Method and apparatus for system state classification

A method for using a computer processor to classify states of a manufacturing system, comprising:

• providing a classification tree having a plurality of nodes for at least a portion of the manufacturing system;
• defining a plurality of virtual sensors for the manufacturing system, each virtual sensor having a value;
• defining a state descriptor including a plurality of Boolean condition terms and a trigger probability for each of a subset of the nodes, each condition term including a logical function of the value of at least one of the virtual sensors;
• and
• for each of the state descriptors:
• evaluating the condition terms based on the value to determine a classification probability;
• and
• identifying a state associated with the state descriptor responsive to the classification probability being greater to or equal to the trigger probability.

A manufacturing system, comprising:

• a plurality of tools;
• at least one virtual sensor having a value associated with at least one of the tools;
• and
• a state classification unit configured to define at least one state descriptor including a plurality of Boolean condition terms and a trigger probability, each condition term including a logical function of the value of the virtual sensor, evaluate the condition terms based on the value to determine a classification probability, and identify a state responsive to the classification probability being greater to or equal to the trigger probability.

A manufacturing system, comprising:

• a plurality of tools;
• a plurality of virtual sensors, each having a value associated with at least one of the tools;
• and
• a state classification unit configured to manufacturing a classification tree having a plurality of nodes for at least a portion of the manufacturing system, define a state descriptor including a plurality of Boolean condition terms and a trigger probability for each of a subset of the nodes, each condition term including a logical function of the value of at least one of the virtual sensors, and for each of the state descriptors, evaluate the condition terms based on the value to determine a classification probability and identify a state associated with the state descriptor responsive to the classification probability being greater to or equal to the trigger probability.

A system for identifying a state of a manufacturing system comprising:

• means for defining at least one virtual sensor having a value;
• means for defining at least one state descriptor including a plurality of Boolean condition terms and a trigger probability, each condition term including a logical function of the value of the virtual sensor;
• means for evaluating the condition terms based on the value to determine a classification probability;
• and
• means for ide identifying the state responsive to the classification probability being greater to or equal to the trigger probability.

A system for classifying states of a manufacturing system, comprising:

• means for providing a classification tree having a plurality of nodes for at least a portion of the manufacturing system;
• means for defining a plurality of virtual sensors for the manufacturing system, each virtual sensor having a value;
• means for defining a state descriptor including a plurality of Boolean condition terms and a trigger probability for each of a subset of the nodes, each condition term including a logical function of the value of at least one of the virtual sensors;
• and
• for each of the state descriptors:
• means for evaluating the condition terms based on the value to determine a classification probability;
• and
• means for identifying a state associated with the state descriptor responsive to the classification probability being greater to or equal to the trigger probability.