Patent ID: 8295963

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for performing data management in a plasma processing system, said method comprising: communicably coupling a computing device with said plasma processing system, said plasma processing system having or being coupled with a plurality of components; providing said computing device with a recipe-and-component control module (RACCM), said RACCM including a plurality of intelligent agents, each of said intelligent agents configured to interact with at least one component of said plurality of components, a coordinating agent, said coordinating agent configured to receive processed data from said plurality of intelligent agents, and a set of provisional agents, said set of provisional agents configured to perform recipe management, said recipe management including distributing at least part of a recipe to at least one of said plurality of intelligent agents and said coordinating agent, said each of said intelligent agents of said plurality of intelligent agents further includes intelligence for defining configuration requirements for said at least one component of said plurality of components, said configuration requirements including criteria for sending a data file to at least one associated intelligent agent of said plurality of intelligent agents, said criteria being based on said part of said recipe being stored locally at said each intelligent agent of said plurality of agents, said each of said intelligent agents of said plurality of intelligent agents include a cache, said cache being configured to include code for saving at least most recent data in order to enable latching, said each intelligent agent of said plurality of intelligent agents includes code for performing data analysis of said data file to generate a signature data, said signature data being summarized data for said data file; sending said data file to said at least one of said intelligent agents of said plurality of intelligent agents by said at least one component of said plurality of components; analyzing said data file of processed data for a predefined interval by said at least one of said intelligent agent of said plurality of intelligent agents to define a signature data; generating a composite signature from said signature data, wherein said composite signature is created by said coordinating agent; and, if said composite signature indicates an action is required, sending a message to said at least one component of said plurality of components to perform said action.