FABLE: Knowledge for Semiconductor Manufacturing,

The key goal of the FABLE project is the programmable factory, an integrated system of manufacturing equipment, sensors, and computer hardware and software. Just as a programmer can rapidly modify and debug a complex computer program, so a process engineer should be able to modify and debug the complex processes is being developed. The second key goal fo the FABLE project is the virtual factory, a factory that can be run in simulation. Just as VLSI circuits are simulated before they are cast in silicon, so VLSI manufacturing processes should be simulated before they are run in the factory. A powerful computer-based simulation system that will permit us to simulate semiconductor manufacturing processes in their entirety, using knowledge about equipment, processes, materials, devices, and circuits to predict critical measurements of manufacturing performance such as yield, electrical performance, throughput, and equipment utilization.