San Francisco, Calif.— The Profibus Trade Organization (PTO, Scottsdale, Ariz.) announced July 13 at Semicon West that it's pursuing standardization for the Profibus Distributed Peripheral (DP) industrial communications protocol in semiconductor manufacturing through the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI, Mountain View, Calif.) trade association. SEMI consists of more than 2,000 members in the semiconductor and flat-panel display equipment and materials industries. SEMI's sensor bus subcommittee will conduct the certification process. Based on EN 50170, Profibus DP could become a standard under SEMI "as soon as late 1998, but definitely in 1999," says Michael Bryant, PTO's executive director. The standardization effort will also be managed by PTO with sponsorship and task force participation by organization members, such as Hirschmann Rheinmetall Electronik, InterlinkBT, Siemens, and SST.