KR100980737B1 - Network system and method for controlling various semiconductor manufacturing facilities - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a network system and method for controlling various semiconductor manufacturing facilities. The network system interfaces the host and the semiconductor manufacturing facilities through a network according to the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SME) specification. The network is provided with a local area network. Each of the semiconductor manufacturing facilities dually processes an external interface process for interfacing with a host and an internal interface process for interfacing with various tasks of its own. According to the present invention, in order to manage a variety of semiconductor manufacturing facilities by manufacturer, process, and model to conform to the SEMI protocol, the internal interface process is changed and designed differently, and the interface with the host is easy to maintain and maintain. As a result, the host interface standard can be unified.

Network Systems, Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment, Hosts, Interfaces, Dualization

Description

NETWORK SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING VARIOUS SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENTS AND METHOD OF THE SAME

The present invention relates to a network system, and more particularly, to a network system and a method for interfacing with a host to control various semiconductor manufacturing facilities.

In the semiconductor manufacturing industry, efforts have been made to increase productivity using communication. This is a method of connecting each facility, such as a manufacturing facility, a measurement facility, and an inspection facility of a manufacturing plant online with a host, which is the main control device, to control and manage them.

The SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International) International Standards Committee has established various protocols such as protocols and standards to efficiently handle communication between semiconductor facilities. SEMI protocols include SECS Communications Equipment Standard (SECS), High-speed SECS Message Services (HSMS), and Generic Equipment Model (GEM) protocols. SECS includes SECS-I and SECS-II.

These define the communication interface between the semiconductor manufacturing facilities and the host. These methods define the physical connections, signal sizes, data rates, logical protocols, etc. required for exchanging information between the host and semiconductor manufacturing facilities. The information is exchanged using a serial interface.

Referring to FIG. 1, a network system 10 for controlling a plurality of semiconductor manufacturing facilities 12 to 16 may include a SECS for a communication interface between a main control device host 2 and semiconductor manufacturing facilities 12 to 16. -I (or SECS-II) protocol is used. The host 2 and each semiconductor manufacturing facility 12-16 are connected one-to-one via, for example, an RS-232C serial interface 4.

Since the network system 10 communicates between the host 2 and the semiconductor manufacturing facilities 12 to 16 using the serial interface 4, the communication speed is slow and it is difficult to transmit a large amount of information. In addition, since the communication is possible only at a close distance, the distance between the host 2 and the semiconductor manufacturing facilities 12 to 16 must be close, which is inconvenient. In addition, since the host 2 and the semiconductor manufacturing facilities 12 to 16 are connected one-to-one, it is difficult to further connect the new semiconductor manufacturing facilities.

To address these issues, the SEMI International Standards Committee established the HSMS protocol. HSMS can communicate faster than SECS-I and SECS-I. HSMS basically uses Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP), a high-speed communication protocol.

Referring to FIG. 2, a network system 20 using a high speed communication interface is connected via a LAN 24 between a host 22 and semiconductor manufacturing facilities 26-30, using an HSMS protocol. Exchange information.

Since the network system 20 exchanges information using TCP / IP, a high speed and a large amount of information can be transmitted. In addition, the communication line can be inspected to increase the connection density or block the communication line without additional equipment, and reject the incompatible equipment. TCP / IP can also handle network timeout, multiple access control, and the like.

That is, in the network system 20, the LAN 24, which is a common network, is branched to connect the host 22 and the semiconductor manufacturing facilities 26 to 30. Therefore, the host 22 and the semiconductor manufacturing facilities 26 to 30 can be remotely communicated using TCP / IP, so that the host 22 and the semiconductor manufacturing facilities 26 to 30 can be remotely controlled. In addition, the network system 20 has a high communication speed to facilitate large-capacity information transmission, and can branch off the common network 24 to easily add new semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

As described above, the conventional network systems 10 and 20 use the specific networks 4 and 24 to control and manage the semiconductor manufacturing facilities 12 to 16 and 26 to 30. Connected with.

In such a network system 10, 20, software for handling the interface between the hosts 2, 22 and the semiconductor manufacturing facilities 12-16, 26-30 must be designed. This software includes a host interface process that processes the interface with the hosts 2 and 22. This process communicates the information according to the task of the facilities while communicating in accordance with the SEMI protocol in one process. Provided is a structure for signal processing to transmit to each other.

However, there are various types of semiconductor manufacturing facilities by manufacturer and process. In the case of another type of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, since the equipment having a different configuration or structure is manufactured in various ways, software for interface with a host must be designed differently for each equipment. Therefore, a process (host interface process) must be provided differently for each semiconductor manufacturing facility.

In addition, the SEMI protocol is handled differently in each semiconductor manufacturing facility, making it difficult to manage them collectively. In addition, there is a problem such as a high maintenance cost to manage the various semiconductor manufacturing facilities according to the SEMI protocol by manufacturer, process and model.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a network system and method for controlling a plurality of semiconductor manufacturing facilities via a network.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a network system and method for controlling a plurality of semiconductor manufacturing facilities by dual.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a network system and method for interfacing with a host regardless of the type of various semiconductor manufacturing facilities.

In order to achieve the above objects, the network system of the present invention is characterized by dualizing an external interface and an internal interface to implement an interface between a host and various semiconductor manufacturing facilities. As such, the network system can easily handle the interface between the host and the semiconductor manufacturing facilities by changing only the internal interface regardless of the type of the semiconductor manufacturing facility.

The network system of the present invention comprises: a plurality of semiconductor manufacturing facilities; Network and; And a host connected to the plurality of semiconductor manufacturing facilities through the network to control the semiconductor manufacturing facilities. The semiconductor manufacturing facility dualizes interface processing for providing each piece of information generated by internal tasks with each other and interface processing for providing the information to the host.

In one embodiment, the network; According to the SEMI protocol, a local area network (LAN) for communicating between the host and the semiconductor manufacturing facilities is provided.

In another embodiment, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment; An external interface process for interfacing with the host; And an internal interface process for generating and storing respective information according to the tasks, and for connecting the external interface process to provide the information to the external interface process.

In another embodiment, the external and internal interface process is provided by any one of an executable program and a library.

In another embodiment, the external interface process; A communication interface connected to the host for exchanging information between the host and the semiconductor manufacturing facility according to the SEMI protocol; And a first data interface that receives the information from the internal interface process and provides the information to the communication interface.

In another embodiment, the internal interface process; A signal interface for generating information about each of the operations of the semiconductor manufacturing facility; A memory for receiving and storing the information generated from the signal process; A database for storing and managing information about the tasks; And a second data interface connected to the first data interface through an internal network and reading the information from the database and providing the information to the first data interface.

According to another feature of the invention, there is provided a method for connecting a plurality of semiconductor manufacturing facilities via a network, wherein the semiconductor manufacturing facilities interface with the host. According to this method, in order to communicate between the host and the semiconductor manufacturing facilities, interface processing for exchanging information with the host at each of the semiconductor manufacturing facilities, and information between various operations within the semiconductor manufacturing facilities. Dualize the interface processing for provisioning.

In one embodiment, the dualizing; The semiconductor manufacturing facility includes a first process for processing an interface with the host through the network and a second process for processing an interface between the tasks of the semiconductor manufacturing facility. And interconnecting the first and second processes.

In another embodiment, the first process receives information generated from the second process and processes the host to control the semiconductor fabrication facility through the network in accordance with SEMI protocols. And the second process processes to provide information generated by each of the tasks to the first process.

In another embodiment, the method; If at least one of the semiconductor manufacturing facilities is different from the rest, the one second process is designed differently from the remaining second process to interface with the host.

As described above, the network system of the present invention dualizes an external interface and an internal interface for interfacing various semiconductor manufacturing facilities with a host, thereby allowing an interface with a host regardless of the type of semiconductor manufacturing facilities.

In addition, the network system of the present invention changes and designs only a software module that processes an internal interface corresponding to various types of semiconductor manufacturing facilities, thereby making it easy to maintain and unifying host interface standards for various semiconductor manufacturing facilities in a manufacturing line. can do.

The embodiments of the present invention may be modified in various forms, and the scope of the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited by the embodiments described below. This embodiment is provided to more completely explain the present invention to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the shapes and the like of the components in the drawings are exaggerated in order to emphasize a clearer explanation.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a network system for controlling semiconductor manufacturing facilities according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, in the network system 100, a host 102 and a plurality of semiconductor manufacturing facilities 110 to 130 are connected through a network 104. The network 104 transmits information to and from the host 102 and the semiconductor manufacturing facilities 110-130 according to the SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International) protocol for interfacing with the host 102. For example, the SEMI protocol is provided with a SECS Communications Equipment Standard (SEMS), High-speed SECS Message Services (HSMS), or a Generic Equipment Model (GEM) protocol. The network 104 is also provided as a local area network (LAN) using TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol).

The semiconductor manufacturing facilities 110 to 130 may be provided with various kinds of facilities. That is, the semiconductor manufacturing facilities 110 to 130 may be provided with a plurality of facilities of the same kind or at least one of different kinds of facilities. In this case, different kinds of facilities have different configurations or structures in the case of facilities that process the same process.

Each of the semiconductor manufacturing facilities 110-130 has an external interface process (HOP) 112, 122, 132 for interfacing with the host 102, and various tasks (processes or jobs) therein. And an internal interface process (HIP) 114, 124, 134 for exchanging information generated by the system. The external interface process (HOP) 112, 122, 132 and the internal interface process (HIP) 114, 124, 134 are provided as software modules that can be independently designed.

Internal interface processes (HIPs) 114, 124, and 134 process and provide data and signals to external interface processes (HOPs) 112, 122, and 132 in accordance with the operations inherent in semiconductor manufacturing facilities 110-130. do. The external interface processes (HOPs) 112, 122, and 132 are various pieces of information received from the internal interface processes (HIPs) 114, 124, and 134, for example, signals such as data, messages, and events. To host 102. At this time, the external interface process (HOP) 112, 122, 132 and the internal interface process (HIP) 114, 124, 134 use a memory device (154, 156 of FIG. 4) or an internal network (FIG. 4). 106). For example, during data processing, a memory link method that reads information stored in the memory 154 of the semiconductor manufacturing facilities 110 to 130 and provides the information to the host 102 is used. In the signal processing, a queue processing method is used.

Accordingly, the semiconductor manufacturing facilities 110-130 are provided by dualizing the external interface processes 112, 122, 132 and the internal interface processes 114, 124, 134 to interface with the host 102.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 4, in the semiconductor manufacturing facilities 110 to 130, the external interface processes 112 to 132 and the internal interface processes 114 to 134 are interconnected through an internal network 106. The external and internal interface processes 112 to 132 and 114 to 134 are provided in the form of executable programs (EXEs, DLLs, OCXs) and libraries, respectively. An OCX is an OLE (Object Linking and Embedding control) custom controller, a type of application that runs on Microsoft's Windows operating system.

The external interface processes 112-132 include a communication interface 140 and a first data interface 142 that are connected with the host 102 via the network 104. The communication interface 140 processes the interface between the host 102 and the semiconductor manufacturing facilities 110-130 in accordance with SEMI conventions. The first data interface 142 is connected to the internal interface processes 114 to 134, receives information provided from the internal interface processes 114 to 134, processes data and signals, and transfers the information to the communication interface 140. In addition, the first data interface 142 receives information provided from the host 102 from the communication interface 140, processes data and signals, and transfers the data and signals to the internal interface processes 114 to 134.

In addition, the internal interface processes 114 to 134 may receive a signal interface 150 for generating information on various operations therein, and receive data generated from the signal interface 150 to process data and signals to process the first data interface 142. A second data interface 152 for transferring the information; and a memory 154 for receiving and storing the generated information via the second data interface 152. The internal interface processes 114-134 further include a database 156 that stores and manages data for each of the tasks stored in the memory 154.

The semiconductor manufacturing facilities 110 to 130 may be provided in various kinds. If at least one semiconductor manufacturing facility (eg, 110) has a different facility, for example, a different configuration or structure than the remaining semiconductor manufacturing facilities 120, 130, one semiconductor manufacturing facility 110 may be configured to provide Only the semiconductor manufacturing facilities 120 and 130 and the internal interface process 114 may be changed, designed, and applied differently. Therefore, by designing to interface with the host 102 irrespective of the type of semiconductor manufacturing equipment (110 ~ 130), if the external interface process (112, 122, 132) supporting the SEMI standard is designed, all the semiconductor manufacturing equipment (110 ~ 130). Since only the internal interface processes 114, 124, and 134 for each of the 130 designs can be modified and applied, maintenance is easy.

As described above, the network system 100 of the present invention processes the interfaces 112 and 122 to process the interface with the host 102 in order to process the interface between the host 102 and the semiconductor manufacturing facilities 110-130. 132 and processes 114, 124, 134 for handling the interface between internal tasks. Therefore, it can be used without affecting the processes of different kinds of facilities, and it is easy to maintain and design only the process of changing the internal interface. As a result, it can be applied as a unified standard to various semiconductor manufacturing facilities in a manufacturing line.

In the above, although the configuration and operation of the network system for interfacing the host with the semiconductor manufacturing facilities according to the present invention are shown according to the detailed description and the drawings, these are merely described by way of example and do not depart from the spirit of the present invention. Many variations and modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a network system for controlling semiconductor manufacturing facilities in accordance with one embodiment of the prior art;

2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a network system for controlling semiconductor manufacturing facilities according to another embodiment of the prior art;

3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a network system for controlling semiconductor manufacturing facilities according to the present invention; And

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the binary software configuration shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100: network system 102: host

104: network 106: internal network

110 ~ 130: semiconductor manufacturing equipment

112, 122, 132: external interface process

114, 124, 134: Internal Interface Process

140: communication interface 142, 152: data interface

150: signal interface 154: memory

156: database

Claims (10)

In a network system: A plurality of semiconductor manufacturing facilities; Network and; A host connected to the plurality of semiconductor manufacturing facilities via the network to control the semiconductor manufacturing facilities; The semiconductor manufacturing facility may dualize interface processing for providing each piece of information generated by internal operations with each other and interface processing for providing the information to the host; An external interface process for interfacing with the host; An internal interface process for generating and storing respective information according to the tasks and for connecting the external interface process to provide the information to the external interface process; The external interface process; A communication interface connected to the host and exchanging information between the host and the semiconductor manufacturing facility according to the SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International) protocol; A first data interface receiving the information from the internal interface process and providing the information to the communication interface; The internal interface process; A signal interface for generating information about each of the operations of the semiconductor manufacturing facility; A memory for receiving and storing the information generated from the signal interface; A database for storing and managing information about the tasks; And a second data interface connected to the first data interface through an internal network and reading the information from the database and providing the information to the first data interface. delete delete The method of claim 1, The external and internal interface processes are provided as one of an executable program and a library; And wherein the internal interface process is reconfigurable to interface with the host regardless of the type of semiconductor fabrication facilities. delete delete delete delete delete delete

Images