Domestic mobile phone core-making tide broke out! Vivo launched the first self-developed chip v 1

Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily (Shanghai correspondent Huang Xinyi) Today (September 6th), vivo announced the launch of its first self-developed video chip, V 1, which will be installed on its flagship mobile phone X70 series.

Du Yuanjia, director of vivo imaging algorithm, introduced at the press conference that the research and development of the professional imaging chip V 1 lasted for two years, with more than 300 R&D teams and deep cooperation with mobile phone SOC manufacturers. V 1, as a fully customized integrated circuit chip with special specifications, can be matched with different main chips and display screens for data interaction with the main chip, which can expand the high-speed imaging computing capability of ISP and release the load of the main chip ISP.

At present, it is a general trend for mobile phone manufacturers to develop their own chips. International manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung have been using self-developed ISP chips. In addition to vivo, Xiaomi also launched a self-developed ISP chip this year. The core construction of OPPO is also in progress. According to previous media reports, its first product will also be an ISP chip, which is expected to be launched on the Find X4 series mobile phones listed next year.

A number of chip practitioners told the reporter of Science and Technology Innovation Board, "With the advent of the 5G video era, imaging technology has become the innovation point of mobile phone companies. The value of ISP chip lies in enhancing image quality and improving image quality. Mobile phone manufacturers choose self-developed ISP, which not only improves the image processing ability and forms their own core technology, but also realizes the differentiated advantage in the user's image experience. At the same time, ISP's solution is relatively mature, and it is also suitable as the starting point for mobile phone manufacturers to enter the chip track. "

ISP has become the core manufacturing entry point for mobile phone manufacturers.

ISP (Image Signal Processor), translated from Chinese as image signal processing, is an important part of the mobile phone chip system, which is mainly used to process the output signal of the front-end image sensor.

In recent years, domestic mobile phone brands pay great attention to users' photo experience, especially brands such as vivo and OPPO. ISP chips play a very key role in improving image quality.

It is understood that the V 1 chip released by vivo can assist and enhance the image effect of the main chip in complex light, dark scenes and extreme night scenes. For example, in night shooting, reduce noise and present a clear night scene.

A chip analyst told the reporter of Science and Technology Innovation Board: "ISP belongs to the image processing chip. Although the main chips of mobile phones have their own ISPs, with the functions of some peripheral devices becoming more and more customized, the standardized ISPs of the main chips are far from meeting the demand, which is one of the reasons why mobile phone manufacturers start their own research in order to create differentiated advantages. "

Hu Baishan, executive vice president of vivo, said that vivo will focus its resources on focusing algorithm, IP conversion and chip architecture design, and hand over manufacturing links such as chip flow to partners.

In this regard, a senior chip practitioner told the reporter of Science and Technology Innovation Board: "The key to ISP competition is not the chip itself, but the image algorithm. Mobile phone manufacturers can customize their own algorithms through self-developed ISPs, thus improving their image processing capabilities and forming their own core technologies. "

Before developing ISP chips, vivo has accumulated some experience in customizing chips. In vivo X 1 and X Play, vivo will implant customized Hi-Fi chips into mobile phones to enhance the audio experience of the mobile phone industry. 20 17, vivo put the customized DSP image chip into X9 Plus to improve the image HDR performance of the mobile phone. In addition, vivo also conducted joint research and development with Samsung on the core processor, and launched Exynos 980/ 1080 chip.

Nowadays, self-customized chips have become the ultimate solution for vivo. Bo Gu (pseudonym), an investor in the chip industry, told the reporter of Science and Technology Innovation Board: "Self-developed chips mean greater autonomy, and they can add their own algorithms instead of following the iteration cycle of chip manufacturers, which is conducive to mastering upstream technologies."

In addition to improving the image quality, professional custom chips have the characteristics of low power consumption when dealing with specific tasks compared with general chips such as CPU and DSP.

Du Yuanjia pointed out that the energy efficiency ratio of V 1 is several times higher than that of DSP and CPU when facing a large number of complex operations.

For example, based on the main chip ISP, the special algorithm of V 1 can reduce the power consumption of hardware circuits by 50% when processing tasks with the same amount of calculation at high speed.

It's a long way to make cores, and it's Xiu Yuan.

At present, domestic mobile phone manufacturers including vivo are increasing their investment in chip research and development. According to media reports, vivo has established a chip research and development center in Shanghai, and posted a number of chip recruitment positions on the recruitment website, involving chip planning, chip design, chip verification, ISP algorithm and so on. The annual salary offered by ISP to chip director is as high as 144W- 180W.

OPPO's chip R&D team is said to have about 2,000 employees, some of whom are from Huawei Hisilicon, Ziguang Zhanrui and MediaTek. In addition to ISP chips, the team is also developing mobile phone SoC chips.

Compared with ISP chip, the research and development of mobile phone SoC chip is more difficult. Xiaomi set up the Guo Song Electronic Team on 20 14, focusing on the research and development of mobile phone SoC chips. However, only one generation of chip 2855438+0 was introduced, and then there was no following.

In August 2020, Lei Jun said in Weibo: "Surge chips were started in 20 14, and the first generation was released in 20 17. Later, we did encounter great difficulties. But the plan continues. I'll let you know if there is any new progress. " Later, in March of 20021year, Xiaomi announced the launch of the self-developed ISP chip 2855438+0.

In the field of mobile phones, self-developed chips are undoubtedly of great value for improving product performance and building differentiated advantages. Especially in the case of homogeneous competition of mobile phone products, core-making may help mobile phone manufacturers master more autonomy and enhance market competitiveness.

But core-making is never an easy task. At present, it seems that most domestic mobile phone manufacturers are still in the initial stage on the road of "core-building". Especially in the aspect of mobile phone SoC chip, only Huawei Hisilicon has achieved success. Xiu Yuan still has a long way to go, and we also expect domestic mobile phone manufacturers to make greater breakthroughs in the future.