The clean room environment of a semiconductor fabrication facility requires an environment that is far more sterile than that of an operating room. There can be no dust particles or contaminants of any kind. During the installation phase of a system, the engineers follow strict clean room procedures relating to equipment, work clothes, and body contaminants. As the installation progresses, and as the wiring becomes more complex, additional preparation time is required. The ability to preinstall the network infrastructure can significantly reduce costs, since we do not need to spend as much time in the clean room, comments Severino.
Flexibility is also a key factor for semiconductor customers.
Life safety systems must be able to cope effortlessly with the continual technological changes of the industry, says Severino. The ability to distribute intelligence to the field devices can help simplify wiring requirements while providing the requisite flexibility. The conventional system architecture of an analog communications relies on a central controller. A single point of failure is too great a risk, given the need to protect the health and safety of the operators, comments Severino. MST s solution was to distribute the intelligence to the field devices.