友晶科技與美國 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 合作研發 OpenPET
引頸期盼的 OpenPET 系統，正式於 6 月 5 日開始上線販售！與美國 Lawrence Berkeley 國家實驗室共同研發，歷經三年反覆的討論與測試，終於達到近乎完美的開發水準，成為 OpenPET 唯一製造商代表，再次證實友晶科技的研發與整合能力！
OpenPET為一結合電路板、韌體與軟體的系統，主要是提供給正子放射型電腦斷層攝影，及單光子放射電腦斷層攝影的操作系統。在放射醫學影像攝影機的開發中，關鍵便是電子系統的建置。研究室專案主持人Dr. Woon-Seng Choong 指出，現今相關技術的開發，礙於配件無法進行彈性開發，而設計師常需遷就於既有配件，而被迫開發犧牲品質或降低修改彈性的產品。而 OpenPET 電子系統克服了這些困難，開發出高使用彈性、高效能的產品。難能可貴的是，本產品為開放原始碼 ( open source )，除支援更多的檢測器與相機視角等功能，更可輕易升級，大幅提升設計彈性。
圖一. The Core - Multi-FPGA Electronics Support System.
本計畫受到 Lawrence Berkeley 國家實驗室專案團隊的大力讚賞，Dr. Choong 來信表示：「友晶所提供的服務，遠超過我們的想像！友晶不僅提供關於本計畫的完整圖式，亦定義了設計錯誤的修正與設計升級的範式，在製造過程中，更要求完善的測試流程。與友晶的繁複討論過程中，友晶盡其可能滿足我們的製作要求，即便須自行吸收增加的成本，依舊能在期限內完成此專案。這不僅是高品質的研發能力，更是高規格的製程表現。這次的成功合作，讓我們建立與友晶的信賴關係，希望未來能有機會繼續與友晶合作。」
Testimonial from Dr. William W. Moses
"I would like to express my immense pleasure with the unbeatable service provided to us by the team at Terasic led by Mr. Sean Peng and Ms. Teresa Wei. Together we have developed a complex, 20 layer circuit board that included three FPGAs (each with ~600 pins), DRAM, SRAM, flash memory, ethernet, USB, RS-232, etc. In may ways, it was a multi-processor PC motherboard that used FPGAs instead of microprocessors.
When we first contacted Terasic, we had completed the schematic for this board (we thought!), but the tremendous number of nets on the board combined with the high connection density forced us to seek a vendor to do the layout, and the FPGA prototype boards produced by Terasic led us to enquire there. Terasic provided this layout service and much, much more. They performed a thorough review of the schematic that resulted in a number of changes and enhancements. They did the parts procurement, but coupled with this suggested alternate components that were either less expensive or easier to procure, and incorporated these parts into our schematic / layout. They fabricated and loaded the PCB, and also designed and fabricated additional boards that were used to test our board. Finally, they developed code to test and validate the intrinsic design and also to identify manufacturing flaws.
In the end, we received circuit boards that passed all of the functional tests a mere six weeks after we sent the purchase order to Terasic. While this was less time than I had allocated for the first iteration of this design, the most significant savings came from the fact that we will not need to perform a second iteration, which I had also budgeted for. The extremely thorough checking performed by the Terasic team identified and corrected the design flaws that would have forced a second iteration, and so saved us many months and many thousands of dollars.
There is no question that I would consider Terasic for further projects, and in fact, am about to request a quotation from them for another circuit board."
William W. Moses – Senior Staff Scientist, IEEE Fellow, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Califonia
Dr. Woon-Seng Choong 的證言原文:
The OpenPET system consist of several complex electronics boards utilizing multiple FPGAs. We came into contact with Terasic when we were seeking a vendor to perform the layout of the boards. Terasic did much much more than just provided this layout service. They performed a thorough review of the schematics and identified design flaw that resulted in corrections and enhancements in the design. They did a superb job in fabricating the boards and in performing a thorough test of the fabricated boards. They were very accommodating to every modifications and requests we made. In addition, they went above and beyond what we requested and sometimes absorbing some of the costs. They were very professional and performed their work to meet our timeline. The quality of their work was excellent. I could feel that they worked very hard to make sure that the OpenPET system is a success story. I am very glad that Terasic are willing to support the OpenPET by making the electronics boards available to the users to purchase. Terasic has saved us time and money and we are very fortunate to have them as a partner. I hope we can continue to work with Terasic as we move forward with the OpenPET system as well as with other projects.
There is no question that I would consider Terasic for further projects, and in fact, am about to request a quotation from them for another circuit board."
Woon-Seng Choong – Staff Scientist, new Principle leader for this OpenPET project, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Califonia
【延伸閱讀】
1. OpenPET的官方網站
2. 線上購買OpenPE T