A New Framework of the EAP System in Semiconductor Manufacturing Internet of Things

In modern semiconductor manufacturing, the computer-integrated manufacturing system plays an essential role in automation with plenty of software systems. Among them, the equipment automation program (EAP) is one of the fundamental systems to support the interconnection of various types of equipment. For the traditional EAP, the communication and logic models are tightly coupled. The occurrence of any exception in EAP may make the EAP power down such that no equipment is reachable. Additionally, it can handle a couple of manufacturing tools only. The extension of manufacturing tools in a semiconductor fab makes the investment in EAP unbearable. Thus, fabs are highly desired to solve such problems of the traditional EAP. To do so, this work designs a new framework for a distributed EAP system with new technologies being adopted to enhance the usage and stability of EAP. Additionally, this design philosophy makes the distributed EAP system more compatible and expansible. Further, this EAP system can be upgraded as communication and big data technologies advance. Experiments are carried out to verify the stability of the designed distributed EAP system.