Recently, OPPO announced the complete termination of its chip design company, ZEKU Technology, which has attracted widespread attention online. Recently, Dr. Nhon Quach, an IEEE Senior Member and Chief SoC Architect at ZEKU Technology, shared information on LinkedIn, revealing some details about ZEKU’s development of high-end SoC chips for smartphones. He stated that the second-generation SoC architecture/design team had essentially completed their work in less than 10 months before ZEKU’s closure.
Nhon Quach stated, “We were given a 7-year mission (time and funding) to manufacture high-end chipsets for flagship smartphones. The first generation SoC, based on the N4P process, was built from scratch and successfully taped out in 2.5 years. Aside from a few inefficiencies and edge issues, the first-generation SoC achieved most of its performance targets and feature set. Regardless, this is an incredible achievement. Last year, I was fortunate to be recruited and worked with a vibrant team of architects/design engineers in the U.S. and China, responsible for creating the second-generation SoC.”
It was reported that during the development of the second-generation SoC, the team worked nearly 16 hours a day, almost every week, meticulously analyzing a large amount of competitive analysis data and numerous requirements/use cases. The architecture/design team completed a highly competitive architecture (Gen2) in just over 4 months and finalized the performance/feature set in 6 months. Building on the success of the first-generation SoC, the second-generation SoC, based on TSMC’s N3P process, is expected to tape out before the first quarter of 2024.
Nhon Quach claimed that the second-generation SoC boasts stunning features (such as the latest Arm Cortex-X series CPU cores and the latest GPU cores, rich CPU L1/2 caches, and massive L3/SLC caches, with DDR latency below 100ns, asynchronous MTE, AI DVFS/FI/SR), powered by a series of efficient internal custom IPs (NOC/SMMU/stealth filter/MTE/compression engine/secure enclave/DMC/PMU), which has generated significant excitement internally and will pose a huge challenge to competitors upon its launch in 2025.
Clearly, if the above information is accurate, ZEKU Technology’s original plan was to develop the SoC required for its high-end flagship smartphones within 7 years. Before its closure, ZEKU’s first-generation SoC was already in tape-out, and the design of the second-generation SoC was nearing completion. Although ZEKU Technology lacked experience in mobile baseband chips, previous reports indicated that ZEKU was originally planning to collaborate with MediaTek, using a self-developed AP combined with an external MediaTek 5G baseband solution.
(Previous related articles “In three years, how much has ZEKU actually ‘burned’? Why was it ultimately abandoned?” The salary estimates in the article may be underestimated, as overseas R&D teams typically earn more than domestic ones. Additionally, the second-generation 3nm SoC project requires extra IP costs, and after recalculating, it should not exceed 15 billion yuan.)
Unfortunately, OPPO has already shut down ZEKU, which has left the two generations of self-developed SoCs without a future.
Nhon Quach also stated, “I personally learned three things from this experience: (1) If there are sufficient resources and the right team, it is possible to build high-end mobile SoCs in a shorter time than most people think; (2) Under tight schedules, teamwork and enthusiasm are everything. Working with a team is magical, where everyone is motivated and focused on creating the best possible product; (3) Contrary to popular belief, Chinese architects/designers are equally creative and capable.”
“After OPPO announced the closure of ZEKU, many people asked me if I regretted joining ZEKU. My answer is no. I worked on such a meaningful project with such a great team and had the best time of my career. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat,” Nhon Quach lamented.
Finally, Nhon Quach hopes that companies will hire ZEKU’s R&D members in Palo Alto, San Diego, and Austin, USA.
According to Dr. Nhon Quach’s LinkedIn profile, before joining ZEKU Technology in August 2022, he served as the founder, CEO/CTO of Abee Semiconductor, and Chief System Architect at Microsoft AI & Advanced Architecture and Amazon Lab.
Editor: Chip Intelligence – Wandering Swordsman
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