News that the Hanxin digital signal processing chip was faked by Professor Chen Jin of the prestigious Jiaotong University has shocked academics and mobile phone manufacturers. The invention had become an object of national pride and the Chinese people are shocked and embarrassed about the revelations.
The chip has been under scrutiny for some time after it failed to live up to expectations in performance tests earlier this year. An investigation of Professor Chen has revealed that the chips were created by sanding away the top surface of a Motorola Freescale DSP chip and then adding the Hanxin logo. Investigators told local media that the chip had used “foreign” technology.
Professor Chen has subsequently been fired from his post at the University and will have to repay millions of dollars in government funds invested in the project. There is also speculation about imprisonment and even the death penalty for the disgraced academic.
