Method for reporting the status and drill-down of a control application in an automated manufacturing environment

• US 7,793,162 B2
• Filed: 08/16/2007
• Issued: 09/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: GlobalFoundries, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Moore, Gary R., Wong, Justin W., Mock, Michael W.
• Primary Examiner(s): DUNCAN, MARC M
• Application Number:
  US11/839,796
• Publication Number:
  US 20090048701A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,118 Days
• Field of Search: 714/47, 700/110, 700/121, 702/183, 702/185
• US Class Current: 714/47.1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0278 Qualitative, e.g. if-then rules; Fuzzy logic; Lookup tables; Symptomatic search; FMEA

Abstract

Disclosed are embodiments that provide near real-time monitoring of a control application in a manufacturing environment to detect and determine the root cause of faults within the control application. The embodiments monitor the flow of data within the control application during events (i.e., transactions, stages, process steps, etc.). By comparing a dataflow path for a near real-time event with historical dataflow path records, dataflow interruptions (i.e., fails) within the control application can be detected. By determining the location of such a dataflow interruption, the root cause of the control application fail can be determined. Additionally, the invention can generate summary reports indicating the status of the control application. For example, the summary reports can quantify the performance and/or the effectiveness of the control application. These summary reports can further be generated with drill downs to provide a user with direct access to the records upon which the reports were based.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring a control application, said method comprising:

accessing a plurality of data sources for said control application;

retrieving, from said data sources, data regarding events occurring in a manufacturing environment monitored by said control application;

compiling said data to generate, for said events, records of dataflow paths within said control application;

storing said records in a data storage device;

performing an analysis of said records to detect a dataflow interruption within said control application; and

generating a summary report indicating a status of said control application based on said analysis, wherein said generating of said summary report comprises generating said summary report with drill down functions allowing a user to link directly to said records via a graphical user interface.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said drill down functions provide a user with additional details regarding at least one of control application status, control application errors, control application performance and control application coverage.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said drill down functions are multi-tiered.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said performing of said analysis comprises comparing a record of a current event to records of prior events to detect said a dataflow interruption.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said performing of said analysis further comprises analyzing said records to determine a location within said control application of said dataflow interruption.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said performing of said analysis further comprises determining, based on said location, a root cause of a failure in said control application.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said performing of said analysis further comprises analyzing said records in response to at least one of a specific query and a continual query.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising notifying a user of said dataflow interruption.

9. A method for monitoring a fault detection and classification (FDC) application, said method comprising:

accessing a plurality of data sources for said fault detection and classification (FDC) application;

retrieving, from said data sources, data regarding wafer-chamber passes in an integrated circuit manufacturing environment monitored by said fault detection and classification (FDC) application;

compiling said data to generate, for said wafer-chamber passes, records of dataflow paths within said fault detection and classification (FDC) application;

storing said records in a data storage device records;

performing an analysis of said records to detect a dataflow interruption within said fault detection and classification (FDC) application; and

generating a summary report indicating a status of said fault detection and classification (FDC) application based on said analysis, wherein said generating of said summary report comprises generating said summary report with drill down functions allowing a user to link directly to said records via a graphical user interface.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said drill down functions provide a user with additional details regarding at least one of fault detection and classification application status, fault detection and classification application errors, fault detection and classification application performance and fault detection and classification application coverage.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein said drill down functions are multi-tiered.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein said performing of said analysis comprises comparing a record of a current wafer-chamber pass to records of prior wafer-chamber passes to detect said dataflow interruption.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein said performing of said analysis further comprises analyzing said records to determine a location within said fault detection and classification application of said dataflow interruption.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said performing of said analysis further comprises determining, based on said location, a root cause of a failure in said fault detection and classification application.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein said performing of said analysis further comprises analyzing said records in response to at least one of a specific query and a continual query.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising notifying a user of said dataflow interruption.

17. A program storage device readable by computer and tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by said computer to perform a method of monitoring a control application, said method comprising:

accessing a plurality of data sources for said control application;

retrieving, from said data sources, data regarding events occurring in a manufacturing environment monitored by said control application;

compiling said data to generate, for said events, records of dataflow paths within said control application;

storing said records in a data storage device;

performing an analysis of said records to detect a dataflow interruption within said control application; and

generating a summary report indicating a status of said control application based on said analysis, wherein said generating of said summary report comprises generating said summary report with drill down functions allowing a user to link directly to said records via a graphical user interface.

18. The program storage device of claim 17, wherein said performing of said analysis further comprises analyzing said records to determine a location within said control application of said dataflow interruption.

19. The program storage device of claim 18, wherein said performing of said analysis further comprises determining, based on said location, a root cause of a failure in said control application.

20. A service for monitoring a control application, said service comprising:

accessing a plurality of data sources for said control application;

retrieving, from said data sources, data regarding events occurring in a manufacturing environment monitored by said control application;

compiling said data to generate, for said events, records of dataflow paths within said control application;

storing said records in a data storage device;

performing an analysis of said records to detect a dataflow interruption within said control application; and

generating a summary report indicating a status of said control application based on said analysis, wherein said generating of said summary report comprises generating said summary report with drill down functions allowing a user to link directly to said records via a graphical user interface.