Semiconductor Factory and Equipment Time Synchronization

Published

February 25, 2004

Author(s)

Ya-Shian Li-Baboud, Brad Van Eck

Abstract

With the advent of e-manufacturing including automated process control (APC), such as fault detection classification (FDC), more stringent accuracy requirements for time stamps are required to perform analysis intended for process and business critical decisions. Data collection drives many of the e-Manufacturing capabilities. The data must be 'time stamped' in order to be useful to the applications for which it is intended. If the time stamped data is to contain accurate time stamps the clocks used must be accurately synchronized. In order to accommodate future needs, the semiconductor industry must understand the present time synchronization architectures, future areas of application benefiting from timestamps and their respective accuracy requirements, as well as the various network protocols for synchronizing clocks in distributed systems. The current information has been gathered through informal interviews with chip manufacturers and SEMATECH. The project has also been exploring potential solutions including Network Time Protocol (NTP), IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol, and SynUTC. A report on time synchronization for distributed environments, which includes a survey of applicable network protocols used for clock synchronization and accurate time stamping, is also being drafted. The industry will most likely prefer a non-proprietary solution this report will focus primarily on NTP and IEEE 1588.

Citation

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR) - 7088

Report Number

7088

NIST Pub Series

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Keywords

advanced process control, e-Manufacturing, fault detection classification, IEEE 1588, Time Synchronization

Citation

Li-Baboud, Y. and Van Eck, B. (2004), Semiconductor Factory and Equipment Time Synchronization, NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD (Accessed April 24, 2024)