back was soaked.
This thing is also stimulating, more stimulating than the opening.
This is a big business worth hundreds of millions of yen , and life and death depend on a single thought.
The entire logical analysis lasted for several minutes, and garbled characters appeared again in the middle.
Fortunately, everyone has gained experience and is no longer as nervous as they were just now.
The result was as expected. The garbled code only lasted for one or two seconds and then quickly skipped over, and everything returned to normal.
"Ding——" Finally, the green light on the device came on, and the capital letters "PASS" were reflected clearly.
"Oh Yeah!" There was an excitement inside and outside the laboratory.
"It's done! It's done!" The excited crowd jumped up and down, hugged each other and cheered.
Some of the guys were so excited that they even shed tears.
Yamazaki Teru, who had just been extremely nervous, now seemed to be exhausted. He slumped in the chair and didn't want to move at all.
Shirakawa Feng also breathed a sigh of relief, and Masayoshi Tanimura beside him began to lead the applause, and soon there was thunderous applause inside and outside the laboratory.
The focus of everyone's attention, Shima Masatoshi, who was standing in the front, also slowly turned around.
