IPC-HERMES-9852

Version 1.6

The Global Standard

for Machine-to-Machine
Communication in
SMT Assembly
If a conflict occurs
between the English
language and translated
versions of this document,
the English version will
take precedence.

Developed by The Hermes Standard Initiative and the

IPC-HERMES-9852 Standard Task Group (2-17b) of the Electronic
Product Data Description Committee (2-10) of IPC

Supersedes: Users of this publication are encouraged to participate in the

IPC-HERMES-9852, development of future revisions.
Version 1.5 – November 2022
IPC-HERMES-9852, Contact:
Version 1.4 – February 2022
IPC
IPC-HERMES-9852,
3000 Lakeside Drive, Suite 105N
Version 1.3 – May 2021
Bannockburn, Illinois
IPC-HERMES-9852,
60015-1249
Version 1.2 – June 2019
Tel 847 615.7100
Fax 847 615.7105
July 2024 IPC-HERMES-9852 Version 1.6

Table of Contents
1 SCOPE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3.13 SetConfiguration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

2 TECHNICAL CONCEPT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3.14 GetConfiguration.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

2.1 Prerequisites.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3.15 CurrentConfiguration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

2.2 Board IDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3.16 BoardForecast.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

2.3 Machine-to-Machine Communication 3.17 QueryBoardInfo.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

(Horizontal Channel).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3.18 SendBoardInfo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.3.1 Topology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3.19 SupervisoryServiceDescription. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.3.2 Connecting, Handshake and Detection of 3.20 BoardArrived. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Connection Loss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3.21 BoardDeparted. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.3.3 Normal Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3.22 QueryWorkOrderInfo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.3.4 Transport Error Handling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3.23 SendWorkOrderInfo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.3.5 Handling of BoardForecast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 3.24 ReplyWorkOrderInfo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.3.6 Protocol States and Protocol Error 3.25 Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Handling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3.26 QueryHermesCapabilities.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.3.7 Handling of Attribute ‘Route’.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3.27 SendHermesCapabilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.3.8 Handling of Attribute ‘Action’. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4 APPENDIX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.4 Remote Configuration.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.1 Special Scenarios. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.4.1 Topology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.1.1 Board Tracking When Board
2.4.2 Remote Configuration.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Is Torn Out From the Line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.5 Communication ith Supervisory System 4.1.2 Board Tracking When Board
(Vertical Channel).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Is Temporarily Removed From the Line.. . . . 52
2.5.1 Topology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 4.1.3 Board Tracking When Board
2.5.2 Connecting, Handshake and Detection of Was Transferred without Data.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Connection Loss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 4.1.4 Oven Error Loop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
2.5.3 Protocol States and Protocol Error 4.1.5 Request Pause / Confirm Pause
Handling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 and Resume Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3 MESSAGE DEFINITION.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 4.1.6 Board Removal at Downstream
3.1 Message Format.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Conveyor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.2 Root Element.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 4.1.7 Reversal Transportation to a Flipping Unit
3.3 CheckAlive.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Located Downstream a Process Machine.. . . 57

3.4 ServiceDescription. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 4.1.8 Reversal Transportation to a Flipping Unit

Located Upstream a Process Machine. . . . . . . 58
3.5 Notification.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.1.9 Board Routing within a Production Line
3.6 BoardAvailable.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
by Predefined Routes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.7 RevokeBoardAvailable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.1.10 Board Routing within a Production Line
3.8 MachineReady. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Towards Target Locations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.9 RevokeMachineReady. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.2 Glossary / Abbreviations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
3.10 StartTransport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.3 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
3.11 StopTransport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.4 History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.12 TransportFinished. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

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IPC-HERMES-9852 Version 1.6 July 2024

Figures Figure 18 Example of Communication Sequence

BoardForecast
Figure 1 Generation of Board IDs.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
without Product Change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Figure 2 TCP Connections in a Line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Figure 19 Hermes Interface States on Horizontal
Figure 3 Upstream and Downstream From the Channel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Perspective of the Machine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Figure 20 Connection, Handshake and Connection
Figure 4 Connection, Handshake and Connection Loss Detection on Vertical Channel. . . . . . . . 20
Loss Detection on Horizontal Channel. . . . . . . 4
Figure 21 Example for Connection Loss Detection
Figure 5 Example for Connection Loss Detection with FeatureCheckAliveResponse
with FeatureCheckAliveResponse on on Vertical Channel.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Horizontal Channel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Figure 22 Hermes Interface States
Figure 6 Communication Sequence for Board on Vertical Channel.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Transport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Figure 23 Explanation for Top and Bottom
Figure 7 Communication Sequence Clearance Height.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
in Scenario U1a. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Figure 24 Line Setup with Barcode Readers
Figure 8 Communication Sequence and Repair Station. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
in Scenario U1b. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Figure 25 Line Setup with Fixed and Mobile
Figure 9 Communication Sequence Barcode Readers – Board Temporarily
in Scenario U2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Removed from Line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Figure 10 Communication Sequence Figure 26 Line Setup with Fixed and Mobile
in Scenario U3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Barcode Readers – Board Transferred
Figure 11 Communication Sequence without Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
in Scenario D1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Figure 27 SMT Subline That Is Involved
Figure 12 Communication Sequence in Oven Error Loop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
in Scenario D2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Figure 28 Example Subline Showing Use Case
Figure 13 Communication Sequence Request Pause / Confirm Pause
in Scenario D3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 and Resume Operation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Figure 14 Example of Communication Sequence Figure 29 Board Removal at Downstream
for BoardForecast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Conveyor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Figure 15 Example of Communication Sequence Figure 30 Reversal Transportation, Downstream
for BoardForecast Flipping Unit.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
with RevokeMachineReady. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Figure 31 Reversal Transportation, Upstream
Figure 16 Example of Communication Sequence Flipping Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
with Several BoardForecast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Figure 32 Board Routing, Predefined Routes . . . . . . . . . 60
Figure 17 Example of Communication Sequence Figure 33 Board Routing, Multiple Target
in Case with Error Handling.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Locations.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

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July 2024 IPC-HERMES-9852 Version 1.6

IPC-HERMES-9852 Version 1.6

The Global Standard for Machine-to-Machine
Communication in SMT Assembly

1 SCOPE
The aim of this specification is to create a state-of-the-art communication protocol for handling board transfers and associated
data at surface-mount technology (SMT) production lines. Therefore, this new communication protocol has to cope with the
following:
• Replace the electrical SMEMA interface as specified in IPC-SMEMA-9851
• Extend the interface to communicate:
– Unique identifiers for the handled printed circuit boards (PCBs)
– Equipment identifiers of the first machine noticing a PCB
– Barcodes
– Conveyor speed and intended board route
– A lightweight digital twin of the product containing, e.g.,
▪ Product type identifier
▪ Length
▪ Width
▪ Thickness
▪ Board state
With respect to version numbers The Hermes Standard adheres to the rules of Semantic Versioning 2.0.0 [SemVer_2.0.0].
Hints on naming:
• Wherever a feature is described by the word “shall” it is mandatory.
• The word “machine” is used for any equipment which can be found in a SMT production line (e.g., printers, placement
machines, ovens, AOIs, transport modules, shuttles, stackers).
• The term “PCB” may also refer to carriers transporting PCBs.
• The word “Hermes” is used as abbreviation for “The Hermes Standard”.
• “The Hermes Standard” and IPC-HERMES-9852 are synonyms for the standard specified in this document and might be
used interchangeably.