Patent ID: 7505828

Claim:
A method for manufacturing semiconductor devices comprising: providing a machine on a semiconductor manufacturing assembly line that performs an action on a semiconductor wafer and that has an internal buffer that provides a location for storing a plurality of semiconductor wafers that are stored together in a wafer carrier; providing a host that is operatively coupled with the machine, the host controlling the machine by sending operational commands to the machine, and the host supervising the operation of the machine by receiving machine event notifications from the machine; providing a manufacturing execution system communicatively coupled with the host; providing a carrier transport system that transports carriers between the machine and a plurality of locations on the semiconductor manufacturing assembly line; providing an advanced material handling system that controls the carrier transport system, the advanced material handling system also being communicatively coupled with the host through a dispatcher; at the host, receiving information on a first priority of a first carrier of wafers from the manufacturing execution system; processing the first carrier of wafers in the machine; at the host, receiving a load port status notification message from the machine that indicates whether a load port on the machine is available; at the host, inspecting the load port status notification message to determine whether the load port on the machine is available; at the host, receiving information from the manufacturing execution system indicating that a second carrier of wafers requires processing on the machine and indicating that the second carrier of wafers has a second priority; at the host, analyzing the first priority and the second priority to determine whether the first priority is greater than the second priority; if the analyzing step determines that the second priority is greater than the first priority, and if the inspecting step determines that the load port on the machine is available: at the host, sending a transport carrier request to the dispatcher of the advanced material handling system to request that the carrier transport system transport the second carrier of wafers to the machine; at the dispatcher, responding to the transport carrier request by sending a carrier delivery request command to the advanced material handling system; at the advanced material handling system, responding to the carrier delivery request command by causing the carrier transport system to initiate the transport of the second carrier to the machine; at the carrier transport system, transporting the second carrier to the machine; and at the machine, receiving the second carrier at the load port and into the internal buffer.