TransSECS acts as a translation hub that turns every SECS/GEM interaction into MQTT + Sparkplug B payloads that any IIoT or SCADA application can consume in real-time.

  • SECS/GEM Link – TransSECS runs the GEM host role over HSMS-TCP.
  • Sparkplug Broker – an external MQTT broker (Ignition, HiveMQ, Mosquitto, …) distributes the data.
  • Mapping Rule –
      ◦ One GEM host ⇢ One Sparkplug Node
          ▪ The Node ID is normally the host name or its DeviceID (e.g. ‘’GEMHost’’).
      ◦ Every GEM message or data collection object ⇢ One Sparkplug Device
          ▪ Static constructs: configuration snapshots, constant templates (e.g. ‘’SecsAlarmTemplate’’).
          ▪ Dynamic constructs: SxFy commands/replies, event reports, traces, polls, VIDs, ECIDs.
          
  • Lifecycle –
      ◦ NBIRTH declares the Node and publishes common templates.
      ◦ DBIRTH is sent once per Device at session start, providing a self-describing schema.
      ◦ DDATA updates flow continuously as the host exchanges SECS messages with the tool.
      ◦ DCMD topics (host-initiated) let external clients trigger host commands or polling cycles.
      ◦ NDEATH/DDEATH occur if the HSMS link drops or the host project is stopped.
      

This mapping keeps MQTT topic trees flat, avoids massive tag explosions, and preserves full GEM semantics—including primary/secondary pairs and structured parameter lists—without custom parsers on the subscriber side.

TransSECS bridges legacy SECS/GEM automation with modern Sparkplug B IIoT ecosystems. By treating a GEM host as a Sparkplug node and every GEM interaction (messages, traces, polls, reports) as separate devices, the project delivers:

  Loss-less, real-time visibility of all tool communications over standard MQTT topics.
  Plug-and-play tag discovery for SCADA, MES and analytics platforms—no SECS expertise required.
  Bidirectional control, allowing higher-level applications to issue GEM remote commands simply by writing to Sparkplug metrics.

The result is a unified data pipeline that preserves the rigor of SEMI E30 while unlocking the scalability and openness of MQTT for next-generation smart-factory deployments.

  • Goal – expose all GEM data (events, variables, alarms, host commands, traces, polls) as native Sparkplug tags so analytics, dashboards, or MES extensions can subscribe with zero GEM knowledge.
  • Key Features –
      ◦ Template-driven DBIRTHs ensure every field is typed and documented.
      ◦ Real-time DDATA keeps OT applications in sync with the tool at millisecond resolution.
      ◦ DCMD path provides a secure, auditable way to drive tool commands from MQTT clients.
  • Outcome – manufacturers gain AI-ready, broker-based access to rich equipment data while protecting existing GEM investments; integrators can write once to Sparkplug and deploy everywhere—from edge gateways to cloud analytic pipelines.

Objective – announce the GEM host to Sparkplug clients and publish a schema (“templates”) for every GEM object that may appear later in the session.

NBIRTH – brings the Node “GEMHost” online and sets the Node Control/Rebirth flag to false (fresh start).

bdSeq is the node’s monotonic sequence counter; clients can detect missed packets if the counter ever skips.

Template blocks

SecsAlarmTemplate → provides the canonical field order for any S5 alarm (ALID, ALCD, SET, ALTX).

”00” and ”ArrayValue” templates cover raw SECS-II data and array values, respectively.

One DBIRTH per GEM construct – each message that the host can issue or accept (e.g. ECIDRequest, HostCommandSTART) is given its own Device under the node.

Device Control/Rebirth (Boolean) tells subscribers whether the driver is merely updating values or requesting that the message be resent over SECS.

responseStatus (Int32) is the TransSECS driver’s internal return code (0 = OK).

sendMessage (Boolean) is true only when the host actively asks the driver to transmit the payload (DCMD → S2F41, S1F3, …).

Most-important DBIRTHs in this sequence

ECIDRequest – schema for S2F13 requests (defaults to ECID 2000).

SVIDListReply – placeholder for the massive list returned by S1F12.

configuration – snapshot of every host-level setting that was mapped to VIDs (timeouts, link speed, host IP etc.).

HostCommandSTART/PPSELECT/STOP – expose parameter names expected by the tool.

Enable All Alarms, Request OnLine, CEIDList – control and discovery primitives.

STATE topic check – the broker publishes spBv1.0/STATE/Servers_HostNode once the NBIRTH has been accepted and TTL monitoring is active.

“online=true” confirms that the node is considered healthy; TransSECS will not generate DCMD traffic until this flag is true.

Timestamp – given in POSIX ms; it matches the SECS driver’s local clock and can be used for coarse latency measurements.

Flow – the host sends PP-SELECT (DCMD/GEMHost/HostCommandPPSELECT, “sendMessage=true”) → TransSECS forwards S2F41 W → the tool replies S2F42 (“HCACK 0”).

Sparkplug updates:

• The driver immediately publishes a “DDATA/…/HostCommandPPSELECT” echo with “sendMessage=false” to show the command as sent.
• The tool’s S2F42 is translated to “DDATA/…/HostCommandReply” where “HCACK=0” indicates success.

Parameters – “LOTIDParamValue” and “PPIDParamValue” appear exactly as entered by the host; on success they are echoed back unchanged.

Best-practice – SCADA / MES clients should subscribe to “…HostCommandReply” and check “HCACK” before assuming the tool accepted the command.

Scenario – the host issues PP-SELECT with an invalid PPID; the tool rejects it with “HCACK 3” and a populated “ReasonList”.

ReasonList structure – an array of tuples “<ParameterName, ErrorCode>”.

• In this example → “PPID, 1” (= “parameter unknown or out of range” in many GEM implementations).

Error detection – any non-zero “HCACK” must be treated as a transaction failure; the associated “HostCommandPPSELECT” echo still appears but only confirms that the message was transmitted, not that it succeeded.

Client hint – log “ReasonList_*” for root-cause analysis and surface a human-readable alarm where appropriate.

Event 7502 (COMPLETED) – the tool raises S6F11 with ReportID 100 (LotEndReport).

TransSECS actions

• Updates Variables with the content of the lot-end report (CLOCK, LOTID, PPID, WaferCount).

• Publishes EventMessage → LastEvent = 7502, LastEventName = COMPLETED.

• Sends S2F23/S2F24 to terminate any active trace whose end-event is “COMPLETED” (here: TRID 3000).

Why two COMPLETED bursts? – the example shows two sequential lots finishing quickly; both follow the identical publish path, proving that templates survive across lot boundaries without requiring a new DBIRTH.

Event 7501 (STARTED) – triggers both a ”DataReport” (ID 101) and a ”LotEndReport” snapshot.

• Key process parameters (GasFlow, ProcessTemperature, SetPoint) are captured immediately.

Poll activation – on STARTED, TransSECS enables the S1F3 poll group S1F3Poll (1.5 s cadence).

• Each poll produces a pair of messages:

• Over SECS: S1F3 W / S1F4 reply.

• Over Sparkplug:

• DDATA/…/Variables → updated CLOCK, GasFlow, LOTID.

• DDATA/…/SendS1F3Poll → simple heartbeat for debugging.

Continuation – polling repeats until the next COMPLETED event; note the broker-side comments (“Polling Continues…”, “End Polling”) that bracket the captured sequence.

Trace shutdown – when COMPLETED fires, TransSECS also issues S2F23/S2F24 to end the 1 s ProcessTrace (Loaded ➜ Completed) and stops the S1F3 poll in the same second.