SEMI has developed SEMI SMT-ELS (Equipment Link Standards), the standard suite for SMT assembly line, which replaces SMEMA and adds data communication capabilities to make assembly lines smarter. This standard was proposed by SMT assembly equipment suppliers and uses the general purpose advanced M2M interface, SEMI A1/A1.1, as the base protocol. SEMI A2 Smash (Surface mount assembler smart hookup) is newly developed for SMT assembly line operations. These standards are global standards that have been supporting semiconductor and related manufacturing lines for many years and its development process is open for those who are interested.
Benefits of the SMT-ELS standard
It provides higher level of connectivity and control capabilities of SMT assembly line including:
- Host-equipment communication: M2M network setting and production route setting.
- Inter-equipment communication: Direct communication between equipment that performs immediate product change and panel data usage mode setting.
- Panel and panel data transfer object oriented panel transfer which simultaneously transfers a panel with its data. On Demand product change and panel handoff exception handlings (Pause – Recovery).
SMT-ELS is extendable in its structure for future requirements. It consists of the following:
- SEMI A2 Specification for surface mount assembler smart hookup (SMASH).
- SEMI A1 Specification for horizontal communication (HC) between equipment for factory automation system.7
- SEMI A1.1 Specification for media interface for a horizontal communication (HC) between equipment.
