JPH1116800A - Information processing apparatus and device manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To automatically determine an efficient transmission method based on past transmission records and transmit the data, thereby compressing a large amount of data to reduce the size and shorten the transmission time. ,
Provided are a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and an information processing apparatus that prevent occurrence of an inadvertent timeout and thereby improve throughput in semiconductor manufacturing. SOLUTION: When transmitting transmission data, the transmission data includes compression means for appropriately compressing the transmission data so as to reduce the transmission time including the time required for the compression and decompression of the transmission data. An information processing device suitably used for transmitting an SECS message in the host computer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus (host computer) and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus which are connected based on a protocol such as TCP-IP and operate automatically and online. Or from the semiconductor manufacturing equipment to the host computer SECS (Semiconductor Equipment Communication Sta
The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and an information processing apparatus capable of transmitting and receiving data such as a message (stream function) or a data base of an ndard).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a host computer and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus are connected in accordance with a protocol such as TCP-IP, and automatic operation or online operation is performed, the host computer sends the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus sends the host computer to the host computer. When transmitting and receiving data such as an SECS message or a database, messages and data are transmitted and received as raw data (no compression processing or the like) according to the respective data formats.

[0003]

For this reason, in the conventional method, compression processing is not performed when transmitting data such as a message or a database. There was a problem that it took. Also, due to this, even though normal processing was performed, an error due to timeout occurred,
There has been such a problem that a longer data transmission time leads to a decrease in throughput (the number of sheets produced per unit time).

[0004] An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and to automatically determine and transmit an efficient transmission method from past transmission records (data amount, transmission time, etc.), thereby achieving enormous transmission. Provided are a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and an information processing apparatus that compress data to reduce its size during transmission, reduce transmission time, prevent an inadvertent timeout, and thereby improve throughput in semiconductor manufacturing. It is in.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention has the following configuration. That is, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes the RS-232
When transmitting transmission data using an interface such as C or a protocol such as TCP-IP, a compression unit that appropriately compresses transmission data so as to reduce the transmission time including the time required for compressing and decompressing the transmission data is provided. I do.

This information processing apparatus is used in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or its host computer, and transmits transmission data in accordance with SECS. The type of transmission data includes a message (stream function) of SECS, a database and the like. Data is included.

Specifically, the transmission data is transmitted uncompressed or compressed, or it is determined whether any of them is to be transmitted uncompressed or compressed by judging based on predetermined judgment data. It is preferable that a setting unit be set for each type of transmission data, and the compression unit be configured to transmit the transmission data in a compressed or uncompressed manner in accordance with the setting.

[0008] The judgment data indicates the correspondence between transmission data type, compressed or uncompressed transmission, data amount, transmission time, communication speed, etc., which are preset for each transmission data. Yes, and based on this, the compression means determines whether to transmit uncompressed or compressed.

Here, the judgment data can be manually set in advance, but preferably, when transmitting the transmission data, the type of the transmission data, whether the transmission is compressed or uncompressed, the amount of data, And a judgment data adding means for adding the transmission time to the judgment data.

When a plurality of pieces of transmission data having the same data amount are transferred under the same condition, the judgment data adding means adds an average value of a plurality of transmission times or some statistical processing even if the judgment data is added as separate data. And may be rewritten as one transmission time.

When it is determined whether or not to compress the transmission data based on the determination data, the determination data having the same amount of data as the data to be transmitted is compressed and uncompressed. What is necessary is just to search and compare the transmission times, and select a case where the transmission time is short. On the other hand, if there is only one of the compressed data and the uncompressed data having the same data amount as the transmission data, the data having the same transmission time as that of the determination data is searched, and the data amount is compared. What is necessary is just to select a case where the amount of data that can be transmitted increases with time. If there is no judgment data having the same data amount as the transmission data, it may be determined whether or not to compress the transmission data by referring to the judgment data having the closest data amount.

Note that the information processing apparatus of the present invention, when receiving compressed transmission data,
A means for expanding the transmission data may be provided. Also,
A device manufacturing method of the present invention is a method of manufacturing a device by a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus using the above-described information processing apparatus and a host computer.

[0013]

In the above configuration, on the side transmitting data such as a message (stream function),
Immediately before transmission, the data is compressed only when it is set to compress data or when it is determined to be compressed by automatic processing, and then transmitted. On the receiving side, if the transmitted data is compressed, it is expanded. Acts to be.

In addition, a message (stream function) is used to determine whether data is to be compressed. The message (stream function) acts to obtain statistics of the processing time of the data in the case of compression and in the case of non-compression.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the configuration of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus (or host computer) according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a semiconductor manufacturing device or a host computer device capable of transmitting and receiving data. Reference numeral 20 denotes a compression method setting unit for automatically or manually setting any of compression, non-compression, and automatic processing according to the type of data. The set information is stored in a compression means holding table indicated by reference numeral 30 in FIG. Is done. Reference numeral 40 denotes a transmission method determination unit that determines a format in which data is to be transmitted based on the information in the compression unit holding table 30, and transmits a transmission processing start report to a transmission time / data amount measurement unit 90 described later. . A transmission time comparison unit 50 determines whether to compress data based on the comparison data.
Is a processing time holding table in which the transmission time comparing unit 50 refers to comparison data (processing time, data amount, etc.). Reference numeral 70 denotes a transmission time and data amount setting unit, which can manually set the transmission time and the data amount at that time. Reference numeral 80 denotes a data transmission / reception unit which performs data compression (decompression) processing and transmission / reception processing, and sends a reception processing end report after reception end to the transmission time / data amount measurement unit 90. The transmission time / data amount measurement unit 90 transmits a transmission processing start report of the transmission method determination unit 40,
The transmission time is measured from the reception processing end report of the data transmission / reception unit 80, and is written in the processing time holding table 60 together with the data amount at that time. Reference numeral 100 denotes transmission data to be transmitted from now on, reference numeral 110 denotes received reception data, and reference numeral 120 denotes transmission / reception data to be transmitted to or transmitted to a partner host computer or semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

Next, a processing procedure when data is transmitted and received by the apparatus of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 2, first, in step S101, data to be transmitted this time is read. Next, as processing S102,
The transmission method determining unit 40 checks whether the transmission method of the transmission data is compressed or uncompressed or automatic processing, and starts measuring the transmission time using the transmission time and data amount measuring unit 90. In step S103, the compression setting of each data is referred to from the compression unit holding table 30. If compression has been set, in step S106, the data to be transmitted unconditionally is compressed and transmitted using the data transmission / reception unit 80. On the receiving side, in step S107, the data transmitted using the data transmitting / receiving unit 80 on the receiving side is expanded and received. If non-compression has been set, the process proceeds to step S10.
In step 8, the transmission data is unconditionally transmitted without compression. The receiving side receives the data as it is in step S109. If the automatic setting has been set in the processing S103, then, in the processing S104, judgment data on the corresponding data is read from the transmission record in the processing time holding table 60. Thereafter, in the process S105, the determination of the compression process or the non-compression process is performed using the transmission time comparison unit 50. The data amount of the data is compared with the data amount stored in the processing time holding table 60, and the data having the most similar data amount is picked up one by one in the case of compression or non-compression, and the required time in each case is calculated. The data is compared using the transmission time comparison unit 50 to determine whether the data is compressed or uncompressed.
When the compression is determined, the processings S106 and S107 are performed.
In the case of non-compression, steps S108 and S109 are performed. After the data receiving operation is completed, the measurement of the transmission time and the processing time using the data amount measuring unit 90 is completed as processing S110, and the measurement time, the current compression setting, and the data amount before and after the compression are processed. It is stored in the holding table 60.

Next, a method for producing a device using the above-described semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and information processing apparatus will be described.

FIG. 3 shows a flow of manufacturing micro devices (semiconductor chips such as ICs and LSIs, liquid crystal panels, CCDs, thin film magnetic heads, micro machines, etc.). Step S1
In (circuit design), a circuit of a semiconductor device is designed. In step S2 (mask production), a mask on which the designed pattern is formed is produced. On the other hand, in step S3 (wafer manufacturing), a wafer is manufactured using a material such as silicon or glass. Step S4 (wafer process) is called a pre-process, and an actual circuit is formed on the wafer by lithography using the prepared mask and wafer. The next step S5 (assembly) is called a post-process, and is a process of forming a semiconductor chip using the wafer produced in step S4, and includes processes such as an assembly process (dicing and bonding) and a packaging process (chip encapsulation). including. In step S6 (inspection), step S5
Inspections such as an operation confirmation test and a durability test of the semiconductor device manufactured in the above are performed. Through these steps, a semiconductor device is completed and shipped (step S7).

FIG. 4 shows a detailed flow of the wafer process. In step S11 (oxidation), the surface of the wafer is oxidized. In step S12 (CVD), an insulating film is formed on the wafer surface. In step S13 (electrode formation), electrodes are formed on the wafer by vapor deposition. Step S14
In (ion implantation), ions are implanted into the wafer. In step S15 (resist processing), a photosensitive agent is applied to the wafer. In step S16 (exposure), the circuit pattern of the mask is printed onto the wafer by exposure using an exposure apparatus having a means for confirming the suitability of the above-described exposure. Step S17
In (development), the exposed wafer is developed. Step S1
In step 8 (etching), portions other than the developed resist image are removed. In step S19 (resist stripping), unnecessary resist after etching is removed. By repeating these steps, multiple circuit patterns are formed on the wafer.

In the present embodiment, when data such as messages are transmitted and received between the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and the host computer in each of the repetitive processes, as described above, the data is compressed and decompressed appropriately to reduce the time required for data transmission and reception. And enables efficient device manufacturing.

Next, a specific example of data transmission / reception using the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and the information processing apparatus of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

(Embodiment 1) In the present embodiment, as shown in Table 1 below, the compression means holding table 30 has three types of messages (stream functions) as formats having data type and current setting method items.
And compression means for other data.
In the table, H indicates a host computer, E indicates a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and <or> indicates a direction in which data flows. That is, H> E means that data flows from the host computer to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and H <E means the reverse.

[0024]

[Table 1]

Next, the data indicated by S1F1 in Table 1 is transmitted. When transmitting data designated as non-compressed in this way, first, the data transmitted in step S101 is read, and measurement of the transmission time is started in step S102. In the distribution according to the compression setting in the process S103, the non-compressed one is selected, the data is transmitted as it is in the process S108, and after the data is received in the process S109, the process S1 is performed.
At 10, the time measurement is completed, and the result is stored in the processing time holding table 60.

(Embodiment 2) In this embodiment, the same compression means holding table 30 as in Embodiment 1 is used,
The data indicated by 9 is transmitted. When transmitting a message designated to be compressed in this way, the transmitted data is read in the same manner as in the first embodiment (processing S101), and measurement of the transmission time is started (processing S102). Processing S10
In the distribution of the compression setting in step 3, the case of compression is selected, the data is compressed in step S106, and then transmitted. In step S107, the data is expanded and received at the time of reception, and the time measurement is completed in step S110. , And stores the result in the processing time holding table 60.

(Embodiment 3) In this embodiment, the same compression means holding table 30 as that of Embodiment 1 is used.
Data indicated by S7F23 (the data amount is 24000
Bytes). When transmitting the data designated as automatic in this way, the transmitted message is read in the same manner as in the first and second embodiments, and the measurement of the transmission time is started. In the distribution of the compression setting in the processing S103, the automatic case is selected, and in the processing S104, the data indicated by the corresponding S7F23 is read from the judgment data in the processing time holding table 60.

The judgment data of the processing time holding table 60 used in the present embodiment may include those set manually or past transmission records, the contents of which are shown in Table 2 below.

[0029]

[Table 2]

The judgment data concerning S7F23 is read from the judgment data in Table 2. In step S105, two pieces of determination data having a data amount of 24000 bytes are compared. At this time, since the time required for compression is shorter, compression is selected, the data is compressed and transmitted in step S106, and the data is received and expanded in step S107.
In step S110, the time measurement is completed, and the result is written in the processing time holding table 60.

(Embodiment 4) The compression means holding table 30,
Using the same processing time holding table 60 as that used in the third embodiment, the message data (the data amount is 18000 bytes) shown in S7F23 of Table 1 is transmitted. In this example, the same processing as that of the third embodiment is performed in steps S101 to S104. However, in step S105, since there is only a case where a similar data amount is uncompressed,
This time, when comparing the required time, there are two pieces of judgment data having the required time of 21 seconds, and these are compared. At this time, a case where the amount of data which can be processed in the same time is large is selected, and after compressing the data in step S106, the data is transmitted.
After the data is expanded and received at the time of reception at 107, time measurement is completed at step S110, and the result is stored in the processing time holding table 60.

(Embodiment 5) The compression means holding table 30,
Using the same processing time holding table 60 as used in the third embodiment, the message data (the data amount is 20000 bytes) indicated by S7F23 in Table 1 is transmitted. Also in this example, the same processing as that of the third embodiment is performed in steps S101 to S104. However, in step S105, only judgment data of the same data amount exists in the case of compression. Looking at it, 21
Since there are two pieces of judgment data of the second, comparison is made with these pieces of judgment data. At this time, the case where the amount of processing which can be processed in the same time is large is selected, the data is compressed and transmitted in step S106, and after the data is expanded and received at the time of reception in step S107, the time measurement is performed in step S110. After finishing, the result is stored in the processing time holding table 60.

(Embodiment 6) The compression means holding table 30,
Using the same processing time holding table 60 as that used in the third embodiment, the message data (the data amount is 12000 bytes) shown in S7F23 of Table 1 is transmitted.

Also in this example, the processes from S101 to S10
The same processing as in the third embodiment is performed up to the step 4. However, in step S105, since there is no similar data amount and required time,
There will be no data to compare. In this case, a selection arbitrarily set in advance is made in step S105, and in the case of compression, the data is compressed and transmitted in step S106, and
After the data is expanded and received at the time of reception at 107, time measurement is completed at step S110, and the result is stored in the processing time holding table 60. On the other hand, in the case of non-compression, processing S10
After the data is transmitted as it is in step 8 and the data is received in step S109, the time measurement is completed in step S110, and the result is stored in the processing time holding table 60.

(Other Embodiments) The present invention is applied to the following cases. In FIG. 1, the functions to which the present invention is applied are set in the host computer and the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. However, the present invention is also applied to the case where the functions are independently connected to the host computer and the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. Further, here, one semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is set for one host computer, but this is also applied to a case where a plurality of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses are set for one host computer.

In Table 1, the minimum required information (data type, compression processing) is displayed in a two-item table this time. However, the present invention is also applied to a case in which an item for setting a condition for setting the compression is provided, and the processing can be sorted in accordance with the condition.

In Table 2, in the above embodiment, the minimum necessary information is displayed in a four-item table, but the present invention is also applied to a case where a setting such as a communication speed is added thereto.
Also, in the above embodiment, the comparison with the same data amount and the required time, and when there is no similar data amount and the required time,
The case where no comparison work is performed is described.

Regarding this, first, when there are a plurality of pieces of judgment data having the same data amount or required time under the same environment (compression / non-compression setting, transfer speed, etc.)
At least, you can have multiple data
A method of averaging a plurality of data and giving it as one data is conceivable. As a method of giving a plurality of data as one data, there is a method of giving some statistical processing and giving it as one data in addition to taking an average. Also applies. Next, when there is no similar data amount and no required time, in addition to not performing the comparison operation, the present invention is applied to the case where the closest data amount is searched, compared, and determined.

However, the data type in Table 2 is DATA
When the data amount is searched and compared, as in the case where the data amount is 150,000 bytes, there are cases where both compressed and uncompressed data can be obtained. The present invention is also applied to a case where the processing of the compression or the non-compression is designated.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By compressing and transmitting the data, there is an effect that the huge data size is reduced and the transmission time is shortened.
Further, even when message data having a large data amount is transmitted as it is, even when a timeout occurs even though the message data is processed normally, there is also an effect of preventing this by compressing the data. In addition, since a transmission method that requires a short time before transmission is selected, data can be transmitted and received without wasting time, thereby shortening the time required for transmission and reception, and has the effect of increasing throughput. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus (or a host computer) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of data transmission and reception by the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a manufacturing process of a micro device using the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a detailed flowchart of a wafer process of FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

10: semiconductor manufacturing apparatus (or host computer),
20: compression method setting unit, 30: compression means holding table,
40: transmission method determination unit, 50: transmission time comparison unit, 60:
Processing time holding table, 70: transmission time, data amount setting unit, 80: data transmission / reception unit, 90: transmission time, data amount measurement unit, 100: data before transmission, 110: data after reception, 120: transmission / reception data.

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus comprising: compression means for appropriately compressing transmission data so as to reduce transmission time including time required for compression and decompression of the transmission data when transmitting the transmission data. Processing equipment. 2. An SECS (Semiconductor Equipment) used for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or its host computer.
Communication Standard), the transmission data is transmitted, and the type of the transmission data includes S
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus includes an ECS message. 3. The transmission data is transmitted in an uncompressed or compressed state, or it is determined based on predetermined judgment data to determine whether to transmit the data in an uncompressed or compressed state. Setting means for setting for each type, the compression means compresses the transmission data according to the setting,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information is transmitted without compression. 4. The judgment data indicates a correspondence relationship between transmission data type, compression or non-compression transmission, data amount, and transmission time preset for each transmission data, 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the compression unit determines whether the data should be transmitted in the uncompressed state or the compressed state. 5. When transmitting transmission data, there is provided a judgment data adding means for adding the type of the transmission data, whether to transmit the data in a compressed or uncompressed state, a data amount, and a transmission time to the judgment data. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein 6. When judging whether or not to compress transmission data based on the judgment data, the judgment data having the same data amount as the data to be transmitted is searched for in the case of compression and in the case of non-compression, respectively. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the transmission time is compared to select a case where the transmission time is short. 7. When judging whether or not to compress transmission data based on the judgment data, if there is only one of compression data or uncompressed judgment data having the same data amount as the transmission data, 7. The method according to claim 4, wherein a search is made for data having the same transmission time as that of the judgment data, the data amount is compared, and a case where the data amount that can be transmitted in the same transmission time is increased is selected. Information processing device. 8. When judging whether or not to compress transmission data based on the judgment data, if there is no judgment data having the same data amount as the transmission data, refer to the judgment data having the closest data amount. Wherein it is determined whether or not to compress the transmission data.
8. The information processing apparatus according to any one of 7. 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the determination data adding means rewrites an average value of the plurality of transmission times as the transmission time when a plurality of transmission data of the same data amount are transferred under the same condition. Item 9. The information processing device according to any one of Items 5 to 8. 10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a unit that expands the transmission data when receiving the compressed transmission data from the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. An information processing device according to any one of the above. 11. A device manufacturing method for transmitting / receiving data to / from a host computer by a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing a semiconductor based on the data, the time required for compressing and expanding the data when transmitting the data. A data compression method for appropriately compressing the data so as to reduce the transmission time including the data.