Dispatch method, dispatch system and computer-readable storage medium

Abstract

The present invention provides a dispatching method, a dispatching system and a computer-readable storage medium, which can pre-configure multiple processing lines with different overall resource allocation levels for products to be processed, and the step nodes and step sequences set on each of the processing lines are the same. From the second step node to the penultimate step node, the resource allocation level at each step node on the processing line with a higher overall resource allocation level is higher than that on the processing line with a lower overall resource allocation level. After the product to be processed is sent into one of the processing lines for processing, each time when the product to be processed completes the processing of the corresponding step node on the current processing line, a yield judgment is made. Further, according to the result of the yield judgment, it is determined whether the product to be processed needs to be switched from the current processing line to other processing lines with corresponding overall resource allocation levels to perform the processing of the next step node.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of integrated circuit manufacturing, and particularly to a dispatching method, a dispatching system, and a computer-readable storage medium. Background Art

[0002] With the development of semiconductor manufacturing to very large scale integrated circuits (VLSIs), the entire manufacturing process of integrated circuits has become more complex and difficult. The shipment of a highly integrated integrated circuit product often requires hundreds of manufacturing steps to be fabricated, and such a complicated manufacturing process also increases the complexity during dispatching allocation.

[0003] Therefore, on the premise that the total resources of an integrated circuit manufacturing plant are limited, how to formulate optimal dispatching principles to improve production efficiency has become an extremely important topic in semiconductor manufacturing. Summary of the Invention

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a dispatching method, a dispatching system, and a computer-readable storage medium, which can avoid resource waste and improve the product shipment rate under the condition of the same total resource input in an integrated circuit manufacturing plant.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a dispatching method, which includes the following steps;

[0006] Pre-configure multiple processing lines with different overall resource configuration levels for the product to be processed. The step nodes and step sequences set on each of the processing lines are the same, and from the second step node to the second-to-last step node, the resource configuration level at each step node on the processing line with a higher overall resource configuration level is higher than that on the processing line with a lower overall resource configuration level;

[0007] Send the product to be processed into one of the processing lines for processing, and after the product to be processed completes the processing of the corresponding step node on the current processing line, perform a yield judgment, and determine whether the product to be processed needs to switch from the current processing line to another processing line to perform the processing of the next step node according to the result of the yield judgment.

[0008] Optionally, the product to be processed is a bare chip that has not undergone any process. The resource configuration levels of the first step nodes of the respective processing lines pre-configured for the product to be processed are the same; send the product to be processed into any one of the processing lines to perform the processing of the first step node on the product to be processed;

[0009] Alternatively, the product to be processed is a product that has been pre-processed through corresponding processes, and the resource allocation levels of the first step nodes of each of the processing lines pre-configured for the product to be processed are different; the step of feeding the product to be processed into one of the processing lines includes: first, judging the yield rate of the product to be processed, and according to the result of the yield rate judgment, feeding the product to be processed into the corresponding processing line to perform the processing of the first step node with the corresponding resource allocation level.

[0010] Optionally, the preset yield rate standards corresponding to the respective step nodes on the same processing line gradually decrease in the order of steps, and the preset yield rate standard corresponding to the same step node increases as the overall resource allocation level of the processing line becomes higher.

[0011] Optionally, when the number of the processing lines pre-configured for the product to be processed is not less than 3, and it is determined that the product to be processed needs to be switched from the current processing line to another processing line with a corresponding overall resource allocation level to perform the processing of the next step node, the product to be processed is switched from the current processing line to another processing line with a corresponding overall resource allocation level in a manner of only raising or lowering one level or skipping levels for raising or lowering.

[0012] Optionally, when the number of the processing lines pre-configured for the product to be processed is not less than 3, the preset yield rate standards corresponding to the respective step nodes include multiple yield rate thresholds of different sizes. When judging the yield rate, the current yield rate of the product to be processed is compared with each yield rate threshold, and according to the comparison result, the processing line required for the product to be processed to perform the processing of the next step node is determined from all the processing lines.

[0013] Based on the same inventive concept, the present invention further provides a dispatching system, which includes:

[0014] A pre-configuration module, configured to pre-configure multiple processing lines with different overall resource allocation levels for a product to be processed. The step nodes and step sequences provided on each of the processing lines are the same, and from the second step node to the penultimate step node, the resource allocation level at each step node on the processing line with a higher overall resource allocation level is higher than that on the processing line with a lower overall resource allocation level;

[0015] A circuit allocation module is used to send the product to be processed into one of the processing circuits for processing. After the product to be processed completes the processing of the corresponding step nodes on the current processing circuit, a yield rate judgment is performed, and based on the result of the yield rate judgment, it is determined whether the product to be processed needs to be switched from the current processing circuit to another processing circuit with a corresponding overall resource allocation level to perform the processing of the next step node.

[0016] Optionally, the product to be processed is a bare chip that has not undergone any process. The resource allocation levels of the first step nodes of each of the processing circuits preconfigured by the preconfiguration module for the product to be processed are the same. The circuit allocation module sends the product to be processed into any one of the processing circuits to process the first step node of the product to be processed; or, the product to be processed is a product that has been preprocessed through corresponding processes. The resource allocation levels of the first step nodes of each of the processing circuits preconfigured by the circuit allocation module for the product to be processed are different. The circuit allocation module is used to first perform a yield rate judgment on the product to be processed, and based on the result of the yield rate judgment, send the product to be processed into the corresponding processing circuit to perform the processing of the first step node with the corresponding resource allocation level.

[0017] Optionally, the preset yield rate standard used in the circuit allocation module is set by the preconfiguration module. The preset yield rate standards corresponding to the respective step nodes on the same processing circuit gradually decrease in the order of steps, and the preset yield rate standard corresponding to the same step node increases as the overall resource allocation level of the processing circuit becomes higher.

[0018] Optionally, when the number of the processing circuits preconfigured by the preconfiguration module for the product to be processed is not less than 3, and the circuit allocation module determines that the product to be processed needs to be switched from the current processing circuit to another processing circuit with a corresponding overall resource allocation level to perform the processing of the next step node, the circuit allocation module switches the product to be processed from the current processing circuit to the processing circuit with the corresponding overall resource allocation level by only raising or lowering one level or by skipping levels.

[0019] Based on the same inventive concept, the present invention also provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the dispatching method of the present invention is implemented.

[0020] Compared with the prior art, the technical solution of the present invention has at least one of the following beneficial effects:

[0021] 1. When the total resource input of an integrated circuit manufacturing plant is the same, resources can be reasonably adjusted and allocated to avoid resource waste.

[0022] 2. It can improve the overall shipment rate of products.

[0023] 3. It can achieve real-time job dispatching and improve production efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Figure 1 It is a flowchart of a job dispatching method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 2 It is a flowchart of a job dispatching method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 3 It is a flowchart of a job dispatching method according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram for comparing the solution effects of the present invention and the prior art.

[0028] Figure 5 It is a schematic structural diagram of a job dispatching system according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0029] The inventor has found through research that the chip shipments of existing integrated circuit manufacturing plants are usually controlled based on the overall yield of the chips. For example, when the overall yield standard of the chips is set at >90%, among a batch of chips completed simultaneously, the chips with a yield loss exceeding 10% (i.e., the chips with an overall yield <90%) have to be left. These chips are defined as defective products and cannot be shipped. Obviously, this approach of scrapping the entire chip just because of 10% defects is a loss for the integrated circuit manufacturing plant.

[0030] For the above problems, the current solutions in the industry are usually as follows: For important customers or vulnerable processes, the integrated circuit manufacturing plant allocates high-quality resources (i.e., machine / equipment resources) during job dispatching to ensure the final yield of the products and improve the shipment rate of the same batch of chips as much as possible. However, this method, although it can achieve certain effects when the total resources (i.e., machine / equipment resources) of the integrated circuit manufacturing plant are limited, still cannot avoid the situation of resource waste.

[0031] Based on this, the present invention provides a dispatching method, a dispatching system and a computer-readable storage medium, which can pre-configure multiple processing lines with different overall resource allocation levels for products to be processed, and make the step nodes and step sequences set on each of the processing lines the same. From the second step node to the penultimate step node, the resource allocation level at each step node on the processing line with a higher overall resource allocation level is higher than that on the processing line with a lower overall resource allocation level. After the product to be processed is sent into one of the processing lines for processing, each time when the product to be processed completes the processing of the corresponding step node on the current processing line, a yield judgment is made. Further, based on the result of the yield judgment, it is determined whether the product to be processed needs to switch from the current processing line to other processing lines with corresponding overall resource allocation levels to perform the processing of the next step node. Thus, according to the yield situation after the processing of the previous step node, the resource allocation level required for the next step node can be maintained, upgraded or downgraded, thereby ensuring the final yield of the product. Finally, with the same total resource input in the integrated circuit manufacturing factory, a more reasonable adjustment and allocation of the resources in the integrated circuit manufacturing factory can be achieved, avoiding resource waste, and improving its shipping rate and production efficiency.

[0032] The technical solutions proposed by the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. According to the following description, the advantages and features of the present invention will be clearer. It should be noted that the accompanying drawings are all in very simplified forms and use non-precise scales, only for the purpose of facilitating and clearly assisting in explaining the embodiments of the present invention.

[0033] Please refer to Figure 1 , an embodiment of the present invention provides a dispatching method, which includes the following steps;

[0034] First, two processing lines L11 and L12 with different overall resource allocation levels are pre-configured for the product W to be processed. Among them, L11 is a processing line with a high overall resource allocation level, which can be called a high-configuration processing line, and L12 is a processing line with a low overall resource allocation level, which can be called a low-configuration processing line. The step nodes and step sequences set on the processing lines L11 and L12 are the same, that is, both the processing lines L11 and L12 include step nodes 1 to n, where n is a natural number greater than 1. The processing purposes and arrangement orders of the step nodes 1 to n on the processing lines L11 and L12 are the same. The resource allocation levels of the first step node 1 on the processing lines L11 and L12 are the same, and the resource allocation levels of the last step node n are the same. From the second step node 2 to the penultimate step node n - 1, the resource allocation level at each step node on the processing line L11 is higher than that on the processing line L12, thereby making the overall resource allocation level of the processing line L11 higher than that of the processing line L12.

[0035] Then, at the beginning of processing, the product W to be processed is fed into any one of the processing lines L11 and L12 to perform the processing of the first step node 1. After the product W to be processed completes the processing of the corresponding step node on the current processing line, a yield judgment is performed, and based on the result of the yield judgment, it is determined whether the product W to be processed needs to be switched from the current processing line to another processing line to perform the processing of the next step node.

[0036] Among them, when it is determined that the current yield of the product W to be processed is lower than the corresponding preset yield standard, if the product W to be processed is currently on the processing line L11, it means that the current yield of the product W to be processed is relatively low. Even if it continues to be processed on the processing line L11 with a higher resource allocation level, its final yield is very likely to fail to meet the shipping standard. Therefore, it is necessary to continue to maintain the product W to be processed on the current processing line L11 to perform the processing of the next step node, that is, the processing of the next step node of the product W to be processed maintains a relatively high-level resource allocation. If the product W to be processed is currently on the processing line L12, it means that the current yield of the product W to be processed is relatively low. If the product W to be processed continues to be processed on the processing line L12 with a lower resource allocation level, its final yield is very likely to fail to meet the shipping standard. Therefore, it is necessary to continue to switch the product W to be processed to the processing line L11 with a higher resource allocation level to perform the processing of the next step node, so that it is possible to make its final yield meet the shipping standard. Therefore, at this time, it is necessary to switch the product W to be processed to the processing line L11 to perform the processing of the next step node (that is, the processing of the next step node of the product W to be processed allocates a relatively high-level resource allocation).

[0037] When it is determined that the current yield of the product W to be processed is higher than the corresponding preset yield standard, if the product W to be processed is currently on the processing line L11, it means that the current yield of the product W to be processed is relatively high. Therefore, resources with a lower configuration can be appropriately used in the next step node, and high-quality resources can be allocated to other products, that is, the product W to be processed is switched from the processing line L11 with a higher resource allocation level to the processing line L12 with a lower resource allocation level to perform the processing of the next step node. If the product W to be processed is currently on the processing line L12, it means that the current yield of the product W to be processed is relatively high. Even if it continues to be processed on the processing line L12 with a lower resource allocation level, its final yield is very likely to meet the shipping standard. Therefore, it is possible to continue to maintain the product W to be processed on the processing line L12 to perform the processing of the next step node, that is, the processing of the next step node of the product W to be processed allocates a relatively low-level resource allocation.

[0038] In this embodiment, the preset yield standards corresponding to the respective step nodes on the same processing line gradually decrease in the order of steps, and the preset yield standards corresponding to the same step node increase as the overall resource allocation level of the processing line becomes higher. That is, the preset yield standards corresponding to the respective step nodes among step nodes 1 to n - 1 on processing line L11 gradually decrease in the order of steps, and the preset yield standards corresponding to the respective step nodes among step nodes 1 to n - 1 on processing line L12 gradually decrease in the order of steps. And for the preset yield standards corresponding to the same step node, the preset yield standard on processing line L11 is higher than the preset yield standard on processing line L12. For example, the preset yield standard corresponding to step node 1 on processing line L11 is 99%, the preset yield standard corresponding to step node 2 on processing line L11 is 95%, the preset yield standard corresponding to step node 1 on processing line L12 is 96%, and the preset yield standard corresponding to step node 2 on processing line L11 is 93%.

[0039] Of course, in other embodiments of the present invention, for the preset yield standards corresponding to the same step node, the preset yield standard on processing line L11 may also be equal to the preset yield standard on processing line L12.

[0040] Next, taking the preset yield standard corresponding to step node 1 on processing line L11 as 99%, the preset yield standard corresponding to step node 2 on processing line L11 as 95%, the preset yield standard corresponding to step node 1 on processing line L12 as 96%, the preset yield standard corresponding to step node 2 on processing line L11 as 93%, and the product W to be processed being initially fed into processing line L12 to execute the first step node as an example, the switching principle of the processing line in this embodiment will be described in detail as follows:

[0041] First, the product W to be processed is fed into processing line L12 at the beginning to perform the processing of the first step node 1. After the product W to be processed completes the processing of step node 1 on processing line L12, the yield of the product W to be processed is detected, and the detected yield is compared with the preset yield standard of 96% corresponding to step node 1.

[0042] If the yield of the product W to be processed is greater than 96% after being processed at the step node 1 of the processing line L12, the product W to be processed can be maintained on the processing line L12 to continue the processing of step node 2. After the product W to be processed completes the processing of step node 2 of the processing line L12, the yield of the product W to be processed is detected again, and the detected yield is compared with the preset yield standard 93% corresponding to step node 2 of the processing line L12. When the yield is greater than 93%, the product W to be processed is maintained on the processing line L12 to continue the processing of step node 3. When the yield is less than or equal to 93%, the product W to be processed is switched to the processing line L11 to continue the processing of step node 3.

[0043] If the yield of the product W to be processed is less than or equal to 96% after being processed at the step node 1 of the processing line L12, the product W to be processed can be switched to the processing line L11 to continue the processing of step node 2. After the product W to be processed completes the processing of step node 2 of the processing line L11, the yield of the product W to be processed is detected again, and the detected yield is compared with the preset yield standard 95% corresponding to step node 2 of the processing line L11. When the yield is greater than 95%, the product W to be processed is switched to the processing line L12 to continue the processing of step node 3. When the yield is less than or equal to 95%, the product W to be processed is maintained on the processing line L11 to continue the processing of step node 3.

[0044] And so on until the last step node n is completed.

[0045] It should be noted that the product W to be processed in this embodiment can be a bare chip that has not undergone any process processing. At this time, the resource allocation levels of the first step node 1 of the processing lines L11 and L12 pre-configured for the product W to be processed are the same. At the beginning, the product W to be processed can be sent into any one of the processing lines L11 and L12 to perform the processing of the first step node 1. The product W to be processed in this embodiment can also be a product that has been pre-processed through corresponding processes. At this time, the resource allocation levels of the first step node 1 of the processing lines L11 and L12 pre-configured for the product W to be processed are different. It is necessary to further perform an initial yield judgment on the product W to be processed, and according to the judgment result of the initial yield, send the product W to be processed into the processing line L11 or L12 to perform the processing of the first step node. Among them, when the detected initial yield of the product W to be processed is relatively high (for example, greater than 99%), the product W to be processed can be sent into the processing line L12 to perform the first step node 1. When the detected initial yield of the product W to be processed is relatively low (for example, less than or equal to 99%), the product W to be processed can be sent into the processing line L11 to perform the first step node 1.

[0046] Moreover, in this embodiment, after the processing of the last step node n of the product W to be processed is completed, yield detection and judgment are still required. The yield obtained at this time is the final yield of the product W to be processed, which is used to determine whether the product W to be processed can be shipped.

[0047] In addition, it should be noted that the technical solution of the present invention allows the number of processing lines with different preset overall resource allocation levels to be not less than 3. The processing line switching principle during the processing of the product W to be processed is the same as that of the above embodiment. The main difference is that: when the number of batches of the product batch is the same, the more preset processing lines, the more optimized the processing line switching, the higher the average value of the final yields of all product batches, and the more reasonable the final realized resource allocation.

[0048] The following takes the setting of three processing lines with different overall resource allocation levels to illustrate other technical solutions of the present invention in detail.

[0049] Specifically, please refer to Figure 2 , another embodiment of the present invention provides a dispatching method, which includes the following steps:

[0050] First, three processing lines L21, L22, and L23 with different overall resource allocation levels are preconfigured for the product W to be processed. Among them, L21 is the processing line with the highest overall resource allocation level, which can be called the high-configuration processing line; L22 is the processing line with the second-highest overall resource allocation level, which can be called the medium-configuration processing line; L23 is the processing line with the lowest overall resource allocation level, which can be called the low-configuration processing line. Moreover, the step nodes and step sequences set on the processing lines L21, L22, and L23 are the same, that is, the processing lines L21, L22, and L23 all include step nodes 1 to n, where n is a natural number greater than 1. The processing purposes and arrangement orders of the step nodes 1 to n on the processing lines L21, L22, and L23 are the same. The resource allocation levels of the first step node 1 of the processing lines L21, L22, and L23 are the same, and the resource allocation levels of the last step node n are the same. However, the resource allocation levels at each step node from the second step node 2 to the penultimate step node n - 1 of the processing lines L21, L22, and L23 decrease in turn, thereby making the overall resource allocation levels of the processing lines L21, L22, and L23 increase in turn.

[0051] Then, at the beginning of processing, the product W to be processed is fed into any one of the processing lines L21, L22, and L23 to perform the processing of the first step node 1. After the product W to be processed completes the processing of the corresponding step node on the current processing line, a yield judgment is performed, and based on the result of the yield judgment, it is determined whether the product W to be processed needs to be switched from the current processing line to another processing line with a corresponding overall resource allocation level to perform the processing of the next step node.

[0052] Among them, when it is determined that the current yield of the product W to be processed is lower than the corresponding preset yield standard, if the product W to be processed is currently on the processing line L21, it means that the current yield of the product W to be processed is relatively low. Even if it continues to be processed on the processing line L21 with a higher resource allocation level, its final yield is very likely to fail to meet the shipping standard. Therefore, it is inevitable to continue to maintain the product W to be processed on the current processing line L21 to perform the processing of the next step node, that is, the processing of the next step node of the product W to be processed maintains the highest-level resource allocation; if the product W to be processed is currently on the processing line L22, it means that the current yield of the product W to be processed is relatively low. If the product W to be processed continues to be processed on the processing line L22 with a lower resource allocation level, its final yield is very likely to fail to meet the shipping standard. Therefore, it is necessary to switch the product W to be processed to the processing line L21 with a higher resource allocation level in an up-one-level manner to perform the processing of the next step node, so that it is possible to make its final yield meet the shipping standard. Therefore, at this time, it is necessary to switch the product W to be processed to the processing line L21 to perform the processing of the next step node (that is, the processing of the next step node of the product W to be processed is allocated a relatively high-level resource allocation); if the product W to be processed is currently on the processing line L23, it means that the current yield of the product W to be processed is relatively low. If the product W to be processed continues to be processed on the processing line L23 with a lower resource allocation level, its final yield is very likely to fail to meet the shipping standard. Therefore, it is necessary to switch the product W to be processed to the processing line L22 with a higher resource allocation level in an up-one-level manner to perform the processing of the next step node, or switch the product W to be processed to the processing line L21 with the highest resource allocation level in a skip-level promotion manner to perform the processing of the next step node, so that it is possible to make its final yield meet the shipping standard. Therefore, at this time, it is necessary to switch the product W to be processed to the processing line L21 or L22 to perform the processing of the next step node (that is, the processing of the next step node of the product W to be processed is allocated a relatively high-level resource allocation).

[0053] When it is determined that the current yield of the product W to be processed is higher than the corresponding preset yield standard, if the product W to be processed is currently on the processing line L21, it indicates that the current yield of the product W to be processed is relatively high. Therefore, resources with a lower configuration can be appropriately used at the next step node, and high-quality resources can be allocated to other products. At this time, the product W to be processed can be switched from the processing line L21 with the highest resource configuration level to the processing line L22 or L23 with a lower resource configuration level in a way of downgrading by one level or skipping levels to perform the processing of the next step node; if the product W to be processed is currently on the processing line L22, it indicates that the current yield of the product W to be processed is relatively high. Therefore, resources with an even lower configuration can be appropriately used at the next step node, and high-quality resources can be allocated to other products. At this time, the product W to be processed can be switched from the processing line L22 with a higher resource configuration level to the processing line L23 with the lowest resource configuration level to perform the processing of the next step node; if the product W to be processed is currently on the processing line L23, it indicates that the current yield of the product W to be processed is relatively high. Even if it continues to be processed on the processing line L23 with the lowest resource configuration level, its final yield is very likely to meet the shipping standard. Therefore, the product W to be processed can continue to be maintained on the processing line L23 to perform the processing of the next step node, that is, at this time, the resource configuration with the relatively lowest level is continued to be allocated for the processing of the next step node of the product W to be processed.

[0054] In this embodiment, the preset yield standards corresponding to the respective step nodes on the same processing line gradually decrease in the order of steps. That is, the preset yield standards corresponding to the respective step nodes in steps 1 to n - 1 on the processing line L21 gradually decrease in the order of steps, the preset yield standards corresponding to the respective step nodes in steps 1 to n - 1 on the processing line L22 gradually decrease in the order of steps, and the preset yield standards corresponding to the respective step nodes in steps 1 to n - 1 on the processing line L23 gradually decrease in the order of steps. And the preset yield standards corresponding to the first step node 1 of each processing line are the same. The preset yield standards corresponding to each step node from the second step node 2 to the penultimate step node n - 1 of the processing lines L22 and L23 are the same and are lower than the preset yield standards corresponding to the same step nodes on the processing line L21.

[0055] Taking the preset yield standard corresponding to the step node 1 on the processing lines L21 to L23 as 99%, the preset yield standard corresponding to the step node 2 on the processing line L21 as 95%, the preset yield standards corresponding to the step node 2 on the processing lines L22 and L22 as 93%, and the product W to be processed being fed into the processing line L22 at the beginning as an example, the switching principle of the processing line in this embodiment is described in detail as follows:

[0056] First, the product W to be processed is fed into the processing line L22 at the beginning to perform the processing of the first step node 1. After the product W to be processed completes the processing of the step node 1 of the processing line L22, the yield rate of the product W to be processed is detected, and the detected yield rate is compared with the preset yield rate standard of 99% corresponding to the step node 1 of the processing line L22.

[0057] If the yield rate of the product W to be processed after being processed by the step node 1 of the processing line L22 is greater than 99%, the product W to be processed can be switched to the processing line L23 to continue the processing of the step node 2. After the product W to be processed completes the processing of the step node 2 of the processing line L23, the yield rate of the product W to be processed is detected again, and the detected yield rate is compared with the preset yield rate standard of 93% corresponding to the step node 2 of the processing line L23. When the yield rate is greater than 93%, the product W to be processed is maintained on the processing line L23 to continue the processing of the step node 3. When the yield rate is less than or equal to 93%, the product W to be processed is switched to the processing line L22 to continue the processing of the step node 3.

[0058] If the yield rate of the product W to be processed after being processed by the step node 1 of the processing line L22 is less than or equal to 99%, the product W to be processed can be switched to the processing line L21 to continue the processing of the step node 2. After the product W to be processed completes the processing of the step node 2 of the processing line L21, the yield rate of the product W to be processed is detected again, and the detected yield rate is compared with the preset yield rate standard of 95% corresponding to the step node 2 of the processing line L21. When the yield rate is greater than 95%, the product W to be processed is switched to the processing line L22 to continue the processing of the step node 3. When the yield rate is less than or equal to 95%, the product W to be processed is maintained on the processing line L21 to continue the processing of the step node 3.

[0059] And so on until the last step node n is completed.

[0060] It should be noted that in the above embodiments, there is only one yield threshold for the preset yield rate standard corresponding to each step node of each processing line, and the yield rate needs to be judged and the processing line needs to be switched after each step node on the processing line where the overall resource allocation level is between the highest and the lowest. However, the technical solution of the present invention is not limited thereto. Two different yield thresholds can be set as the preset yield rate standards for each step node from the first step node 1 to the penultimate step node n - 1 of these processing lines, so as to perform two yield rate judgments at each step node of these processing lines to determine whether to maintain the current processing line to execute the next step node.

[0061] Specifically, please refer to Figure 3, another embodiment of the present invention provides a dispatching method, which includes the following steps:

[0062] First, three processing lines L31, L32, and L33 with different overall resource allocation levels are pre-configured for the product W to be processed. Among them, L31 is the processing line with the highest overall resource allocation level, which can be called the high-configuration processing line; L32 is the processing line with the second-highest overall resource allocation level, which can be called the medium-configuration processing line; L33 is the processing line with the lowest overall resource allocation level, which can be called the low-configuration processing line. And the step nodes and step sequences set on the processing lines L31, L32, and L33 are the same, that is, the processing lines L31, L32, and L33 all include step nodes 1 to n, where n is a natural number greater than 1. The processing purposes and arrangement orders of step nodes 1 to n on the processing lines L31, L32, and L33 are the same. The resource allocation levels of the first step node 1 on the processing lines L31, L32, and L33 are the same, and the resource allocation levels of the last step node n are the same. However, the resource allocation levels at each step node from the second step node 2 to the penultimate step node n - 1 on the processing lines L31, L32, and L33 decrease in turn, so that the overall resource allocation levels of the processing lines L31, L32, and L33 increase in turn.

[0063] Then, at the beginning of processing, the product W to be processed is sent into any one of the processing lines L31, L32, and L33 to perform the processing of the first step node 1. After that, after the product W to be processed completes the processing of the corresponding step node on the current processing line, a yield judgment is made, and according to the result of the yield judgment, it is determined whether the product to be processed needs to be switched from the current processing line to another processing line with the corresponding overall resource allocation level to perform the processing of the next step node.

[0064] Taking the preset yield standard corresponding to step node 1 on processing line L31 as 99%, the preset yield standards corresponding to step node 1 on processing line L22 include two yield thresholds of 99% and 96%, the preset yield standard corresponding to step node 1 on processing line L33 as 96%, the preset yield standard corresponding to step node 2 on processing line L31 as 95%, the preset yield standards corresponding to step node 2 on processing line L32 include two yield thresholds of 95% and 93%, the preset yield standard corresponding to step node 2 on processing line L33 as 93%, and the product W to be processed is sent into processing line L32 at the beginning as an example, the switching principle of the processing line in this embodiment is described in detail as follows:

[0065] First, the product W to be processed is fed into the processing line L32 at the beginning to perform the processing of the first step node 1. After the product W to be processed completes the processing of the step node 1 of the processing line L32, the yield rate of the product W to be processed is detected, and the detected yield rate is compared with the yield rate threshold of 99% corresponding to the step node 1 of the processing line L32.

[0066] If the yield rate of the product W to be processed after being processed by the step node 1 of the processing line L32 is greater than 99%, the product W to be processed can be switched to the processing line L33 to continue the processing of the step node 2. After the product W to be processed completes the processing of the step node 2 of the processing line L33, the yield rate of the product W to be processed is detected again, and the detected yield rate is compared with the preset yield rate standard of 93% corresponding to the step node 2 of the processing line L33. When the yield rate is greater than 93%, the product W to be processed is maintained on the processing line L33 to continue the processing of the step node 3. When the yield rate is less than or equal to 93%, the product W to be processed is switched to the processing line L32 to continue the processing of the step node 3.

[0067] If the yield rate of the product W to be processed after being processed by the step node 1 of the processing line L22 is less than or equal to 99%, it is further determined whether the yield rate is less than 96%. When the yield rate is less than 96%, the product W to be processed can be switched to the processing line L31 to continue the processing of the step node 2. When the yield rate is greater than or equal to 96%, the product W to be processed is maintained on the processing line L32 to continue the processing of the step node 2. Among them, after the product W to be processed is maintained on the processing line L32 to continue the processing of the step node 2, it is further determined whether its yield rate is greater than 95%. If it is greater than 95%, the product W to be processed is switched to the processing line L33 to continue the processing of the step node 3. If it is less than or equal to 95%, it is further determined whether the yield rate is less than 93%. If it is less than 93%, the product W to be processed is switched to the processing line L31 to continue the processing of the step node 3. If it is greater than or equal to 93%, the product W to be processed is maintained on the processing line L32 to continue the processing of the step node 3.

[0068] And so on until the last step node n is completed.

[0069] It should be noted that in the above Figure 2 and Figure 3 shown in the embodiments, when it is necessary to switch the processing line, it is only switched to the adjacent-level processing line by ascending or descending one level. However, the technical solution of the present invention is not limited thereto. When it is necessary to switch the processing line, it can also be switched to the corresponding-level processing line by skipping levels and ascending or descending. For example, in Figure 2In the illustrated embodiment, when it is necessary to switch from processing line L21 to a processing line with a lower overall resource configuration level, it is possible to no longer switch to processing line L22, but to switch to processing line L23 by skipping (or leapfrogging), thereby achieving an effect in which the processing line directly transitions from L21 to L23; when it is necessary to switch from processing line L23 to a processing line with a higher overall resource configuration level, it is possible to no longer switch to processing line L22, but to switch to processing line L21 by skipping (or leapfrogging), thereby achieving an effect in which the processing line directly transitions from L23 to L21.

[0070] It should be understood that when more than three processing lines are set, when the processing lines need to be switched, the selection of the switched processing lines will be more. In order to more clearly determine the level of promotion and demotion, whether it is level 1, level 2, level 3, etc., multiple yield thresholds can be set for each step node of each processing line, that is, the preset yield standard corresponding to each step node includes multiple yield thresholds of different sizes. When making a yield judgment, the current yield of the product to be processed is compared with each yield threshold, and the promotion and demotion level of the switching processing line is determined according to the comparison result.

[0071] For example, when there are 5 preset processing lines, and the product to be processed has just experienced a step node of the processing line with the highest overall resource configuration level, and the preset yield standard corresponding to the step node includes successively increasing yield thresholds of 93%, 95%, 97%, 97%, and 99%, when the current yield of the product to be processed is greater than 99%, the downgrade number of switching processing lines is the largest, which is 4 levels, which can enable the next step node to directly switch to the processing line with the lowest overall resource configuration level; when the current yield of the product to be processed is between 97% and 99%, the downgrade number of switching processing lines is the second largest, for example, 3 levels of continuous downgrade is allowed, which can enable the next step node to directly switch to the overall level of the current processing line. On the processing line with the resource configuration level minus 3, when the current yield of the product to be processed is between 95% and 97%, the number of downgrades for switching the processing line is further reduced, for example, it is allowed to downgrade by 2 levels, and the next step node can directly switch to the processing line with the overall resource configuration level of the current processing line minus 2. When the current yield of the product to be processed is between 93% and 95%, the number of upgrades and downgrades for switching the processing line is further reduced, for example, it is allowed to downgrade by 1 level, and the next step node can directly switch to the processing line with the overall resource configuration level of the current processing line minus 1. When the current yield of the product to be processed is lower than 93%, it does not need to switch the line, and it needs to continue to the next step node on the current processing line.

[0072] In order to better illustrate the technical effect that the technical solution of the present invention can achieve compared with the prior art, the present application also conducted corresponding tests, and the test results are as follows:Figure 5 As shown, when the total resources of an integrated circuit manufacturing plant are the same, Table (a) shows the final yield and quality of batches W1 - W6 in the prior art without optimizing the resource allocation for critical batches W1 - W3. Table (b) shows the final yield and quality of batches W1 - W6 in the prior art when optimizing the resource allocation for critical batches W1 - W3. Table (c) shows the final yield and quality of batches W1 - W6 in the present invention. It can be seen from Table (a) to Table (b) that in the prior art, when not optimizing the resource allocation for critical batches W1 - W3, the yields of critical batches W1 and W3 are lower than 90%, and the qualities are both evaluated as "poor" and cannot be shipped. However, when optimizing the resource allocation for critical batches W1 - W3 (i.e., allocating high-quality resources to critical batches W1 - W3), the yields of critical batches W1 - W3 are all relatively high, the qualities are both evaluated as "good", and they can all be shipped. But for ordinary batches W4 - W6, because they are allocated low-quality resources, their final yields are all lower than 90%, and the qualities are both evaluated as "poor" and cannot be shipped. When applying the technical solution of the present invention, during the processing of batches W1 - W6, the resources can be adjusted in a timely manner for the next step node of each batch according to the yield judgment results of each step node of each batch, so that the final yields of batches W1 - W6 are all higher than 90%, the qualities are both evaluated as "good", and they can all be shipped. It can be seen from this that applying the technical solution of the present invention can improve the production efficiency and shipping rate of the integrated circuit manufacturing plant and avoid waste of resources.

[0073] Based on the same inventive concept, please refer to Figure 5 , an embodiment of the present invention further provides a dispatching system, which includes:

[0074] A pre-configuration module 41, configured to pre-configure multiple processing lines with different overall resource allocation levels for products to be processed. The step nodes and step sequences set on each processing line are the same, and from the second step node to the penultimate step node, the resource allocation level at each step node on the processing line with a higher overall resource allocation level is higher than that on the processing line with a lower overall resource allocation level;

[0075] The line allocation module 42 is configured to send the product to be processed into one of the processing lines for processing. After the product to be processed completes the processing of the corresponding step node on the current processing line, a yield judgment is made, and based on the result of the yield judgment, it is determined whether the product to be processed needs to be switched from the current processing line to another processing line to perform the processing of the next step node. Among them, when it is determined that the current yield of the product to be processed is lower than the corresponding preset yield standard, the line allocation module 42 can cause the product to be processed to continue on the current processing line or switch the product to be processed to a processing line with a higher overall resource allocation level. When it is determined that the current yield of the product to be processed is higher than the corresponding preset yield standard, the line allocation module 42 can switch the product to be processed to a processing line with a lower overall resource allocation level.

[0076] The pre-configuration module 41 and the line allocation module 42 in this embodiment are actually used to implement the corresponding steps in the dispatching method in the above-mentioned various embodiments, which will not be elaborated here.

[0077] Optionally, the product to be processed is a bare chip that has not undergone any process. The resource allocation levels of the first step nodes of each processing line pre-configured by the pre-configuration module 41 for the product to be processed are the same. The line allocation module 42 sends the product to be processed into any one of the processing lines to process the first step node of the product to be processed; or, the product to be processed is a product that has been pre-processed through the corresponding process. The resource allocation levels of the first step nodes of each processing line pre-configured by the line allocation module 42 for the product to be processed are different. The line allocation module 42 is used to first make a yield judgment on the product to be processed and, based on the result of the yield judgment, send the product to be processed into the corresponding processing line to perform the processing of the first step node with the corresponding resource allocation level.

[0078] Optionally, the preset yield standard used in the line allocation module 42 is set by the pre-configuration module 41. The preset yield standards corresponding to the respective step nodes on the same processing line gradually decrease in the order of steps, and the preset yield standard corresponding to the same step node increases as the overall resource allocation level of the processing line becomes higher.

[0079] Optionally, when the number of processing lines pre-configured by the pre-configuration module 41 for the product to be processed is not less than 3, and the line allocation module 42 determines that the product to be processed needs to be switched from the current processing line to another processing line to perform the processing of the next step node, the line allocation module 42 switches the product to be processed from the current processing line to a processing line with the corresponding overall resource allocation level by only raising or lowering one level or by skipping levels.

[0080] It can be understood that the pre-configuration module 41 and the line allocation module 42 can be combined and implemented in one module, or any one of the devices can be split into multiple modules, or at least part of the functions of one or more of these devices can be combined with at least part of the functions of other devices and implemented in one module. According to an embodiment of the present invention, at least one of the pre-configuration module 41 and the line allocation module 42 can be at least partially implemented as a hardware circuit, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic array (PLA), a system on a chip, a system on a substrate, a system on a package, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or any other reasonable way of integrating or packaging circuits, etc., implemented by hardware or firmware, or implemented by an appropriate combination of software, hardware, and firmware. Alternatively, at least one of the pre-configuration module 41 and the line allocation module 42 can be at least partially implemented as a computer program module, and when the program is run by a computer, it can execute the functions of the corresponding module.

[0081] Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention also provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, wherein the computer program can include code, algorithms, computer-executable instructions, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the dispatching method of the present invention is implemented.

[0082] The computer-readable storage medium can be any medium capable of containing, storing, transmitting, propagating, or transporting instructions. For example, the computer-readable storage medium can include, but is not limited to, electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, devices, components, or propagation media. Specific examples of the computer-readable storage medium include: magnetic storage devices, such as magnetic tapes or hard disk drives (HDDs); optical storage devices, such as compact discs (CD-ROMs); memories, such as random access memories (RAMs) or flash memories; and / or wired / wireless communication links.

[0083] The above description is only a description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and does not limit the scope of the present invention in any way. Any changes and modifications made by those of ordinary skill in the art of the present invention based on the above disclosure are within the scope of the technical solutions of the present invention.

Claims

1. A dispatching method, characterized in that, it includes: pre-configuring multiple processing lines with different overall resource allocation levels for the products to be processed, where the step nodes and step sequences set on each processing line are the same, and from the second step node to the penultimate step node, the resource allocation level at each step node on the processing line with a higher overall resource allocation level is higher than that on the processing line with a lower overall resource allocation level; sending the products to be processed into one of the processing lines for processing, and after the products to be processed complete the processing of the corresponding step nodes on the current processing line, a yield judgment is made each time to compare the current yield with the preset yield standard corresponding to the current step node, and then according to the comparison result, it is determined whether the products to be processed need to be switched from the current processing line to other processing lines with corresponding overall resource allocation levels to perform the processing of the next step node, so as to maintain, upgrade or downgrade the resource allocation level required for the next step node according to the yield situation after the previous step node is processed, thereby ensuring the final yield of the products.

2. The dispatching method according to claim 1, characterized in that, the products to be processed are bare chips that have not undergone any process processing, and the resource allocation levels of the first step nodes of each of the processing lines pre-configured for the products to be processed are the same; the products to be processed are sent into any one of the processing lines to perform the processing of the first step node; or, the products to be processed are products that have been pre-processed through corresponding processes, and the resource allocation levels of the first step nodes of each of the processing lines pre-configured for the products to be processed are different; the steps of sending the products to be processed into one of the processing lines include: first making a yield judgment on the products to be processed to compare the current yield with the corresponding preset yield standard, and then according to the comparison result, sending the products to be processed into the corresponding processing line to perform the processing of the first step node with the corresponding resource allocation level.

3. The dispatching method according to claim 1, characterized in that, the preset yield standards corresponding to the respective step nodes on the same processing line gradually decrease in the order of steps, and the preset yield standard corresponding to the same step node increases as the overall resource allocation level of the processing line becomes higher.

4. The dispatching method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, when the number of the processing lines pre-configured for the products to be processed is not less than 3, and it is determined that the products to be processed need to be switched from the current processing line to other processing lines with corresponding overall resource allocation levels to perform the processing of the next step node, the products to be processed are switched from the current processing line to other processing lines with corresponding overall resource allocation levels by only raising or lowering one level or by skipping levels.

5. The dispatching method according to claim 4, characterized in that, When the number of the processing lines pre-configured for the product to be processed is not less than 3, the preset yield standards corresponding to each of the step nodes include multiple yield thresholds of different sizes. When performing yield judgment, the current yield of the product to be processed is compared with each yield threshold, and based on the comparison results, the processing line required for the product to be processed to execute the next step node is determined from all the processing lines.

6. A dispatching system, characterized in that, it includes: A pre-configuration module, configured to pre-configure multiple processing lines with different overall resource configuration levels for the product to be processed. The step nodes and step sequences set on each of the processing lines are the same, and from the second step node to the penultimate step node, the resource configuration level at each step node on the processing line with a higher overall resource configuration level is higher than that on the processing line with a lower overall resource configuration level; A line dispatching module, configured to send the product to be processed into one of the processing lines for processing, and perform yield judgment after the product to be processed completes the processing of the corresponding step node on the current processing line, so as to compare the current yield with the preset yield standard corresponding to the current step node, and then determine whether the product to be processed needs to switch from the current processing line to another processing line to execute the processing of the next step node according to the comparison results. Thus, according to the yield situation after the previous step node is processed, the resource configuration level required for the next step node is maintained, upgraded or downgraded, so as to ensure the final yield of the product.

7. The dispatching system according to claim 6, characterized in that, the product to be processed is a bare chip without any process processing, and the resource configuration levels of the first step nodes of each of the processing lines pre-configured by the pre-configuration module for the product to be processed are the same. The line dispatching module sends the product to be processed into any one of the processing lines to process the first step node of the product to be processed; or, the product to be processed is a product that has been pre-processed by the corresponding process, and the resource configuration levels of the first step nodes of each of the processing lines pre-configured by the pre-configuration module for the product to be processed are different. The line dispatching module is configured to first perform yield judgment on the product to be processed, so as to compare the current yield with the corresponding preset yield standard, and then send the product to be processed into the corresponding processing line according to the comparison results to execute the processing of the first step node with the corresponding resource configuration level.

8. The dispatching system according to claim 6, characterized in that, the preset yield standard used in the line dispatching module is set by the pre-configuration module. The preset yield standards corresponding to each of the step nodes on the same processing line gradually decrease according to the step sequence, and the preset yield standard corresponding to the same step node becomes higher as the overall resource configuration level of the processing line becomes higher.

9. The dispatching system according to any one of claims 6-8, characterized in that, When the number of the processing lines preconfigured by the preconfiguration module for the product to be processed is not less than 3, and when the line deployment module determines that the product to be processed needs to be switched from the current processing line to another processing line with a corresponding overall resource allocation level to perform the processing of the next step node, the line deployment module switches the product to be processed from the current processing line to the processing line with a corresponding overall resource allocation level in a manner of only raising or lowering one level or skipping levels.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, having a computer program stored thereon, wherein, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the dispatching method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is implemented.

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