The 32-bit microprocessor developed by Tsinghua University passed technical appraisal given by Ministry of Education on Feb 18. The CPU chip, with the highest working frequency in China, symbolizes that China has taken a crucial step in microprocessor design. It also produces pushing effect for forming a computer related industry with independent intellectual property.

Co-funded by design project of super large-scale integrated circuit the "863 project" and Tsinghua University's "985 Plan", the chip has been jointly developed by Tsinghua University's Research Institute of Information Technology, Department of Computer Science & Technology and Institute of Microelectronics. The 32-bit embedded CPU chip owns independent intellectual property. Featuring advanced assembly line structure and fixed character length of 32-bit, it boasts maximum main frequency of 500 MHz and fixed point calculation speed of 444 MIPS with power consumption less than 0.5 Watt.

Tsinghua University set a record for developing chip with highest frequency in China by least cost in less than two years. The achievement shows Tsinghua University is in front rank of the CPU research and development in China. It is also a leading institute in areas of overall system design, research and debugging environment for software and hardware and debug technology for chip.

(People's Daily February 20, 2004)