Chapter 140: A Cross-era Product
At this time, China, in the face of pressure, was already fully embracing Western academic journals and academia-related magazines, with a focus on the semiconductor field.
You don’t know until you look.
One look and you’re shocked.
In the past, everyone was in a state of disconnection. Most experts in China’s semiconductor field returned to China in 1955 or earlier, and they actually didn’t know much about the progress after 1955.
Journals and magazines from the West helped them make up for this knowledge gap.
The journals selected by Qu Runpu were also very representative.
“Applied Physics Letters,” “Physical Review,” “IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices,” “Electronic Engineering Times,” etc.
At present, the entire American semiconductor industry was at a critical juncture of technological breakthroughs and market expansion.
Just as China’s scientists had confirmed that the Raspberry Pi was a silicon-based transistor, they saw in American industry magazines that Silicon Valley’s semiconductor industry was already using silicon-based transistors on a large scale to replace germanium-based transistors.
This feeling was like, you just found the direction, and then discovered that the other side was already far ahead of you.
In 1958 and 1959, Texas Instruments and Fairchild jointly invented the integrated circuit. Fairchild launched silicon mesa transistors based on planar processes and integrated them into early ICs. Texas Instruments developed simple logic circuits containing multiple silicon transistors.
Just by combining these two pieces of news, China’s scientists could confirm that the Raspberry Pi was an integrated circuit of silicon-based transistors, but with transistors that had already achieved super miniaturization, small to nanometer or even smaller sizes.
Another point is that, in reality, Silicon Valley’s semiconductor technology is the grandfather, the Raspberry Pi is the grandson, a product of modern technology decades after the development of Silicon Valley semiconductor technology.
But from China’s perspective, the Raspberry Pi is the grandfather, and America’s semiconductor industry is the grandson.
It is precisely because of the booming development of Silicon Valley’s semiconductor industry that China subconsciously thought that the Raspberry Pi obtained by America was a batch of goods, like a whole spaceship loaded with a full box.
Then Lin Ran, relying on his own identity and status, quietly obtained one without anyone knowing.
After America obtained so many Raspberry Pis, they distributed them to various companies in Silicon Valley, which led to the current booming development of America’s semiconductor industry.
In 1962, the American Department of Defense and NASA purchased almost all the integrated circuit production, which provided China with side evidence that this was a coordinated action by the American Government and industry.
You have countless units, you can disassemble and crack them however you want, but I only have one, and it still needs to provide me with computing power, I fundamentally don’t dare to touch it—what if I can’t restore it after touching it?
Since I don’t dare to touch it, I can only rely on your research spillover results.
This is also the fundamental logic behind China increasing imports of academic journals from the West, even electronics-related professional magazines.
Some of these magazines were provided to Huang Yunji through John Qu Runpu’s channels, and others were procured by comrades like Long Sifan.
Finally transported back to China via the Hong Kong Shipping route.
No matter how poor the timeliness, it was still the most synchronized time since the founding of China.
Reports related to the American industry would appear in Area 51 at the latest three months later.
Including the fact that the entire Area 51 also received unprecedented protection, which could be described as isolated from the world.
Under the coincidental opportunities of history, China in this spacetime directly started walking the IDM mode in the semiconductor field, even more exaggerated than IDM, it was the future Huawei mode.
To explain here, there are many modes in semiconductor processing. Like Intel, it belongs to the IDM mode, responsible for everything from design to manufacturing to encapsulation and testing.
Like Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm, they belong to the Fabless mode, they only design chips, and outsource chip manufacturing to foundries.
Finally, there is the Foundry mode, that is, the foundry mode like TSMC.
Not only these modes, there are other modes.
But among them, the most special one is definitely the Huawei type, doing almost everything themselves that they can do themselves.
The current China is this mode.
The strength of the whole nation is developing Area 51.
What’s even more interesting is that China has already found a suitable semiconductor finished product—the Panda brand transistor radio—and has tasted some of the benefits of this mode.
For China, once such a positive cycle is built, it is an unstoppable momentum.
And the current China was about to find that point to leverage the snowball on the LED diode light-emitting device.
It’s just that no one in Area 51 at this time realized this yet.
They only had a sense of urgency in their hearts, not to lag too far behind America.
Shudu, State-owned Factory 132.
In 1953, the Soviet Union transferred the manufacturing rights of the jet fighter MiG-15 and the trainer Yak-18 to China, and provided complete technical data and prototypes.
Both of these aircraft included engine technology.
From then on, China began developing the Type 56 fighter on this basis.
And the State-owned Factory 132, established in 1958, was obviously far behind Shenyang Aircraft in aircraft research and development.
But China entrusted the important all-weather fighter J-5A and the Shuguang-1 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft tasks entirely to Factory 132.
This both excited them greatly and made them feel immense pressure.
After the later J-20 success, Chengfei was called by the media the youngest team, but this was actually a long-standing tradition.
The team at Factory 132, except for a few core backbones from Shenyang Aircraft, consisted entirely of young engineers cultivated by the republic itself.
Tu Jida, as the chief engineer of Factory 132, only felt overwhelmed and under tremendous pressure.
“Chief Engineer Tu, the army has sent more stuff, need to trouble you to come sign for it.” Secretary Xiao Ye knocked on the door and said directly from outside.
Tu Jida walked to the camp gate and discovered another military truck parked outside the factory area, with canvas covering it.
There was no need to open it to look; just from the outline outside, he knew what it was: wreckage of a U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance airplane.
Tu Jida stood at the camp gate as Zhao Jianjun got off the truck and strode toward Tu Jida.
Zhao Jianjun said gravely: “Chief Engineer Tu, this is the wreckage of a U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance airplane. Please confirm and sign here afterward.”
Tu Jida took a deep breath, because this was the second one.
Last month, they had transported one U-2 over, and now another one was being delivered.
“Okay.” After signing, Tu Jida asked: “Old Zhao, let me ask you something—why are both of them being sent to me?
Don’t Shenfei and Nanfei need to share some of the task?”
Zhao Jianjun shook his head and said: “Engineer Tu, you should know very well that the U-2 task has been fully handed over to the 132 Factory side by the country. This heavy burden is yours alone.”
Tu Jida nodded slightly, his gaze falling on the truck, but his heart felt weighed down by a massive stone. He took a deep breath and responded: “Okay, Old Zhao, I understand the importance of the task.”
Tu Jida truly had little confidence.
First, reproducing the U-2 was not that easy; second, they also had the J-5 modification task, and there weren’t enough people.
But Tu Jida really didn’t understand why the U-2 was forcibly assigned to them when Shenfei’s strength was much greater.
However, he soon understood.
Almost at the same time two weeks later, Secretary Ye knocked on the door and said: “Chief Engineer Tu, a batch of cargo has arrived; please come sign for it.”
Tu Jida knew that China’s missile technology had made progress; the DF-1 was sold to the Russians at a high price due to its high precision, so shooting down a U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance airplane was normal.
But shooting down three in less than two months was a bit exaggerated.
Tu Jida thought to himself, “Why not just shoot down one every month so we can piece together the Americans’ U-2 reconnaissance airplane directly from the wreckage to make an original U-2 reconnaissance airplane.”
However, this time it was different from his guess; the canvas on the military truck wasn’t bulging.
Not only was it not bulging, it was even somewhat deflated, not like wreckage.
The one who came wasn’t Zhao Jianjun, but a comrade he hadn’t seen before.
The other party said very little: “Engineer Tu, please sign to confirm.”
The receipt only stated “40 boxes of information,” with no other details.
Tu Jida could only uncover the canvas with a puzzled mood and count; there were indeed 40 boxes.
“All right, Engineer Tu, keep it confidential.”
After moving these 40 boxes of information back to the archives room, he opened one and saw boldly written on the cover:
“U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance airplane technical data”
His hands were shaking.
After flipping through two pages, he finally understood the confidence behind China’s arrangement.
In the winter of 1962, with biting cold winds, the secret meeting room of the state-owned 132 Factory was filled with an atmosphere of tension and excitement.
Under the dim yellow lights, the conference table was piled high with thick documents and blueprints. Tu Jida stood at the table, his fingers lightly tracing the cover; after roughly flipping through all of them, his heart surged with indescribable emotions—shock, excitement, and a hint of unease.
In the room besides Tu Jida were also another technical expert Li Ming from Shenfei, Professor Wang transferred from the university system to support the 132 Factory, and Air Force representative Zhang Qiang.
“Engineer Tu, it’s confirmed—these materials were obtained through special channels,” Zhang Qiang broke the silence first, his voice low and firm.
“The specific source is top secret, so I won’t say more. But rest assured, these blueprints and parameters have been verified through multiple parties; their authenticity is beyond doubt, and you can cross-verify the technical data with the airplane wreckage later.”
Tu Jida slowly opened the first document, his gaze falling on the dense lines and annotations. The U-2’s airframe structure, engine layout, radar system configuration—every page was like a treasure trove of technology.
He looked up: “Director Zhang, I know the secrecy requirements, but I’m really curious—how exactly did we get these? Would the Americans let us obtain their core secrets so easily?”
Zhang Qiang’s face was like stone, showing no expression: “Factory Director Tu, you don’t need to worry about the specific process; these materials were indeed obtained through great hardship.”
If there were no connections, these materials couldn’t be obtained no matter the hardship.
It was precisely because Tu Jida was an expert who grew up independently domestically that he was unaware of the difficulty involved.
Professor Wang, as a scholar who returned from studying abroad, knew better the difficulty of obtaining these materials from America.
Professor Wang was baffled; even Professor Lin, who wielded great power at NASA, couldn’t possibly obtain U-2 technical data, right? he pondered.
The U-2 had nothing to do with NASA at all.
Li Ming, standing nearby, eagerly leaned over, opened another document, and said excitedly: “Factory Director, look at this! The U-2’s engine design, the use of titanium alloy—this is like a pie falling from the sky for us.”
But Tu Jida didn’t immediately agree; he frowned slightly and said gravely: “Engineer Li, don’t get too happy too soon. Although this technology is advanced, our industrial foundation is far behind America’s.
Reproducing it—how easy is that?”
Professor Wang adjusted his glasses and said slowly: “Factory Director Tu is right. With our current material processing, the engine’s superalloy is a big problem. And the radar system—whether our electronics industry can keep up is unknown.”
Zhang Qiang added: “Also, any computing needs you have can be given to me; a new computing center has been established in Yanjing, and I’ll pass your computing needs to Yanjing.
Additionally, regarding the radar system, there will be another factory to coordinate with us later; they are responsible for the radar system’s manufacturing.”
For the 132 Factory, which was still in its startup phase, rather than saying they were reproducing the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance airplane, it was more like Area 51 was cooperating with them to complete the U-2 reproduction.
After all, for China, having the U-2 would give further initiative along the coast.
Besides Factory 132 being assigned a new task, Hua Luogeng, who was originally redirected to Yangcheng to handle academic journal translation, mathematics application research, and other work, also received a transfer order from Yanjing.
“To: Comrade Hua Luogeng
According to the latest instructions, to accelerate the progress of key scientific research projects, you are specially transferred to the designated unit to carry out a special task. This task bears great responsibility and must be kept strictly confidential.
Upon receiving this order, please prepare immediately and do not delay.”
The content of the transfer order was only a few short sentences, just like when he was arranged in Yangcheng.
However, Hua Luogeng had already prepared himself mentally; for him, it was undoubtedly just going to a new place to make his own contribution to the country.
Only after arriving did he discover that it was already a scene of bustling activity.
On the mountain nearest to Area 51, there was an observation pavilion built by ancient people, from which the entire Area 51 could be seen at a glance.
Looking down, one could see construction everywhere, from dormitories to factory buildings to office buildings; various facilities appeared ready to rise from the ground.
“Old Qian, we’re cooperating again this time.”
Sitting in the pavilion, the winter weather in Panzhihua was nice; even in the cold midwinter, it wasn’t particularly cold here.
Dean Qian’s tone was heavy: “Yes, the pressure on us in all aspects is too great now.
We need to concentrate the most elite forces.
Professor Hua, you’ve also seen the Raspberry Pi; as a mathematician, you should be even more aware of its power.
If we’re not careful, we could become sinners for the ages.”
Hua Luogeng was one of the top-tier mathematicians, and like Dean Qian, he had a vision beyond his era.
As a mathematician who promoted the optimization method and overall planning method in the 1950s and continuously emphasized the importance of efficient computing for solving complex practical problems, the shock in his heart after seeing the Raspberry Pi was greater than anyone else’s.
Hua Luogeng deeply approved of Dean Qian’s mention of sinners for the ages: “If we fail to replicate the Raspberry Pi and America gets ahead of us, mastering such a powerful tool, it’s very likely we’ll never catch up to America in technology research and development.”
Although Hua Luogeng did not have foresight into the future and did not know what kind of power computers could unleash, he deeply knew that all aspects were inseparable from mathematics and computing power.
Especially in technology.
However, reality turned out to be even worse than Dean Qian and Hua Luogeng had guessed.
A feature interview signed by Randolph Lin would soon cross the ocean and appear on the desks of all scientists in Area 51:
“The Singularity Moment Brought by Integrated Circuits and Artificial Intelligence – Interview with Randolph Lin”
This Time Magazine interview conducted on Christmas 1962 swept across the globe in an extremely short time.
Not only did America and China recognize the importance of semiconductors, but the Soviet Union did as well.
The concepts of artificial intelligence and technological singularity appeared in human society for the first time.
Although artificial intelligence was still tens of thousands of miles away at present, under Lin Ran’s embellishment, human society began to pay attention to artificial intelligence for the first time.
This requires pulling the timeline and lens forward a bit more.
To the beginning of 1962.
Zhou Yuanshen, as a Chinese statistics professor working for the IBM laboratory, was also a professor in the Columbia University Mathematics Department; he knew Lin Ran.
Lin Ran first convinced IBM executives to provide them with the IBM 7094 II, which they had completed developing but not yet brought to market, to develop a chess AI program.
The specific team was led by Alex Bernstein, assisted by Zhou Yuanshen, with Lin Ran providing technical guidance.
Claude Shannon laid the theoretical foundation for computer chess, Allen Turing wrote the first hand-simulated chess program, and Alex Bernstein developed a chess program on the IBM 704 in 1957.
This was also the first complete chess program to run on actual hardware, not just a theoretical model or hand simulation.
Lin Ran hoped to push it forward a big step further.
A chess program capable of playing against humans and defeating humans didn’t need to beat world champions like Deep Blue; it just needed to defeat most human players.
Alex Bernstein was exhilarated upon learning that Lin Ran had joined; he knew all too well how much help a top-tier mathematics master would bring to their project.
And the technical guidance provided by Lin Ran also gave the IBM technical team a tremendous shock.
He proposed using multiple 7094 IIs for parallel computing, performing data exchange through external equipment, and manually writing communication protocols and task allocation logic to build a parallel computing framework, in order to stack up the computer’s computing power.
This parallel chess computing concept, which wouldn’t be proposed by Belle until the 1980s, was epoch-making at the time.
At the scene of the New York Mathematicians’ Christmas Party, Alex Bernstein stood behind the curtain very nervously, waiting for Lin Ran to unveil it and announce to the world the arrival of the AI chess player Deep Blue; this was the result of their entire year’s work.
The announcement time they chose was New York City’s new tradition – the Mathematician’s Christmas Dinner.
Was there any moment more impressive than presenting a machine capable of beating them at chess in front of the world’s top-tier minds?
Lately, it’s been daily ten thousand; your reading app’s identification also has daily updates over ten thousand – begging for a monthly ticket~
