Patent ID: 8139840

Claim:
A system configured for inspecting a specimen, wherein the system includes an inspection tool comprising: a detection subsystem coupled for detecting light propagating from the specimen and converting the detected light into multiple channels of parallel image data; and a tool interface comprising: a programmable element coupled for receiving the parallel image data and configured for: (i) pre-processing the parallel image data; (ii) buffering the pre-processed parallel image data until the buffered data reaches a predetermined size; (iii) forming a data packet by combining the buffered data with a data header containing information about the system; (iv) encoding the data packet using a protocol suitable for transferring information over a fibre channel; and (v) serializing the encoded data packet; and an optical transceiver coupled to the programmable element for converting the encoded data packet into an optical signal to be transferred serially over a single fibre channel.