A generic cell controller for the automated VLSI manufacturing facility

A generic cell controller has been designed and developed for an automated VLSI manufacturing facility. The components of the design phase include the detailed understanding of motivation for the effort, a requirements analysis (functional specification), a determination of design goals, a determination of appropriate assumptions, a feasibility design, and an initial performance evaluation. The design is quite modular and enhances the generic attributes of cell controller operation. The cell controller design is independent of the facility hardware, software, and networking base, and may be adapted to a single or multitasking system. The main component of the design is an extensive relational database with a relatively uncomplicated and generic schema. This database incorporates many of the control aspects of the cell controller, thus reducing the volume of control software. An initial performance evaluation indicates that the design is suitable for operation as a cell controller even when implemented on a relatively slow single tasking PC