Method for monitoring material scheduling and semiconductor process equipment

Abstract

The application discloses a material scheduling monitoring method and a semiconductor process equipment. The method comprises the following steps: receiving a notification sent by a monitored equipment after completing a process action on a material; wherein the notification at least carries the identification information of the material, the identification of a cavity performing the process action, and the completion time of the process action; based on the notification, updating the material structure information corresponding to the cavity pair in which the cavity performing the process action is located, wherein the material structure information comprises the identification information of the material and the actual waiting time of the material between the two cavities corresponding to the cavity pair; and in response to the updated actual waiting time being greater than the preset time interval threshold of the corresponding cavity pair, outputting an overtime alarm information. The application can timely find out whether the time of the material performing the next process after completing the current process is delayed, and output the overtime alarm information when the delay occurs, so as to facilitate the user to take corresponding measures in time and stop the loss in time.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application belongs to the technical field of semiconductor, and particularly relates to a material scheduling monitoring method and a semiconductor process equipment. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the semiconductor field, the wafer of different process requires that the order, time and time interval between two process steps of the process recipe executed by the cavity of the semiconductor process equipment need to be strictly controlled. Due to various reasons, such as flexible machine cavity configuration of the user, diversified scheduling weight distribution requirements, complicated process step sequence under different wafer process, etc., the current wafer execution after the current process is prone to delay the next process.

[0003] When such problems occur, the scheduling does not stop or alarm, and the scheduling module considers that the path calculated by itself is correct. Even if there is a limitation on the time interval between two process steps, it has already calculated the process step interval time that is not required to be controlled by the user under the wrong step sequence. When the scheduling logic has a problem, the calculation of the process step interval time may be impossible or the calculation result is not reliable, so the user cannot discover and handle the exception in time only through the scheduling itself. Secondly, the reasons for the delay usually have the characteristics of short-term occurrence, randomness and uncontrollability, such as the vacuum mechanical hand (Wafer Transfer Robot, WTR for short) being occupied and unable to timely extract and execute the transfer of the wafer of the ended process, or the next cavity reaching the non-process condition and requiring cleaning and other recoverable exceptions, so when the exception recovers and the scheduling continues to transfer the process, the process step interval time of the current wafer cannot meet the process requirements, and the user usually cannot discover it.

[0004] Therefore, when the scheduling algorithm has the above delay problem and cannot save itself, a solution is needed to discover the above delay problem in time and notify the user to take corresponding measures to stop the loss in time. SUMMARY

[0005] The purpose of the embodiments of the present application is to provide a material scheduling monitoring method and a semiconductor process equipment to discover the problem that the time of the next process after the current wafer executes the current process is delayed.

[0006] To achieve the above purpose, the embodiments of the present application adopt the following technical solutions:

[0007] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for monitoring material scheduling, comprising: receiving a notification sent by a monitored device after completing a process action on a material; wherein the notification carries at least: identification information of the material, identification of a cavity performing the process action, and completion time of the process action; updating material structure information corresponding to a cavity pair in which the cavity performing the process action is located based on the notification, wherein the material structure information comprises the identification information of the material and actual waiting time of the material between two cavities corresponding to the cavity pair; and outputting timeout alarm information in response to the updated actual waiting time being greater than a preset time interval threshold of the corresponding cavity pair.

[0008] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a semiconductor process equipment, comprising: a controller arranged in an upper computer and / or a lower computer of the semiconductor process equipment, and configured to implement the steps of the method for monitoring material scheduling according to the first aspect of the present application.

[0009] The above at least one technical solution adopted by the embodiments of the present application can achieve the following beneficial effects:

[0010] In the method for monitoring material scheduling, a notification sent by a monitored device after completing a process action on a material is received, wherein the notification carries at least: identification information of the material, identification of a cavity performing the process action, and completion time of the process action; material structure information corresponding to a cavity pair in which the cavity performing the process action is located is updated based on the notification, wherein the material structure information comprises the identification information of the material and actual waiting time of the material between two cavities corresponding to the cavity pair; and timeout alarm information is output in response to the updated actual waiting time being greater than a preset time interval threshold of the corresponding cavity pair. In the embodiments of the present application, the time interval threshold of each cavity pair is preconfigured, and the actual waiting time of each cavity pair is updated based on the notification sent by the monitored device after completing the process action on the material; by comparing the time interval threshold and the actual waiting time of each cavity pair, it can be determined whether the time for the material to perform the next process after completing the current process is delayed, and the timeout alarm information is output when the delay occurs, so that the user can take corresponding measures in time to stop the loss. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0011] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the present application and constitute a part of this application, illustrate certain illustrative embodiments of the present application and together with the description serve to explain the present application. In the drawings:

[0012] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method for monitoring material scheduling according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0013] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a material table provided for an embodiment of the present application;

[0014] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of an inter-chamber path provided for an embodiment of the present application;

[0015] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a data monitoring structure provided for an embodiment of the present application;

[0016] Figure 5 A flowchart of a monitoring method of material scheduling provided for another embodiment of the present application;

[0017] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of material structure information insertion and pop-out provided for an embodiment of the present application;

[0018] Figure 7 A flowchart of a monitoring method of material scheduling provided for another embodiment of the present application;

[0019] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of a structure of a semiconductor processing equipment provided for an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the technical solutions of the present application will be described below in detail with the specific embodiments of the present application and the corresponding drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, but not all the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all the other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work under the premise, belong to the scope of protection of the present application.

[0021] The terms "first", "second", and the like in the present application are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the data used in this way can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances, so that the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described here. In addition, "and / or" in the present application means at least one of the connected objects, and the character " / " generally means that the front and rear associated objects are in an "or" relationship. It should be noted that the data involved in the present application are obtained under the premise of obtaining the authorization of the user.

[0022] The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0023] Figure 1 A flowchart of a monitoring method of material scheduling provided for an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1, the method comprises the following steps: Figure 1As shown in the embodiments of this application, the material scheduling monitoring method may specifically include the following steps:

[0024] S101, receive a notification issued by the monitored equipment after completing a process action for a material; wherein the notification carries at least: the identification information of the material, the identification of the cavity that performed the process action, and the completion time of the process action.

[0025] In this embodiment of the application, the execution subject of the material scheduling monitoring method is a controller, which can be set in the host computer and / or slave computer of the monitored equipment, i.e., the monitored semiconductor process equipment (such as vertical furnace oxidation equipment).

[0026] In semiconductor process equipment, as material scheduling proceeds, materials move continuously, forming different distributions, and corresponding to different process actions (i.e., material actions) during the movement. To record and update the movement, distribution, and material action information of materials, a material table can be used.

[0027] The material table can be generated through the following steps: After each process action is completed, an entry in the material table is generated based on the corresponding time (trigger_time), material identification information, execution module (Module), and material action information (Action), such as... Figure 2 The material table shown has one entry per row. Execution modules can include cavities, robotic arms (ATR, VTR), etc. Material identification information can be represented by Material Name, Material Name ID, etc. The material table can also record the entire material batch (Lot) number (LotID) for this task, the leading actor (Actor) in the execution module, other participating objects (ActParam) in the execution module, and the corresponding material action data (ActData). Material action information (Action) can include start process (begin Process) and finished process (finished Process).

[0028] After each process operation for a material is completed, the semiconductor process equipment sends a corresponding notification to the controller. The notification carries at least the following information: the identification information of the material, the identification of the cavity that performed the process operation, and the completion time of the process operation.

[0029] It should be noted that each entry can also be encapsulated into an eventInfo package, and the eventInfo package can be reported to the factory after each process action is completed.

[0030] S102, based on the notification, update the material structure information corresponding to the cavity pair where the cavity performing the process action is located, wherein the material structure information includes the identification information of the material and the actual waiting time of the material between the two cavities corresponding to the cavity pair.

[0031] In the embodiments of this application, semiconductor process equipment is usually provided with multiple cavities. Materials can be scheduled and transferred between two different cavities. Such two cavities are called a cavity pair. According to the direction of material transfer between the two cavities, the cavity where the transfer start point is located is defined as the previous cavity (prev Chamber), and the cavity where the transfer end point is located is defined as the next cavity (next Chamber). For example, for the scheduling path PC1→PC2→PC3, PC1→PC2 constitutes a cavity pair. At this time, PC1 is the previous cavity and PC2 is the next cavity. PC2→PC3 constitutes another cavity pair. At this time, PC2 is the previous cavity and PC3 is the next cavity.

[0032] The cavity pairs can be obtained through the following steps: obtaining the type and quantity of each cavity in the monitored equipment; constructing the maximum set of path combinations for material scheduling based on the type and quantity of each cavity; and determining each cavity pair based on the maximum set of path combinations.

[0033] Specifically, the cavity type configuration in semiconductor process equipment is determined at the factory, such as... Figure 3 As shown, a typical configuration includes one Dx baking chamber, two parallel Pc cleaning chambers (Pc1, Pc2), and three process chambers for different metal targets (Ti, Tiw, Cu). Based on the chamber type configuration and the customer's process sequence, the lower-level machine software can add all chambers to the process monitoring chamber pair paths via configuration files during factory deployment. This results in the maximum set of material scheduling path combinations: {Dx→Pc1, Dx→Pc2, Pc1→Ti, Pc1→Tiw, Pc2→Ti, Pc2→Tiw, Ti→Cu, Tiw→Cu}. Furthermore, each chamber pair is determined to be Dx→Pc1, Dx→Pc2, Pc1→Ti, Pc1→Tiw, Pc2→Ti, Pc2→Tiw, Ti→Cu, Tiw→Cu.

[0034] A timeout threshold is pre-set for each cavity pair, which is the time interval allowed between the end of the process in the previous cavity and the start of the process in the next cavity. This timeout threshold is fixed after it is set, unless it is reset.

[0035] Based on each cavity pair and its corresponding time interval threshold, a data monitoring structure (Monitor) is constructed, such as...Figure 4 As shown, the data monitoring structure includes a plurality of structure objects, one-to-one corresponding to a plurality of cavity pairs, and each structure object includes members of {an identifier of a previous cavity, an identifier of a next cavity, a time interval threshold, material structure information}. The material structure information (materialTimes) itself is a nested structure {identifier information of a material, actual waiting time (time) of the material between the two cavities corresponding to the cavity pair (i.e., between the previous cavity and the next cavity)}. It should be noted that when the data monitoring structure is initialized, the identifier of the previous cavity, the identifier of the next cavity, and the time interval threshold have specific values, for example Figure 4 The cavity pair corresponding to the first structure object is Dx→Pc1, so the identifier of the previous cavity is Dx, the identifier of the next cavity is Pc1, the time interval threshold is DxToPc1Time, and the value of the material structure information is blank and needs to be filled in later.

[0036] According to the received notification, the material structure information of the cavity pair corresponding to the identifier of the cavity performing the process action in the notification in the data monitoring structure is updated in real time, that is, the identifier information and the actual waiting time of the to-be-transmitted material of the corresponding cavity pair are updated.

[0037] S103, in response to the updated actual waiting time being greater than the preset time interval threshold of the corresponding cavity pair, outputting an overtime alarm information.

[0038] In the embodiment of the present application, the updated actual waiting time in the material structure information and the corresponding time interval threshold are compared, and if the updated actual waiting time is greater than the time interval threshold, an overtime alarm information is outputted, so that the customer can stop the execution of the remaining process steps and perform cleaning and re-plating operations, etc. If the updated actual waiting time is equal to or less than the time interval threshold, the subsequent updated actual waiting time and the corresponding time interval threshold are continuously compared.

[0039] In summary, the method for monitoring material scheduling in the embodiment of the application receives a notification sent by the monitored device after completing a process action on a material, wherein the notification carries at least the identification information of the material, the identification of the cavity performing the process action, and the completion time of the process action, updates the material structure information corresponding to the cavity pair in which the cavity performing the process action is located based on the notification, wherein the material structure information includes the identification information of the material and the actual waiting time of the material between the two cavities corresponding to the cavity pair, and outputs the timeout alarm information in response to the updated actual waiting time being greater than the preset time interval threshold of the corresponding cavity pair. The embodiment of the application pre-configures the time interval threshold of each cavity pair, and updates the actual waiting time of each cavity pair based on the notification sent by the monitored device after completing a process action on a material. By comparing the time interval threshold and the actual waiting time of each cavity pair, it can be determined whether the time for the material to perform the next process after completing the current process is delayed, and the timeout alarm information is output when the delay occurs, so that the user can take appropriate measures in time to minimize the loss.

[0040] Figure 5 A flowchart of a method for monitoring material scheduling is provided for another embodiment of the application. As shown in Figure 5 the embodiment shown in Figure 1 The method for monitoring material scheduling in the embodiment of the application can specifically include the following steps based on the embodiment shown in

[0041] S601, receiving a notification sent by the monitored device after completing a process action on a material; wherein the notification carries at least the identification information of the material, the identification of the cavity performing the process action, the completion time of the process action, and the material action information corresponding to the process action.

[0042] In the embodiment of the application, the received notification can also include the material action information corresponding to the process action, and step S601 is basically the same as step S101 in the above embodiment, which will not be described here.

[0043] Step S102 "updating the material structure information corresponding to the cavity pair in which the cavity performing the process action is located based on the notification" in the above embodiment can specifically include the following steps S602-S606.

[0044] S602, when the material action information is the end of the process, determining the identification information of the material corresponding to the material action information and the identification of the corresponding cavity.

[0045] In the embodiment of the present application, if the material action information corresponding to the process action carried in the received notification is ending process, the identification information of the material in the notification and the identification of the chamber performing the process action, i.e., the identification information of the material and the identification of the chamber corresponding to the material action information, indicate that the material ends the process in the chamber, for example, material A ends the process in chamber Dx.

[0046] S603, the identification information of the material in the corresponding material structure information is updated to the identification information of the corresponding material, and the identification of the previous chamber of the corresponding chamber pair is consistent with the identification of the corresponding chamber.

[0047] In the embodiment of the present application, the chamber pair whose identification of the previous chamber is consistent with the identification of the corresponding chamber determined in step S602 is found in the data monitoring structure, and the corresponding material structure information of the chamber pair is determined as the corresponding material structure information. The identification information of the material in the corresponding material structure information is updated to the identification information of the corresponding material determined in step S602.

[0048] S604, when the material action information is ending process, the corresponding material is started to count time to obtain the counting time.

[0049] In the embodiment of the present application, for example, it is monitored that material A ends the process in chamber Dx, and then the counting of material A is started, and the counting time is gradually accumulated from 0.

[0050] S605, when the corresponding material action information of the corresponding material is starting process, the counting of the corresponding material is ended.

[0051] In the embodiment of the present application, for example, it is monitored that material A starts the process in the next chamber Pc1, and then the counting of material A is ended.

[0052] S606, during the counting, the actual waiting time in the corresponding material structure information is updated to the counting time in real time.

[0053] In the embodiment of the present application, during the counting, i.e., after material A ends the process in chamber Dx and before material A starts the process in the next chamber Pc1, the counting time which is accumulated constantly is updated to the actual waiting time in the material structure information corresponding to the chamber pair Dx→Pc1 in real time.

[0054] For example, as shown in the following table, Figure 6 material A ends the process in chamber Dx, i.e., material A enters the chamber pair Dx→Pc1, then Figure 4In the data monitoring structure shown, the material identification information and actual waiting time in the material structure information of the first structure object will be updated to the identification information and timing time of material A. After material A enters cavity Pc1 and the process ends, that is, after material A moves into the next cavity Pc1→Ti, then... Figure 4 The material structure information of the third structure object in the data monitoring structure shown will pop up the material structure information of the last departing material and insert and update the material structure information of the material A that is about to enter.

[0055] S607, in response to the updated actual waiting time being greater than the preset time interval threshold for the corresponding cavity, outputs a timeout alarm message.

[0056] In this embodiment, step S607 is the same as step S103 in the above embodiment, and will not be described again here.

[0057] Furthermore, such as Figure 7 As shown, step S604 above, "start timing for the corresponding material and obtain the timing time," may specifically include the following steps:

[0058] S801, Get the current system time.

[0059] In this embodiment of the application, the current system time, curTime, can be obtained.

[0060] S802 calculates the time difference between the current time of the system and the recorded historical current time of the system.

[0061] In this embodiment of the application, the time difference between the current system time curTime and the previously recorded current system time, i.e., the historical current system time lastTime, can be obtained as span, where span = curTime - lastTime.

[0062] S803 updates the recorded historical current time of the system to the current time of the system.

[0063] In this embodiment of the application, the previously recorded historical current time lastTime of the system is updated to the current time curTime of the system, that is, lastTime=curTime.

[0064] S804 calculates the sum of the actual waiting time and the time difference in the corresponding material structure information to obtain the timing time.

[0065] In this embodiment of the application, the sum of the actual waiting time (time) and the time difference (span) recorded in the material structure information is calculated to obtain the timing time (time0), where time0 = time + span.

[0066] Subsequently, the actual waiting time in the material structure information is updated as the timing time, in response to the updated actual waiting time being greater than the time interval threshold, an overtime alarm information is output, and in response to the updated actual waiting time being equal to or less than the time interval threshold, a step S801 of acquiring the current time of the system is executed, and the timing time is gradually accumulated with continuous updating of the system time.

[0067] Further, the embodiment of the present application allocates two time managers, a first time manager and a second time manager, to the data monitoring structure.

[0068] Correspondingly, the material scheduling monitoring method of the embodiment of the present application can further include the following steps: recording the time interval threshold timeout set by the user for each cavity through the first time manager, for example, timeout{DxToPc1, DxToPc2, Pc1ToTi, Pc2ToTi, TiToCu, Pc1ToTiw, Pc2ToTiw, TiwToCu}. It should be noted that after the user sets the first time manager in the interface configuration parameter, the first time manager is saved in the corresponding storage space of the data monitoring structure, and will not change until the user changes the value of the configuration parameter in the interface and saves it, otherwise it will not change.

[0069] Correspondingly, the material scheduling monitoring method of the embodiment of the present application can further include the following steps: recording the timing time corresponding to the corresponding material through the second time manager corresponding to the corresponding material. It should be noted that a separate second time manager needs to be configured for each material, and the second time manager is activated when the corresponding material ends the process in the previous cavity, starts timing, and records the timing time, which is updated in real time with the change of the movement distribution of the material between the previous and subsequent cavities. A material structure information materialTimes corresponds to a material timing <material, time> structure, material represents a specific material, and time is the timing time of the second time manager corresponding to the material.

[0070] Those skilled in the art can understand that the second time manager is controlled to stop timing when the corresponding material starts the process in the subsequent cavity, or the second time manager is controlled to stop timing when it is judged that the timing time is greater than the corresponding time interval threshold before the corresponding material starts the process in the subsequent cavity.

[0071] In summary, the method for monitoring material scheduling in the embodiment of the application can timely find out whether the time for the material to perform the next process after completing the current process is delayed by comparing the time interval threshold of the cavity pair with the actual waiting time, and outputting the overtime alarm information when the delay occurs, so that the user can take corresponding measures in time to stop the loss. When the material action information in the received notification is the end of the process and the start of the process, the identification information of the material and the actual waiting time in the material structure information of the corresponding cavity pair are updated, so that the actual waiting time is monitored. Based on the system time update and the time difference before and after the update, the timing of the material after starting the process in the previous cavity is realized.

[0072] The embodiment of the application also provides a semiconductor process equipment. As shown in the figure, the semiconductor process equipment 900 comprises a controller 901, the controller 901 is arranged in the upper computer and / or lower computer of the semiconductor process equipment 900, and the controller 901 is used to realize the steps of any of the above method for monitoring material scheduling. Figure 8

[0073] The semiconductor process equipment of the embodiment of the application can timely find out whether the time for the material to perform the next process after completing the current process is delayed by comparing the time interval threshold of the cavity pair with the actual waiting time, and outputting the overtime alarm information when the delay occurs, so that the user can take corresponding measures in time to stop the loss. When the material action information in the received notification is the end of the process and the start of the process, the identification information of the material and the actual waiting time in the material structure information of the corresponding cavity pair are updated, so that the actual waiting time is monitored. Based on the system time update and the time difference before and after the update, the timing of the material after starting the process in the previous cavity is realized.

[0074] The embodiment of the application also provides a readable storage medium, the readable storage medium stores one or more computer programs, the one or more computer programs comprise instructions, and when the program or instructions are executed by the processor in the semiconductor process equipment comprising a plurality of application programs, the processor in the semiconductor process equipment can execute the processes of the above method for monitoring material scheduling, and is specifically used for executing the steps of any of the above method for monitoring material scheduling.

[0075] ​The readable storage medium of the embodiment of the application can pre-configure the time interval threshold of each cavity pair, and update the actual waiting time of each cavity pair based on the notification sent by the monitored device after completing the process action for a material, compare the time interval threshold of each cavity pair with the actual waiting time, and find out whether the time of the material after completing the current process to perform the next process is delayed in time, and output the overtime alarm information when the delay occurs, so that the user can take corresponding measures in time to stop loss. When the material action information in the received notification is the end of the process and the start of the process, the identification information of the material in the material structure information of the corresponding cavity pair and the actual waiting time are updated, and the monitoring of the actual waiting time is realized. Based on the system time update and the time difference before and after the update, the timing of the material after starting the process in the previous cavity is realized.

[0076] The system, device, module or unit illustrated in the above embodiments can be specifically implemented by a computer chip or entity, or by a product with certain functions. A typical implementation device is a computer. Specifically, the computer may, for example, be a personal computer, a laptop computer, a cellular phone, a camera phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a media player, a navigation device, an email device, a game console, a tablet computer, a wearable device, or a combination of any of these devices.

[0077] For the convenience of description, the above device is described as various units divided by functions. Of course, the functions of each unit can be implemented in the same or more software and / or hardware in the implementation of the present application.

[0078] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments of the present application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Moreover, the present application can take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROMs, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0079] The present application is described with reference to flowcharts and / or block diagrams according to the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products of embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that each flow and / or block in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, and the combination of flows and / or blocks in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus produce a device that implements the flowcharts and / or block diagrams. Figure 1 one flow or multiple flows and / or blocksFigure 1 A device that provides the functions specified in one or more boxes.

[0080] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction means, which are implemented in a process Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The function specified in one or more boxes.

[0081] These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable equipment to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby providing instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable equipment for implementing the process. Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The steps of the function specified in one or more boxes.

[0082] In a typical configuration, a computing device includes one or more processors (CPU), input / output interfaces, network interfaces, and memory.

[0083] Memory may include non-persistent storage in computer-readable media, such as random access memory (RAM) and / or non-volatile memory, such as read-only memory (ROM) or flash RAM. Memory is an example of computer-readable media.

[0084] Computer-readable media includes both permanent and non-permanent, removable and non-removable media that can store information using any method or technology. Information can be computer-readable instructions, data structures, modules of programs, or other data. Examples of computer storage media include, but are not limited to, phase-change memory (PRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), other types of random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technologies, CD-ROM, digital versatile optical disc (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic tape, magnetic magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transferable medium that can be used to store information accessible by a computing device. As defined herein, computer-readable media does not include transient computer-readable media, such as modulated data signals and carrier waves.

[0085] It is also to be noted that the terms "comprising", "including", and "having" or variations thereof herein, are intended to be open-ended terms that specify the presence of the stated elements but do not preclude the presence of additional elements. It is also to be noted that the term "coupled" is intended to be an open term that includes two elements that are either directly connected to each other or that are connected to each other through one or more intermediate elements. In contrast, the term "connected" is intended to be a closed term that includes two elements that are either directly connected to each other or that are connected to each other through one or more intermediate elements.

[0086] The present application can be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The present application can also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules can be located in both local and remote computer storage media including memory storage devices.

[0087] Each of the embodiments in the present specification is described in a progressive manner, and the same or similar parts between the embodiments can be mutually referred to. Each of the embodiments focuses on the difference from other embodiments. In particular, the system embodiments are described more simply because they are basically similar to the method embodiments, and the relevant parts can be referred to the part of the method embodiments.

[0088] The above merely describes the embodiments of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. The present application can have various modifications and changes for those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring material scheduling, characterized in that, include: Receive a notification from the monitored equipment after completing a process action for a material; wherein the notification carries at least: the identification information of the material, the identification of the cavity that performed the process action, and the completion time of the process action; Based on the notification, update the material structure information corresponding to the cavity pair where the cavity performing the process action is located, wherein the material structure information includes the identification information of the material and the actual waiting time of the material between the two cavities corresponding to the cavity pair; If the updated actual waiting time is greater than the preset time interval threshold for the corresponding cavity, a timeout alarm message is output.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The notification also carries material movement information corresponding to the process action. The step of updating the material structure information corresponding to the cavity pair where the cavity performing the process action is located, based on the notification, includes: When the material action information indicates the end of the process, determine the identification information of the material corresponding to the material action information and the identification of the corresponding cavity; The identification information of the material in the corresponding material structure information is updated to the identification information of the corresponding material, and the identification of the previous cavity of the cavity pair corresponding to the corresponding material structure information is consistent with the identification of the corresponding cavity.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The step of updating the material structure information corresponding to the cavity pair where the cavity performing the process action is located, based on the notification, further includes: When the material action information indicates the end of the process, a timer is started for the corresponding material to obtain the timing time. When the material action information corresponding to the corresponding material is "start process", the timing for the corresponding material ends. During the timing process, the actual waiting time in the corresponding material structure information is updated in real time to the timing time.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The step of starting a timer for the corresponding material to obtain the timer duration includes: Get the system's current time; Calculate the time difference between the current time of the system and the recorded historical current time of the system; Update the recorded historical current time of the system to the current time of the system; The timing time is obtained by calculating the sum of the actual waiting time and the time difference in the corresponding material structure information.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, Also includes: In response to the updated actual waiting time being equal to or less than the time interval threshold, the current time of the system is returned.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cavity pairs are obtained through the following steps: Obtain the type and quantity of each cavity in the monitored device; Based on the type and quantity of each cavity, construct the maximum set of path combinations for material scheduling; The cavity pairs are determined based on the maximum set of path combinations.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Also includes: The time interval threshold corresponding to each cavity is recorded by the first time manager.

8. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, Also includes: The timing time corresponding to the corresponding material is recorded by a second time manager corresponding to the corresponding material.

9. A semiconductor process apparatus, characterized in that, include: A controller is disposed in the host computer and / or slave computer of the semiconductor process equipment, and the controller is used to implement the steps of the method as described in any one of claims 1-8.

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