Fast Forward: China's Newest CPU

Posted 02/26/2009 at 10:50am | by Tom Halfhill

2

Comments

Print

Three years ago, I wrote about the Godson-2, a Chinese microprocessor that’s largely compatible with the MIPS architecture. I speculated that its successor, the Godson-3, would be a quad-core chip and that the Chinese needed x86 compatibility to break into the worldwide PC market.

So I wasn’t too surprised when the Godson-3 was unveiled at a recent technology conference in Silicon Valley. Sure enough, the first version has four cores, and the Chinese are adding more than 200 new instructions for x86 software emulation. These developments indicate that Chinese microprocessor technology is rapidly catching up with the rest of the world.

Three points are important here. First, it’s one thing for China to assemble products using parts (such as microprocessors) invented or manufactured elsewhere. It’s something else for China to develop native technology capable of competing on the world stage. China has the potential to radically shake up the market.

Second, China wants to be technology independent, just as the U.S. yearns to be energy independent. Computing technology is a fundamental resource, as vital for economic prosperity and national security as oil. Godson processors are designed at the Institute for Computing Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, but they are much more than an academic exercise. Godson is a high-priority national project largely funded by the Chinese government.

Third, the Godson-3 isn’t a true x86-compatible processor, and its designers make no such claims. The extensions optimize x86-to-MIPS dynamic binary translation—a fancy term for software emulation. Transmeta’s discontinued Crusoe and Efficeon processors used similar techniques, but Transmeta marketed those chips as “x86 compatible.” The Godson-3 is designed to run MIPS software. The x86 extensions are a last resort for software unavailable on MIPS. I’m no expert on intellectual-property law, but the Godson extensions don’t appear to infringe on Intel or Transmeta patents.

Godson chips are mainly for Chinese domestic consumption, although I have found them in a few export products, including Linux netbook PCs. The Godson-3’s basic design supports many possible implementations, including massively parallel processors. China hopes to build a supercomputer by 2010 that’s among the fastest in the world. It’s clear that China will someday be a major player in microprocessors.

Tom Halfhill was formerly a senior editor for Byte magazine and is now an analyst for Microprocessor Report.