CIMConnect™ GEM Interface to Host Equipment Communication

CIMConnect is an object-oriented software development kit for equipment suppliers to quickly develop a GEM interface on their manufacturing equipment. The CIMConnect software product runs on Microsoft Windows and is compatible with many different programming environments including C# in Visual Studio .NET and C++ in Visual Studio 6.0. CIMConnect makes extensive use of Active X/COM technology and is specifically designed to allow the protocol and message format to be customized. It also supports multiple host connections simultaneously. This allows our customers to support any legacy interfaces and communicate with more than one GEM host .

The current CIMConnect release supports the GEM, SECS-I, SECS-II, and HSMS-SS standards. CIMConnect also supplies the tools to support the many SEMI standards that complement GEM such the PVECI standard and GEM300 standards (E39, E40, E87, E90, E94 and E116) implemented by the CIM300 product. Many equipment suppliers worldwide have used CIMConnect to implement SECS/GEM interfaces on equipment in the semiconductor, photovoltaic (PV), electronics assembly, surface mount technology and other industries. Cimetrix actively participates in the GEM300 task force which manages GEM and related SEMI standards.

Software Architecture
Features & Benefits
CIMConnect Components
Related SEMI Standards
Additional Information & Resources

Cimetrix products are supported on Microsoft software development packages and platforms, along with VMware implementations of supported platforms. For more information about the specific development environments and platforms, request the CIMConnect Technical Overview.

Visit the CIMConnect Resources page for more information.

CIMConnect Architecture

GEM Interface to SECS/GEM Host Communication

Features & Benefits

Feature	Benefit
Multiple Host Connections, One Service	Reduce software development time, maintenance, and lines of code while improving quality. The GEM interface is available to multiple hosts where each may be a SECS-I or HSMS-SS connection.
Windows Service	Simple integration into the system. Allows automatic startup.
COM/DCOM API	Flexibility to develop using Visual C++, C#, VB.NET and many other Interface Development Environments (IDE) that support COM like Java and C++ Builder. Allows distribution of applications on multiple computers. CIMConnect's software performance is also outstanding.
SECS-II, SECS-I, and HSMS support.	It is easy to support industry standards using robust industry tested modules.
Fully functional SECS/GEM interface out of the box	Instead of spending time developing GEM communication, immediately focus on adding machine-specific features.
Dynamic GEM 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
Interchangeable Communications and Message Formatting	Support multiple SECS/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. All fundamental GEM requirements and additional capabilities including the GEM state machines are managed by CIMConnect. Applications provide data to the service, trigger events, change alarm states and implement the process state machine.

CIMConnect API

Applications communicate to the CIMConnect service using the COM API interfaces. The COM interfaces provide maximum development language compatibility and allow the use of modern object oriented methodologies. Use C#, Visual C++, VB.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. Use the ActiveX Controls directly or use its source code as a template for your custom implementation. CIMConnect includes ActiveX Controls to implement the following GEM User Interface requirements.

GEM communication status icon for the front on the operator interface
GEM state machine view and controls
Terminal Services interface to view and acknowledge incoming messages and to send messages
Process Program Management
Equipment Constant view and configuration
Alarm view and optional clearing
Alarm history
SECS-II Message log

Testing Software

CIMConnect includes TESTConnect and SECSConnect. Both 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. CIMConnect also includes a Microsoft Word template as a great starting point for the required end user GEM manual.

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: