1. A system for real-time measurement of trace predetermined material concentration in a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) slurry, comprising:
a CMP slurry flow cell analyzer for determining at least one of x-ray transmission and x-ray fluorescent properties of a slurry flowing through the cell;
a slurry pickup pumping head coupled to said flow cell; and
a processor for receiving the output from said flow cell analyzer, and for interpreting measured characteristic emissions of the slurry in response to the applied radiation.
2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:
a radiation source for illuminating said slurry.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein said analyzer includes a bent crystal analyzer.
4. The system of claim 3, wherein said analyzer further includes a detector for receiving and measuring a quantity of photons from said bent crystal analyzer.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein said detector comprises a SiLi detector.
6. The system of claim 4, wherein said processor receives an output from said detector for providing any of a slurry concentration signal and an endpoint signal.
7. The system of claim 4, further comprising:
an electromagnetic radiation source for illuminating the flow cell, wherein photons traveling through the tube produce fluorescent rays in a predetermined material atoms contained in the slurry.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the detector of the flow cell analyzer receives said fluorescent rays.
9. The system of claim 4, further comprising:
a detector shield positioned adjacent the flow cell for shielding the detector from any of stray and scattered photons from other than the desired locations.
10. The system of claim 4, wherein adjustment to an angle of a crystal of the bent crystal analyzer is provided such that only photons with an energy of interest are directed to the detector.
11. The system of claim 10, further comprising:
a baffle for allowing only predetermined ones of said photons to be passed therethrough to the detector.
12. The system of claim 1, further comprising:
a pump coupled to said flow cell.
13. The system of claim 1, wherein said slurry is removed one of from a polishing pad using said pickup head, and a direct connection through said flow cell to a polishing pad drain.
14. The system of claim 1, wherein the slurry is piped through said flow cell, said flow cell comprising a plastic tube transparent to said electromagnetic radiation.
15. The system of claim 1, said slurry being usable by a polishing tool, wherein data representing an interpretation of the measured characteristic emissions of the slurry is output from the processor to the polishing tool.
16. The system of claim 1, wherein the system determines a process endpoint based on detected trace materials.
17. The system of claim 1, wherein the trace predetermined material concentration is measured without regard for slurry particles.
18. A slurry extraction tool, comprising: a pickup head associated with slurry; and a trace element analyzer coupled to said pickup head for analyzing said slurry.
19. The tool of claim 18, wherein said trace element analyzer comprises:
an optical source for illuminating said slurry;
a grating for receiving photons from said illuminated slurry; and
a photodetector for receiving said illuminated photons from said bent crystal analyzer.
20. The tool of claim 18, further comprising:
a pump coupled to said pickup head for pumping said slurry.
21. The tool of claim 18, wherein said trace element analyzer comprises:
an X-ray source for illuminating said slurry;
a bent crystal analyzer for receiving photons from said illuminated slurry; and
a detector for receiving said illuminated photons from said bent crystal analyzer.
22. A system for real-time measurement of trace metal concentration in a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) slurry, comprising:
an optical flow cell for having a CMP slurry flow therethrough;
a slurry pickup head operatively coupled to said optical flow cell;
an x-ray source and detector configured to excite fluorescence in said flow cell and detect the resultant emission.
23. A method of real-time measurement of trace predetermined material concentration in a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) slurry, comprising:
illuminating a slurry in a flow cell by radiation such that radiation photons traveling through the flow cell produce fluorescence in predetermined material atoms contained in the slurry;
analyzing the fluorescent radiation photons produced in the flow cell; and
taking an action based on said analyzing.
24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:
flowing slurry through the flow cell that is transparent to the radiation.
25. The method of claim 23, wherein said analyzing is performed by sending said fluorescent radiation photons to a detector via a bent crystal diffraction grating.
26. The method of claim 23, wherein said taking action comprises outputting at least one of a slurry concentration data signal and an endpoint signal.
27. The method of claim 23, wherein said predetermined material comprises metal.
28. A system for real-time measurement of trace metal concentration in a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) slurry, comprising:
a radiation flow cell for carrying a CMP slurry;
a slurry pickup head coupled to the flow cell; and
an analyzer for measuring properties of the slurry flowing through the flow cell.
29. A material concentration measurement system, comprising:
a slurry flow cell for having a slurry flow therethrough;
a radiation source for illuminating said slurry, such that radiation traveling through the flow cell produces fluorescence in predetermined material atoms contained in the slurry; and
an analyzer for measuring, in real-time, a concentration of trace predetermined material atoms in the slurry in response to the fluorescence.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
We claim:
1. An air interface processor for a modem, comprising:
an event scheduling unit for scheduling the processing, by at least one data processing unit in the modem, of data to be transmitted by the modem; and
a control unit for receiving instructions from the event scheduling unit and determining commands to send to the at least one data processing unit.
2. An air interface processor of claim 1 wherein the at least one data processing unit is a frame formatter.
3. An air interface processor of claim 2 wherein the at least one data processing unit further comprises a forward error correction unit.
4. An air interface processor of claim 1 wherein the control unit is a microsequencer.
5. An air interface processor of claim I wherein the event scheduling unit is programmable.
6. An air interface processor of claim I wherein the control unit is programmable.
7. An air interface processor of claim 2 wherein the frame formatter is configurable.
8. An air interface processor for a modem, comprising:
an event scheduling unit for scheduling the processing, by at least one data processing unit in the modem, of data received by the modem; and
a control unit for receiving instructions from the event scheduling unit and determining commands to send to the at least one data processing unit.
9. An air interface processor of claim 8 wherein the at least one data processing unit is a frame deformatter.
10. An air interface processor of claim 8 wherein the at least one data processing unit further comprises a forward error correction unit.
11. An air interface processor of claim 8 wherein the control unit is a microsequencer.
12. An air interface processor of claim 8 wherein the event scheduling unit is programmable.
13. An air interface processor of claim 8 wherein the control unit is programmable.
14. An air interface processor of claim 9 wherein the frame deformatter is configurable.
15. A method of processing data in a modem, comprising:
scheduling the processing of data for transmission by the modem;
transmitting the schedule to a microsequencer; and
sending commands to a frame formatter to build a frame of data in accordance with a program of the microsequencer.
16. A method of processing data in a modem, comprising:
scheduling the processing of data reception by the modem;
transmitting the schedule to a microsequencer; and
sending commands to a frame deformatter to extract data from a frame of data in accordance with a program of the microsequencer.
17. In a modem having configurable means for converting data into formatted data packages and programmable control means for controlling the configurable data conversion means, a method of controlling the conversion of data comprising:
configuring the configurable data conversion means in accordance with at least one communication standard;
selecting one of the at least one communication standards; and
programming the programmable control means in accordance with the selected communication standard to control the configurable data conversion means.
18. The method of claim 17 further comprising the step of using the programmed control means to determine a communication time schedule.
19. The method of claim 17 further comprising the step of using the programmed control means to control the configured data conversion means.
20. In a modem having configurable means for extraction of data from formatted data packages and programmable control means for controlling the configurable data extraction means, a method of controlling the extraction of data comprising:
configuring the configurable data extraction means in accordance with at least one communication standard;
selecting one of the at least one communication standards; and
programming the programmable control means in accordance with the selected communication standard to control the configurable data extraction means.
21. The method of claim 20 further comprising the step of using the programmed control means to determine a communication time schedule.
22. The method of claim 20 further comprising the step of using the programmed control means to control the configured data extraction means.
23. A method of programming a microsequencer to perform a multi-way branching instruction comprising:
(a) establishing a lookup table having entries indexed by n conditions and each entry having a lookup value;
(b) defining a function of the n conditions based on the lookup table; and
(c) determining, based on the function, the next program instruction to execute.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein step (c) comprises the step of determining, based on the function, an offset for determining the next program instruction to execute.
25. The method of claim 24, wherein step (b) comprises defining a boolean function of the n conditions based on the lookup table.
26. A method of programming a microsequencer to perform a multi-way branching instruction based on m sets of n conditions, the method comprising:
(a) establishing m lookup tables, each table having entries indexed by the n conditions of one of the m sets of n conditions, and each entry of each table having a lookup value;
(b) defining m functions, each function based on one of the m lookup tables; and
(c) determining, based on the m functions, the next program instruction to execute.
27. The method of claim 26 wherein step (b) comprises the step of defining m boolean functions, each boolean function based on one of the m lookup tables.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein step (c) comprises the step of interpreting the m boolean functions as a binary value to determine an offset for determining the next program instruction to execute.
29. The method of claim 26, wherein at least one of the m functions can be configured by setting the lookup values of the entries in the corresponding lookup table.
30. An apparatus for performing a multi-way branching instruction by a microsequencer based on m sets of n conditions, the apparatus comprising:
memory means storing m lookup tables, each table having entries indexed by the n conditions of one of the m sets of n conditions, and each entry of each table having a lookup value;
hardware means defining m functions, each function based on one of the m lookup tables; and
software means for determining, based on the m function, the next program instruction to execute.
31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein at least one of the m functions can be configured by setting the lookup values of each entry of the corresponding lookup table.
32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the hardware means comprises m multiplexers.
33. A method of programming a microprocessor to perform a multi-way branching instruction based on m sets of n conditions, the method comprising:
(a) establishing m lookup tables, each table having entries indexed by the n conditions of one of the m sets of n conditions, and each entry of each table having a lookup value;
(b) defining m functions, each function based on one of the m lookup tables; and
(c) determining, based on the m functions, the next program instruction to execute.
34. An modem comprising:
a modulator; and
an air interface processor for the modulator,
the air interface processor having an event scheduling unit for scheduling the processing, by at least one data processing unit in the modem, of data to be transmitted by the modem and a control unit for receiving instructions from the event scheduling unit and determining commands to send to the at least one data processing unit.
35. An modem comprising:
a demodulator; and
an air interface processor for the demodulator,
the air interface processor having an event scheduling unit for scheduling the processing, by at least one data processing unit in the modem, of data received by the modem and a control unit for receiving instructions from the event scheduling unit and determining commands to send to the at least one data processing unit.