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After the dust settles on the U.S. election, the fifth generation of Fangyuan personal computers will also be officially launched. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Compared with Tang Huan's call for the education and research network invested by the U.S. government ~ government to be commercialized to form the backbone architecture of the Internet, the significance of providing hardware network terminals is equally significant.

With the platform of the fifth generation Fangyuan personal computer, ordinary users will get the most people-friendly experience when using the Internet.

According to the CPU architecture, the fifth-generation Fangyuan personal computer is divided into four branches - Zheru's RISC microprocessor Holder, which is mainly oriented to the field of real-time industrial control; Wang Xuehong: VIA's low-power processors, mainly for the field of educational computers; Intel's Pentium, the latest generation of the X86 family of microprocessors of the P5 architecture, and the latest generation of the Motorola 68000 family of microprocessors, MC68060, are mainly aimed at the general field.

Supporting more types of CPUs is also one of the reasons why the R&D cycle of the fifth-generation Fangyuan PC is much longer than that of previous generations.

The reason for this pattern is entirely due to the needs of market development - the performance of ordinary personal computers in special applications such as real-time performance and low power consumption is indeed unsatisfactory.

Of course, the position of Intel and Motorola on the Fangyuan personal computer platform has not been affected by this, after all, its CPU has been designed for the general purpose from the beginning.

Although the R&D investment is huge, in the case of having dominated the rivers and lakes, it is enough to "eat well and not be afraid of being late", and then directly further expand the living space of Fangyuan's personal computer standards - large and small manufacturers, there is no need to sharpen their heads to fight in the homogeneous market, but to be application-oriented, each looking for its own good field, intensive cultivation.

At the same time, the twists and turns in the R&D progress of CPU manufacturers will not affect the overall situation of Fangyuan personal computers.

Take Intel's latest generation of microprocessors as an example,P5Version Pentium,Test began this spring,Plan to participate in the exhibition in the summer,Released in the fall,As a result, because of design problems,Had to give up the exhibition,Fortunately, the release time was held as scheduled,There was no delay in the launch of the fifth generation of Fangyuan personal computers。

Motorola is not as good as Intel - its 68000 microprocessor family is MC68040 of the same generation that competes with Intel_80486; Now the product that competes with Intel Pentium is called MC68060, which directly crosses the code name of MC68050, and also calls it a beautiful name, so as to show that its products are better than its competitors.

How could the richest man be deceived by such a trick - Motorola clearly went awry with its R&D plan.

At Motorola CEO Christofo? When Galvin came to visit, Tang Huan directly frowned and asked the other party, "How did I hear a rumor that MC68060 will be the last generation of the 68000 family of microprocessors?" ”

"I was about to explain this to you." Christopho? Galvin said apologetically: "Motorola is ready to focus its microprocessor product line from the 68000 family of CISC architecture to the 88000 family of RISC architecture, which has a better future, and hopes that Zheru can provide code migration services at the operating system level." ”

Tang Huan said with a displeased face: "How do I feel that Motorola's planning for microprocessor products is becoming more and more chaotic - the 68000 family CPU has been performing well on the Fangyuan personal computer platform, is it because of an unpredictable battle between CISC and RISC, so it decided to give up?" ”

"There is also a point that cannot be ignored, the 88000 family from 1988 to launch the first microprocessor to achieve a new architecture MC88100, the response has been flat, as a result, you not only seriously reviewed, but also ran to IBM to jointly develop what POWER, is this planning to fill the new hole?"

"Don, you have to understand that microprocessors are just a division of Motorola. Sometimes, it has to serve the bigger picture, such as when communications services need to launch satellites, and more advanced RISC microprocessors are needed on satellites. "A gentlemanly Christofo? Galvin explained unhurriedly: "The main purpose of my visit is to talk about cooperation in this area. ”

"I want to hear about it." Tang Huan, who finished complaining, nodded without moving.

In fact, Motorola, which has shown its skills in the field of communications, began to be careless about the increasingly competitive microprocessor business, and has long been seen by the richest man, and the reason why he creates pressure is just a habitual gesture.

Motorola transitioned from Bob Galvin, the second generation of the Galvin family, to the third generation of Christoford? Galvin, it's been a matter of the last few years.

In short, Christo, who is only five years older than Tang Huan and is also born in the 1950s? Galvin, lacking prestige, couldn't control the field, so some decisions inevitably went wrong.

However, this is someone else's family matter, Motorola is so big, and the internal and external interests are entangled, and even the founder's family can't handle it, Tang Huan will not come forward to point fingers in disgust, just complain a few words from the perspective of cooperation.

"Presumably, Don already knows something about Motorola's Iridium system plan." Christopho? Galvin asked not without ostentation.

This scheme of using low-orbit satellite constellations to realize global mobile satellite communications, after being proposed by Motorola in 1987, has been very popular, and after several years of intensive theoretical verification, it was soon announced to the public in June 1990, and in December of the same year, it applied for a license to the Federal Communications Commission, and obtained the license issued by it in September this year.

"Of course. Motorola seems to have received a license from the Federal Communications Commission. Tang Huan smiled playfully, "What, you came to me and want to talk about cooperation?" ”

The Iridium system, a classic business failure case that was famous in the original time and space, of course, the richest man will not forget that he has conducted relevant technical research in private.

He did not obsess over the technological advancement of such a satellite communication system covering the whole world, nor did he believe in the miserable commercial failure of the Iridium system, but from an objective and sober point of view, he finally came to a conclusion that this thing is not comparable to GPS, and no matter how advanced the technology and how attractive the commercial prospects, it will be difficult to succeed. There is no other reason, and it is enough to have a conflict of interests inherent in human society.

The United States is now the world's only superpower, and it would be against human nature for Americans not to be complacent. In this case, it is reasonable for it to come forward to implement a unified communication network covering the whole dribble.

The problem is that the functions of the Iridium system cannot really be done entirely in the sky. For example, at least the gateway station is indispensable in its structure, which is responsible for providing the connection between the Iridium system network and other irreplaceable traditional telecommunications networks.

Then the problem arises, various countries and regions can give you American face, and cooperate with the border station section to settle on their own territory, but it is also natural that the interests are evenly distributed.

More than 100 countries and regions around the world, one by one negotiations in the past, how time-consuming and labor-intensive can be imagined, the efficiency of the United Nations is the most obvious example, its complexity is far more complex than the California high-speed rail, and high-tech has a "shelf life".

As expected, Christofo? Galvin said with great interest: "We have known each other for many years and have always worked together happily, and of course we will not forget you this time. So, is Don interested in participating in the Iridium system? ”

The richest man muttered for a moment, and then cautiously probed, "What does Motorola want from me?" ”

"Isn't the specific technical implementation of the Iridium system, as well as the funding needs of billions of dollars, including satellites, what Tang is best at?" Christopho? Galvin talked eloquently and lobbied, showing the demeanor of a child of the family.

The richest man can be seen clearly, in order to accumulate his prestige in Motorola, Christofo? Galvin bet all his passion on the Iridium system.

However, although the commercial failure of the Iridium system is predictable, in the eyes of Mr. Richest Man, it is not a simple matter of success or failure.

First of all, the specific technical realization of the Iridium system is a driving force for technology research and development.

Secondly, such a big cake as the Iridium system can be used as a bargaining chip for the top-level game, and it is just suitable as a card in the hand of Mr. The richest man.

Anyway, this pit is not just jumped into it alone, digging to the end, the biggest pot still has to be carried by Motorola, and from a global point of view, a little loss, worth the money.

What's more, judging from the current progress, the Iridium system is still going well.

Thinking of this, Tang Huan looked at Christofor? Galvin, a longtime friend, laughed unkindly, "Well, I support this ambitious plan—who asked you to do it yourself." ”

Got a satisfactory answer from Christofo? Galvin, laughing happily, "Good brother, it's still you who give you power!" ”

……

Sending off the simple-hearted, enthusiastic Christopho? After Galvin, Tang Huan thought about it, and then added a keyword "Iridium satellite" in the Chinese part of the schedule.

At this time, Intel CEO Andy? Grove walked in on his heels, his face unconcealed with joy.

Intel's latest generation of CPU, the P5 architecture microprocessor, finally has a satisfactory official name and trademark, and a professional trademark firm has designed the "Pentium".

Among them, the affix "Pent-" comes from the Greek word for "fifth", which indicates the fifth-generation architecture of the x86 family of microprocessors; The affix "-ium" comes from the Latin word for element, which is used to imply that the CPU is a basic component of a computer, comparable to a chemical element.

In addition, Intel's major shareholder Tang Huan specially gave "Pentium" a Chinese name - "Pentium", showing the love of boxing.

Andy? Grove came this time, first of all, to thank the grace of the name, because of the great affirmation contained in it, and the consequent improvement of his status on the Fangyuan personal computer platform.

Of course, the CEO has to steal the joy - after Intel gave up the main business of memory and turned to completely press the treasure on the microprocessor, the x86 series CPU was not superior in the process of competing with Motorola's MC68000 family of CPUs, until the previous generation of Intel_80486 and MC68040 were fighting each other, the performance was still at a disadvantage, that is, the power consumption was relatively well controlled; But now, Motorola has dropped its own chain, and there is a tendency to lose without a fight, the pressure on Intel's head is light, and with the hype of the concept of the fifth generation Fangyuan personal computer, relying on the Pentium microprocessor that is also related to the "5", the stock price has risen sharply.

The ineffectiveness of Motorola's microprocessor products is not only shown on the Fangyuan personal computer platform, but there is another obvious example. That is, Apple's computer, which has long used the MC68000 family of CPUs, has also begun to look for another more powerful microprocessor, such as the joint development of new POWER products suitable for personal computers with IBM.

As the only CPU competitor on Fangyuan's personal computer platform for a long time, the decline of Motorola naturally means the prosperity of Intel.

However, Intel can't be complacent, nor can it be proud, Guy has introduced two more CPUs on the fifth-generation Fangyuan personal computer platform, although it is only for special areas, but it is enough to play a spur role, and Intel has to rush endlessly.

After accepting Andy? After Grove thanked him for the grace of the name, Tang Huan encouraged: "The annual sales of personal computers in the world are increasing by at least 10 million units every year, which shows the strong demand for CPUs, and I hope that Intel will continue to make persistent efforts to let the Pentium microprocessor add native support for multimedia instructions as soon as possible, and the operating frequency will exceed 100MHz." ”

Feel the weight in the words of the richest man, Andy? Grove confidently patted his chest and assured that the Pentium microprocessor could achieve both of these hopes in the next step-by-step version, without waiting for the next generation.

……

The fifth-generation Fangyuan personal computer was officially unveiled at this year's Las Vegas Fall COMDEX.

The marketing department weaves two major selling points for it - comprehensive built-in multimedia capabilities and perfect Internet access equipment.

Previously, the multimedia function of Fangyuan personal computer needed to be realized by adding additional acceleration cards, but now it is a standard and necessary function, directly replacing the low-end acceleration card; Only when it comes to more professional uses such as video capture, will additional high-end accelerator cards be required.

During his speech at the Industry Summit, Mr. The richest man emphasized that the fifth generation of Fangyuan personal computers is the most ideal access terminal to the Internet, such as the dynamic web display of the World Wide Web browser, which can work perfectly on this platform.

THE TRIUMPH OF THE TANG KINGDOM OF IT MEANS THE LOSS OF THOSE WHO ARE DISPLACED OUTSIDE THE SYSTEM - LARRY ELLISON, THE CEO OF ORACLE, WHO WAS LISTENING TO THE SPEECH IN THE AUDIENCE, STARED THOUGHTFULLY AT THE FIFTH GENERATION OF SQUARE COMPUTERS. (To be continued.) )