Chapter 106 - 106 Problem
106 Problem
“Teacher Lin, I’ve seen the positional control program. There’s no problem.” Li Chengqian did not find any problem after reading the source code.
Although this set of code was much less efficient than the space station control program he wrote, its functions were faultless.
This was a space station software after all. Under normal circumstances, it must have undergone a lot of testing. No one dared to take any chances with something like this.
After hearing what Li Chengqian said, Lin Xiong’s disappointment was written all over his face.
Li Chengqian then continued to say, “Teacher Lin, I think the problem might lie in the core code or the driver.”
The positional control program is run on the core code of the space station.
Finally, the driver controlled the hardware of the space station by following the instructions of the code.
“Can I take a look at the core code of this system, and the driver?”
“Sure, but the core code and driver were written in assembly language…” In fact, Lin Xiong had already suspected that the issue might lie with the core code and driver after having checked the control program many times and not finding any issues.
However, the core code and driver were written in assembly language. It was extremely difficult to interpret and understand. The original system developer was already looking for bugs, but it would take at least two months to complete. Even then, he might not be able to isolate the problem.
“Teacher Lin, I actually understand assembly language too,” Li Chengqian said calmly.
“Here, this is the system core code.”
“This is the driver of the relevant equipment.”
“Li Chengqian, after looking at the code, I think you already know what this program is for.”
Seeing Li Chengqian nod, Lin Xiong said solemnly, “You must keep this a secret. You must not tell anyone.”
“The code has to be kept a secret too. It can’t be leaked.” If the source code was leaked and someone found a loophole and attacked it, the consequences would be unimaginable.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about this.” Li Chengqian naturally knew the seriousness of the matter.
“Li Chengqian, try to interpret the core code and the driver. It doesn’t matter even if you don’t find any problems.” Writing a program in assembly language was a completely different ball game from interpreting a program written in assembly language.
Interpreting was ten times harder than writing, and this was even with annotation.
Without annotation, trying to find a bug was not much different from trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Lin Xiong had already considered it.
The work day would end in an hour’s time. If they still couldn’t find a solution, he would activate the backup plan.
After all, Li Chengqian needed to do an on-site software interview tomorrow. He needed to be prepared. This matter was also very important.
Li Chengqian’s gaze landed on the two documents that Lin Xiong had pulled out.
With the enhancement of the Skill, he quickly browsed through it.
He could comprehend the codes at a glance. Anyone else would have been perplexed by the codes.
There were not many core codes in the space station operating system. Ten minutes later, he finished reading all the core codes.
In his mind, he had already mentally run the control program on the core codes once.
Instantly, Li Chengqian discovered the crux of the problem.
“So here’s the problem!”
A seemingly normal code was found by Li Chengqian.
This is a period conversion function.
After the control program was run, this function would be called.
As the data definition was not precise enough, every positional calculation would have a slight deviation. After a day, the cumulative deviation was exactly one centimeter.
After discovering this problem, Li Chengqian did not raise it immediately.
That was because Lin Xiong was very busy and he was called away after he opened the core code and driver for Li Chengqian.
Li Chengqian didn’t panic. He just marked out the problematic code.
He opened the driver’s code file and started reading.
What is the nature of a driver program?
It was the most important component for the operation of the control program.
The driver was equivalent to a hardware interface. The operating system could only control the hardware through this interface.
On the space station, the specific manifestation of the driver was that it could control the activation of the Hall-effect thruster engines, including the power of the operation, the time of the operation, and so on. It could also control the switches between the various cabin doors.
The quality of the driver directly determined the performance of the device.
Not long after, Li Chengqian also finished reading the portion on the control system driver.
Through the driver, he already understood the space station that was currently orbiting in space, especially its control system.
The power of each of the four Hall-effect thruster engines was 80 millibulls.
There were also four conventional thrust engines that could provide powerful temporary power.
“If I were tasked to re-engineer this part of the driver, I can increase the efficiency of the space station control system by about 50%!”
Meanwhile, at the conference center of the Academy of Space Technology, the Academy director, and chief architect of the space station, Academician Gao Xiang, asked solemnly, “Lin Xiong, have you isolated the problem of the space station positional control system?”
“Director, we’re still investigating.”
“After investigation, we have eliminated the malfunctioning of control system software.”
“Our initial assessment is that the issue lies with the core code and the driver.”
“How long will it take to solve the problem?” This was what Gao Xiang was most concerned about. The space station was a symbol of the country’s strength. It had to be foolproof! Nothing must go wrong.
Right now, nothing else was important. The most important thing was to resolve the hidden dangers of the space station. The sooner the better.
“If we continue to check for bugs, it might take another two months!”
“No!” Gao Xiang rejected this suggestion outright. He would not be able to sleep easy until the issue in space was resolved. He was afraid that the space station would crash. That would be a serious blow to the aerospace industry of the Divine Dragon Nation.
“The other plan is to upload it to the space station operating system developed by Li Chengqian. It will be used as a control system during the bug inspection.”
“This solution will only take one day! However, it will only treat the symptoms and not the root cause. It will cause even more trouble.”
“Although this new space station operating system has been tested through multiple simulations, and it has been found to be stable and advanced, there are still some risks.”
“The storage space on the space station is limited. Uploading a new space station operating system means that some functions need to be deactivated,” Lin Xiong said with a troubled expression. Actually, the easiest and safest way to deal with it was to find the bugs in the original system and fix them.
“If we use the new operating system core, we will need to modify the software and adapt it. It will take at least two months.” After the new system was activated, there would be a lot of trouble.
The original software needs to be modified to adapt to the new operating system.
“Lin Xiong, I can only give you three days!”
“I don’t care what method you use. First, you have to ensure that the space station position doesn’t deviate again. Second, you have to ensure that all the software systems are operating normally. Third, you have to ensure the absolute safety of the space station.”
“If you can’t solve this problem safely in three days, I’ll remove you from your position as the software manager of the space station. I’ll find someone else to do the job.” Gao Xiang’s tone was extremely harsh.
“Teacher…” Lin Xiong smiled bitterly.
“Lin Xiong, I know it’s difficult.”
“However, if the space station really falls, our country will become the laughing stock of the international community. Three astronauts will be sacrificed, our country’s aerospace industry will suffer a fatal blow, and we will be nailed to the pillar of shame forever.”
“There’s no room for negotiation on this matter. We have to resolve it no matter what!” Gao Xiang was extremely serious.