Patent Document ID: 20020095644
Application ID: 09935919
Patent Flag: 0

Claim One:
1. An apparatus for monitoring the communications between a fabrication host and a plurality of fabrication tools, in a semiconductor fabrication facility, wherein process data is obtained from each of the fabrication tools, the apparatus comprising: a plurality of data capture modules, each of the plurality of data capture modules corresponding to one of the plurality of fabrication tools, each of the plurality of data capture modules coupled to the fabrication host and to the corresponding fabrication tool, wherein data transferred between the fabrication host and the corresponding tool, which is in a first data format and includes a plurality of current process data, is captured by the data capture module and passed onto the fabrication tool; a plurality of data translation modules, each one of the plurality of data translation modules coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of data capture modules, the translation module receives the plurality of current process data, which is in a first data format, and is configured and arranged to translate this data into a second data format; a plurality of servers, each of the plurality of servers coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of translation modules and further coupled to at least one other server, wherein each of the plurality of servers receives the plurality of current process data, which is in the second data format; a plurality of web interfaces, each of the plurality of web interfaces coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of servers and further coupled to at least one other web interface, the web interface configured and arranged to convert the plurality of current process data into a displayable format; at least one web-browser coupled to at least one of the plurality of web interfaces, wherein the at least one web browser displays at least a portion of the current data transferred between the fabrication host and the corresponding tool in the second data format.