Load Port lets OEMs meet end-user 300 mm requirements.
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Press Release Summary:
FIXLOAD(TM) 6M load port offers fast wafer-access time and load port-to-FOUP interoperability. It is fully compliant to relevant SEMI standards and is completely backward compatible. Optional single connector interface provides communication to E84, carrier ID, and FixMAP(TM) mapping systems. OEMs can choose between either RS 232 serial, 50 pin digital I/O, Ethernet, or DeviceNet(TM) load port-to-tool control interface.
Original Press Release:
Brooks-PRI Automation Announces the FIXLOAD(TM) 6M 300mm Load Port
Newest version of the FIXLOAD provides enhanced flexibility, enabling OEMs to meet all end-user 300mm requirements
CHELMSFORD, Mass. -- Brooks-PRI Automation, Inc. (Nasdaq: BRKS), which delivers total automation for semiconductor manufacturing, today announced the FIXLOAD 6M, an enhanced update to its 300mm load-port product line. With FIXLOAD 6M, Brooks-PRI combines field-proven performance with maximum configurability, allowing OEMs to meet rapidly evolving end-user requirements at 300mm production fabs.
Brooks-PRI's FIXLOAD 6M next-generation load port incorporates the expertise gained from a worldwide installed base of nearly 6,000 FIXLOADs, and builds upon this success using a continuous-improvement design philosophy. This effort has produced a load port that provides maximum reliability, the industry's fastest wafer-access time, ultra-clean operation, optimized load port-to-FOUP interoperability and all the features and options required by end users. The FIXLOAD 6M is fully compliant to relevant SEMI standards and is completely backward compatible.
According to Brian Dawson, general manager of Brooks-PRI's Factory Interface Business Unit, Brooks-PRI customers require a load port that can be quickly and easily configured for specific end-user requirements, regardless of the end user's location or whether or not the load port is already integrated. FIXLOAD 6M's highly modular design includes a comprehensive choice of plug-and-play options that delivers maximum flexibility for customers. "300mm load ports are an integral link in Brooks-PRI's total automation suite and a vital automation component through which every wafer passes before entering any process tool, Equipment Front End Module or wafer sorter," said Dawson. "It is therefore imperative that a load port delivers maximum performance so that IC manufacturers meet their production goals. The FIXLOAD 6M provides this performance."
"Brooks-PRI load ports are already the most widely used in the industry," Dawson added. "We believe that this new product will strengthen our market share lead in both design wins and total installations."
The FIXLOAD 6M suite of options provides OEMs with a seamless and effortless integration path when choosing their load port solution - for instance, using an internal CAN Bus structure, plug-and-play options can be quickly integrated into the FIXLOAD base product. An optional single connector interface provides communication to E84, carrier ID and the FixMAP(TM) mapping systems and OEMs can now choose between either an RS 232 serial, 50 pin digital I/O, Ethernet or DeviceNet(TM) load port-to-tool control interface.
Brooks-PRI is currently beta testing the FIXLOAD 6M at several major equipment manufacturers' sites with production quantities available starting in the fourth quarter of calendar 2002.
About Brooks-PRI Automation, Inc.
Brooks-PRI (NASDAQ: BRKS) delivers total automation. The company's hardware, software and services can manage every wafer, reticle and data movement in the fab, helping semiconductor manufacturers accelerate time-to-market while reducing their risk. Brooks-PRI products are used in
virtually every fab in the world. For information, visit http://:www.brooks-pri.com.
