Global leader in SECS/GEM

In addition to domain expertise and experience of many decades in Semiconductor, Solar (PV), Flat Panel Display, LED and other related Electronics industries, eInnoSys team has over 100 years of software design and development experience. Our team has designed very complex automation software systems that control and monitor multiple factories.

 

Quality and Innovation have always been core values at eInnoSys and our team keeps up‐to‐date with software design patterns and new software development methodologies.
Having knowledge and experience of best practices in both software development and equipment software of many different kind, our team is best equipped to review your equipment software’s design and make recommendations to –

• Improve quality and reliability of the software
• Improve performance of the software
• Make it more scalable, so that future modifications are less time-­‐consuming
• and more robust
• Help reuse code among multiple equipment platforms
• Make certain software modules configurable so that they can be modified
• without having to recompile and QA the code

SECS/ GEM Controller/GUI Software

Our staff has been involved in automation using PLC/IO controllers since mid 1990s. They have been part of development team of some of the world’s best HMI, SCADA, Historian, MES and other automation software products.

 

OUR CONTROLLER/GUI SOFTWARE EXPERIENCE INCLUDE –

• Developing controller/GUI software for multiple wafer processing, metrology and laser scribe equipment
• Development of software for multi-­‐chamber, cluster equipment with multiple load ports and transport module
• Experience developing software for high-­‐vac equipment with loadlock and transport module
• First company in the industry to develop entire plasma etch equipment
• software entirely from scratch in Android, with SECS/GEM

PARTIAL LIST OF EQUIPMENT CONTROLLER SOFTWARE PORTFOLIO

• Multi-­‐chamber plasma etch equipment with multiple load ports and a
• transport module
• Metrology equipment software to measure stress in the thin-­‐film based on
• topography of the wafer
• Laser scribe equipment

SECS/ GEM Controller/GUI Software

Our staff has been involved in automation using PLC/IO controllers since mid 1990s. They have been part of development team of some of the world’s best HMI, SCADA, Historian, MES and other automation software products.

 

             OUR CONTROLLER/GUI SOFTWARE EXPERIENCE INCLUDE –

• Developing controller/GUI software for multiple wafer processing, metrology and laser scribe equipment
• Development of software for multi-­‐chamber, cluster equipment with multiple load ports and transport module
• Experience developing software for high-­‐vac equipment with loadlock and transport module
• First company in the industry to develop entire plasma etch equipment
• software entirely from scratch in Android, with SECS/GEM

             PARTIAL LIST OF EQUIPMENT CONTROLLER SOFTWARE PORTFOLIO

• Multi-­‐chamber plasma etch equipment with multiple load ports and a
• transport module
• Metrology equipment software to measure stress in the thin-­‐film based on
• topography of the wafer
• Laser scribe equipment

 

Introduction to SECS/GEM

SECS (SEMI Equipment Communications Standard)/GEM (Generic Equipment Model) are communication interface protocols for communication between a semiconductor equipment and a fab host. Fab host is a software application that is controlling and monitoring equipment processing using SECS/GEM protocol. SECS/GEM compliant equipment can communicate with the fab host using either TCP/IP (using SEMI standards E37 and E37.1 – HSMS) or RS-232 (using SEMI standard E4 – SECS-I). The SECS/GEM standard interface is used to start as well as stop equipment processing, collect measurement data, select recipes for products and change variables. With SECS/GEM, all this can be performed in a standard way. SECS/GEM protocol has been standardized by the non-profit association SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International). Check www.SEMI.org to learn more about SEMI standards and SECS/GEM protocol.

 

In simple words, the SECS/GEM standard defines messages, state machines and scenarios to enable factory host applications to control as well as monitor manufacturing equipment. GEM standard is officially designated as SEMI standard E30, but frequently referred to as the GEM or SECS/GEM standard. The GEM is beneficial for both device manufacturers and equipment suppliers as it defines common set of equipment behavior and communication capabilities to provide functionality as well as flexibility to support manufacturing. Since GEM standard has only a few semiconductor-specific features, it has been adopted by other manufacturing industries as well, such as PV.

Among the capabilities offered by the SECS/GEM standard is –

• For fab host to start and stop processing

• For fab host to select, download and upload recipes from/to the equipment

• For fab host to query the equipment for values of various process parameters and equipment configuration

• For fab host to set equipment configuration parameter values

• For equipment to send alarms to the fab host

• For fab host to define reports of various variables and associate them with events such as lot start or wafer complete

• For equipment to send various events and associated reports to the fab host

Since SECS/GEM is a communication protocol, it is platform and technology as well as programming language independent. The host side of a connection is executing on a computer system provided by the factory, and the equipment side of a connection is running on a controller computer provided by the equipment manufacturer. This gives both – the fab as well as the equipment manufacturer interoperability, flexibility and platform independence. Both, the fab and the OEM can develop their software application without having to worry about communication compatibility, as long as both of them are adhering to SECS/GEM standards.

eInnoSys offers SECS/GEM software solutions for equipment manufacturers (OEMs) as well as factories (FABs or ATMs). By integrating eInnoSys’ EIGEMEquipment plug-n-play software with equipment controller software of an equipment, OEMs can significantly reduce the cost and time it takes to make their equipment SECS/GEM capable. Likewise, EIGEMHost is a SECS/GEM software for FABs and ATMs (Assembly and Test Manufacturing) to communicate with various equipment in the factory. EIGEMSim is a simulator software for SECS/GEM testing. It is a software that can be configured as host or equipment to test SECS/GEM communication of the other.

SECS describe the communication between a host computer and the equipment using a single connection. In the original concept and even today in the most common scenario, the equipment provides a single SECS interface for exclusive use by a single host. The message types defined by SECS are partially asymmetric – some message types are defined only for host use, others are defined only for equipment, but also many of them are defined for the same use by either side.

However, there is provision in the SECS standards for sharing a connection by specifying the device identification value in each message. The practice of connection sharing is not recommended for new deployments. It is a common practice that a connection is maintained for long periods of time and only interrupted if the equipment or host is rebooted. SECS connections are light weight and don’t use much network bandwidth. It is possible to run several SECS connections on a typical desktop computer. https://www.einnosys.com/introduction-secs-gem/

SECS/GEM, Industry 4.0

eInnoSys is a global leader in Equipment Software & Fab Automation for

Semiconductor, Solar(PV), LED, FPD and other related Electronics industries

 

Experts at SECS/GEM, GEM300, Smart Factory &
Industry 4.0

Domain knowledge isn’t sufficient!

Our team has spent 60+ years working in the Fab/Assembly for OEMs

SECS/GEM & GEM 300

LET OUR EXPERTS SAVE YOU SIGNIFICANT COST AND TIME AND GUARANTEE SUCCESS OF SECS/GEM IMPLEMENTATION OF YOUR EQUIPMENT

 

For over two decades, eInnoSys team members have been implementing SECS/GEM and GEM300 standards on the equipment as well as using them in the fab/assembly for automation. We offer complete turnkey solution to make your equipment fully SECS/GEM or GEM300 compliant. Our domain knowledge and experience not only helps making your implementation a success but also greatly reduces the time and cost of integration. Our solution comes with required manuals, SECS/GEM and GEM300 compliance report along with required logs for OEMs to provide to their factory customers.
SECS/GEM & GEM300 are a set of communication protocol for a semiconductor equipment and factory host. These standards are maintained by SEMI. While GEM300 refers to a set of communication standards for 300mm wafers, which are more than those for 200mm, SECS/GEM is used as a generic term for both 200 and 300mm communication protocols and other automation standards.
EIGEMEquipment is a SECS/GEM software of eInnoSys, which comes with support for most of the SECS messages for 200mm out‐of‐the‐box.

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It provides compliance of following SEMI standards for your equipment

• E30 – GEM (Generic Equipment Model)
• E5 – SECS-II message format
• E37 – HSMS (Ethernet) connectivity
• E4 – SECS-I serial (RS232) connectivity

Ultra light-­‐weight product, which means more CPU and memory for your controller software, who needs it most
It is a SDK (Software Development Kit) that offers APIs for integration with controller software in multiple languages – C#, Java and C++
Multiple platform support – Windows, Linux, Unix & Android
Comes bundled with EIGEMSim – Simulator software for Fab Host
SECS/GEM Manual is included

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EIGEMSim is a SECS/GEM software product of eInnoSys that can be used as a simulator for either Fab host or Equipment for testing of compliance.

If you have already purchased a license of SECS/GEM or GEM300 software from another company, eInnoSys can still help you integrate that software with your controller software and benefit from our vast experience in terms of reducing the time and cost of integration.

GEM300 covers following SEMI standards:

• E30 – GEM (Generic Equipment Model)
• E39 – Object Services Standard
• E40 – Process Job Management
• E87 – CMS (Carrier Management Specification)
• E90 – Substrate Tracking
• E94 – Control Job Management

In addition, following other SEMI standards may be requested by factory customers:

• E116 – EPT (Equipment Performance Tracking)
• E157 – Module Process Tracking
• E148 – Time Synchronization