Adaptive control industrial equipment and operation method thereof

Abstract

An adaptively controlled industrial device, comprising a bottom-level controller and a host computer controller, wherein the bottom-level controller comprises a plurality of signal input and output ports connected to a plurality of peripheral hardware, and the bottom-level controller is connected to the host computer controller via a data line. The device is characterized in that: at least one device description file is stored in the bottom-level controller and the host computer controller; the bottom-level controller stores a bottom-level controller control program for processing signals from the plurality of signal input and output ports; the host computer controller stores a host computer control program for processing signals from the bottom-level controller; and both the bottom-level controller and the host computer controller include a device description file recognition program for reading the device description file and modifying the bottom-level controller control program and the host computer control program according to the content of the device description file.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of industrial equipment, and in particular to industrial equipment capable of adaptively modifying input and output hardware settings. Background Art

[0002] Ginseng Figure 1 As shown, industrial equipment includes a host computer controller 10, such as a PC. The host computer controller 10 controls the operation of the industrial equipment, the setting and modification of process parameters, and the monitoring and display of various parameters. Many processing processes require continuous monitoring of the status of multiple peripheral hardware devices. However, much of the information generated by these hardware devices is analog data, or the response speed of the peripheral hardware is out of sync with the host computer. For various reasons, the host computer cannot directly detect and control these peripheral hardware devices. Generally, a low-level controller 20 is required to detect and control these peripheral hardware parameters. The low-level controller is typically a PLC. As a low-level controller, the PLC can store some parameters and can also be pre-programmed as needed. The parameters of the peripheral hardware are input to the low-level controller via multiple input ports 20a. After processing or calculation, they are output to the host computer controller 10 of the industrial equipment via data lines 30. The host computer controller 10 determines control strategies for the peripheral hardware based on these input status parameters and parameters entered through the user interface. These control strategies are then output to the low-level controller 20 via data lines 30. The bottom-level controller 20 converts the control signals into control parameters and outputs them to the corresponding peripheral hardware through multiple output ports 20b. The peripheral hardware can be various sensors or actuators. Sensors can be temperature sensors, flow sensors, optical sensors, power sensors, etc. Actuators can be various fluid valves, electronic switches, or controllers within the peripheral hardware.

[0003] In the prior art, industrial equipment typically uses a general file format (e.g., Excel) that is easy for humans to read but difficult for machines to read to describe all relevant information stored in the underlying controller, such as network communication ports, signal names, types, ranges, units, bus communication locations, logical interlocking information between signals, and other hardware configuration information. Furthermore, this hardware configuration information is jointly maintained by developers for both the lower-level controller (PLC) and the upper-level controller (PC). Any modifications made by either party must be notified to the other, ensuring synchronization of the modifications. Both the upper-level controller 10 and the underlying controller 20 store fixed control programs that match this hardware configuration information. When industrial equipment systems are upgraded or equipment is updated, the hardware configuration information in the general file format (e.g., Excel) inevitably changes. At this point, developers need to modify and recompile the control programs in both the underlying controller 20 (e.g., PLC) and the upper-level controller 10 (e.g., PC) based on the modifications in the general file. The recompiled control programs then control the entire industrial equipment operation.

[0004] pass Figure 1 The system architecture shown can effectively monitor and control various parameters of industrial equipment, but it still has obvious drawbacks: when peripheral hardware needs to add or modify data definitions (such as data ranges) or when logical interlocks change, the control program in the bottom-level controller 20 needs to be rewritten, and the fixed control program in the upper-level controller 10 also needs to be rewritten to adapt to the new hardware settings. Industrial equipment requires constant improvement, and even if there is no improvement, simply changing the supplier and causing hardware parameter changes may require the complete reprogramming of the above two controllers. This leads to excessively high R&D costs and long development cycles, making the above control system only applicable to application environments with minimal changes in peripheral hardware and difficult to adapt to various rapidly changing applications.

[0005] At the same time, traditional Excel files contain a large amount of formatting information, which makes it difficult for industrial equipment to automatically identify different version information of these general description files. Therefore, manual reading is required to understand the modification history of different versions, making version control impossible.

[0006] Therefore, there is an urgent need for industrial equipment that can adaptively control input and output. After the system is upgraded or the peripheral hardware is updated, there is no need to manually modify the programs in the underlying controller (such as PLC) and the host controller (such as PC), and no human control is required to adaptively upgrade the system or update the equipment, so that the industrial equipment can operate smoothly in a variety of industrial environments. Summary of the Invention

[0007] In view of this, the present invention provides an industrial device with adaptive input and output control, which effectively solves the problems existing in the prior art and enables the industrial device to adapt its input and output control program to complete operation. The present invention introduces an industrial device with adaptive control, which includes a bottom-level controller and a host computer controller, wherein the bottom-level controller includes multiple signal input and output ports connected to multiple peripheral hardware, including multiple input ports for connecting to multiple sensors and multiple signal output ports for connecting to multiple actuators. The bottom-level controller also includes at least one data line connected to the host computer controller via the data line. The device is characterized in that: at least one device description file is stored in the bottom-level controller and the host computer controller, the bottom-level controller stores a bottom-level controller control program for processing signals from the multiple signal input and output ports; the host computer controller stores a host computer control program for processing signals from the bottom-level controller; and the bottom-level controller and the host computer controller each include a device description file recognition program for reading the device description file and modifying the bottom-level controller control program and the host computer control program according to the content of the device description file.

[0008] The device description file recognition program can also be installed in only one of the host computer or the bottom-level controller, such as the host computer. The device description file recognition program installed in the host computer controller is used to read the device description file, modify the bottom-level controller control program and the host computer control program according to the content of the device description file, and transmit the modified bottom-level controller control program to the bottom-level controller. In this way, the control programs in both controllers can be updated through a single device description file recognition program.

[0009] The present invention also provides an operation method including: stopping the operation of the upper computer controller and the bottom-level controller in the industrial equipment, modifying at least one peripheral hardware of the industrial equipment; inputting a device description file into the bottom-level controller or the upper computer controller so that the content of the device description file is updated; restarting the upper computer controller and the bottom-level controller, and the device description file recognition program in the upper computer controller or the bottom-level controller recognizes the updated device description file, and selects whether to regenerate a new bottom-level controller control program and an upper computer control program according to the information in the device description file. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0011] Figure 1 The operating diagram of the industrial equipment control system in the prior art is disclosed;

[0012] Figure 2 The operating schematic diagram of the industrial equipment control system of the present invention is disclosed;

[0013] Figure 3 An operating schematic diagram of another embodiment of the industrial equipment control system of the present invention is disclosed. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention more clear, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0015] In the prior art, the various input parameters mentioned above are stored in fixed addresses defined by the underlying controller 20 and the host controller 10 when the industrial equipment is running. Therefore, once these parameters need to be modified or added, the original program cannot be executed and must be re-modified and recompiled to be effectively executed.

[0016] The inventor found that the hardware structure of the underlying controller (PLC) can not only perform existing storage data and simple logical operations, but also read markup language files (XML). The inventor proposed Figure 2 The control system structure shown in FIG. 1 , wherein the markup language file can be directly read by the bottom controller 21 or the host controller 11. The inventor proposes to add all the description contents of the peripheral hardware into the XML file to form the device description file of the present invention. These parameters include the aforementioned network communication port, the name, type, range, unit, position of the signal in the bus communication, the logical interlocking information between the signals, etc. The device description file contains logical signal description information and physical signal description information. The physical signal description information can be the actual physical signal transmission channel information such as the PLC module number or the port number on the PLC. The device description file also includes the mapping relationship or conversion relationship between the above-mentioned physical signals and logical signals, and also includes other information such as signal interlocking logic.

[0017] The device description file can be stored in the bottom controller 21 or the host controller 11. When there are multiple host computers or multiple bottom controllers, any node in the network connected by one or more data lines can store the device description file.

[0018] The bottom-level controller 21 also stores a device description file recognition program 2. During operation, the bottom-level controller 21 does not directly run a fixed bottom-level controller control program. Instead, the device description file recognition program first reads the device description file information in XML format and then automatically and adaptively modifies the bottom-level controller control program based on the information provided in the device description file, enabling the bottom-level controller control program to be dynamically modified along with the device description file. The bottom-level controller control program is written with consideration given to various possible changes in the device description file content, enabling it to automatically change programs based on the device description file. With the control system of the present invention, when hardware parameters are modified or added, developers can directly modify the device description file stored in the bottom-level controller 21 using a dedicated device. When the industrial equipment is restarted, the device description file recognition program 2 in the bottom-level controller 21 rereads the modified device description file and dynamically generates the bottom-level controller control program based on the modified content of the device description file. This method eliminates the need for the bottom-level controller 21 to be a fixed program during operation. Instead, the entire control program can be adaptively modified based on the peripheral hardware modification data input by the developer, eliminating the need for manual reprogramming, compilation, and storage in the bottom-level controller each time a hardware change occurs. The device description file modification device can be a card reader that inserts a memory card containing a new device description file into the underlying controller to update the device description file. Alternatively, it can be an external microcomputer that transmits the new device description file to the underlying controller or the host controller via an input port provided on the underlying controller or the host controller. The host computer can use the same method as the underlying controller described above to automatically identify changes in the device description file content through a device description file recognition program 1 provided in the host computer, and automatically generate a corresponding host computer control program based on the content changes.

[0019] Since both the upper computer controller 11 and the bottom controller 21 automatically modify the program through the same device description file, the new programs formed by the two after automatic modification can still ensure smooth and accurate data transmission between the two without data conflicts and contradictions.

[0020] The device description file of the present invention can also be stored only in the host computer controller. When the peripheral hardware is modified, the device description file recognition programs 1 and 2 in the host computer controller and the bottom controller read the device description file at the same time, and automatically and adaptively modify the control programs of both, which can also achieve the purpose of the invention. In addition to having only one host computer and one bottom controller, industrial equipment can also have more bottom controllers or even multiple host computer controllers. As long as the multiple controllers in an industrial device are interconnected to form a control network, any node (any controller) in this control network stores the markup language file proposed by the present invention, which can be read by other nodes in the network through the network connection, so that all nodes in the entire industrial equipment can automatically and synchronously update the control program. The bottom controller in the present invention can be a PLC, and a PC can also be used as the bottom controller as long as cost and space permit.

[0021] like Figure 3 As shown in another embodiment of the present invention, a host controller is connected to two bottom-level controllers 22 and 23 via data lines 30 and 32, respectively. Each bottom-level controller 22 and 23 includes multiple signal input ports 22a and 23a and multiple signal output ports 22b and 23b, respectively. The device description file identification program in the bottom-level controller 23 can also be omitted. The device description file identification program set in the host controller 11 simultaneously manages the update of all control programs in the host controller 11 and the bottom-level controllers 22 and 23. After the industrial equipment is restarted, the device description file identification program in the host controller 11 reads the device description file stored in any node in the entire controller network. If the device description file is modified, the host control program in the host controller 11 is automatically modified and stored. At the same time, the host can also modify the bottom-level controller programs 1 and 2 in the downstream bottom-level controllers 22 and 23 and transfer the modified programs to the bottom-level controllers 22 and 23 for storage. In this way, as long as the host controller 11 has a device description file recognition program, the purpose of the present invention can be achieved: dynamically updating multiple control programs in the host computer and the bottom controller according to the modification information of the peripheral hardware.

[0022] The recognizable language described in the present invention includes but is not limited to a markup language file (xml). Any file that can be recognized by the device description file recognition program in the bottom controller and the upper computer is applicable to the present invention. The markup language file contains at least one of the following information: logical signal description information, physical signal description information, a mapping relationship and a conversion relationship between the logical signal description information and the physical signal description information, and a description of the signal interlocking logic. The device description file recognition program in the present invention can automatically modify the control program in the upper computer / bottom controller based on the above-mentioned markup language file containing at least the logical signal description information, the physical signal description information, and their mapping relationship. Therefore, the storage address of each variable in the program can be dynamically allocated based on this information, ultimately realizing dynamic automatic updating of the control program. In the prior art, since the input and output ports of the bottom controller are fixed, there is only logical signal description information but no physical signal description information, and it is impossible to link the variables with the changes in the actual physical signals. The control programs in the above-mentioned two controllers are also necessarily fixed and cannot be automatically modified, and must be manually modified.

[0023] In this application, the device description files stored on any node in the industrial equipment system network are each stored as a separate version in a version control system. By managing this version control system and reading the device description file information currently being read by the bottom-level controller 21 and the upper-level controller 11, administrators can track and maintain the performance of the current industrial equipment. Existing technologies use files such as Excel that cannot be read by machines and can only be read manually, making it difficult to effectively track the modification process of different versions. However, the present invention uses markup language files as device description files, which can be automatically read by each controller, facilitating tracking and management.

[0024] The adaptive industrial equipment in this application is a plasma processor, including but not limited to a capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) processor, an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) processor, etc. The plasma processor includes a wafer base for fixing the wafer to be processed, an air intake component for inputting the processing gas, and an RF power supply for delivering RF power to the reaction chamber of the plasma processor to form plasma. Plasma etchers are used to process semiconductor wafers. With the evolution of technology (CD is less than 7nm), the processing accuracy and uniformity requirements of wafers are getting higher and higher. In order to better control the plasma processing effect, the plasma processor includes a large number of signal sensors. For example, the temperature of the electrostatic chuck is measured by nearly 30 or even hundreds of temperature measuring devices, and many other components include their own temperature measuring devices. In addition, the RF current, air pressure, cylinder, etc. are monitored and controlled by a series of devices, resulting in a wide variety of signals connected to the underlying controller, and the signal forms are diverse. The semiconductor equipment industry is evolving rapidly, with new equipment being developed every year to adapt to new generation processes. Even the same equipment needs to execute different processes, resulting in slightly different peripheral hardware. These factors lead to a large and constantly changing number of peripheral hardware connected to the underlying controller in plasma processors. If existing methods were used, each modification of peripheral hardware would require manual recompilation of both the host controller and the underlying controller, a process time and cost that simply could not meet the R&D needs of plasma processors. The application of the dynamically adjustable control program proposed in this invention significantly reduces time and labor costs, making plasma processors with diverse peripheral hardware economical.

[0025] Although the present invention has been described in detail through the above preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the above description is not intended to limit the present invention. After reading the above description, various modifications and substitutions of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A plasma processor with adaptive control, comprising a bottom-level controller and a host computer controller, wherein the bottom-level controller comprises a plurality of signal input and output ports connected to a plurality of peripheral hardware, including a plurality of input ports for connecting to a plurality of sensors and a plurality of signal output ports for connecting to a plurality of actuators, the bottom-level controller further comprising at least one data line connected to the host computer controller via the data line, and a plurality of the sensors and actuators being disposed in the plasma processor, characterized in that: There is at least one device description file stored in the bottom controller and the host controller. The bottom-layer controller stores a bottom-layer controller control program for processing signals of the plurality of signal input and output ports; The upper computer controller stores an upper computer control program for processing the signal from the bottom controller; The bottom controller and the host computer controller both include a device description file recognition program for reading the device description file and modifying the bottom controller control program and the host computer control program according to the content of the device description file.

2. The plasma processor according to claim 1, wherein: The device description file is a structured text that can be recognized by the upper computer controller and the bottom controller.

3. The plasma processor according to claim 2, wherein: The structured text is a markup language file.

4. The plasma processor according to claim 1, wherein: The host computer further includes a user input and output interface, through which the user inputs control instructions into the host computer controller.

5. The plasma processor according to claim 1, wherein: The bottom controller is a PLC controller, and the upper computer is a PC controller.

6. The plasma processor according to claim 1, wherein: The plasma processor includes a plurality of bottom-layer controllers, which are connected to the host computer controller via data lines.

7. The plasma processor according to claim 1, wherein: The device description file includes physical signal description information and logical signal description information, as well as a mapping relationship between the physical signal description information and the logical signal description information, wherein the physical signal description information defines the information of the input and output ports numbered by the underlying controller, and the logical signal description information includes the information measured by the multiple sensors or the information to be transmitted to the actuator.

8. An adaptively controlled plasma processor, comprising a bottom-level controller and a host controller, wherein the bottom-level controller comprises a plurality of signal input and output ports connected to a plurality of peripheral hardware, including a plurality of input ports for connecting to a plurality of sensors of the plasma processor, and a plurality of signal output ports for connecting to a plurality of actuators. The bottom-level controller further comprises at least one data line connected to the host controller via the data line, and a plurality of the sensors and actuators are disposed in the plasma processor, characterized in that: At least one device description file is stored in the bottom controller and the host controller; The bottom-layer controller stores a bottom-layer controller control program for processing signals of the plurality of signal input and output ports; The upper computer controller stores an upper computer control program for processing the signal from the bottom controller; The host computer controller includes a device description file recognition program for reading the device description file, modifying the bottom controller control program and the host computer control program according to the content of the device description file, and transmitting the modified bottom controller control program to the bottom controller.

9. The plasma processor according to claim 8, wherein: The device description file is a structured text that can be recognized by the upper computer controller and the bottom controller.

10. The operating method of the plasma processor according to claim 1 or 8, the operating method comprising: Stopping the operation of the upper computer controller and the bottom computer controller in the plasma processor, and modifying at least one peripheral hardware of the plasma processor; Inputting the device description file into the underlying controller or the host controller so that the content of the device description file is updated; Restart the host controller and the bottom controller, the device description file recognition program in the host controller or the bottom controller recognizes the updated device description file, and selects whether to regenerate a new bottom controller control program and host control program according to the information in the device description file.

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