HOST CONTROL DEVICE, SLAVE CONTROL DEVICE, SCREEN OPERATION RIGHT GIVING METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM CONTAINING SCREEN OPERATION RIGHT GIVING PROGRAM

• US 20100045684A1
• Filed: 11/15/2007
• Published: 02/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
• Original Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
• Inventors: Yamagami, Munetaka
• Application Number:
  US12/515,204
• Publication Number:
  US 20100045684A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/520
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0421 Multiprocessor system
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2231 Master slave
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1454 involving copying of the display data of a local workstation or window to a remote workstation or window so that an actual copy of the data is displayed simultaneously on two or more displays, e.g. teledisplay
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/001 Arbitration of resources in a display system, e.g. control of access to frame buffer by video controller and/or main processor
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67155 Apparatus for manufacturing or treating in a plurality of work-stations

Abstract

A host personal computer (PC) 100 is connected to a plurality of slave PC 200 for controlling a plurality of process modules (PM) or a transfer module (TM). The host PC 100 judges whether or not an operation right is given to the slave PC 200 which has requested the operation right in accordance with the screen operation request from the slave PC 200.

Claims

1. A host control device which is connected to a first slave control device including a display unit for displaying a screen group for operating a substrate processing device and a second slave control device including a display unit for displaying a screen group for operating a transfer device via a network, includes a display unit for displaying the screen group displayed on the display unit of the first slave control device and the screen group displayed on the display unit of the second slave control device, and controls the first slave control device and the second slave control device, the device comprising:

a screen database storing the screen group displayed on the display unit of the first slave control device and the screen group displayed on the display unit of the second slave control device;

a screen specifying unit specifying a screen group, of which the operation is requested, from a plurality of screen groups stored in the screen database, according to the request for a screen operation transmitted from either the first slave control device or the second slave control device;

an operation right judgment unit judging whether or not the operation right of the screen group specified by the screen specifying unit is given to the requesting slave control device; and

an operation right giving unit giving the operation right of the specified screen group to the requesting slave control device without changing devices to which the operation rights of screen groups other than the specified screen group are given, in order to allow different control devices of a plurality of control devices including the first slave control device, the second slave control device and the host control device to simultaneously and separately operate different screen groups, if it is judged that the operation right of the screen group is given to the requesting slave control device by the operation right judgment unit.

2. The host control device according to claim 1, wherein the operation right judgment unit judges that the operation right of the specified screen group is given to the requesting slave control device after a process which is being executed by the control device to which the operation right is given is finished, if the operation right of the specified screen group is given to a control device other than the requesting slave control device in the plurality of control devices.

3. The host control device according to claim 2, wherein the operation right judgment unit judges that the requested operation right of the screen group is given to the host control device after a process which is being executed by any one of the slave control devices is finished, if the operation right of the screen group of which the operation is requested by the host control device is given to any one of the slave control devices.

4. The host control device according to claim 3, wherein the operation right judgment unit judges that the requested operation right of the screen group is sequentially given from a control device having a highest priority of the plurality of control devices according to predetermined priorities, if the operation of the same screen group is requested by the plurality of control devices.

5. The host control device according to claim 1, wherein the operation right judgment unit judges whether or not the giving of the operation right to the control device which has requested the operation is inhibited in advance, and judges that the operation right is not given to the control device which has requested the operation if the giving of the operation right is inhibited.

6. The host control device according to claim 3, further comprising:

an input unit receiving information which is input using the screen displayed on the display unit of the host control device to which the operation right is given, if the operation right is given to the host control device by the operation right giving unit;

a communication unit receiving information, which is input using the screen displayed on the display unit of the slave control device to which the operation right is given, from the slave control device to which the operation right is given, if the operation right is given to any one of the slave control devices by the operation right giving unit;

a storage unit storing recipes defining a plurality of substrate processing procedures executed by the substrate processing device; and

a process execution control unit executing a predetermined process executed based on the information received by the communication unit concurrently with another predetermined process executed based on the input information received by the input unit, based on the recipes stored in the storage unit.

7. The host control device according to claim 6, wherein the display unit of the host control device updates the contents of the screen displayed on the display unit of the host control device so as to keep a matching property with the contents of the screen displayed on the display unit of the slave control device to which the operation right is given, based on the information received by the communication unit in correspondence with the input operation to the screen displayed on the display unit of the slave control device to which the operation right is given.

8. The host control device according to claim 6, wherein the display unit of the host control device does not display the screen group if the operation right is given to any one of the slave control devices and the screen group of which the operation right is given is inhibited from being displayed on the display unit of the host control device in advance.

9. The host control device according to claim 6, wherein:

the host control device is connected to a plurality of first slave control devices for controlling a plurality of substrate processing devices and is connected to the second slave control device for controlling a transfer device for transferring the substrate adjacent to the plurality of substrate processing devices,

the screen database manages a plurality of screen groups displayed on the display units of the plurality of first slave control devices and the screen group displayed on the display unit of the second slave control device according to the screen groups,

the storage unit manages the plurality of substrate processing procedures executed by the plurality of substrate processing devices according to the recipes,

the operation right giving unit gives the operation right of the screen to any one of the plurality of control devices according to the screen groups managed by the screen database, and allows different control devices to simultaneously and separately operate different screen groups, and

the process execution control unit exclusively and concurrently controls the plurality of substrate processes executed by the plurality of substrate processing devices based on the recipes managed by the storage unit.

10. The host control device according to claim 9, wherein:

the plurality of first slave control devices are disposed in the vicinities of the plurality of substrate processing devices in a room in which the plurality of substrate processing devices are disposed,

the second slave control device is disposed in the vicinity of the transfer device disposed adjacent to the plurality of substrate processing devices in the same room as the room in which the plurality of substrate processing devices are disposed, and

the host control device is disposed outside the room so as to transmit or receive information to or from the slave control devices such that the plurality of substrate processes executed by the plurality of substrate processing devices and the transfer process executed by the transfer device are controlled and the giving of the operation right of the screen group displayed on the display unit of each slave control device is controlled.

11. A slave control device which is connected to a host control device for controlling an operation right of a screen via a network and includes a display unit for displaying either a screen group for operating a substrate processing device or a screen group for operating a transfer device, the device comprising:

a screen database storing the screen group displayed on the display unit of the slave control device;

an operation right requesting unit generating information for requesting the operation right of the screen group stored in the screen database; and

a communication unit transmitting the operation right request information generated by the operation right requesting unit to the host control device so as to request the operation of the screen and transmitting information, which is input using the display screen of the slave control device to which the operation right is given, to the host control device if the operation right of the screen group of which the operation is requested is given to the slave control device by the host control device, without changing devices to which the operation rights of screen groups other than a screen group specified according to the transmitted operation right request information are given,

wherein a predetermined process executed based on the information transmitted from the slave control device to which the operation right is given is executed by the host control device concurrently with another predetermined process executed based on the information input using the screen displayed on a display unit of the host control device.

12. A screen operation right giving method using a host control device which is connected to a first slave control device including a display unit for displaying a screen group for operating a substrate processing device and a second slave control device including a display unit for displaying a screen group for operating a transfer device via a network, includes a display unit for displaying the screen group displayed on the display unit of the first slave control device and the screen group displayed on the display unit of the second slave control device, and controls the first slave control device and the second slave control device, the method comprising:

storing the screen group displayed on the display unit of the first slave control device and the screen group displayed on the display unit of the second slave control device in a screen database;

specifying a screen group, of which the operation is requested, from a plurality of screen groups stored in the screen database, according to a request for the operation of the screen transmitted from either the first slave control device or the second slave control device;

judging whether or not the operation right of the specified screen group is given to the requesting slave control device; and

giving the operation right of the specified screen group to the requesting slave control device without changing devices to which the operation rights of screen groups other than the specified screen group are given, in order to allow different control devices of a plurality of control devices including the first slave control device, the second slave control device and the host control device to simultaneously and separately operate different screen groups, if it is judged that the operation right of the screen group is given to the requesting slave control device.

13. A storage medium containing a screen operation right giving program for executing a process of giving an operation right of a screen on a computer using a host control device which is connected to a first slave control device including a display unit for displaying a screen group for operating a substrate processing device and a second slave control device including a display unit for displaying a screen group for operating a transfer device via a network, includes a display unit for displaying the screen group displayed on the display unit of the first slave control device and the screen group displayed on the display unit of the second slave control device, and controls the first slave control device and the second slave control device, the screen operation right giving program executing on the computer a method comprising:

storing the screen group displayed on the display unit of the first slave control device and the screen group displayed on the display unit of the second slave control device in a screen database;

specifying a screen group, of which the operation is requested, from a plurality of screen groups stored in the screen database, according to a request for the operation of the screen transmitted from either the first slave control device or the second slave control device;

judging whether or not the operation right of the specified screen group is given to the requesting slave control device; and

giving the operation right of the specified screen group to the requesting slave control device without changing devices to which the operation rights of screen groups other than the specified screen group are given, in order to allow different control devices of a plurality of control devices including the first slave control device, the second slave control device and the host control device to simultaneously and separately operate different screen groups, if it is judged that the operation right of the screen group is given to the requesting slave control device.