EDA interface value proposition
10/01/2008
EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW
Cycle-time improvements and time-waste reduction are being accomplished by improving equipment setup times and operations. Realizing even greater efficiency, however, requires the use of more sophisticated means of collecting data and controlling the equipment. The Equipment Data Acquisition (EDA) interface brings direct improvements to manufacturing activities and opens new doors to accelerate process research, development, and deployment by providing enhanced data collection capabilities.
One of the greatest challenges IC makers face is an increased demand for equipment productivity and manufacturing effectiveness. Constant utilization of manufacturing equipment over its life cycle reduces the cost-of-ownership (COO) while it increases overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). IC makers are paying more attention to equipment waste reduction. As such, users are focusing more energy and attention on reducing cycle time by minimizing equipment setup times, wafer delays, and lot sizes to maximize factory performance. Cycle-time improvements and time-waste reduction are also achieved by accelerating equipment process speed, reducing process setup times, and limiting maintenance downtime while maximizing factory output. Realizing this efficiency requires more sophisticated means of collecting data and controlling equipment.
The newly implemented and deployed EDA interface brings direct improvements to manufacturing activities by providing enhanced data collection capabilities. The EDA (Interface A) equipment data port started as a second communication port intended to collect data from equipment using web-based technology, with potential application for e-diagnostics via remote sessions [1]. The EDA interface allows access to equipment data from more than just a single location and by more than one user at a time. It also addresses the factory’s need for faster data collection rates, as depicted in Fig. 1. The user has the advantage of visually accessing and learning more about the equipment configuration via the metadata description capabilities and getting more data for analysis and process control via multiple data collection links [2]. Security is required, and for that, authorization and authentication mechanisms were designed into the interface from the beginning. In this manner, the interface is secured against data applications that may try to retrieve data without authorization [3].
 Figure 1. EDA interface multi-user capability. |
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Benefits of the EDA interface
The promises of the envisioned EDA interface have not only been fulfilled upon its first delivery to IC maker factories, but new scenarios and uses quickly ensued, bringing to the industry an increased benefit and value proposition. Virtual metrology application scenarios began to emerge; process engineers viewed the interface flexibility as a must for rapid process development and the introduction of new products onto the manufacturing floor. Users of EDA can program the interface and collect data as soon as they review the equipment node description or metadata that contains the events and associated data available for collection. This shortens the learning cycle and eliminates the time wasted waiting for those special skills to program the traditional SECS-II interface.
Many other factory uses for EDA are emerging within manufacturing applications, such as chamber-to-chamber matching, equipment configuration management, predictive/preventative maintenance, parts management, and accelerated equipment and process ramp-up. Today, there is no question whether the EDA interface will bring benefits to the factory, but rather, when will an IC maker have the opportunity to install and apply this new equipment capability in its factories. Some of EDA’s features are listed in the Table.
In addition to improvements in actual data collection capabilities, process data collection is set up on a case-by-case basis compared to control data collection, which is set up on a fab-wide basis.
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Equipment metadata and data collection plans
When it comes to improving cycle time or identifying problems in a particular process step, the user must create special data collection plans to troubleshoot equipment problems. The EDA interface addresses this by allowing the user to create multiple versions of data collection plans as the user refines collected data or data sources that caused the issue. EDA allows accessing defined equipment metadata from authorized computers or accounts, and allows the user (e.g., process engineers) to set up and activate individual data collection plans as needed [4]. The IT department is able to concentrate on enhancing factory-level equipment control rather than worrying that temporary data collection requests will disturb factory operations.
Equipment metadata definition is another feature that the EDA interface brings to users. In the past, most information that came through the SECS-II interface was available in only the equipment documentation. It was difficult to visualize its purpose because it came in the form of tables or appendix sections related to alarms, state models, collectable parameters, remote commands, etc. The EDA interface presents this information in a graphical form using the SEMI E120, Common Equipment Model standard that defines the equipment configuration as a composition of equipment components that include modules, subsystems, and I/O devices [5]. SEMI E125, Equipment Self Description, attaches state models, events, alarms, parameters, and other constructs. These in turn allow the user to better understand the equipment configuration and parameter data collection availability to each equipment node or component (i.e., modules, subsystems, I/O devices) of the equipment configuration model (Fig. 2).
 Figure 2. Equipment metadata representation in EDA. |
The use of SEMI E125 ensures that the information is not limited to outdated equipment manuals or that documentation usually kept in an engineer’s drawer will instead be stored in the equipment and accessed by using the defined SEMI E125 services [6]. Furthermore, the user is now allowed to make ad hoc queries by using services defined in SEMI E134, Data Collection Management [3,7]. Users, therefore, can ask for a specific chamber temperature setting and its current reading, or they can create a data collection plan that will allow this data to be collected when a specific event is triggered by the equipment or the application recipe.
Data security
The EDA interface provides security levels and allows the tool owner to decide who has access to the equipment data by using a simple security model of privilege and role. With this capability, the factory can set different levels of data access based on user roles. For example, maintenance personnel may be given access to the activation and creation of data collection plans so that they can troubleshoot problems with the hardware, as well as the actual process. Operators, however, will have fewer privileges since they need only activate data collections plans to monitor tool processing, but do not have the capability to create their own plans.
Special access can be given to some users via the privilege authorization model, which might allow some users to create and activate their own data collection plans, while others might be able to access all equipment-defined plans, allowing the user to activate them and create additional ones if needed [2].
Other applications
Many suppliers of factory applications have created applications that take advantage of EDA as a data source. Companies such as AIS, Bistel, CenterPoint, PDF Solutions, Starview, Wonderware, and others adopted the EDA interface as another data source for their applications. Each application brings to the industry a range of new capabilities for process control, feed-forward and -backward applications, fab-wide data collection for fault detection, and process history, to mention a few.
Virtual metrology usage scenarios for EDA were quickly developed and demonstrated in a manufacturing facility using one of these applications. Factory applications demonstrated how an engineer could start with several process parameters and, via statistical analysis, could predict the result of the quality of the product by collecting the most important parameters and allowing the user to skip metrology steps, reduce waste, and thereby reduce cycle time.
ISMI has published three documents to help suppliers and users through the adoption and development of EDA-capable equipment. The EDA Usage Scenarios highlight the EDA functional capabilities in the factory and show operational scenarios that include multiple users and equipment [8]. The EDA Evaluation Method provides steps to verify the equipment’s EDA interface implementation and capabilities through performance data collection and feature verification [9]. The EDA Metadata Guidance document helps users and suppliers through the steps of equipment modeling and data definition using examples and describing the key requirements and features of EDA [10].
ISMI’s commitment to EDA interface adoption has resulted in ISMI’s direct participation in SEMI standards activities, in particular in the DDA (Diagnostic Data Acquisition) Task Force, to help resolve any issues with the EDA interface standards suite. Between 2006 and 2007, ISMI evaluated several equipment EDA interface implementations to assess suppliers’ understanding of EDA requirements and to check EDA’s data collection performance. In 2007, ISMI and selected members piloted EDA factory-level applications to understand factory needs and verify suppliers’ implementations and conformance to the standards. Both functionality and performance were measured to determine the EDA factory-level capabilities, performance, and potential applications. The results of this work identified areas where suppliers needed improvement as well as areas where the standards needed clarification.
As part of the conformance and interoperatibility verification of EDA, ISMI worked with third-party software suppliers guiding the development of software tools to evaluate EDA interface implementations. Adventa, Asyst, Cimetrix, Open Integration, Satyam, and other third-party software suppliers provide EDA applications to develop, integrate, and test the EDA interface. Each of these solutions provides EDA interface implementation compliance verification.
 Figure 3. Equipment and factory-related applications. |
As more EDA interfaces are introduced into factories, more applications will be discovered and written. The EDA interface brings to the industry a higher value proposition than the one originally envisioned by its developers. EDA is a key enabler for the envisioned next-generation factory (NGF). Data collection is no longer a fixed baseline factory-level specification, but a new capability for engineers and factory personnel who need to improve equipment utilization and process results as well as increase manufacturing effectiveness, as shown in (Fig. 3).
References
- SEMI E128, “Specification for XM Message Structures,”http://wps2a.semi.org/wps/portal/_pagr/118/_pa.118/755.
- SEMI E147, “Guide for Equipment Data Acquisition (EDA)”http://wps2a.semi.org/wps/portal/_pagr/118/_pa.118/755.
- SEMI E132, “Specification for Equipment Client Authentication and Authorization,”http://wps2a.semi.org/wps/portal/_pagr/118/_pa.118/755.
- SEMI E134, “Specification for Data Collection Management (DCM)”http://wps2a.semi.org/wps/portal/_pagr/118/_pa.118/755.
- SEMI E120, “Specification for the Common Equipment Model (CEM),”http://wps2a.semi.org/wps/portal/_pagr/118/_pa.118/755.
- SEMI E125, “Specification for Equipment Self-Description (EqSD),”http://wps2a.semi.org/wps/portal/_pagr/118/_pa.118/755.
- SEMI E138, “XML Semiconductor Common Components,”http://wps2a.semi.org/wps/portal/_pagr/118/_pa.118/755.
- EDA Usage Scenarios, Rev. B, 04104579B-TR, ismi.sematech.org/docubase/abstracts/4579btr.htm.
- EDA Evaluation Methodology, V3.0, 05074664B-TR, ismi.sematech.org/docubase/abstracts/4664btr.htm.
- Equipment Data Acquisition (EDA) Metadata Guidance, 06034748B-ENG,ismi.sematech.org/docubase/abstracts/4748beng.htm.
Gino Crispieri received his bachelors in electrical engineering from the U. of Texas at Austin, and masters in computer science and business administration from Texas State U. and is a Member of the Technical Staff at the International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative, 2706 Montopolis Drive Austin, Texas 78741 USA; ph.: 512-356-7547/512-751-3550; email [email protected]
Harvey Wohlwend received his BS in mathematics from the U. of North Dakota and is the e-Manufacturing Manager at the International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative.