Patents by Inventor William D. Ramsour

William D. Ramsour has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8028265
    Abstract: A method for generating an electronic circuit layout with placed circuit elements receives a user provided schematic, the user provided schematic comprising a plurality of circuit elements, each circuit element comprising general parameters. The method associates a plurality of first placement parameters with each of the plurality of circuit elements, wherein the first placement parameters comprise a cell horizontal position, a cell vertical stacking position, and a cell vertical adjacent spacing. The method retrieves, from a design library, design parameters associated with at least one of the plurality of circuit elements. The method assigns first absolute placement coordinates for each of the plurality of circuit elements based on the first placement parameters and the design parameters. The method defines and performs an adjustment operation on the placement parameters of a selected subset of circuit elements, generating adjusted placement parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2011
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: William D. Ramsour, Samuel I. Ward, Jun Zhou
  • Patent number: 8028266
    Abstract: A method for automatically generating an electronic circuit layout with placed circuit elements includes receiving a user provided schematic, the user provided schematic comprising a plurality of circuit elements, each circuit element comprising general parameters. The method associates a plurality of first placement parameters with each of the plurality of circuit elements. The method retrieves, from a design library, design parameters associated with at least one of the plurality of circuit elements. The method selects a subset of circuit elements and receives placement inputs. The method generates a first placed layout configuration comprising adjusted placement parameters, based on the received placement inputs, the first placement parameters, and the design parameters. The method assigns absolute placement coordinates for each of the plurality of circuit elements based on the first placed layout configuration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2011
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: William D. Ramsour, Samuel I. Ward
  • Patent number: 8006152
    Abstract: A method comprises generating a test pattern for a device under test (DUT), wherein the DUT comprises a plurality of scan chains coupled to a plurality of multiple input shift registers (MISRs). The plurality of faults detected by a first MISR and by a second MISR are identified. In the event the plurality of faults detected by the first MISR does not include any of the plurality of faults detected by the second MISR and the plurality of faults detected by the second MISR does not include any of the plurality of faults detected by the first MISR, the first MISR and the second MISR are coupled as an independent MISR pair. The test pattern is applied to the DUT to generate a scan chain output. The independent MISR pair captures the scan chain output to generate a test signature. The test signature is compared with a known good signature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2011
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Samuel I. Ward, Patrick R. Crosby, William D. Ramsour, Bao G. Truong
  • Publication number: 20100180168
    Abstract: A method comprises generating a test pattern for a device under test (DUT), wherein the DUT comprises a plurality of scan chains coupled to a plurality of multiple input shift registers (MISRs). The plurality of faults detected by a first MISR and by a second MISR are identified. In the event the plurality of faults detected by the first MISR does not include any of the plurality of faults detected by the second MISR and the plurality of faults detected by the second MISR does not include any of the plurality of faults detected by the first MISR, the first MISR and the second MISR are coupled as an independent MISR pair. The test pattern is applied to the DUT to generate a scan chain output. The independent MISR pair captures the scan chain output to generate a test signature. The test signature is compared with a known good signature.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 12, 2009
    Publication date: July 15, 2010
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Samuel I. Ward, Patrick R. Crosby, William D. Ramsour, Bao G. Truong
  • Publication number: 20100031218
    Abstract: A method for automatically generating an electronic circuit layout with placed circuit elements includes receiving a user provided schematic, the user provided schematic comprising a plurality of circuit elements, each circuit element comprising general parameters. The method associates a plurality of first placement parameters with each of the plurality of circuit elements. The method retrieves, from a design library, design parameters associated with at least one of the plurality of circuit elements. The method selects a subset of circuit elements and receives placement inputs. The method generates a first placed layout configuration comprising adjusted placement parameters, based on the received placement inputs, the first placement parameters, and the design parameters. The method assigns absolute placement coordinates for each of the plurality of circuit elements based on the first placed layout configuration.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2008
    Publication date: February 4, 2010
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: William D. Ramsour, Samuel I. Ward
  • Publication number: 20100031215
    Abstract: A method for generating an electronic circuit layout with placed circuit elements receives a user provided schematic, the user provided schematic comprising a plurality of circuit elements, each circuit element comprising general parameters. The method associates a plurality of first placement parameters with each of the plurality of circuit elements, wherein the first placement parameters comprise a cell horizontal position, a cell vertical stacking position, and a cell vertical adjacent spacing. The method retrieves, from a design library, design parameters associated with at least one of the plurality of circuit elements. The method assigns first absolute placement coordinates for each of the plurality of circuit elements based on the first placement parameters and the design parameters. The method defines and performs an adjustment operation on the placement parameters of a selected subset of circuit elements, generating adjusted placement parameters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2008
    Publication date: February 4, 2010
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: William D. Ramsour, Samuel I. Ward, Jun Zhou