NCCnovel Chapter 14, Section 1: Submitting the Paper
Chapter 14, Section 1: Submitting the Paper
The preliminary results of the New Talent Cup were released three days after the application materials were submitted.
Of the 217 participating teams, 42 advanced to the semi-finals after the preliminary review. Zuo Cheng's team ranked sixth in the preliminary review – the judges' comments were only one sentence: "High technical completion, clear business logic; it is recommended that the semi-finals focus on feasibility for implementation."
Zuo Cheng's ranking wasn't top-tier, but he didn't care. The preliminary review only looked at the written materials; the real difference lay in the semi-final defense and the final presentation.
He posted the preliminary results in the group chat. Shen Yue replied with a "stable" and Fang Ze replied with a period. Zhang Lei sent a string of fireworks emojis and Chen Hao asked, "When is the semi-final?"
The semi-finals are scheduled for November 3rd. That's a little over two weeks away.
But Zuo Cheng can't worry about the competition right now, because something more urgent is weighing on his mind—there are only eight days left until the deadline for the first stage of the main quest chain.
Lanwan Communications' delivery standards for the project were very clear: a complete 5G intelligent channel estimation algorithm solution, including theoretical derivation, simulation verification, performance benchmarking report, and a technical handover document for the engineering team. All four items were indispensable, and the final score was given by Lanwan Communications' technical review committee; a score of 70 or above was considered passing.
Zuo Cheng has basically completed the theoretical derivation and simulation verification, and the performance benchmarking report is about 80% complete. The remaining issue is the final item – the technology handover document.
This isn't for academics; it's for the engineers at Blue Bay Communications. Engineers don't care how elegant your mathematical derivations are; they only care about three things: how to use the algorithm, under what conditions it works, and how to troubleshoot problems.
Zuo Cheng had written many similar documents in his previous life and knew the intricacies involved—if it was too academic, engineers wouldn't understand it; if it was too simple, it wouldn't cover edge cases. He had to find that balance between rigor and readability.
He spent two full days writing the first draft, and then did something that surprised everyone.
He sent the document to Fang Ze.
"Could you take a look at this document for me? From an embedded engineer's perspective, where do I not understand it, and where does it seem like there's too much unnecessary information?"
Fang Ze provided feedback that very evening—a dense barrage of annotations that highlighted every instance of academic jargon in the document, along with replacement suggestions that engineers could understand. Some of the annotations were so insightful that they sent chills down Zuo Cheng's spine.
For example, Zuo Cheng wrote, "When the channel coherence time is less than the symbol period, the algorithm automatically switches to fast fading mode." Fang Ze commented next to it with four words: "What does that mean?" Then he added a suggestion: "Change it to—When the signal change rate exceeds the system processing speed, the algorithm will automatically switch to emergency mode to prioritize ensuring that the estimation result does not collapse, at the cost of a slight decrease in accuracy."
Zuo Cheng looked at the annotation, smiled, and shook his head. Fang Ze was a man of few words, but every cut he made was to the bone.
He spent a day revising the document based on Fang Ze's feedback, and then asked Shen Yue to help optimize several flowcharts in the document. Shen Yue changed his black and white wireframe diagrams into a visual version with color blocks and icons, doubling the readability while keeping the amount of information the same.
On the sixth day, all four sets of delivery materials were ready.
Zuo Cheng packed the materials and sent them to Han Zhe, while also copying Professor Lin Zhiyuan.
Then comes the waiting.
Han Zhe's technical review committee needs three to five working days to produce its results. Zuo Cheng calculated the time—if it's five working days, it will just be right on the last day of the first stage's deadline.
He didn't like this feeling of passively waiting, but he had done all he could at this stage, and there was no use in being anxious.
During the days of waiting, Zuo Cheng was not idle.
He shifted his focus to publishing papers in top journals. Yu Ying's first draft was 70% complete; the remaining part mainly involved experimental design and comparative analysis. Zuo Cheng took over the experimental design section—designing five sets of control experiments to verify the performance of the positive interactive coupling effect under different signal-to-noise ratios, different channel types, and different module combinations.
Chen Hao ran the simulations according to the experimental plan, and the data came out one set after another. The results matched the theoretical predictions with an astonishingly high degree of agreement. All five sets of control experiments supported the conclusions of the core theorem, and none of them showed any counterexamples.
After reviewing the data, Yu Ying stood in the lab for a while before saying, "This theorem might be even more robust than we initially estimated."
Zuo Cheng felt confident. The paper was nearly 90% complete; it only needed two more weeks of polishing before it could be submitted.
On the second-to-last day of the first stage of the exam, at 9 p.m., Zuo Cheng was revising the introduction of his thesis in his dormitory when his phone suddenly rang.
Han Zhe's phone call.
"Zuo Cheng, the review results are in." Han Zhe's tone was unreadable.
Zuo Cheng's fingers hovered over the keyboard for a second. "Please speak, Mr. Han."
"The technical review committee has five members, and the maximum score is one hundred." Han Zhe paused for a moment. "Your overall score is ninety-one. Three of the five judges gave you scores above ninety, with the highest score being ninety-six."
Ninety-one points.
"However, one judge gave it 82 points. His comment was that the algorithm's performance verification in multi-user concurrent scenarios was insufficient, and he suggested supplementing it," Han Zhe continued. "I personally think this comment makes sense, but it doesn't affect the final review result—91 points, far exceeding the passing standard. The first phase of the project has been approved."
Zuo Cheng slowly exhaled and leaned back in his chair.
"Thank you, Mr. Han. I will complete the verification for multi-user concurrent scenarios as soon as possible."
"No rush, there's still time." Han Zhe's tone finally relaxed, with a hint of a smile. "Also, I have some news for you—at the review meeting, one of the judges asked me if the core developers of this solution were really undergraduate students. I said yes. He asked me to give him your contact information."
"Which judge?"
"Zhou Henian, Chief Technology Officer of Blue Bay Communications."
Zuo Cheng's pupils contracted slightly.
The CTO of Blue Bay Communications personally requested the contact information of an undergraduate student. This is not just ordinary "optimism," but a very clear signal being sent.
"Thank you, Mr. Han."
After hanging up the phone, Zuo Cheng sat motionless in his chair for more than ten seconds.
The light screen lit up precisely in my mind.
[Main Quest Chain - Breaking the Communication Barrier - Stage One: Completed!]
[Review Score: 91/100 (Rating: Excellent)]
[Rewards are being distributed]
[Unlocking the Blade: Advanced Channel Estimation ✓]
[Points +8 (Current Points: 13)]
[Due to the "Excellent" evaluation rating, the deadline for stage two has been extended by an additional 5 days.]
Zuo Cheng stared at the last line of text.
The deadline for Stage Two has been extended by an additional five days—this is the reward for his all-out effort in Stage One. The system's rules are indeed consistent with his previous assessment: the quality of completion in each stage directly affects the conditions for the next stage. The better he performs, the wider the path ahead becomes.
The fourth leaf, "Advanced Channel Estimation," lit up with a bright green light on the technology tree, and a new stream of knowledge flooded into his brain—this time, it wasn't basic theory that was being poured in, but rather the most cutting-edge technical details in the field of channel estimation, including several algorithm variants that he had never seen in public literature.
Thirteen integrals. Four leaves.
Nearly a third of the branches at the base of the technology tree have been lit up, with the emerald green leaves forming a small patch that emits a soft light under the dark canopy.
The pale golden main light vein was slowly extending upwards, and the outline of the "communications engineering" branch at the end was clearer than before.
[Part Two is about to be unlocked—]
[Step Two: The algorithm is validated through real-world testing in Lanwan Communication's actual base station environment.]
[Duration: 35 days (including 5 days for excellent reviews)]
Real base station environment. Actual test verification.
The transition from the laboratory to the real world is the most difficult hurdle to overcome in the practical application of technology.
Zuo Cheng closed the panel, reopened his phone, and sent the message that the review had been approved to the team group.
It was past midnight, but all five of them replied instantly.
Zhang Lei: "Brother Cheng is awesome!!!"
Chen Hao: "Congratulations. Send me the technical requirements for stage two, and I'll prepare in advance."
Fang Ze: "Has the embedded platform model for the actual base station been confirmed?"
Liu Wei: "I'll reserve the celebration banquet in advance!"
Shen Yue: "Can I join the celebration party?"
Zuo Cheng looked at the chat history, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.
He replied with a message: "Let's postpone the celebration party until we win the Rising Star Cup. Don't get too excited yet—stage two is ten times harder than stage one. We'll meet in the lab tomorrow afternoon, and I'll send you the technical breakdown of stage two."
Then he turned off his phone, lay back on the bed, and put his hands behind his head.
A thin beam of moonlight shone through the gap in the curtains onto the ceiling.
Zuo Cheng closed his eyes.
Ninety-one points. The CTO needs contact information. Step two unlocked.
It was a nice day.
But he didn't let himself bask in this sense of satisfaction for too long. The most profound lesson he learned from his previous life was that the most dangerous times are often the most comfortable.
Part Two: Real Base Station Testing.
That's not something that can be solved by running simulations in the lab.
He needed to leave the campus and step into Blue Bay Communications' territory.