|
| |
|
Mark LaPedus
Silicon Strategies
(01/12/2005 11:51 AM EST)
HALF MOON BAY, Calif.
— Hoping to jumpstart a new and
emerging data-acquisition standard for
semiconductor equipment, International
Sematech and SEMI have enlisted help from
an unlikely partner — Microsoft
Corp.
Under the plan, Microsoft is taking a
step into the semiconductor equipment
world, by working with Sematech and SEMI
to develop and provide software solutions
for the new and emerging data-acquisition
standard, dubbed Interface A.
The software giant hopes
to tune and make its .NET product line
as the underpinning technology for Interface
A. Microsoft's .NET is a set of software
technologies for connecting systems and
devices, which apparently includes semiconductor
equipment.
Interface A refers to
the port on manufacturing equipment used
to send data from the tool to the factory
systems. The interface enables fabs to
have access to detailed process, measurement
and operational data from fab equipment.
The data from the Interface
A port is parsed into an output data stream,
which can be used by a fab's APC environment
and other enterprises. Interface A is
intended to replace and overcome deficiencies
of the earlier SECS/GEM port on fab tools.
With its software technology,
Microsoft is looking to help propel the
adoption of the Interface A standard in
the semiconductor industry, said John
McCallum, industry manager for high tech
at the software giant.
Microsoft is working
with several groups and fab-equipment
companies in the arena. "We are just
getting started," he said.
The software giant is
working to enable its .NET offering as
the underpinning technology for the Interface
A standard. Microsoft's existing .NET
technology "enables a high level
of software integration through the use
of XML Web services — small, discrete,
building-block applications — that
connect to each other as well as to other,
larger applications over the Internet,"
according to the company.
It includes the so-called
.NET Framework 1.1 platform, which enables
Web-based applications and XML Web services.
It facilitates data and adheres to the
specified inline simple object access
protocol (SOAP 1.1) and hyper text transfer
protocol (HTTP 1.1) using an Extensible
Markup Language (XML).
Its technology is also
aimed to one day enable e-diagnostics
in semiconductor fabs, according to McCallum.
E-diagnostics means the ability to troubleshoot
semiconductor production equipment from
afar, tapping the expertise of service
and design engineers at an equipment vendor's
headquarters to quickly fix a problem
on fab lines around the world. Ideally,
fab production employees would be able
to fire off an e-mail or instant message
to the vendor when troubles arise, and
get a response with several potential
fixes within hours -- minutes, maybe.
|
| |
| By Phil
Danner
Semiconductor International
7/1/02
In today's rapidly changing
global market, information technology
(IT) infrastructure is more important
than ever to semiconductor equipment suppliers
and manufacturers. Newly emerging enterprise
Ethernet infrastructures enable leading-edge
productivity solutions like e-diagnostics
and wireless networking.
The ability to leverage
IT infrastructure-based solutions like
these is crucial to success in today's
market, allowing semiconductor equipment
suppliers and manufacturers to increase
productivity, lower costs, adapt quickly
to evolving market conditions worldwide,
and manage the semiconductor industry's
rapid product lifecycles.
Traditional manufacturing
IT anatomy
Manufacturing enterprises
traditionally have been built upon an
architecture of clearly defined device-level
I/O, control, and business information
networks. In a traditional architecture,
information moves through the enterprise
in the following manner:
- Hardwired plant floor devices—such
as sensors, valves, actuators and
bar code readers—collect equipment
and process data, and communicate
this data to controllers, drives,
HMIs and/or PC-based products via
a proprietary field bus. Some I/O
buses offer interoperability among
devices and some diagnostics capabilities.
Others give users the flexibility
to mix and match products from multiple
vendors. In either case, each device
must be compatible with the standards
of its respective network. Different
networks are typically not interoperable,
and expensive gateways are required
to pass information among them.
- Peer-to-peer communications among
controls and production support systems
have traditionally been achieved through
proprietary networks developed by
controls manufacturers. While these
networks provide the reliability,
scalability and determinism required
for manufacturing, they are expensive
and difficult to maintain and integrate
with other enterprise networks and
information systems.
- Business information systems are
networked predominantly via Ethernet
TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/Internet
protocol), which, prior to a few short
years ago, was rarely used on the
plant floor because of inherent performance
limitations in its early forms. For
this reason, integrating data from
business information systems and the
plant floor in real time was impossible,
and information was often out of date
by the time reports were compiled.
Using a traditional three-tiered
infrastructure, each part of the manufacturing
enterprise operates more like separate
companies than a unified business.
|
|
| |
Today, Ethernet has evolved to be deterministic
and robust enough to accommodate the timing
and environmental demands of the plant
floor. This is accomplished through proper
network design and tools such as full-duplex
switch gear, virtual local area networks
(VLANs), routers and industrially hardened
products. As manufacturers seek to connect
previously disparate islands of automation
and network plant floor data with enterprise
information systems, they are increasingly
leveraging the power of Ethernet. By connecting
the entire enterprise through this open-standard
networking technology, users can access
real-time enterprise data and make more
timely decisions, leading to better collaboration
and higher productivity.
Ethernet is a primary
enabler for the Web-based technologies
that are at the core of today's successful
businesses. Most Ethernet-based networks
use the TCP/IP communications protocol
and standard application protocol family
(e.g. HTTP, SNMP, etc.) and thus facilitate
the use of key Internet tools such as
browsers, Web servers and e-mail servers.
Using TCP/IP over an industrial Ethernet
network, companies can better exploit
applications such as enterprise resource
planning (ERP), vendor-managed inventory
(VMI), and e-diagnostics via a standard
Internet browser.
Ethernet and other IP-based
networks offer a variety of additional
benefits, including: 1) scalability to
accommodate the growth needs of manufacturers;
2) high-speed data transmission rates;
3) cost-effective installation and maintenance;
4) a range of network management capabilities;
and 5) choice of cabling types, or wireless
deployment for greater mobility.
The potential productivity
improvements and return on investment
(ROI) to semiconductor equipment suppliers
and manufacturers alike from new Ethernet-enabled
solutions is enormous. Today, one of the
solutions from which the semiconductor
industry stands to gain the most ise-diagnostics.
|
|
E-diagnostics,
also known as remote monitoring and diagnostics
(RM&D), allows semiconductor equipment
suppliers and maintenance personnel to
connect to remote sites, share information,
and collaborate to solve problems. It
also enables equipment suppliers and manufacturers
to work remotely in real time, with real-time
data, as if they were on site together.
E-diagnostics solutions can be implemented
on various levels, based on current and
future end-user needs and resources. Using
e-diagnostics, equipment suppliers can
monitor their installed base from anywhere
in the world at any time, pinpoint fault
sources, immediately resolve the problem
or dispatch expert service, and return
equipment to production quickly. At the
highest level, e-diagnostics positions
organizations to achieve new productivity
levels by enabling functionality such
as statistical comparison of different
sites in real time and predictive maintenance
(see "SEMATECH
Model ").
Whether the solution
is basic or advanced, e-diagnostics is
transforming semiconductor manufacturing
by reducing operational costs, increasing
productivity, allowing preventive maintenance
of semiconductor manufacturing equipment,
and enabling better collaboration among
manufacturers and equipment suppliers.
Building a robust, secure and reliable
Ethernet-based e-diagnostics network infrastructure
is essential to achieving these and the
many other benefits of e-diagnostics.
Addressing
security issues
One of the most important
elements of an e-diagnostics implementation
is security. Security is a highly involved,
multi-tiered issue that is best handled
by a qualified e-diagnostics infrastructure
partner. Security involves far more than
just keeping hackers at bay. A proper
solution allows only authenticated and
authorized parties to penetrate the manufacturer's
firewalls to access data, while ensuring
that the data is secure not only from
hackers but also from "best intention"
attacks. A "best intention" attack is
a non-malicious attack upon system resources
or data that occurs when users have incorrect
authorization. For example, while authorized
suppliers should have access to select
data from the manufacturer, they should
not be able to access data from other
suppliers. If unauthorized access is allowed,
the consequences — which include
inadvertently deleting other parties'
data — can be disastrous.
Authorization and authentication
must extend not only to the network but
also to the data level. This enables manufacturers
to give suppliers access to only a subset
of data about a specific process while
blocking access to other data about the
same process. During a repair, for example,
chipmakers may wish to exclude recipe
data from external access but allow other
diagnostic data to be viewed.
Other key components
of network security include encryption
of in-transit as well as stored data,
intrusion detection (actively looking
for breaks), and accounting (logging of
all activity).
The
importance of infrastructure
A robust, secure and
reliable IT-based infrastructure designed
and commissioned by an objective third
party enables real-time communication
and collaboration among semiconductor
suppliers and manufacturers. The IT infrastructure
is a critical prerequisite for enabling
effective communications from the shop
floor to the top floor. Connectivity is,
in fact, the key to reaping the many rewards
of e-diagnostics and other leading-edge
productivity solutions.
|
As
outlined in the International
SEMATECH (ISMT) model for
e-diagnostic capability levels,
e-diagnostics can be deployed
on several levels:
Level
0: Access and Remote Collaboration
— Provides users throughout
an enterprise with remote
connectivity to share information
and collaborate on operations
data. Off-site experts and
end users, for example, can
solve equipment or process
problems or commission new
equipment.
Level
1: Collection and Control
— Takes the networking
technology that was implemented
in Level 0 a step further,
enabling remote retrieval
of real-time data directly
from machines to troubleshoot
and repair fault situations
in real time.
Level
2: Analysis — Unlocks
powerful productivity improvements
for end users by adding automated
reporting and analysis functionality
such as statistical process
control (SPC) and visualization
software.
Level
3: Prediction — Builds
on Level 2 functionality with
algorithms that perform automated
diagnosis and notification,
allowing predictive maintenance
and greatly simplifying the
fault resolution process. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
