Get Control's (GCI) E84 Emulator is the world's leading tester for development, implementation and qualification of products that must comply with the SEMI® E84 Standard. It provides the industry-standard automated test plans that are utilized by virtually every 300mm FAB and equipment manufacturer worldwide. GCI testers are the only solutions that guarantee 300mm factory automation interoperability.

The E84 Emulator provides automated procedures for testing the parallel input/output (PI/O) control signals of active and passive entities. SEMI® E84 defines the control signals to transfer wafer carriers between automated material handling systems (AMHS) and production equipment in wafer fabrication facilities.

The E84 Emulator connects to a Microsoft® Windows-based laptop computer, through a standard parallel printer port. The E84 Emulator Application is compatible with Win95/98 and WinNT/2000.

A graphical user interface (GUI) is provided that supports automated and manual test modes for active and passive emulation. In the automated test mode, data is entered for the testers= name, test date, and equipment information. Automated test mode provides 20 active mode and 18 passive mode tests which may be individually enabled or disabled by the user. Static tests which allow the user to verify that labeled DB-25 plugs for each loadport exist and that they are mounted in the correct location. A figure of the labeling and location may be optionally displayed on the GUI.

Functional tests are provided to verify single handoff load, single handoff unload, handoff available, emergency stop, timeouts, passive equipment port sensors, and the +24V supply voltage. Timing diagrams of the control signals for various tests may be optionally displayed on the GUI.

In automated test mode, tests plans and results may be optionally saved. Saved files include an ASCII text file formatted for printing. This text file contains all of the equipment information entered by the user, along with information about each test provided by the E84 Emulator Application. Test details include test title, results, failure messages, and any comments entered by the user during testing. Saved test plans may also be recalled to resume testing.

Manual test mode provides a menu that allows the user to toggle the state of the parallel output signals while continuously displaying the state of the parallel input signals.

GCI’s E84 Emulator provides automated procedures for verifying E84 compliancy of the Enhanced Carrier Handoff Parallel I/O Interface required on 300mm wafer production equipment and automated material handling systems (AMHS). Connected to a PC, the GCI E84 Emulator is an indispensable tool for testing the functional and electrical requirements of communications associated with 300mm material handoff operations. It may also be used for maintenance purposes to troubleshoot and identify interface faults.

The Emulator is available with either a parallel port or USB interface.

APPLICATION SOFTWARE

GCI’s Windows-based test suite provides an intuitive and easyto- use graphical user interface consisting of automated and manual test modes. Developed with the leaders in deployment of 300mm fabrication facilities, automated test mode provides a comprehensive set of test plans for single handoff sequences between active and passive entities. These consist of 20 active entity and 18 passive entity tests. Each test may be individually enabled or disabled by the user. Manual test mode allows the user to individually toggle the state of the parallel output signals while continuously monitoring the state of the parallel input signals. The GCI Emulator has supported CCSTests© test plans since 2000.

TEST MODES

Automated test mode provides static and functional tests. Static tests allow the user to verify that labeled DB-25 plugs exist and that they are mounted in the correct location. Figures specifying the labeling and location of the connectors may be optionally displayed. Functional tests include verification of single handoff load, single handoff unload, handoff available, emergency stop, timeouts, passive equipment port sensors, and the +24V supply voltage. Timing diagrams of the control signals for various tests may be optionally displayed. Data is entered for user name, test date, and equipment information. Tests plans and results can be saved to disk formatted in ASCII text for printing. Saved files contain all of the information entered by the user, along with the information about each test provided by the E84 Emulator application. Test details include test title, results, failure messages, and any comments entered by the user during testing. Saved test plans may be recalled to resume testing.

OPTOISOLATED INTERFACE

The E84 Emulator controller provides active and passive optoisolated interfaces. It connects to a PC via a standard bidirectional parallel printer port. Two DB-25 connectors are wired as active and passive entities to provide interfaces to AMHS and process equipment. Supported electrical implementations include optoisolated hardwired connections and connections via an optical transmission device.