The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 18, 2003
Filed:
Mar. 05, 2001
Michael Lee Miller, Cedar Park, TX (US);
Scott G. Bushman, Richardson, TX (US);
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Austin, TX (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for integrating tool sensor data in an Advanced Process Control (APC) application. A sensor receives operational state data of a processing tool related to the manufacture of a processing piece. The state data is sent from the sensor to a data server and accumulated therein. The data server processes the state data and forwards the data to an APC framework. The APC framework then forwards the state data to a fault detection unit. The fault detection unit determines if a fault condition exists with the processing tool based upon the state data. A predetermined action is performed on the processing tool in response to the presence of a fault condition. In accordance with one embodiment, the predetermined action is to shutdown the processing tool so as to prevent further production of faulty wafers.