In his article, Stephen Tran, a reporter for SCMP, cited information from a research team that said the "breakthrough" chip technology behind the analog-to-digital converter could give the military a crucial advantage in real-world combat.
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| A Chinese research team says it has invented a breakthrough chip technology that can detect and respond to radar signals 91.46 percent faster, nearly doubling the speed of combat. Photo: Shutterstock Images |
According to this SCMP reporter, Chinese scientists have developed the fastest analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) for military use. This device can reduce the delay time of electronic warfare receivers from nanoseconds to picoseconds - or one trillionth of a second.
The research team in question is from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), led by Professor Ning Ning at UESTC, which is based in the tech hub of Chengdu and has close ties to major defense contractor China Electronics Technology Group. According to the team, the chip technology will help detect and respond to radar signals 91.46 percent faster, nearly doubling the speed of combat, giving the Chinese military a crucial advantage.
In electronic warfare, military forces must first convert the detected electromagnetic waves, which are analog signals, into a digital format of 0s and 1s. They must then analyze the digital signals on computers so they can perform tactical actions such as identifying, locating, deceiving, or destroying enemy defenses. To avoid signal loss, ADCs must operate at full capacity, collecting billions of samples per second and generating massive amounts of data.
In a peer-reviewed paper published in the Chinese academic journal Microelectronics earlier this month, Professor Ning and colleagues said the process “severely limits the response speed of the device and leads to high power consumption and severe heat generation in advanced electronic warfare receivers.”
“In the field of electronic warfare receivers, the industry has focused on reducing signal processing latency and improving device response speed by increasing the conversion rate of ADCs, while reducing device power consumption by lowering the ADC power consumption,” the team said. “However, the difficulty of designing low-power, ultra-high-speed ADCs has increased significantly, while the ability to improve device performance has become increasingly insignificant. This path has reached its limit.”
Professor Ning is also the Director of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) innovation laboratory, established by UESTC and Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies.
The joint lab was established in May 2023 with an investment of $3.17 million from Huawei. According to the UESTC website, the lab specializes in research and technology transfer in the field of ultra-low-power hybrid digital-analog integrated circuits.
Huawei and Ning's teams have jointly developed intelligent detection systems for sensing and transmission, achieving many achievements such as lightweight, high-precision sensor detection chips, algorithms, and hardware systems.
For the ultra-fast ADC, Ning’s team drew inspiration from electroencephalogram (EEG) monitors, devices that measure the electrical activity of the brain. In real electronic confrontations, radar signals are often not as continuous as brain signals. Most of the time, brain sensors only receive noise. To save power, some wearable EEG monitors use event-triggered ADCs to simplify signal conversion and feature extraction. This is the inspiration for Professor Ning’s team to develop the world’s first smart ADC for military use.
The chip can analyze analog signals before converting them to digital signals, determining whether they are target radar signals or interference. The chip will only issue an alarm and start converting analog signals to digital signals at full power when the radar signal is confirmed. The chip is manufactured using an advanced 28-nanometer process, which is cost-effective and easy to mass-produce.
China can make its own 28-nanometer lithography machines and has also imported large quantities of such chipmaking equipment in recent years to boost its production capacity, as its access to high technology is increasingly restricted by US-led export controls.
China exported nearly 260 billion finished process chips in the first half of this year, up more than 25 percent, according to Chinese customs data.
Some military experts attribute China’s rapid growth in electronic warfare capabilities to its booming communications industry. According to the latest official figures, China has installed nearly 4 million 5G base stations, 20 times more than the United States.
As for Huawei, despite being subject to US sanctions, the company still recorded a 145.5% profit growth last year thanks to significant breakthroughs in the field of microchips and other advanced technologies, including the world's first smartphone that can connect to satellites 36,000km away without an external antenna.
According to the group's website, the company is a top employer for Ning's students after graduation.
Every year, about 1.6 million Chinese college students graduate with degrees in telecommunications engineering, more than any other major.
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/china-new-super-fast-chip-co-the-tang-gap-doi-toc-do-chien-tranh-dien-tu-280759.html
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