A process controller includes a central processing unit and a multi-channel serial communication interface including a plurality of serial communication engines in parallel to one another coupled to the CPU. In one embodiment of the present invention, a Group III nitride semiconductor thin film is epitaxially grown by sputtering on an \u03b1-Al2O3 substrate heated to a desired temperature by using a heater. A trench for defining a wiring layer is provided on the surface of the insulating layer. The data is partly downloaded data, called rulesets, and partly data that is collected and stored locally, called interaction data.