Method and Apparatus for Reconstructing the Position of Semiconductor Components on a Wafer

A method for determining an assignment rule that assigns first variables from a first set of first variables to second variables from a second set of second variables, the method comprising:

• initializing the assignment rule and providing the first set of first variables and the second set of second variables;
• repeating the following:
• training a machine learning system such that the machine learning system determines the second variables assigned according to the assignment rule as a function of the first variables;
• calculating a cost matrix having cost matrix entries that characterize distances between predictions of the machine learning system as a function of the first variables and the second variables;
• and
• optimizing the assignment rule based on the cost matrix so that the assignment of the first variables to the second variables according to the assignment rule generates minimum total costs based on the cost matrix entries.