DETERMINING ROOT CAUSE FOR ALARM IN PROCESSING SYSTEM

• US 20080140225A1
• Filed: 12/08/2006
• Published: 06/12/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Zhou, Lin, Shneyder, Dmitriy, Goodrich, Stephen W., Mezzapelle, Joseph J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,535,349 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/30
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0275 Fault isolation and identification, e.g. classify fault; estimate cause or root of failure
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0286 Modifications to the monitored process, e.g. stopping operation or adapting control

Abstract

A method, system and computer program product for controlling a processing system are disclosed. Alarms and information regarding operating components within the processing system are collected by a knowledge base and are related to one another therein. Data in the knowledge base is then analyzed to determine a root cause for the alarms.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a processing system, the method comprising:

collecting alarms from multiple operating units of the processing system, each operating unit including multiple operating components;

relating each alarm with respective operating components in a knowledge base;

analyzing data in the knowledge base to identify a root cause for an alarm; and

controlling the processing system based on the identified root cause.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple operating components include at least one of a hardware component, a software component, and a target component.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the multiple operating components include at least one of a recipe, a tool, a chamber, and a wafer in a microelectronics processing.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing includes normalizing a number of alarms related to an operating component of an operating unit.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing includes statistically correlating an alarm with an operating component.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the alarms are in a same format.

7. A system for controlling a processing system, the system comprising:

means for collecting alarms from multiple operating units of the processing system, each operating unit including multiple operating components;

means for relating each alarm with respective operating components in a knowledge base;

means for analyzing data in the knowledge base to identify a root cause for an alarm; and

means for controlling the processing system based on the identified root cause.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the multiple operating components include at least one of a hardware component, a software component, and a target component.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the multiple operating components include at least one of a recipe, a tool, a chamber, and a wafer in a microelectronics processing.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the analyzing means further normalizes a number of alarms related to an operating component.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the analyzing means statistically correlates an alarm with an operating component of an operating unit.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the alarms are in a same format.

13. A computer program product comprising:

computer usable program code which, when executed by a computer system, is configured to;

collect alarms from multiple operating units of a processing system, each operating unit including multiple operating components;

relate each alarm with respective operating components in a knowledge base;

analyze data in the knowledge base to identify a root cause for an alarm; and

control the processing system based on the identified root cause.

14. The program product of claim 13, wherein the multiple operating components include at least one of a hardware component, a software component, and a target component.

15. The program product of claim 14, wherein the multiple operating components include at least one of a recipe, a tool, a chamber, and a wafer in a microelectronics processing.

16. The program product of claim 13, wherein the computer usable program code is further configured to normalize a number of alarms related to an operating component.

17. The program product of claim 13, wherein the analyzing includes statistically correlating an alarm with an operating component of an operating unit.

18. The program product of claim 13, wherein the alarms are in a same format.

19. A method of generating a system for controlling a processing system, the method comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure operable to;

collect alarms from multiple operating units of the processing system, each operating unit including multiple operating components;

relate each alarm with respective operating components in a knowledge base;

analyze data in the knowledge base to identify a root cause for an alarm; and

control the processing system based on the identified root cause.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the multiple operating components include at least one of a hardware component, a software component, and a target component, the information of which being collected by the computer infrastructure in a same format as the alarms.