# US 10,120,372 B2 · Event processing based system for manufacturing yield improvement

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- Number: US 10,120,372 B2
- Document ID: US10120372B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/445,250
- Filed: 2014-07-29
- Published: 2015-02-05
- Granted: 2018-11-06
- Earliest claimed: 2013-08-01
- Assignees: Applied Materials, Inc.
- Applicants: Applied Materials, Inc.
- Inventors: Jamini Samantaray; John Scoville
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10120372B2

## CPC

- G05B 19/41875: {characterised by quality surveillance of production}
- G05B 2219/32194: Quality prediction
- Y02P 90/02: Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]
- G05B: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables G05D; systems for regulating electric or magnetic variables G05F; control devices or systems insofar as characterised by mechanical features only G05G)
- Y02P: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS

## Abstract

An event processing system identifies a process event associated with an identified defect in a manufacturing process. The event processing system selects a plurality of data elements from a manufacturing data source based on the process event. The manufacturing data source is associated with the manufacturing process during execution of the manufacturing process. During execution of the manufacturing process, the event processing system applies an event rule to the plurality of data elements to determine whether the event rule is satisfied. During execution of the manufacturing process, the event processing system performs a predefined action upon determining that the event rule is satisfied and selects additional data elements from the manufacturing data source upon determining that the event rule is not satisfied.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method comprising:
identifying a process event associated with a defect known to potentially occur in a manufacturing process;
selecting a plurality of data elements from a manufacturing data source based on the process event, wherein the manufacturing data source is associated with the manufacturing process during execution of the manufacturing process, and wherein selecting the plurality of data elements from the manufacturing data source comprises determining whether data to be utilized in applying an event rule associated with the process event is available in a real-time data stream, and in response to the determining:
selecting a subset of the plurality of data elements from a historical data storage in response to determining that some of the data is unavailable in the real-time data stream; or selecting the plurality of data elements from the real-time data stream in response to determining that all of the data is available in the real-time data stream;
during the execution of the manufacturing process, applying, by a processing device, an event rule to the plurality of data elements to determine whether the event rule is satisfied; during the execution of the manufacturing process, performing a predefined action upon determining that the event rule is satisfied, wherein the predefined action is performed before the defect occurs;
during the execution of the manufacturing process, selecting a plurality of additional data elements from the manufacturing data source based on the process event upon determining that the event rule is not satisfied;
during the execution of the manufacturing process, receiving an updated or new event rule; and
during the execution of the manufacturing process, applying the updated or new event rule to the plurality of data elements and historical data elements from the historical data storage.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
inserting the plurality of data elements from the manufacturing data source into an in-memory database during execution of the manufacturing process.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein applying the event rule to the plurality of data elements comprises:
comparing the process event to the plurality of data elements from the manufacturing data source during execution of the manufacturing process; and
determining whether the process event compares in a predefined manner to the plurality of data elements from the manufacturing data source during execution of the manufacturing process.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the process event associated with the identified defect comprises:
obtaining the process event based on historical data, wherein the process event comprises at least one of a temperature change, a pressure change, an electrical current change, handling by a specific tool in the manufacturing process, a maintenance event, or an alarm generated by the specific tool in the manufacturing process, and wherein the process event is obtained from at least one of a user or an analytics system.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the plurality of data elements from the manufacturing data source based on the process event further comprises:
for a data portion of the manufacturing data source,
determining whether the data portion compares in a predefined manner to a component of the event rule, and
selecting the data portion as one of the plurality of data elements upon detecting that the data portion compares in the predefined manner to the component of the event rule.

### Claim 6

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to perform operations comprising:
identifying a process event associated with a defect known to potentially occur in a manufacturing process;
selecting a plurality of data elements from a manufacturing data source based on the process event, wherein the manufacturing data source is associated with the manufacturing process during execution of the manufacturing process, and wherein selecting the plurality of data elements from the manufacturing data source comprises determining whether data to be utilized in applying an event rule associated with the process event is available in a real-time data stream, and in response to the determining:
selecting a subset of the plurality of data elements from a historical data storage in response to determining that some of the data is unavailable in the real-time data stream; or selecting the plurality of data elements from the real-time data stream in response to determining that all of the data is available in the real-time data stream;
during the execution of the manufacturing process, applying, by the processing device, an event rule to the plurality of data elements to determine whether the event rule is satisfied;
during the execution of the manufacturing process, performing a predefined action upon determining that the event rule is satisfied, wherein the predefined action is performed before the defect occurs; and
during the execution of the manufacturing process, selecting a plurality of additional data elements from the manufacturing data source based on the process event upon determining that the event rule is not satisfied;
during the execution of the manufacturing process, receiving an updated or new event rule; and
during the execution of the manufacturing process, applying the updated or new event rule to the plurality of data elements and historical data elements from the historical data storage.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein the operations further comprise:
inserting the plurality of data elements from the manufacturing data source into an in-memory database during execution of the manufacturing process.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein applying the event rule to the plurality of data elements comprises:
comparing the process event to the plurality of data elements from the manufacturing data source during execution of the manufacturing process; and
determining whether the process event compares in a predefined manner to the plurality of data elements from the manufacturing data source during execution of the manufacturing process.

### Claim 9 (depends on 6)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, identifying the process event associated with the identified defect comprises:
obtaining the process event based on historical data, wherein the process event comprises at least one of a temperature change, a pressure change, an electrical current change, handling by a specific tool in the manufacturing process, a maintenance event, or an alarm generated by the specific tool in the manufacturing process, and wherein the process event is obtained from at least one of a user or an analytics system.

### Claim 10 (depends on 6)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein selecting the plurality of data elements from the manufacturing data source based on the process event further comprises:
for a data portion of the manufacturing data source,
determining whether the data portion compares in a predefined manner to a component of the event rule, and
selecting the data portion as one of the plurality of data elements upon detecting that the data portion compares in the predefined manner to the component of the event rule.

### Claim 11

A system comprising: a memory; and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is to:
identify a process event associated with a defect known to potentially occur in a manufacturing process;
select a plurality of data elements from a manufacturing data source based on the process event, wherein the manufacturing data source is associated with the manufacturing process during execution of the manufacturing process, and wherein to select the plurality of data elements from the manufacturing data source, the processing device is to further determine whether data to be utilized in applying an event rule associated with the process event is available in a real-time data stream, and in response to the determining:
select a subset of the plurality of data elements from a historical data storage in response to determining that some of the data is unavailable in the real-time data stream; or select the plurality of data elements from the real-time data stream in response to determining that all of the data is available in the real-time data stream;
during the execution of the manufacturing process, apply an event rule to the plurality of data elements to determine whether the event rule is satisfied;
during the execution of the manufacturing process, perform a predefined action upon determining that the event rule is satisfied, wherein the action is performed before the defect occurs;
during the execution of the manufacturing process, select a plurality of additional data elements from the manufacturing data source based on the process event upon determining that the event rule is not satisfied;
during the execution of the manufacturing process, receiving an updated or new event rule; and during the execution of the manufacturing process, applying the updated or new event rule to the plurality of data elements and historical data elements from the historical data storage.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11, wherein to apply the event rule to the plurality of data elements, the processor is to:
compare the process event to the plurality of data elements from the manufacturing data source during execution of the manufacturing process; and
determine whether the process event compares in a predefined manner to the plurality of data elements from the manufacturing data source during execution of the manufacturing process.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11, wherein to identify the process event associated with the identified defect, the processor is to:
obtain the process event based on historical data, wherein the process event comprises at least one of a temperature change, a pressure change, an electrical current change, handling by a specific tool in the manufacturing process, a maintenance event, or an alarm generated by the specific tool in the manufacturing process, and wherein the process event is obtained from at least one of a user or an analytics system.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11, wherein to select the plurality of data elements from the manufacturing data source based on the process event, the processor is to further:
for a data portion of the manufacturing data source,
determine whether the data portion compares in a predefined manner to a component of the event rule, and
select the data portion as one of the plurality of data elements upon detecting that the data portion compares in the predefined manner to the component of the event rule.