System for tracking elements using tags

A system for processing one or more of a plurality of hierarchical elements at a plurality of processing steps, where the hierarchical elements are subjected to common processing at each of the processing steps, the system comprising:

• one or more tags affixed to each of the plurality of hierarchical elements, each tag comprising a tag memory for storing information, a tag I/O unit for providing wireless communication, and a tag controller for accessing the tag memory to read and write information from and into the tag memory, wherein the tag memory uses a hierarchical memory configuration for storing identity and/or processing history tracking information of the associated hierarchical element for each of the plurality of processing stages;
• and
• a management system comprising a management memory, a control unit and an I/O unit, the management system communicating with the one or more tags using wireless links to retrieve identity and/or processing history tracking information stored in the tag memory of the tags and the management system storing the retrieved identity and/or processing history tracking information in the management memory.

A system comprising:

• a management computer comprising a management memory, a control unit and an I/O unit, the management computer using wireless links to communicate with one or more tags, each tag having a tag memory, a tag controller and a tag I/O unit,
• wherein the management computer communicates with the one or more tags to retrieve identity and/or process history tracking information stored in the tag memory of the one or more tags, the identity and/or process history tracking information being associated with each of a plurality of processing stages of one or more semiconductor elements affixed with the one or more tags, and
• wherein the management computer stores in the management memory the retrieved identity and/or process history tracking information to provide real-time location visibility and process history reporting information for the one or more semiconductor elements affixed with the tags.