2023年终盘点丨中国芯片产业取得新突破
2023年对于中国芯片产业来说，是忙碌而又成果颇丰的一年。跟随CGTN一起回顾这一年中国芯片产业的重要成就。
2023hasbeenalandmarkyearforsemiconductorchiptechnologyinChina,asthecountrymadesomeimportantbreakthroughsonitswaytowardsbecominganindependentinnovationpowerhouse.
Herearesomeoftheachievementsthatmayhavelong-term implications.
HuaweiMate60
TheMate60satelliteterminal./Huawei
ThephoneitselfisnotasimpressiveastheunderlyingtechnologiesthatenabledthephonetobringtheShenzhen-basedphonemakerbacktothemainstageoftheworld'slargestandmostcompetitivemarket.
TheMate60canmakesatellitecallswithoutanexternalantenna,exhibitinganadvanceddesignofradiocommunicationtechnology. Phonesfromotherbrandscanonly,bytheendoftheyear2023,sendsatellitetextmessagesattheirbest.
ChinaTelecomandsatellitemakerscollaboratedwithHuaweiintheimplementationofthislifesavingfunctionality.BehindHuawei,therearemanysupplychainsworkingtomakemiracleshappen.
Anothermiracleisthe5G-levelspeedoftheMate60'scellularnetwork,enabledbythemodempartofthecompany'sKirin9000ssystem-on-a-chip(SoC).
It'sstillamysteryastowhomadetheKirin9000s.Butit'ssafetoguessthatthemanufacturerisbasedintheChinesemainland–almostnooneisstrongenoughtochallengetheU.S.exportcontrols.IfadomesticchipmakerbuilttheKirin9000s,itissafetosaythatChinahasobtainedthetechnologytomakeadvancedsemiconductorchipswithoutviolatingthoseunfairU.S.rules,whichdemonstratesChina'spowerinthechipindustry.
Localmemorychipbrands
InadditiontotheSoCthatdoesthecomputing,Chinaalsomadebreakthroughsinmemorychipsthatstoredatainsmartphones,laptopsanddatacenters.
Wuhan-basedYangtzeMemoryTechnologiesCorp.(YMTC)upgradedtheir"Xtacking"technologytoversionthree,whichcanproducetheworld-leading232-layer3DNANDchips.ThecompanyannouncedandshippedsuchtechnologyaheadofotherindustrygiantslikeSouthKorea'sSamsungandU.S.chipmakerMicron.
TheheadquartersofYMTC,Wuhan,China,February24,2023./CFP
Thisnewtechnologyisoneofthereasonsbehindthesharppricedropofsolid-statedrives(SSD)–atypeofsuper-fastdatastorageforconsumers–inthefirsthalfoftheyear.
Anaveragefour-terabitSSDdrivewassoldforonly999yuan($140)inJune,comparedtoaround3,499yuan($490)backinmid-2022.
Withanadequatesupplyofdomesticmemorychips,ChinaconductedinspectionsonimportedchipsmadebyMicroninMarchandfoundseriousnetworksecurityrisks.
InMay,thegovernmentbannedthebrandfromenteringcriticalinfrastructure.
Otherchipbreakthroughs
ApartfromchipsbasedonWesterndesignstandards,Chinaalsocreateditsownarchitectureforcomputerprocessors–theLoongarchfromLoongsonTechnology.WehavethoroughlyreviewedtheLoongson3A6000'sperformanceindailytasksandfoundthatitcanworkasareliableentry-levelCPU.
In2023,Chinaalsodevelopedtheworld'sfirstsuperall-analogphotoelectronicchip,madeabreakthroughinmemristorcomputing-in-memorychipsanddevelopeditsfirstreconfigurable5GRFtransceiverchip.
Allinall,China'schipindustrytookabigstepforwardin2023andispoisedtogainmoreindependencefromWesterntechnologiesinthefuture.