Patent ID: 6237050
Filing Date: 2001-05-22
Classification: G05B,H01L,Y02P

Abstract:
A method for controlling equipment in a semiconductor fabrication system, the method comprising:automatically receiving, at a host computer, actual data indicative of an actual state of a unit of equipment for fabricating semiconductor devices through a unit state change monitoring module provided in the host computer;retrieving, from a data base, stored data indicative of a stored state of the unit of equipment;computing a unit state change by comparing the actual data with the stored data;determining whether the unit state change exceeds a predetermined threshold;returning to said receiving, if the unit state change does not exceed the predetermined threshold;primarily updating the data base by storing the actual data, if the unit state change does exceed the predetermined threshold; andmodifying an operation of the unit of equipment after said primarily updating of the data base,said modifying includingdetermining whether a predetermined introduction signal indicative of introduction of a workpiece into a selected unit of equipment, has been input to the host computer,identifying the selected unit of equipment indicated by the predetermined introduction signal, if the predetermined introduction signal has been input,retrieving selected stored data from the data base after said identifying, the selected stored data indicative of a running state of the selected unit of equipment,determining whether the selected stored data has a down value indicative that the selected unit of equipment is in a down state, after said retrieving of the selected stored data,displaying a predetermined alarm message, if the selected stored data has the down value, andstopping the introduction of the workpiece, after said displaying.