News on China's scientific and technological development.
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Looks like some way still to go, but more respectful performance coming from Chinese x86. Though it will take time to improve the low VIA architectural starting point. Looks like they will be going to 7nm soon, but even in the current state, will be useful processors, the the PRC push for independence in government computing.
The article is incredibly long, and will not post it in its entirety.
China-based Zhaoxin Semiconductor, which roughly translates to 'million core,' has fielded a new eight-core KaiXian KX-U6780A processor based on its mysterious LuJiaZui microarchitecture and fabbed on TSMC's 16nm FinFET process. Chips based on the architecture bring a new level of performance to China's roster of homegrown chips that span from desktop PCs to servers, but the KX-6000 series is destined for , PCs, and office machines. Today we have the chip in for testing on Zhaoxin's HX002EH1 demo board to determine if it can rank among our list of .
Zhaoxin definitely isn't a household name, but it's one of the very few companies that designs bespoke x86 processors. That means it competes with the likes of dominant chip producers AMD and Intel, which is surprising given the patent-protected x86 instruction set and strict licensing agreements that have long narrowed the field of x86 chip producers to the Intel, AMD, and VIA triumvirate. Details are scarce, but the fabless Zhaoxin consists of a joint venture between the Shanghai Municipal Government, which invested 80% of the company's initial capital, and Taiwanese VIA Technologies, which provided 20%. This partnership structure purportedly allows Chinese government-controlled interests to design x86 processors while staying within the legal boundaries of licensing agreements.
The end result is a processor designed specifically for the China market that Zhaoxin says reaches the same level of performance as Intel's seventh-gen Core i5-7400. While that's certainly not overly impressive given that Intel's seventh-gen processors debuted in early 2017, it marks a big step forward for Zhaoxin, which claims its new LuJiaZui microarchitecture provides a 1.5X improvement in instructions per cycle (IPC) throughput over the preceding WuDaoKou architecture. It also comes with several new features, like Zhaoxin's first integrated graphics engine. The KX-6000 line is a step towards a larger goal: It serves as the intermediary processor before the company's next-gen 7nm chips that will come with DDR5 memory and the PCIe 4.0 interface as the company .
But disrupting the existing duopoly is no easy task. Let's take a quick look at what we know about the Zhaoxin KX-6000 series, then dive into our test results.
The Road to China-Designed Chips
China is by far the world's largest importer of processors, the majority of which are exported as finished products. However, the country has long sought independence from western influences on its economy. China only produces roughly 16% of the silicon it uses in-country, and only half of that production is controlled by Chinese interests. As such, China's reliance on western CPU production presents a strategic liability for the country's economy in the event of a blockade or tariffs, not to mention the implications of potentially nefarious backdoors built into the chips. It's also no secret that today's wars are won with the high-powered chips found in everything from fighter jets to battleships and submarines.
As such, China began an initiative to build its own processors back in the early 80's that eventually evolved into the "Made in China 2025" campaign that has the goal of producing 70% of the chips used in China by 2025. This initiative began long before the U.S.-China trade war unfolded, and the U.S. has long blocked China's attempts at gaining the know-how and equipment to fabricate chips through acquisitions and mergers, a situation that has only intensified recently. Chinese foundry SMIC and others continue to advance, but those foundry's will need solid chip designs when, and if, they can jump to leading-edge nodes.
Undeterred by numerous blocked acquisitions and an inability to buy key tooling for its own fabs, China spread its tentacles to several public/private partnerships to foster indigenous designs. In 2016, AMD forged a partnership with Hygon, a company , to produce Dyhana processors based on AMD's Zen architecture. The resulting THATIC joint venture was in the name of national security as the trade war unfolded.
Fueled by government investments and preferential treatment in the market, other native Chinese companies have joined the fray, but with non-x86 architectures. Huawei has developed the and Phytium Technologies is . That's important given the rise of Windows on ARM, and Chinese company Loongson also continues to advance its MIPS designs that rely on x86 emulation.
But there's no substitute for the ubiquity of a native x86-64 processor, and Zhaoxin has plenty of uptake. Both Lenovo and HP have fielded Zhaoxin-based systems for the Chinese market, with Lenovo offering its Kaitian desktop PCs, Zhaoyang FF03 laptops, and server products. HP also has a line of products, including its HP 268 Pro G1 MT that comes powered by the KX-U6780A processor.
Having the support of these large OEMs, not to mention the constellation of smaller builders inside China, is important as the country now looks to enforce its that comes as a result of the trade war. This policy stipulates that all government and public institutions must switch to 100% China-native hardware and software by 2022, with 30% of foreign gear replaced in the first year, 50% replaced the next, and the remainder eliminated in the third year of the program. That means the Zhaoxin KX-U6780A stands a good chance of finding some measure of success relatively quickly...
The article is incredibly long, and will not post it in its entirety.
China-based Zhaoxin Semiconductor, which roughly translates to 'million core,' has fielded a new eight-core KaiXian KX-U6780A processor based on its mysterious LuJiaZui microarchitecture and fabbed on TSMC's 16nm FinFET process. Chips based on the architecture bring a new level of performance to China's roster of homegrown chips that span from desktop PCs to servers, but the KX-6000 series is destined for , PCs, and office machines. Today we have the chip in for testing on Zhaoxin's HX002EH1 demo board to determine if it can rank among our list of .
Zhaoxin definitely isn't a household name, but it's one of the very few companies that designs bespoke x86 processors. That means it competes with the likes of dominant chip producers AMD and Intel, which is surprising given the patent-protected x86 instruction set and strict licensing agreements that have long narrowed the field of x86 chip producers to the Intel, AMD, and VIA triumvirate. Details are scarce, but the fabless Zhaoxin consists of a joint venture between the Shanghai Municipal Government, which invested 80% of the company's initial capital, and Taiwanese VIA Technologies, which provided 20%. This partnership structure purportedly allows Chinese government-controlled interests to design x86 processors while staying within the legal boundaries of licensing agreements.
The end result is a processor designed specifically for the China market that Zhaoxin says reaches the same level of performance as Intel's seventh-gen Core i5-7400. While that's certainly not overly impressive given that Intel's seventh-gen processors debuted in early 2017, it marks a big step forward for Zhaoxin, which claims its new LuJiaZui microarchitecture provides a 1.5X improvement in instructions per cycle (IPC) throughput over the preceding WuDaoKou architecture. It also comes with several new features, like Zhaoxin's first integrated graphics engine. The KX-6000 line is a step towards a larger goal: It serves as the intermediary processor before the company's next-gen 7nm chips that will come with DDR5 memory and the PCIe 4.0 interface as the company .
But disrupting the existing duopoly is no easy task. Let's take a quick look at what we know about the Zhaoxin KX-6000 series, then dive into our test results.
The Road to China-Designed Chips
China is by far the world's largest importer of processors, the majority of which are exported as finished products. However, the country has long sought independence from western influences on its economy. China only produces roughly 16% of the silicon it uses in-country, and only half of that production is controlled by Chinese interests. As such, China's reliance on western CPU production presents a strategic liability for the country's economy in the event of a blockade or tariffs, not to mention the implications of potentially nefarious backdoors built into the chips. It's also no secret that today's wars are won with the high-powered chips found in everything from fighter jets to battleships and submarines.
As such, China began an initiative to build its own processors back in the early 80's that eventually evolved into the "Made in China 2025" campaign that has the goal of producing 70% of the chips used in China by 2025. This initiative began long before the U.S.-China trade war unfolded, and the U.S. has long blocked China's attempts at gaining the know-how and equipment to fabricate chips through acquisitions and mergers, a situation that has only intensified recently. Chinese foundry SMIC and others continue to advance, but those foundry's will need solid chip designs when, and if, they can jump to leading-edge nodes.
Undeterred by numerous blocked acquisitions and an inability to buy key tooling for its own fabs, China spread its tentacles to several public/private partnerships to foster indigenous designs. In 2016, AMD forged a partnership with Hygon, a company , to produce Dyhana processors based on AMD's Zen architecture. The resulting THATIC joint venture was in the name of national security as the trade war unfolded.
Fueled by government investments and preferential treatment in the market, other native Chinese companies have joined the fray, but with non-x86 architectures. Huawei has developed the and Phytium Technologies is . That's important given the rise of Windows on ARM, and Chinese company Loongson also continues to advance its MIPS designs that rely on x86 emulation.
But there's no substitute for the ubiquity of a native x86-64 processor, and Zhaoxin has plenty of uptake. Both Lenovo and HP have fielded Zhaoxin-based systems for the Chinese market, with Lenovo offering its Kaitian desktop PCs, Zhaoyang FF03 laptops, and server products. HP also has a line of products, including its HP 268 Pro G1 MT that comes powered by the KX-U6780A processor.
Having the support of these large OEMs, not to mention the constellation of smaller builders inside China, is important as the country now looks to enforce its that comes as a result of the trade war. This policy stipulates that all government and public institutions must switch to 100% China-native hardware and software by 2022, with 30% of foreign gear replaced in the first year, 50% replaced the next, and the remainder eliminated in the third year of the program. That means the Zhaoxin KX-U6780A stands a good chance of finding some measure of success relatively quickly...
Getting close. Competition is good for the consumer.
Currently, 136-layers (Samsung) is the current world-standard for mass-produced consumer NAND memory.
Micron: 128-layer
Kioxia (Toshiba): 112-layer
Chinese firm YMTC unveils 128-layer flash memory chip
By Ma Si | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2020-04-13 10:14
Yangtze Memory Technologies Co Ltd introduces its 128-layer flash memory chip on Monday. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Chinese chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies Co Ltd officially introduced its 128-layer flash memory chip on Monday, marking a key step in the country's efforts to grow its homegrown semiconductor sector.
YMTC said its 128-layer flash memory 3D NAND chips, a type of high-end non-volatile memory chip, has passed sample verification on the solid-state drives platform through co-working with multiple controller partners.
The chip, named X2-6070, has achieved the highest bit density, and highest capacity so far among all 3D NAND flash memory products on the market currently, YMTC claimed.
Grace Gong, senior vice-president of marketing and sales at YMTC, said in a statement that "We are able to achieve these results today because of the incredible synergy created through seamless collaboration with our global industry partners, as well as remarkable contributions from our employees."
"With the launch of Xtacking 2.0, YMTC is now capable of building a new business ecosystem where our partners can play to their strengths and we can achieve mutually beneficial results," Gong added.
Xtacking is the company's in-house developed chip architecture, and it is the basis for the company's high-end 64-layer flash memory chips, which entered volume production last year.
In its 128-layer line of products, Xtacking has been upgraded to version 2.0, which is bringing more benefits to flash memory, the company said.
"This product will first be applied to consumer-grade solid-state drives and will eventually be extended into enterprise-class servers and data centers in order to meet the diverse data storage needs of the 5G and AI era," Gong added.
YMTC is a unit of Chinese semiconductor giant Tsinghua Unigroup, and it is part of Chinese company's key push to reduce heavy reliance on foreign semiconductor industry.
Currently, 136-layers (Samsung) is the current world-standard for mass-produced consumer NAND memory.
Micron: 128-layer
Kioxia (Toshiba): 112-layer
Chinese firm YMTC unveils 128-layer flash memory chip
By Ma Si | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2020-04-13 10:14
Chinese chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies Co Ltd officially introduced its 128-layer flash memory chip on Monday, marking a key step in the country's efforts to grow its homegrown semiconductor sector.
YMTC said its 128-layer flash memory 3D NAND chips, a type of high-end non-volatile memory chip, has passed sample verification on the solid-state drives platform through co-working with multiple controller partners.
The chip, named X2-6070, has achieved the highest bit density, and highest capacity so far among all 3D NAND flash memory products on the market currently, YMTC claimed.
Grace Gong, senior vice-president of marketing and sales at YMTC, said in a statement that "We are able to achieve these results today because of the incredible synergy created through seamless collaboration with our global industry partners, as well as remarkable contributions from our employees."
"With the launch of Xtacking 2.0, YMTC is now capable of building a new business ecosystem where our partners can play to their strengths and we can achieve mutually beneficial results," Gong added.
Xtacking is the company's in-house developed chip architecture, and it is the basis for the company's high-end 64-layer flash memory chips, which entered volume production last year.
In its 128-layer line of products, Xtacking has been upgraded to version 2.0, which is bringing more benefits to flash memory, the company said.
"This product will first be applied to consumer-grade solid-state drives and will eventually be extended into enterprise-class servers and data centers in order to meet the diverse data storage needs of the 5G and AI era," Gong added.
YMTC is a unit of Chinese semiconductor giant Tsinghua Unigroup, and it is part of Chinese company's key push to reduce heavy reliance on foreign semiconductor industry.
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