System and method of monitoring, predicting and optimizing production yields in a liquid crystal display (LCD) manufacturing process
AssigneeYieldBoost Tech, Inc.
InventorKyo Young Chung
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method of monitoring LCD production yields, predicting the effects of different testing methodologies on LCD production yields, and optimizing production yields is provided that compares the effect of different testing methodologies on the yields at various stages in the LCD testing and assembly process. The present invention can also be used to predict the effect of different testing methodologies on user-defined parameters, such as profit.
Claims33
A method of estimating a monetary result due to variations in under-killed defects between current and new liquid crystal display (LCD) manufacturing setups, wherein the current and new LCD manufacturing setups each comprise an array test stage for testing electrode array panels, and a cell inspection stage for inspecting LCD cells that comprise the electrode array panels, comprising:
- determining, for the current LCD manufacturing setup, a number of current electrode array panels classified as defective by the array test stage to yield current test data;
- determining, for the current LCD manufacturing setup, a number of current LCD cells classified as defective by the cell inspection stage to yield current inspection data;
- determining a current under-killed defect parameter based on the current test data and the current inspection data;
- determining, for the new LCD manufacturing setup, a number of new electrode array panels classified as defective by the array test stage to yield new test data;
- determining, for the new LCD manufacturing setup, a number of new LCD cells classified as defective by the cell inspection stage to yield new inspection data;
- determining a new under-killed defect parameter based on the new test data and the new inspection data;
- comparing the current under-killed defect parameter with the new under-killed defect parameter to yield first comparison data;
- estimating the monetary result due to variations in under-killed defects based on the first comparison data.
A system for estimating a monetary result due to variations in under-killed defects between current and new liquid crystal display (LCD) manufacturing setups, comprising:
- an array test stage for identifying defective electrode array panels for the current LCD manufacturing setup and the new LCD manufacturing setup, to yield current and new test data, respectively;
- a cell inspection stage for identifying defective LCD cells for the current LCD manufacturing setup and the new LCD manufacturing setup, to yield current and new inspection data, respectively, wherein the LCD cells comprise the electrode array panels;
- and
- a processor for:
- determining a current under-killed defect parameter based on the current test data and the current inspection data,
- determining a new under-killed defect parameter based on the new test data and the new inspection data, and
- estimating the monetary result based on the current and new under-killed defect parameters.
A method of estimating a monetary result due to variations in under-killed defects between current and new liquid crystal display (LCD) manufacturing setups, wherein the current and new LCD manufacturing setups each comprise an array test stage for testing electrode array panels, and a cell inspection stage for inspecting LCD cells that comprise the electrode array panels, comprising:
- determining a current under-killed defect parameter associated with the current LCD manufacturing setup;
- determining a new under-killed defect parameter associated with the new LCD manufacturing setup;
- and
- estimating the monetary result based on the current and new under-killed defect parameters.
An article of manufacture, comprising:
- a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for estimating a monetary result due to variations in under-killed defects between current and new liquid crystal display (LCD) manufacturing setups, wherein the current and new LCD manufacturing setups each comprise an array test stage for testing electrode array panels, and a cell inspection stage for inspecting LCD cells that comprise the electrode array panels, the computer readable program code in the article of manufacture comprising:
- computer readable program code for causing a computer to determine a current under-killed defect parameter associated with the current LCD manufacturing setup;
- computer readable program code for causing a computer to determine a new under-killed defect parameter associated with the new LCD manufacturing setup;
- and
- computer readable program code for causing a computer to estimate the monetary result based on the current and new under-killed defect parameters.
A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for estimating a monetary result due to variations in under-killed defects between current and new liquid crystal display (LCD) manufacturing setups, wherein the current and new LCD manufacturing setups each comprise an array test stage for testing electrode array panels, and a cell inspection stage for inspecting LCD cells that comprise the electrode array panels, the method steps comprising:
- determining a current under-killed defect parameter associated with the current LCD manufacturing setup;
- determining a new under-killed defect parameter associated with the new LCD manufacturing setup;
- and
- estimating the monetary result based on the current and new under-killed defect parameters.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.