Facility Digital Twin for Semiconductor Resource Flow Planning

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Solution Overview

Problem

Managing and optimizing the complex interplay of resources and components in a semiconductor fabrication facility is challenging due to the intricate interactions and dependencies between various technical domains and environmental factors, requiring an efficient planning and control method.

Innovation Solution

A facility management system that utilizes component data objects and data cubes to model and simulate resource supply and consumption, allowing for efficient planning and operation by visualizing and editing parameters, and enabling real-time control and simulation through a user-friendly interface that includes gesture detection and augmented/virtual reality capabilities.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If a traditional facility management approach is used for a complex semiconductor fabrication facility, then the system can operate with existing manual processes, but the operational complexity and difficulty of managing resource interactions increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of facility managementVSAvoidfacility complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent creates a digital twin (virtual model) of the physical semiconductor fabrication facility that replicates its structure, components, and resource flows. This virtual copy allows operators to plan, simulate, and optimize facility operations without directly manipulating the complex physical system, thereby reducing operational difficulty while maintaining full facility complexity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a facility management system as an intermediary layer between operators and the complex facility. This system automatically calculates resource requirements, simulates operational scenarios, and provides optimized control strategies, acting as a mediator that simplifies the interaction between human operators and the complex facility systems

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Measurement precision

If detailed modeling of all components and resource interactions is implemented, then the accuracy of resource management improves, but the time and computational resources required for planning and simulation increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveresource management accuracyVSAvoidplanning time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent performs preliminary calculations and simulations during the planning phase by creating a complete digital twin model of the facility. All resource requirements, component interactions, and operational scenarios are pre-calculated and stored in the virtual model, allowing for rapid query and decision-making during actual operations without requiring time-consuming real-time computations

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces manual facility planning and optimization processes with automated computer-based simulations and calculations. The facility management system automatically processes the digital twin model to generate optimized operational plans, substituting time-consuming manual analysis with efficient computational algorithms

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Data Source

PatentEP3255511B1Method for planning or operating a facility
Publication Date: 2021.03.31 KUMMER
  • EP3255511B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3255511B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3255511B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A facility management system, FMS (1), for planning and/or controlling a facility (2), in particular a fabrication facility, comprising a plurality of components, C, said facility management system, FMS (1), comprising at least one apparatus (3) adapted to load component data object cubes, CDOCs, from a data cube library, DCL, stored in a database (4) of said facility management system (1), and to link the component data object cubes, CDOCs, to the component data objects, CDOs, representing components, C, of said facility (2), wherein the loaded component data object cubes, CDOCs, linked to the component data objects, CDOs, comprise parameters, P, of the respective components, C, and are editable in a data edit mode, DEM, of said facility management system (1).