Patent ID: 7006882

Claim:
A machine control system (MCS) comprising: a tool control system (TCS) configured to communicate with a manufacturing execution system (MES) that is coupled to the machine control system (MCS) to receive instructions from the manufacturing execution system (MES) and to provide status from the machine control system (MCS); an access module configured to communicate with the tool control system (TCS) and the manufacturing equipment (MES), where the access module includes an interpreter for interpreting source code of a TAP module, where the source code of the TAP module is adapted to control the manufacturing equipment; a transfer module in communication with the access module, where the transfer module is linked by the access module when the source code of the TAP module specifies a function that is external to the access module, where the transfer module is further configured to route selected functions in response to a processing route specified by the instruction; and a component object model (COM+) module in communication with the transfer module, where the component object model (COM+) module is further adapted to process source code that is formatted in a component object model format.