Wen | Wang Qiang, special science and technology observer of Outlook Think Tank
IT is the dream of many Chinese people to use a personal computer with a built-in domestic CPU, and the IT industry in China has been striving for this goal for nearly 2 years.
however, in the past, due to backward technology, high cost, poor software compatibility and other factors, the market competitiveness of domestic CPU was low, and it could only be used in a small number of laboratories and specific fields, and it could not compete with imported processors in the commercial market.
with the progress of technology, the change of IT industry and the change of international situation, it is not a distant dream to replace imported products with domestic CPU. In key areas such as government agencies and state-owned enterprises, switching to domestic CPU has also become a task that needs to be completed as soon as possible.
then, how to carry out this task and who will shoulder the task of replacing imported processors has become a realistic problem for decision-making organs.
why do you want to switch to domestic processors?
if the problem of "software compatibility" did not exist in the CPU industry, China might have been able to apply domestic processors on a large scale in key areas. Unfortunately, the design of CPU directly determines which applications it can run, which has become the biggest obstacle in front of domestic CPU.
since 199s, Microsoft and Intel swept the PC market with Windows and Pentium processors respectively, and established the monopoly position of x86 system.
x86 is a low-level computer instruction specification, and its patent is mainly held by Intel. Windows systems, Pentium, Core and other processors used in personal computers and thousands of application software are all designed on the basis of this specification, so even computers produced in 25 can run a new generation of Windows 1 systems and corresponding software, and vice versa.
if other manufacturers want to design and manufacture CPU compatible with x86 instruction specification, they need authorization from Intel, but Intel rarely agrees to such authorization request for its own benefit.
In this way, newly-established CPU R&D enterprises can only use instruction specifications different from x86 to develop CPU, and the developed products can't run operating systems and application software designed based on x86 specifications. Because of the monopoly of x86 in the field of personal computers, it is difficult for other enterprises to compete with Intel.
The p>IT industry is changing faster than most people think. Although x86 system has always maintained a monopoly in the PC industry, in recent years, this state has shown signs of loosening. This also creates conditions for the large-scale application of China's independent CPU:
First, it is not as difficult as before to develop operating systems and applications for non-x86 CPU, and it is possible to establish a software ecological environment on a new system as long as there is sufficient demand and financial support;
secondly, the performance growth rate of Intel CPU has slowed down greatly in recent years, giving the rising stars a chance to catch up. Even if the domestic CPU does not reach the level of Intel's high-end products in performance, power consumption and other indicators, it can still meet the needs of ordinary users;
the most important point is that the government, state-owned enterprises, the military and other key areas urgently need to replace imported products with domestic chips to eliminate information security risks and prevent possible trade blockades.
in recent years, the United States has repeatedly issued export bans to sensitive domestic units and state-owned enterprises, which has further aggravated the concerns of related industries and units about excessive dependence on imported CPU. In the long run, IT is an indisputable goal for important departments and enterprises to realize localization in the use of IT products such as CPU and operating system.
The debate on the system of domestic CPU
Although it is an urgent task to switch to domestic processors in important fields, China is now facing the embarrassment of "difficult choice" in the specific implementation mode.
in those years, when the relevant institutions in China who researched and developed independent CPU chose the underlying instruction specification for CPU, because no one could obtain Intel's x86 authorization, everyone chose other specification systems.
Among them, Loongson, calculated by Chinese Academy of Sciences, used a standard named MIPS, and developed its own set of specifications on this basis; Shenwei chip of Jiangnan Institute of Computing Technology chose Alpha specification; The Feiteng chip of the National Defense Science and Technology University finally decided to use the ARM specification.
in addition to these national scientific research institutions, there are also outstanding people in private enterprises who are developing their own CPU. The most typical one is Huawei, which is developing its own CPU core using ARM specification.
recently, zhaoxin in Shanghai and Shuguang in Chinese academy of sciences have successively cooperated with overseas enterprises, and put forward a plan to jointly develop x86 CPU.
due to the restriction of x86 patent authorization, the two companies can't fully master the research and development process of CPU, so they are inferior to the above-mentioned units in autonomy. However, in the process of cooperative research and development, Zhaoxin and Shuguang can still avoid the back door of products and get the decision-making power of independent production. Therefore, the products of these two companies can also be used as alternatives for decision-making departments.
to sum up, there are four instruction systems selected by domestic CPU R&D units at this stage: MIPS, Alpha, ARM and x86. The operating system and application software developed for one system can't run directly on other systems, which has become the biggest dilemma in domestic demand.
for the sake of software compatibility, convenience and cost, the domestic market can only accommodate one CPU instruction system in the future, so it is necessary to choose among several existing schemes. Once a certain system is selected and a software ecosystem is developed on this basis, other systems will basically bid farewell to the possibility of large-scale application and deploy in a small scale in a specific field at most.
in other words, the choice of decision-making departments will directly affect the market prospects of several major R&D units, and even affect the industrial structure of the global CPU market.
who is more suitable for China?
so, what are the characteristics and advantages and disadvantages of several alternative system schemes of domestic CPU? Let's take a look.
Alpha: the advantage of Alpha selected by Shenwei chip is that most of the patents related to its instruction system have passed the protection period and can be used freely. However, the problem is that the current software industry's support for Alpha system is weak. If we choose this system, we need to invest a lot of resources in software ecology and it will take a long time to improve it.
MIPS: The famous Loongson chose MIPS instruction system, and on this basis, it developed its own set of standards, fully mastered the right to modify the instruction system, and made corresponding improvements according to domestic needs in the future without seeking authorization from foreign enterprises, so it has the best conditions in terms of autonomy.
However, Loongson, like Shenwei, faces the dilemma of weak software ecological support, so although Loongson has been targeting the mainstream PC market for many years, the actual results are not satisfactory. If the decision-making department finally chooses the Loongson system, it also needs to pay a great price to build a software ecosystem.
ARM: both the university of national defense and Huawei have chosen the ARM system widely used in smart phones and tablet devices to develop CPU. The reason is that the software ecology of ARM system is quite mature, and the future development basically does not need the support of the state.
from the general trend of the global market, ARM system is also the most promising party to compete directly with x86 system. Of course, the problem of choosing ARM system is that domestic institutions and units need to purchase licenses from ARM every five years, which is not as flexible as Alpha and MIPS.
x86: zhaoxin and zhongke Shuguang cooperate with Taiwan Province VIA and American AMD respectively, and plan to launch CPU products jointly developed. The degree of autonomy of their schemes is far less than the above three, and it is difficult to avoid the risk of being "stuck in the neck" in the long run.
But cooperative development means that domestic units can directly obtain the original code of CPU and check whether there is a back door, so it can meet the basic information security needs of key departments.
At the same time, x86 system has almost no software compatibility problems, which can be described as "just use it". In the short term, if the relevant demanders need to quickly transition to domestic CPU products without security risks, Megacore and Dawning are the most realistic choices.
domestic CPU: how to choose China?
obviously, the instruction systems selected by several domestic CPU R&D forces have their own advantages and problems, and which one they choose will have corresponding costs and risks.
If the demand situation is not so urgent, then the country can wait a few more years and make a final decision after the products developed by each company are mature enough. It's just that the reality may not allow a long wait. In the short term, China needs to determine a domestic alternative for imported chips, and on this basis, invest a lot of resources to build the related software ecosystem.
on the whole, the ARM system is a compromise choice among several schemes, which not only meets the relevant requirements of independent research and development, but also has mature software supporting resources, so it is easy to develop a set of software and hardware ecology to meet the needs of government, state-owned enterprises and other units such as office PCs and servers.
of course, the premise is that domestic units and enterprises use ARM instructions to authorize the development of truly independent CPU cores, instead of directly buying ARM CPU cores to manufacture chips, which is not much different from direct import.
if Godson or Shenwei's independent scheme is chosen, the country needs to quickly determine the direction and start the construction of supporting software ecosystem as soon as possible, and greatly increase the investment in R&D units, which will cost a lot in the early stage, but in the long run, this choice can completely get rid of dependence on foreign manufacturers.
As for the cooperative development scheme of Zhaoxin and Shuguang, it is very suitable to meet the urgent needs at present, but it is not a radical choice.
no matter which system China chooses to replace the imported CPU, IT will ultimately have a far-reaching impact on the global IT industry pattern and even the international situation. Today's domestic CPU industry has reached a crossroads. We will wait and see who will dominate the overall situation and complete the important task of replacing imported processors in important fields in the future.
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