Methods and systems for exchanging messages in a controller for a substrate processing system
First Claim
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1. A method for controlling operations in a substrate processing system, comprising:
- running on a computer a plurality of processes that control operations of the substrate processing system;
locking a mailbox associated with at least one of a first process and a first thread to prevent access to the mailbox by messages other than a first message from at least one of a second process and a second thread;
placing the first message from the at least one of the second process and the second thread in the mailbox;
incrementing a message counter; and
unlocking the mailbox to allow access to the mailbox by messages other than the first message.
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Abstract
In a substrate processing system, a mailbox associated with at least one of a first process and a first thread is locked to prevent access to the mailbox by messages other than a first message from at least one of a second process and a second thread. The first message from the at least one of the second process and the second thread is placed in the mailbox, a message counter in incremented, and the mailbox is unlocked to allow access to the mailbox by messages other than the first message.
19 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method for controlling operations in a substrate processing system, comprising:
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running on a computer a plurality of processes that control operations of the substrate processing system;
locking a mailbox associated with at least one of a first process and a first thread to prevent access to the mailbox by messages other than a first message from at least one of a second process and a second thread;
placing the first message from the at least one of the second process and the second thread in the mailbox;
incrementing a message counter; and
unlocking the mailbox to allow access to the mailbox by messages other than the first message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for controlling operations in an integrated substrate polishing and cleaning system, comprising:
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running on a computer a plurality of processes that control operations of the an integrated substrate polishing and cleaning system;
locking a mailbox associated with at least one of a first process and a first thread to prevent access to the mailbox by messages other than a message from at least one of a second process and a second thread;
placing the message to the at least one of the first process and the first thread from at least one of a second process and a second thread in the mailbox;
incrementing a message counter;
unlocking the mailbox to allow access to the mailbox by messages other than the first message;
locking the mailbox associated with the at least one of the first process and the first thread;
retrieving the message from the mailbox;
decrementing the message counter; and
unlocking the mailbox. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for exchanging messages between at least one of processes and threads in a substrate processing system, comprising:
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a plurality of processes for processing a substrate, each of the processes comprising at least one thread; and
a message system including at least one mailbox associated with at least one of a first process and a first thread to store messages from at least one of other processes and other threads, a locking system for each mailbox to block access to the mailbox when a message operation is being performed on the mailbox, and a counter for each mailbox to monitor the number of messages in the mailbox, wherein the message operation comprises one of placing a message in the mailbox and reading a message from the mailbox. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of communicating between threads in a multi-thread system, the method comprising:
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transmitting a locking command from a first thread to lock a mailbox from access during a message operation, the mailbox for storing messages directed to an associated thread wherein the associated thread performs at least one action in response to each message in the mailbox;
performing a message operation on the mailbox;
updating a message counter; and
releasing the mailbox. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification