JP2002009779A - Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus with ip address of controller automatically assigned thereto - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus where an IP address of a device controller is automatically assigned without the need for the device controller for a processing chamber to set again the IP address and the IP address uniquely decides a connected position of the processing chamber. SOLUTION: The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of this invention is provided with a connection point at which the processing chamber is connected to a main body section, the connected position is provided with an IP address storage connector to which the IP address assigned to the device controller corresponding to the processing chamber is set in a form acquired externally, and the corresponding device controller has an IP address acquisition connector that acquires an IP address from the IP address storage connector in matching with the IP address storage connector at the connected position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in which an IP address of a controller connected via a network, particularly, an IP address of a controller of a multi-chamber system is automatically set in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is combined with a variety of processing chambers for performing each step of manufacturing a semiconductor device, and between processing chambers, and
A transfer mechanism is provided for transferring wafers between a cassette accommodating a large number of wafers and the processing chamber.
An apparatus controller is provided in each of the plurality of processing chambers and the transfer mechanism so as to realize a desired operation according to an order specification of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and a use purpose of a user.

As described above, in a multi-chamber semiconductor manufacturing apparatus including a plurality of processing chambers and a transfer mechanism, a multi-device controller or a multi-CPU
In order to safely, reliably and efficiently perform complicated and complicated work, it is desired to control each device controller in an integrated manner. Therefore, a tightly-coupled control system of a type in which each device controller is connected to a bus to perform centralized control has been developed. However, when each device controller is connected to a bus, it is difficult to perform maintenance and inspection of the device controller individually, to operate the device controller and the corresponding processing chamber alone, or to freely attach and detach the processing chamber. become.

Next, in order to perform independent maintenance and independent control of the processing chamber in order to reduce the downtime of the system, each device controller is connected to a loosely coupled type via a network such as Ethernet (registered trademark). A control system was developed. In particular, the loosely-coupled control system is provided with a device controller as a higher-level controller for the device controller in order to control the entire semiconductor device as a whole. In the case of such a loosely-coupled control system, communication is performed between the controllers according to a communication protocol according to a network used, and a program and parameters for operating the processing chamber or the transport mechanism, control information, and the like are provided. Communicated over a network.

In order to perform communication between controllers via a network such as Ethernet,
It is necessary to determine information representing the address of the controller in the network, that is, an IP (Internet Protocol) address for each controller.

In the case of a multi-chamber type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, without a control system, an equipment controller for managing the entire system, an apparatus controller for controlling a transfer system (for a transfer system), and a processing chamber are provided. Device controller exists. In particular, there are various combinations of processing chambers according to the specifications of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and even when the processing chamber is operating at the site, it is replaced for specification change, maintenance / adjustment work, and the like. for that reason,
It is difficult to determine in advance the IP address of the device controller, especially the device controller for the processing chamber.
Therefore, when the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is installed, the IP address is determined. Further, information on where the processing chamber of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is attached to the transfer system is essential information for the device controller to control the entire system.

[0007] In the conventional device controller, by physically setting with a DIP switch or the like, or by using a storage medium such as a memory,
The IP address was set (assigned). for that reason,
Not only does it take time to set the IP address, but there is a possibility that a setting error may occur. Further, in a device controller which is a communication partner of the device controller and controls the entire system, the I / O assigned to each device controller is
The P address is determined in advance and stored in a memory or the like. The relationship between the predetermined IP address of the processing chamber device controller and the physical installation location of the processing chamber is set in the device controller in accordance with the on-site arrangement.

[0008] Alternatively, in the prior art, as a method of automatically assigning an IP address, DHCP (Dynamic Hosting) is used.
t Configuration Protocol) is known. DHCP
Is, for example, Nikkei BP, Nikkei BP Digital Dictionary 19
As described in the 99-2000 edition,
This is a client / server type protocol for automatically setting parameters. Each client is dynamically assigned an IP address at the time of startup, notifies network parameters such as a default route, and collects the assigned IP address at the end. Thereby, even if the computer moves from one subnet to another, communication can be performed without being aware of the setting of the IP address.

[0009]

However, in the conventional method of setting an IP address on a storage medium, in order to associate a connection position of a processing chamber with the IP address, the IP address is reset every time the system configuration is changed. Must be set.

[0010] In the automatic assignment of the IP address by DHCP, the connection position cannot be specified.

Therefore, in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a method in which the type of the processing chamber and the connection position are changed on the device controller side for the processing chamber.
An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in which an IP address of an apparatus controller is automatically assigned without resetting a P address, and a connection position of a processing chamber is uniquely determined by the IP address.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention includes at least one detachable processing chamber for executing a semiconductor manufacturing process, and processing in the processing chamber. A transport system for loading / unloading an object, a processing chamber controller for controlling the processing chamber, a transport system controller for controlling the transport system, a device controller for integrating the device controller, and the device controller and the device A control system having a network to which a controller is connected, and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus provided with at least one connection position for connecting the processing chamber to the main body, wherein the connection position is connected to Processing chamber equipment controller corresponding to the processing chamber IP address holding means for setting an IP address to be assigned to the printer in a form that can be obtained from outside is provided, and the corresponding processing chamber apparatus controller is adapted to the IP address holding means at the connection position. An IP address acquiring unit for acquiring the IP address from the IP address holding unit is provided.

As described above, according to the present invention, the apparatus controller for the processing chamber is not only connected to the equipment controller via the network, but also the IP address holding means provided at the connection position where the processing chamber is connected. And an IP address acquisition unit that conforms to here,
"Compatible" refers to concepts such as electrical connection, mechanical contact, visual coupling, proximity coupling, and the like.
Since the IP address holding means has a state indicating an IP address predetermined for each connection position, the processing chamber apparatus controller can acquire the corresponding IP address by taking out this state.

The IP address is determined by uniquely determining the IP address for each connection position, and the device controller can know the connection position of the own device based on the acquired IP address.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the IP address holding means has a set of signal lines set in a state of an electric signal representing the IP address, and the IP address obtaining means has the IP address obtaining means. It includes a unit connected to the pair of signal lines of the address holding unit, for acquiring a state of the electric signal from the pair of signal lines, and a unit for converting the acquired state of the electric signal into an IP address.

According to the present invention, the apparatus controller for the processing chamber is connected not only to the equipment controller via the network but also to a set of signal lines provided at the connection position where the processing chamber is connected. . Since this set of signal lines has a signal state indicating a predetermined IP address for each connection position, the processing chamber apparatus controller obtains an IP address from this set of signal lines and determines the connection position from the IP address. You can know.

Thus, in the IP address holding means, when the IP address is represented by the state of the electric signal,
It is advantageous that a unique IP address can be easily determined for each connection position only by changing the state of the electric signal for each connection position.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the IP address holding means has a first connector for accommodating the set of signal lines, and the IP address acquisition means has the first connector and the first connector. A second connector adapted to accommodate the means for obtaining the state of the electrical signal.

As described above, the IP address holding means and the IP address
Advantageously, by providing mutually compatible connectors in the address acquisition means, the device controller can be automatically assigned an IP address simply by connecting the connectors.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a view showing a mechanism of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. A multi-chambered semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, particularly a cluster tool apparatus 2, will be described with reference to FIG. Cluster tool device 2
A processing system 4 for performing various processes such as a film forming process, a diffusion process, and an etching process on a semiconductor wafer W as a transferred object; and a transport system 6 for loading and unloading a wafer from and to the processing system 4. It consists of.

The processing system 4 comprises a transfer chamber 8 capable of being evacuated, and four processing chambers 12A to 12D connected via gate valves 10A to 10D.
In each of the chambers 12A to 12D, the same or different heat treatment is performed on the wafer W. In each of the chambers 12A to 12D, susceptors 14A to 14D for mounting a wafer W are provided, respectively. Also,
A transfer arm 16 is provided in the transfer chamber 8 so as to be able to bend and extend and rotate freely, and transfers a wafer between each of the chambers 12A to 12D and between load lock chambers to be described later.

On the other hand, the transfer system 6 includes a cassette stage 18 for mounting a cassette container and a transfer stage 22 for moving a transfer arm 20 for transferring and transferring the wafer W. The cassette stage 18 is provided with a container mounting table 24, on which a plurality of, in the illustrated example, up to four cassette containers 26A to 26D can be mounted. Each cassette container 26A-26D
At the maximum, for example, 25 wafers W can be placed and accommodated at an equal pitch.

The transfer stage 22 is provided with a guide rail 28 extending centrally along the length direction, and the transfer arm 20 is slidably supported on the guide rail 28. For example, a ball screw 30 is provided in parallel with the guide rail 28 as a moving mechanism.
The base 34 of the transfer arm 20 is attached to the ball screw 30.
Is fitted. Therefore, by driving the drive motor 32 provided at the end of the ball screw to rotate, the transfer arm unit 20 moves along the guide rail 28.

At the other end of the transfer stage 22, an orienter 36 is provided as a direction positioning device for positioning the wafer. For this purpose, two load lock chambers 38A and 38B are provided which can be evacuated. In each of the load lock chambers 38A, 38B, there is provided a transfer object mounting table 40A, 40B on which a wafer W is mounted, and before and after each of the load lock chambers 38A, 38B, communication with the transfer chamber 8 or the transfer stage 22 is performed. Gate valves 42A, 42B and 44A, 44B are provided.

The transfer arm section 20 includes an articulated transfer arm main body 46 that can be bent and extended, and an arm main body 46.
And the fork 48 attached to the tip of the fork 48, on which the wafer W is directly held.

The orienter 36 has a rotation reference table 60 which is rotated by a drive motor, and rotates with the wafer W placed thereon. An optical sensor 6 for detecting the peripheral portion of the wafer W is provided on the outer circumference of the rotation reference table 60.
2 are provided. Also, on the entrance side of the oriental 36,
A level detector including a laser element 68 for outputting a horizontal level detection laser beam 66 and a light receiving element 70 for receiving the laser beam 66 is provided.

The cluster tool device 2 is a device controller (not shown) for controlling the operation of the transfer system.
The position information of each axis and the information obtained by each detection unit are collected to control the transfer of the wafer W.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the control system of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The control system includes an apparatus controller 121 that controls the transport system 6, an apparatus controller 122 that controls a first processing chamber that performs one semiconductor manufacturing process such as a film forming process, and a second controller that performs a process such as a diffusion process. It has an apparatus controller 123 for controlling the processing chamber and an apparatus controller corresponding to the processing chamber in the same manner. The control system further includes an equipment controller 110 that integrally manages information on the entire semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. The equipment controller 110 is connected to, for example, a host computer (not shown) of a factory where the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is installed. You may connect.

The equipment controller 110 and the equipment controllers 121, 122 and 123 are connected to a network, typically a LAN type network 13 such as Ethernet.
2 are connected to each other. Network 132
For example, it can be configured in a star shape. FIG. 2 shows a star network 132. At this time, the control system has a hub 130 as a concentrator, and the equipment controller 110 and the equipment controller 12
1, 122 and 123 are connected by a hub 130.

The program executed by each device controller and related parameters are downloaded from the device controller 110 to each of the device controllers 121, 122 and 123 via the network 132, for example. Also, the measurement data during the processing is transmitted from each of the device controllers 121, 122 and 123 to the device controller 1.
Uploaded to 10.

In order to transfer information between controllers via a network as described above, the I / O
Need to know P address. In a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, generally, the equipment controller 110 and the equipment controller 121 for a transport system are fixedly used.
It is preferable to fix the address. On the other hand, when the processing chamber is connected to the main body of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, the device controller 122 or 123 for the processing chamber, which is likely to change the connection position, automatically sets an IP address uniquely determined according to the connection position. It is preferable that the processing chamber controller be allocated so that the processing chamber controller itself can recognize the connection position of the processing chamber.

Therefore, the control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention provides a connector 14 including a signal line in which a signal indicating an IP address is set in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus main body 140.
1, 142 and 143 are provided. The device controller 122 for the first processing chamber 12A and the device controller 123 for the second processing chamber 12B connected to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus are connected to the connector 142 of the main body 140, respectively.
, And 143 are connected.

Main body side connectors 141, 142, 143
, A signal state indicating an IP address uniquely determined according to the connection position is set. Therefore, the device controller is supplied with a signal representing the IP address by connecting the connector to the main body side connector. For example, if the signal state is low, high, high, low
When represented by a single state, the device controller converts the low level to "0" and converts the high level to "1", thereby obtaining an IP address represented by 4 bits of 0110. . Of course, by increasing the number of signal lines, the space of the IP address that can be expressed can be increased.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an automatic IP address assignment unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The signal line of the main body side connector 160 is, for example,
By connecting to + 5V (high level) and ground (low level), the signal state is set. In the example shown, the signal states are high, low, low, low. By connecting the device controller side connector 170 to the main body portion side connector 160, the signal state is transmitted to the device controller side connector, and the IP address of 1, 0, 0, 0 is changed from the high, low, low, low signal state. Is obtained. The device controller side connector 170 is connected to the device controller 120, and the device controller 120 has another cable 133 connected to the network.

Further, in order to detect whether or not the connectors are securely connected, contact-type sensors may be provided at both ends of the connectors on the main body side and the device controller side.

In the above description of the embodiment, the IP address is represented by an electrical signal state, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, the IP address holding device of the main body has an uneven shape representing each bit of the IP address, and the IP address acquiring device on the device controller side detects the unevenness by contacting the IP address holding device. And a converter for converting the output of the tactile sensor into a bit sequence of 0 and 1, thereby realizing automatic assignment of the IP address.

Also, the automatic assignment of the IP address can be realized by pasting a barcode representing the IP address on the IP address holding device side and configuring the IP address acquisition device with a barcode reader.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but can be variously modified and applied within the scope of the claims.

[0040]

As described above, according to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, by connecting the processing chamber to the apparatus main body at a predetermined connection position, the IP address of the processing chamber apparatus controller is automatically assigned. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the work of setting the IP address on the device controller side and the setting mistake that may occur with this work. In addition, I
Since the P address has been determined, the device controller
The connection position of the processing chamber can be known from the automatically assigned IP address, and the automatically obtained IP address and connection position can be used in subsequent processing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a mechanism of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a control system of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an IP address automatic assignment unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

110 Equipment Controller 121 Transport System Equipment Controller 122, 123 Processing Chamber Equipment Controller 130 Hub 132 Network 140 Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment Main Unit 141, 142, 143 Main Unit Side IP Address Holding Connector 152, 153 Device Controller Side IP Address Acquisition connector

Claims (3)

[Claims] At least one detachable processing chamber for executing a semiconductor manufacturing process, a transfer system for taking a processing object into and out of the processing chamber, an apparatus controller for a processing chamber for controlling the processing chamber, and the transfer A transport system device controller for controlling a system, a device controller for integrating the device controller, and a control system having a network to which the device controller and the device controller are connected; and connecting the processing chamber to a main body. A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus provided with at least one connection position, wherein the connection position includes an IP assigned to a processing chamber apparatus controller corresponding to the connected processing chamber.
The address is set so that it can be obtained from outside
P address holding means is provided, and the corresponding processing chamber apparatus controller has an IP address obtaining means adapted to obtain the IP address from the IP address holding means in conformity with the IP address holding means at the connection position. A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the IP address holding unit is configured to execute
A set of signal lines set to a state of an electric signal representing an address, wherein the IP address acquiring means is connected to the set of signal lines of the IP address holding means, and the electric signal is set from the set of signal lines. Means for acquiring the state of the electric signal, and means for converting the acquired state of the electric signal into an IP address,
The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The IP address holding means has a first connector for accommodating the set of signal lines, and the IP address obtaining means is compatible with the first connector and obtains a state of the electric signal. 3. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a second connector accommodating means for performing the operation.