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CIMConnect™ Implement the SECS GEM Standards

CIMConnect is an object oriented software development kit for equipment suppliers to quickly develop host communications interfaces on their manufacturing equipment. It makes extensive use of Active X/COM technology and is specifically designed to allow the protocol and message format to be easily customized. It was also supports multiple host connections simultaneously. This allows our customers to simultaneously support any legacy interfaces and communicate with more than one GEM host. The GEM interface is available to multiple hosts where each may be a SECS-I or HSMS-SS connection. The CIMConnect architecture prepares equipment suppliers to easily support the emerging Internet-based communications standards of tomorrow such as e-Diagnostics and CAMX. The current CIMConnect release supports the GEM, SECS-I, SECS-II, and HSMS standards. CIMConnect also supplies the tools to support the many SEMI standards that compliment GEM such the GEM 300 standards E39, E40, E87, E90, E94 and E116 implemented by the CIM300 product.

CIMConnect SECS/GEM communications software

Features & Benefits

Feature Benefit
Multiple Host Connections, One Service Reduce software development time, maintenance, and lines of code while improving quality
Windows NT Service Simple integration into the system. Allows automatic startup.
COM/DCOM API Flexibility to develop using Visual Basic, Visual C++ and many other Interface Development Environments (IDE) that support COM like Java and C++ Builder. Allows distribution of programs on separate PC's.
Full SECS-II, SECS-I, and HSMS support. Easy to support industry standards using robust industry tested modules
Fully functional GEM interface out of the box Instead of spending time developing GEM communication, immediately focus on adding machine-specific features
Dynamic communication and interface configuration without recompiling Reduce integration and setup time. There are several ways to synchronize the SECS/GEM interface with the equipment development and various equipment configurations. Use the same core SECS/GEM software for an entire family of equipment.
Drop in ActiveX controls for GEM required features in your GUI Save development time
Interchangable Communications and Message Formatting Support multiple GEM Hosts, legacy interfaces and emerging standards without changing the applications
Client/Server Architecture Flexibility to use the CIMConnect API functions from one or more programs
Host software provided with the CIMConnect Development System Verify the GEM interface software quality using professional host software

CIMConnect Components

CIMConnect Service

The CIMConnect Service handles all communications to and from the hosts using any CIMConnect compatible communications object. In GEM mode, all fundamental GEM requirements and additional capabilities including the GEM state machines are managed automatically. Applications update data in the service and implement the process state machine.

CIMConnect API

Applications communicate to the CIMConnect service using the DCOM API interfaces. DCOM interfaces provide maximum development language compatibility and allow the use of modern object oriented methodologies. Use Visual Basic, Visual C++, C# in .NET, or any other COM compatible development environment. Multiple applications can interact with CIMConnect at the same time. An application can even be implemented as a Windows DLL that is loaded by the CIMConnect Service.

CIMConnect Product Tools

The CIMConnect ControlPanel is a GUI tool for dynamically configuring, monitoring, testing, and emulating the GEM interface. CIMConnect Active-X Controls provide drop in GEM state machine and terminal service features in your GUI. CIMConnect includes ActiveX Controls to implement the following GEM User Interface requirements.

Testing Software

CIMConnect includes TESTConnect, GEM Host Manager and SECSConnect. All three are available to implement various testing techniques for thoroughly testing the SECS/GEM interface.

Documentation

CIMConnect provides great documentation in .CHM (compiled HTML) format. Find the answers to most of your questions. Still have a question? Then contact our responsive Customer Support staff.

Sample Applications

CIMConnect includes a diverse set of sample applications to help show you how to use it in a variety of different programming environments. Even more samples are available from our Customer Support staff. Here are a few of the samples:

System Requirements

Cimetrix supports CIMConnect for use with the following Microsoft platforms:

While CIMConnect must run on a Windows computer, it is common to use CIMConnect with equipment that have non-Windows computers. Equipment suppliers that use PLCs, Unix or QNX based control systems add a Windows PC to run CIMConnect to handle the factory communications. Software architects frequently design internal equipment networks with software applications to communicate between systems.

Cimetrix officially supports CIMConnect for use with the following Microsoft software development packages but other software development environments compatible with Microsoft Component Object Module (COM) can be used:

Cimetrix supports CIMConnect for use with applications developed in the following Microsoft programming languages:

Other System Requirements:

Supported SEMI Standards

Additional Information

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CIMConnect SECS/GEM communications software

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