Method and apparatus for routing dispatching and routing reticles

1. A method, comprising:

generating a reticle transport job using a computing device, the reticle transport job identifying a selected reticle;

notifying a photolithography tool of the reticle transport job without identifying a reticle pod for transporting the selected reticle using the computing device;

autonomously identifying a reticle pod available for transporting the selected reticle using the computing device;

updating the reticle transport job with an identifier of the identified reticle pod using the computing device; and

notifying the photolithography tool of the updated reticle transport job after identifying the reticle pod using the computing device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

storing a state of the selected reticle in a data store; and

updating the reticle state using the computing device responsive to the identified reticle pod delivering the selected reticle to a photolithography tool.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying in the computing device a current wafer job to be processed by a photolithography tool using the selected reticle;

determining if the selected reticle is available on the photolithography tool; and

generating the reticle transport job responsive to the selected reticle not being available on the photolithography tool.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising generating a reservation for the wafer job on the tool responsive to generating the reticle transport job.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating a queue of wafer jobs to be processed by at least one photolithography tool;

determining reticle requirements for at least a subset of the wafer jobs;

determining if the selected reticle specified by the reticle requirements for a selected wafer job is available on the photolithography tool; and

generating the reticle transport job responsive to the selected reticle not being available on the photolithography tool.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising generating a reservation for the wafer job on the tool responsive to generating the reticle transport job.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sending the reticle transport job to a bare reticle stocker operable to store a plurality of reticles;

dispatching the identified reticle pod to the bare reticle stocker; and

updating the reticle transport job with the identifier of the reticle pod responsive to the bare reticle stocker loading the selected reticle in the reticle pod.

8. A system, comprising:

a photolithography tool;

a material handling system for transporting reticles and wafers to the tool;

a coordinator operable to generate a reticle transport job identifying a selected reticle required by the photolithography tool, notify the photolithography tool of the reticle transport job without identifying a reticle pod for transporting the reticle, identify a reticle pod available for transporting the selected reticle, update the reticle transport job with an identifier of the identified reticle pod, and notify the photolithography tool of the updated reticle transport job after identifying the reticle pod.

9. The system of claim 8 , further comprising a manufacturing execution system operable to store a state of the selected reticle in a data store and update the reticle state responsive to the material handling system delivering the identified reticle pod with the selected reticle to the photolithography tool.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the coordinator is further operable to identify a current wafer job to be processed by the photolithography tool using the selected reticle, determine if the selected reticle is available on the photolithography tool, and generate the reticle transport job responsive to the selected reticle not being available on the photolithography tool.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the coordinator is further operable to generate a reservation for the wafer job on the tool responsive to generating the reticle transport job.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the coordinator is further operable to evaluate a queue of wafer jobs to be processed, determine reticle requirements for at least a subset of the wafer jobs, determine if the selected reticle specified by the reticle requirements for a selected wafer job is available on the photolithography tool, and generate the reticle transport job responsive to the selected reticle not being available on the photolithography tool.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the coordinator is further operable to generate a reservation for the wafer job on the tool responsive to generating the reticle transport job.

14. The system of claim 8 , further comprising a bare reticle stocker operable to store a plurality of reticles, wherein the coordinator is further operable to send the reticle transport job to the bare reticle stocker, dispatch the identified reticle pod to the bare reticle stocker, and update the reticle transport job with the identifier of the reticle pod responsive to the bare reticle stocker loading the selected reticle in the reticle pod.

15. A system, comprising:

means for generating a reticle transport job using a computing device, the reticle transport job identifying a selected reticle;

means for notifying a photolithography tool of the reticle transport job without identifying a reticle pod for transporting the selected reticle using the computing device;

means for autonomously identifying a reticle pod available for transporting the selected reticle using the computing device;

means for updating the reticle transport job with an identifier of the identified reticle pod using the computing device; and

means for notifying the photolithography tool of the updated reticle transport job after identifying the reticle pod using the computing device.