Patent ID: 6466835
Filing Date: 2002-10-15
Classification: H01L

Abstract:
A method for avoiding causing a deadlock in a common treatment chamber, which is one of a plurality of treatment chambers of a treatment system for transporting a plural different kinds of objects along a plural different kinds of transport routes to carry out predetermined treatments for the objects and which is common to different transport routes of the plural different kinds of transport routes for transporting different kinds of objects of the plural different kinds of objects, said deadlock avoidance method comprising the steps of:setting said plural different kinds of transport routes in said treatment chamber; determining whether each of said plurality of treatment chambers located on the set transport routes is located upstream or downstream of other treatment chambers of said plurality of treatment chambers on the whole transport route including said different transport routes; preparing an upstream/downstream table indicative of an upstream/downstream relationship of each of said plurality of treatment chambers with other treatment chambers of said plurality of treatment chambers, on the basis of the determined results whether each of said plurality of treatment chambers is located upstream or downstream of said other treatment chambers; and determining that said objects cause a deadlock, when said common treatment chamber corresponds to both of upstream and downstream positions while said upstream/downstream table is prepared.