Patents by Inventor Ian Robert Smith

Ian Robert Smith 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: 7659126
    Abstract: An electrical test method and apparatus are disclosed. In the method one or more ring oscillators are formed in one or more layers prior to formation of a metal 1 layer of a semiconductor wafer. The one or more layers comprise the formulation of transistors and local interconnects. One or more test structures are formed in one or more interconnect layers at or after the metal 1 of the semiconductor wafer. Each test structure is coupled to a corresponding one or more ring oscillators. A voltage is applied to one or more non-precision contacts to cause the ring oscillators to oscillate. At-speed performance of one or more test structures is determined from one or more measured signals obtained from the test structures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2010
    Assignee: KLA-Tencor Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Ian Robert Smith, Christopher F. Bevis
  • Patent number: 5974351
    Abstract: A network monitor in a multiplex control system monitors the condition of the network and individual modules of the system by causing individual modules in the system to generate, at regular time intervals, a unique identifying message and to monitor the identifying messages to individually determine the condition of the system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 26, 1999
    Assignee: Jaguar Cars Limited
    Inventors: Andrew Croft, Ian Robert Kendall, Ian Robert Smith