Method and system for controlling a manufacturing process

1. A method for controlling a manufacturing process of a printed circuit board, the method comprising:

calculating at least one layer misalignment between layers of the printed circuit board that are expected to be mutually aligned; wherein the layers are manufactured by at least a direct imaging device that exposes a photo-resistive material to radiation to provide a pattern; wherein the calculating is responsive to at least one image acquired by an automatic optical inspection tool;

selecting, if the at least one layer misalignment does not exceed the at least one allowable misalignment threshold, a first selected response that comprises manufacturing at least one additional layer of the printed circuit board; and

selecting a second selected response out of a plurality of responses, if the at least one layer misalignment exceeds the at least one allowable misalignment threshold;

wherein the selecting of the second selected response is responsive to a cost of an execution of response of each of the plurality of responses.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the cost of each response of the plurality of responses represents a probability of introducing errors, due to the execution of the response, in a manufacturing process used for manufacturing the at least one additional layer of the printed circuit board.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the cost of each response of the plurality of responses represents a time required for the execution of the response.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the cost of each response of the plurality of responses represents a monetary cost associated with the execution of the response.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of responses comprise: stopping the manufacturing process of the printed circuit board, and removing a non-developed photo-resistive pattern of a layer of the printed circuit board and generating an amended photo-resistive pattern.

6. The method according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of responses comprise: stopping the manufacturing process of the printed circuit board, and replacing a layer that was expected to belong to a first printed circuit board by a layer that was expected to belong to another printed circuit board.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of responses comprise: stopping the manufacturing process of the printed circuit board, repeating a manufacturing process stage of a certain layer of the printed circuit board; and replacing a previously manufactured certain layer by a currently manufactured certain layer that is manufactured during the repetition of the manufacturing process stage.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of responses comprise: stopping the manufacturing process of the printed circuit board, amending the manufacturing process of additional layers of the printed circuit board; repeating a manufacturing process stage of a certain layer of the printed circuit board and replacing a previously manufactured certain layer by a currently manufactured certain layer that is manufactured during the repetition of the manufacturing process stage; replacing a layer that was expected to belong to a first electronic circuit by a layer that was expected to belong to another electronic circuit; and removing a non-developed photo-resistive pattern of a layer of the printed circuit board and generating an amended photo-resistive pattern.

9. The method according to claim 1 :

wherein the calculating of the at least one layer misalignment between layers of the printed circuit board comprises

calculating layer misalignments between a current layer of the printed circuit board and other layers; and

replacing a certain layer that was expected to (a) belong to the printed circuit board and (b) be aligned with the current layer, with a corresponding layer that was expected to belong to another printed circuit board in order to reduce misalignment with the current layer;

wherein the certain layer and the corresponding layer belong to the other layers.

10. The method according to claim 1 wherein the automatic optical inspection tool differs from the direct imaging device.

11. A system for controlling a manufacturing process of a printed circuit board, the system comprises a memory unit and a processor;

the memory unit is adapted to store image information of layers of the printed circuit board; wherein the image information is acquired by an automatic optical inspection tool;

the processor is adapted to:

calculate at least one layer misalignment between layers of the printed circuit board that are expected to be mutually aligned; wherein the layers are manufactured by at least a direct imaging device that exposes a photo-resistive material to radiation to provide a pattern; wherein the calculating is responsive to at least one image acquired by an automatic optical inspection tool;

select, if the at least one layer misalignment does not exceed the at least one allowable misalignment threshold, a first selected response that comprises manufacturing at least one additional layer of the printed circuit board; and

select a second selected response out of a plurality of responses, if the at least one layer misalignment exceeds the at least one allowable misalignment threshold;

wherein the selecting of the second selected response is responsive to a cost of an execution of response of each of the plurality of responses.

12. The system according to claim 11 wherein the cost of each response of the plurality of responses represents a monetary cost associated with the execution of the response.

13. The system according to claim 11 wherein the cost of each response of the plurality of responses represents a time required for the execution of the response.

14. The system according to claim 11 wherein the cost of each response of the plurality of responses represents a monetary cost associated with the execution of the response.

15. The system according to claim 11 wherein the plurality of responses comprise stopping the manufacturing process of the printed circuit board, and removing a non-developed photo-resistive pattern of a layer of the printed circuit board and generating an amended photo-resistive pattern.

16. The system according to claim 11 wherein the plurality of responses comprise

stopping the manufacturing process of the printed circuit board, and

replacing a layer that was expected to belong to the printed circuit board by a layer that was expected to belong to another printed circuit board.

17. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the automatic optical inspection tool differs from the direct imaging device.

18. The system according to claim 11

wherein the processor is adapted to:

calculate layer misalignments between a current layer of the printed circuit board and other layers; and

instruct to replace a certain layer that was expected to (a) belong to the printed circuit board and (b) be aligned with the current layer, with a corresponding layer that was expected to belong to another printed circuit board in order to reduce misalignment with the current layer; wherein the certain layer and the corresponding layer belong to the other layers.