System for and method of efficient contact pad identification
US6484301B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 25, 2001 |
| Grant date | Nov 19, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 25, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F30/398
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present invention includes a system for and a method of identifying the location of contact pads on interconnect layers of printed circuit boards or metal layers of integrated circuits. The invention groups the conductive surfaces into rectangular areas and applies a mask to the identified rectangular areas by aligning a corner of the mask with the corresponding corner of the rectangular area. Once aligned, the remaining corners of the mask are checked to see whether there is an underlying conductive material present at all corners thereby identifying a suitable location for a contact pad. The invention further includes an alignment of alternate corners of the mask with the corresponding corner of the rectangular area if previous attempts to identify a contact pad were unsuccessful.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.