Patent ID: 7451011

Claim:
A method of operating a processing system controller in a semiconductor processing system that includes a host system and a processing system, the method comprising: receiving a static virtual module plan (SVMP) for a wafer, wherein the SVMP comprises a desired process result for the wafer and a process sequence for the wafer, the process sequence comprising a plurality of physical module objects, the physical module objects being associated with visits by the wafer to processing modules and to measurement modules, an actual number of passes through each processing module the wafer can use to achieve the desired process result, an actual number of passes through each measurement module the wafer can use to achieve the desired process result, and virtual module objects, the virtual module objects being associated with non-visits by the wafer to the processing modules and the measurement modules; executing the process sequence; collecting processing module data or measurement module data when a physical module object in the process sequence is executed; and collecting virtual module data when a virtual module object in the process sequence is executed.