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US 2011/0218660 A1Published application
Method and apparatus for automated fab control
AssigneeAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc.
InventorsChandra Shekar Krishnaswamy, Michael Alan Retersdorf
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method, apparatus, and a system for prioritizing processing of a workpiece is provided. At least one workpiece is processed. A tag associated with the workpiece is provided. The tag includes process priority data for determining an order relating to processing the workpiece.
Claims29
A method, comprising:
- providing at least one workpiece;
- providing a physical tag associated with said at least one workpiece, said tag being associated with process priority data for determining an order relating to processing said at least one workpiece;
- assigning, using a first controller, a value to said at least one workpiece based upon at least one factor external to a manufacturing fab, wherein the at least one factor external to a manufacturing fab comprises at least one of a cost of operation factor or a time of process completion factor;
- generating, using the first controller, an indication of a process priority on said physical tag, the indication of the process priority being based on the value assigned to said at least one workpiece;
- and
- assigning a priority to process said at least one workpiece based upon at least the indication on said physical tag using a second controller, said second controller for controlling at least one processing tool, wherein assigning the process priority comprises determining a processing route.
3 more elements
-33. (canceled)
An apparatus, comprising:
- a controller to assign a value to at least one workpiece based upon a first factor external to a manufacturing environment, said controller to generate a value for a physical tag indicative of a process priority for processing said at least one workpiece, said tag being associated with said at least one workpiece, wherein the factor external to a manufacturing environment comprises at least one of a cost of operation factor or a time of process completion factor.
An apparatus, comprising:
- at least one semiconductor wafer comprising a physical tag indicative of a process priority for processing said at least one semiconductor wafer, said process priority being based upon a first factor external to a manufacturing environment, said physical tag comprising process priority indication generated by a first controller and assigned to the physical tag by a second controller, wherein the fist factor external to a manufacturing environment comprises at least one of a cost of operation factor or a time of process completion factor.
A non-transitory, computer readable program storage device encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, performs a method, comprising:
- providing at least one workpiece;
- and
- providing a physical tag associated with said at least one workpiece, said tag being associated with process priority data for determining an order and a routing path relating to processing said at least one workpiece, said process priority data comprising a priority indication generated by a first controller and assigned to the physical tag by a second controller, wherein the process priority is based at least upon a factor external to a manufacturing fab, said external factor comprising at least one of a cost of operation factor or a time of process completion factor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.