Patent ID: 7672749

Claim:
A method, comprising: accessing, at a first controller, a plurality of first metrics indicative of processing performed on a wafer by a plurality of tool groups, each tool group comprising a plurality of tools, a first portion of the plurality of the first metrics being determined by a plurality of first measurement tools that each perform measurements on the wafer after processing by a corresponding one of the plurality of tool groups and a second portion of the plurality of first metrics being determined by at least one end-of-line wafer electrical test performed on the wafer following processing by the plurality of tool groups; providing, from the first controller, at least one tool group parameter to a plurality of second controllers, each second controller being configured to control one of the plurality of tool groups, said at least one tool group parameter being determined by the first controller based on the plurality of first metrics; accessing, at the plurality of second controllers associated with the tool groups, a plurality of second metrics, each second metric being provided directly to the plurality of second controllers by said at least one first measurement tool, each second metric being determined by a corresponding one of said at least one first measurement tool and being indicative of processing performed on the wafer by the plurality of tools in the corresponding tool group; and providing, from the second controllers, at least one tool parameter to at least one tool in each of the plurality of tool groups based on the second metric associated with the tool group and the at least one tool group parameter provided to the second controllers by the first controller.