Chapter 259: with translation of chapter title

The Land Rover drove into Ha Gong Da; just as they entered the gate, Old Lin was surprised.

"Huh, those lights over there… that building is about seven or eight stories high, right?"

In later times, such a height would be considered low‑density housing; often it's thirty‑story towers, with pigeon‑cage‑like spaces being the norm. But now, in some two‑ or three‑story buildings, a seven‑ or eight‑story building suddenly appears, which is still quite noticeable.

This is because if the building were any higher, an elevator would be required; otherwise, they would surely have to build ten or more stories!

"Hmm, the seven‑story main body, with the lit‑up area on top, is our satellite navigation receiving antenna." Qin Miao said: "This is our Building Four, which has just been constructed."

"Come on, let's go take a look!"

It's already eleven o'clock, and many rooms still have their lights on; I don't know whether the students are studying or the faculty and students are doing research.

When Old Lin stepped on the stairs and reached the top floor, he heard cheering coming from a room.

"Good, that's fantastic!"

"Hmm, the handheld terminal has been made; next come the vehicle‑mounted and aircraft‑mounted versions—the principle is the same, and it's not difficult!"

A precision‑guided bomb only needs a receiver; inside, a target‑comparison circuit controls the servo deflection, whereas the handheld terminal of a satellite positioning system requires many functions.

It must receive the target signal and also send a short message…

"It's a pity that our terminal can currently transmit only numbers and English letters; if it could transmit Chinese characters, it would be much more convenient…"

"You can't even display Chinese characters on a computer, let alone on this handheld terminal!" another voice said.

Beep beep beep…

Old Lin hurried in, two steps at a time, pushed the door open, and saw a crowd gathered around a test bench; on it was an aluminum‑alloy device the size of a lunch box, and, moreover, it had a small LCD screen!

Qin Miao glanced over and felt a bit sentimental about the circuit board, which was even bigger than a brick‑phone; there was nothing to be done—with the technological level of the early 1980s, that's all we could produce. Our Ha Gong Da semiconductor plant needs to start production soon and improve its craftsmanship; without modern electronic technology, many high‑end products simply can't be made!

Old Lin, however, treasured it as if it were a priceless gem.

"Is this the satellite navigation terminal? Can it be used? Tell me how to use it."

"You need to go to the roof or to an open outdoor spot to receive the satellite signal," Yang Chan said.

"All right, let's go try it!"

Beep beep beep… Old Lin ran down faster than the youngsters, leapt all the way down in one breath, stood outside Building Four, and stared at the tiny LCD screen on the handheld terminal.

Numbers appeared on it.

"The first numbers are the longitude, the following ones the latitude—this is the unique coordinate on Earth. Look, as you move, these values change," Yang Chan explained beside him.

"Indeed, those numbers may look inconvenient, but if they're precise enough, our staff officers can plot them on a map…"

"No need, Old Lin; our Computer Science Department is researching an integrated command system. By then, these coordinates will be computed on the computer and then displayed on a screen or an electronic sand table, allowing us to see the terminals' positions intuitively."

"Good, good, good—shall we go check out the Computer Science Department?"

The Computer Science Department's building was still under construction; they were still working at their original site. When Old Lin entered, he saw many people busy, their fingers constantly striking the keyboard, leaving characters on the screen.

"'San Shui, you've come?' Professor Hu walked over and said, 'Don't worry, we will absolutely not lag behind; we will surely finish the programming within the allotted time!'

"Yeah, Professor Hu, everyone has worked hard!"

"'What hardship? Applying knowledge to practice deepens understanding. Our Ha Gong Da programming course was sparked by you; now, through this project, everyone has gained a deeper grasp of programming…'"

Professor Hu kept talking with Qin Miao, leaving Old Lin off to the side; he didn't feel neglected, walked over, and stared at the computer screen. Amidst the clacking sounds, characters jumped across the screen—though he couldn't understand them, they looked impressive!

"'Old Lin, the future will be an age of high technology.' Qin Miao said: 'Not only our university, but the military also needs to master computers. Later, when we lay fiber‑optic networks across the country, all military information can be swiftly delivered via computer systems.'"

"In this era, even making a long‑distance call takes effort, and a computer network is even more distant; however, Ha Gong Da has begun developing the microelectronics industry, and it will surely soon drive this high‑tech revolution!"

Old Lin didn't really understand, but he trusted Qin Miao.

"All right, the modernization of our army will rely on you, Ha Gong Da!"

"'Old Lin, we can't rely on us alone; all domestic researchers must work together, and we also need national economic development and strong national strength…'"

"Exactly, you're right! As long as we work together, our country will surely become stronger!"

"'Qin Miao, is it really you? You've finally come our way!' Just then, an excited voice rang out."

Qin Miao turned his head and saw a familiar face: "Engineer Ni?"

"'Yeah, come on, let's go to our Loongson project team!' Engineer Ni said, face full of excitement: 'I came out to use the restroom, saw your crowd over here, originally wanted to take a detour, but didn't expect to see you! Our Loongson project has already completed the first stage of development!'"

Last time, Qin Miao brought Engineer Ni to the Capital to poach talent, but after that he never bothered with it again—there were simply too many projects! He couldn't keep up, and besides, he trusted Engineer Ni and Engineer Huang completely.

"'Old Lin, would you like to hear about the progress of our computer chip? This will be the brain of all future domestically produced equipment.'"

"'Okay.' Old Lin nodded; he knew he probably wouldn't understand even if he went, but he just wanted to listen!"

Inside the machine room, there were many familiar faces, as well as some unfamiliar ones.

"'To break free from foreign dependence, we must have our own top‑level design. The Loong architecture and Loong instruction set are our attempt; we believe this architecture is completely superior to x86. As for the instruction set, we have already formulated over sixteen hundred instructions, and more may be added later, possibly ending up with over two thousand…'"

"'How does this processor compare to the 8086 chip?' Old Lin asked; that was the only thing he knew."

Engineer Ni proudly raised his head: 'Ours is a 16‑bit processor, with performance a hundred times that of the 8086!'

Ha Gong Da's products are all top‑notch!

Qin Miao also got excited: in 1982, Intel officially released its first 286 processor, moving from 8‑bit to 16‑bit, with a substantial performance boost.

We will design this year, start mass production next year, in sync with Intel, and we will definitely capture a share of the international market—and better meet the needs of all domestic industries! For example, a satellite receiver using it would surely be far more powerful than an 8086.