Refinement of kernel and functional mechanisms for automatic virtual metrology system

Virtual Metrology (VM) refers to a technology that is able to conjecture product quality using important parameter data of production equipment and proper prediction schemes. In an automatic VM system (AVMS), VM Manager is the core of system´s operations and the communication bridge among subsystems because it is responsible for distributing commands to each subsystem and possessing access privilege to the central database. This paper aims to develop a new kernel and several functional mechanisms for VM Manager so that the AVMS with refined VM Manager can have superior overall execution efficiency than the original one. A paradigm AVMS with the refined VM Manager for the TFT-LCD industry is constructed and tested. Integrated testing results validate that the developed new kernel and functional mechanisms of VM Manager can indeed achieve the design objectives.