Patent ID: 6282457
Filing Date: 2001-08-28
Classification: H01L

Abstract:
A control apparatus for use in a processing system in which a to-be-processed object is subjected to a first process in one of upper- and lower-ranking processing units, and then to a second process in the other of the upper- and lower-ranking processing units, said control apparatus comprising:a first control section connected to a host computer for controlling the process performed in the upper-ranking processing unit, in accordance with a process instruction from the host computer;a second control section connected to the first control section for controlling the process preformed in the lower-ranking processing unit, in accordance with the process instruction transmitted via the first control section; anda third control section for generating transfer control information which is independent of the host computer between the first and second control sections, and controlling transfer of the to-be-processed object between the upper- and lower-ranking processing units, in accordance with the transfer control information;wherein the status of the upper-ranking processing unit and the lower-ranking processing unit, the start time of processing a lot, processing results, information on the position of wafers, and alarm output are reported between the first and second control sections; andwherein the first control section includes: a process instructing section for fetching the process instruction from the host computer, thereby controlling the upper-ranking processing unit and supplying the second control section with an instruction corresponding to the process instruction, the process instructing section also fetching, from the second control section, status information concerning the lower-ranking processing unit; and a status informing section for fetching, from the second control section, the status information concerning the upper-ranking processing unit, and supplying the host computer with the status information concerning the lower-ranking processing unit, together with status information concerning the upper-ranking processing unit; andwherein the second control section includes: a process instructing section for outputting a process instruction to each component of the lower-ranking processing unit on the basis of the process instruction input from the first control section; and a status informing section for supplying the upper-ranking processing unit with the status information concerning the lower-ranking processing unit.