Manufacturing reference database

• US 6,366,824 B1
• Filed: 11/12/1998
• Issued: 04/02/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: GlobalFoundries, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
• Inventors: Barto, Larry, Nair, Bharat B., Harry, Ben, Kuzmak, Robert C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Grant, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): RODRIGUEZ, PAUL L
• Application Number:
  US09/190,986
• Time in Patent Office: 1,237 Days
• Field of Search: 700/121, 700/96, 700/108, 700/109, 700/110, 700/115, 700/116, 700/221, 700/222, 700/224, 700/225, 700/226, 700/19
• US Class Current: 700/115
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/76224 using trench refilling with dielectric materials trench filling with polycristalline silicon H01L21/763; together with vertical isolation, e.g. trench refilling in a SOI substrate H01L21/76264

Abstract

An system and method of tracking and coordinating distribution of manufacturing reference information that represents movement of devices throughout a plurality of manufacturing facilities at remote locations. The approach is particularly advantageous in application environments wherein a manufacturer has multiple manufacturing facilities. One embodiment of the method of tracking involves the steps of assigning codes that include a test flow indicator to the devices to identify information, processing devices according to the test flow indicator, receiving processing development data in near real-time at each of the remotely located facilities, utilizing a Manufacturing Reference Database to aggregate manufacturing information by receiving the manufacturing information data from remotely located facilities on a transaction-by-transaction basis, storing and then transmitting the manufacturing information to other corporate systems communicating with the Manufacturing Reference Database in near real-time.

Claims

1. A method for tracking movement of integrated circuit devices at remotely located facilities during a manufacturing process, comprising:

assigning at least one code to the devices to identify information including the manufacturing facility, the device type, lead characteristics of the devices and at least one test flow indicator used to direct testing of the devices;

processing the devices including testing according to the test flow indicator;

receiving processing data in real time at each of the remotely located manufacturing processing facilities in response to said processing during the processing of the devices; and

aggregating manufacturing information relating to processing the devices using a Manufacturing Reference Database, said manufacturing information comprising quantities of goods of the devices processed, based on multiple levels of product groupings according to the codes assigned to the respective devices.

2. A method of coordinating and transmitting in near real-time manufacturing status and condition information regarding integrated circuit device in the process of being manufactured at remotely located facilities during processing of the integrated circuit, using a system comprising a plurality of tracking systems, a memory arrangement and at least one processing unit coupled to the memory arrangement and tracking system, the method comprising:

tracking each individual integrated circuit device during the processing of the integrated circuit in order to determine its status and condition;

receiving and storing in near real-time information regarding the status and condition of the integrated devices recorded by the tracking system within each of the remotely located manufacturing processing facilities;

aggregating the information regarding status and condition of the integrated circuit devices in accordance with the predefined aggregation protocol; and

transmitting select packets of information regarding status and condition of integrated circuit devices in response to information requests from the systems coupled to the processing unit.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the receiving and storing step further comprises the step of receiving and storing status and condition information for each transaction of information tracked in near real-time.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the receiving and storing step further comprises the step of storing information received in an organized format in accordance with a predefined data storage protocol.

5. A system for tracking status of integrated circuit devices during a manufacturing process at remotely located facilities, wherein the integrated circuit devices have codes assigned thereto for identifying integrated circuit type, integrated circuit leads characteristics, and an integrated circuit test flow indicator, the system comprising:

a manufacturing facility product tracker, information regarding status of integrated circuit devices during the processing of the integrated circuit;

a receiver coupled to the manufacturing facility product tracker for receiving information regarding the manufacturing status of the integrated circuit devices in real-time;

a memory arrangement for storing information regarding the manufacturing status of the integrated circuit devices, wherein the information regarding the manufacturing status of integrated circuit devices includes a plurality of data elements;

a processor coupled to the manufacturing facility product tracker, to the receiver and to the memory arrangement, said processor being configured to at least;

control transmission of data from the manufacturing facility product tracker to the receiver; and

coordinate distribution of the information regarding the manufacturing status of integrated devices in response to request for specific information regarding the manufacturing status of integrated circuits.

6. A system for tracking status of integrated circuit devices as recited in claim 5 wherein the processor and receiver are further configured to receive information from the product tracker in near real-time for each transaction of information tracked.

7. A system for tracking the status of integrated circuit devices as recited in claim 5 wherein the processor is further configured to cause the information regarding the manufacturing status of the integrated circuit devices to be stored in the memory arrangement in an organized format in accordance with predefined data storage protocol.

8. A system for tracking the status of integrated circuit devices as recited in claim 5 wherein the processor is further configured to generate customized reports including select information from the information regarding the manufacturing status of the integrated circuit in response to a customer request.

9. A system for tracking status of integrated circuit devices as recited in claim 5 wherein the processor is further configured to automatically coordinate creation of customized packets of information for distribution to systems coupled to the system.

10. A system for tracking status of integrated circuit devices as recited in claim 5 wherein the product tracker causes testing to be performed on the integrated circuit devices when the integrated circuit devices reach predefined stages in the manufacturing process.

11. A system for tracking status of integrated circuit devices as recited in claim 5 wherein the processor is further configured to generate customized data reports in response to specific data requests in near real-time.

12. A system for tracking status of integrated circuit devices as recited in claim 11 wherein the processor is further configured to generate the customized data reports online in near real-time.

13. A system for tracking status of integrated circuit devices as recited in claim 11 wherein the processor is further configured to generate the customized data reports in printed format in near real-time.

14. The system for tracking status of integrated circuits as recited in claim 5 including an output device provided to output the information regarding the manufacturing status of integrated circuit devices in near real-time.

15. An apparatus for coordinating and transmitting in real-time manufacturing status and condition information regarding integrated circuit devices during processing of the integrated circuit devices at remotely located facilities, using a system comprising a plurality of tracking systems, a memory arrangement and at least one processing unit coupled to the memory arrangement and tracking system, the apparatus comprising:

means for tracking each individual integrated circuit device during the processing of the integrated circuit devices in order to determine its status and condition;

means for receiving and storing in real-time information regarding the status and condition of the integrated devices recorded by the tracking system within each of the remotely located facilities;

means for aggregating the information regarding status and condition of the integrated circuit devices in accordance with the predefined aggregation protocol; and

means for transmitting select packets of information regarding status and condition of integrated circuit devices in response to information requests from the systems coupled to the processing unit.