Online information source for semiconductor professionals

Product Briefing Outline: Imera Systems has announced its next-generation network virtualization solutions for cross-enterprise e-Diagnostics and equipment knowledge base access. The solutions are claimed to connect manufacturers and equipment vendors to maximize productivity and reduce unscheduled equipment downtime with no VPN connection, or a third party service provider without IP leakage.

Problem: Legacy e-Diagnostics solutions require VPN connections along with third party service providers. This raises security and compliance concerns for manufacturers. Imera’s e-Diagnostics solution allows equipment consoles to be visually shared with remote experts from within the manufacturer's protected fab network. Remote vendor experts from anywhere in the world, on public or protected corporate networks, can instantly diagnose and resolve equipment problems. Shorter time-to-resolution means higher equipment availability and higher productivity for manufacturers.

Solution: Imera’s knowledge base access solution enables equipment vendors’ on-site personnel to securely access vendor knowledge base systems from within the manufacturer’s protected fab network. Information access flow can be managed by manufacturers and equipment vendors through Imera’s cross-enterprise federated protocols. Imera’s solution protects customers’ process as well as knowledge IP and shortens problem resolution without compromising the manufacturer’s information security controls.

Applications: Imera’s network virtualization platform has been qualified as the standard secure fab access and collaboration solution by leading foundries and companies in the semiconductor ecosystem.

Platform: Imera's technology features an integrated end-to-end, thin-client terminal-based virtual network - ‘ThinNetwork’ - that overlays existing enterprise network, security, and computing infrastructure. Imera's solutions support Unix, Windows, and Linux environments.

Availability: July 2008 onwards.