Controlling apparatus for controlling operation of substrate processing apparatus
AssigneeSemes Co., Ltd.
InventorSang Bo Seo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A controlling apparatus for controlling operation of a substrate processing apparatus includes a first CTC, and a second CTC. When the first CTC stops operating, the second CTC is preset to control each module in the substrate processing apparatus in place of the first CTC. As the first CTC and the second CTC are dualized to provide the controlling apparatus, even when one of the CTCs stops operating, another dualized CTC is used to control the substrate processing apparatus, so that operation-stop of the substrate processing system is prevented and entire process efficiency is increased.
Claims16
A controlling apparatus for controlling operation of a substrate processing apparatus having a plurality of processing modules, the controlling apparatus comprising:
- a first cluster tool controller (CTC) configured to control each processing module of the plurality of processing modules in the substrate processing apparatus;
- and
- a second CTC having the same configuration of a software and a hardware as configuration of a software and a hardware of the first CTC,
- wherein, when the first CTC stops operating, the second CTC controls each processing module of the plurality of processing modules in the substrate processing apparatus in place of the first CTC,
- wherein the first CTC comprises:
- a first processing unit configured to process data for controlling each processing module of the plurality of processing modules in the substrate processing apparatus;
- a first storage unit configured to store the data for controlling each processing module of the plurality of processing modules in the substrate processing apparatus;
- and
- a first interface unit configured to perform data exchanging with the second CTC, and
- wherein the second CTC comprises:
- a second processing unit configured to process the data for controlling each processing module of the plurality of processing modules in the substrate processing apparatus while operating in synchronization with the first processing unit;
- a second storage unit configured to store the data for controlling each processing module of the plurality of processing modules in the substrate processing apparatus while operating in synchronization with the first storage unit;
- and
- a second interface unit configured to perform data exchanging with the first CTC.
An operation method of controlling a controlling apparatus, the controlling apparatus comprising a first cluster tool controller (CTC) configured to control each processing module of a plurality of processing modules in a substrate processing apparatus and a second CTC having the same configuration of a software and a hardware as configuration of a software and a hardware of the first CTC, the operation method comprising:
- generating, by the first CTC, commands and data for each processing module of the plurality of processing modules in the substrate processing apparatus;
- controlling, by the first CTC, each processing module of the plurality of processing modules in the substrate processing apparatus based on the commands and data;
- generating, by the second CTC, the commands and data synchronized with the first CTC;
- and
- controlling, by the second CTC in place of the first CTC in response to when the first CTC stops, each processing module of the plurality of processing modules in the substrate processing apparatus based on the commands and data generated by the second CTC.
A substrate processing system comprising:
- a transfer module configured to transfer a substrate;
- a processing module configured to perform a fabrication process on the substrate;
- and
- a controlling module,
- wherein the controlling module comprises:
- a first cluster tool controller (CTC) configured to control the transfer module and the processing module;
- and
- a second CTC having the same configuration of a software and a hardware as configuration of a software and a hardware of the first CTC,
- wherein, when the first CTC stops operating, the second CTC controls the transfer module and the processing module in place of the first CTC,
- wherein the first CTC comprises:
- a first processing unit configured to process data for controlling the transfer module and the processing module;
- a first storage unit configured to store the data for controlling the transfer module and the processing module;
- and
- a first interface unit configured to perform data exchanging with the second CTC, and
- wherein the second CTC comprises:
- a second processing unit configured to process the data for controlling the transfer module and the processing module while operating in synchronization with the first processing unit;
- a second storage unit configured to store the data for controlling the transfer module and the processing module while operating in synchronization with the first storage unit;
- and
- a second interface unit configured to perform data exchanging with the first CTC.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.