Adaptive model predictive control for production optimization and inventory control of semiconductor reentrant manufacturing lines

An adaptive model predictive controller is applied to the optimization and control of reentrant semiconductor manufacturing lines. It is implemented within a three-layer hierarchical structure. At the top layer the parameters of an aggregated model are obtained online while at the intermediate layer production optimization and inventory control are performed using these parameters. The bottom layer consists of a discrete event "follow-up" controller which tracks the targets issued by the optimizer. This controller is applied to a discrete-event semiconductor manufacturing line problem whose specifications were developed by Intel Corp.