JP2008140369A - Server device, manufacturing device, group control system, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To transmit proper version upgrade information to one or more of manufacturing devices for carrying out a prescribed semiconductor process for a substrate to be treated, from a server device. <P>SOLUTION: This server device 20 is provided with a version upgrade information receiving part 21 for receiving the version upgrade information used for upgrading the version of an execution software program for controlling each manufacturing device, a state information storage part 23 for storing state information showing a state of each manufacturing device, a transmission determination part 26 for determining whether to transmit the version upgrade information to the manufacturing device, using the state information, and a transmission part 29 for transmitting the version upgrade information to the manufacturing device determined by the transmission determination part 26, when the version upgrade information is transmitted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a server device or the like that transmits upgrade information to a manufacturing apparatus.

  Conventionally, a group management system including one or more manufacturing apparatuses that perform a predetermined semiconductor process on a substrate to be processed and a server device connected to the one or more manufacturing apparatuses has been known.

  The upgrade of the execution software program for controlling the manufacturing apparatus has been performed as follows. First, an MO drive, a CD drive, or the like is connected to the manufacturing apparatus, and information used for upgrading the software program is copied to the manufacturing apparatus. Then, by installing the information used in the upgrade in the manufacturing apparatus, the upgrade of the software program is completed.

As a related technique, there is a recipe management method for matching the recipes held in both the server apparatus and one or more semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In addition, as a related technique, there is a method of transmitting a program used in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus from an external apparatus (for example, see Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3).
As a related technique, a so-called batch type vertical heat treatment apparatus has been known (see Patent Documents 4 and 5).
JP 2006-73845 A JP 2004-47837 A JP 2002-217182 A Japanese Patent No. 3543996 JP 2002-25997 A

  However, copying and installing information used in version upgrades for each manufacturing apparatus imposes a very complicated work on the person who performs the work, and a lot of work is required for the work. There was a problem that time would be spent.

  As described above, a method for matching the recipe between the server device and the manufacturing device has been known, but a method for appropriately upgrading an execution software program for controlling the manufacturing device via a network. Was not known.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and appropriately upgrades an execution software program for controlling one or more manufacturing apparatuses in a group management system without performing complicated work. It aims at providing the server apparatus etc. which can do.

  To achieve the above object, a server apparatus according to the present invention includes a group management including one or more manufacturing apparatuses that perform a predetermined semiconductor process on a substrate to be processed and a server apparatus connected to the one or more manufacturing apparatuses. A server device that constitutes a system, an upgrade information receiving unit that receives upgrade information that is information for upgrading an execution software program for controlling the manufacturing device, and information related to the state of the manufacturing device, When the state information indicates that the manufacturing apparatus is in process, the state information storage unit that stores state information that is information including information on whether or not the manufacturing apparatus is in process, and the manufacturing apparatus It is determined that the upgrade information is not transmitted to an apparatus, and the manufacturing apparatus is determined according to the state information. When it is indicated that the process is not in progress, a transmission determination unit that determines to transmit the upgrade information to the manufacturing device, and the upgrade information that is determined by the transmission determination unit to transmit the upgrade information. And a transmission unit for transmitting.

  With such a configuration, the execution software program for controlling the manufacturing apparatus can be upgraded by transmitting the upgrade information from the server apparatus to the manufacturing apparatus. Therefore, unlike the conventional example, there is a merit that the operator does not need to perform complicated and time-consuming processing for upgrading the software program of each manufacturing apparatus. For example, the process of connecting an external drive to the manufacturing apparatus and fetching the upgrade information from the external drive into the manufacturing apparatus does not have to be performed for each manufacturing apparatus.

  Further, since the server device determines whether to transmit the upgrade information, and transmits the upgrade information when it is determined to transmit, it is possible to avoid transmitting the upgrade information when it is inappropriate. An appropriate version upgrade of the software program can be realized.

  Further, when the manufacturing apparatus is in process, the upgrade information can be prevented from being transmitted. For example, when upgrade information is transmitted to a manufacturing apparatus in process, improper control or the like occurs in the process being executed due to the load for receiving and storing the upgrade information, Although there is a possibility that the production cannot be performed, such a situation can be avoided.

In the server device according to the present invention, the execution software program may be a system program of the manufacturing apparatus.
With such a configuration, when the execution software program is a system program, it is generally considered that the capacity of the upgrade information is also increased, and it is considered that the influence on the manufacturing apparatus by transmitting the upgrade information is great. It is effective to determine whether or not to send upgrade information.

  In the server device according to the present invention, the transmission determination unit determines that the upgrade information is not transmitted when a certain percentage of the manufacturing apparatuses or a certain number of the manufacturing apparatuses are in process. Otherwise, it may be determined that the upgrade information is transmitted.

  With such a configuration, for example, transmission of upgrade information occupies a large capacity of the communication line, and the communication capacity necessary for the manufacturing apparatus in process cannot be secured, so that the process is hindered. The situation can be avoided.

  In the server device according to the present invention, the status information includes information regarding whether or not the manufacturing apparatus is in a state in which communication with the server device is possible, and the transmission determination unit is not in communication with the server device. It may be determined that the upgrade information is not transmitted for the manufacturing apparatus indicated by the state information as being in a state.

  With such a configuration, the upgrade information can be prevented from being transmitted when the manufacturing apparatus cannot communicate with the server apparatus. For example, when upgrade information is transmitted to a manufacturing apparatus that is not communicable, useless information is transmitted, but such a situation can be avoided.

In the server device according to the present invention, the state information includes information related to a version of a software program used in the manufacturing device, and the transmission determination unit uses the upgrade information received by the upgrade information reception unit. Even if it is determined that the version upgrade information is not transmitted for the manufacturing apparatus indicated by the status information that the version of the software program after the version upgrade is the same as or later than the version of the software program. Good.
With such a configuration, unnecessary upgrade information can be prevented from being transmitted to the manufacturing apparatus.

  In the server device according to the present invention, when the transmission determination unit determines not to transmit the upgrade information for one manufacturing device, the upgrade for the one manufacturing device is performed again after the determination. Whether or not to transmit information to the manufacturing apparatus may be determined using the state information.

  With such a configuration, even when it is determined that the upgrade information is not transmitted to a certain manufacturing apparatus, the upgrade information can be transmitted to the manufacturing apparatus thereafter.

  The server device according to the present invention may further include an instruction information storage unit that stores instruction information that is information indicating an instruction to create a predetermined folder, and the transmission unit may also transmit the instruction information.

  With such a configuration, when the upgrade information must be stored in a predetermined folder, the predetermined folder can be created in the manufacturing apparatus.

In the server device according to the present invention, the manufacturing apparatus that transmits the upgrade information further includes a folder determination unit that determines whether or not the predetermined folder exists, and the transmission unit includes the folder determination unit. The instruction information may be transmitted when it is determined that the predetermined folder does not exist.
With such a configuration, when the predetermined folder does not exist in the manufacturing apparatus, the predetermined folder can be created in the manufacturing apparatus.

Further, in the server device according to the present invention, the state information stored in the state information storage unit according to the state information receiving unit that receives the state information of the manufacturing device and the state information received by the state information receiving unit. And a state information update unit for updating.
With such a configuration, the state information stored in the state information storage unit of the server device can be appropriately updated according to the actual state of the manufacturing apparatus.

  In the server device according to the present invention, when the transmission unit is transmitting the upgrade information, the transmission determination unit is in the process of a manufacturing apparatus that is the transmission destination of the upgrade information according to the state information. The transmission determining unit determines that the transmission of the upgrade information is to be stopped during the transmission of the upgrade information. In this case, the transmission of the upgrade information may be stopped.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the manufacturing apparatus that is the transmission destination of the upgrade information from being subjected to a load related to the transmission of the upgrade information during the process, and to prevent the process from being hindered. It can be done.

  In the server device according to the present invention, the transmission determination unit may be configured such that when the transmission unit is transmitting the upgrade information, the state information indicates a certain ratio or more of the manufacturing apparatus or a certain number or more. When it is detected that the manufacturing apparatus is in process, the transmission unit determines to stop transmission of the upgrade information, and the transmission unit cancels transmission of the upgrade information during transmission of the upgrade information. Then, when the transmission determination unit determines, transmission of the upgrade information may be stopped.

  With such a configuration, when a certain percentage or more or a certain number of manufacturing devices are in process, the communication line in the group management system will not occupy the line bandwidth by transmitting upgrade information. can do. As a result, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of congestion and communication delay in the communication line, the manufacturing apparatus in process can comfortably use the communication line of the group management system, and the process in the manufacturing apparatus does not hinder. Can be done.

  According to the server apparatus and the like according to the present invention, it is possible to upgrade the execution software program for control in one or more manufacturing apparatuses in the group management system without performing complicated work.

  Hereinafter, a group management system and the like according to the present invention will be described using embodiments. In the following embodiments, components and steps denoted by the same reference numerals are the same or equivalent, and repetitive description may be omitted.

(Embodiment 1)
A group management system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the group management system according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, the group management system according to the present embodiment includes a client device 10, a server device 20, and N manufacturing devices 30. Here, N is an integer of 1 or more. In the group management system, the client device 10, the server device 20, and the one or more manufacturing devices 30 are connected to be communicable with each other via a wired or wireless communication line. The communication line is, for example, the Internet, an intranet, a public telephone line network, or the like.

The client device 10 issues various requests to the server device 20 and accepts processing results in the server device 20.
The server device 20 receives the upgrade information and transmits the upgrade information to the manufacturing device 30. Details of this processing will be described later. The server device 20 can store various measurement information in one or more manufacturing apparatuses 30. In addition, the server device 20 executes processing in response to a request from the client device 10 and transmits the processing result to the client device 10 as appropriate.

  The manufacturing apparatus 30 is an apparatus that performs a predetermined semiconductor process on a substrate to be processed. The manufacturing apparatus 30 is, for example, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or a liquid crystal panel manufacturing apparatus. The substrate to be processed is, for example, a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate, a plastic substrate, or the like. Note that the predetermined semiconductor process for the substrate to be processed executed by the manufacturing apparatus 30 may or may not include a pre-process, a post-process, or the like as long as it includes at least a process related to a semiconductor. The process performed by the manufacturing apparatus 30 on the substrate to be processed is, for example, a film forming process, an etching process, a thermal oxidation process, or the like.

  The manufacturing apparatus 30 is, for example, a batch type vertical heat treatment apparatus described in Patent Document 4 or Patent Document 5 described above. An example of the manufacturing apparatus 30 is shown in FIG. The manufacturing apparatus 30 is an apparatus having a so-called load lock chamber structure that can be sealed with respect to other chambers as a loading chamber and that can be supplied and evacuated with N2 gas as an inert atmosphere. The manufacturing apparatus 30 is a process tube a that is a processing chamber that performs a predetermined process on a wafer W that is an object to be processed, and a holding body that stores a large number of, for example, 100 wafers W in the process tube a. A load lock chamber h as a loading chamber having a transfer mechanism g for inserting and removing the wafer boat f, a load / unload chamber ab for loading / unloading the wafer W into / from the load lock chamber h, and the load / unload chamber ab A cassette storage container port ac, a loading means ae for loading the cassette storage container ad placed in the port ac into the loading / unloading chamber ab, a container storage stage af for temporarily storing the loaded cassette storage container ad, A cassette take-out stage ag for taking out the cassette C accommodated in the cassette accommodation container ad, and a cassette accommodation capacity in the carry-in / out chamber ab A container transfer means ah for transferring the ad, the main unit in the holding body accommodating chamber ai for accommodating the wafer boat f disposed between the transport room ab the load lock chamber h is configured. In addition, since the other site | part and operation | movement in the example of the manufacturing apparatus 30 of FIG. 2 are well-known techniques (refer patent document 4), detailed description is abbreviate | omitted. Moreover, as a chamber which comprises the manufacturing apparatus 30, the chamber in FIG. 1 of patent document 5 is suitable. In addition, the manufacturing apparatus 30 stores, for example, a recipe that is information related to a predetermined process for the wafer, and may be controlled using the recipe.

  Next, the configuration of the client device 10, the server device 20, and the manufacturing device 30 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagrams of FIGS. 3 to 5, only the characteristic part of the group management system according to the present embodiment is specified and the other parts are omitted, but the client device 10, the server device 20, The manufacturing apparatus 30 is configured to execute a process related to the manufacture of a device having a semiconductor, for example, a configuration for transporting a substrate to be processed in the manufacturing apparatus 30, a temperature or pressure in a manufacturing process in the manufacturing apparatus 30, and the like. You may have the structure etc. which transmit.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the client device 10. In FIG. 3, the client device 10 according to the present embodiment includes a version upgrade information reception unit 11 and a transmission unit 12.

  The upgrade information receiving unit 11 receives upgrade information. The upgrade information is information for upgrading an execution software program for controlling the manufacturing apparatus 30. In the manufacturing apparatus 30, by executing this execution software program, a predetermined semiconductor process or the like for the substrate to be processed is executed. At the time of execution, parameters, recipes, and the like held in the manufacturing apparatus 30 may be used. The execution software program may be, for example, application software of the manufacturing apparatus 30, a device driver, or the like, or may be a system program of the manufacturing apparatus 30. The system program is a program that controls a control program of the manufacturing apparatus 30, and is called, for example, an OS (Operating System) or middleware.

  The upgrade information may be, for example, data for upgrading an execution software program, or may be an execution program for upgrading an execution software program. Further, the version upgrade information may be, for example, information related to a difference for upgrading the execution software program, or may be information after upgrading the execution software program. The execution software program itself may be used. Further, the upgrade information may be a single file for upgrading the execution software program, or may be a so-called upgrade kit composed of a plurality of files. The reception of the upgrade information by the upgrade information reception unit 11 may be, for example, reception of information input from an input device (for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, etc.), which is transmitted via a wired or wireless communication line. Information may be received, or information read from a predetermined recording medium (for example, an optical disk, a magnetic disk, or a semiconductor memory) may be received. In the present embodiment, the upgrade information receiving unit 11 receives the upgrade information read from the recording medium. The upgrade information receiving unit 11 may or may not include a device (for example, a modem or a network card) for receiving. The upgrade information receiving unit 11 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives a predetermined device.

  Further, the upgrade information receiving unit 11 may receive device identification information for identifying the manufacturing device 30 that upgrades the software program based on the upgrade information. The device identification information may be, for example, information for identifying each device, or information for identifying a group of two or more devices. In the latter case, for example, information such as “all devices” may be used.

  The transmission unit 12 transmits the upgrade information received by the upgrade information reception unit 11 to the server device 20 via a communication line. For example, the transmission unit 12 may transmit the upgrade information to the server device 20 by FTP (File Transfer Protocol) or the like, or may transmit the upgrade information to the server device 20 by other methods. When the upgrade information receiving unit 11 receives device identification information for identifying the manufacturing device 30 that upgrades the software program based on the upgrade information, the transmission unit 12 also transmits the device identification information to the server device 20. May be.

  The transmission unit 12 may or may not include a communication device (for example, a modem or a network card) for performing communication. The transmission unit 12 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives a communication device.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the server device 20. In FIG. 4, the server device 20 according to the present embodiment includes an upgrade information reception unit 21, an upgrade information storage unit 22, a state information storage unit 23, a state information reception unit 24, and a state information update unit 25. A transmission determination unit 26, a folder determination unit 27, an instruction information storage unit 28, and a transmission unit 29.

  The upgrade information receiving unit 21 receives upgrade information. Here, the reception of the upgrade information by the upgrade information reception unit 21 may be, for example, reception of information input from an input device (for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, etc.), via a wired or wireless communication line. The received information may be received, or information read from a predetermined recording medium (for example, an optical disk, a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, etc.) may be received. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the upgrade information receiving unit 21 receives the upgrade information transmitted from the client device 10 via the communication line. The upgrade information receiving unit 21 may receive device identification information for identifying the manufacturing device 30 that upgrades the software program based on the upgrade information.

  The upgrade information receiving unit 21 may or may not include a device (for example, a modem or a network card) for receiving. The upgrade information receiving unit 21 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives a predetermined device.

  The upgrade information storage unit 22 stores the upgrade information received by the upgrade information reception unit 21 in a predetermined recording medium. When the upgrade information receiving unit 21 also receives device identification information for identifying the manufacturing device 30 that upgrades the software program based on the upgrade information, the device identification information is also associated with the upgrade information in a predetermined record. It may be stored on a medium. The recording medium is, for example, a semiconductor memory, an optical disk, a magnetic disk, or the like, and may be included in the upgrade information storage unit 22 or may exist outside the upgrade information storage unit 22. In the present embodiment, the latter case is assumed. Further, this recording medium may temporarily store upgrade information or the like, or may not be so.

  The state information storage unit 23 stores state information that is information related to the state of the manufacturing apparatus 30. The state information may include, for example, information related to whether or not the manufacturing apparatus 30 is in a process, and may include information related to whether or not the manufacturing apparatus 30 is in a state in which the manufacturing apparatus 30 can communicate with the server apparatus 20. The information regarding the version of the software program used with the manufacturing apparatus 30 may be included, and the information regarding the state of the other manufacturing apparatus 30 may be included. The state information may be information indicating the state of the manufacturing apparatus 30 or information capable of indirectly knowing the state of the manufacturing apparatus 30. In the former case, for example, whether or not the manufacturing apparatus 30 is in process is indicated by the state information. In the latter case, for example, the state information indicates that the temperature of the manufacturing apparatus 30 is 300 degrees, and thus it is possible to indirectly know whether the manufacturing apparatus 30 is in process. For example, if it is known that the temperature of the manufacturing apparatus 30 is 200 degrees to 400 degrees if the manufacturing apparatus 30 is in process, the manufacturing apparatus 30 is in process from the state information that the temperature of the manufacturing apparatus 30 is 300 degrees. It can be seen that it is. The state information storage unit 23 can be realized by a predetermined recording medium (for example, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc.).

  The state information receiving unit 24 receives state information of the manufacturing apparatus 30. Here, the reception of the state information by the state information reception unit 24 may be, for example, reception of information input from an input device (for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, etc.), which is transmitted via a wired or wireless communication line. May be received, or information read from a predetermined recording medium (for example, an optical disk, a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, etc.) may be received. In the present embodiment, state information reception unit 24 receives state information transmitted from manufacturing apparatus 30 via a communication line. The status information received by the status information receiving unit 24 may be the same as or different from the status information stored in the status information storage unit 23. In the latter case, for example, the information indicating the difference between the state information stored in the state information storage unit 23 may be the state information received by the state information receiving unit 24.

  Note that the status information receiving unit 24 may or may not include a device (for example, a modem or a network card) for receiving. Further, the state information receiving unit 24 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives a predetermined device.

  The status information update unit 25 updates the status information stored in the status information storage unit 23 according to the status information received by the status information reception unit 24. By updating the state information, the state information stored in the state information storage unit 23 is updated to the new state information of the manufacturing apparatus 30. For example, if the state information received by the state information receiving unit 24 is the same as the state information stored in the state information storage unit 23, the state information update unit 25 overwrites the state information and stores the state information. It may be accumulated in the unit 23. For example, when the state information received by the state information receiving unit 24 is a difference between the state information stored in the state information storage unit 23, the state information update unit 25 stores only the difference in the state information storage unit 23. The state information that has been set may be changed. The updating of the state information by the state information updating unit 25 includes accumulating new state information in the state information storage unit 23 in which no state information is stored.

  In addition, the timing of the process which the status information reception part 24 receives status information and the status information update part 25 updates status information does not ask | require. For example, the status information may be periodically updated, and the status information may be updated at the time of determination by the transmission determination unit 26 described later. In the latter case, an instruction for transmitting the state information may be transmitted from the server device 20 or the like to the manufacturing apparatus 30, and the state information may be updated using the state information transmitted in response to the instruction. .

  The transmission determination unit 26 determines whether or not to transmit the upgrade information received by the upgrade information reception unit 21 to the manufacturing apparatus 30 using the state information stored in the state information storage unit 23. The transmission determination unit 26 makes the determination for each manufacturing apparatus 30. When the upgrade information receiving unit 21 receives the device identification information together with the upgrade information, the transmission determining unit 26 may make the determination only for the manufacturing device 30 identified by the device identification information. When the device identification information indicates “all devices”, the transmission determination unit 26 may make the determination for all the manufacturing devices 30 recognized by the server device 20.

  For example, when the status information indicates that the manufacturing apparatus 30 is in process, the transmission determination unit 26 determines that the upgrade information is not transmitted to the manufacturing apparatus 30, and the manufacturing apparatus 30 is in process based on the status information. However, it may be determined that the upgrade information is transmitted to the manufacturing apparatus 30. This is for avoiding inappropriate influence on the process by transmitting the upgrade information to the manufacturing apparatus 30 in the process.

  When the information regarding whether or not the manufacturing apparatus 30 is in process is included in the state information, the transmission determination unit 26 uses the information to determine whether the manufacturing apparatus 30 is in process. It can be easily determined whether the process is in progress. On the other hand, information on whether or not the manufacturing apparatus 30 is in process, which is included in the state information, is, for example, measurement information such as temperature, pressure, and gas flow rate in the manufacturing apparatus 30, information indicating the status of the manufacturing apparatus 30, and the like. In this case, the transmission determining unit 26 determines whether the conditions under which the manufacturing apparatus 30 is in process are satisfied based on the measurement information and the like, and the manufacturing apparatus 30 is in process according to the determination result. It may be determined whether or not. The information indicating the condition may be, for example, “if the status is“ Standby, Ready, Idle ”, not in process”. Information indicating the condition may be held in a recording medium (not shown) included in the transmission determination unit 26, for example.

  For example, the transmission determination unit 26 may determine not to transmit the upgrade information for the manufacturing apparatus 30 indicated by the state information that the communication with the server apparatus 20 is not possible. This is because unnecessary upgrade information is not transmitted to the manufacturing apparatus 30 that is not communicable.

  When the information regarding whether the manufacturing apparatus 30 can communicate with the server apparatus 20 included in the state information indicates whether communication is possible, the transmission determination unit 26 determines whether communication is possible using the information. Can be easily determined. On the other hand, if the information related to whether or not the manufacturing apparatus 30 can communicate with the server apparatus 20 included in the state information is, for example, the reception time of the state information transmitted from the manufacturing apparatus 30, the transmission determination is performed. The unit 26 may determine whether the condition that the manufacturing apparatus 30 can communicate with the server apparatus 20 is satisfied based on the reception time or the like, and may determine whether communication is possible according to the determination result. . Information indicating the condition may be held in a recording medium (not shown) included in the transmission determination unit 26, for example.

  Whether or not communication is possible may be confirmed, for example, by transmitting a predetermined packet or the like from the server device 20 to the manufacturing device 30. For example, the confirmation may be performed using Ping. In that case, the result of Ping is information regarding whether communication is possible in the state information. Therefore, the result of Ping is received by the state information receiving unit 24 and accumulated in the state information storage unit 23 by the state information update unit 25. Then, using the Ping result stored in the state information storage unit 23, the transmission determination unit 26 can determine whether communication is possible.

  For example, the transmission determination unit 26 uses a software program whose version is the same as or later than the version of the software program after being upgraded by the upgrade information received by the upgrade information receiving unit 21. It may be determined that the upgrade information is not transmitted for the manufacturing apparatus 30 indicated by the information. In this case, for example, information indicating the version of the software program used in the manufacturing apparatus 30 is included in the state information, and the transmission determination unit 26 may make the determination using the information. By making this determination, it is possible to prevent unnecessary transmission of upgrade information to the manufacturing apparatus 30 that does not need to upgrade the software program.

  Note that the transmission determination unit 26 may make a determination other than that described here as long as it determines whether to transmit the upgrade information to the manufacturing apparatus 30 in accordance with the suitability of transmission of the upgrade information.

  In addition, when the transmission determination unit 26 determines not to transmit the upgrade information for one manufacturing apparatus 30, the transmission determination unit 26 transmits the upgrade information for the one manufacturing apparatus 30 to the manufacturing apparatus 30 again after the determination. Whether or not to do so may be determined using the state information. By doing in this way, even if it is the manufacturing apparatus 30 judged not to transmit upgrade information, upgrade information can be received at the timing at which upgrade information can be transmitted. . Note that the transmission determination unit 26 may perform the determination for all the manufacturing apparatuses 30 that are determined not to transmit the upgrade information, or may be performed for some of the manufacturing apparatuses 30.

  The folder determination unit 27 determines whether or not a predetermined folder exists in the manufacturing apparatus 30 that transmits the upgrade information. The predetermined folder is a folder in which the upgrade information is stored, and the location and name of the folder are determined in advance. For example, the folder determination unit 27 may determine whether an “Upgrade_Program” folder in which the upgrade information is stored exists in the “Program_File” folder of the storage unit of the manufacturing apparatus 30. For example, the folder determination unit 27 transmits a confirmation request as to whether or not a predetermined folder exists to the manufacturing apparatus 30, and uses the reply transmitted from the manufacturing apparatus 30 to the server apparatus 20 in response to the confirmation request. The determination may be made, or the access may be made by accessing the manufacturing apparatus 30 with Telnet or the like and acquiring the folder structure of the manufacturing apparatus 30.

  When the folder determination unit 27 communicates with the manufacturing apparatus 30 via a communication line, the folder determination unit 27 may include a communication device (for example, a modem or a network card) for performing communication. Alternatively, it may not be included. The folder determination unit 27 may be realized by hardware or software such as a driver that drives a communication device.

The instruction information storage unit 28 stores instruction information, which is information indicating an instruction for creating a predetermined folder. This predetermined folder is the same as the predetermined folder for determining whether or not the folder determination unit 27 exists, and is a folder in which the upgrade information is stored. When this instruction information is an instruction to create an “Upgrade_Program” folder in which the upgrade information is stored in the “Program_File” folder of the storage unit of the manufacturing apparatus 30 (here, the disk is “C”). Is, for example, as follows.
system ("mkdir \ C \ Program_File \ Upgrade_Program")

  The instruction information storage unit 28 can be realized by a predetermined recording medium (for example, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc.). There is no limitation on the process in which the instruction information is stored in the instruction information storage unit 28. For example, the instruction information may be stored in the instruction information storage unit 28 via a recording medium, and the instruction information transmitted via a communication line or the like is stored in the instruction information storage unit 28. Alternatively, the instruction information input via the input device may be stored in the instruction information storage unit 28.

  The transmission unit 29 transmits the upgrade information received by the upgrade information reception unit 21 to the manufacturing apparatus 30 determined by the transmission determination unit 26 to transmit the upgrade information via a communication line. The transmission unit 29 may transmit the upgrade information to the manufacturing apparatus 30 by FTP or the like, or may transmit the upgrade information to the manufacturing apparatus 30 by other methods. The transmission unit 29 may transmit the upgrade information by instructing the folder in which the upgrade information to be transmitted is stored, or may not give such an instruction. In the former case, for example, the upgrade information may be transmitted to a predetermined folder by FTP or the like. In the latter case, it is assumed that the manufacturing apparatus 30 knows in advance in which folder the upgrade information is stored. When the folder determination unit 27 determines that the predetermined folder does not exist in the manufacturing apparatus 30, the transmission unit 29 transmits the instruction information stored in the instruction information storage unit 28 to the manufacturing apparatus 30 via a communication line. May be. The instruction information may be transmitted at the same time as the upgrade information or may be transmitted separately.

  The transmission unit 29 may or may not include a transmission device (for example, a modem or a network card) for performing transmission. The transmission unit 29 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives the transmission device.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the manufacturing apparatus 30. 5, the manufacturing apparatus 30 according to the present embodiment includes a state information configuration unit 31, a communication unit 32, a storage unit 33, a storage unit 34, a reception unit 35, an installation unit 36, and a program execution unit 37. With.

  The status information configuration unit 31 configures status information to be transmitted to the server device 20. The state information may be, for example, information indicating whether the manufacturing apparatus 30 is in process, or may be information indicating the temperature, pressure, etc. of the manufacturing apparatus 30.

  The communication unit 32 transmits the status information configured by the status information configuration unit 31 to the server device 20 via a communication line. Further, the communication unit 32 receives the upgrade information transmitted from the server device 20 via the communication line. Note that the communication unit 32 may or may not include a communication device (for example, a modem or a network card) for performing communication. The communication unit 32 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives a communication device.

  The accumulation unit 33 accumulates the upgrade information received by the communication unit 32 in a predetermined folder in the storage unit 34. This predetermined folder may be a folder instructed from the server device 20 or may be a folder that is set in advance as a target for storing upgrade information in the manufacturing device 30.

In the predetermined folder of the storage unit 34, the upgrade information is stored by the storage unit 33 as described above. In addition, it is assumed that the storage unit 34 also stores a software program executed by a program execution unit 37 described later. By executing this software program, a semiconductor process in the manufacturing apparatus 30 is executed. For example, temperature control, pressure control, gas flow rate control, and the like are performed, and a predetermined process for the substrate to be processed is performed. It will be. The storage unit 34 can be realized by a predetermined recording medium (for example, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc.).
The accepting unit 35 accepts an installation instruction input from an input device (for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, etc.).

  The installation unit 36 upgrades the software program by installing the upgrade information stored in a predetermined folder in the storage unit 34. The timing for performing this installation is not limited. For example, the installation unit 36 may perform installation at the timing when the upgrade information is accumulated in the storage unit 34, or the installation unit 36 may perform installation when the manufacturing apparatus 30 is restarted. This installation is preferably performed at the time of restart. This is because the installation can be performed safely without causing problems in the manufacturing apparatus 30 by performing the installation at the time of restart. When installation is performed at the time of restart, it is arbitrary at which stage of the restart process the installation is performed. Further, when the installation unit 36 installs the upgrade information, the user of the manufacturing apparatus 30 is asked to determine whether or not the installation can be executed, and the installation is performed after an instruction to execute the installation is received. Alternatively, the installation may be automatically performed without requesting such user's judgment.

  The program execution unit 37 executes a semiconductor process or the like in the manufacturing apparatus 30 by executing the software program stored in the storage unit 34. When the software program is upgraded by the installing unit 36, the program executing unit 37 executes the upgraded software program.

  Although not clearly shown in FIG. 5, the manufacturing apparatus 30 receives a function for configuring an answer in response to a confirmation request transmitted from the server apparatus 20 as to whether a predetermined folder exists, or from the server apparatus 20. You may provide the component which performs the function etc. which create a predetermined folder according to the transmitted instruction information.

Next, the operation of the client device 10 according to the present embodiment will be described using the flowchart of FIG.
(Step S <b> 101) The upgrade information receiving unit 11 determines whether it is time to transmit the upgrade information to the server device 20. For example, the upgrade information reception unit 11 may determine that it is the timing to transmit the upgrade information when an instruction to transmit the upgrade information is received from an input device or the like. If it is time to transmit the upgrade information, the process proceeds to step S102. If not, the process of step S101 is repeated until it is time to transmit the upgrade information.

  (Step S <b> 102) The upgrade information receiving unit 21 determines whether the upgrade information to be transmitted to the server device 20 has been received. If accepted, the process proceeds to step S103. If not accepted, the process of step S102 is repeated until upgrade information is accepted.

  (Step S <b> 103) The upgrade information receiving unit 11 determines whether or not device identification information of the manufacturing device 30 that upgrades the software program is received based on the upgrade information transmitted to the server device 20. If accepted, the process proceeds to step S104. If not, the process of step S103 is repeated until accepted.

  (Step S <b> 104) The transmission unit 12 transmits the upgrade information received by the upgrade information reception unit 11 and the device identification information to the server device 20. For example, the transmission unit 12 may know the address of the server device 20 in advance, and may transmit upgrade information or the like using the address. Then, the process returns to step S101.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 6, the process ends when the power is turned off or the process ends. In this flowchart, as long as the upgrade information and device identification information are received and transmitted, the order in which the upgrade information and the like are received does not matter. Further, the upgrade information or the like may be received by the user selecting information stored in the client device 10 in advance.

Next, operation | movement of the server apparatus 20 by this Embodiment is demonstrated using the flowchart of FIG.
(Step S201) The status information receiving unit 24 determines whether status information has been received. If the status information is received, the process proceeds to step S202. If not, the process proceeds to step S203.

  (Step S202) The state information updating unit 25 updates the state information stored in the state information storage unit 23 in accordance with the state information received by the state information receiving unit 24. In addition, when the status information of the manufacturing apparatus 30 that is not stored in the status information storage unit 23 is received, the status information update unit 25 newly accumulates the status information in the status information storage unit 23. . Then, the process returns to step S201.

  (Step S203) The upgrade information receiving unit 21 determines whether upgrade information and device identification information have been received. If accepted, the process proceeds to step S204, and if not, the process proceeds to step S206.

  (Step S204) The upgrade information storage unit 22 stores the upgrade information received by the upgrade information reception unit 21 in association with the device identification information in a recording medium (not shown).

  (Step S205) The transmission determination unit 26, the transmission unit 29, and the like perform transmission processing of upgrade information. Details of this processing will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Then, the process returns to step S201.

  (Step S206) The transmission determination unit 26 determines whether or not to perform the transmission process again for the upgrade information that could not be transmitted by the previous transmission process. For example, the transmission determination unit 26 may determine that it is a timing for performing transmission processing again every predetermined period (for example, every hour), or at a timing for performing transmission processing again by triggering a predetermined event. It may be determined that there is, or it may be determined that transmission processing is performed again at other timing. If it is determined that the transmission process is to be performed again, the process proceeds to step S207; otherwise, the process returns to step S201.

  (Step S207) The transmission determining unit 26 determines whether there is untransmitted upgrade information. This determination may be made using, for example, information regarding whether or not the upgrade information is transmitted. The information may be held together with the upgrade information and device identification information in a recording medium (not shown) included in the upgrade information storage unit 22, for example. If unsent upgrade information is present, the process proceeds to step S208. If not, the process returns to step S201.

(Step S208) The transmission determination unit 26, the transmission unit 29, and the like perform transmission processing of upgrade information. Details of this processing will be described later. Then, the process returns to step S201.
In the flowchart of FIG. 7, the process is terminated by power-off or a process termination interrupt.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing details of the transmission processing in step S205 in the flowchart of FIG.
(Step S301) The transmission determining unit 26 sets the counter i to 1.

  (Step S <b> 302) The transmission determination unit 26 receives the upgrade information receiving unit 21, of the device identification information stored by the upgrade information storage unit 22, and identifies the manufacturing device 30 identified by the i-th device identification information. Determine whether to send upgrade information. Details of this determination processing will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  (Step S303) The folder determination unit 27 determines whether or not a predetermined folder exists in the manufacturing apparatus 30 identified by the i-th apparatus identification information. If the predetermined folder exists, the process proceeds to step S305. If the predetermined folder does not exist, the process proceeds to step S304.

  (Step S304) The transmission unit 29 reads the instruction information from the instruction information storage unit 28, and transmits the instruction information to the manufacturing apparatus 30 identified by the i-th apparatus identification information.

(Step S305) The transmission unit 29 reads the upgrade information from the upgrade information storage unit 22, and transmits the upgrade information to the manufacturing apparatus 30 identified by the i-th apparatus identification information.
(Step S306) The transmission judgment unit 26 increments the counter i by 1.

  (Step S307) The transmission determination unit 26 determines whether or not the i-th device identification information exists in the device identification information received by the upgrade information reception unit 21 and stored by the upgrade information storage unit 22. If it exists, the process returns to step S302. If not, the series of transmission processes for transmitting the upgrade information ends, and the process returns to step S201.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 8, the instruction information and the upgrade information are transmitted separately when the instruction information is transmitted. However, the instruction information and the upgrade information may be transmitted at the same time. .

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing details of the transmission determination process in step S302 in the flowchart of FIG.
(Step S401) The transmission determination unit 26 refers to the state information stored in the state information storage unit 23 corresponding to the manufacturing device 30 identified by the i-th device identification information, and the manufacturing device 30 is in the process. It is determined whether it is. If it is in process, the process proceeds to step S405. If it is not in process, the process proceeds to step S402.

  (Step S402) The transmission determining unit 26 refers to the state information stored in the state information storage unit 23 corresponding to the manufacturing device 30 identified by the i-th device identification information, and communicates with the manufacturing device 30. Determine if you can. If communication is possible, the process proceeds to step S403. If communication is possible, the process proceeds to step S405.

  (Step S403) The transmission determination unit 26 refers to the state information stored in the state information storage unit 23 corresponding to the manufacturing device 30 identified by the i-th device identification information, and is used in the manufacturing device 30. The version of the software program that has been upgraded and the version of the software program that has been upgraded by the latest version upgrade information received by the upgrade information receiving unit 21 and accumulated by the version upgrade information storage unit 22, It is determined whether the version of the software program used at 30 is older. If the version of the software program used in the manufacturing apparatus 30 is older, the process proceeds to step S404. If not, the process proceeds to step S405.

  (Step S404) The transmission determination unit 26 determines to transmit the upgrade information to the manufacturing apparatus 30 identified by the i-th apparatus identification information. Then, the process proceeds to step S303.

  (Step S405) The transmission determination unit 26 determines that the upgrade information is not transmitted to the manufacturing apparatus 30 identified by the i-th apparatus identification information. Then, the process proceeds to step S306.

  Details of the transmission processing in step S208 in the flowchart of FIG. 7 are substantially the same as those in the flowchart of FIG. 8, and detailed description thereof is omitted. Note that the manufacturing apparatus 30 that is the target of determining whether or not to transmit the upgrade information in step S302 of the flowchart of FIG. 8 is the entire manufacturing apparatus 30 that has been determined not to transmit the upgrade information in the determination process so far. Or part.

Next, operation | movement of the manufacturing apparatus 30 by this Embodiment is demonstrated using the flowchart of FIG.
(Step S501) The communication unit 32 determines whether or not upgrade information has been received. If the upgrade information is received, the process proceeds to step S502. If not, the process proceeds to step S503.

  (Step S <b> 502) The storage unit 33 stores the upgrade information received by the communication unit 32 in the storage unit 34. When a predetermined folder for storing the upgrade information is designated from the server device 20 or is set in advance in the manufacturing device 30, the storage unit 33 stores the upgrade information in the folder. . Then, the process returns to step S501.

  (Step S503) The installation unit 36 determines whether it is time to upgrade. This timing may be, for example, every predetermined period (for example, every day at 2 am, etc.), or may be triggered by a predetermined event (for example, the manufacturing apparatus 30 is restarted). It may be other timing. If it is time to upgrade, the process proceeds to step S504; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S507.

  (Step S504) The installation unit 36 determines whether upgrade information that has not yet been installed is stored in the storage unit 34. If it is stored, the process proceeds to step S505, and if not, the process returns to step S501.

  (Step S505) The installation unit 36 determines whether the reception unit 35 has received an instruction to install the upgrade information. If the reception unit 35 receives an instruction to install the upgrade information, the process proceeds to step S506. If the reception unit 35 receives an instruction to not install the upgrade information, the process proceeds to step S501. Return.

  (Step S506) The installation unit 36 upgrades the software program of the manufacturing apparatus 30 by installing the upgrade information stored in the storage unit 34. Then, the process returns to step S501. Note that after this installation, the upgrade information used in this installation may be deleted from the storage unit 34, or a flag indicating that the installation has already been performed may be set. After the installation, the program execution unit 37 executes the software program after the upgrade.

  (Step S507) The state information configuration unit 31 determines whether it is time to transmit the state information. The timing for transmitting the state information may be, for example, every predetermined period (for example, every 10 minutes), and a predetermined event (for example, the state of the manufacturing apparatus 30 has been changed, or the state information is transmitted). Or the like may be triggered by the fact that the manufacturing apparatus 30 has received an instruction to do so. If it is time to transmit the status information, the process proceeds to step S508. If not, the process returns to step S501.

(Step S508) The status information configuration unit 31 configures status information to be transmitted to the server device 20. It is assumed that what information is transmitted as the state information is determined in advance. For example, the state information configuration unit 31 may configure only items that have changed from the previously transmitted state information as the state information, or all items included in the state information managed by the server device 20 are in the state. You may comprise as information.
(Step S509) The communication unit 32 transmits the status information configured by the status information configuration unit 31 to the server device 20. Then, the process returns to step S501.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 10, the process ends when the power is turned off or the process ends. Further, in the flowchart of FIG. 10, it has been described that the installation is performed when an instruction to install the upgrade information is received (step S505). However, if there is upgrade information that has not been installed, the upgrade is automatically performed. You may make it install in.

  Although not clearly shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10, when the server device 20 makes an inquiry as to whether a predetermined folder exists in the manufacturing device 30, the manufacturing device 30 sends an answer corresponding to the inquiry. Assumed to be performed. In addition, when instruction information indicating an instruction to generate a predetermined folder is transmitted from the server device 20 and received by the manufacturing apparatus 30, the predetermined folder is generated according to the instruction information.

Next, the operation of the group management system according to the present embodiment will be described using a specific example.
First, the operation in which the status information is updated in the server device 20 will be described. Here, it is assumed that the state information storage unit 23 of the server device 20 stores the state information shown in FIG. In the status information shown in FIG. 11, apparatus identification information for identifying the manufacturing apparatus 30, an in-process flag indicating whether the process is in progress, a communicable flag indicating whether communication with the server apparatus 20 is possible, The version of the software program used in the manufacturing apparatus 30 is associated. If the in-process flag is 1, it indicates that the process is in progress, and if the in-process flag is 0, it indicates that the process is not in progress. Further, if the communicable flag is 1, it indicates that communication is possible, and if the communicable flag is 0, it indicates that communication is not possible.

  In this specific example, it is assumed that the status information of the manufacturing apparatus 30 is transmitted from the manufacturing apparatus 30 to the server apparatus 20 every 10 minutes. In the server device 20, the stored state information is updated with the received state information. In the update, when the state information is not received for 10 minutes or more, it is determined that the communication between the manufacturing apparatus 30 and the server apparatus 20 cannot be performed for some reason, and the state information update unit 25 Assume that the communicable flag corresponding to the device identification information for identifying the manufacturing device 30 is set to “0”.

  The manufacturing apparatus 30 identified by the apparatus identification information “D001” measures the time since the transmission of the state information with a timer, and when the value of the timer becomes “10 minutes”, the manufacturing apparatus 30 It is determined that it is time to transmit (step S507). When the state of the manufacturing apparatus 30 at that time is the stage where the process is completed and the version of the software program is “020”, the state information configuration unit 31 includes the apparatus identification information “D001” and their The status information including the status is configured and passed to the communication unit 32 (step S508). It is assumed that the device identification information of the manufacturing device 30 is held in advance in a recording medium (not shown) in the manufacturing device 30.

  The communication unit 32 configures the packet including the status information received from the status information configuration unit 31 as shown in FIG. 12, and transmits the packet to a predetermined address of the server device 20 (step S509). .

  The packet is transmitted via the communication line and received by the state information receiving unit 24 of the server device 20 (step S201). The state information updating unit 25 updates the state information stored in the state information storage unit 23 according to the state information received by the state information receiving unit 24 (step S202). Specifically, the in-process flag associated with the device identification information “D001” in the status information is updated to “0”. The version has not changed and will not be updated. As a result of the update, the state information stored in the state information storage unit 23 is as shown in FIG.

  As described above, the status information is periodically transmitted from the manufacturing apparatus 30 to the server apparatus. In the manufacturing apparatuses 30 other than the manufacturing apparatus 30 identified by the apparatus identification information “D001”, the status information is transmitted to the server apparatus 20 in the same manner.

  Next, an operation in which upgrade information is transmitted from the client device 10 to the server device 20 and the upgrade information is transmitted to the manufacturing device 30 will be described.

  First, it is assumed that a user operating the client device 10 starts an application that transmits upgrade information to the server device 20. Then, the upgrade information receiving unit 11 determines that it is time to transmit the upgrade information (step S101). Then, an instruction for the user to attach the recording medium having the upgrade information to the client device 10 is displayed on the display.

  When a recording medium having upgrade information is attached to the client device 10 in response to the instruction, the upgrade information receiving unit 11 reads the upgrade information “upgrade_v021.exe” from the recording medium (step S102). Note that “v021” in the file name of the upgrade information indicates the version of the software program.

  In addition, in the manufacturing apparatus 30, an instruction for the user to input the apparatus identification information of the manufacturing apparatus 30 that transmits the upgrade information is displayed on the display. When the user inputs the device identification information “D001”, “D002”, “D003”, “D004” of the manufacturing apparatus 30 using the input device in response to the instruction, the device identification information is displayed as a version upgrade information receiving unit. 11 (step S103). Then, the transmission unit 12 transmits the upgrade information and the device identification information to a predetermined address of the server device 20 (Step S104).

  The upgrade information and device identification information transmitted from the client device 10 are received by the upgrade information receiving unit 21 of the server device 20 (step S203). Then, the upgrade information storage unit 22 stores the upgrade information and device identification information in association with each other in a recording medium (not shown) (step S204). FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the device identification information and the upgrade information accumulated in this way. As shown in FIG. 14, in a recording medium (not shown) included in the upgrade information storage unit 22, a transmitted flag, device identification information, and upgrade information are stored in association with each other. The transmitted flag is information indicating whether the upgrade information has been transmitted to the manufacturing apparatus 30 identified by the apparatus identification information. If the transmitted flag is 0, it indicates that it has not been transmitted, and if the transmitted flag is 1, it indicates that it has been transmitted. When the upgrade information storage unit 22 stores upgrade information or the like, the upgrade information is not yet transmitted, and therefore all the transmitted flags are set to 0.

  The transmission determination unit 26 and the like start the transmission process when the upgrade information storage unit 22 stores the upgrade information and the like (step S205). Specifically, the transmission determination unit 26 transmits the upgrade information to the manufacturing apparatus 30 identified by the first apparatus identification information “D001” corresponding to the newly accumulated upgrade information “upgrade_v021.exe”. (Steps S301 and S302).

  First, the transmission determination unit 26 refers to the state information shown in FIG. 13 stored in the state information storage unit 23. Since the in-process flag is 0, the transmission determination unit 26 determines that the manufacturing apparatus 30 is not in process (step S401). Further, since the communicable flag is 1, the transmission determination unit 26 determines that communication with the manufacturing apparatus 30 is possible (step S402). Further, since the version of the software after being upgraded by the version upgrade information is “021” and the current software program version of the manufacturing apparatus 30 is “020”, the current software program version is older. Is determined (step S403). As a result, the transmission determination unit 26 determines to transmit upgrade information (step S404).

  Here, it is assumed that the upgrade information is stored in the “Upgrade_Program” folder in the “Program_File” folder of the storage unit 34 of the manufacturing apparatus 30. Therefore, the folder determination unit 27 accesses the manufacturing apparatus 30 identified by the apparatus identification information “D001”, and determines whether the “Upgrade_Program” folder exists in the Program_File folder of the storage unit 34. In this case, it is assumed that it does not exist (step S303). Then, the transmission unit 29 reads the instruction information stored in advance from the instruction information storage unit 28 and transmits the instruction information to the manufacturing apparatus 30 identified by the apparatus identification information “D001”. In the server device 20, for example, the device identification information shown in FIG. 15 and the IP address are stored in association with each other, and the transmission unit 29 uses the information to correspond to the device identification information “D001”. The IP address “192.168.0.1” is read, and the instruction information is transmitted using the IP address as the destination address (step S304). In the manufacturing apparatus 30 that has received the instruction information, an “Upgrade_Program” folder is created in the “Program_File” folder of the storage unit 34.

  Thereafter, the transmission unit 29 reads the upgrade information “upgrade_v021.exe” from a recording medium (not shown) included in the upgrade information storage unit 22, and transmits the IP address corresponding to the device identification information “D001” as the transmission destination address. (Step S305). Note that when the upgrade information is transmitted, information specifying a folder in which the upgrade information is stored is also transmitted. Further, it is assumed that the transmission completion flag is updated after the transmission of the upgrade information, as shown in FIG.

  Thereafter, the transmission determination unit 26 of the server device 20 determines whether or not to transmit upgrade information for the manufacturing apparatus 30 identified by the second apparatus identification information “D002” (steps S306, S307, and S302). In this case, since the version of the current software program of the manufacturing apparatus 30 is “021” (see FIG. 13) and is not old (step S403), it is determined that the upgrade information is not transmitted (step S405). ).

  The manufacturing apparatus 30 identified by the third apparatus identification information “D003” is determined to be in process (step S401) because the in-process flag is 1 (see FIG. 13), and the upgrade information Is determined not to be transmitted (step S405).

  Further, the manufacturing apparatus 30 identified by the fourth apparatus identification information “D004” is determined to be unable to communicate because the communicability flag is 0 (see FIG. 13) (step S402), and upgraded. It is determined that information is not transmitted (step S405). In this way, a series of transmission processing ends (steps S306 and S307).

  Next, the manufacturing apparatus 30 that has received the upgrade information will be described. The upgrade information transmitted from the server device 20 to the manufacturing device 30 identified by the device identification information “D001” is received by the communication unit 32 (step S501), and the storage unit 33 is designated with the upgrade information. (Step S502).

  Thereafter, at the timing when the manufacturing apparatus 30 is restarted, the installation unit 36 determines to upgrade the version (step S503). Further, the install unit 36 determines that new version upgrade information exists because the version upgrade information “upgrade_v021.exe” exists in the “Upgrade_Program” folder of the “Program_File” folder of the storage unit 34 (step S504). Then, the display shown in FIG. 17 is displayed on the display of the manufacturing apparatus 30 to wait for an instruction from the user of the manufacturing apparatus 30. 17, if the user of the manufacturing apparatus 30 operates the mouse and clicks the “OK” button, the installation unit 36 determines that an instruction to upgrade is received by the receiving unit 35. Then, the upgrade information is installed and the version of the software program of the manufacturing apparatus 30 is upgraded to “021” (step S506). In the manufacturing apparatus 30 after the restart, processes such as processes are executed by the software program after the upgrade. The upgrade information “upgrade_v021.exe” stored in the storage unit 34 is deleted together with the “Upgrade_Program” folder after installation.

Next, the re-transmission determination for the manufacturing apparatus 30 determined not to transmit the upgrade information will be described.
The transmission determination unit 26 starts counting with a timer from the time when the upgrade information is transmitted to the manufacturing apparatus 30 identified by the apparatus identification information “D001”, and when the timer value indicates 1 hour, It is determined that the transmission process is performed again for the upgrade information that could not be transmitted by the transmission process (step S206). Then, the transmission determination unit 26 refers to the table shown in FIG. 16, and determines that there is untransmitted upgrade information because the transmission flag “0” exists (step S207).

  After that, the transmission determination unit 26 performs a transmission process related to transmitting the upgrade information “upgrade_v021.exe” to the device identification information “D002”, “D003”, and “D004” (step S208). Since this transmission process is the same as the above-described transmission process, the description thereof is omitted.

  In this specific example, one piece of upgrade information is transmitted from the client apparatus 10 to the server apparatus 20, and the one piece of upgrade information is transmitted from the server apparatus 20 to the manufacturing apparatus 30 according to the result of transmission determination. However, for example, upgrade information as a so-called upgrade kit including a plurality of files is transmitted from the client device 10 to the server device 20, and the upgrade information including the plurality of files is included in the transmission determination result. Accordingly, it may be transmitted from the server device 20 to the manufacturing device 30. In that case, in the server device 20, for example, transmission determination may be performed for each file included in the upgrade information, or transmission determination may be performed for upgrade information including a plurality of files at once.

  Further, in this specific example, a case has been described in which the determination is performed again for all the manufacturing apparatuses 30 of the manufacturing apparatus 30 that are determined not to transmit the upgrade information based on the transmission determination. The determination may be made again for some of the manufacturing apparatuses 30 that are determined not to be used. For example, it is determined that the upgrade information is not transmitted because a software program of the same or newer version than the software program upgraded by the upgrade information to be transmitted is already used in the manufacturing apparatus 30. In such a case, even if a subsequent determination is made, the determination result will not change. Therefore, if it is determined that transmission is not performed for such a reason, do not perform the determination again. Also good.

  In this specific example, in response to the transmission of the upgrade information from the server device 20 to the manufacturing device 30, information indicating to which manufacturing device 30 the upgrade information has been transmitted is transmitted from the server device 20 to the client. It may be transmitted to the device 10. By doing in this way, the user of the client apparatus 10 can know to which manufacturing apparatus 30 the upgrade information is transmitted.

  In this specific example, when the upgrade information is transmitted from the server device 20 to the manufacturing device 30, an unnecessary file is stored in a predetermined folder in which the upgrade information transmitted from the server device 20 to the manufacturing device 30 is stored. If the file exists, the unnecessary file may be deleted. The process of deleting the unnecessary file may be performed by the server apparatus 20 accessing the manufacturing apparatus 30 or by the server apparatus 20 transmitting an instruction to the manufacturing apparatus 30 to delete the unnecessary file. Alternatively, it may be performed when the manufacturing apparatus 30 receives the upgrade information.

  As described above, according to the group management system according to the present embodiment, the upgrade software program for controlling the manufacturing apparatus 30 is upgraded by transmitting the upgrade information from the server apparatus 20 to the manufacturing apparatus 30. Can do. Therefore, unlike the conventional example, there is an advantage that the operator does not need to perform a complicated and time-consuming process for upgrading the software program of each manufacturing apparatus 30.

  Further, since the server device 20 determines whether or not to transmit the upgrade information, and transmits the upgrade information when it is determined to transmit, it is possible to avoid transmitting the upgrade information when it is inappropriate. And an appropriate version upgrade of the software program can be realized. For example, when the manufacturing apparatus 30 is in the process, the upgrade information can be prevented from being transmitted.

  In addition, when the execution software program is a system program, it is generally considered that the capacity of the upgrade information is increased, and therefore it is considered that the influence on the manufacturing apparatus 30 by transmitting the upgrade information is great. In such a case, it is effective to determine whether or not to transmit the upgrade information, and to transmit the upgrade information according to the determination result.

  The transmission determination unit 26 may make a determination other than the above description. For example, the transmission determination unit 26 determines that the upgrade information is not to be transmitted when a certain percentage or more of the manufacturing apparatuses 30 or a certain number or more of the manufacturing apparatuses 30 are in process. Otherwise, it may be determined that the upgrade information is transmitted. For example, the capacity of the upgrade information can be very large. If such upgrade information is transmitted to a manufacturing apparatus 30 that is not in process, the transmission of the upgrade information requires a very large communication line capacity, which is necessary for the manufacturing apparatus 30 in another process. It is possible that the capacity of the communication line cannot be ensured, and communication necessary for the process may be interrupted. Therefore, as described above, when a certain percentage of manufacturing devices 30 or a certain number of manufacturing devices 30 are in process, it is determined that the upgrade information is not transmitted, thereby avoiding such a situation. Can be. It should be noted that it is preferable to set an appropriate value for the certain number or certain ratio in consideration of the capacity of the communication line, the communication capacity necessary for the manufacturing apparatus 30 in the process, and the like.

  Further, the server device 20 in the group management system according to the present embodiment may only receive the upgrade information and transmit the upgrade information to the manufacturing device 30 according to the determination result of whether or not to transmit the upgrade information. Good. Therefore, other processing in the group management system, for example, processing in response to a request from the client device 10 and processing results transmitted to the client device 10, and various measurement information transmitted from the manufacturing device 30 May be provided in addition to the server device 20.

  Further, in the present embodiment, it has been described that the folder determination unit 27 determines the presence of the predetermined folder, and the instruction information is transmitted when the predetermined folder does not exist. The instruction information may be transmitted without performing the above. In this case, the server device 20 may not include the folder determination unit 27. In the manufacturing apparatus 30 that has received the instruction information, if the predetermined folder already exists, an error occurs in the instruction information. If the predetermined folder does not exist, the predetermined folder is created.

  Further, although the case where the instruction information is transmitted has been described in the present embodiment, it is not necessary to specify a folder in which the upgrade information is stored, or it is certain that the manufacturing apparatus 30 has a predetermined folder in advance. In such a case, the instruction information may not be transmitted from the server device 20. In that case, the server device 20 may not include the folder determination unit 27 and the instruction information storage unit 28.

(Embodiment 2)
A group management system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the group management system according to the present embodiment, the status information is updated during the transmission of the upgrade information, and when it is determined that the transmission of the upgrade information is to be stopped, the transmission of the upgrade information is stopped. .

  The configuration of the group management system according to the present embodiment and the configurations of the client device 10, the server device 20, and the N manufacturing devices 30 that configure the group management system are the same as those in FIGS. 1 to 5 of the first embodiment. Therefore, the description thereof is omitted. Also, the operation of each device is the same as the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 to 10 in the first embodiment except for the operation related to the transmission of the upgrade information, and the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing details of the upgrade information transmission processing in the present embodiment. That is, FIG. 18 is a diagram showing details of the process in step S305 in the flowchart of FIG.

  (Step S <b> 601) The transmission unit 29 of the server apparatus 20 transmits the upgrade information to the transmission destination manufacturing apparatus 30. For example, the processing in this step may be transmission of one or several packets related to the upgrade information.

  (Step S602) The transmission unit 29 determines whether all the upgrade information has been transmitted. If all the data has been transmitted, there is no more data to be transmitted, and therefore the process returns to the flowchart of FIG. 8. If the upgrade information to be transmitted still remains, the process proceeds to step S603.

  (Step S603) The status information receiving unit 24 determines whether status information has been received. If the status information is received, the process proceeds to step S604, and if not, the process returns to step S601.

  (Step S604) The state information update unit 25 updates the state information stored in the state information storage unit 23 according to the state information received by the state information reception unit 24. In addition, when the status information of the manufacturing apparatus 30 that is not stored in the status information storage unit 23 is received, the status information update unit 25 newly accumulates the status information in the status information storage unit 23. .

  (Step S605) The transmission determining unit 26 determines whether the transmission of the upgrade information can be continued or must be stopped. If the transmission of the upgrade information can be continued, the process returns to step S601. If the transmission of the upgrade information has to be stopped, the transmission unit 29 stops the transmission of the upgrade information. Returning to the flowchart of FIG.

  Here, the determination in step S605 will be described. When the transmission unit 29 is transmitting the upgrade information, the transmission determination unit 26 detects that the manufacturing apparatus 30 that is the transmission destination of the upgrade information is in process by the status information. It may be determined that transmission of the up information is stopped. Then, the transmission unit 29 may cancel the transmission of the upgrade information when the transmission determination unit 26 determines that the transmission of the upgrade information is to be stopped during the transmission of the upgrade information. For example, information indicating whether or not to stop transmission of the upgrade information may be held in a recording medium (not shown) included in the transmission determination unit 26.

  In addition, when the transmission unit 29 is transmitting the upgrade information, the transmission determination unit 26 is in process of a certain percentage of manufacturing devices 30 or a certain number of manufacturing devices 30 depending on the status information. If this is detected, it may be determined that transmission of the upgrade information is to be stopped. The transmission unit 29 may cancel the transmission of the upgrade information when the transmission determination unit 26 determines that the transmission of the upgrade information is to be stopped during the transmission of the upgrade information. Information indicating a condition for whether or not to stop transmission of the upgrade information may be held in a recording medium (not shown) included in the transmission determination unit 26, for example. It should be noted that it is preferable to set an appropriate value for the certain number or certain ratio in consideration of the capacity of the communication line, the communication capacity necessary for the manufacturing apparatus 30 in the process, and the like. The certain number may be one or more numbers.

  A specific example of the operation shown in FIG. 18 will be briefly described. First, an operation of canceling transmission of upgrade information when the transmission destination manufacturing apparatus 30 is in process during transmission of upgrade information will be described.

  The state information is as shown in FIG. 13, and it is assumed that transmission of the upgrade information “upgrade_v021.exe” is started from the server device 20 to the manufacturing device 30 identified by the device identification information “D001” (step S601). Then, when a certain amount of data is transmitted among the upgrade information, the state information is transmitted from the manufacturing apparatus 30 and received by the state information receiving unit 24 (steps S602 and S603), and the state information updating unit 25 is received. , State information is updated (step S604). Assume that the updated state information is as shown in FIG. Then, the transmission determination unit 26 determines that the transmission of the upgrade information is stopped because the manufacturing apparatus 30 identified by the device identification information “D001” is in process, and the transmission of the upgrade information by the transmission unit 29 is stopped. (Step S605).

  After that, when it is determined that the transmission process is to be performed again (step S206), the transmission is performed again as long as the transmission conditions are satisfied, as in the first embodiment. It is. In the case of the transmission of the upgrade information again, for example, all of the upgrade information may be transmitted, or only the portion that has not been transmitted is transmitted without transmitting the already transmitted portion. May be.

  Next, when a certain percentage or more of the manufacturing apparatuses 30 connected to the communication line of the group management system or a certain number of or more manufacturing apparatuses 30 are in process during the transmission of the upgrade information, the version The operation for canceling the transmission of the up information will be described. Here, when 30% or more of the manufacturing apparatuses 30 are in the process, it is determined that transmission of the upgrade information is to be stopped.

  Similarly to the above description, the status information is as shown in FIG. 13, and transmission of the upgrade information “upgrade_v021.exe” is started from the server device 20 to the manufacturing device 30 identified by the device identification information “D001”. (Step S601). Then, when a certain amount of data is transmitted among the upgrade information, the state information is transmitted from the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses 30 and received by the state information receiving unit 24 (steps S602 and S603), and the state information updating unit It is assumed that the state information is updated by 25 (step S604). When it is detected that 30% or more of the manufacturing apparatuses 30 are in process by the update of the status information, the transmission determination unit 26 determines that transmission of the upgrade information is to be stopped, and the transmission unit 29 upgrades the version. The transmission of information is stopped (step S605).

  After that, when it is determined that the transmission process is to be performed again (step S206), the transmission is performed again as long as the transmission conditions are satisfied, as in the first embodiment. It is. In the case of the transmission of the upgrade information again, for example, all of the upgrade information may be transmitted, or only the portion that has not been transmitted is transmitted without transmitting the already transmitted portion. May be.

  As described above, according to the group management system according to the present embodiment, when the upgrade apparatus is being transmitted, the manufacturing apparatus 30 that is the transmission destination is in the process, or the manufacturing apparatus 30 or a certain number of a certain ratio or more. When the above manufacturing apparatus 30 is in process, by stopping the transmission of the upgrade information, processing related to the process of the manufacturing apparatus 30 can be performed with priority over the transmission of the upgrade information. By transmitting the upgrade information, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the process in the manufacturing apparatus 30 is hindered.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the case where the upgrade information is transmitted from the server device 20 to the manufacturing device 30 has been described for each device, but this need not be the case. For example, the upgrade information may be transmitted collectively to the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses 30. For example, when communication using IP (Internet Protocol) is performed on the communication line of the group management system, the upgrade information may be transmitted by broadcast communication or multicast communication.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the case where the transmission determination unit 26 determines whether to transmit the upgrade information for each manufacturing apparatus 30 has been described. However, the transmission determination unit 26 includes a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses 30. Judgment may be made collectively. For example, the transmission determination unit 26 may collectively determine a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses 30 that have the same state indicated by the state information.

  In each of the above embodiments, each processing or each function may be realized by centralized processing by a single device or a single system, or distributed processing by a plurality of devices or a plurality of systems. May be realized.

  In each of the above embodiments, each component may be configured by dedicated hardware, or a component that can be realized by software may be realized by executing a program. For example, each component can be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory. The software that realizes the server device in each of the above embodiments is a program as described below. That is, this program is a server that constitutes a group management system that includes one or more manufacturing apparatuses that perform a predetermined semiconductor process on a substrate to be processed and a server apparatus connected to the one or more manufacturing apparatuses. A program for executing processing in the apparatus, stored in a status information storage unit, and a version information receiving step for receiving version upgrade information which is information for upgrading the execution software program for controlling the manufacturing apparatus Information regarding the state of the manufacturing apparatus, and information indicating whether or not the manufacturing apparatus is in process indicates that the manufacturing apparatus is in process. It is determined that the upgrade information is not transmitted to a device, and the status information Therefore, when it is indicated that the manufacturing apparatus is not in process, a transmission determination step for determining that the upgrade information is transmitted to the manufacturing apparatus, and a transmission apparatus that is determined in the transmission determination step when the upgrade information is transmitted. And a transmitting step for transmitting the upgrade information.

  In the above program, the transmission step for transmitting information and the reception step for receiving information do not include at least processing performed only by hardware, for example, processing performed by a modem or an interface card in the transmission step. .

  Further, this program may be executed by being downloaded from a server or the like, and a program recorded on a predetermined recording medium (for example, an optical disk such as a CD-ROM, a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like) is read out. May be executed by

Further, the computer that executes this program may be singular or plural. That is, centralized processing may be performed, or distributed processing may be performed.
Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible, and it goes without saying that these are also included in the scope of the present invention.

  As described above, according to the server device or the like according to the present invention, it is possible to transmit appropriate version upgrade information from the server device to one or more manufacturing apparatuses, and to perform one or more manufacturings for performing a predetermined semiconductor process on the substrate to be processed. This is useful in a group management system having at least a device and a server device.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the group management system by Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the manufacturing apparatus by the embodiment The block diagram which shows the structure of the client apparatus by the embodiment The block diagram which shows the structure of the server apparatus by the embodiment The block diagram which shows the structure of the manufacturing apparatus by the embodiment A flowchart showing the operation of the client device according to the embodiment The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the server apparatus by the embodiment The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the server apparatus by the embodiment The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the server apparatus by the embodiment The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the manufacturing apparatus by the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the status information memorize | stored in the server apparatus in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the status information transmitted from the manufacturing apparatus in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the status information memorize | stored in the server apparatus in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of a response | compatibility with the upgrade information and apparatus identification information which are memorize | stored in the server apparatus in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of a response | compatibility with the apparatus identification information and IP address which are memorize | stored in the server apparatus in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of a response | compatibility with the upgrade information and apparatus identification information which are memorize | stored in the server apparatus in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the display in the manufacturing apparatus in the embodiment The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the server in Embodiment 2 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Client apparatus 11, 21 Upgrade information reception part 12, 29 Transmission part 20 Server apparatus 22 Upgrade information storage part 23 Status information storage part 24 State information reception part 25 State information update part 26 Transmission judgment part 27 Folder judgment part 28 Instruction Information storage unit 30 Manufacturing device 31 Status information configuration unit 32 Communication unit 33 Storage unit 34 Storage unit 35 Reception unit 36 Installation unit 37 Program execution unit

Claims (16)

A server device constituting a group management system including one or more manufacturing apparatuses that perform a predetermined semiconductor process on a substrate to be processed and a server device connected to the one or more manufacturing apparatuses,
An upgrade information receiving unit that receives upgrade information that is information for upgrading an execution software program for controlling the manufacturing apparatus;
A state information storage unit for storing state information that is information related to the state of the manufacturing apparatus and that includes information about whether the manufacturing apparatus is in process;
When the status information indicates that the manufacturing apparatus is in process, it is determined that the upgrade information is not transmitted to the manufacturing apparatus, and the status information indicates that the manufacturing apparatus is not in process A transmission determination unit that determines to transmit the upgrade information to the manufacturing apparatus;
A server apparatus comprising: a transmission unit that transmits the upgrade information to a manufacturing apparatus that is determined by the transmission determination unit to transmit the upgrade information. The server apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the execution software program is a system program of the manufacturing apparatus. The transmission determination unit determines that the upgrade information is not transmitted when a certain percentage or more of the manufacturing apparatuses or a certain number or more of the manufacturing apparatuses are in process, and when not, the upgrade The server device according to claim 1, wherein the server device determines to transmit information. The state information includes information regarding whether or not the manufacturing apparatus is in a state capable of communicating with the server apparatus.
4. The transmission determination unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the transmission determination unit determines that the upgrade information is not transmitted for a manufacturing apparatus indicated by the state information indicating that the state is not communicable with the server device. Server device. The state information includes information on the version of the software program used in the manufacturing apparatus,
The status information indicates that the transmission determination unit uses a software program of the same version as or later than the version of the software program after being upgraded by the upgrade information received by the upgrade information receiving unit. The server apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the server apparatus determines that the upgrade information is not transmitted for the manufacturing apparatus indicated by. If the transmission determining unit determines not to transmit the upgrade information for one manufacturing apparatus, whether the transmission information is transmitted to the manufacturing apparatus again for the one manufacturing apparatus after the determination. The server device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein determination is made using the state information. An instruction information storage unit that stores instruction information that is information indicating an instruction to create a predetermined folder;
The server device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit also transmits the instruction information. The manufacturing apparatus that transmits the upgrade information further includes a folder determination unit that determines whether the predetermined folder exists,
The server device according to claim 7, wherein the transmission unit transmits the instruction information when the folder determination unit determines that the predetermined folder does not exist in the manufacturing apparatus. A status information receiving unit that receives status information of the manufacturing apparatus;
The state information update part which updates the state information memorize | stored in the said state information storage part according to the state information which the said state information reception part received, The any one of Claim 1-8 The server apparatus of description. When the transmission unit is transmitting the upgrade information, the transmission determination unit detects that the manufacturing apparatus that is the transmission destination of the upgrade information is in process by the status information. Determined to stop sending upgrade information,
The server device according to claim 9, wherein the transmission unit stops transmission of the upgrade information when the transmission determination unit determines that transmission of the upgrade information is to be stopped during transmission of the upgrade information. . When the transmission unit is transmitting the upgrade information, the transmission determination unit is in process of a certain percentage or more of the manufacturing apparatuses or a certain number or more of the manufacturing apparatuses according to the state information. If it is detected, it is determined that the transmission of the upgrade information will be stopped,
The server device according to claim 9, wherein the transmission unit stops transmission of the upgrade information when the transmission determination unit determines that transmission of the upgrade information is to be stopped during transmission of the upgrade information. . A server device according to any one of claims 1 to 11,
A group management system comprising: one or more manufacturing apparatuses that receive upgrade information transmitted from the server apparatus and upgrade an execution software program for controlling the manufacturing apparatus using the upgrade information. A client device that transmits upgrade information to the server device;
The group management system according to claim 12, wherein the upgrade information reception unit receives upgrade information transmitted from the client device. 12. A manufacturing apparatus that receives upgrade information transmitted from the server apparatus according to claim 1, and upgrades an execution software program for controlling the manufacturing apparatus using the upgrade information. An information processing method used in a server device constituting a group management system including one or more manufacturing apparatuses that perform a predetermined semiconductor process on a substrate to be processed and a server apparatus connected to the one or more manufacturing apparatuses. ,
An upgrade information receiving step for receiving upgrade information, which is information for upgrading an execution software program for controlling the manufacturing apparatus;
It is information regarding the state of the manufacturing apparatus, which is stored in the state information storage unit, and the manufacturing apparatus is in process by state information which is information including information regarding whether the manufacturing apparatus is in process. If it is determined that the upgrade information is not transmitted to the manufacturing apparatus, and the status information indicates that the manufacturing apparatus is not in process, the upgrade information is determined to be transmitted to the manufacturing apparatus. A transmission determination step,
An information processing method comprising: a transmission step of transmitting the upgrade information to the manufacturing apparatus determined in the transmission determination step when the upgrade information is transmitted. On the computer,
A process for executing processing in a server device constituting a group management system including one or more manufacturing apparatuses that perform a predetermined semiconductor process on a substrate to be processed and a server apparatus connected to the one or more manufacturing apparatuses. There is a program,
An upgrade information receiving step for receiving upgrade information, which is information for upgrading an execution software program for controlling the manufacturing apparatus;
It is information regarding the state of the manufacturing apparatus, which is stored in the state information storage unit, and the manufacturing apparatus is in process by state information which is information including information regarding whether the manufacturing apparatus is in process. If it is determined that the upgrade information is not transmitted to the manufacturing apparatus, and the status information indicates that the manufacturing apparatus is not in process, the upgrade information is determined to be transmitted to the manufacturing apparatus. A transmission determination step,
A program for causing the manufacturing apparatus determined in the transmission determination step to transmit the upgrade information, to transmit the upgrade information.

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