Case Center

1. Coexistence of multi-vendor, multi-type equipment makes communication standards hard to unify

The advanced packaging process involves a large number of automated equipment from different vendors and of different types, including material-handling equipment such as Wafer Loaders / UnLoaders, wafer feeders, and wafer receivers, as well as process and inspection equipment such as printers, SPI, die bonders, AOI, reflow ovens, and dispensers. Equipment vendors include ASM/ASMPT, DEK, Rehm, TRI, Asymtek, Allring, and others.

Different equipment varies in communication protocols, data structures, event definitions, recipe management, and remote control methods. If the MES/Host develops a separate interface for each type of equipment, the number of interfaces, development cost, and long-term maintenance complexity keep growing as equipment and production lines increase.

Therefore, a unified equipment automation layer is needed between the MES/Host and the shop-floor equipment, standardizing the communication capability of different equipment through RockPlus GEMLink to achieve unified equipment connectivity and management.

2. Multi-process coordination: single-equipment connectivity cannot meet full-line automation requirements

Advanced packaging production is not completed by a single piece of equipment. An automated production line typically goes through multiple steps: loading, printing, SPI, mounting, AOI, reflow, and unloading.

Production requires continuous acquisition of events such as FOUP presence, FOUP ID, Load Port, SlotMap, Wafer ID, Process Start, Wafer Start, Wafer End, and Process End, as well as data linkage among equipment, wafers, carriers, recipes, and production orders.

What the project needed to solve was therefore not simply equipment networking, but an equipment automation and data-interchange mechanism running through the entire production line.

3. Complex FOUP, SlotMap, and wafer data chain

From FOUP loading, RFID/FOUP ID read, clamp, Load Port, and SlotMap, to Wafer ID reading, Process Start, Wafer Start, Wafer End, and Process End, and then to unload and FOUP unloading, a complete data loop must be formed.

The system must accurately establish the mapping among FOUP, slots, wafers, production orders, recipes, and wafer maps, providing a reliable data foundation for wafer-level production traceability.

4. Many recipe types and the risk of manual selection errors

Different products, processes, and equipment correspond to different recipes and process parameters. Relying on manual lookup, confirmation, and program selection is prone to recipe version mismatches, wrong program selection, and equipment parameters inconsistent with production requirements.

Automated management of recipe query, download, selection, and parameter verification through EAP/RMS and equipment communication capability is therefore required.

5. Complex wafer map formats requiring automatic conversion and validation

Different customers, products, and process steps may use different wafer map formats. The system must not only parse and convert formats, but also recognize Good Die, Bad Die, Dummy Die, Filled Spot, and BadMark information, and process them automatically according to production rules.

6. Continuous replication across multiple production lines is hard to scale with traditional project-based development

As new production lines keep being built, re-developing equipment interfaces, communication programs, and business logic for every line generates a large amount of duplicated work.

The proven capabilities in SECS/GEM communication, equipment drivers, recipe, alarm, FOUP, SlotMap, and wafer handling therefore need to be distilled into standardized product capabilities, enabling rapid onboarding and replication of new equipment and new lines.

7. Limited access to real equipment makes on-site integration costly

Semiconductor production equipment is expensive and schedules are tight, so the software team can hardly occupy real equipment for long periods of communication and process testing. An Equipment Simulator is needed to validate SECS/GEM messages, events, alarms, remote commands, and recipe interfaces in advance, reducing on-site commissioning cost and project risk.

Hegong Software built the equipment automation solution for SJ Semiconductor with RockPlus GEMLink at its core, establishing a unified EAP/EFEM software layer between the MES/Host and production equipment. Through SECS-II, GEM, and HSMS standards, it realizes equipment communication, data collection, and remote control, and further enables automated coordination of production activities such as recipe, FOUP, SlotMap, wafer map, and alarm.

1. Unified equipment communication built on RockPlus GEMLink

RockPlus GEMLink targets semiconductor equipment communication and automation scenarios, providing standardized SECS/GEM communication capability that unifies connectivity among the MES/Host, EAP/EFEM software, and equipment from different vendors.

Core capabilities include:

• HSMS communication management
• Equipment Online / Offline state control
• Equipment Status data query
• Event Report reporting
• Alarm management
• Remote Command
• Report Definition
• Recipe upload, download, and query
• Host Communication State monitoring
• SECS/GEM communication logging and exception handling

Through RockPlus GEMLink, the differentiated communication interfaces, data variables, events, and control capabilities of equipment from different vendors are standardized and encapsulated, providing a unified communication foundation for upper-layer equipment automation applications.

2. Building the EAP/EFEM equipment automation software

On top of the standard communication capability provided by RockPlus GEMLink, the project built the EAP/EFEM equipment automation software to realize business coordination between the MES/Host and shop-floor production equipment.

The overall architecture is:

MES / Host

↓

EAP / EFEM Equipment Automation Software

↓

RockPlus GEMLink

↓

Production equipment such as Printer / SPI / Mounter / AOI / Reflow Oven / Dispenser / Loader

EAP/EFEM handles production flow, equipment coordination, and business control, while RockPlus GEMLink handles standardized SECS/GEM communication and equipment connection, reducing the complexity of adapting upper-layer systems directly to equipment from different vendors.

3. Unified connectivity of multi-vendor production equipment

Through RockPlus GEMLink and a standardized equipment driver layer, the project progressively completed unified connectivity across process equipment, including:

Material handling and load/unload equipment: Wafer Loader / UnLoader, wafer feeders, wafer receivers, conveyors, etc.

Printing and mounting equipment: ASM/ASMPT die mount, ASMPT/DEK printers, etc.

Inspection equipment: SPI, AOI, etc.

Reflow equipment: Rehm reflow ovens, etc.

Dispensing equipment: Asymtek, Nordson, etc.

The communication protocols, data variables, events, and control logic of different equipment are encapsulated through unified interfaces, providing a reusable technical foundation for future equipment additions, vendor replacements, and new production line construction.

4. FOUP, Load Port, SlotMap, and wafer automation

The system establishes a complete event chain covering the wafer from entering the production flow to completing processing, automatically collecting and linking FOUP ID, RFID, Load Port, SlotMap, Wafer ID, Process Start, Wafer Start/End, and Process End information.

Through real-time data exchange with equipment via RockPlus GEMLink, carriers, wafers, production orders, recipes, and processing steps are linked together, providing a complete data foundation for wafer-level production traceability.

5. Automated recipe control

Through SECS/GEM, the system realizes PPID query, recipe upload/download, automatic recipe selection, process parameter collection, and consistency verification.

Once a production order is dispatched, the corresponding recipe can be matched automatically according to product and process requirements, and equipment program switching is completed through remote commands, reducing the risks of wrong programs, wrong versions, and inconsistent parameters caused by manual selection.

6. Automatic wafer map conversion

The project built the Mapping Convert service to automatically parse, convert, and apply process rules to wafer maps in different formats, including Good Die, Bad Die, Dummy Die, and BadMark Skip.

Combined with automatic wafer ID recognition, the wafer identity is linked to its map, production order, and equipment processing, reducing the manual effort of handling map files.

7. Real-time collection of equipment status, production data, and alarms

Through RockPlus GEMLink, Equipment Status, Process Data, Events, Alarms, and Remote Command execution results are captured in real time and uploaded to the EAP/MES/Host.

When an equipment exception occurs, upper-layer systems obtain the alarm and equipment status immediately, providing real-time data for production monitoring, equipment analysis, and exception handling.

8. Early interface verification with the Equipment Simulator

The project includes an Equipment Simulator that can emulate SECS/GEM messages, Equipment Status, events, alarms, remote commands, and recipe communication behavior without real production equipment.

The software team can complete interface and business-flow validation before equipment arrives on site, reducing the occupation of real production equipment during on-site commissioning.

9. Standardized capabilities enabling rapid multi-line replication

The project continuously distills common capabilities: SECS/GEM communication, equipment drivers, events, remote commands, alarms, recipes, FOUP, SlotMap, wafer, map, and equipment status management.

When new equipment and new production lines are onboarded, configuration and adaptation can be completed on the mature software framework and the communication capability of RockPlus GEMLink, shifting from "one interface per equipment, one program set per line" to "unified platform + standard communication + rapid configuration and replication".

Through the continuous build-out on RockPlus GEMLink and the equipment automation software, the project has connected approximately 80 production equipment units, with the capability covering more than 20 production lines.

The project achieved standardized connectivity of multi-vendor equipment and opened up key data chains including equipment status, production events, alarms, recipes, FOUP, SlotMap, Wafer ID, Wafer Map, and Process Data, so that equipment data can serve MES, equipment management, production traceability, and process analysis in real time.

At the same time, through the continuous accumulation of standard communication capability and equipment drivers, new equipment and new production lines no longer need to develop a complete interface system from scratch; they can be rapidly replicated and extended on the existing framework, effectively reducing equipment integration, on-site commissioning, and maintenance costs, and providing a stable equipment digitalization foundation for the automation and scaled expansion of advanced packaging production lines.

RockPlus® MOM (Manufacturing Operations Management Platform) covers MES, QMS, EAM, WMS, APS, LIMS, and GEMLink, delivering manufacturing digitalization products and intelligent solutions for electronics manufacturing, semiconductor, automotive parts, machining, and new energy industries.