HSMS or High-Speed SECS Message Services is a messaging protocol used in semiconductor and other industries as means for connecting to, controlling and gathering data from equipment inside the factory. HSMS provides means for independent manufacturers to produce implementations which can be connected and interoperate without requiring specific knowledge of one another.
HSMS was defined by SEMI in the mid 1990’s as an alternative to aging SECS-I protocol that uses much slower and otherwise more limited RS-232 hardware.
HSMS vs. SECS-I:
- Throughput – HSMS uses TCP/IP and Ethernet which allow speeds up to 1000Mb/s (and higher as technology advances) where SECS-I is limited to 9600b/s or even slower when length of connection between devices increases.
- Distance – lengths of RS-232 cables is usually limited to somewhere less than 1000 feet where Ethernet, with the use of additional devices such as network hubs, has no limits.
- Connectivity – RS-232 is a point-to-point connection where each device has to have an available hardware port. In the factory, a GEM Host has to connect hundreds of equipments and has to have a separate dedicated RS-232 port for each one. With HSMS, a computer with single network interface card can connect to hundreds of equipment.
HSMS is used in all modern semiconductor factories as means for the factory host system to connect to, monitor and control individual equipments.
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Read more about High-Speed SECS Message Services
Download the white paper on the SECS/GEM Standards
