Patent ID: 8040573

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of selecting a set of calibration test patterns to be utilized to calibrate a model for simulating the imaging performance of an optical imaging system, said method comprising the steps of: defining design rules associated with a given imaging process; defining a model equation representing the simulated imaging performance of said optical imaging system, said model equation establishing an imaging signal space corresponding to imaging signal values obtained using said model equation; determining a boundary of said imaging signal space based on said design rules; selecting calibration test patterns based on said boundary of said imaging signal space such that imaging signal values corresponding to said selected calibration test patterns and obtained using said model equation are on the boundary or within said boundary of said imaging signal space; and storing said selected calibration test patterns, said selecting calibration test patterns being utilized to calibrate said model for simulating the imaging performance of the optical imaging system, wherein one or more of the above steps are implemented by a computer.