An inspection system for detecting anomalies on a substrate. The
inspection system has a sensor array for generating image data. A first
high speed network is coupled to the sensor array and receives and
communicates the image data. An array of process nodes is coupled to the
first high speed network, and receives and processes the image data to
produce anomaly reports. Each process node has an interface card coupled
to the first high speed network, that receives the image data from the
first high speed network and formats the image data according to a high
speed interface bus protocol. The interface card sets a register
indicating whether a predetermined amount of image data has been stored
in a memory, and the process node reads the register to determine whether
the predetermined amount of image data has been stored in the memory, and
initiates image processing when the register indicates that the
predetermined amount of image data has been stored in the memory.