Rule-based scheduling of batch processing machine applied to semiconductor wafer fabrication system

To solve the scheduling problem of batch processing machine in the furnace district of semiconductor wafer fabrication system (SWFS), this paper proposed a scheduling algorithm which satisfies the process constraint and equipment limitations. Considering the dynamic arrival of lots and the SWFS's features of large scale and multiple re-entrant process, the algorithm may realize the real-time combinatory dispatching of multi-product and multi-machine by optimizing average waiting time of lots. The simulation based experiments were executed on a virtual SWFS fab simulation platform, and the result shows that the algorithm can significantly improve the fill rate and the utilization of the bottleneck, thus shorten the cycle time in real-time dispatching.