Watchdog system having data differentiating means for use in monitoring

Abstract

In a final wafer sort (FWS) testing facility, the raw log-out data that is output by FWS test stations is augmented with additional differentiating data to thereby produce differentiable log-outs that can be sorted according to a variety of criteria including: product number or product family, time of test, specific wafer, specific production lot, intra-reticle site number, machine operator, and the specific swappable units of equipment that participated in the FWS testing. The differentiable log-outs are stored in a database and are periodically accessed by an automatic watchdog system that tests for exception conditions calling for immediate or long-term response. Corresponding alarm signals and trend reports are automatically generated and distributed to responsible personnel and/or reactive machine-systems as appropriate. The alarm distribution mechanism includes automatic paging of personnel by wireless beeper and/or e-mail. Immediate response alarms include exception conditions detected for accumulated bin counts on a per-wafer or per-lot basis. Long term alert reports include those that detect increased error rates and possible wear down of replaceable probe cards.