Advanced factory-to-tool connectivity for high-volume data collection and management

Store 10x more data, 450x faster than with an SQL database

EIB Factory offers advancements in high-volume data collection and management. It leverages time-series data collection used for data that is collected sequentially, for example, from processing equipment and sensors. While the need to store time-series data is not new, the growing amount of data generated in semiconductor manufacturing has created demands that cannot be supported by typical database solutions. Fast and scalable data management (collection, storage and retrieval) is the foundation for solid Smart Manufacturing solutions and time-series databases are optimized to handle the challenges of managing massive amounts of data.

Use a specialized time-series database optimized to manage volumes of Big Data

The time-series data management solution outperforms SQL solutions and can scale to collect and store 10,000 data points 10 times per second (10Hz) while using only 1/10 of the storage capacity required by SQL.

The following chart shows EIB Factory storage and retrieval rates compared to SQL for traces with 1,000 variables at 1Hz.

Flexible and easy configuration

EIB Factory is a single, flexible connectivity software platform that results in a solution which is efficient to implement and deploy. Factories can isolate the variations in equipment automation capabilities and communication protocols from their factory applications ensuring stable integration. EIB Factory supports multiple non-proprietary communication protocols and allows customized protocols to provide flexible integration, lower cost, and risk-free implementations. With its multiple connection capability, EIB Factory enables the efficient and cost-effective realization of advanced manufacturing application capabilities such as e-Diagnostics, SPC, APC, Fault Detection, and Run-to-Run (R2R) Control. Real-time and historical data collection and storage are fully configurable and allow easy access to equipment data for caching, visualization, and data analysis.

Technology

EIB Factory is built on the Equipment Information Bridge (EIB), a patented and industry-proven software technology platform that provides a robust and flexible connectivity solution meeting the demands of mission-critical equipment software and evolving manufacturing needs. Both EIB Factory and EIB OEM are built upon the same technology which means that many OEMs are using the same automation software technology as their customers.

EIB Factory provides the latest factory automation standards including SECS/GEM, GEM300, PV2, and EDA as well as general purpose communication protocols such as OPC, Microsoft COM, .NET, and WCF. Custom communication mechanisms are easily added in order to integrate specialized software applications, non-standard equipment communications, or third-party peripheral devices to your host.

EIB Factory’s configuration, factory deployment, debugging and troubleshooting utilities, and code samples further reduce implementation time. Using EIB Factory’s data management client sample, Data Management Explorer, data client development time is accelerated enabling rapid validation of data collection plan configuration, plan activations, and transmitted data.

.NET

EIB Factory is built on the Microsoft .NET Framework, allowing factories to take full advantage of .NET’s programming which can reduce integration time by as much as 50%. The .NET implementation enables a number of other features, including improved threading and memory management, full object exposure, and multiple programming languages (C#, J#, VB#, C, COM).

Highlights

• Acts as a data server, simplifying the management and coordination of information flow between the host and equipment.
• Provides multiple simultaneous independently-managed connections.
• Incorporates a full range of SEMI equipment automation standards such as SECS/GEM, GEM300, EDA, and PV2, as well as other emerging standards in a single, configurable solution.
• Leverages Microsoft .NET Framework for both 32-bit and 64-bit client and server deployments.
• Enables single or multiple instances of EIB to be deployed on a single machine providing additional deployment flexibility.
• Creates an equipment model using the SEMI E120 Common Equipment Model (CEM) standard.
• Provides rapid integration using OPC for PLC-based equipment that use HMI/SCADA software packages such as Modbus, Rockwell’s RSView32 and FactoryTalk View, Wonderware Intouch, GE’s CIMPLICITY and iFIX, Siemen’s SIMATIC WinCC, and National Instrument’s LabVIEW.
• Supports popular factory and equipment control system communication protocols including HSMS, TCP/IP, Serial, ASCII, OPC, Soap, and COM/DCOM, as well as the technologies .NET Remoting and WCF.
• Extends beyond traditional host communications with custom interfaces, message handling, and state management.
• Protects your state information with data persistence, simplifying your host application recovery (optional).

Learn more about EIB Factory