Industry News, Trends and Technology, and Standards Updates

With all the recent news of increased EDA (also known as “Interface A”)adoption, especially in Asia, this is the perfect time to highlight the “Top 10 Best Practices” that semiconductor manufacturing equipment suppliers can follow in planning and executing their implementations of this important suite of standards. As we’ve said in previous blog postings and other EDA-related material, it is best to take a long-term view of your EDA interface design, independent of what a particular semiconductor manufacturer’s automation specifications may initially require. In so doing, you can be certain your implementation will satisfy all future EDA requirements, enabling your control system software team to focus on the features that truly differentiate your equipment from that of your competitors. The information in this posting can give you a running start on this process. It’s important to note that the “best practices” summarized below are the culmination of many years of EDA standards definition, related software product development, and manufacturing production experience among the early adopters. As such, most of them could support a dedicated blog posting, so watch for these in the coming months. In the meantime, if you’re interested in more specifics, please contact us.

1. Build a useful equipment model

First and foremost, since the content of the “equipment metadata model” is effectively the data collection “contract” between the equipment supplier and the factory users, your customer’s ultimate satisfaction with the EDA interface depends on the content and structure of this model. The role most affected by this model is the process engineer, so the equipment component, variable, event, and exception names should match the tool documentation, and the logical hierarchy should mirror the actual hardware structure.

2. Consider non-functional requirements

System performance expectations change over time, and, as a result, the equipment automation requirements may not include sufficient or up-to-date detail in this area. Therefore you must document your assumptions about the performance of your interface in terms of maximum sampling rate, average number of parameters per data collection plan (DCP), total bandwidth required (e.g., 20,000 parameters per second), and other factors important to the customer. In addition to performance, these will include scalability, availability, flexibility, extensibility, and ease of use, among others.

3. Define robust system architecture

The architecture of an EDA interface is greatly affected by the non-functional requirements mentioned in number 2 above, in addition to the specific capabilities required by the SEMI standards. One way to ensure these requirements can be met is to separate the EDA interface software from the equipment controller. In other words, run it on a different computer dedicated to the interface. Moreover, stick with the services and protocols defined by the standard – don’t be tempted to implement custom extensions that will only apply to a specific customer or client application, as this just increases your future support costs.

4. Choose platform with extra “headroom”

Computer hardware is inexpensive compared to the cost of downtime and support, so choose a platform that has room to grow. Based on many years of production experience, Cimetrix can provide specific guidelines in terms of CPU speed, number of cores, memory, disk, and other system attributes. Note that you may also be expected to upgrade these platforms in the field as the standard and/or customer requirements evolve, so plan accordingly!

5. Implement E164 common metadata standards

The E164 “EDA Common Metadata” standards likewise incorporate equipment modeling best practices from many early EDA implementations, so you should consider these as a required baseline for your equipment model, whether or not the first EDA customer calls for them in the automation specs. It is actually easier to do this when developing a new EDA interface than it is to come up with a separate set of structural and naming conventions, but it can be very difficult to implement later. (Note that we have had a number of previous blog postings on this topic.)

6. Use equipment modeling tools

Since typically 75% of the interface development and maintenance time is spent dealing with the content and behavior of the equipment model, these tasks are a perfect candidates for [at least partial] automation via model creation/editing tools and associated “wizards.” These tools should be able to generate an E164-compliant baseline model to which process-specific information can be added naturally. Moreover, if possible, use the resulting tool configuration files to create models programmatically, which will greatly reduce support costs over time.

7. Provide complete visibility into equipment behavior

The principal motivation expressed for EDA adoption by the factory operations people across the industry is “better understanding of equipment/process behavior.” Therefore, to satisfy this need, equipment suppliers should provide as much information as possible about key process variables/events/exceptions, and all the underlying mechanisms (sensors, actuators, I/O, low-level fault conditions) that affect them. Also make sure the E157 “steps” (recipe step-level transition events) are visible and meaningful to enable the kind of fine-grained condition-based trace data collection required by leading-edge fault detection, run-to-run control, and predictive analytics applications. Apply the principle “when in doubt, include it” – your customers will thank you.

8. Build in “hooks” for field service support

An EDA interface can be valuable for your own field support team if the proper “hooks” are included in the model from the outset. These capabilities range from a simple “sniff test” (Is the interface up and running?) to complete recent history of the platform’s operating conditions and the EDA clients’ demands on the interface. An explicit logging strategy should also be defined and documented to enable the factory customers to do their part in getting you the information required for prompt, one-pass success in support situations.

9. Develop thorough test plans and use them

In addition to the range of test techniques expected for mission-critical software (unit, system, regression), EDA interfaces should be subjected to performance and stability testing as well. Most customers will also require standards compliance and other acceptance tests to be run, and results provided before and after delivery of the equipment. Where possible, industry accepted packages are preferable for this purpose.

10. Use proven commercial software

Last, but not least, you should heed the advice of race car drivers, test pilots, and stunt men who regularly caution their audiences “Don’t try this at home!” The related message for interface developers is that the EDA standards, while mature and well documented, are complex, moving targets that require significant expertise, time, and effort to understand and implement reliably. For most equipment suppliers, this resource is far better spent building features that differentiate the equipment, and relying on companies with proven track records to provide off-the-shelf interface software products that minimize both time-to-market and project risk.♦

We sincerely hope this material is useful to you, and feel free to contact us for more information.

Cimetrix participated in the recent European Advanced Process Control and Manufacturing (apc|m) Conference, along with more than 130 control professionals across the European and global semiconductor manufacturing industry. The conference was held in Reutlingen, Germany, a picturesque city of stone and half-timber buildings just south of Stuttgart.

This conference, now in its 16^th year, is one of only a few global events dedicated to the domain of semiconductor process control and directly supporting technologies. The conference’s attendance this year was comparable in numbers and demographics to that of the previous two years, a clear indication that this area continues to hold keen interest for the European high-tech manufacturing community. Another highlight this year was the sponsorship of Bosch, a relative newcomer to the conference but a pillar of the German manufacturing industry. Reutlingen is home to Bosch’s automotive electronics division and its related semiconductor manufacturing facilities, so they were very well represented in the conference and excellent hosts!

Cimetrix was privileged to make two presentations at this year's conference. The first was entitled “Data Fusion at the Source: Standards and Technologies for Seamless Sensor Integration,” authored and delivered by myself. The external sensor integration and related data unification topics have enjoyed increasing interest over the past year, and even though the techniques outlined in the presentation leverage the latest versions of the Equipment Data Acquisition (EDA)/Interface A standards, they apply equally well for the 200mm manufacturing nodes prevalent in European wafer fabs and assembly/test factories. The solution architecture is shown in the slide below, but for the background and rationale behind this approach, feel free to download a copy of the entire presentation from our website by clicking on the link below.

The second presentation, entitled “'Smart Manufacturing' solutions for high-mix manufacturing using Wait-Time-Waste improvement opportunities” was authored by Jan Driessen, a Principal Industrial Engineer with NXP Semiconductor in the Netherlands. It summarized the work of a project team from six companies and as many countries, and funded by the European Union's “integrate” program (cover page is on the left). Because of an unexpected work conflict during the conference, however, Jan was unable to attend, and, based on our companies’ shared interest in the Wait-Time-Waste technology and standards over the past several years, he thought that Cimetrix would be well qualified to give his presentation. I willingly agreed, worked with Jan to make sure I understood the latest material, and made the presentation. It essentially makes a compelling case for using equipment event data in a legacy 200mm fab to improve OEE, operational effectiveness, and factory capacity through a “chain of data operations” paradigm that he explains in some detail. The good news for 300mm fabs is that these same results can even more readily be achieved, because the availability and fidelity of the event data is much higher, especially if the fab has a full GEM300/EDA E164-compliant system infrastructure. For more information, request a copy of this presentation directly from Jan Driessen at jan.p.driessen@nxp.com.

Other themes that were evident at the conference included 1) applications of APC and supporting metrology techniques for structures found in smart sensors, MEMS devices, LEDs, and other semiconductor products outside the traditional processor and memory segments; 2) increasing emphasis on equipment data collection in the back end to support productivity monitoring and control applications; 3) unit process control for a number of equipment types; and 4) an entire session devoted to industrial engineering topics.

As with other similar conferences around the globe, the takeaway for Cimetrix is that “Smart Manufacturing,” Industrie 4.0, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), advanced process control and fault detection applications, “big data” analytics, and a host of other high-tech manufacturing technologies all depend on the ability to get the right data at the right time from the right sources on the factory floor, and then make it available wherever and whenever needed… For more information about how Cimetrix’s product families that directly address this “sweet spot,” please contact us.♦

Have you ever watched one of those cooking shows where the chef spends a lot of time whipping up the ingredients to some elaborate dish, and, when it comes time to put the dish in the oven to bake, there is already a finished one in there? If only the real world worked that way. Sometimes it would be nice to be able to go to the oven and have a delicious meal already waiting for you.

The Cimetrix CIMControlFramework™ (CCF) product is unique among Cimetrix products in that it not only provides source code, but also combines several other Cimetrix products (CIMConnect™, CIM300™, and CIMPortal™ Plus) and takes full advantage of all the features provided by each product.

One of the features of CIMPortal Plus that is used in CCF is the concept of an equipment model. The equipment model describes the data that your equipment provides through Interface A. The tool hierarchy is modeled along with all of the parameters, events, and exceptions published by the tool. It used to be that CCF users had to manually create the tool hierarchy in their base equipment model. CCF would then populate the model with the parameters, events, and exceptions. If the tool hierarchy changed, the base model would have to be modified. It made changing the tool configuration much more difficult.

Starting with the CCF 4.0 release, a base equipment model that is common to all equipment was installed. Generally, CCF users will not need to modify the base model. CCF takes advantage of the modeling API provided by CIMPortal Plus to dynamically add hierarchy nodes to the base model depending on the components that are created in CCF. This new feature makes it easy to change the configuration of the CCF tool because the user does not have to make modifications to the base model and redeploy the package to be able to run CCF.

The dynamically created model is also compliant with the SEMI E164 Common Metadata standard. This compliance is possible because of the dynamic nature of model creation. The required elements of E164 are added to the equipment model dynamically during the startup of Tool Supervisor.

Having a dynamically created Interface A model that exactly matches your equipment structure and is guaranteed to be E164-compliant without having to do any extra work is similar to going to the oven and finding a delicious dish already cooked and waiting for you.♦

To learn more about CCF, visit the CIMControlFramework page on our website!

On March 30, 2016, Linkgenesis and Cimetrix hosted an Equipment Data Acquisition (EDA) standards seminar in Suwon City, South Korea to introduce equipment suppliers, sub fab component suppliers and system integrators to the concepts, history and best practices involving the SEMI EDA standards, also known as Interface A. The seminar was in response to Samsung’s EDA pilot targeted for Line 17 in Hwaseong with further rollout in Pyeoungtaek. While Interface A is being adopted in the US, Europe, Japan, and Taiwan; this is the first usage in South Korea. Recognizing this, Linkgenesis used their strong contact base in the South Korean semiconductor industry to bring together the major fab suppliers to share knowledge about EDA and demonstrate how Linkgenesis and Cimetrix can help them meet Samsung’s requirements.

The agenda was:

1. Introductions by Sungwoo Jung, CEO Linkgenesis and Eric Ko, Sales General Manager

2. EDA SEMI Standards Overview by Inhyeok Paek, Managing Director Research and Development Center

3. EDA Industry and Market Trends by Dave Faulkner, Cimetrix Executive Vice President

4. Factory Use Cases for EDA by Brian Rubow, Cimetrix Director of Client Training and Support (and co-chair of SEMI North American DDA Task Force)

5. Best Practices in EDA Implementations by Brian Rubow

6. CIMPortal Plus Feature Overview by Brian Rubow

7. Development Steps Using CIMPortal Plus by Mingyu Chung, Linkgenesis Principal Engineer

8. Question and Answer Period

With over 70 attendees, the Q&A session was lively with many good questions and exchange of ideas. Action items and next steps have been established with the attendees as everyone involved is working toward helping the Samsung pilot be successful.♦

If you would like to learn more about the application of the SEMI EDA/Interface A standards, click here for 10 in-depth videos on EDA technology. You can also download a white paper on the SEMI EDA/Interface A standards here.

Over the past six months, Cimetrix has hired some fantastic new employees in a number of positions, including software engineering, quality assurance, client training and support, and even some new administrative positions. As we are always searching for good employees, there are times I reflect on my father’s legacy of over 30 years with NASA and think of all the challenges NASA faced finding good people in their quest to put a man on the moon. I remember him talking about the “young kids” coming into the organization. By the way, those “young kids” are now my age and older, including many that are retired. Today I find myself using the same term, “young kids” and, as I do, I catch myself and laugh.

Finding “The Right Stuff,” if you will excuse my cheesy reference to the movie version of the Mercury 7 first manned space flights in the early 60’s, is no easy task—especially in these days of low unemployment for highly skilled technical people. But we have found if you make the investment in your recruiting process, you can attract smart talent and greatly increase your chances of finding superior employees that enjoy high job satisfaction, fit well with the team, and contribute to the success of the organization.

To make a successful hire, we move slowly and take our time getting to know the candidate. Our philosophy is that everyone has natural strengths and talents. A good fit is when a potential new hire can leverage their natural strengths and talents in the job function and matches the core values of the company. The right job for anyone is the job that provides an outstanding opportunity to apply those natural strengths and talents in teamwork with others towards a compelling vision and opportunity. You must find someone who possesses the skills your company is looking for, shares the same core values as the company, and is priced at a range that is equitable in the organization. If there is misalignment in any of these core characteristics, DO NOT HIRE.   

A good recruiting process takes patience but, with patience, comes risk. If an employer take too long in the recruiting process, they risk losing a good candidate to other offers. On the other hand, if a company possesses the clout of, say, Google, patience becomes the burden of the candidate and not the hiring company. According to Laszlo Bock, author of Insights from Inside Google, ‘Work Rules’ that will transform how you live and lead, Google may take six months to make an offer. I suspect in the early 60’s, NASA carried the same clout as Google because almost everyone in America wanted to be part of creating history.

Bottom line, recruiting is an investment in a long term relationship. Be thorough. Involve a large number of employees across the organization in the hiring and decision making process. The initial interaction on how a candidate treats the receptionist can be very revealing. Administer “talent tests” to validate required skills. Call references. Perform the necessary educational and other background checks. Take the candidate to lunch in a more social environment and observe how they interact with others. Leave no stone unturned. If you are diligent in the recruiting process, you may just find “The Right Stuff” for your organization.

For more insight into successful hiring, read How to Think About Hiring: Play Smarter to Win the Talent Management Game by Lex Sisney, CEO Coach and author of Organizational Physics.♦

The snow on the north side of my house finally melted the other day. That is a sure indication that spring is coming. I don’t have anything against winter, but I do love spring — except that it means a lot of yard work. One of the first tasks is to get some fertilizer down so the grass will be green and healthy during the summer months. So I went to the store to get some fertilizer and couldn’t believe all the choices. There are fertilizers for pre-emergent control, organic fertilizers, granular, liquids, and the list goes on. The nice thing about this is that you can choose the right fertilizer for your needs.

Advances in semiconductor manufacturing are now driving equipment OEMs to look at new ways to meet growing manufacturing requirements. Not all OEMs will have the same processing requirements. Some may have large data sets or image files they need to deal with. Others may not. For some, speed of execution may be very important, while it may not be for others.

Starting today Cimetrix makes available the new release of CIM300. For CIM300 customers that develop on 64-bit operating systems, you now have a choice to develop 32-bit applications or 64-bit applications. This allows greater flexibility in speed and memory use options when using CIM300. Choose your target when you compile your application, no coding changes are needed.

The new release of CIM300 also has fixes and enhancements requested by customers as well as updated support for the latest SEMI GEM300 standards. With this release, customers will continue to enjoy the reliability of CIM300 with new benefits. Under the hood, we have increased our GEM compliance testing to ensure that interfaces developed with CIM300 will pass factory acceptance testing.

One new feature in this version of CIM300 is a new utility that allows logging to be configured at runtime. The CIM300 Settings utility works with the CIMConnect logging package. CIMConnect logging can also be configured through this utility.

So CIM300 customers, exercise your option to enjoy added flexibility and new features combined with the same reliability you expect from Cimetrix products.♦

On March 15-17 in Shanghai, SEMI hosted its annual SEMICON China and PFD China, which was the world’s largest semiconductor trade show of the past five years. With an increase of 20% over last year, the show had more than 2,600 booths from companies based all over the world. Many theme pavilions at the exposition demonstrated the strength of the industry. In addition, the series of concurrent conferences and programs brought the global industry knowledge sharing to exhibitors and attendees alike.

Starting Tuesday morning, the Grand Opening Keynote was delivered by world-class industry leaders including Dr. Zhou Zixue—the Chairman of SMIC, Ding Wenwu—the President of China National IC Fund, along with the CEOs from TSMC, Applied Materials, Amkor Technology, TEL, STATS ChipPAC, and Lam Research. The presentation explored global business and technology trends, market opportunities, and shared the panel’s ideas supporting the development of China’s semiconductor industry.

The rapid rise of China’s semiconductor industry has been driven mainly by an increasing market and investments. Chinese companies and funds have been active in the recent cross-border merger and acquisition deals. On Wednesday at the “Tech Investment Forum – China 2016,” leaders of China’s IC Investment Fund and leading global investment institutions discussed investment hot-topics within the Chinese semiconductor industry.

Also on Wednesday, SEMICON hosted a “Build China IC Manufacturing Ecosystem” forum that discussed establishing a full integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing supply-chain and building manufacturing core competencies that are vital for China’s semiconductor industry. The forum included speakers from China and leading global companies from the IC design, manufacturing, equipment, and materials fields. A wide range of topics was  covered including innovation and cooperation in leading-edge frontend processes, advanced packaging technologies, eight-inch production line, and more.

Other concurrent technology sessions included “China Memory Strategic Forum,” “Technology Shape the Future – Senor Hub Solution for Wearable and IoT,” “LED China Conference 2016,” “Power Semiconductor Forum 2016,” “SEMI-JEDEC Mobile and IoT Technology Forum,” and “China Display Conference/ASID 2016.” These sessions illustrate how the Chinese semiconductor market is interested in exploring industrial developments, share its visions for the future, and to work cohesively to grow the industry within China.

This was the first year Cimetrix exhibited at SEMICON China. We were able to make some valuable connections, visit with existing customers, and establish that Chinese companies have a definite interest in our product lines as well as how we can help them find greater success. We featured our complete SECS/GEM and EDA product lines with in-booth demonstrations and presentations.

We have already made plans to attend next year’s show to further explore how we can fit into the expanding Chinese market. We are hopeful that China will open new possibilities for the continued growth of Cimetrix.♦

The long-awaited set of EDA informational videos is now available on the Cimetrix website. They can be found at the http://www.cimetrix.com/EDA-In-Depth link found underneath the SEMI Standards tab on our home page.

The target audience for these videos includes anyone who is curious about the origins and vision behind the EDA standards; semiconductor factory operations people who want to know how these standards might provide real manufacturing benefit; automation/IT staff who need a refresher about the content of the standards themselves and alternatives for incorporating them in the factory’s data collection infrastructure; and, finally, purchasing people who must understand how to create robust requirements specifications for their equipment suppliers.

All the videos are roughly 6-8 minutes long, so we’ve tried to make it easy to address your individual interests. To this end, the first ten videos cover a wide range of technical and commercial topics grouped into the following three categories:

1. What is EDA?

2. Why is EDA important?

3. How do I buy/build an EDA solution?

More will be added over time as the topics of interest to the semiconductor manufacturing automation community evolve, but we invite you to have a look today to see what’s there. And if English (or Texan!) is not your native language, or you want to review written versions of this material, the transcript for each video can be downloaded via the link below each video. Moreover, if your company infrastructure does not support direct viewing of video content, please contact us so we can make alternative arrangements to deliver this material.

Finally, if you have a suggested topic you would like to know more about, please let us know. We may have a presentation already available, or a video demonstration underway that can answer your question. And if not…we’ll make one!♦

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

“Watch out for that first step Mac, it’s a lulu!” – Bugs Bunny

These quotes by the great philosophers Lau Tzu and Bugs Bunny have more in common than would appear at first glance. At the beginning of a journey you have the element of the unknown. There is excitement that it could be a great journey, but there is also an element of the unknown that may make that first step the hardest to take. If you haven’t put in the preparation for a successful journey, that first step might be a lulu.

Similarly, when starting a new equipment control application, there is excitement for the great end product, but also some element of not knowing the best place to start. CIMControlFrameowrk (CCF) offers a great training program to get you started and many building blocks for helping create a first-class equipment control application. Even with these great starting tools, many users still have the question, “Where do I go from here?”

The first step is to create a work breakdown of what it takes to create a successful equipment control application. There will obviously be tasks that are unique to each equipment control application, but most applications have some common tasks or epic user stories that have to be completed during the project. The order in which these stories are completed may depend on milestones and expectations for when they are accomplished, but they generally all need to be completed during the project.

• Integrate Devices – CCF provides an Equipment layer with abstractions of most commonly used devices. Integrating these devices into CCF only requires the implementation of the abstract interface.

• Material Movement Through the Tool – CCF provides a flexible scheduler with complete working examples of different types of scheduling that could be done.

• Implement the Process Module – CCF provides a process module interface that allows the rest of CCF to communicate with your process module – your secret sauce.

• Create an Operator Interface (OI) – CCF provides an OI framework that allows commands to be sent and updates to be made. It also provides some default screens that use this interface. It also allows for insertion and use of custom OI screens.

• Simulation – CCF provides a simulator that can be used in place of real hardware. The simulator can be used to deliver/remove material, perform robot moves, and do simulated IO. This is invaluable in continuing development before the hardware is ready or if there is limited tool time for the developers.

• Recipes (Process Recipes and Execution) – CCF provides a recipe manager for passing recipes through the tool. The default recipe can be used or custom recipes can be added.

• I/O – CCF provides ASCII serial drivers and other common IO providers. Custom IO providers can also be included in CCF.

• Data Collection and Storage – Knowing what data to store and what medium to use for storage is recommended up front.

• Factory Automation – CCF provides a fully integrated GEM, GEM300, and EDA implementation.

• Diagnostics and Testing – The CCF logging package is a fantastic tool for debugging your application both on the tool and remotely.

• Errors and Recovery – CCF provides an Alarms package for signaling of and recovery from error conditions.

By going through CCF training and creating a work breakdown of the tasks that need to be done for your equipment control application, you can ensure that your first step will be the foundation of a successful journey.♦

To learn more about CCF, visit the CIMControlFramework page on our website!

In November 2014, Cimetrix attained a status of ISV (IP & Solution Development) Gold Competency Partner with Microsoft^®. Now you may be thinking “So what? What could that possibly have to do with me as a client of Cimetrix?” That’s what I would have thought if I had read the headline without knowing what was involved to both achieving and maintaining that level with Microsoft. So let me briefly share the main value of Cimetrix being a Gold Competency Partner and why it matters to our clients and to Cimetrix.

A requirement for Cimetrix to reach the Gold Level was that we had to have, at a minimum, three (3) products that passed the Gold Competency Test for Windows^® 8. This test (commonly referred to as a “logo” test) ensures that the software applications adhere to patterns and practices consistent with Microsoft’s operating system architecture. The logo compatible applications must conform to the following:

1. Compatibility and Resilience – Apps are expected to be resilient and stable, and eliminating failures helps ensure that software is more predictable, maintainable, performant, and trustworthy.

2. Adherence to Windows Security Best Practices – Using Windows security best practices will help avoid creating exposure to Windows attack surfaces. Attack surfaces are the entry points that a malicious attacker could use to exploit the operating system by taking advantage of vulnerabilities in the target software. One of the worst security vulnerabilities is the elevation of privilege.

3. Support Windows Security Features – The Windows operating system has many features that support system security and privacy. Apps must support these features to maintain the integrity of the operating system. Improperly compiled apps can cause buffer overruns that may, in turn, cause denial of service or allow malicious code execution.

4. Adherence to System Restart Manager Messages – When users initiate shutdown, they usually have a strong desire to see shutdown succeed; they may be in a hurry to leave the office and just want their computers to turn off. Apps must respect this desire by not blocking shutdown. While in most cases a shutdown may not be critical, apps must be prepared for the possibility of a critical shutdown.

5. Support of a Clean, Reversible Installation – A clean, reversible installation allows users to successfully manage (deploy and remove) apps on their systems.

6. Digitally Signing Files and Drivers – An Authenticode digital signature allows users to be sure that the software is genuine. It also allows one to detect whether a file has been tampered with, such as if it has been infected by a virus. Kernel-mode code signing enforcement is a Windows feature known as code integrity (CI), which improves the security of the operating system by verifying the integrity of a file each time the image of the file is loaded into memory. CI detects whether malicious code has modified a system binary file. It also generates a diagnostic and system-audit log event when the signature of a kernel module fails to verify correctly.

7. Prevention of Blocked Installations or App Launches Based on an Operating System Version Check – It is important that customers are not artificially blocked from installing or running their app when there are no technical limitations. In general, if apps were written for Windows Vista or later versions of Windows, they should not have to check the operating system version.

8. Does Not Load Services or Drivers in Safe Mode – Safe mode allows users to diagnose and troubleshoot Windows. Drivers and services must not be set to load in safe mode unless they are needed for basic system operations of such as storage device drivers or for diagnostic and recovery purposes, such as anti-virus scanners. By default, when Windows is in safe mode, it starts only the drivers and services that came preinstalled with Windows.

9. Follows User Account Control Guidelines – Some Windows apps run in the security context of an administrator account, and apps often request excessive user rights and Windows privileges. Controlling access to resources enables users to be in control of their systems and protect them against unwanted changes. An unwanted change can be malicious, such as a toolkit taking control of the computer, or be the result of an action made by people who have limited privileges. The most important rule for controlling access to resources is to provide the least amount “standard user context” necessary for a user to perform his or her necessary tasks. Following user account control (UAC) guidelines provides an app with the necessary permissions when they are needed by the app, without leaving the system constantly exposed to security risks. Most apps do not require administrator privileges at run time, and should be just fine running as a standard-user.

10. Installation to the Correct Folders by Default – Users should have a consistent and secure experience with the default installation location of files, while maintaining the option to install an app in the location of their choice. It is also necessary to store app data in the correct location to allow several people to use the same computer without corrupting or overwriting each other's data and settings. Windows provides specific locations in the file system to store programs and software components, shared app data, and app data specific to a user.

Microsoft provides a suite of tests that ensure compliance to the standards listed above. Cimetrix, as part of our release process, now runs the logo testing suite against all products prior to a scheduled release. To date we have received logo certification for our latest versions of CIM300, EDAConnect, and ECCE Plus. We have also submitted the latest release of CIMConnect for endorsement. We will continue to make sure all new product releases are subject to and pass the logo certification process. Committing to making sure our products are logo tested not only ensures our continued status as a Gold Competency Partner, but it also lets our clients know of our commitment to deliver quality software that is compatible with Microsoft’s current operating systems. 

The largest benefit Cimetrix receives from our Gold Partner status is the access to Microsoft tools and technologies. As a Gold Competency Partner, Cimetrix receives premium MSDN subscriptions to ensure each engineer in Engineering, Quality Engineering, and CT&S have the most up-to-date technology tools, training, and information they need to get their respective jobs done. Having access to the right tools ensures that our engineers can be as efficient and effective as possible. In addition, the cost savings of having these tools provided to us, as opposed to having to purchase a subscription for each engineer, is significant. By saving money on tools, we can devote those monies to product development. 

Application certification and the tools provided by MSDN subscriptions are just a couple of examples of how our Gold Competency Partner status provides benefits to our clients. Cimetrix greatly values its partnership status with Microsoft. We are committed to continuing to adhere to the requirements and standards set by Microsoft in order to retain our Gold status.♦