bookbashuk Chapter 57 Panting
Chapter 57 Panting
On August 3rd, Lu Mingyuan signed for the engineering prototype.
The acceptance evaluation can be summed up in just four words: Exceeded expectations!
The technical committee's detailed review report was delivered a week later. Zuo Cheng turned to the score page: the overall score was 94 points, of which the project implementation quality score was 98 points, the highest score among all partners.
The last page of the review report included a note: "It is recommended that the Sky Dome Business Unit consider upgrading 402 Technology from a project partner to a strategic partner, granting it greater technological autonomy in the third phase of the plan."
Strategic partners.
Zuo Cheng stared at those words, processing them for a few seconds. From intern to outsourcing provider, from outsourcing provider to joint R&D partner, and now someone was suggesting elevating 402 to the position of strategic partner. Four leaps in two years.
He locked the review report in his drawer. Now was not the time for sentimentality; there were still four months left in the engineering development period, and the second milestone was in November: the engineering prototype of the spectrum management subsystem was to be delivered.
But before pushing for the next milestone, he gave himself and his team three days off.
"We worked non-stop for a month in July, and everyone is forced to take three days off," he announced in the group chat. "Anyone who works overtime will have their salary deducted."
Zhang Lei replied instantly: "Brother Cheng is brilliant! This is the second time he's said that!"
Zuo Cheng smiled. The last time he said that was at the end of last year.
On the first day of his holiday, he didn't go anywhere and slept until noon. This was the first time in more than half a year that he had slept for more than six hours. During the joint investigation month, his average sleep time was four and a half hours, and his body had been relying on inertia to keep going. When he woke up at noon, his shoulders were sore and his eyes were dry, but he felt a long-lost sense of relaxation.
There was a message on my phone from Yu Ying: "Brother, Professor Li asked when we're going to start writing the thesis. He's outlined the framework; take a look when you have time."
Zuo Cheng opened the attachment. Professor Li's paper outline was very clear—the title was "An Embedded Real-Time Spectrum Sensing Method for Low-Earth Orbit Satellites Based on Cyclic Stationary Feature Detection," and the target journal was IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, one of the top journals in the field of communications.
The framework is divided into six chapters: Introduction, System Model, Algorithm Design, Embedded Optimization Implementation, Simulation and Experimental Verification, and Conclusion. The algorithm design section was handled by Professor Li's research group, while the embedded optimization implementation and experimental verification sections were handled by 402. Author order: Zuo Cheng first, Yu Ying second, and Professor Li as the corresponding author.
Yu Ying is the second author.
Zuo Cheng paused when he saw the ranking. Yu Ying's contribution to this project was providing the algorithmic ideas and MATLAB simulation code, so ranking her second was perfectly reasonable according to academic convention. But he knew that for a second-year doctoral student, the weight of a second-author paper in TWC was no less than that of a first-author paper in an ordinary journal.
Professor Li gave this position to Yu Ying, which shows that he highly values Yu Ying's bridging role in this matter.
Zuo Cheng replied: "The framework is fine. I'll start writing chapters four and five this week, and I expect to get a first draft in two weeks."
Yu Ying replied instantly: "Okay. I'll be in charge of the system model section in Chapter Two, and I'll be handling the data integration with your experiments."
On the second day of the holiday, Zuo Cheng asked Yu Ying to meet at the Huada Library to write a paper together.
This was their first formal academic collaboration.
In a seminar room on the third floor of the library, two people sat facing each other, each with a computer in front of them. Zuo Cheng was writing about the technical details of embedded optimization, while Yu Ying was writing about the mathematical derivation of the system model. Occasionally, someone would look up and ask a question—"What Q value did you use in your fixed-pointing scheme?" "Sixteen-bit Q15 format, the dynamic range is sufficient." "I used for the maximum Doppler shift in the signal model, which is forty kHz. Is that consistent with your measured data?" "Yes, it is. The measured peak value of the Tianqiong Phase I project is thirty-eight kHz."
After asking the question, he lowered his head and continued writing.
Zuo Cheng discovered that Yu Ying's writing habits were different from his. He wrote the results first and then added the process, while Yu Ying wrote linearly from beginning to end, deriving each formula flawlessly before moving on. The two styles worked surprisingly well together: Zuo Cheng's "results-oriented" approach ensured a clear framework for the paper, while Yu Ying's "process-oriented" approach ensured that every step of the derivation could withstand scrutiny from reviewers.
At 5 p.m., Zuo Cheng finished the first draft of the fourth chapter and looked up to find Yu Ying looking at him.
"What's wrong?"
"It's nothing," Yu Ying said, turning her gaze back to the screen. "It's just that... since we got together, we rarely have moments like this where we can sit quietly together and do the same thing. It's nice."
Zuo Cheng looked at her for two seconds and said, "There will be more in the future."
Yu Ying smiled, said nothing more, and continued typing.
It was already dark when I came out of the library. The August evening breeze was hot, but much cooler than during the day, and the air smelled of freshly mowed lawn. The streetlights on campus had just come on, and students rode past them on their bicycles, their bells ringing crisply in the night.
"Brother, there's something I've been wanting to tell you." Yu Ying walked beside him, her voice suddenly becoming serious.
"explain."
"My advisor recently spoke with me. He suggested that I consider adjusting my doctoral research direction, shifting from purely theoretical research on anti-jamming algorithms to system-level signal processing for low-Earth orbit satellite ground terminals. He believes this direction has more engineering value and is more likely to yield results."
Zuo Cheng paused for a moment.
"System-level signal processing"—that's exactly what 402 does in the Sky Dome project. Yu Ying's advisor suggested that she align her doctoral research with 402's engineering practice.
"What do you think?" he asked.
"I think it's fine," Yu Ying said, looking at him. "But I want to ask you first, if my research direction highly overlaps with Project 402, will it cause you any trouble? For example, issues like the boundaries of intellectual property rights or confidentiality clauses."
Zuo Cheng thought for a few seconds. The fact that Yu Ying was willing to bring up this question showed that she wasn't someone who only cared about her own academic development and ignored the boundaries of reality.
"No," he said. "Your research uses a publicly available theoretical framework and anonymized engineering data, and doesn't involve 402's core trade secrets. Moreover, aligning our research directions benefits both sides; your academic achievements can contribute to 402's technological reserves, and 402's engineering data can support your research verification. It's a win-win situation."
Yu Ying nodded, a sense of relief in her eyes.
"Then I'll tell my advisor that I've decided on this direction."
"Hmm." Zuo Cheng stepped forward again. "Kongkong, your doctoral dissertation is finished. It's also a hidden technological asset for 402. I'm not doing this on behalf of the company; I'm saying that what you're doing and what I'm doing are converging in the same direction. This isn't a coincidence; it's a trend."
Yu Ying laughed: "Brother, even your sweet talk sounds like you're doing technical analysis."
"This isn't a love confession."
"I know. But it sounds even better than sweet talk."
The two walked side by side on the campus on a summer night. The ginkgo trees overhead were covered with fan-shaped leaves, filtering the light from the streetlights into a scattering of gold.
Zuo Cheng suddenly remembered something.
"Kongkong, when is your birthday this year?"
"September 12th." Yu Ying glanced at him, a hint of curiosity in her eyes. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing much. Just making a note of it."
Yu Ying's lips curved slightly, but she didn't press the matter. However, her steps noticeably quickened.