Over the last six years KINESYS Software has acquired extensive experience with the design and implementation of machine-specific host interfaces which comply with the GEM Standard.

For this purpose we developed a standard software product which can be integrated very easily with new or existing equipment control systems. We call this package GEMBox. GEMBox offers a complete GEM (SECS-II) implementation, supporting lower-level communication based on both the SECS-I (RS232C) and HSMS (TCP/IP, Ethernet) standards. It requires a Windows NT platform and can be run the equipment control system computer, or on an attached computer. The following picture shows a normal configuration:

Using GEMBox normally requires some configuration work for the specific machine type, and possibly also some adaptations. Furthermore the equipment control system should be adapted to communicate with GEMBox and to fulfill some specific GEM standard requirements, e.g. regarding operator interface functions. This work is carried out by KINESYS Software, in cooperation with the equipment manufacturer. We provide complete information about the required equipment control system adaptations. Furthermore we continue providing high quality support after completion of the software to the equipment supplier and its customers.

Equipment manufacturers using GEMBox are relieved from the necessity to acquire and maintain specific and detailed know-how themselves about host interface software. GEMBox comes with complete end-user documentation, and KINESYS provides expert support; both to the equipment manufacturer and to the end-user.

Next to the expert support provided by KINESYS Software, an advantage of using GEMBox is that interfacing it with the equipment control system is much simpler than when using a standard GEM/SECS application enabler. Experience shows that complete GEM Host Interfaces can be implemented with an effort for the equipment manufacturer in the order of two man-months. On the other hand, we still offer the flexibility, e.g. regarding additional host interface capabilities, that is offered by standard application enablers.

This document offers a generic description how we realize an equipment-specific GEMBox implementation delivery and how we see the relationship with our customer – the semiconductor production equipment manufacturer – during the implementation and later on.