SECS/GEM Gateway

SECS/GEM (SEMI Equipment Communications Standard/Generic Equipment Model) is built upon three SEMI standards E5-0224, E30-0224 and E37-00-0222, where the communication between semiconductor equipment and host system is done via TCP/IP.

SECS equipment

A gateway manager can manage many different equipment instances. One equipment connects to one host. Therefore, one gateway manager can handle connections to multiple hosts. However, each individual host will always connect through the gateway manager to only one specific equipment instance that the manager is currently managing.

The communication standard is the SECS-II standard (E5), which defines the messages sent between equipment (WinCC OA SECS Gateway manager equipment instance) and host.

WinCC OA gateway manager

A connection to a host can be HSMS (HIGH-SPEED SECS MESSAGE SERVICES) active which is equal to a TCP-client or HSMS passive which is equal to a TCP-Server. The mode of a connection can be switched in the connection configuration panel. In WinCC OA, data is exchanged between host and equipment (WinCC OA gateway manager) via JSON strings. The definition of the JSON message structure is the same as for the SECS driver and can be found in chapter Message Structure.

Supported GEM (SEMI E30) requirements

A list of the GEM capabilities and fundamental GEM requirements can be found in SEMI E30-0224 section 11.

The following GEM capabilities are supported by the SECS Gateway without any needed scripting or implementation:

Fundamental GEM requirements:

  • State Models (Communication, Control)
  • Equipment Processing States
  • Host-Initiated S1, F13/14 Scenario
  • Event Notification
  • On-line Identification
  • Error Messages
  • Documentation
  • Control (Operator) Initiated

Further supported GEM capabilities:

  • Control (Host) Initiated
  • Establish Communications
  • Status Data Collection (without Namelist Request)
  • Equipment Constants (without Namelist Request)

Further GEM capabilities can be implemented via the HostInterface.FromHost/ToHost DPEs and CTRL-scripting.

Security

Important:
The TCP/IP communication between host and equipment is not encrypted per definition of the SEMI Standards. Therefore, this gateway manager should only be used in secure networks and environments!