Agilent E4406A Programmers Guide

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Programmer’s Guide

Agilent Technologies E4406A VSA Series

Transmitter Tester

Manufacturing Part Number: E4406-90135

Printed in USA

February 2000

The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice.

Agilent Technologiesmakesnowarrantyofanykindwithregard to this material, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and ﬁtness for a particular purpose. Agilent Technologies shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.

Safety Information

The following safety notes are used throughout this manual. Familiarize yourself with each of the notes and its meaning before operating this instrument.

WARNING Warning denotes a hazard. It calls attention to a procedure

which, if not correctly performed or adhered to, could result in injury or loss of life. Do not proceed beyond a warning note until the indicated conditions are fully understood and met.

CAUTION Caution denotes a hazard. It calls attention to a procedure that, if not

correctly performed or adhered to, could result in damage to or destruction of the instrument. Do not proceed beyond a caution sign until the indicated conditions are fully understood and met.

WARNING This is a Safety Class 1 Product (provided with a protective

earthing ground incorporated in the power cord). The mains plug shall only be inserted in a socket outlet provided with a protected earth contact. Any interruption of the protective conductor inside or outside of the product is likely to make the product dangerous. Intentional interruption is prohibited.

WARNING These servicing instructions are for use by qualiﬁed personnel

only. To avoid electrical shock, do not perform any servicing unless you are qualiﬁed to do so.

WARNING The power cord is connected to internal capacitors that may

remain live for 5 seconds after disconnecting the plug from its power supply.

Warranty

This Agilent Technologies instrument product is warranted against defects in material and workmanship for a period of one year from date of shipment. During the warranty period, Agilent Technologies Company will, at its option, either repair or replace products which prove to be defective.

For warranty service or repair, this product must be returned to a service facility designated by Agilent Technologies. Buyer shall prepay shipping charges to Agilent Technologies and Agilent Technologies shall pay shipping charges to return the product to Buyer. However, Buyer shall pay all shipping charges, duties, and taxes for products returned to Agilent Technologies from another country.

Agilent Technologies warrants that its software and ﬁrmware designated by Agilent Technologies for use with an instrument will execute its programming instructions when properly installed on that instrument. Agilent Technologies does not warrant that the operation of the instrument, or software, or ﬁrmware will be uninterrupted or error-free.

LIMITATION OF WARRANTY

The foregoing warranty shall not apply to defects resulting from improper or inadequate maintenance by Buyer, Buyer-supplied software or interfacing, unauthorized modiﬁcation or misuse, operation outside of the environmental speciﬁcations for the product, or improper site preparation or maintenance.

NO OTHER WARRANTY IS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

EXCLUSIVE REMEDIES

THE REMEDIES PROVIDED HEREIN ARE BUYER’S SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDIES. AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY.

1. Preparing for Use

What’s in This Chapter?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

www.agilent.com/ﬁnd/vsa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Digital Communications Measurements Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Programming the Transmitter Tester. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Installing Optional

Measurement Personalities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Available Personality Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

License Key Numbers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Installing a License Key Number. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Using the Uninstall Key. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Writing Your First Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Three Basic Steps in a Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Programming a Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

File Naming Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Cables for Connecting to RS-232. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Connecting to a LAN Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

2. Programming Fundamentals

SCPI Language Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Creating Valid Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Command Key Words and Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Special Characters in Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Parameters in Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Putting Multiple Commands on the Same Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Using the Instrument Status Registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

What are the Status Registers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Why Would You Use the Status Registers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Using a Status Register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Using the Service Request (SRQ) Method. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Overall Status Register System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Status Byte Register. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Standard Event Status Register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Operation and Questionable Status Registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

C Programming Examples using VTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Typical Example Program Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Linking to VTL Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Compiling and Linking a VTL Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Example Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Including the VISA Declarations File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Opening a Session. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Device Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Addressing a Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Closing a Session. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Overview of the GPIB Bus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65

GPIB Instrument Nomenclature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

GPIB Command Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Overview of the RS-232 Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

Settings for the Serial Interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Contents

Handshake and Baud Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

Character Format Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

Modem Line Handshaking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Data Transfer Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Using the LAN to Control the Analyzer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

Using ftp for File Transfers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

Using Telnet to Send Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72

Using Socket LAN to Send Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76

Using SICL LAN to Control the Analyzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77

Using HP/Agilent VEE Over Socket LAN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84

Using a Java™ Applet Over Socket LAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85

Using a C Program Over Socket LAN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85

General LAN Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86

3. Programming Examples

Types of Examples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94

Using Markers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95

Example:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96

Saving Binary Trace Data in an ASCII File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98

Example:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98

Saving ASCII Trace Data in an ASCII File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101

Example:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101

Saving and Recalling Instrument State Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104

Example:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104

Performing Alignments and Getting Pass/Fail Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107

Example:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107

Using C Programming Over Socket LAN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

Example:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

Using C Programming Over Socket LAN (Windows NT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Example:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Using Java Programming Over Socket LAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

Example:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

4. Programming Command Cross References

Functional Sort of SCPI Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134

5. Language Reference

SCPI Command Subsystems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138

IEEE Common Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

Calibration Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

Clear Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

Standard Event Status Enable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

Standard Event Status Register Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140

Identiﬁcation Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140

Instrument State Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141

Operation Complete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141

Query Instrument Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141

Recall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142

Contents

Reset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Service Request Enable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Read Status Byte Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Trigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Wait-to-Continue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

ABORt Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Abort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

CALCulate Subsystem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Adjacent Channel Power—Limit Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Query the Current Measurement Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Data Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Calculate/Compress Trace Data Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Calculate Peaks of Trace Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

CALCulate:MARKers Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

CALibration Subsystem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Calibration Abort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Align the ADC Auto-range Threshold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Align the ADC Dither Center Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Align the ADC Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Align the ADC RAM Gain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Align Everything . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Calibrate the Attenuator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Automatic Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Calibration Comb Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Calibration Correction On/Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Calibration Display Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Align the IF Flatness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Auto Adjust the Internal 10 MHz Frequency Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Align the ADC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Align the IF Gain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Calibrate the Nominal System Gain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Align the IF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Align the RF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Align the Image Filter Circuitry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Load the Factory Default Calibration Constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Align the Wide LC Preﬁlter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Align the Narrow LC Preﬁlter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Align the Wide Crystal Preﬁlter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Align the Narrow Crystal Preﬁlter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Adjust the Level of the 321.4 MHz Alignment Signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

External Signal Power for Internal 50 MHz Amplitude Reference Alignment . . . . . . . . 166

Internal 50 MHz Amplitude Reference Alignment Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Enter Interactive Mode for Internal 50 MHz Amplitude Reference Alignment . . . . . . . . 168

Exit Interactive Mode for Internal 50 MHz Amplitude Reference Alignment . . . . . . . . . 168

Query the Absolute Level for the 50 MHz Amplitude Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Query the ALC DAC Value for the 50 MHz Amplitude Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Align the RF Circuitry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Contents

Select the Source for Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170

Select the Source State for Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170

Align the Trigger Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170

Align the Trigger Interpolator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171

Calibration Wait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171

CONFigure Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .172

DISPlay Subsystem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173

Display Annotation Title Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173

Display Annotation Title On/Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173

Turn the Whole Display On/Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173

Select Display Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173

Select Display Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174

Spectrum - Y-Axis Reference Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174

Turn a Trace Display On/Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174

Waveform - Y-Axis Reference Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177

FETCh Subsystem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .178

FORMat Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179

Byte Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179

Numeric Data format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179

HCOPy Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181

Print a Hard Copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181

Screen Dump Query. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181

INITiate Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182

Continuous or Single Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182

Take New Data Acquisitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182

Restart the Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183

INPut Subsystem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .184

Input Impedance for IQ Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .184

INSTrument Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185

Catalog Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185

Select Application by Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185

Select Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186

MEASure Group of Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187

Measure Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187

Conﬁgure Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .188

Fetch Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189

Read Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189

Adjacent Channel Power Ratio (ACP) Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .190

50 MHz Amplitude Reference Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197

Channel Power Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .198

Power vs. Time Measurement [VSA-G,S ESA-G]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199

Sensor Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201

Spectrum (Frequency Domain) Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202

Timebase Frequency Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .204

Waveform (Time Domain) Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205

MEMory Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207

Install Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207

Un-install Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207

MMEMory Subsystem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208

Contents

Delete a File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

READ Subsystem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

SENSe Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Adjacent Channel Power Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Channel Power Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Correction for Base Station RF Port External Attenuation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Select the Input Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Center Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Center Frequency Step Size Automatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Center Frequency Step Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

RF Port Input Attenuation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

RF Port Power Range Maximum Total Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Power vs. Time (Burst Power) Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Reference Oscillator External Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Reference Oscillator Rear Panel Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Reference Oscillator Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Spectrum (Frequency-Domain) Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Waveform (Time-Domain) Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

STATus Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Operation Condition Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Operation Enable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Operation Event Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Operation Negative Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Operation Positive Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Preset the Status Byte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Questionable Calibration Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Questionable Calibration Enable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Questionable Calibration Event Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Questionable Calibration Negative Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Questionable Calibration Positive Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Questionable Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Questionable Enable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Questionable Event Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Questionable Frequency Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Questionable Frequency Enable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Questionable Frequency Event Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Questionable Frequency Negative Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Questionable Frequency Positive Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Questionable Integrity Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Questionable Integrity Enable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Questionable Integrity Event Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Questionable Integrity Negative Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Questionable Integrity Positive Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Questionable Integrity Signal Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Questionable Integrity Signal Enable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Questionable Integrity Signal Event Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Questionable Integrity Signal Negative Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Questionable Integrity Signal Positive Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Questionable Negative Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Contents

Questionable Power Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276

Questionable Power Enable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .277

Questionable Power Event Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .277

Questionable Power Negative Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .277

Questionable Power Positive Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278

Questionable Positive Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278

Questionable Temperature Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278

Questionable Temperature Enable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279

Questionable Temperature Event Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279

Questionable Temperature Negative Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279

Questionable Temperature Positive Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .280

SYSTem Subsystem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281

GPIB Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281

LAN IP Address & Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281

Hardware Conﬁguration Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .282

Set Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .282

Error Information Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .283

Exit Main Firmware for Upgrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .283

SCPI Command Help Headers Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .283

Host Identiﬁcation Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .283

License Key for Installing New Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .284

Delete a License Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .284

Service Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .285

Preset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .285

Set Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .285

Adjust Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .286

SCPI Version Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .286

TRIGger Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .287

Automatic Trigger Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .287

Automatic Trigger Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .288

Front Panel External Trigger Delay Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .288

Front Panel External Trigger Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289

Front Panel External Trigger Slope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289

Rear Panel External Trigger Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289

Rear Panel External Trigger Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .290

Rear Panel External Trigger Slope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .290

Frame Trigger Adjust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .290

Frame Trigger Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .291

Frame Trigger Sync Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .291

Frame Trigger Syncronization Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .292

Trigger Hold Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .292

Video (IF) Trigger Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .293

Video (IF) Trigger Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .293

Video (IF) Trigger Slope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .294

RF Burst Trigger Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .294

RF Burst Trigger Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .295

RF Burst Trigger Slope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .295

6. Error Messages

Contents

Error Queues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Front Panel Error Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

SCPI Remote Interface Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Clearing the Error Queue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

No Error. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Error Message Descriptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Messages with No Numbers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Query Error Messages

[−499 to −400] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Device-Speciﬁc Error Messages

[−399 to −300] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Execution Error Messages

[−299 to −200] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Command Error Messages

[−199 to −100] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Instrument-Speciﬁc Error Messages

[positive numbers]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

Core-Speciﬁc Error Messages

[1 to 99] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

GSM-Speciﬁc Error Messages

[100 to 199] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

CDMA-Speciﬁc Error Messages

[200 to 299] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

NADC-Speciﬁc Error Messages

[300 to 399] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

PDC-Speciﬁc Error Messages

[400 to 499] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Contents

1 Preparing for Use

This instrument uses the Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments (SCPI) programming language. Forinformation on writing SCPI commands see “SCPI Language Basics” on page 35.

Preparing for Use

What’s in This Chapter?

• “Programming the Transmitter Tester” on page 15

• “Installing Optional Measurement Personalities” on page 17

• “Writing Your First Program” on page 21

• “Cables for Connecting to RS-232” on page 24

• “Connecting to a LAN Server” on page 31

www.agilent.com/ﬁnd/vsa

Get the latest listing of SCPI commands for this instrument at the above web location. Look under technical support information.

Digital Communications Measurements Information

Additional measurement application information is available through your local Agilent Technologies sales and service ofﬁce. Some application notes are listed below:

Description

Digital Modulation in Communications Systems - An Introduction

Application Note 1298 Understanding CDMA Measurements for Base

Stations and Their Components Application Note 1311

Understanding GSM Transmitter Measurements for Base Transceiver Stations and Mobile Stations

Application Note 1312 Understanding PDC and NADC Transmitter

Measurements for Base Transceiver Stations and Mobile Stations

Application Note 1324

Agilent Part

Number

5965-7160E

5968-0953E

5966-2833E

5968-5537E

14 Chapter1

Programming the Transmitter Tester

The E4406A VSA Series Transmitter Tester has several different measurement modes. The measurement commands that are available to you change, depending on which mode is selected. Use INSTrument:SELect to select the desired mode.

Most modes are optional and must be installed into instrument memory before they can be used. See “Installing Optional Measurement

Personalities” on page 17, if your measurement mode is not installed.

The SYSTem:HELP:HEADers? command provides a list of all the commands available in the mode you have currently selected. The programming commands for each optional mode are documented separately. The speciﬁc measurements available in a particular mode are indicated below.

Table 1-1 Available Modes and Measurements

Preparing for Use

Programming the Transmitter Tester

Modes Measurement Keywords

Basic - standard • ACP - adjacent channel power measurement

• CHPower - channel power measurement

• SPECtrum - spectrum (frequency domain) measurement

• WAVeform - waveform (time domain) measurement

cdmaOne - Option BAC • ACP - adjacent channel power ratio measurement

• CDPower - code domain power measurement

• CHPower - channel power measurement

• CSPur - close spurs measurement

• RHO - rho (waveform quality) measurement

• SPECtrum - spectrum (frequency domain) measurement

• TSpur - transmit band spurs measurement

• WAVeform - waveform (time domain) measurement

cdma2000 - Option B78 • ACP - adjacent channel power ratio measurement

• CHPower - channel power measurement

• PSTATistic - power statistics (CCDF) measurement

• EVMQpsk - QPSK error vector magnitude measurement

• RHO - rho (waveform quality) measurement

• SPECtrum - spectrum (frequency domain) measurement

• WAVeform - waveform (time domain) measurement

Chapter 1 15

Preparing for Use

Programming the Transmitter Tester

Table 1-1 Available Modes and Measurements

Modes Measurement Keywords

W-CDMA - Option BAF • ACP - adjacent channel power ratio measurement

• CDPower - code domain power measurement

• CHPower - channel power measurement

• PSTATistic - power statistics (CCDF) measurement

• EVMQpsk - QPSK error vector magnitude measurement

• RHO - rho (waveform quality) measurement

• SPECtrum - spectrum (frequency domain) measurement

• WAVeform - waveform (time domain) measurement

GSM - Option BAH • ORFSpectrum - output RF spectrum measurement

• PFERror - phase and frequency error measurement

• PVTime - power versus time measurement

• SPECtrum - spectrum (frequency domain) measurement

• TXPower - transmit power measurement

• WAVeform - waveform (time domain) measurement

PDC and NADC - Option BAE • ACP - adjacent channel power measurement

• EVM - error vector magnitude measurement

• OBWidth - occupied bandwidth measurement

• SPECtrum - spectrum (frequency domain) Measurement

• WAVeform - waveform (time domain) measurement

iDEN - Option HN1 • ACP - adjacent channel power measurement

• BER - bit error rate measurement

• OBWidth - occupied bandwidth measurement

• SPECtrum - spectrum (frequency domain) Measurement

• WAVeform - waveform (time domain) measurement

Service - standard • AREFerence - (internal) 50 MHz amplitude reference

measurement

• PVTime - power versus time measurement

• SENSors - (internal) temperature sensors measurement

• SPECtrum - spectrum (frequency domain) measurement

• TBFRequency - (internal) timebase frequency measurement

• WAVeform - waveform (time domain) measurement

16 Chapter1

Preparing for Use

Installing Optional Measurement Personalities

When you Install a measurement personality, you follow a two step process.

1. The measurement personality ﬁrmware must be installed into the instrument. (See the supplied installation instructions.)

2. A license key number must be entered which enables the measurement personality to run. (Refer to the “License Key Numbers” section below.)

Adding additional measurement personalities requires purchasing a retroﬁt kit for the desired option. The retroﬁt kit includes the measurement personality ﬁrmware, usually supplied on a zip disk. The license key certiﬁcate, included in the kit, contains the license key number. Every retroﬁt kit will have installation instructions.

The installation instructions require you to know three pieces of information about your instrument: the amount of memory installed, the Host ID, and the instrument serial number.

Required information: Key Path: Instrument

Memory: __________________ Host ID:

__________________ Instrument

Serial Number: __________________

System, File System

(the amount of memory in your instrument will be the sum of the memory and the Free memory)

System, Show System, Host ID

System, Show System, Serial Number

Used

The Exit Main Firmware key is used during the ﬁrmware installation process. This key is only for use when you want to update ﬁrmware using a LAN connection. The

Exit Main Firmware key halts the operation

of the resident ﬁrmware code so you can install an updated version of ﬁrmware using a LAN connection. Instructions for loading future ﬁrmware updates are available at the following URL:

www.agilent.com/ﬁnd/vsa/

Available Personality Options

The option designation consists of three characters, as shown in the

Chapter 1 17

Preparing for Use

Installing Optional Measurement Personalities

Option column of the table below.

Available Personality Options

GSM with EDGE, measurement personality

cdmaOne measurement personality BAC NADC, PDC measurement personalities BAE iDEN measurement personality HN1 W-CDMA measurement personality BAF cdma2000 measurement personality B78

Option

BAH

a. As of the print date of this measurement guide.

License Key Numbers

The measurement personality you have purchased with your instrument has been installed and enabled at the factory. With the purchase of the measurement personality, and with any future purchase of a new personality, you will receive a unique license key number. The license key number is a hexadecimal number that is for your speciﬁc measurement personality and instrument serial number. The license key enables you to install, or reactivate any personality you have purchased.

Follow these steps to locate the unique license key number for the measurement personality that has come installed in your instrument:

1. Press you press the

System, More (1 of 3), More (2 of 3), Install, Choose Option. When

Choose Option key the alpha editor will be activated.

Use the alpha editor to enter the letters (upper-case) and the front-panel numeric keyboard to enter the numbers (if required) for the personality option that has been installed in the instrument.

2. Press the number for your instrument will now appear on the

Done key on the alpha editor menu. The unique license key

License Key

softkey.

18 Chapter1

Preparing for Use

Installing Optional Measurement Personalities

You will want to keep a copy of your license key number in a secure location. Please enter your license key numbers in the box provided below for future reference. If you should lose your license key number, call your nearest Agilent Technologies service or sales ofﬁce for assistance.

License Key Numbers for Instrument with Serial # ________

For Option______________ the license key number is _____________________ For Option______________ the license key number is _____________________ For Option______________ the license key number is _____________________ For Option______________ the license key number is _____________________ For Option______________ the license key number is _____________________ For Option______________ the license key number is _____________________

If you purchase an option later, you will receive a certiﬁcate which displays the unique license key number that you will need to install that option.

NOTE You will need to use a license key number only if you purchase an

additional measurement personality, or if you want to reactivate a measurement personality that has been deactivated.

Installing a License Key Number

NOTE Follow this procedure to reinstall a license key number which has been

deleted during the uninstall process, or lost due to a memory failure. Toinstall a license key number for the selected option, use the following

procedure:

1. Press Pressing the Use the alpha editor to enter the letters (upper-case) and the front-panel numeric keyboard to enter the numbers (if required) for the option designation, then press the option, you will see your entry in the active function area of the display.

2. Press License Key. Entering the license key number will require entry of both letters and numbers. Use the alpha editor to enter letters. Use the front-panel numeric keyboard to enter numbers. You will see your entry in the active function area of the display. When you have completed entering the license key number, press the key.

System, More(1 of 3), More(2 of 3), Install, Choose Option.

Choose Option key will activate the alpha editor menu.

Done key. As you enter the

Done

Chapter 1 19

Preparing for Use

Installing Optional Measurement Personalities

3. Press the Install Now key after you have entered the active license key number and the personality option. When pressed, a message may appear in the function area of the display which reads, “Insert disk and power cycle the instrument”. Disregard this message. Press the

No key only if you wish to cancel the installation

process. If you want to proceed with the installation, press the key and cycle the instrument power off and then on.

Using the Uninstall Key

The following procedure removes the license key number for the selected option. This will make the option unavailable for use, and the message “Application Not Licensed” will appear in the Status/Info bar at the bottom of the display. Please write down the 12-digit license key number for the option before proceeding. If that measurement personality is to be used at a later date you will need the license key number to reactivate the personality ﬁrmware.

NOTE Using the Uninstall key does not remove the personality from the

instrument memory, and does not free memory to be available to install another option. If you need to free memory to install another option, refer to the instructions for loading ﬁrmware updates located at the URL: www.agilent.com/ﬁnd/vsa/

Yes

1. Press Pressing the

System, More(1 of 3), More(2 of 3), Uninstall, Choose Option.

Choose Option key will activate the alpha editor menu.

Use the alpha editor to enter the letters (upper-case) and the front-panel numeric keyboard to enter the numbers (if required) for the option, then press the

Done key. As you enter the option, you will

see your entry in the active function area of the display.

2. Press the Uninstall Now key after you have entered the personality option. Press the process. Press the

No key only if you wish to cancel the uninstall

Yes key if you want to continue the uninstall

process.

3. Cycle the instrument power off and then on to complete the uninstall process.

20 Chapter1

Preparing for Use

Writing Your First Program

When the instrument has been connected to a computer, the computer can be used to send instrument instructions to make fast, repeatable measurements. A variety of different programming languages, computer types, and interface buses can be used for this process. The following section describes some basic steps for making a measurement program.

Three Basic Steps in a Measurement

Step Tasks (SCPI Command Subsystem)

1. Set system parameters

2. Select mode & setup mode

3. Select measurement & setup measurement

• Printer setup (HCOPy)

• I/O & addressing (SYSTem)

• Display conﬁguration (DISPlay)

• Data formatting (FORMat)

• Status and errors (IEEE/STATus)

• Mode selection (INSTrument:SELect)

• Standard selection (SENSe:RADio)

• RF channel (SENSe:CHANnel)

• Frequency (SENSe:FREQuency)

• Triggering (TRIGger)

• Input (INPut)

• Measurement selection (MEASure)

• Meas control/restart (INITiate)

• Markers (CALCulate:<meas>:MARKer)

• Averaging (SENSe:<meas>:AVER)

• Bandwidth (SENSe:<meas>:BWID)

• FFT & meas window (SENSe:<meas>:FFT)

Programming a Measurement

General recommendations for writing a measurement program:

• Include comment lines in your program to describe what is happening at each point. The way you include comment lines is dependent on the controller and the programming language that you are using.

• Use variables for function values. List the variables at the beginning of the program.

• Perform the measurement manually, keeping track of the key functions used. Identify the programming commands equivalent to these front panel keys.

• In the program, execute an instrument preset (*RST) and select

Chapter 1 21

Preparing for Use

Writing Your First Program

single-sweep mode (INITiate:CONTinuous OFF) before setting other instrument functions.

• Select the instrument mode with INST:SELect. Set the mode setup for things like your desired communications standard, channel frequency and triggering.

• Use the MEASure group of commands, described in Chapter 5 ,

“Language Reference”. MEASure commands make the measurement

using the standard procedure and limits. You can alter some of the measurement defaults by using commands in the SENSe<meas> subsystem. Once altered, use the CONFigure, FETCh, READ, and INITiate commands to perform the measurements.

• The instrument can return different types of results for a particular measurement. These results are described in the language reference section on the MEASure group of commands.

• Execute the desired commands in logical order. Multiple SCPI commands can be included on one line. See “SCPI Language Basics”

on page 35.

File Naming Rules

File names for storing states, traces, limit lines or amplitude correction data ﬁles in the analyzer should follow the pc conventions as indicated below:

• They can be up to eight characters long. In addition, they can have a ﬁle extension up to three characters long. The analyzer can assign the extension.

• They are not case sensitive. It does not matter whether you use upper case or lower case letters when you type them.

• They can contain only the letters A through Z, the number 0 through 9, and the following special characters:

Character

_ underscore

ˆ carat

$ dollar sign

˜ tilde

Description

! exclamation point

# number sign % percent sign & ampersand

22 Chapter1

Preparing for Use

Writing Your First Program

Character

- hyphen {} braces @ at sign

‘ single quotation mark ’ apostrophe

() parenthesis

Description

a. No other characters are valid.

• They cannot contain spaces,commas, backslashes, or periods (except the period that separates the name from the extension).

• They cannot be identical to the name of another ﬁle in the same directory.

Chapter 1 23

Preparing for Use

Cables for Connecting to RS-232

There are a variety of cables and adapters available for connecting to PCs, and printers. Several of these are documented in the following wiring diagrams.Youneed to ﬁnd out what connections your equipment uses to identify the cables and/or adapters that you will need.

HP/Agilent 34398A RS-232 Cable Kit This kit comes with an RS-232, 9-pin female to 9-pin

female null modem/printer cable and one adapter 9-pin male to 25-pin female (part number 5181-6641). The adapter is also included in 34399A RS-232 Adapter Kit.

HP/Agilent 34399A RS-232 Adapter Kit This kit includes four adapters to go from DB9 female

cable (34398A) to PC/printer DB25 male or female, or to modem DB9 female or DB25 female.

Figure 1-1 HP/Agilent 24542U Cable

Instrument PC

DCD

DTR GND DSR

RTS

CTS

DB9

Female

Male

24542U

Cable

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9

Female

DCD RX TX DTR GND DSR RTS CTS RI

DB9 Male

ca85a

24 Chapter1

Figure 1-2 HP/Agilent F1047-80002 Cable

Preparing for Use

Cables for Connecting to RS-232

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9 Female

F1047-80002

Cable

Female

Instrument PC

DCD

DTR

GND

DSR

RTS

CTS

DB9

Male

Figure 1-3 HP/Agilent 24542G/H Cable

Instrument PC

DCD

DTR

GND

DSR RTS CTS

DB9

24542H

24542G

DB9

Male

DB9

Male

Female

DB9 Female

24542G/H

Cable

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9

DB25

Female

DB25

Male

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

DCD RX TX DTR GND DSR RTS CTS RI

DB9 Male

ca86a

TX RX RTS CTS DSR GND DCD DTR

DB25 Male

DB25 Female

ca87a

Figure 1-4 HP/Agilent 92219J Cable

Instrument PC

RX RTS CTS

DSR

GND

DTR

DB25

Female

2 3 4 5 6 7

DB25 Male

Chapter 1 25

92219J

Cable

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

DB25

Female

TX RX RTS CTS DSR GND DTR

DB25 Male

ca83a

Preparing for Use

Cables for Connecting to RS-232

Figure 1-5 HP/Agilent 13242G Cable

Instrument

RTS

CTS

DSR

GND

SCD

SRTS

DTR

DB25

Female

12 11 19 20

DB25 Male

13242G

Cable

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 2 3 8

4 19 11 12

DB25

Male

PC/Printer

DB25 Female

Figure 1-6 HP/Agilent 24542M Modem Cable

Instrument Modem

DCD

DTR GND DSR

RTS

CTS

DB9

Female

Male

Modem Cable

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

24542M

8 3 2

7 6 4 5

DB25

Male

DB25 Female

Shield TX RX CD DTR

GND RTS SRTS

SCD CTS DSR

ca84a

DCD RX TX DTR GND DSR RTS CTS RI

ca88a

26 Chapter1

Figure 1-7 HP/Agilent C2913A/C2914A Cable

Preparing for Use

Cables for Connecting to RS-232

Instrument PC

RX RTS CTS DSR

GND

DTR

DB25

Female

DB25

Female

C2913A/C2914A

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

DB25 Male

Figure 1-8 Mouse Adapter (typical)

Instrument PC

DCD

DTR

GND

DSR

RTS CTS

DB9

Female

A mouse adapter works well as a 9 pin to 25 pin adapter with a PC.

Typical Mouse

Adapter

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9 Male

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

DB25

Female

DB25

Male

2 3 4 5 6 7

8 20 22

DB25

Female

TX RX RTS CTS DSR GND DTR

DB25 Male

DB25 Female

ca89a

TX RX RTS CTS DSR GND DCD DTR RI

DB25 Male

ca810a

Chapter 1 27

Preparing for Use

Cables for Connecting to RS-232

Figure 1-9 HP/Agilent 24542U Cable with 5181-6641 Adapter

Instrument

DCD

DTR GND DSR

RTS

CTS

DB9

Male

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9 Female

24542U

Cable

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9

Female

DB9 Male

5181-6641

Adapter (Black)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

DB25

Female

TX RX RTS CTS DSR GND DCD DTR

DB25 Male

Figure 1-10 HP/Agilent 24542U Cable with 5181-6640 Adapter

Instrument

DCD

DTR

GND

DSR

RTS CTS

DB9

Male

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9 Female

24542U

Cable

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9

Female

DB9 Male

5181-6640

Adapter (White)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

DB25

Male

PC/Printer

TX RX RTS CTS DSR GND DCD DTR

DB25 Female

ca811a

ca812a

Figure 1-11 HP/Agilent 24542U Cable with 5181-6642 Adapter

Instrument

DCD

DTR

GND DSR

RTS CTS

DB9

Male

24542U

Cable

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9 Female

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9

Female

DB9 Male

28 Chapter1

5181-6642

Adapter (Gray)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

2 3 4 5 6 7

8 20 22

DB25

Male

Modem

TX RX RTS CTS DSR GND DCD DTR RI

DB25 Female

ca813a

Cables for Connecting to RS-232

Figure 1-12 HP/Agilent 24542U Cable with 5181-6639 Adapter

Preparing for Use

Instrument

DCD

DTR

GND

DSR

RTS CTS

DB9

Male

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9 Female

24542U

Cable

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9

Female

DB9 Male

5181-6639

Adapter (Black)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9

Male

Modem

DCD RX TX DTR GND DSR RTS CTS RI

DB9 Female

ca814a

Figure 1-13 HP/Agilent F1047-80002 Cable with 5181-6641 Adapter

Instrument

DCD

DTR

GND

DSR

RTS CTS

DB9

Male

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9 Female

F1047-80002

Cable

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9

Female

DB9 Male

5181-6641

Adapter (Black)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

DB25

Female

TX RX RTS CTS DSR GND DCD DTR

DB25 Male

ca815a

Figure 1-14 HP/Agilent F1047-80002 Cable with 5181-6640 Adapter

Instrument

DCD

DTR

GND

DSR

RTS CTS

DB9

Male

F1047-80002

Cable

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9 Female

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9

Female

DB9 Male

Chapter 1 29

5181-6640

Adapter (White)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

DB25

Male

PC/Printer

TX RX RTS CTS DSR GND DCD DTR

DB25 Female

ca816a

Preparing for Use

Cables for Connecting to RS-232

Figure 1-15 HP/Agilent F1047-80002 Cable with 5181-6642 Adapter

Instrument

DCD

RX TX

DTR GND DSR

RTS

CTS

DB9

Male

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9 Female

F1047-80002

Cable

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9

Female

DB9 Male

5181-6642

Adapter (Gray)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

2 3 4 5 6 7

8 20 22

DB25

Male

Modem

TX RX RTS CTS DSR GND DCD DTR RI

DB25 Female

ca817a

Figure 1-16 HP/Agilent F1047-80002 Cable with 5181-6639 Adapter

Instrument

DCD

RX TX

DTR GND DSR

RTS

CTS

DB9

Male

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9 Female

F1047-80002

Cable

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9

Female

DB9 Male

5181-6639

Adapter (Black)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DB9

Male

Modem

DCD RX TX DTR GND DSR RTS CTS RI

DB9 Female

ca818a

30 Chapter1

Preparing for Use

Connecting to a LAN Server

Connect a cable to the standard LAN connector on the rear panel of the instrument. The LAN can then be used several different ways:

• To ftp ﬁles from the instrument

• To use telnet to send SCPI commands

• To use sockets to send SCPI commands

• To use as a SICL server emulating IEEE 488.2 GPIB The various LAN settings can be queried and set from the front panel

key menus found by pressing appropriate keys. Conﬁguration of the LAN can only be done from the front panel. There are no equivalent remote commands. The LAN default conﬁguration settings do not usually have to be changed for you to use the functionality. More detailed LAN use and troubleshooting information can be found in Chapter 2 , “Programming Fundamentals”.

System, Conﬁg I/O and then pressing the

The different types of LAN functionality can be turned on and off from the front panel keys under

System, Conﬁg I/O. If you are running

programs on the analyzer, you might want to turn off the other types of LAN access to make sure other users don’t accidentally send commands to your analyzer in the middle of the program execution.

Pressing

Preset will not change the LAN conﬁguration settings, since

they are persistent, they will stay at the last user setting. However, you can return the instrument to it’s original factory defaults by pressing

System, Restore Sys Defaults. If you want to use the LAN after restoring

defaults, you will have to re-set the instrument IP address (and any other appropriate conﬁguration settings) found in

System, Conﬁg I/O.

Chapter 1 31

Preparing for Use

Connecting to a LAN Server

32 Chapter1

2 Programming Fundamentals

Programming Fundamentals

• “SCPI Language Basics” on page 35

• “Using the Instrument Status Registers” on page 42

• “C Programming Examples using VTL” on page 57

• “Overview of the GPIB Bus” on page 65

• “Overview of the RS-232 Bus” on page 67

• “Using the LAN to Control the Analyzer” on page 69

34 Chapter2

Programming Fundamentals

SCPI Language Basics

This section is not intended to teach you everything about the SCPI (Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments) programming language. The SCPI Consortium or IEEE can provide detailed information.

Topics covered in this chapter include:

• “Creating Valid Commands” on page 35

• “Command Key Words and Syntax” on page 36

• “Special Characters in Commands” on page 37

• “Parameters in Commands” on page 37

• “Putting Multiple Commands on the Same Line” on page 40 For more information refer to:

IEEE Standard 488.1-1987, IEEE Standard Digital Interface for Programmable Instrumentation. New York, NY, 1998.

IEEE Standard 488.2-1987, IEEE Standard Codes, Formats,

Protocols and Comment Commands for Use with ANSI/IEEE Std488.1-1987. New York, NY, 1998.

There is also a book available from Agilent Technologies, SCPI—Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments, 1998.

Creating Valid Commands

Commands are not case sensitive and there are often many different ways of writing a particular command. These are examples of valid commands for a given command syntax:

Command Syntax Sample Valid Commands

[SENSe:]BANDwidth[:RESolution] <freq> The following sample commands are all

identical. They will all cause the same result.

• Sense:Band:Res 1700

• BANDWIDTH:RESOLUTION 1.7e3

• sens:band 1.7KHZ

• SENS:band 1.7E3Hz

• band 1.7kHz

• bandwidth:RES 1.7e3Hz

Chapter 2 35

Programming Fundamentals

SCPI Language Basics

Command Syntax Sample Valid Commands

MEASure:SPECtrum[n]? [<freq>[,<level>[,<freq(span)>]]]

[SENSe:]CPOWer:AVERage:TCONtrol EXPonential|NORMal|REPeat

INITiate:CONTinuous ON|OFF|1|0 The sample commands below are identical.

The last command below returns different results then the command above it. The number 3, in the command, causes this. See the command description for more information.

• MEAS:SPEC?

• Meas:spec?

• meas:spec3?

• CPOW:AVER:TCON EXP

• CPOWER:aver:tcon Normal

• INIT:CONT ON

• init:continuous 1

Command Key Words and Syntax

A typical command is made up of key words set off by colons. The key words are followed by parameters that can be followed by optional units.

Example: TRIGger:LEVel:EXT1 2.5V The instrument does not distinguish between upper and lower case

letters. In the documentation, upper case letters indicate the short form of the key word. The upper and lower case letters, together,indicate the long form of the key word. Either form may be used in the command.

Example: Trig:LEVEL:EXT1 2 is the same as trigger:Lev:ext1 2v.

NOTE The command TRIGG:level:EXT1 is not valid because trigg is neither

the short, nor the long form of the command. Only the short and long forms of the key words are allowed in valid commands.

36 Chapter2

Special Characters in Commands

Programming Fundamentals

SCPI Language Basics

Special Character

| A vertical stroke between

[ ] Key words in square

Meaning Example

parameters indicates

alternative choices. The effect of the command is different depending on which parameter is selected.

A vertical stroke between key words indicates identical effects exist for several key words. Only one of these key words is used at a time. The command functions the same for either key word.

brackets are optional when composing the command. These implied key words will be executed even if they are omitted.

Command:

TRIG:SOURCE EXT|INT|LINE

The choices are ext, int, and line.

TRIG:SOURCE INT

is one possible command choice.

Command:

SENSe:BANDwidth|:BWIDth: OFFSet

Two identical commands are:

SENSE:BWIDTH:OFFSET SENSE:BAND:OFFSET

Command:

[SENSe:]BANDwidth[:RESolu tion]:AUTO

The following commands are all valid and have identical effects: bandwidth:auto

bandwidth:resolution:auto sense:bandwidth:auto

< > Angle brackets around a

word, or words, indicates they are not to be used literally in the command. They represent the needed item.

{ } Parameters in braces can

optionally be used in the command either not at all, once, or several times.

Command:

SENS:FREQ <freq>

In this command example the word <freq> should be replaced by an actual frequency, SENS:FREQ

9.7MHz. Command:

measure:bw {level}

A valid command might be

measure:bw 3dB 60dB

Parameters in Commands

There are four basic types of parameters: booleans, key words, variables and arbitrary block program data.

ON|OFF|0|1 This is a two state boolean-type parameter. The

numeric value 0 is equivalent to OFF. Any numeric value other than 0 is equivalent to ON. The numeric

Chapter 2 37

Programming Fundamentals

SCPI Language Basics

values of 0 or 1 are commonly used in the command instead of OFF or ON, and queries of the parameter always return a numeric value of 0 or 1.

Key Word The parameter key words that are allowed for a

particular command are deﬁned in the command description and are separated with a vertical slash.

Units Numerical variables may include units. The valid units

for a command depends on the variable type being used. See the following variable descriptions. If no units are sent, the indicated default units will be used. Units can follow the numerical value with, or without, a space.

Variable A variable can be entered in exponential format as well

as standard numeric format. The appropriate range of the variable and it’s optional units, are deﬁned in the command description.

In addition to these values, the following key words may also be used in commands where they are applicable.

DEFault - resets the parameter to its default value. UP - increments the parameter. DOWN - decrements the parameter.

The numeric value associated with DEFault can be queried by adding the key word to the command in its query form. The key word must be entered following the question mark.

Example query: SENSE:FREQ:CENTER? DEFAULT

Variable Parameters

<freq> <bandwidth> A frequency parameter is a positive rational number

followed by optional units. The default unit is Hz. Acceptable units include: HZ, KHZ, MHZ, GHZ.

<time> <seconds> A time parameter is a rational number followed by

optional units. The default units are seconds. Acceptable units include: S, MS, US.

<voltage> A voltage parameter is a rational number followed by

optional units. The default units are V. Acceptable units include: Volts, V, MV, UV.

<power> <ampl> A power parameter is a rational number followed by

38 Chapter2

Programming Fundamentals

SCPI Language Basics

optional units. The default units are dBm. Acceptable units include: DBM, DBMV, W.

<rel_power> <rel_ampl> A relative power parameter is a positive rational

number followed by optional units. The default units are dB. Acceptable units include: DB.

<angle> <degrees> An angle parameter is a rational number followed by

optional units. The default units are degrees. Acceptable units include: DEG, RAD.

<integer> There are no units associated with an integer

parameter.

<percent> A percent parameter is a rational number between 0

and 100, with no units.

<string> A string parameter includes a series of alpha numeric

character.

Block Program Data

Some parameters consist of a block of data. There are a few standard types of block data. Arbitrary blocks of program data can also be used.

<trace> A trace parameter is an array of rational numbers

corresponding to displayed trace data. The default uses “display units” with 600 trace points with amplitudes from 0 to 1024. See FORMat:DATA for information about available data formats.

A SCPI command often refers to a block of current trace data with a variable name such as: Trace1, TRACE2, or trace3, depending on which trace is being accessed.

<bit_pattern> A bit pattern parameter is a series of bits. These can be

sent in binary format or as a single hexadecimal number. There are no units.

<arbitrary block data> This parameter type consists of a series of

rational numbers. The ﬁrst number sent in the block is an integer indicating how many numbers are in the series. There are no units.

For example, suppose the header is 512320.

• The ﬁrst byte in the header (5) tells you how many additional bytes there are in the header.

• The 12320 means 12 thousand, 3 hundred, 20 data bytes follow the header.

• Divide this number of bytes by your current data

Chapter 2 39

Programming Fundamentals

SCPI Language Basics

format (bytes/point), either 8 (for real 64), or 4 (for real 32). If you’re using real 64, then there are 1540 points in the block.

Putting Multiple Commands on the Same Line

Multiple commands can be written on the same line, reducing your code space requirement. To do this:

• Commands must be separated with a semicolon (;).

• If the commands are in different subsystems, the key word for the new subsystem must be preceded by a colon(:).

• If the commands are in the same subsystem, the full hierarchy of the command key words need not be included. The second command can start at the same key word level as the command that was just executed.

The following are some examples of good and bad commands. The examples are created from a theoretical instrument with the simple set of commands indicated below:

INPut

:ATTenuation

TRIGger

:AUTO :HOLDoff :LEVel

:ADC

[:EXTernal]

:BURSt

[SENSe]

:FREQuency :POWer

:ATTenuation

[:LEVel]

[:IMMediate]

[:AMPLitude]

:OFFSet :HIGH :LOW

:TRIGgered

Bad Command Good Command

IN:ATT 30dB INP:ATT 30dB

The short form of INPUT is INP, not IN.

40 Chapter2

Programming Fundamentals

SCPI Language Basics

Bad Command Good Command

FREQ 30MHz;ATT 20dBm FREQ 30MHz;POW:ATT 20dBm

The ATT command is in the same (SENSE) subsystem as FREQ, but executing the FREQ command puts you back at the SENSE level. You must specify POWER to get to the ATT command.

FREQ 30MHz;POW:ATT 20dB:LOW 3dBm

ATT and LOW are both in the same (SENSE) subsystem but they are two separate commands and need a semicolon to separate them.

INP:ATT 6dB;:TRIG:POWER:ATT 6dBINP:ATT 6dB;:POWER:ATT 6 dB

POWER:ATT is in the SENSE subsystem, not the TRIGGER subsystem.

FREQ 10MHz;TRIG:HOLD 10ms FREQ 10MHz;:TRIG:HOLD 10ms

The FREQ command and the HOLDOFF command are not in the same subsystem, so the command that follows must be preceded by a colon.

POW?:FREQ? POW?;FREQ?

POW and FREQ are within the same SENSE subsystem, but they are two separate commands, so they should be separated with a semicolon, not a colon.

INP:ATT -5dB;:FREQ 10MHz INP:ATT 5dB;:FREQ 10MHz

Attenuation should not be a negative value.

FREQ 30MHz;POW:ATT 20dB;LOW 3dBm

Chapter 2 41

Programming Fundamentals

Using the Instrument Status Registers

You can determine the state of certain instrument hardware and ﬁrmware events and conditions by programming the status register system. The Figure on page 49 shows all the instrument status registers and their hierarchy. The IEEE common (*) commands access the higher-level summary registers. To access the status information from speciﬁc registers you would use the STATuscommands in Chapter

5 , “Language Reference.”

• “What are the Status Registers?” on page 43

• “Why Would You Use the Status Registers?” on page 45

• “Using a Status Register” on page 47

• “Using the Service Request (SRQ) Method” on page 47

• “Overall Status Register System” on page 49

• “Standard Event Status Register” on page 53

• “Operation and Questionable Status Registers” on page 56

42 Chapter2

Programming Fundamentals

Using the Instrument Status Registers

What are the Status Registers?

The status system is comprised of multiple registers which are arranged in a hierarchical order. The lower-level status registers propagate their data to the higher-level registers in the data structures by means of summary bits. The status byte register is at the top of the hierarchy and contains general status information for the instrument’s events and conditions. All other individual registers are used to determine the speciﬁc events or conditions.

Most status registers are actually a family of ﬁve registers: Condition A condition register continuously monitors the

hardwareand ﬁrmware status of the instrument. There is no latching or buffering for a condition register. It is updated in real time.

Negative Transition A negative transition register speciﬁes the bits in the

condition register that will set corresponding bits in the event register when the condition bit changes from 1 to

Positive Transition A positive transition register speciﬁes the bits in the

condition register that will set corresponding bits in the event register when the condition bit changes from 0 to

Event An event register latches transition events from the

condition register as speciﬁed by the positive and negative transition ﬁlters. Bits in the event register are latched, and once set, they remain set until cleared by either querying the register contents or sending the *CLS command.

Event Enable An enable register speciﬁes the bits in the event

What are the Status Register SCPI Commands

Most monitoring of the instrument conditions is done at the highest level using the IEEE common commands indicated below. Complete command descriptions are available in the IEEE commands section at the beginning of the language reference. Individual status registers can be set and queried using the commands in the STATussubsystem of the language reference.

*CLS (clear status) clears the status byte by emptying the error queue and clearing all the event registers.

Chapter 2 43

Programming Fundamentals

Using the Instrument Status Registers

*ESE, *ESE? (event status enable) sets and queries the bits in the enable register part of the standard event status register.

*ESR? (event status register) queries and clears the event register part of the standard event status register.

*OPC, *OPC? (operation complete) sets the standard event status register to monitor the completion of all commands. The query stops any new commands from being processed until the current processing is complete, then returns a ‘1’.

*SRE, *SRE? (service request enable) sets and queries the value of the service request enable register.

*STB? (status byte) queries the value of the status byte register without erasing its contents.

44 Chapter2

Programming Fundamentals

Using the Instrument Status Registers

Why Would You Use the Status Registers?

Your program often needs to be able to detect and manage error conditions or changes in instrument status. There are two methods you can use to programmatically access the information in status registers:

• The polling method

• The service request (SRQ) method In the polling method, the instrument has a passive role. It only tells

the controller that conditions have changed when the controller asks the right question. In the SRQ method, the analyzer takes a more active role. It tells the controller when there has been a condition change without the controller asking. Either method allows you to monitor one or more conditions.

The polling method works well if you do not need to know about changes the moment they occur. The SRQ method should be used if you must know immediately when a condition changes. To detect a change using the polling method, the program must repeatedly read the registers.

Use the SRQ method when: — you need time-critical notiﬁcation of changes

— you are monitoring more than one device which supports SRQs — you need to have the controller do something else while waiting — you can’t afford the performance penalty inherent to polling

Use polling when: — your programming language/development environment does not

support SRQ interrupts

— you want to write a simple, single-purpose program and don’t want

the added complexity of setting up an SRQ handler

To monitor a condition:

1. Determine which register contains the bit that reports the condition.

2. Send the unique SCPI query that reads that register.

3. Examine the bit to see if the condition has changed. You can monitor conditions in different ways.

• Check the current instrument hardware and ﬁrmware status. Do this by querying the condition registers which continuously

monitor status. These registers represent the current state of the instrument. Bits in a condition register are updated in real time. When the condition monitored by a particular bit becomes true, the bit is set to 1. When the condition becomes false, the bit is reset to 0.

• Monitor for the occurrence of a particular condition (bit). Once you have enabled a bit, using the event enable register, the

Chapter 2 45

Programming Fundamentals

Using the Instrument Status Registers

instrument will monitor that particular bit. If the bit becomes true in the event register, it will stay set until the event register is cleared. Querying the event register allows you to detect that this condition occurred even if the condition no longer exists. The event register can only be cleared by querying it or sending the *CLS command, which clears all event registers.

• Monitor any changes in a particular condition (bit). Once you have enabled a bit, the instrument will monitor it for a

change in its condition. The transition registers are preset to register the conditions going from 0 to 1, positive transitions. This can be changed so that the selected bit is detected if it goes from true

to false (negative transition), or if either transition occurs.

46 Chapter2

Using a Status Register

Each bit in a register is represented by a numerical value based on its location. See Figure 2-1 below. This number is sent with the command, to enable a particular bit. If you want to enable more than one bit, you would send the sum of all the bits that you are interested in.

For example, to enable bit 0 and bit 6 of standard event status register, you would send the command *ESE 65 (1 + 64 = 65).

The results of a query are evaluated in a similar way. If the *STB? command returns a decimal value of 140, (140 = 128 + 8 + 4) then the bit 7 is true, bit 3 is true and bit 2 is true.

Figure 2-1 Status Register Bit Values

Programming Fundamentals

Using the Instrument Status Registers

NOTE Bit 15 is not used to report status.

Using the Service Request (SRQ) Method

Your language, bus and programming environment must be able to support SRQ interrupts. (For example, BASIC used with the GPIB.) When you monitor a condition with the SRQ method, you must:

1. Determine which bit monitors the condition.

2. Determine how that bit reports to the request service (RQS) bit of the status byte.

3. Send GPIB commands to enable the bit that monitors the condition and to enable the summary bits that report the condition to the RQS bit.

4. Enable the controller to respond to service requests.

When the condition changes, the instrument sets its RQS bit and the GPIB SRQ line. The controller is informed of the change as soon as it occurs. The time the controller would otherwise have used to monitor the condition can now be used to perform other tasks. Your program determines how the controller responds to the SRQ.

Chapter 2 47

Programming Fundamentals

Using the Instrument Status Registers

Generating a Service Request

Touse the SRQ method, you must understand how service requests are generated. Bit 6 of the status byte register is the request service (RQS) bit. The RQS bit is set whenever something (that it has been conﬁgured to report using *SRE) changes. It is cleared when the status byte register is queried using *SRE? (with a serial poll.) It can be queried without erasing the contents with *STB?.

When a register set causes a summary bit in the status byte to change from 0 to 1, the instrument can initiate the service request (SRQ) process. However, the process is only initiated if both of the following conditions are true:

• The corresponding bit of the service request enable register is also set to 1.

• The instrument does not have a service request pending. (A service request is considered to be pending between the time the instrument’s SRQ process is initiated and the time the controller reads the status byte register.)

The SRQ process sets the GPIB SRQ line true. It also sets the status byte’s request service (RQS) bit to 1. Both actions are necessary to inform the controller that the instrument requires service. Setting the SRQ line only informs the controller that some device on the bus requires service. Setting the RQS bit allows the controller to determine which instrument requires service.

If your program enables the controller to detect and respond to service requests, it should instruct the controller to perform a serial poll when the GPIB SRQ line is set true. Each device on the bus returns the contents of its status byte register in response to this poll. The device whose RQS bit is set to 1 is the device that requested service.

NOTE When you read the instrument’s status byte register with a serial poll,

the RQS bit is reset to 0. Other bits in the register are not affected. Restarting a measurement (INIT command) can cause the measuring

bit to pulse low, which causes an SRQ if the status register is conﬁgured to SRQ on end-of-measurement. To avoid this:

1. Set INITiate:CONTinuous off.

2. Set/enable the status registers.

3. Restart the measurement (send INIT).

48 Chapter2

Overall Status Register System

Programming Fundamentals

Using the Instrument Status Registers

Chapter 2 49

Programming Fundamentals

Using the Instrument Status Registers

Status Byte Register

The RQS bit is read and reset by a serial poll. MSS (the same bit position) is read, non-destructively by the *STB? command. If you serial poll bit 6 it is read as RQS, but if you send *STB it reads bit 6 as MSS. For more information refer to IEEE 488.2 standards, section 11.

50 Chapter2

Programming Fundamentals

Using the Instrument Status Registers

Bit Description

0, 1 These bits are always set to 0.

2 A 1 in this bit position indicates that the SCPI error queue is not empty. The SCPI error

queue contains at least one error message.

3 A 1 in this bit position indicates that the data questionable summary bit has been set.

The data questionable event register can then be read to determine the speciﬁc condition that caused this bit to be set.

4 A 1 in this bit position indicates that the instrument has data ready in the output queue.

There are no lower status groups that provide input to this bit.

5 A 1 in this bit position indicates that the standard event summary bit has been set. The

standard event status register can then be read to determine the speciﬁc event that caused this bit to be set.

6 A 1 in this bit position indicates that the instrument has at least one reason to report a

status change. This bit is also called the master summary status bit (MSS).

7 A 1 in this bit position indicates that the standard operation summary bit has been set.

The standard operation event register can then be read to determine the speciﬁc condition that caused this bit to be set.

To query the status byte register, send the command *STB? The response will be the decimal sum of the bits which are set to 1. For example, if bit number 7 and bit number 3 are set to 1, the decimal sum of the 2 bits is 128 plus 8. So the decimal value 136 is returned.

Chapter 2 51

Programming Fundamentals

Using the Instrument Status Registers

In addition to the status byte register, the status byte group also contains the service request enable register. This register lets you choose which bits in the status byte register will trigger a service request.

Send the *SRE <number> command where <number> is the sum of the decimal values of the bits you want to enable plus the decimal value of bit 6. For example, assume that you want to enable bit 7 so that whenever the standard operation status register summary bit is set to 1 it will trigger a service request. Send the command *SRE 192 (128 +

64). You must always add 64 (the numeric value of RQS bit 6) to your

numeric sum when you enable any bits for a service request. The command *SRE? returns the decimal value of the sum of the bits previously enabled with the *SRE <number> command.

The service request enable register presets to zeros (0).

52 Chapter2

Standard Event Status Register

Programming Fundamentals

Using the Instrument Status Registers

The standard event status register contains the following bits:

Chapter 2 53

Programming Fundamentals

Using the Instrument Status Registers

Bit Description

0 A 1 in this bit position indicates that all pending operations were completed following

execution of the *OPC command. 1 This bit is always set to 0. (The instrument does not request control.) 2 A 1 in this bit position indicates that a query error has occurred. Query errors have SCPI

error numbers from −499 to −400. 3 A 1 in this bit position indicates that a device dependent error has occurred. Device

dependent errors have SCPI error numbers from −399 to −300 and 1 to 32767. 4 A 1 in this bit position indicates that an execution error has occurred. Execution errors

have SCPI error numbers from −299 to −200. 5 A 1 in this bit position indicates that a command error has occurred. Command errors

have SCPI error numbers from −199 to −100. 6 Currently not used. 7 A 1 in this bit position indicates that the instrument has been turned off and then on.

The standard event status register is used to determine the speciﬁc event that set bit 5 in the status byte register. To query the standard event status register, send the command *ESR?. The response will be the decimal sum of the bits which are enabled (set to 1). For example, if bit number 7 and bit number 3 are enabled, the decimal sum of the 2 bits is 128 plus 8. So the decimal value 136 is returned.

In addition to the standard event status register, the standard event status group also contains a standard event status enable register. This register lets you choose which bits in the standard event status register

54 Chapter2

Programming Fundamentals

Using the Instrument Status Registers

will set the summary bit (bit 5 of the status byte register) to 1. Send the *ESE <number> command where <number> is the sum of the decimal values of the bits you want to enable. For example, to enable bit 7 and bit 6 so that whenever either of those bits is set to 1, the standard event status summary bit of the status byte register will be set to 1, send the command *ESE 192 (128 + 64). The command *ESE? returns the decimal value of the sum of the bits previously enabled with the *ESE <number> command.

The standard event status enable register presets to zeros (0).

Chapter 2 55

Programming Fundamentals

Using the Instrument Status Registers

Operation and Questionable Status Registers

The operation and questionable status registers are registers that monitor the overall instrument condition. They are accessed with the STATus:OPERation and STATus:QUEStionable commands in the STATus command subsystem.

Operation Status Register

The operation status register monitors the current instrument measurement state. It checks to see if the instrument is measuring, calibrating, sweeping, waiting for a trigger, or what?

Questionable Status Register

The questionable status register monitors the instrument to see if anything questionable has happened. It is looking for anything that might cause an error or a bad measurement like a hardware problem, an out of calibration situation, or a unusual signal. All the bits are summary bits from lower-level event registers.

56 Chapter2

Programming Fundamentals

C Programming Examples using VTL

The programming examples that are provided are written using the C programming language and the HP/Agilent VTL (VISA transition library). This section includes some basic information about programming in the C language. Refer to your C programming language documentation for more details. (This information is taken from the manual “VISA Transition Library”, part number E2090-90026.) The following topics are included:

“Typical Example Program Contents” on page 57 “Linking to VTL Libraries” on page 58 “Compiling and Linking a VTL Program” on page 58 “Example Program” on page 59 “Including the VISA Declarations File” on page 60 “Opening a Session” on page 60 “Device Sessions” on page 61 “Addressing a Session” on page 62 “Closing a Session” on page 64

Typical Example Program Contents

The following is a summary of the VTL function calls used in the example programs.

visa.h This ﬁle is included at the beginning of the ﬁle to

provide the function prototypes and constants deﬁned by VTL.

ViSession The ViSession is a VTL data type. Each object that

will establish a communication channel must be deﬁned as ViSession.

viOpenDefaultRM You must ﬁrst open a session with the default

resource manager with the viOpenDefaultRM function. This function will initialize the default resource manager and return a pointer to that resource manager session.

viOpen This function establishes a communication channel

with the device speciﬁed. A session identiﬁer that can be used with other VTL functions is returned. This call must be made for each device you will be using.

viPrintf viScanf These are the VTL formatted I/O functions that are

patterned after those used in the C programming language. The viPrintf call sends the IEEE 488.2 *RST command to the instrument and puts it in a known state. The viPrintf call is used again to query

Chapter 2 57

Programming Fundamentals

C Programming Examples using VTL

for the device identiﬁcation (*IDN?). The viScanf call is then used to read the results.

viClose This function must be used to close each session. When

you close a device session, all data structures that had been allocated for the session will be de-allocated. When you close the default manager session, all sessions opened using the default manager session will be closed.

Linking to VTL Libraries

Your application must link to one of the VTL import libraries: 32-bit Version:

C:\VXIPNP\WIN95\LIB\MSC\VISA32.LIB for Microsoft compilers C:\VXIPNP\WIN95\LIB\BC\VISA32.LIB for Borland compilers

16-bit Version:

C:\VXIPNP\WIN\LIB\MSC\VISA.LIB for Microsoft compilers C:\VXIPNP\WIN\LIB\BC\VISA.LIB for Borland compilers

See the following section, “Compiling and Linking a VTL Program” for information on how to use the VTL run-time libraries.

Compiling and Linking a VTL Program

32-bit Applications

The following is a summary of important compiler-speciﬁc considerations for several C/C++ compiler products when developing WIN32 applications.

For Microsoft Visual C++ version 2.0 compilers:

• Select Project | Update All Dependencies from the menu.

• Select Project | Settings from the menu. Click on the C/C++ button. Select Code Generation from the Use Run-Time Libraries list box. VTL requires these deﬁnitions for WIN32. Click on OK to close the dialog boxes.

• Select Project | Settings from the menu. Click on the Link button and add visa32.lib to the Object / Library Modules list box. Optionally, you may add the library directly to your project ﬁle. Click on OK to close the dialog boxes.

• You may wish to add the include ﬁle and library ﬁle search paths. They are set by doing the following:

1. Select Tools | Options from the menu.

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2. Click on the Directories button to set the include ﬁle path.

3. Select Include Files from the Show Directories For list box.

4. Click on the Add button and type in the following:

C:\VXIPNP\WIN95\INCLUDE

5. Select Library Files from the Show Directories For list box.

6. Click on the Add button and type in the following:

C:\VXIPNP\WIN95\LIB\MSC

For Borland C++ version 4.0 compilers:

• You may wish to add the include ﬁle and library ﬁle search paths. They are set under the Options | Project menu selection. Double click on Directories from the Topics list box and add the following:

C:\VXIPNP\WIN95\INCLUDE C:\VXIPNP\WIN95\LIB\BC

16-bit Applications

The following is a summary of important compiler-speciﬁc considerations for the Windows compiler.

For Microsoft Visual C++ version 1.5:

• To set the memory model, do the following:

1. Select Options | Project.

2. Click on the Compiler button, then select Memory Model from

the Category list.

3. Click on the Model list arrow to display the model options, and

select Large.

4. Click on OK to close the Compiler dialog box.

• You may wish to add the include ﬁle and library ﬁle search paths. They are set under the Options | Directories menu selection:

C:\VXIPNP\WIN\INCLUDE C:\VXIPNP\WIN\LIB\MSC

Otherwise, the library and include ﬁles should be explicitly speciﬁed in the project ﬁle.

Example Program

This example program queries a GPIB device for an identiﬁcation string and prints the results. Note that you must change the address.

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/*idn.c - program filename */

#include "visa.h" #include <stdio.h>

void main () {

/*Open session to GPIB device at address 18 */

ViOpenDefaultRM (&defaultRM); ViOpen (defaultRM, “GPIB0::18::INSTR”, VI_NULL,

VI_NULL, &vi);

/*Initialize device */

viPrintf (vi, “*RST\n”);

/*Send an *IDN? string to the device */

printf (vi, “*IDN?\n”);

/*Read results */

viScanf (vi, "%t", &buf);

/*Print results */

printf (“Instrument identification string: %s\n”, buf);

/* Close sessions */

viClose (vi); viClose (defaultRM);

}

Including the VISA Declarations File

For C and C++ programs, you must include the visa.h header ﬁle at the beginning of every ﬁle that contains VTL function calls:

#include “visa.h”

This header ﬁle contains the VISA function prototypes and the deﬁnitions for all VISA constants and error codes. The visa.h header ﬁle includes the visatype.h header ﬁle.

The visatype.h header ﬁle deﬁnes most of the VISA types. The VISA types are used throughout VTL to specify data types used in the functions. For example, the viOpenDefaultRM function requires a pointer to a parameter of type ViSession. If you ﬁnd ViSession in the visatype.h header ﬁle, you will ﬁnd that ViSession is eventually typed as an unsigned long.

Opening a Session

A session is a channel of communication. Sessions must ﬁrst be opened on the default resource manager, and then for each device you will be using. The following is a summary of sessions that can be opened:

•Aresource manager session is used to initialize the VISA system. It is a parent session that knows about all the opened sessions. A

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resource manager session must be opened before any other session can be opened.

•Adevice session is used to communicate with a device on an interface. A device session must be opened for each device you will be using. When you use a device session you can communicate without worrying about the type of interface to which it si connected. This insulation makes applications more robust and portable across interfaces. Typically a device is an instrument, but could be a computer, a plotter, or a printer.

NOTE All devices that you will be using need to be connected and in working

condition prior to the ﬁrst VTL function call (viOpenDefaultRM). The system is conﬁgured only on the ﬁrst viOpenDefaultRM per process. Therefore, if viOpenDefaultRM is called without devices connected and then called again when devices are connected, the devices will not be recognized. You must close ALL resource manager sessions and re-open with all devices connected and in working condition.

Device Sessions

There are two parts to opening a communications session with a speciﬁc device. First you must open a session to the default resource manager with the viOpenDefaultRM function. The ﬁrst call to this function initializes the default resource manager and returns a session to that resource manager session. You only need to open the default manager session once. However, subsequent calls to viOpenDefaultRM returns a session to a unique session to the same default resource manager resource.

Next, you open a session with a speciﬁc device with the viOpen function. This function uses the session returned from viOpenDefaultRM and returns its own session to identify the device session. The following shows the function syntax:

viOpenDefaultRM (sesn); viOpen (sesn, rsrcName, accessMode, timeout, vi);

The session returned from viOpenDefaultRM must be used in the sesn parameter of the viOpen function. The viOpen function then uses that session and the device address speciﬁed in the rsrcName parameter to open a device session. The vi parameter in viOpen returns a session identiﬁer that can be used with other VTL functions.

Your program may have several sessions open at the same time by creating multiple session identiﬁers by calling the viOpen function multiple times.

The following summarizes the parameters in the previous function calls:

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sesn This is a session returned from the viOpenDefaultRM

function that identiﬁes the resource manager session.

rsrcName This is a unique symbolic name of the device (device

address).

accessMode This parameter is not used for VTL. Use VI_NULL. timeout This parameter is not used for VTL. Use VI_NULL. vi This is a pointer to the session identiﬁer for this

particular device session. This pointer will be used to identify this device session when using other VTL functions.

The following is an example of opening sessions with a GPIB multimeter and a GPIB-VXI scanner:

ViSession defaultRM, dmm, scanner; . . viOpenDefaultRM(&defaultRM); viOpen (defaultRM, “GPIB0::22::INSTR”, VI_NULL,

VI_NULL, &dmm);

viOpen (defaultRM, “GPIB-VXI0::24::INSTR”, VI_NULL,

VI_NULL, &scanner);

. . viClose (scanner); viClose (dmm); viClose(defaultRM);

The above function ﬁrst opens a session with the default resource manager. The session returned from the resource manager and a device address is then used to open a session with the GPIB device at address

22. That session will now be identiﬁed as dmm when using other VTL functions. The session returned from the resource manager is then used again with another device address to open a session with the GPIB-VXI device at primary address 9 and VXI logical address 24. That session will now be identiﬁed as scanner when using other VTL functions. See the following section for information on addressing particular devices.

Addressing a Session

As seen in the previous section, the rsrcName parameter in the viOpen function is used to identify a speciﬁc device. This parameter is made up of the VTL interface name and the device address. The interface name is determined when you run the VTL Conﬁguration Utility. This name is usually the interface type followed by a number. The following table

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illustrates the format of the rsrcName for the different interface types:

Interface Syntax

VXI VXI [board]::VXI logical address[::INSTR] GPIB-VXI GPIB-VXI [board]::VXI logical address[::INSTR] GPIB GPIB [board]::primary address[::secondary address][::INSTR]

The following describes the parameters used above: board This optional parameter is used if you have more than

one interface of the same type. The default value for

board is 0.

VSI logical address This is the logical address of the VXI instrument.

primary address This is the primary address of the GPIB device.

secondary address This optional parameter is the secondary address of the

GPIB device. If no secondary address is speciﬁed, none is assumed.

INSTR This is an optional parameter that indicates that you

are communicating with a resource that is of type INSTR, meaning instrument.

NOTE If you want to be compatible with future releases of VTL and VISA, you

must include the INSTR parameter in the syntax. The following are examples of valid symbolic names:

XI0::24::INSTR Device at VXI logical address 24 that is of VISA type

INSTR.

VXI2::128 Device at VXI logical address 128, in the third VXI

system (VXI2).

GPIB-VXI0::24 A VXI device at logical address 24. This VXI device is

connected via a GPIB-VXI command module.

GPIB0::7::0 A GPIB device at primary address 7 and secondary

address 0 on the GPIB interface.

The following is an example of opening a device session with the GPIB device at primary address23.

ViSession defaultRM, vi; .

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viOpenDefaultRM (&defaultRM); viOpen (defaultRM, “GPIB0::23::INSTR”, VI_NULL,VI_NULL,&vi); .

. viClose(vi); viClose (defaultRM);

Closing a Session

The viClose function must be used to close each session. You can close the speciﬁc device session, which will free all data structures that had been allocated for the session. If you close the default resource manager session, all sessions opened using that resource manager will be closed.

Since system resources are also used when searching for resources (viFindRsrc) or waiting for events (viWaitOnEvent), the viClose function needs to be called to free up ﬁnd lists and event contexts.

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GPIB Instrument Nomenclature

An instrument that is part of an GPIB network is categorized as a listener, talker, or controller, depending on its current function in the network.

Listener A listener is a device capable of receiving data or

commands from other instruments. Any number of instruments in the GPIB network can be listeners simultaneously.

Talker A talker is a device capable of transmitting data or

commands to other instruments. To avoid confusion, an GPIB system allows only one device at a time to be an active talker.

Controller A controller is an instrument, typically a computer,

capable of managing the various GPIB activities. Only one device at a time can be an active controller.

GPIB Command Statements

Command statements form the nucleus of GPIB programming. They are understood by all instruments in the network. When combined with the programming language codes, they provide all management and data communication instructions for the system. Refer to the your programming language manual and your computers I/O programming manual for more information.

The seven fundamental command functions are as follows:

• An abort function that stops all listener/talker activity on the interface bus, and prepares all instruments to receive a new command from the controller. Typically, this is an initialization command used to place the bus in a known starting condition (sometimes called: abort, abortio, reset, halt).

• A remote function that causes an instrument to change from local control to remote control. In remote control, the front panel keys are disabled except for the Local key and the line power switch (sometimes called: remote, resume).

• A local lockout function, that can be used with the remote function, to disable the front panel Local key. With the Local key disabled, only the controller (or a hard reset by the line power switch) can restore local control (sometimes called: local).

• A local function that is the complement to the remote command,

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causing an instrument to return to local control with a fully enabled front panel (sometimes called: local, resume).

• A clear function that causes all GPIB instruments, or addressed instruments, to assume a cleared condition. The deﬁnition of clear is unique for each instrument (sometimes called: clear, reset, control, send).

• An output function that is used to send function commands and data commands from the controller to the addressed instrument (sometimes called: output, control, convert, image, iobuffer, transfer).

• An enter function that is the complement of the output function and is used to transfer data from the addressed instrument to the controller (sometimes called: enter, convert, image, iobuffer, on timeout, set timeout, transfer).

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This feature is not implemented. Serial interface programming techniques are similar to most general

I/O applications. Refer to your programming language documentation for information on how to initiate the card and verify the status.

Due to the asynchronous nature of serial I/O operations, special care must be exercised to ensure that data is not lost by sending to another device before the device is ready to receive. Modem line handshaking can he used to help solve this problem. These and other topics are discussed in greater detail in your programming language documentation.

Settings for the Serial Interface

Please refer to the documentation on your computer and I/O to conﬁgure the serial bus. Some common serial interface conﬁguration settings are:

Baud Rate to 9600 Bits per character to 8 Parity to Odd and disabled Stop bits to 1

Handshake and Baud Rate

To determine hardware operating parameters, you need to know the answer for each of the following questions about the peripheral device:

• Which of the following signal and control lines are actively used during communication with the peripheral?

— Data Set Ready (DSR) — Clear to Send (CTS)

• What baud rate is expected by the peripheral?

Character Format Parameters

To deﬁne the character format, you must know the requirements of the peripheral device for the following parameters:

• Character Length: Eight data bits are used for each character, excluding start, stop, and parity bits.

• Parity Enable: Parity is disabled (absent) for each character.

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• Stop Bits: One stop bit is included with each character.

Modem Line Handshaking

To use modem line handshaking for data transfer you would consider the following tasks:

1. Set Data Terminal Ready and Request-to-Send modem lines to active state.

2. Check Data Set Ready and Clear-to-Send modem lines to be sure they are active.

3. Send information to the interface and thence to the peripheral.

4. After data transfer is complete, clear Data Terminal Ready and Request-to-Send signals.

For ENTER operations:

1. Set Data Terminal Ready line to active state. Leave Request-to-Send inactive.

2. Check Data Set Ready and Data Carrier Detect modem lines to be sure they are active.

3. Input information from the interface as it is received from the peripheral.

4. After the input operation is complete, clear the Data TerminalReady signal.

Data Transfer Errors

The serial interface can generate several types of errors when certain conditions are encountered while receiving data from the peripheral device. Errors can be generated by any of the following conditions:

• Parity error. The parity bit on an incoming character does not match the parity expected by the receiver.This condition is most commonly caused by line noise.

• Framing error. Start and stop bits do not match the timing expectations of the receiver. This can occur when line noise causes the receiver to miss the start bit or obscures the stop bits.

• Overrun error. Incoming data buffer overrun caused a loss of one or more data characters. This is usually caused when data is received by the interface, but no ENTER statement has been activated to input the information.

• Break received. A BREAK was sent to the interface by the peripheral device. The desktop computer program must be able to properly interpret the meaning of a break and take appropriate action.

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• “The Standard UNIX FTP Command:” on page 69

• “Using Telnet to Send Commands” on page 72

• “Using Socket LAN to Send Commands” on page 76

• “Using SICL LAN to Control the Analyzer” on page 77

• “Using HP/Agilent VEE Over Socket LAN” on page 84

• “Using a Java™ Applet Over Socket LAN” on page 85

• “Using a C Program Over Socket LAN” on page 85

• “General LAN Troubleshooting” on page 86

Using ftp for File Transfers

File transfers can be done using the instrument LAN connection. For example, you can use the ftp functionality to download instrument screen dumps to an external server.

A sample ftp session might be: ftp 15.88.163.118 (<instrument IP address>) At the name prompt enter:

vsa

At the password prompt enter:

service

You are now in the instrument /users directory and can get ﬁles from the analyzer. Type in help at the prompt to see the ftp commands that are available on your system. Typing quit will end your ftp session.

NOTE Do NOT delete ﬁles from this directory. Most of the ﬁles are required for

the instrument, and it’s optional personality modes, to operate.

The Standard UNIX FTP Command: Synopsis ftp [-g] [-i] [-n] [-v] [server-host] [-B

DataSocketBufferSize]

Description The ftp command is used to transfer ﬁles using the File Transfer Protocol. ftp transfers ﬁles over a network connection between a local machine and the remote server-host.

Options and Parameters When ftp is invoked with a server-host speciﬁed, a connection is opened immediately. Otherwise, ftp waits for user commands.

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The following options are supported:

-g disables expansion of shell metacharacters in ﬁle and

-i disables prompts during multiple-ﬁle operations

-n disables automatic log-in

-v enables verbose output

-B speciﬁes a new DataSocketBufferSize

server-host the name or address of the remote host.

Table lists the available user commands.

Table 2-1 ftp Commands

Command Description

ascii Sets the ﬁle transfer type to ASCII. binary Sets the ﬁle transfer type to binary.

directory names

bye Closes the connection to the host and exits ftp. cd remote_directory Sets the working directory on the host to remote_directory. delete remote_ﬁle Deletes remote_ﬁle or empty remote_directory. dir

[remote_directory]

get remote_ﬁle [local_ﬁle]

help Provides a list of ftp commands. help command Provides a brief description of command. image Sets the ﬁle transfer type to binary. lcd [local_directory] Sets the local working directory to local_directory. ls

[remote_directory]

mget remote_ﬁle

[local_ﬁle]

Lists the contents of the speciﬁed remote_directory. If remote_directory is unspeciﬁed, the contents of the current

remote directory are listed. Copies remote_ﬁle to local_ﬁle. If local_ﬁle is unspeciﬁed,

ftp uses the remote_ﬁle name as the local_ﬁle name.

Lists the contents of the speciﬁed remote_directory. If the remote_directory is unspeciﬁed, the contents of the current remote directory are listed.

Copy remote_ﬁle to the local system. If local_ﬁle is unspeciﬁed, ftp uses the remote_ﬁle name as the local_ﬁle name.

mput local_ﬁle

[remote_ﬁle]

put local_ﬁle [remote_ﬁle]

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Copies local_ﬁle to remote ﬁle. If remote_ﬁle is unspeciﬁed, ftp uses the local_ﬁle name as the remote_ﬁle name.

Table 2-1 ftp Commands

Command Description

quit Closes the connection to the host and exits ftp.

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Using Telnet to Send Commands

Using telnet to send commands to your analyzer works in a similar way to communicating over GPIB. You establish a connection with the analyzer, and then send or receive information using SCPI commands.

NOTE If you need to control the GPIB using “device clear” or SRQ’s, you can

use SICL LAN. SICL LAN provides control of your analyzer via IEEE

488.2 GPIB over the LAN. See “Using SICL LAN to Control the

Analyzer” on page 77. in this chapter.

On unix:

The syntax of the telnet command is:

telnet <vsa hostname> 5023

telnet <IP address>

The initial telnet connection message will be displayed and then a SCPI> prompt. At the SCPI prompt, simply enter the desired SCPI commands.

On a PC:

You would type at the dos prompt

telnet

The telnet gui has the host/port setting menu.

Unix Telnet Example:

To connect to the instrument with host name my4406 and port number 5023, enter the following command:

telnet my4406 5023

NOTE You must have changed your instrument host name from the default

(for example, change E566DD69 to my4406) in order to specify your instrument by name. Press

System, Conﬁg I/O, Host Name.

Alternately, you can enter the IP address directly in the telnet command, in place of the analyzer name:

telnet 15.4.45.255 5023

The computer responds with the following messages:

Trying... Connected to 15.4.45.255. Escape character is '^]'.

When you connect to the instrument, it will display a welcome message

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and a command prompt. The instrument is now ready to accept your SCPI commands. As you

type SCPI commands, query results appear on the next line. When you are done, break the telnet connection using the escape character (in this case Ctrl ]), and type quit.

The analyzer responds with the a welcome message and the SCPI prompt. You can immediately enter programming (SCPI) commands. Typical commands might be:

CONF:SPECTRUM CALC:SPECTRUM:MARK:TRACE SPECTRUM CALC:SPECTRUM:MARK:MAX CALC:SPECTRUM:MARK:MAX?

The small program above sets the analyzer to measure a signal in the frequency domain, places a marker on the maximum point, and then queries the analyzer for the amplitude of the marker.

You need to press Enter after typing in each command. After pressing Enter on the last line in the example above, the analyzer returns the amplitude level of the marker to your computer and displays it on the next line. For example, after typing CALC:SPECTRUM:MARK:MAX? and pressing Enter, the computer would display:

+1.71000000000E+002

When you are done, close the telnet connection. Enter the escape character to get the telnet prompt. The escape character (Ctrl and "]" in this example) does not print.

At the telnet prompt, type quit or close. The telnet connection closes and you see your regular prompt.

Connection closed.

Figure 2-2 shows a terminal screen using the example commands

above.

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Figure 2-2 Example telnet Session

NOTE If your telnet connection is in a mode called "line-by-line," there is no

local echo. This means you will not be able to see the characters you are typing on your computer's display until after you press the Enter key.

To remedy this, you need to change your telnet connection to "character-by-character" mode. This can be accomplished in most systems by escaping out of telnet to the telnet> prompt and then typing mode char. If this does not work, consult your telnet program's documentation for how to change to "character-by-character" mode.

The Standard UNIX TELNET Command: Synopsis telnet [host [port]] Description The telnet command is used to communicate with

another host using the TELNET protocol. When telnet is invoked with host or port arguments, a connection is opened to host, and input is sent from the user to host.

Options and Parameters telnet operates in line-by-line mode or in character-at-a-time mode. In line-by-line mode, typed text is ﬁrst echoed on the screen. When the line is completed by pressing the

Enter

key, the text line is then sent to host. In character-at-a-time mode, text is echoed to the screen and sent to host as it is typed.

In some cases, if your telnet connection is in “line-by-line” mode, there

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is no local echo. This means you will not be able to see the characters you are typing on your computer's display until after you press the

Enter

key. To remedy this, you need to change your telnet connection to

“character-by-character” mode. This can be accomplished in most systems by escaping out of telnet to the telnet> prompt and then typing mode char. Consult your telnet program's documentation for how to change to “character-by-character” mode.

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Using Socket LAN to Send Commands

Your analyzer implements a sockets Applications Programming Interface (API) compatible with Berkeley sockets, Winsock, and other standard sockets APIs. Youcan write programs using sockets to control your analyzer by sending SCPI commands to a socket connection you create in your program. Refer to Using a Java™ Applet Over Socket

LAN in this chapter for example programs using sockets to control the

analyzer.

Setting Up Your Analyzer for Socket Programming

Before you can use socket programming, you must identify your analyzer’s socket port number. The default is 5025:

1. Press

System, Conﬁg I/O, SCPI LAN, Socket Port.

2. Notice that the port number you will use for your socket connection to the analyzer is 5025.

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Using SICL LAN to Control the Analyzer

SICL LAN is a LAN protocol using the Standard Instrument Control Library (SICL). It provides control of your analyzer over the LAN, using a variety of computing platforms, I/O interfaces, and operating systems. With SICL LAN, you control your remote analyzer over the LAN with the same methods you use for a local analyzer connected directly to the controller with the GPIB. More information about SICL LAN can be found in the HP Standard Instrument Control Library user’s guide for HP-UX, part number E2091-90004.

Your analyzer implements a SICL LAN server. To control the analyzer, you need a SICL LAN client application running on a computer or workstation that is connected to the analyzer over a LAN. Typical applications implementing a SICL LAN client include

• HP/Agilent VEE

• HP/Agilent BASIC

• National Instrument’s LabView with HP/Agilent VISA/SICL client drivers

NOTE The SICL LAN protocol is Agilent’s implementation of the VXI-11

Instrument Protocol, deﬁned by the VXIbus Consortium working group. At the time of the publication of this manual, National Instruments’

VISA does not support the VXI-11 Instrument Protocol. However, future revisions of National Instruments VISA will support the VX-11 protocol. Contact National Instruments for their release date.

SICL LAN can be used with Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, and HP-UX.

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Collecting SICL LAN Set-up Information

Before you set up your analyzer as a SICL LAN server,you will need to collect some information about your VISA/SICL LAN client application. The “value” of the following parameters can be found from the front panel

System keys. They can then be used to set up your VISA/SICL

LAN client application: Emulated GPIB

Name The GPIB name is the name given to a device used to

communicate with the analyzer. Your analyzer is shipped with gpib7 as its GPIB name. The GPIB name is the same as the remote SICL address.

Emulated GPIB Logical Unit The logical unit number is a unique integer assigned to

the device to be controlled using SICL LAN. Your analyzer is shipped with the logical unit number set to

Emulated GPIB Address The emulated GPIB address (bus address) is assigned

to the device to be controlled using SICL LAN. The emulated GPIB address is automatically set to be the same as the current GPIB address. The instrument is shipped with the emulated GPIB address set to 18.

The SICL LAN server uses the GPIB name, GPIB logical unit number, and GPIB address conﬁguration on the SICL LAN client to communicate with the client. You must match these parameters exactly (including case) when you set up the SICL LAN client and server.

Conﬁguring Your Analyzer as a SICL LAN Server

After you have collected the required information from the SICL LAN client, perform the following steps to set up your analyzer as a SICL LAN server:

1. Identify the GPIB name. Press

System, Conﬁg I/O, SICL Server, Emulated GPIB Name, and notice

that it is gpib7.

2. Notice that the Emulated GPIB Logical Unit is set to 8.

3. Notice that the

Emulated GPIB Address is set the same as the GPIB

address.

Conﬁguring Your PC as a SICL LAN Client

The descriptions here are based on Agilent’s VISA revision G.02.02, model number 2094G. A copy of Agilent’s VISA can be found on Agilent’s website:

http://www.tm.agilent.com/tmo/software/English/HP_IO_Libraries.html

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These descriptions assume a LAN connection between your computer and network analyzer. They are not written for the GPIB to LAN gateway.

1. Install VISA revision G.02.02 or higher.

2. Run I/O conﬁguration.

3. Select LAN Client from the available interface types.

4. Press Conﬁgure.

5. Enter an interface name, such as lan1.

6. Enter a logical unit number, such as 7.

7. Select Okay.

8. Select VISA LAN Client from the available interface types.

9. Press Conﬁgure.

10.Enter a VISA interface name, such as GPIB1.

11.Enter the hostname or IP address of your analyzer in the hostname ﬁeld, such as my4406a.companyname.com

12.Enter a Remote SICL address, such as GPIB1.

13.Set the LAN interface to match the deﬁned LAN client (lan1 in this example).

14.Select OK.

15.Close I/O Conﬁguration by selecting OK.

Controlling Your Analyzer with SICL LAN and HP/Agilent VEE

Before you can use SICL LAN with VEE, you need to set up VISA/SICL LAN I/O drivers for use with your VEE application. Consult your VEE documentation for information how to do this.

NOTE If you are using HP/Agilent VEE and SICL LAN, the logical unit

number is limited to the range of 0-8. The logical unit number is the same as the interface select code (ISC).

VEE reserves ISC values 9-18, and does not allow you to use them for SICL/LAN communications with your analyzer. VEE also does not allow any ISC values higher than 18.

After you have the VISA/SICL LAN I/O drivers installed, perform the steps below to set up VEE to control your analyzer:

1. On your computer or workstation, select I/O|Instrument Manager.

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Figure 2-3 I/O|Instrument Manager Menu

2. Add a new GPIB device with an address of 7XX, where XX is the GPIB device address from your analyzer.

Figure 2-4 Adding Your Analyzer as an VEE Device

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To send SCPI commands to the analyzer, select I/O|Instrument Manager, and the GPIB device just added. Select Direct I/O. You can now type SCPI commands in the command window, and they are sent over the LAN to your analyzer.

Figure 2-5 Sending SCPI Commands Directly to your Analyzer

See the VEE example program for more details.

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Controlling Your Analyzer with SICL LAN and HP/Agilent BASIC for Windows

Before you can use HP/Agilent BASIC for Windows with SICL LAN, you need to set up VISA/SICL LAN I/O drivers for use with your BASIC applications. Consult your BASIC documentation for information how to do this.

To set up SICL LAN for BASIC, add the following statement to your AUTOST program (all on a single line):

LOAD BIN “GPIBS;DEV lan[analyzer IP address]:GPIB name TIME 30 ISC 7”

Replace analyzer IP address with the IP address of your analyzer, GPIP name with the GPIB name given to your analyzer, and 7 with the

logical unit number. For example, the following LOAD statement should be added to your

AUTOST program for the parameters listed below: analyzer IP address 12.22.344.225 analyzer GPIB name inst0 logical unit number 7 timeout value (seconds) 30 LOAD statement (all on a single line) LOAD BIN “GPIBS;DEV lan[12.22.344.225]:inst0 TIME 30 ISC 7”

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Consult your BASIC documentation to learn how to load the SICL driver for BASIC.

After the SICL driver is loaded, you control your analyzer using commands such as the following:

OUTPUT 718; “*IDN?” ENTER 718; S$

where 18 is the device address for the analyzer. See the BASIC example program in this chapter for more information.

Controlling Your Analyzer with SICL LAN and BASIC for UNIX (Rocky Mountain BASIC)

Before you can use Rocky Mountain Basic (HPRMB) with SICL LAN, you will need to set up the SICL LAN I/O drivers for HPRMB. Consult your system administrator for details.

Create a .rmbrc ﬁle in your root directory of your UNIX workstation with the following entries:

SELECTIVE_OPEN=ON Interface 8= “lan[analyzer IP address]:GPIB name”;NORMAL

Replace analyzer IP address with the IP address of your analyzer, and GPIB name with the GPIB name given to your analyzer. Also replace the “8” of Interface 8 with the logical unit number. Consult your HPRMB documentation for the exact syntax.

After your SICL driver is conﬁgured correctly on your UNIX workstation, you control your analyzer using commands such as the following:

OUTPUT 818; “*IDN?” ENTER 818; S$

where 18 is the device address for the analyzer.

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Using HP/Agilent VEE Over Socket LAN

To control your analyzer via socket LAN using VEE, click on the VEE menu titled "I/O." Then select "To/From Socket" and position the I/O object box on the screen. Fill in the following ﬁelds:

Connect Port: 5025 Host Name: <hostname> Timeout: 15

Forfaster troubleshooting, you may want to set the timeout to a smaller number. If the hostname you enter doesn't work, try using the IP address of your analyzer (example: 15.4.43.5). Using the IP address rather than the hostname may also be faster. See Figure 2-6 for an example of an VEE screen.

NOTE If you need to control the GPIB using “device clear” or SRQ’s, you can

use SICL LAN. SICL LAN provides control of your analyzer via IEEE

488.2 GPIB. See See “Using SICL LAN to Control the Analyzer” on

page 77. in this chapter.

Figure 2-6 Sample VEE Screen

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Using a Java™ Applet Over Socket LAN

The example program “Using Java Programming Over Socket LAN” on

page 126 demonstrates simple socket programming with Java. It is

written in Java programming language, and will compile with Java compilers versions 1.0 and above.

This program is on your documentation CD ROM that shipped with the product.

Using a C Program Over Socket LAN

The example programs “Using C Programming Over Socket LAN” on

page 109 and “Using C Programming Over Socket LAN (Windows NT)” on page 123demonstrate simple socket programming. They are written

in C, and compile in the HP-UX UNIX environment, or the WIN32 environment.

In UNIX, LAN communication via sockets is very similar to reading or writing a ﬁle. The only difference is the openSocket() routine, which uses a few network library routines to create the TCP/IP network connection. Once this connection is created, the standard fread() and fwrite() routines are used for network communication.

In Windows, the routines send() and recv() must be used, since fread() and fwrite() may not work on sockets.

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General LAN Troubleshooting

• “Troubleshooting the Initial Connection” on page 86

• “Common Problems After You’ve Made the Connection” on page 87

• “Pinging the Analyzer from Your Computer or Workstation” on page

• “EIA/TIA 568B Wiring Information” on page 91

Troubleshooting the Initial Connection

Getting the analyzer to work with your network often requires detailed knowledge of your local network software.This section attempts to help you with some common problems. Contact your network administrator for additional assistance.

The analyzer LAN interface does not need or include any proprietary driver software. It was designed to operate with common network utilities and drivers.

Either a hardware problem or a software problem can prevent the analyzer's remote ﬁle server from communicating over the LAN. The following common problems may be encountered:

Communications Not Established If you have just installed and

conﬁgured the LAN interface and you have never been able to access the analyzer via ftp or telnet, go directly to “Pinging the Analyzer

from Your Computer or Workstation” on page 89.

If you have previously been able to access the analyzer via ftp or telnet and now cannot do so, check the following:

❏ Has any hardware been added or moved on your network? This

includes adding or removing any workstations or peripherals, or changing any cabling.

❏ Have software applications been added to the network? ❏ Has the functionality been turned off from the front panel? Press

System, Conﬁg I/O, SCPI LAN.

❏ Have any conﬁguration ﬁles been modiﬁed? Pressing

Restore Sys Defaults restores the original factory defaults and you

System,

will have to re-set the instrument IP address and hostname.

❏ Is the upper- and lower-case character usage in your hostname

consistent?

❏ Have any of the following ﬁles been deleted or overwritten?

UNIX: — /etc/hosts

— /etc/inetd.conf

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— /etc/services PCs:

— dependent network ﬁles

If you know or suspect that something has changed on your network, consult with your network administrator.

Timeout Errors Timeout errors such as "Device Timeout," "File

Timeout," and "Operation Timeout," are symptoms of one or both of the following problems:

— The currently conﬁgured timeout limits are too short compared to

the time it takes the LAN to complete some operations. This problem may occur during periods of increased LAN trafﬁc.

— The LAN connection has failed, or fails occasionally. To increase your timeout period, refer to your computer

documentation for instructions. Contact your LAN administrator if problems continue.

Packets Routinely Lost If packets are routinely lost, proceed to the

troubleshooting section in this chapter relating to your network.

Problems Transferring or Copying Files If you have problems

copying ﬁles out of or into the analyzer, you might be experiencing timeout problems. See the previous section on "Timeout Errors."

Common Problems After You’ve Made the Connection

This section describes common problems you may encounter when using the analyzer on a LAN. It assumes you have been able to connect to the analyzer in the past. If this is not so, refer to the previous sections ﬁrst.

NOTE Pressing Preset does not affect LAN settings, but pressing System,

Restore Sys Defaults will reset to the original factory defaults. You will

then have to re-set the instrument IP address and other LAN settings in System, Conﬁg I/O.

You cannot connect to the analyzer

• If you suspect a bad LAN connection between your computer and analyzer, you can verify the network connection by using the ping command described earlier in this chapter or another similar echo request utility.

• If a bad connection is revealed, try the following solutions: — Make sure the analyzer is turned on.

— Check the physical connection to the LAN.

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— Make sure the internet (IP) Address of the analyzer is set up

correctly in the LAN port setup menu. (Press

Address.)

System, Conﬁg I/O, IP

— If the analyzer and the computer are on different networks or

subnets, make sure the gateway address and subnet mask values are set correctly. See "Troubleshooting Subnet Problems" earlier in this chapter.

You cannot access the ﬁle system via ftp

• If you get a "connection refused" message, try the following solutions:

— If the power to the analyzer was just turned on, make sure that

you wait about 25 seconds before attempting the connection.

• If you get a "connection timed out" message — Verify the LAN connection between your computer and the

analyzer. Refer to "If you cannot connect to the analyzer" earlier in this section.

You cannot telnet to the command parser port

• If you get a "connection refused" message — Check the telnet port number from the front panel keys.

• If you get a "connection timed out" or "no response from host" message

— Verify the LAN connection between your computer and the

analyzer. Refer to "If you cannot connect to the analyzer" earlier in this section.

• If you get a "connection refused" or "no response from host" message — If the analyzer was just turned on, make sure that you wait about

25 seconds before attempting the connection.

You get an "operation timed-out" message

• Check the LAN connection between the computer and the analyzer. Refer to "If you cannot connect to the analyzer" in this section.

• Increase the ﬁle time-out value on your PC or workstation.

You cannot access internal web pages or import graphic images when using a point-to-point connection

• Disable the use of proxy servers. You may have to specify this in a number of locations, depending on the operating system and software you are using.

• Disable the use of cached copies of web pages to ensure that you

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always get a new copy of the analyzer’s screen image.

If all else fails

• Contact your network administrator.

• If you still cannot solve the problem, contact an Agilent Service Center for repair information.

Pinging the Analyzer from Your Computer or Workstation

Verify the communications link between the computer and the analyzer remote ﬁle server using the ping utility.

From a UNIX workstation, type:

ping hostname 64 10

where 64 is the packet size, and 10 is the number of packets transmitted.

From a DOS or Windows environment, type:

ping hostname 10

where 10 is the number of echo requests.

Normal Response for UNIX

A normal response to the ping will be a total of 9, 10, or possibly 11 packets received with a minimal average round-trip time. The minimal average will be different from network to network. LAN trafﬁc will cause the round-trip time to vary widely.

Because the number of packets received depends on your network trafﬁc and integrity, the normal number might be different for your network.

Normal Response for DOS or Windows

A normal response to the ping will be a total of 9, 10, or possibly 11 packets received if 10 echo requests were speciﬁed.

Because the number of packets received depends on your network trafﬁc and integrity, the normal number might be different for your network.

Error Messages

If error messages appear, then check the command syntax before continuing with the troubleshooting. If the syntax is correct, then resolve the error messages using your network documentation, or by consulting your network administrator.

If an unknown host error message appears, then check that the host name and IP address for your analyzer are correctly entered from the front panel. Press

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System, Conﬁg I/O.

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Using the LAN to Control the Analyzer

No Response No packets received indicates no response from a ping.

If there is no response, try typing in the IP address with the ping command, instead of using the hostname. Check that the typed address matches the IP address assigned in the

System, Conﬁg I/O

menu, then check the other addresses in the menu. Check that the hostname and IP address are correctly entered in the

node names database. If you are using a UNIX environment, ping each node along the

route between your workstation and the analyzer, starting with the your workstation. Ping each gateway, then attempt a ping of the remote ﬁle server.

If the analyzer still does not respond to ping, then you should suspect a hardware problem with the analyzer. To check the analyzer performance, refer to "Verify the Analyzer Performance" in this chapter.

Intermittent Response If you received 1 to 8 packets back, there is

probably a problem with the network. Because the number of packets received depends on your network trafﬁc and integrity, the number might be different for your network.

Use a LAN analyzer or LAN management software to monitor activity and determine where bottlenecks or other problems are occurring. The analyzer will still function, but communications over the LAN will be slower.

On a single-client/single-server network, the most likely cause of intermittent response to an echo request is a hardware problem with the LAN module installed in the PC, the cable, or the analyzer. To check the analyzer, refer to "Verify the Analyzer Performance" later in this chapter.

The Standard UNIX PING Command

host [packetsize] [count]

Description The ping command sends an echo request packet to the host once per second. Each echo response packet that is returned is listed on the screen, along with the round-trip time of the echo request and echo response.

Options and Parameters -r Bypasses the routing tables, and sends the

request directly to the host.

-v Reports all packets that are received, including the response packets.

-o Requests information about the network paths taken by the requests and responses.

Synopsis ping [-r] [-v] [-o]

host The host name or IP address. packetsize The size of each packet (8 bytes - 4096 bytes).

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count The number of packets to send before ending ping (1-(231-1)).

If count is not speciﬁed, ping sends packets until interrupted.

EIA/TIA 568B Wiring Information

Table 2-2 Straight-Through Cable (Unshielded-twisted-pair (UTP) cable

with RJ-45 connectors)

Standard, Straight-Through Wiring (each end)

Signal Name RJ-45 Pin # Wire Color Pair #

RX+ 1 white/orange 2 RX- 2 orange TX+ 3 white/green 3 TX- 6 green Not

Used

4 blue 1 5 white/blue 7 white/brown 4 8 brown

Table 2-3 Cross-Over Cable (Unshielded-twisted-pair (UTP) cable with

RJ-45 connectors)

Cross-Over Wiring

Connector A Connector B

Signal Name RJ-45 Pin # RJ-45 Pin # Signal Name

RX+ 1 3 TX+ RX- 2 6 TXTX+ 3 1 RX+ TX- 6 2 RXNot

Used

4 4 Not

Used

55 77 88

a. Either end of this cable can be used at the analyzer or

LAN device. The connector names are a convention useful during cable construction only.

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This cable can be used to cascade hubs or to make point-to-point connections without a LAN hub.

NOTE A convenient wayto make a cross-over adapter is to use two RJ-45 jacks

wired according to Table , above. Standard straight-through patch cables can then be used from the analyzer to the adapter, and from the adapter to other LAN devices. If you use a special-purpose adapter, you will avoid having a cross-over cable mistaken for a standard, straight-through patch cable.

NOTE Some commercially-available cross-over cables do not implement the

cross-over wiring required for your analyzer. Please refer to Table , above, and verify all connections before using cables not made by Agilent Technologies.

Figure 2-7 Cross-Over Patch Cable Wiring (cross-over end)

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3 Programming Examples

Programming Examples

Types of Examples

This section includes examples of how to program the instrument using the instrument SCPI programming commands. The most of the examples are written for a PC, using GPIB. They are written in the C programming language and use the HP/Agilent VISA transition library. The VISA transition library must be installed and the GPIB card conﬁgured.

These examples are available on the Agilent Technologies E4406A documentation CD-ROM. They are also available at the URL

http://www.agilent.com/find/vsa

The section “C Programming Examples using VTL” on page 57, includes some basic information about using the C programming language. That information can be used with the examples in this chapter to create your own measurement routines.

Examples are also available showing you how to program the instrument using the VXIplug&play instrument driver that is provided. The examples are included in the on-line documentation in the driver itself. The driver allows you to use several different programming languages including: VEE, LabView, C, C++, BASIC. The software driver can be found at the URL http://www.agilent.com/find/vsa.

The programming examples include:

• “Using Markers” on page 95

• “Saving Binary Trace Data in an ASCII File” on page 98

• “Saving ASCII Trace Data in an ASCII File” on page 101

• “Saving and Recalling Instrument State Data” on page 104

• “Performing Alignments and Getting Pass/Fail Results” on page 107

• “Using C Programming Over Socket LAN” on page 109

• “Using C Programming Over Socket LAN (Windows NT)” on page

123

• “Using Java Programming Over Socket LAN” on page 126

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Programming Examples

Using Markers

This C programming example (HPE4406Markers.c):

• uses the VISA library for input/output, opens a session to a GP-IB device at address 18 and presets the instrument.

• sets the input to the internal 50 MHz reference source and tunes the instrument to the signal.

• turns off the active trace and put the instrument in single measurement mode.

• initiates a spectrum measurement and waits for the operation to complete.

• puts marker 1 on the peak signal of the average trace and measures the amplitude.

• puts a noise type marker (marker 2) on the average trace and measures the amplitude.

• calculates the difference between the peak and the noise ﬂoor.

• puts the instrument back in continuous measurement mode and prints the results.

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Using Markers

Example:

#include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <stdmath.h> #include "visa.h"

void main () {

/*program variables*/

ViSession defaultRM, viVSA; ViStatus viStatus = 0; double dPeakPower = 0; double dNoiseMarker = 0; double dResult= 0; long lComplete = 0;

/*open session to GPIB device at address 18 */

viStatus=viOpenDefaultRM (&defaultRM); viStatus=viOpen (defaultRM, "GPIB0::18::INSTR",

VI_NULL,VI_NULL, &viVSA);

/*check opening session sucess*/

if(viStatus) {

printf("Could not open a session to GPIB device at

address 18!\n");

exit(0);

}

/*reset the instrument */

viPrintf(viVSA, "*RST\n");

/*set the input port to the internal 50Mhz reference

source*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "SENS:FEED AREF\n");

/*tune the instrument to 50MHZ*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "SENS:FREQ:CENT 50E6\n");

/*put the instrument in single measurement mode*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "INIT:CONT 0\n");

/*zoom the spectrum display*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "DISP:FORM:ZOOM1\n");

/*trigger a spectrum measurement*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "INIT:IMM;*OPC?\n");

/*poll the operation complete query*/

while (!lComplete)

viScanf (viVSA,"%d",&lComplete);

/*assign marker 1 to the average trace of the spectrum*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "CALC:SPEC:MARK1:TRAC ASP\n");

/*put the marker 1 on the signal peak*/

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Using Markers

viPrintf(viVSA, "CALC:SPEC:MARK1:MAX\n");

/*query the 50 MHz signal amplitude*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "CALC:SPEC:MARK1:Y?\n");

/*get the 50 MHz signal amplitude*/

viScanf (viVSA,"%lf",&dPeakPower);

/*assign marker 2 to the average trace of the spectrum*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "CALC:SPEC:MARK2:TRAC ASP\n");

/*assign the marker function NOISE to marker 2 */

viPrintf(viVSA, "CALC:SPEC:MARK2:FUNC NOISE\n");

/*position marker 2 on the noise floor*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "CALC:SPEC:MARK2:X 50.2E6\n");

/*query NOISE marker*/ viPrintf(viVSA, "CALC:SPEC:MARK2:FUNC:RES?\n");

/*get the the NOISE marker reading*/

viPrintf (viVSA,"%lf",&dNoiseMarker);

/*put the instrument back to continuous mode*/

viScanf (viVSA,"INIT:CONT 1\n");

/*calculate the difference between the marker peak and

the NOISE marker*/

dResult = fabs(dNoiseMarker - dPeakPower);

/*print result to the standard output*/

printf("The Peak Marker measured = %.2lf

dBm\n",dPeakPower);

printf("The Noise Marker at 50.2 MHz measured = %.2lf

dBm/Hz\n",dNoiseMarker);

printf("The difference between the Peak and the Noise

Floor = %.2lf dBc/Hz\n\n",dResult);

/* close session */

viClose (viVSA); viClose (defaultRM);

}

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Programming Examples

Saving Binary Trace Data in an ASCII File

This C programming example (HPE4406Trace.c):

• uses the VISA library for input/output, opens a session to a GP-IB device at address 18 and presets the instrument.

• sets the input to the internal 50 MHz reference source and tunes the instrument to the signal.

• sets the instrument to single measurement mode.

• selects binary data output format (causing the trace header to be 6 bytes) and sets the binary byte order to SWAP.

• initiates a spectrum measurement and waits for the operation to complete.

• sets the instrument back to continuous measurement mode and queries the trace data.

• calculates the number of points in the trace by:

1. getting the trace header data. (In this case we know it's the ﬁrst 6

bytes.)

2. extracting the information on the number of bytes in the block of

data, from the trace header.

3. calculating the number of trace points given the number of bytes

in the trace. (REAL,64 binary format means each number is represented by 8 bytes.)

• Gets and saves the trace in a buffer

• Copies the trace buffer to the array of real numbers

• Saves the trace data to an ASCII ﬁle

Example:

#include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <memory.h> #include "visa.h"

void main () {

/*program variable*/

ViSession defaultRM, viVSA; ViStatus viStatus = 0; char sTraceBuffer[10240] = {0}; char sBufferInfo[4] = {0}; FILE *fTraceFile;

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Saving Binary Trace Data in an ASCII File

long lNumberPoints = 0; long lNumberBytes = 0; long lComplete = 0; unsigned long lBytesRetrieved; ViReal64 adTraceArray[10240];

/*open session to GPIB device at address 18 */

viStatus=viOpenDefaultRM (&defaultRM); viStatus=viOpen (defaultRM, "GPIB0::18::INSTR",

VI_NULL,VI_NULL, &viVSA);

/*check opening session sucess*/

if(viStatus) {

printf("Could not open a session to GPIB device at

address 18!\n");

exit(0);

}

/* Reset device */

viPrintf(viVSA, "*RST\n");

/*set the input port to the internal 50MHz reference

source*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "SENS:FEED AREF\n");

/*zoom the spectrum display*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "DISP:FORM:ZOOM1\n");

/*tune the instrument to 50MHz*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "SENS:FREQ:CENT 50E6\n");

/*print message to the standard output*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "Getting the spectrum trace in binary

format...\nPlease wait...\n\n");

/*set the instrument in single mode*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "INIT:CONT 0\n");

/*Set the ouput format to a binary format.

This will cause the trace header to be 6 bytes*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "FORM REAL,64\n");

/*set the binary byte order to SWAP*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "FORM:BORD SWAP\n");

/*trigger a spectrum measurement*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "MEAS:SPEC?;*OPC?\n");

/*poll the operation complete query*/

while (!lComplete)

viScanf (viVSA,"%d",&lComplete);

/*query the spectrum trace data*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "FETCH:SPEC7?\n");

/*set the instrument back to continuous mode*/

viPrintf(viVSA, "INIT:CONT 1\n");

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Saving Binary Trace Data in an ASCII File

/*get trace header data, in this case we know it's 6

bytes*/

viRead (viVSA,(ViBuf)sTraceBuffer,6,&lBytesRetrieved);

/*Extract the number of bytes from the trace header*/

memcpy(sBufferInfo,sTraceBuffer+2,4); lNumberBytes = atoi(sBufferInfo);

/*calculate the number of points given the number of

bytes in the trace - REAL 64 binary format means each number is represented by 8 bytes*/

lNumberPoints = lNumberBytes/8;

/*get and save trace in a buffer*/

viRead (viVSA,(ViBuf)sTraceBuffer,lNumberBytes,

&lBytesRetrieved);

/*copy the trace buffer to the array of real*/

memcpy(adTraceArray,sTraceBuffer,(size_t)lNumberBytes);

/*save trace data to an ASCII file*/

fTraceFile=fopen("C:\\HPE4406ATrace.txt","w"); fprintf(fTraceFile,"HPE4406ATrace.exe Output\nAgilent

1998\n\n");

fprintf(fTraceFile,"List of %d points of the averaged

spectrum trace:\n\n",lNumberPoints);

for (long i=0;i<lNumberPoints;i++)

fprintf(fTraceFile,"\tAmplitude of point[%d] =

%.2lf dBm\n",i+1,adTraceArray[i]);

fclose(fTraceFile);

/*print message to the standard output*/

printf("The %d trace points were saved to

C:\\HPE4406ATrace.txt file\n\n",lNumberPoints);

/* close session */

viClose (viVSA); viClose (defaultRM);

}

100 Chapter3

Agilent E4406A Programmers Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

1 Preparing for Use

What’s in This Chapter?

Digital Communications Measurements Information

Programming the Transmitter Tester

Installing Optional Measurement Personalities

Available Personality Options

License Key

Installing a License Key Number

NOTE Using the Uninstall key does not remove the personality from the

Writing Your First Program

Three Basic Steps in a Measurement

Programming a Measurement

File Naming Rules

Cables for Connecting to RS-232

Connecting to a LAN Server

2 Programming Fundamentals

SCPI Language Basics

Creating Valid Commands

Command Key Words and Syntax

Special Characters in Commands

Parameters in Commands

Putting Multiple Commands on the Same Line

Using the Instrument Status Registers

What are the Status Registers?

Why Would You Use the Status Registers?

Using a Status Register

Using the Service Request (SRQ) Method

Overall Status Register System

Status Byte Register

Standard Event Status Register

Operation and Questionable Status Registers

C Programming Examples using VTL

Typical Example Program Contents

Linking to VTL Libraries

Compiling and Linking a VTL Program

Example Program

Including the VISA Declarations File

Opening a Session

Device Sessions

Addressing a Session

Closing a Session

Overview of the GPIB Bus

GPIB Instrument Nomenclature

GPIB Command Statements

Overview of the RS-232 Bus

Settings for the Serial Interface

Handshake and Baud Rate

Character Format Parameters

Modem Line Handshaking

Data Transfer Errors

Using the LAN to Control the Analyzer

Using ftp for File Transfers

Using Telnet to Send Commands

Using Socket LAN to Send Commands

Using SICL LAN to Control the Analyzer

Using HP/Agilent VEE Over Socket LAN

Using a Java™ Applet Over Socket LAN

Using a C Program Over Socket LAN

General LAN Troubleshooting

3 Programming Examples

Types of Examples

Using Markers

Example:

Saving Binary Trace Data in an ASCII File

Example: