The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 08, 2009
Filed:
Nov. 19, 2004
Emrys Williams, Eversholt, GB;
Emrys Williams, Eversholt, GB;
Sun Microsystems, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
One embodiment of the invention provides apparatus and a method for testing a transmission path across one or more printed circuit boards. According to the method, a test signal is presented at a first location on the transmission path. The test signal is generally low frequency compared to normal data communications on the transmission path. A pickup line is capacitively coupled at a second location to the transmission path. The pickup line is monitored with a detector to see whether or not the test signal is present. If the test signal is not present, it is determined that there is a fault on the transmission path between the first location and the second location.