Methods and systems for controlling a semiconductor fabrication process
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- controlling operation of a semiconductor manufacturing system with a state machine and generating, with the state machine, at least in part a schedule for processing of one or more workpieces, the state machine including a plurality of states associated with a plurality of transitions, each one of the plurality of transitions having a weight assigned thereto and each state corresponds to a workpiece processing function of a piece of equipment of the semiconductor manufacturing system, the semiconductor manufacturing system including at least two workpiece handling robots in at least two processing planes, the robots capable of handing workpieces between the at least two planes;
receiving data from the semiconductor manufacturing system;
calculating the weight assigned to each one of a number of possible transitions from a current state of the plurality of states for a predetermined piece of equipment of the semiconductor manufacturing system by applying the data as inputs to a neural network; and
selecting a transition of the workpiece processing function of the predetermined piece of equipment to a second state from the current state of the plurality of states by evaluating the weight assigned to each one of the number of possible transitions from the current state,wherein the state machine sends control signals to the semiconductor manufacturing system and control processing that re-evaluates or reconfigures the state machine is separated from operation of the state machine such that the state machine operates to send the control signals independent of the neural network to provide transitions among states according to inputs from the semiconductor manufacturing system.
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Abstract
Software for controlling processes in a heterogeneous semiconductor manufacturing environment may include a wafer-centric database, a real-time scheduler using a neural network, and a graphical user interface displaying simulated operation of the system. These features may be employed alone or in combination to offer improved usability and computational efficiency for real time control and monitoring of a semiconductor manufacturing process. More generally, these techniques may be usefully employed in a variety of real time control systems, particularly systems requiring complex scheduling decisions or heterogeneous systems constructed of hardware from numerous independent vendors.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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controlling operation of a semiconductor manufacturing system with a state machine and generating, with the state machine, at least in part a schedule for processing of one or more workpieces, the state machine including a plurality of states associated with a plurality of transitions, each one of the plurality of transitions having a weight assigned thereto and each state corresponds to a workpiece processing function of a piece of equipment of the semiconductor manufacturing system, the semiconductor manufacturing system including at least two workpiece handling robots in at least two processing planes, the robots capable of handing workpieces between the at least two planes; receiving data from the semiconductor manufacturing system; calculating the weight assigned to each one of a number of possible transitions from a current state of the plurality of states for a predetermined piece of equipment of the semiconductor manufacturing system by applying the data as inputs to a neural network; and selecting a transition of the workpiece processing function of the predetermined piece of equipment to a second state from the current state of the plurality of states by evaluating the weight assigned to each one of the number of possible transitions from the current state, wherein the state machine sends control signals to the semiconductor manufacturing system and control processing that re-evaluates or reconfigures the state machine is separated from operation of the state machine such that the state machine operates to send the control signals independent of the neural network to provide transitions among states according to inputs from the semiconductor manufacturing system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21)
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17. A computer program product comprising computer executable code embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium that, when executing on one or more computing devices, performs the steps of:
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controlling operation of a semiconductor manufacturing system with a state machine and generating, with the state machine, at least in part a schedule for processing of one or more workpieces, the state machine including a plurality of states associated with a plurality of transitions, each one of the plurality of transitions having a weight assigned thereto and each state corresponds to a workpiece processing function of a piece of equipment of the semiconductor manufacturing system, the semiconductor manufacturing system including at least two workpiece handling robots in at least two processing planes, the robots capable of handing workpieces between the at least two planes; receiving data from the semiconductor manufacturing system; calculating the weight assigned to each one of a number of possible transitions from a current state of the plurality of states for a predetermined piece of equipment of the semiconductor manufacturing system by applying the data as inputs to a neural network; and selecting a transition of the workpiece processing function of the predetermined piece of equipment to a second state from the current state of the plurality of states by evaluating the weight assigned to each one of the number of possible transitions from the current state, wherein the state machine sends control signals to the semiconductor manufacturing system and control processing that re-evaluates or reconfigures the state machine is separated from operation of the state machine such that the state machine operates to send the control signals independent of the neural network to provide transitions among states according to input from the semiconductor manufacturing system.
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18. A system comprising:
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a state machine that controls operation of a semiconductor manufacturing system and generates at least in part a schedule for processing of one or more workpieces, the semiconductor manufacturing system including at least two workpiece handling robots in at least two processing planes, the robots capable of handing workpieces between the at least two planes, the state machine including a plurality of states associated with a plurality of transitions, each one of the plurality of transitions having a weight assigned thereto and each state corresponds to a workpiece processing function of a piece of equipment of the semiconductor manufacturing system, wherein when the state machine is operating within one of the plurality of states, a selection of a transition of the workpiece processing function of a predetermined piece of equipment of the semiconductor manufacturing system from the one of the plurality of states to another one of the plurality of states is determined by evaluating the weight assigned to each one of a number of possible transitions from the one of the plurality of states; and a neural network that receives as inputs data from the semiconductor manufacturing system and provides as outputs the weights for one or more of the plurality of transitions, wherein the state machine is configured to send control signals to the semiconductor manufacturing system and control processing that re-evaluates or reconfigures the state machine is separated from operation of the state machine such that the state machine operates to send the control signals independent of the neural network to provide transitions among states according to input from the semiconductor manufacturing system. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification