Connect Tech and PEER Group Team to Provide Semiconductor Industry with Fail-Safe
Multiplexing Solution

Guelph, Ontario – May 22, 2002

The PEER Group Inc., Kitchener, Ontario announced a partnership with Connect Tech Inc., Guelph, Ontario to offer a SECS communications multiplexing solution with true hardware fail-over protection.

The PEER Group™ software application Plex4SECS provides reliable multi-host access to a single piece of semiconductor equipment. For SECS-I (serial) primary host connections, the addition of Connect Tech’s Blue Heat/PCI^® Pass-Through Mux (PTM) board guarantees a connection between the primary host and tool should the Plex4SECS system stop or even lose power. Both products are installed on standard PCs with no further hardware required, thus making this solution a unique market offering.

Plex4SECS allows secondary hosts to collect data for improving both process quality and tool uptime. Each host can independently request data and receive tool events. Robert Harris, PEER Group president notes, “For the production engineers, any effort to insert software between the primary host and a tool is considered risky. A prime example is the growing data collection requirements of R&D for APC and yield improvement. In the past, if R&D’s software or hardware failed, communication between the primary host and the tool was lost. Our combined solution allows multiple hosts to retrieve data from the tool without compromising the host connection.”

For HSMS tools, Plex4SECS alone provides the multiplexing function. However, for the majority of tools in today’s fabs, serial communication is the norm. David Worthen, Connect Tech president adds, “The proven design and choice of components within the Blue Heat/PCI PTM board ensures that it performs transparently in both pass-through and fail-over states. No other solution on the market offers the high degree of security that a hardware pass-through offers.” 

“This is truly a market driven solution,” Harris explains. “Our customers came to us and asked us to create this concise capability. Through the PEER Group – Connect Tech partnership, we delivered.” This low cost, high reliability solution is targeted at servicing the growing data collection needs of fab automation and process control engineers.

Pricing:
The combined solution price for the Plex4SECS application and Blue Heat/PCI PTM board is $1250 US, with OEM discounts available. Contact Bruce Berry at 519-749-9554 for more information.

About PEER Group:
PEER Group provides manufacturing software solutions, integrating information and automation for customers in the semiconductor industry. Ten years experience in developing and integrating fab-wide SECS/GEM compliant software was the genesis for the suite of SECS/GEM communication tools PEER Group has developed for the industry.

The PEER Group Inc.
Suite 400, 72 Victoria St. S.
Kitchener, Ontario
Canada N2G 4Y9                                 

Info@peergroup.com                         
519-749-9554                                       
For more information, contact Bruce Berry of PEER Group at 519-749-9554 ext. 122.

PEER Group is a trademark of The PEER Group Inc.  Blue Heat/PCI is a registered trademark of Connect Tech Inc.

Contact:
Sales@connecttech.com
800-426-8979
519-836-1291

About Connect Tech:
Since 1985, Connect Tech has provided the globe with high quality, cost-effective connectivity solutions. Committed to excellence in both product design and customer satisfaction, Connect Tech continues to build on a reputation for manufacturing high performance multi-port serial adapters for personal computers.