Last week’s firing of a prominent Chinese academic for faking the development of one of China’s best-known chips is an embarrassing setback for a government that sees high-technology research and development as key to the country’s economic future.Chen Jin, the dean of Shanghai Jiaotong University’s School of Microelectronics, was fired after an investigation determined he faked the development of the Hanxin series of digital signal processors (DSPs). DSPs are a specialized type of processor used in mobile phones and other devices.“Chen Jin bears the responsibility for serious fraud and deception in the development of the Hanxin chip,” Shanghai Jiaotong University said in a statement.Originally hailed as a breakthrough for China’s chip industry, the first Hanxin DSP was unveiled in 2003. Over the next few years, Chen and his team of researchers introduced three more versions of the chip, declaring that they matched the performance and capabilities of DSPs available from leading multinational companies. These announcements brought financial backing and praise from China’s central government for the Hanxin project.The elaborate fraud began to unravel in December, when officials were tipped off that Chen had faked the development of the chips. That tip sparked a two-month-long investigation led by a team of experts from the Ministry of Science and Technology, which had provided financial backing for the project. Fraud allegations concerning the Hanxin chips have circulated in China for several months. Earlier this year, Chinese media reported that Chen had remarked a small number of Freescale Semiconductor DSPs and passed them off as the first version of the Hanxin chip.In the end, investigators found all four versions of the Hanxin chip did not meet the specifications claimed by Chen. For example, they discovered that the Hanxin 1 chip was incapable of playing MP3 files. They also found that the most recent version of the chip, the dual-core Hanxin 4, is actually based on a single processor core from another company and does not include a core developed by Chen and his team, the university said.Shanghai Jiaotong University licensed an Arm processor core in 2003 for research.Academic and scientific fraud is an area of growing concern in China, where many academics lead a double life as businessmen with their own companies. That includes Chen, who headed a company, Shanghai Hanxin Science & Technology, created to market the Hanxin chips.On May 8, a group of 120 Chinese scientists, many of whom work at universities in the United States, published a letter they sent to Xu Guanghua, China’s minister of science and technology, and Lu Yongxiang, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, calling on the government to address the problem of scientific misconduct.That letter called on the government to set guidelines for dealing with scientific misconduct and set up committees to investigate allegations of fraud. “The public has the right to know what scientists have done with public funds, and to question whether or not the science is properly conducted,” it said. -Sumner Lemon, IDG News ServiceFor related news coverage, read Chinese Researcher Fired for Faking Chip Development.Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content brandpost Sponsored by AWS in collaboration with IBM How digital twin technology is changing complex industrial processes forever As the use cases for digital twins proliferate, it is becoming clear that data-driven enterprises with a track record of innovation stand the best chance of success. By Laura McEwan Dec 05, 2023 4 mins Digital Transformation brandpost Sponsored by AWS in collaboration with IBM Why modernising applications needs to be a ‘must’ for businesses seeking growth Around one-third of enterprises are spending heavily on application modernisation and aiming for cloud native status. The implications for corporate culture, structure and priorities will be profound. By Laura McEwan Dec 05, 2023 5 mins Digital Transformation opinion 11 ways to reduce your IT costs now Reorienting IT’s budget toward future opportunities is a big reason why CIOs should review their IT portfolios with an eye toward curbing unnecessary spending and realizing maximum value from every IT investment. By Stephanie Overby Dec 05, 2023 11 mins Budget Cloud Management IT Governance news analysis SAP faces breakdown in trust over innovation plans The company’s plan to offer future innovations in S/4HANA only to subscribers of its Rise with SAP offering is alienating customers, user conference hears. By Peter Sayer Dec 05, 2023 6 mins SAP Cloud Management Innovation Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe