Recently, Baode Computer Systems Co., Ltd. launched the Powerstar chip based on x86 architecture at a grand press conference, and Li Ruijie, chairman of Baode Group, said at the press conference that the annual sales target of the first generation of Powerstar processors is 1.5 million pieces.
However, careful netizens found that this much-hyped core processor actually seems to be just a re-branding of Intel's 10th generation processor.
According to foreign science and technology media Wccftech, according to test data, this processor is highly consistent with Intel's 10th-generation Core-i3-10105 processor in performance data. In other words, the actual appearance of the Blastcore processor may be Intel's Core-i3-10105.
However, it should be pointed out that this does not mean that Boyd bought Intel's processor and rebranded. In fact, the two sides may have reached some kind of deep cooperation. But whether it is cooperation or branding, an indisputable fact is still in front of you, that is, the "root" underlying architecture of the chip!
Academician Ni Guangnan has repeatedly called for attention to architecture issues, and said that it is difficult to gain competitive advantage in the existing pattern of multiple CPU architectures in the mainland. In recent years, a number of incidents have revealed that Ni Guangnan's concerns are not "groundless" and are happening.
As we all know, the underlying architecture of the CPU plays a pivotal role in the chip industry chain, and its importance is not only reflected in the CPU performance, but also has a significant impact on the training of design talents, the research and development of EDA (electronic design automation) tools, the chip IP library and the construction of application ecology.
In addition, the CPU architecture also involves multiple links such as chip production, testing, and packaging. Therefore, it can be said that the CPU architecture is the "foundation" in the entire chip industry and plays a vital role in promoting the development of the entire industry.
The production of mainstream CPUs in the world market will still be monopolized by two companies, x86 and ARM.
x86 is a CPU architecture introduced by Intel Corporation in the 70s of the 20th century, originally used in personal computers and servers. Today, the x86 architecture is the most widely used architecture in desktop computers and servers. The x86 architecture adopts CISC (Complex Instruction Set) technology, which has a huge and complex instruction set, but has fast computing speed.
Currently, both Intel and AMD are CPU manufacturers based on the x86 architecture. The x86 architecture occupies more than 90% of the market share in the PC market and has become the most dominant CPU architecture in the market.
The ARM architecture was developed by UK-based ARM Holdings and is widely used in mobile devices, the Internet of Things, embedded systems and other fields. The architecture uses RISC (Reduced Instruction Set) technology, which is relatively simple but convenient to optimize and save energy consumption. In the field of mobile devices, ARM architecture applications are very popular, and the market share is more than 90%. Huawei, Apple, Samsung, Qualcomm, MediaTek and other well-known manufacturers all use ARM architecture processor chips.
The current status of the underlying architecture of mainland chip enterprises
Domestic CPU manufacturers have developed into six mainstream manufacturers, including Loongson, Feiteng, Kunpeng, Haiguang, Shenwei and Zhaoxin. The instruction set of the CPU can be divided into two categories: complex instruction set (CISC) and reduced instruction set (RISC). The x86 architecture is represented by a complex instruction set, while the reduced instruction set includes ARM, MIPS, Alpha, Power and other architectures.
The CPU architectures of domestic mainstream manufacturers are: Zhongke Longxin adopts MIPS architecture, Tianjin Feiteng adopts ARM architecture, Haiguang Information adopts X86 architecture, Shanghai Shenwei adopts Alpha architecture, Shanghai Zhaoxin adopts X86 architecture, and Huawei Kunpeng adopts ARM architecture.
That is to say, at present, it is still difficult for mainstream processor manufacturers in the mainland to get rid of the monopoly of the underlying architecture, and once ARM and X86 want to cut off supply, domestic manufacturers will face a huge dilemma. And that's already happening.
For example, although Huawei purchased the permanent use right of ARM V8, but has been cut off from the V9 version, and Haiguang Information and Shanghai Zhaoxin, as the representative of X86, although it has spent a lot of money and obtained authorization, but recently it was reported that the subsequent version of X86 has stopped authorizing Chinese enterprises.
In addition, ARM and X86 architectures have recently strengthened licensing policies, further limiting the independent research and development space of chip design companies. ARM has made changes to its licensing policy, so that in the future, customers who license Cortex CPU compute cores will not be able to use their own CPUs, image signal processors and other components.
At the same time, Intel has also introduced a new architecture technology "x86S", which will give it more control over the architecture core. These measures will force chip designers to follow up to complete the corresponding compatible adaptation processing.
Then really as Academician Ni Guangnan worried, the West holds the root of the chip! And continue to let foreign monopolies continue? Is there no way to break the game?
Not really. At present, the layout of self-developed architecture by domestic manufacturers is accelerating. We have gradually prepared from three aspects, but it will take some time. But once we really enter the stage of breaking the net, I believe we can have a quick solution.
The first is Shanghai Shenwei, which mainly provides processors for the military and supercomputing markets, so after the first generation of CPU of the Alpha architecture, it independently developed the independent and controllable Shenwei 64 architecture. Based on this independent architecture, the Sunway processor was launched. However, the ecology of civilian and general computing fields is relatively weak, and it is not yet the time to take it out and popularize it.
In addition, in 2021, Loongson has announced that it has successfully developed the LoongArch architecture, from the top-level architecture to the instruction set and ABI standards are completely autonomous. This marks that the future CPU process of Loongson Zhongke no longer completely relies on the MIPS instruction set structure, and achieves 100% autonomy and controllability, completely getting rid of the dependence on foreign architecture. However, due to the lack of suitable manufacturers, the independent ecology still needs time to precipitate. But once needed, as the adaptor continues to join, I believe LoongArch's status will become higher and higher.
Finally, there is the RISC-V architecture that Academician Ni Guangnan has been calling attention to, RISC-V is completely open source, and completely open source means that anyone can freely use and modify it, and freely design and manufacture chips compatible with it. There is no possibility of disconnecting or stopping authorization. At present, many enterprises and institutions, including Ali Pingtou, Huawei, ZTE, Tencent, Simm Computing, Chinese Academy of Sciences and so on, have participated in it. And it is very likely to become the third mainstream structure led by Chinese enterprises.