Keithley Keithley Instruments 2601B-PULSE Manual

Model 2601B-PULSE
System SourceMeter Instrument

Reference Manual

2601B-PULSE-901-01 Rev. A April 2020

Test Equipment Depot - 800.517.8431 - 99 Washington Street Melrose, MA 02176 - TestEquipmentDepot.com

*P2601B-PULSE-901-01A*

2601B-PULSE-901-01A

System SourceMeter Instrument

Model 2601B-PULSE

Reference Manual

© 2020, Keithley Instruments, LLC

Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A.

All rights reserved.

Any unauthorized reproduction, photocopy, or use of the information herein, in whole or in part,

without the prior written approval of Keithley Instruments, LLC, is strictly prohibited.

These are the original instructions in English.

TSP®, TSP-Link®, and TSP-Net® are trademarks of Keithley Instruments, LLC. All Keithley

Instruments product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Keithley Instruments, LLC.

Other brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Microsoft, Visual C++, Excel, and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of

Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Document number: 2601B-PULSE-901-01A April 2020

Safety precautions

The following safety precautions should be observed before using this product and any associated instrumentation. Although
some instruments and accessories would normally be used with nonhazardous voltages, there are situations where hazardous
conditions may be present.

This product is intended for use by personnel who recognize shock hazards and are familiar with the safety precautions required
to avoid possible injury. Read and follow all installation, operation, and maintenance information carefully before using the
product. Refer to the user documentation for complete product specifications.

If the product is used in a manner not specified, the protection provided by the product warranty may be impaired.

The types of product users are:

Responsible body is the individual or group responsible for the use and maintenance of equipment, for ensuring that the
equipment is operated within its specifications and operating limits, and for ensuring that operators are adequately trained.

Operators use the product for its intended function. They must be trained in electrical safety procedures and proper use of the
instrument. They must be protected from electric shock and contact with hazardous live circuits.

Maintenance personnel perform routine procedures on the product to keep it operating properly, for example, setting the line
voltage or replacing consumable materials. Maintenance procedures are described in the user documentation. The procedures
explicitly state if the operator may perform them. Otherwise, they should be performed only by service personnel.

Service personnel are trained to work on live circuits, perform safe installations, and repair products. Only properly trained
service personnel may perform installation and service procedures.

Keithley products are designed for use with electrical signals that are measurement, control, and data I/O connections, with low
transient overvoltages, and must not be directly connected to mains voltage or to voltage sources with high transient
overvoltages. Measurement Category II (as referenced in IEC 60664) connections require protection for high transient
overvoltages often associated with local AC mains connections. Certain Keithley measuring instruments may be connected to
mains. These instruments will be marked as category II or higher.

Unless explicitly allowed in the specifications, operating manual, and instrument labels, do not connect any instrument to mains.

Exercise extreme caution when a shock hazard is present. Lethal voltage may be present on cable connector jacks or test
fixtures. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) states that a shock hazard exists when voltage levels greater than
30 V RMS, 42.4 V peak, or 60 VDC are present. A good safety practice is to expect that hazardous voltage is present in any
unknown circuit before measuring.

Operators of this product must be protected from electric shock at all times. The responsible body must ensure that operators
are prevented access and/or insulated from every connection point. In some cases, connections must be exposed to potential
human contact. Product operators in these circumstances must be trained to protect themselves from the risk of electric shock. If
the circuit is capable of operating at or above 1000 V, no conductive part of the circuit may be exposed.

Do not connect switching cards directly to unlimited power circuits. They are intended to be used with impedance-limited
sources. NEVER connect switching cards directly to AC mains. When connecting sources to switching cards, install protective
devices to limit fault current and voltage to the card.

Before operating an instrument, ensure that the line cord is connected to a properly-grounded power receptacle. Inspect the
connecting cables, test leads, and jumpers for possible wear, cracks, or breaks before each use.

When installing equipment where access to the main power cord is restricted, such as rack mounting, a separate main input
power disconnect device must be provided in close proximity to the equipment and within easy reach of the operator.

For maximum safety, do not touch the product, test cables, or any other instruments while power is applied to the circuit under
test. ALWAYS remove power from the entire test system and discharge any capacitors before: connecting or disconnecting
cables or jumpers, installing or removing switching cards, or making internal changes, such as installing or removing jumpers.

Do not touch any object that could provide a current path to the common side of the circuit under test or power line (earth)
ground. Always make measurements with dry hands while standing on a dry, insulated surface capable of withstanding the
voltage being measured.

For safety, instruments and accessories must be used in accordance with the operating instructions. If the instruments or
accessories are used in a manner not specified in the operating instructions, the protection provided by the equipment may be
impaired.

Do not exceed the maximum signal levels of the instruments and accessories. Maximum signal levels are defined in the
specifications and operating information and shown on the instrument panels, test fixture panels, and switching cards.

When fuses are used in a product, replace with the same type and rating for continued protection against fire hazard.

Chassis connections must only be used as shield connections for measuring circuits, NOT as protective earth (safety ground)
connections.

If you are using a test fixture, keep the lid closed while power is applied to the device under test. Safe operation requires the use
of a lid interlock.

If a screw is present, connect it to protective earth (safety ground) using the wire recommended in the user documentation.

The symbol on an instrument means caution, risk of hazard. The user must refer to the operating instructions located in the
user documentation in all cases where the symbol is marked on the instrument.

The symbol on an instrument means warning, risk of electric shock. Use standard safety precautions to avoid personal
contact with these voltages.

The symbol on an instrument shows that the surface may be hot. Avoid personal contact to prevent burns.

The symbol indicates a connection terminal to the equipment frame.

If this symbol is on a product, it indicates that mercury is present in the display lamp. Please note that the lamp must be
properly disposed of according to federal, state, and local laws.

The WARNING heading in the user documentation explains hazards that might result in personal injury or death. Always read
the associated information very carefully before performing the indicated procedure.

The CAUTION heading in the user documentation explains hazards that could damage the instrument. Such damage may
invalidate the warranty.

The CAUTION heading with the symbol in the user documentation explains hazards that could result in moderate or minor
injury or damage the instrument. Always read the associated information very carefully before performing the indicated
procedure. Damage to the instrument may invalidate the warranty.

Instrumentation and accessories shall not be connected to humans.

Before performing any maintenance, disconnect the line cord and all test cables.

To maintain protection from electric shock and fire, replacement components in mains circuits — including the power
transformer, test leads, and input jacks — must be purchased from Keithley. Standard fuses with applicable national safety
approvals may be used if the rating and type are the same. The detachable mains power cord provided with the instrument may
only be replaced with a similarly rated power cord. Other components that are not safety-related may be purchased from other
suppliers as long as they are equivalent to the original component (note that selected parts should be purchased only through
Keithley to maintain accuracy and functionality of the product). If you are unsure about the applicability of a replacement
component, call a Keithley office for information.

Unless otherwise noted in product-specific literature, Keithley instruments are designed to operate indoors only, in the following
environment: Altitude at or below 2,000 m (6,562 ft); temperature 0 °C to 50 °C (32 °F to 122 °F); and pollution degree 1 or 2.

To clean an instrument, use a cloth dampened with deionized water or mild, water-based cleaner. Clean the exterior of the
instrument only. Do not apply cleaner directly to the instrument or allow liquids to enter or spill on the instrument. Products that
consist of a circuit board with no case or chassis (e.g., a data acquisition board for installation into a computer) should never
require cleaning if handled according to instructions. If the board becomes contaminated and operation is affected, the board
should be returned to the factory for proper cleaning/servicing.

Safety precaution revision as of June 2017.

Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1-1

Table of contents

Welcome .............................................................................................................................. 1-1

Extended warranty ............................................................................................................... 1-1

Contact information .............................................................................................................. 1-1

Customer documentation ..................................................................................................... 1-2

Product software and drivers ............................................................................................... 1-2

Capabilities and features...................................................................................................... 1-3

Power and environmental ratings ........................................................................................ 1-4

Installation ................................................................................................................ 2-1

Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 2-1

2601B-PULSE weights and dimensions .............................................................................. 2-1

Preparing the instrument for rack mounting .............................................................................. 2-5

2601B-P-INT dimensions .......................................................................................................... 2-6

Installing the 2601B-P-INT ................................................................................................... 2-6

Cooling vents ....................................................................................................................... 2-8

Turning the instrument on and off ........................................................................................ 2-9

Placing a 2601B-PULSE in standby .................................................................................. 2-10

Warmup period ................................................................................................................... 2-10

Line frequency configuration .............................................................................................. 2-11

Remote communications interfaces ................................................................................... 2-11

Remote interface connections ................................................................................................. 2-12

Output queue .......................................................................................................................... 2-13

USB communications .............................................................................................................. 2-13

LAN communications .............................................................................................................. 2-15

GPIB operation ........................................................................................................................ 2-29

RS-232 interface operation ..................................................................................................... 2-32

Software components for applications and instrument drivers ................................................ 2-36

Keithley I/O layer ..................................................................................................................... 2-39

General bus commands .......................................................................................................... 2-40

Using the interlock .............................................................................................................. 2-42

Interlock operation ................................................................................................................... 2-43

System information ............................................................................................................ 2-46

Instrument description ............................................................................................ 3-1

Controls, indicators, and connectors .................................................................................... 3-1

Front panel ................................................................................................................................ 3-1

Rear panel................................................................................................................................. 3-5

Menu overview ..................................................................................................................... 3-7

Menu navigation ........................................................................................................................ 3-7

Menu trees ................................................................................................................................ 3-7

Setting values .......................................................................................................................... 3-11

Table of contents Model 2601B-PULSE System SourceMeter Instrument Reference Manual

Beeper ................................................................................................................................ 3-13

Displayed error and status messages ................................................................................ 3-13

Display operations .............................................................................................................. 3-14

Display mode .......................................................................................................................... 3-14

Display functions and attributes .............................................................................................. 3-15

Display features ...................................................................................................................... 3-15

Display messages ................................................................................................................... 3-17

Input prompting ....................................................................................................................... 3-21

Indicators................................................................................................................................. 3-23

Local lockout ........................................................................................................................... 3-24

Load test menu ....................................................................................................................... 3-24

Running a test from the front panel ......................................................................................... 3-26

Key-press codes ..................................................................................................................... 3-26

USB storage overview ........................................................................................................ 3-28

Connecting the USB flash drive .............................................................................................. 3-28

File system navigation ............................................................................................................. 3-29

Sourcing and measuring ......................................................................................... 4-1

Operation overview .............................................................................................................. 4-1

Limits ......................................................................................................................................... 4-2

Setting the limit .......................................................................................................................... 4-3

Pulser protection levels ............................................................................................................. 4-4

Sink operation ........................................................................................................................... 4-5

DUT test connections ........................................................................................................... 4-6

FORCE and SENSE connectors ............................................................................................... 4-8

2-wire local sensing connections ............................................................................................. 4-10

4-wire remote sensing connections ......................................................................................... 4-10

Connections for pulser operation ............................................................................................ 4-11

Contact check connections ..................................................................................................... 4-12

Combining SMU outputs ......................................................................................................... 4-14

Guarding and shielding ........................................................................................................... 4-20

Test fixture .............................................................................................................................. 4-23

DUT connection settings .................................................................................................... 4-25

Sense mode selection ............................................................................................................. 4-25

Output-off modes .................................................................................................................... 4-26

Output-off function ................................................................................................................... 4-27

Output-off limits (compliance) .................................................................................................. 4-28

Remote programming output-off states quick reference ......................................................... 4-29

Basic source-measure procedure ...................................................................................... 4-30

Front-panel source-measure procedure .................................................................................. 4-30

Remote source-measure commands ...................................................................................... 4-31

Pulser operation ...................................................................................................................... 4-33

Operation considerations for the ADC ............................................................................... 4-41

Autozero .................................................................................................................................. 4-41

NPLC caching ......................................................................................................................... 4-42

Triggering in local mode ..................................................................................................... 4-42

Configuring trigger attributes in local mode ....................................................................... 4-44

Front-panel triggering example ............................................................................................... 4-44

Configuring for measure-only tests using the MODE key .................................................. 4-45

Voltmeter and ammeter measurements ............................................................................. 4-45

Ohms measurements ......................................................................................................... 4-46

Model 2601B-PULSE System SourceMeter Instrument Reference Manual Table of contents

Ohms ranging .......................................................................................................................... 4-46

Basic ohms measurement procedure ...................................................................................... 4-46

Ohms sensing ......................................................................................................................... 4-48

Power measurements ........................................................................................................ 4-49

Basic power measurement procedure ..................................................................................... 4-50

Power measurements using the remote interface ................................................................... 4-50

Saved setups ..................................................................................................................... 4-51

Saving user setups .................................................................................................................. 4-51

Recalling a saved setup .......................................................................................................... 4-52

Start-up configuration .............................................................................................................. 4-53

Saving user setups from a remote interface ............................................................................ 4-53

Range ................................................................................................................................. 4-54

Available ranges ...................................................................................................................... 4-54

Maximum source values and readings .................................................................................... 4-55

Measure auto delay ................................................................................................................. 4-55

Manual ranging ....................................................................................................................... 4-55

Ranging limitations .................................................................................................................. 4-56

Autoranging ............................................................................................................................. 4-56

Low range limits ...................................................................................................................... 4-56

Range considerations ............................................................................................................. 4-57

Range commands ................................................................................................................... 4-57

Range programming example ................................................................................................. 4-58

Digits .................................................................................................................................. 4-59

Setting display resolution from the front panel ........................................................................ 4-59

Setting display resolution from a remote interface .................................................................. 4-59

Speed when the pulser is disabled .................................................................................... 4-60

Setting speed .......................................................................................................................... 4-60

Sweep operation ................................................................................................................ 4-61

Linear staircase sweeps .......................................................................................................... 4-64

Logarithmic staircase sweeps ................................................................................................. 4-65

List sweeps ............................................................................................................................. 4-68

Pulse sweeps .......................................................................................................................... 4-69

Configuring and running sweeps ............................................................................................. 4-71

Sweeping using factory scripts ................................................................................................ 4-73

Sweep programming examples ............................................................................................... 4-74

Relative offset .................................................................................................................... 4-75

Front panel relative offset ........................................................................................................ 4-75

Remote relative offset programming ....................................................................................... 4-76

Filters.................................................................................................................................. 4-77

Filter types............................................................................................................................... 4-77

Response time ........................................................................................................................ 4-78

Front panel filter control .......................................................................................................... 4-78

Remote filter programming ...................................................................................................... 4-79

High-capacitance mode ..................................................................................................... 4-80

Understanding high-capacitance mode ................................................................................... 4-80

Enabling high-capacitance mode ............................................................................................ 4-82

Reading buffers ........................................................................................................ 5-1

Overview .............................................................................................................................. 5-1

Front-panel reading buffer control ........................................................................................ 5-1

Reading buffer options .............................................................................................................. 5-1

Configuring reading buffers ....................................................................................................... 5-2

Appending or overwriting existing reading buffers ..................................................................... 5-3

Table of contents Model 2601B-PULSE System SourceMeter Instrument Reference Manual

Storage operation ...................................................................................................................... 5-3

Saving reading buffers .............................................................................................................. 5-4

Recalling readings ..................................................................................................................... 5-5

Remote reading buffer programming ................................................................................... 5-6

Dedicated reading buffer designations ...................................................................................... 5-6

Reading buffer commands ........................................................................................................ 5-6

Buffer status ............................................................................................................................ 5-12

Dynamic reading buffers ......................................................................................................... 5-12

Buffer examples ...................................................................................................................... 5-12

Triggering ................................................................................................................. 6-1

Triggering ............................................................................................................................. 6-1

Remote triggering overview ................................................................................................. 6-1

Using the trigger model ............................................................................................................. 6-3

SMU event detectors ............................................................................................................ 6-8

Clearing SMU event detectors .................................................................................................. 6-8

Using the TRIG key to trigger a sweep ..................................................................................... 6-8

Using trigger events to start actions on trigger objects ...................................................... 6-10

Action overruns ....................................................................................................................... 6-10

Digital I/O port and TSP-Link synchronization lines ........................................................... 6-11

Mode ....................................................................................................................................... 6-11

Pulsewidth ............................................................................................................................... 6-11

Trigger configuration on hardware lines .................................................................................. 6-11

Action overruns on hardware lines .......................................................................................... 6-13

Timers ................................................................................................................................ 6-13

Timer attributes ....................................................................................................................... 6-13

Triggering a timer .................................................................................................................... 6-14

Timer action overruns ............................................................................................................. 6-15

Using timers to perform pulsed sweeps .................................................................................. 6-15

Event blenders ................................................................................................................... 6-19

Event blender modes .............................................................................................................. 6-20

Assigning input trigger events ................................................................................................. 6-20

Action overruns ....................................................................................................................... 6-20

LAN triggering overview ..................................................................................................... 6-20

Understanding hardware value and pseudo line state ............................................................ 6-21

Understanding LXI trigger event designations ........................................................................ 6-22

Generating LXI trigger packets ................................................................................................ 6-22

Command interface triggering ............................................................................................ 6-22

Trigger generator ............................................................................................................... 6-23

Manual triggering ............................................................................................................... 6-23

Interactive triggering ........................................................................................................... 6-23

Detecting trigger events using the wait() function .................................................................... 6-24

Using the assert function to generate output triggers .............................................................. 6-24

Using the release function of the hardware lines ..................................................................... 6-25

Using the set function to bypass SMU event detectors ........................................................... 6-25

Event detector overruns .......................................................................................................... 6-26

Examples using interactive triggering ...................................................................................... 6-26

Hardware trigger modes..................................................................................................... 6-28

Falling edge trigger mode ....................................................................................................... 6-28

Rising edge master trigger mode ............................................................................................ 6-29

Rising edge acceptor trigger mode ......................................................................................... 6-30

Model 2601B-PULSE System SourceMeter Instrument Reference Manual Table of contents

Either edge trigger mode ......................................................................................................... 6-31

Understanding synchronous triggering modes .................................................................. 6-32

Synchronous master trigger mode (SynchronousM) ............................................................... 6-32

Synchronous acceptor trigger mode (SynchronousA) ............................................................. 6-34

Synchronous trigger mode ...................................................................................................... 6-35

Digital I/O ........................................................................................................................... 6-36

Port configuration .................................................................................................................... 6-36

Digital I/O configuration ........................................................................................................... 6-37

Controlling digital I/O lines....................................................................................................... 6-37

TSP-Link trigger lines .............................................................................................................. 6-39

Theory of operation ................................................................................................. 7-1

Analog-to-digital converters ................................................................................................. 7-1

Source-measure concepts ................................................................................................... 7-1

Limit principles .......................................................................................................................... 7-2

Power equations ....................................................................................................................... 7-2

Duty cycle with the pulser disabled ........................................................................................... 7-2

Duty cycle with the pulser enabled ............................................................................................ 7-4

Optimizing apertures and filters for the 1 MS/s sample rate ...................................................... 7-5

Operating boundaries ................................................................................................................ 7-6

Basic circuit configurations ...................................................................................................... 7-19

Guard ...................................................................................................................................... 7-24

Measurement settling time considerations ......................................................................... 7-26

Programming example for controlling settling time delay ........................................................ 7-27

Effects of load on current source settling time ................................................................... 7-27

Creating pulses with the 2601B-PULSE SMU ................................................................... 7-28

Pulse rise and fall times .......................................................................................................... 7-28

SMU pulse width ..................................................................................................................... 7-30

Maintenance ............................................................................................................. 8-1

Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 8-1

Displaying the serial number ................................................................................................ 8-1

Line fuse replacement .......................................................................................................... 8-2

Front-panel tests .................................................................................................................. 8-3

Keys test ................................................................................................................................... 8-3

Display patterns test .................................................................................................................. 8-4

Upgrading the firmware ........................................................................................................ 8-5

Using TSB to upgrade the firmware .......................................................................................... 8-6

Introduction to TSP operation ................................................................................. 9-1

Introduction to TSP operation .............................................................................................. 9-1

Controlling the instrument by sending individual command messages ..................................... 9-1

Queries ..................................................................................................................................... 9-3

Information on scripting and programming ................................................................................ 9-3

About TSP commands ......................................................................................................... 9-3

Beeper control ........................................................................................................................... 9-3

Bit manipulation and logic operations ........................................................................................ 9-4

Calibration ................................................................................................................................. 9-5

Data queue................................................................................................................................ 9-5

Table of contents Model 2601B-PULSE System SourceMeter Instrument Reference Manual

Digital I/O .................................................................................................................................. 9-6

Display ...................................................................................................................................... 9-6

Error queue ............................................................................................................................... 9-7

Event log ................................................................................................................................... 9-7

File I/O ...................................................................................................................................... 9-7

GPIB ......................................................................................................................................... 9-8

Instrument identification ............................................................................................................ 9-9

LAN and LXI .............................................................................................................................. 9-9

Miscellaneous ......................................................................................................................... 9-10

Parallel script execution .......................................................................................................... 9-10

Queries and response messages ............................................................................................ 9-11

Reading buffer ......................................................................................................................... 9-11

Reset ....................................................................................................................................... 9-12

RS-232 .................................................................................................................................... 9-12

Saved setups .......................................................................................................................... 9-12

Scripting .................................................................................................................................. 9-12

SMU ........................................................................................................................................ 9-13

Status model ........................................................................................................................... 9-15

Time ........................................................................................................................................ 9-16

Triggering ................................................................................................................................ 9-16

TSP-Link ................................................................................................................................. 9-18

TSP-Net .................................................................................................................................. 9-18

Userstrings .............................................................................................................................. 9-19

Factory scripts .................................................................................................................... 9-19

Running a factory script .......................................................................................................... 9-20

Retrieving and modifying a factory script listing ...................................................................... 9-21

KISweep factory script ............................................................................................................ 9-21

KIHighC factory script ............................................................................................................. 9-21

KIParlib factory script .............................................................................................................. 9-22

KISavebuffer factory script ...................................................................................................... 9-22

Instrument programming ....................................................................................... 10-1

Fundamentals of scripting for TSP ..................................................................................... 10-1

What is a script? ...................................................................................................................... 10-2

Runtime and nonvolatile memory storage of scripts ................................................................ 10-2

What can be included in scripts? ............................................................................................. 10-2

Commands that cannot be used in scripts .............................................................................. 10-3

Manage scripts ........................................................................................................................ 10-3

Working with scripts in nonvolatile memory........................................................................... 10-10

Interactive script example...................................................................................................... 10-12

Fundamentals of programming for TSP ........................................................................... 10-13

What is Lua? ......................................................................................................................... 10-13

Lua basics ............................................................................................................................. 10-13

Standard libraries .................................................................................................................. 10-27

Programming example .......................................................................................................... 10-30

Test Script Builder ............................................................................................................ 10-30

Installing the TSB software.................................................................................................... 10-30

Using Test Script Builder (TSB) ............................................................................................ 10-31

Project navigator ................................................................................................................... 10-32

Script editor ........................................................................................................................... 10-33

Outline view........................................................................................................................... 10-33

Programming interaction ....................................................................................................... 10-34

Password management ................................................................................................... 10-34

Setting the password from a command or web interface ...................................................... 10-34

Unlocking the remote interface .............................................................................................. 10-35

Resetting the password ......................................................................................................... 10-35

Model 2601B-PULSE System SourceMeter Instrument Reference Manual Table of contents

Advanced scripting for TSP ............................................................................................. 10-36

Global variables and the script.user.scripts table .................................................................. 10-36

Create a script using the script.new() command ................................................................... 10-37

Rename a script .................................................................................................................... 10-40

Retrieve a user script ............................................................................................................ 10-42

Delete user scripts from the instrument ................................................................................. 10-43

Restore a script to the runtime environment ......................................................................... 10-44

Memory considerations for the runtime environment ............................................................ 10-44

TSP-Link system expansion interface .............................................................................. 10-45

Master and subordinates ....................................................................................................... 10-46

TSP-Link nodes ..................................................................................................................... 10-46

Connections .......................................................................................................................... 10-47

Initialization ........................................................................................................................... 10-47

Resetting the TSP-Link network ............................................................................................ 10-48

Using the expanded system .................................................................................................. 10-49

TSP advanced features ......................................................................................................... 10-51

Using groups to manage nodes on TSP-Link network .......................................................... 10-53

Running simultaneous test scripts ......................................................................................... 10-54

Using the data queue for real-time communication ............................................................... 10-56

Copying test scripts across the TSP-Link network ................................................................ 10-56

Removing stale values from the reading buffer cache .......................................................... 10-57

TSP-Net ........................................................................................................................... 10-58

TSP-Net capabilities .............................................................................................................. 10-58

Using TSP-Net with any ethernet-enabled instrument .......................................................... 10-58

TSP-Net compared to TSP-Link to communicate with TSP-enabled devices ....................... 10-60

TSP-Net instrument commands: General device control ...................................................... 10-61

TSP-Net instrument commands: TSP-enabled device control .............................................. 10-61

Example: Using tspnet commands ........................................................................................ 10-62

TSP command reference ....................................................................................... 11-1

TSP command programming notes ................................................................................... 11-1

Placeholder text ...................................................................................................................... 11-1

Syntax rules ............................................................................................................................ 11-2

Time and date values .............................................................................................................. 11-2

Settings ignored when the pulser is enabled ........................................................................... 11-3

Settings ignored when the pulser is disabled .......................................................................... 11-3

Using the TSP command reference ................................................................................... 11-4

Command name and summary table ...................................................................................... 11-4

Command usage ..................................................................................................................... 11-6

Command details .................................................................................................................... 11-6

Example section ...................................................................................................................... 11-7

Related commands and information ........................................................................................ 11-7

TSP commands .................................................................................................................. 11-8

beeper.beep() .......................................................................................................................... 11-8

beeper.enable ......................................................................................................................... 11-8

bit.bitand() ............................................................................................................................... 11-9

bit.bitor() ................................................................................................................................ 11-10

bit.bitxor() .............................................................................................................................. 11-10

bit.clear() ............................................................................................................................... 11-11

bit.get() .................................................................................................................................. 11-12

bit.getfield() ........................................................................................................................... 11-13

bit.set() .................................................................................................................................. 11-14

bit.setfield()............................................................................................................................ 11-15

bit.test() ................................................................................................................................. 11-16

bit.toggle() ............................................................................................................................. 11-17

bufferVar.appendmode ......................................................................................................... 11-17

Table of contents Model 2601B-PULSE System SourceMeter Instrument Reference Manual

bufferVar.basetimestamp ...................................................................................................... 11-18

bufferVar.cachemode ............................................................................................................ 11-19

bufferVar.capacity ................................................................................................................. 11-20

bufferVar.clear() .................................................................................................................... 11-21

bufferVar.clearcache() ........................................................................................................... 11-22

bufferVar.collectsourcevalues ............................................................................................... 11-23

bufferVar.collecttimestamps .................................................................................................. 11-24

bufferVar.fillcount .................................................................................................................. 11-25

bufferVar.fillmode .................................................................................................................. 11-25

bufferVar.measurefunctions .................................................................................................. 11-26

bufferVar.measureranges ..................................................................................................... 11-27

bufferVar.n ............................................................................................................................ 11-28

bufferVar.readings ................................................................................................................. 11-29

bufferVar.sourcefunctions ..................................................................................................... 11-30

bufferVar.sourceoutputstates ................................................................................................ 11-31

bufferVar.sourceranges ......................................................................................................... 11-32

bufferVar.sourcevalues ......................................................................................................... 11-33

bufferVar.statuses ................................................................................................................. 11-34

bufferVar.timestampresolution .............................................................................................. 11-36

bufferVar.timestamps ............................................................................................................ 11-37

dataqueue.add() .................................................................................................................... 11-38

dataqueue.CAPACITY .......................................................................................................... 11-39

dataqueue.clear() .................................................................................................................. 11-39

dataqueue.count ................................................................................................................... 11-40

dataqueue.next() ................................................................................................................... 11-41

delay() ................................................................................................................................... 11-42

digio.readbit() ........................................................................................................................ 11-42

digio.readport() ...................................................................................................................... 11-43

digio.trigger[N].assert() .......................................................................................................... 11-44

digio.trigger[N].clear() ............................................................................................................ 11-44

digio.trigger[N].EVENT_ID .................................................................................................... 11-45

digio.trigger[N].mode ............................................................................................................. 11-45

digio.trigger[N].overrun .......................................................................................................... 11-47

digio.trigger[N].pulsewidth ..................................................................................................... 11-47

digio.trigger[N].release() ........................................................................................................ 11-48

digio.trigger[N].reset() ........................................................................................................... 11-49

digio.trigger[N].stimulus ......................................................................................................... 11-50

digio.trigger[N].wait() ............................................................................................................. 11-51

digio.writebit() ........................................................................................................................ 11-52

digio.writeport() ..................................................................................................................... 11-52

digio.writeprotect ................................................................................................................... 11-53

display.clear() ........................................................................................................................ 11-54

display.getannunciators() ...................................................................................................... 11-54

display.getcursor() ................................................................................................................. 11-56

display.getlastkey() ............................................................................................................... 11-57

display.gettext() ..................................................................................................................... 11-58

display.inputvalue() ............................................................................................................... 11-59

display.loadmenu.add() ......................................................................................................... 11-61

display.loadmenu.catalog() ................................................................................................... 11-62

display.loadmenu.delete() ..................................................................................................... 11-63

display.locallockout ............................................................................................................... 11-63

display.menu() ....................................................................................................................... 11-64

display.numpad ..................................................................................................................... 11-65

display.prompt() .................................................................................................................... 11-65

display.screen ....................................................................................................................... 11-67

display.sendkey() .................................................................................................................. 11-67

display.smua.digits ................................................................................................................ 11-68

display.setcursor() ................................................................................................................. 11-69

display.settext() ..................................................................................................................... 11-70

display.smua.limit.func .......................................................................................................... 11-71

display.smua.measure.func................................................................................................... 11-71

Model 2601B-PULSE System SourceMeter Instrument Reference Manual Table of contents

display.trigger.clear() ............................................................................................................. 11-72

display.trigger.EVENT_ID ..................................................................................................... 11-73

display.trigger.overrun ........................................................................................................... 11-73

display.trigger.wait() .............................................................................................................. 11-74

display.waitkey() .................................................................................................................... 11-74

errorqueue.clear() ................................................................................................................. 11-76

errorqueue.count ................................................................................................................... 11-76

errorqueue.next() .................................................................................................................. 11-77

eventlog.all() .......................................................................................................................... 11-78

eventlog.clear() ..................................................................................................................... 11-79

eventlog.count ....................................................................................................................... 11-79

eventlog.enable ..................................................................................................................... 11-80

eventlog.next() ...................................................................................................................... 11-81

eventlog.overwritemethod ..................................................................................................... 11-82

exit() ...................................................................................................................................... 11-82

fileVar:close() ........................................................................................................................ 11-83

fileVar:flush() ......................................................................................................................... 11-84

fileVar:read() ......................................................................................................................... 11-85

fileVar:seek() ......................................................................................................................... 11-86

fileVar:write() ......................................................................................................................... 11-88

format.asciiprecision ............................................................................................................. 11-89

format.byteorder .................................................................................................................... 11-89

format.data ............................................................................................................................ 11-91

fs.chdir() ................................................................................................................................ 11-92

fs.cwd() ................................................................................................................................. 11-93

fs.is_dir() ............................................................................................................................... 11-93

fs.is_file() ............................................................................................................................... 11-94

fs.mkdir() ............................................................................................................................... 11-95

fs.readdir() ............................................................................................................................. 11-95

fs.rmdir() ................................................................................................................................ 11-96

gettimezone() ........................................................................................................................ 11-97

gm_isweep() .......................................................................................................................... 11-97

gm_vsweep() ......................................................................................................................... 11-98

gpib.address .......................................................................................................................... 11-99

i_leakage_measure() .......................................................................................................... 11-100

i_leakage_threshold() .......................................................................................................... 11-101

io.close().............................................................................................................................. 11-102

io.flush() .............................................................................................................................. 11-103

io.input() .............................................................................................................................. 11-104

io.open() .............................................................................................................................. 11-104

io.output() ............................................................................................................................ 11-105

io.read() ............................................................................................................................... 11-106

io.type() ............................................................................................................................... 11-107

io.write() .............................................................................................................................. 11-108

lan.applysettings() ............................................................................................................... 11-109

lan.autoconnect ................................................................................................................... 11-110

lan.config.dns.address[N] .................................................................................................... 11-111

lan.config.dns.domain ......................................................................................................... 11-112

lan.config.dns.dynamic ........................................................................................................ 11-112

lan.config.dns.hostname ..................................................................................................... 11-113

lan.config.dns.verify ............................................................................................................ 11-114

lan.config.duplex ................................................................................................................. 11-114

lan.config.gateway .............................................................................................................. 11-115

lan.config.ipaddress ............................................................................................................ 11-116

lan.config.method ................................................................................................................ 11-116

lan.config.speed .................................................................................................................. 11-117

lan.config.subnetmask ........................................................................................................ 11-118

lan.linktimeout ..................................................................................................................... 11-118

lan.lxidomain ....................................................................................................................... 11-119

lan.nagle.............................................................................................................................. 11-120

lan.reset() ............................................................................................................................ 11-120

Table of contents Model 2601B-PULSE System SourceMeter Instrument Reference Manual

lan.restoredefaults() ............................................................................................................ 11-121

lan.status.dns.address[N] .................................................................................................... 11-122

lan.status.dns.name ............................................................................................................ 11-122

lan.status.duplex ................................................................................................................. 11-123

lan.status.gateway .............................................................................................................. 11-124

lan.status.ipaddress ............................................................................................................ 11-124

lan.status.macaddress ........................................................................................................ 11-125

lan.status.port.dst ................................................................................................................ 11-125

lan.status.port.rawsocket .................................................................................................... 11-126

lan.status.port.telnet ............................................................................................................ 11-126

lan.status.port.vxi11 ............................................................................................................ 11-127

lan.status.speed .................................................................................................................. 11-127

lan.status.subnetmask ........................................................................................................ 11-128

lan.timedwait ....................................................................................................................... 11-128

lan.trigger[N].assert() .......................................................................................................... 11-129

lan.trigger[N].clear() ............................................................................................................ 11-129

lan.trigger[N].connect() ........................................................................................................ 11-130

lan.trigger[N].connected ...................................................................................................... 11-131

lan.trigger[N].disconnect() ................................................................................................... 11-131

lan.trigger[N].EVENT_ID ..................................................................................................... 11-132

lan.trigger[N].ipaddress ....................................................................................................... 11-132

lan.trigger[N].mode .............................................................................................................. 11-133

lan.trigger[N].overrun .......................................................................................................... 11-134

lan.trigger[N].protocol .......................................................................................................... 11-135

lan.trigger[N].pseudostate ................................................................................................... 11-135

lan.trigger[N].stimulus ......................................................................................................... 11-136

lan.trigger[N].wait() .............................................................................................................. 11-137

localnode.autolinefreq ......................................................................................................... 11-138

localnode.description .......................................................................................................... 11-139

localnode.license ................................................................................................................. 11-139

localnode.linefreq ................................................................................................................ 11-140

localnode.model .................................................................................................................. 11-140

localnode.password ............................................................................................................ 11-141

localnode.passwordmode ................................................................................................... 11-141

localnode.prompts ............................................................................................................... 11-142

localnode.prompts4882 ....................................................................................................... 11-143

localnode.reset() ................................................................................................................. 11-144

localnode.revision ............................................................................................................... 11-145

localnode.serialno ............................................................................................................... 11-145

localnode.showerrors .......................................................................................................... 11-146

makegetter() ........................................................................................................................ 11-146

makesetter() ........................................................................................................................ 11-147

meminfo() ............................................................................................................................ 11-148

node[N].execute() ................................................................................................................ 11-148

node[N].getglobal() .............................................................................................................. 11-149

node[N].setglobal() .............................................................................................................. 11-150

opc() .................................................................................................................................... 11-150

os.remove() ......................................................................................................................... 11-151

os.rename() ......................................................................................................................... 11-151

os.time() .............................................................................................................................. 11-152

print() ................................................................................................................................... 11-153

printbuffer().......................................................................................................................... 11-154

printnumber() ....................................................................................................................... 11-155

reset() .................................................................................................................................. 11-156

savebuffer() ......................................................................................................................... 11-156

script.anonymous ................................................................................................................ 11-157

script.delete() ...................................................................................................................... 11-158

script.factory.catalog() ......................................................................................................... 11-158

script.load() ......................................................................................................................... 11-159

script.new().......................................................................................................................... 11-160

script.newautorun() ............................................................................................................. 11-161

Model 2601B-PULSE System SourceMeter Instrument Reference Manual Table of contents

script.restore() ..................................................................................................................... 11-162

script.run() ........................................................................................................................... 11-162

script.user.catalog() ............................................................................................................. 11-163

scriptVar.autorun ................................................................................................................. 11-163

scriptVar.list() ...................................................................................................................... 11-164

scriptVar.name .................................................................................................................... 11-165

scriptVar.run() ..................................................................................................................... 11-166

scriptVar.save() ................................................................................................................... 11-166

scriptVar.source .................................................................................................................. 11-167

serial.baud........................................................................................................................... 11-168

serial.databits ...................................................................................................................... 11-169

serial.flowcontrol ................................................................................................................. 11-170

serial.parity .......................................................................................................................... 11-170

serial.read() ......................................................................................................................... 11-171

serial.write() ......................................................................................................................... 11-172

settime() .............................................................................................................................. 11-172

settimezone() ...................................................................................................................... 11-173

setup.poweron ..................................................................................................................... 11-174

setup.recall() ....................................................................................................................... 11-175

setup.save() ........................................................................................................................ 11-176

smua.abort() ........................................................................................................................ 11-176

smua.buffer.getstats() ......................................................................................................... 11-177

smua.buffer.recalculatestats() ............................................................................................. 11-179

smua.cal.adjustdate ............................................................................................................ 11-179

smua.cal.date ...................................................................................................................... 11-180

smua.cal.due ....................................................................................................................... 11-181

smua.cal.lock() .................................................................................................................... 11-182

smua.cal.password ............................................................................................................. 11-182

smua.cal.polarity ................................................................................................................. 11-183

smua.cal.restore() ............................................................................................................... 11-184

smua.cal.save() ................................................................................................................... 11-184

smua.cal.state ..................................................................................................................... 11-185

smua.cal.unlock() ................................................................................................................ 11-186

smua.contact.calibratehi() ................................................................................................... 11-186

smua.contact.calibratelo() ................................................................................................... 11-187

smua.contact.check() .......................................................................................................... 11-188

smua.contact.r() .................................................................................................................. 11-190

smua.contact.speed ............................................................................................................ 11-191

smua.contact.threshold ....................................................................................................... 11-192

smua.interlock.enable ......................................................................................................... 11-192

smua.makebuffer() .............................................................................................................. 11-193

smua.measure.autorangeY ................................................................................................. 11-194

smua.measure.autozero ..................................................................................................... 11-195

smua.measure.calibrateY() ................................................................................................. 11-196

smua.measure.count ........................................................................................................... 11-197

smua.measure.delay ........................................................................................................... 11-198

smua.measure.delayfactor .................................................................................................. 11-199

smua.measure.filter.count ................................................................................................... 11-199

smua.measure.filter.enable ................................................................................................. 11-200

smua.measure.filter.type ..................................................................................................... 11-201

smua.measure.highcrangedelayfactor ................................................................................ 11-202

smua.measure.interval ........................................................................................................ 11-202

smua.measure.lowrangeY................................................................................................... 11-203

smua.measure.nplc ............................................................................................................. 11-204

smua.measure.overlappedY() ............................................................................................. 11-205

smua.measure.rangeY ........................................................................................................ 11-206

smua.measure.rel.enableY ................................................................................................. 11-207

smua.measure.rel.levelY ..................................................................................................... 11-208

smua.measure.Y() ............................................................................................................... 11-209

smua.measureYandstep() ................................................................................................... 11-210

smua.nvbufferY ................................................................................................................... 11-211

Table of contents Model 2601B-PULSE System SourceMeter Instrument Reference Manual

smua.pulser.enable ............................................................................................................. 11-212

smua.pulser.measure.aperture ........................................................................................... 11-213

smua.pulser.measure.calibrateY() ...................................................................................... 11-214

smua.pulser.measure.delay ................................................................................................ 11-215

smua.pulser.protect.sensev ................................................................................................ 11-216

smua.pulser.protect.sourcev ............................................................................................... 11-217

smua.pulser.protect.tripped ................................................................................................. 11-218

smua.pulser.source.calibratebiasi() ..................................................................................... 11-219

smua.pulser.rangeY ............................................................................................................ 11-220

smua.pulser.source.calibratei() ........................................................................................... 11-221

smua.reset() ........................................................................................................................ 11-222

smua.savebuffer() ............................................................................................................... 11-222

smua.sense ......................................................................................................................... 11-223

smua.source.autorangeY .................................................................................................... 11-224

smua.source.calibrateY() .................................................................................................... 11-225

smua.source.compliance .................................................................................................... 11-226

smua.source.delay .............................................................................................................. 11-226

smua.source.func ................................................................................................................ 11-227

smua.source.highc .............................................................................................................. 11-228

smua.source.levelY ............................................................................................................. 11-229

smua.source.limitY .............................................................................................................. 11-230

smua.source.lowrangeY ...................................................................................................... 11-231

smua.source.offfunc ............................................................................................................ 11-231

smua.source.offlimitY .......................................................................................................... 11-232

smua.source.offmode .......................................................................................................... 11-233

smua.source.output ............................................................................................................. 11-234

smua.source.rangeY ........................................................................................................... 11-235

smua.source.settling ........................................................................................................... 11-236

smua.source.sink ................................................................................................................ 11-237

smua.trigger.arm.count ....................................................................................................... 11-237

smua.trigger.arm.set() ......................................................................................................... 11-238

smua.trigger.arm.stimulus ................................................................................................... 11-239

smua.trigger.ARMED_EVENT_ID ....................................................................................... 11-240

smua.trigger.autoclear ........................................................................................................ 11-240

smua.trigger.count .............................................................................................................. 11-241

smua.trigger.endpulse.action .............................................................................................. 11-243

smua.trigger.endpulse.set()................................................................................................. 11-243

smua.trigger.endpulse.stimulus........................................................................................... 11-245

smua.trigger.endsweep.action ............................................................................................ 11-246

smua.trigger.IDLE_EVENT_ID ............................................................................................ 11-246

smua.trigger.initiate() .......................................................................................................... 11-247

smua.trigger.measure.action ............................................................................................... 11-248

smua.trigger.measure.set() ................................................................................................. 11-249

smua.trigger.measure.stimulus ........................................................................................... 11-250

smua.trigger.measure.Y().................................................................................................... 11-251

smua.trigger.MEASURE_COMPLETE_EVENT_ID ............................................................ 11-252

smua.trigger.PULSE_COMPLETE_EVENT_ID .................................................................. 11-252

smua.trigger.source.action .................................................................................................. 11-253

smua.trigger.source.limitY ................................................................................................... 11-253

smua.trigger.source.linearY() .............................................................................................. 11-254

smua.trigger.source.listY() .................................................................................................. 11-255

smua.trigger.source.logY() .................................................................................................. 11-256

smua.trigger.source.pulsewidth ........................................................................................... 11-258

smua.trigger.source.set() .................................................................................................... 11-258

smua.trigger.source.stimulus .............................................................................................. 11-259

smua.trigger.SOURCE_COMPLETE_EVENT_ID ............................................................... 11-261

smua.trigger.SWEEP_COMPLETE_EVENT_ID ................................................................. 11-261

smua.trigger.SWEEPING_EVENT_ID ................................................................................ 11-262

status.condition ................................................................................................................... 11-263

status.measurement.* ......................................................................................................... 11-265

status.measurement.buffer_available.* ............................................................................... 11-267

Model 2601B-PULSE System SourceMeter Instrument Reference Manual Table of contents

status.measurement.current_limit.* ..................................................................................... 11-268

status.measurement.instrument.* ........................................................................................ 11-270

status.measurement.instrument.smua.* .............................................................................. 11-271

status.measurement.protection.* ......................................................................................... 11-273

status.measurement.reading_overflow.* ............................................................................. 11-274

status.measurement.voltage_limit.* .................................................................................... 11-276

status.node_enable ............................................................................................................. 11-277

status.node_event ............................................................................................................... 11-279

status.operation.* ................................................................................................................ 11-281

status.operation.calibrating.* ............................................................................................... 11-283

status.operation.instrument.*............................................................................................... 11-284

status.operation.instrument.digio.* ...................................................................................... 11-286

status.operation.instrument.digio.trigger_overrun.* ............................................................. 11-288

status.operation.instrument.lan.* ......................................................................................... 11-290

status.operation.instrument.lan.trigger_overrun.* ................................................................ 11-292

status.operation.instrument.smua.* ..................................................................................... 11-294

status.operation.instrument.smua.trigger_overrrun.* .......................................................... 11-296

status.operation.instrument.trigger_blender.*...................................................................... 11-298

status.operation.instrument.trigger_blender.trigger_overrun.* ............................................ 11-299

status.operation.instrument.trigger_timer.* ......................................................................... 11-301

status.operation.instrument.trigger_timer.trigger_overrun.* ................................................ 11-302

status.operation.instrument.tsplink.* ................................................................................... 11-304

status.operation.instrument.tsplink.trigger_overrun.* .......................................................... 11-305

status.operation.measuring.*............................................................................................... 11-307

status.operation.remote.* .................................................................................................... 11-308

status.operation.sweeping.* ................................................................................................ 11-310

status.operation.trigger_overrun.* ....................................................................................... 11-311

status.operation.user.* ........................................................................................................ 11-313

status.questionable.* ........................................................................................................... 11-316

status.questionable.calibration.* .......................................................................................... 11-318

status.questionable.instrument.* ......................................................................................... 11-319

status.questionable.instrument.smua.* ............................................................................... 11-320

status.questionable.over_temperature.* .............................................................................. 11-322

status.questionable.unstable_output.* ................................................................................ 11-323

status.request_enable ......................................................................................................... 11-324

status.request_event ........................................................................................................... 11-326

status.reset() ....................................................................................................................... 11-328

status.standard.* ................................................................................................................. 11-329

status.system.* .................................................................................................................... 11-331

status.system2.* .................................................................................................................. 11-333

status.system3.* .................................................................................................................. 11-335

status.system4.* .................................................................................................................. 11-338

status.system5.* .................................................................................................................. 11-340

SweepILinMeasureV() ......................................................................................................... 11-342

SweepIListMeasureV() ........................................................................................................ 11-343

SweepILogMeasureV() ....................................................................................................... 11-344

SweepVLinMeasureI() ......................................................................................................... 11-345

SweepVListMeasureI() ........................................................................................................ 11-346

SweepVLogMeasureI() ....................................................................................................... 11-347

timer.measure.t() ................................................................................................................. 11-349

timer.reset() ......................................................................................................................... 11-349

trigger.blender[N].clear() ..................................................................................................... 11-350

trigger.blender[N].EVENT_ID .............................................................................................. 11-350

trigger.blender[N].orenable.................................................................................................. 11-351

trigger.blender[N].overrun ................................................................................................... 11-352

trigger.blender[N].reset() ..................................................................................................... 11-352

trigger.blender[N].stimulus[M] ............................................................................................. 11-353

trigger.blender[N].wait() ....................................................................................................... 11-354

trigger.clear() ....................................................................................................................... 11-355

trigger.EVENT_ID ............................................................................................................... 11-355

trigger.generator[N].assert() ................................................................................................ 11-356

Table of contents Model 2601B-PULSE System SourceMeter Instrument Reference Manual

trigger.generator[N].EVENT_ID ........................................................................................... 11-356

trigger.timer[N].clear() ......................................................................................................... 11-357

trigger.timer[N].count ........................................................................................................... 11-357

trigger.timer[N].delay ........................................................................................................... 11-358

trigger.timer[N].delaylist ...................................................................................................... 11-359

trigger.timer[N].EVENT_ID .................................................................................................. 11-360

trigger.timer[N].overrun ....................................................................................................... 11-360

trigger.timer[N].passthrough ................................................................................................ 11-361

trigger.timer[N].reset() ......................................................................................................... 11-361

trigger.timer[N].stimulus ...................................................................................................... 11-362

trigger.timer[N].wait() ........................................................................................................... 11-364

trigger.wait() ........................................................................................................................ 11-364

tsplink.group ........................................................................................................................ 11-365

tsplink.master ...................................................................................................................... 11-366

tsplink.node ......................................................................................................................... 11-366

tsplink.readbit() .................................................................................................................... 11-367

tsplink.readport() ................................................................................................................. 11-367

tsplink.reset() ....................................................................................................................... 11-368

tsplink.state ......................................................................................................................... 11-369

tsplink.trigger[N].assert() ..................................................................................................... 11-369

tsplink.trigger[N].clear() ....................................................................................................... 11-370

tsplink.trigger[N].EVENT_ID ................................................................................................ 11-370

tsplink.trigger[N].mode ........................................................................................................ 11-371

tsplink.trigger[N].overrun ..................................................................................................... 11-372

tsplink.trigger[N].pulsewidth ................................................................................................ 11-373

tsplink.trigger[N].release() ................................................................................................... 11-374

tsplink.trigger[N].reset() ....................................................................................................... 11-374

tsplink.trigger[N].stimulus .................................................................................................... 11-375

tsplink.trigger[N].wait() ........................................................................................................ 11-376

tsplink.writebit() ................................................................................................................... 11-377

tsplink.writeport() ................................................................................................................. 11-378

tsplink.writeprotect .............................................................................................................. 11-378

tspnet.clear() ....................................................................................................................... 11-379

tspnet.connect() .................................................................................................................. 11-380

tspnet.disconnect() .............................................................................................................. 11-381

tspnet.execute() .................................................................................................................. 11-382

tspnet.idn() .......................................................................................................................... 11-383

tspnet.read() ........................................................................................................................ 11-383

tspnet.readavailable() .......................................................................................................... 11-384

tspnet.reset() ....................................................................................................................... 11-385

tspnet.termination() ............................................................................................................. 11-385

tspnet.timeout ...................................................................................................................... 11-386

tspnet.tsp.abort() ................................................................................................................. 11-387

tspnet.tsp.abortonconnect ................................................................................................... 11-387

tspnet.tsp.rbtablecopy() ....................................................................................................... 11-388

tspnet.tsp.runscript() ........................................................................................................... 11-389

tspnet.write() ....................................................................................................................... 11-390

userstring.add() ................................................................................................................... 11-390

userstring.catalog() ............................................................................................................. 11-391

userstring.delete() ............................................................................................................... 11-392

userstring.get() .................................................................................................................... 11-393

waitcomplete() ..................................................................................................................... 11-393

Troubleshooting guide .......................................................................................... 12-1

Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 12-1

Error levels ......................................................................................................................... 12-1

Effects of errors on scripts ................................................................................................. 12-1

Model 2601B-PULSE System SourceMeter Instrument Reference Manual Table of contents

Retrieving errors ................................................................................................................. 12-2

Error summary list .............................................................................................................. 12-2

Calibration .............................................................................................................. 13-1

Calibration .......................................................................................................................... 13-1

Calibration test requirements .................................................................................................. 13-2

Uninstalling the 2601B-P-INT .................................................................................................. 13-5

Restoring factory defaults........................................................................................................ 13-5

Performing the calibration test procedures .............................................................................. 13-6

Current source accuracy ......................................................................................................... 13-8

Current measurement accuracy ............................................................................................ 13-10

Voltage source accuracy ....................................................................................................... 13-12

Voltage measurement accuracy ............................................................................................ 13-14

Pulse accuracy ...................................................................................................................... 13-15

Bias source accuracy ............................................................................................................ 13-18

Adjustment ....................................................................................................................... 13-19

Environmental conditions ...................................................................................................... 13-20

Adjustment considerations .................................................................................................... 13-20

Adjustment overview ............................................................................................................. 13-22

Calibration and adjustment commands quick reference ........................................................ 13-23

Adjustment procedure ........................................................................................................... 13-26

Common commands .............................................................................................. 14-1

Command summary ........................................................................................................... 14-1

Script command equivalents .............................................................................................. 14-2

Command reference .......................................................................................................... 14-3

Identification query: *IDN?....................................................................................................... 14-3

Operation complete and query: *OPC and *OPC? .................................................................. 14-3

Reset: *RST ............................................................................................................................ 14-3

Self-test query: *TST? ............................................................................................................. 14-4

Trigger: *TRG .......................................................................................................................... 14-4

Wait-to-continue: *WAI ............................................................................................................ 14-4

Status model .......................................................................................................... 15-1

Overview ............................................................................................................................ 15-1

Status register set contents ..................................................................................................... 15-1

Queues ................................................................................................................................... 15-2

Status function summary ......................................................................................................... 15-3

Status model diagrams ........................................................................................................... 15-5

Clearing registers ............................................................................................................. 15-13

Programming enable and transition registers .................................................................. 15-14

Reading registers ............................................................................................................. 15-15

Status byte and service request (SRQ) ........................................................................... 15-15

Status Byte Register ............................................................................................................. 15-16

Service Request Enable Register ......................................................................................... 15-17

Serial polling and SRQ .......................................................................................................... 15-18

SPE, SPD (serial polling) ...................................................................................................... 15-18

Status byte and service request commands.......................................................................... 15-19

Enable and transition registers .............................................................................................. 15-19

Controlling node and SRQ enable registers .......................................................................... 15-19

Table of contents Model 2601B-PULSE System SourceMeter Instrument Reference Manual

Status register sets .......................................................................................................... 15-20

System Summary Registers .................................................................................................. 15-20

Standard Event Register ....................................................................................................... 15-21

Operation Status Registers ................................................................................................... 15-22

Questionable Status Registers .............................................................................................. 15-23

Measurement Event Registers .............................................................................................. 15-24

Register programming example ............................................................................................ 15-25

TSP-Link system status ................................................................................................... 15-25

Status model configuration example ..................................................................................... 15-25

Display character codes ........................................................................................ 16-1

2601B-PULSE display character codes ............................................................................. 16-1

Frequently asked questions .................................................................................. 17-1

How do I display the instrument's serial number? ............................................................. 17-1

How do I optimize performance? ....................................................................................... 17-2

Disabling autozero to increase speed ..................................................................................... 17-2

How do I upgrade the firmware? ........................................................................................ 17-2

How do I use the digital I/O port? ....................................................................................... 17-3

How do I trigger other instruments? ................................................................................... 17-3

Triggering a scanner ............................................................................................................... 17-3

Interactive trigger programming .............................................................................................. 17-4

More information about triggering ........................................................................................... 17-4

How do I generate a GPIB service request?...................................................................... 17-4

Setting up a service request .................................................................................................... 17-4

Service request programming example ................................................................................... 17-5

Polling for SRQs ...................................................................................................................... 17-5

How do I store measurements in nonvolatile memory? ..................................................... 17-5

When should I change the output-off state? ...................................................................... 17-6

How do I make contact check measurements? ................................................................. 17-6

How can I change the line frequency or voltage? .............................................................. 17-7

Where can I get the LabVIEW driver? ............................................................................... 17-7

What should I do if I get an 802 interlock error? ................................................................ 17-7

Why is the reading value 9.91e37? .................................................................................... 17-7

Next steps ............................................................................................................... 18-1

Additional 2601B-PULSE information ................................................................................ 18-1

In this section:

Welcome .................................................................................. 1-1

Extended warranty ................................................................... 1-1

Contact information .................................................................. 1-1

Customer documentation ......................................................... 1-2

Product software and drivers.................................................... 1-2

Capabilities and features .......................................................... 1-3

Power and environmental ratings ............................................. 1-4

Section 1

Introduction

Welcome

Thank you for choosing a Keithley Instruments product. The 2601B-PULSE System SourceMeter®
10 μs Pulser/SMU Instrument with PulseMeter™ technology is an industry-leading high current/high
speed pulser with measure capabilities and the full functionality of a traditional source-measure
instrument (SMU). This instrument offers 10 A current pulse output at 10 V with a minimum pulse
width of 10 μs. Its built-in dual 1 Megasample/second (MS/s), 18-bit digitizers make it possible to
acquire both pulse current and voltage waveforms simultaneously without the need to use a
separate instrument.

Extended warranty

Additional years of warranty coverage are available on many products. These valuable contracts
protect you from unbudgeted service expenses and provide additional years of protection at a fraction
of the price of a repair. Extended warranties are available on new and existing products. Contact your
local Keithley Instruments office, sales partner, or distributor for details.

Contact information

If you have any questions after you review the information in this documentation, please contact your
local Keithley Instruments office, sales partner, or distributor. You can also call the Tektronix
corporate headquarters (toll-free inside the U.S. and Canada only) at 1-800-833-9200. For worldwide
contact numbers, visit tek.com/contact-us.

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Customer documentation

The documentation for the 2601B-PULSE includes a Quick Start Guide and Reference Manual (this
document). The 2601B-PULSE Quick Start Guide is provided as a hard copy with the instrument. You
can also access it from tek.com/keithley as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file.

• Quick Start Guide: Provides unpacking instructions, describes basic connections, and reviews

basic operation information. If you are new to Keithley Instruments equipment, refer to the Quick
Start Guide to take the steps needed to unpack, set up, and verify operation.

• Reference Manual: Includes advanced operation topics and maintenance information.

Programmers looking for a command reference and users looking for an in-depth description of
the way the instrument works (including troubleshooting and optimization) should refer to the
Reference Manual.

Product software and drivers

Go to the Product Support web page (tek.com/product-support) to download drivers and software for
your instrument.

Available drivers and software include:

• KickStart Software: Enables quick test setup and data visualization when using one or

more instruments.

• Test Script Builder (TSB): This software provides an environment to develop a test program and

the ability to load the test program onto the instrument. Running a program loaded on the
instrument eliminates the need to send individual commands from the host computer to the
instrument when running a test. For more information, see Installing the TSB software (on page
10-30).

• IVI-COM Driver: An IVI instrument driver you can use to create your own test applications in

C/C++, VB.NET or C#. It can also be called from other languages that support calling a DLL or
ActiveX (COM) object. Refer to IVI Foundation (ivifoundation.org) for additional information.

• LabVIEW

LabVIEW Software.

™

Software drivers: Drivers to communicate with National Instruments

• Keithley I/O layer: Manages the communications between Keithley instrument drivers and

software applications and the instrument itself. The I/O Layer handles differences in
communications required to support GPIB, serial, ethernet, and other communications buses so
that drivers and software applications do not need to handle the differences themselves.

To identify IP addresses of instruments that are connected to the local area network (LAN) and
support the VXI-11 discovery protocol, you can also use LXI Discovery Tool, available from the

Resources (lxistandard.org/Resources/Resources.aspx) page of the LXI Consortium website

(lxistandard.org).

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Capabilities and features

Key features:

• Pulser output of 10 A at 10 V

• SMU outupt of 10 A at 20 V

• No tuning required; works with inductive loads up to 3 μH

• Pulser has dual 1 megasample/second digitizers for simultaneous high-speed sampling of current

and voltage

• SMU has dual integrating analog-to-digital converters for simultaneous measurement of current

and voltage

• DC capability up to ±40 V at ±1.0 A, 40 W

• TSP technology embeds complete test programs inside the instrument for best-in-class

system-level throughput

• TSP-Link expansion technology for multi-channel parallel test without a mainframe

• USB 2.0, ethernet, GPIB, RS-232, and digital I/O interfaces

• Supported in the Keithley KickStart non-programming software tool

General features:

• 4.5, 5.5, or 6.5 digit display resolution

• Resistance and power measurement functions

• Four-quadrant sink or source operation

• Linear, logarithmic, and custom sweeping

• Filtering to reduce reading noise

• Trigger model supports extensive triggering and synchronization schemes at hardware speeds

• The SMU provides contact check

• The SMU provides high-capacitance mode for load impedances up to 50 µF

• Internal memory stores five user setup options

• Dedicated reading buffers that can each store and recall over 140,000 measurements; additional

dynamic reading buffers can be created

• USB flash drive access for saving data buffers, test scripts, and user setups

• Digital I/O port: Allows the 2601B-PULSE to control other devices

• Version 1.5 LXI Device Specification 2016 compliant

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Power and environmental ratings

Category

Specification

Power supply

100 V ac to 240 V ac, 50 Hz or 60 Hz (autosensing). 240 VA maximum

Input and output connections

See Front panel (on page 3-1) and Rear panel (on page 3-5)

Environmental conditions

For indoor use only.
Operating altitude: Maximum 2000 meters (6562 feet) above sea level
Operating temperature: 0 °C to 35 °C at up to 70% relative humidity; at

35 °C to 50 °C, derate 3% relative humidity per °C

Storage: −25 °C to 65 °C
Pollution degree: 1 or 2

Source output electrical ratings

Voltage

40 V dc maximum

Current

3 A maximum at 6 V dc, 1 A maximum at 40 V dc

SMU pulse output, region 4

Region maximums

10 A at 20 V

Maximum pulse width

1.8 ms

Maximum duty cycle

1%

Measure input electrical ratings

Measurement category

O

Voltage

40 V dc maximum HI to LO

Current

3 A maximum at 6 V dc, 1 A maximum at 40 V dc

Impedance

Variable

The 2601B-PULSE power and environmental ratings and connections are listed in the
following tables.

In this section:

Introduction .............................................................................. 2-1

2601B-PULSE weights and dimensions ................................... 2-1

Installing the 2601B-P-INT ....................................................... 2-6

Cooling vents ........................................................................... 2-8

Turning the instrument on and off ............................................ 2-9

Placing a 2601B-PULSE in standby ....................................... 2-10

Warmup period ....................................................................... 2-10

Line frequency configuration .................................................. 2-11

Remote communications interfaces ....................................... 2-11

Using the interlock .................................................................. 2-42

System information ................................................................ 2-46

Section 2

Installation

Introduction

This section provides the information you need to install the 2601B-PULSE, make communications
connections, and power up the instrument.

2601B-PULSE weights and dimensions

The instrument weighs 5.9 kg (13 lb) without the 2601B-P-INT attached. With the 2601B-P-INT
attached, it weighs 6.4 kg (14 lb).

The following figure shows the mounting screw locations and dimensions. The dimensions shown are
typical for both sides of the instrument.

For front mounting, use #8-32  3/8 in. Phillips pan-head screws. For rear mounting, use
#10-32  3/8 in. Phillips pan-head SEMS screws.

Figure 1: Mounting screw locations and dimensions

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The following figures show the dimensions when the handle is installed.

Figure 2: 2601B-PULSE dimensions front and rear with handle

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The following figures show the dimensions when the handle has been removed.

Figure 3: 2601B-PULSE front and rear panel dimensions with handle removed

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Figure 4: 2601B-PULSE height and length

Figure 5: 2601B-PULSE with 2601B-P-INT length

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Preparing the instrument for rack mounting

To remove the handle, mounting ears, and rear feet:

1. Adjust the handle by gently pulling it away from the sides of the instrument case and swinging it
up or down until the orientation arrows on the handles line up with the orientation arrows on the
mounting ears, as shown in the figure below.

2. Pull the ends of the handle away from the case.

3. On each mounting ear, remove the screw that secures the ear.

4. Pull down and out to remove each ear.

5. On the rear feet, pull out the rubber piece.

6. Remove the screws from the rear feet and remove the feet.

Figure 6: Handle removal

Do not reinstall the mounting ear or rear feet screws. Save all removed parts for future benchtop use
of the instrument.

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2601B-P-INT dimensions

The following figure show the dimensions of the 2601B-P-INT Interlock and Cable Connector Box.

The 2601B-P-INT weighs 0.5 kg (1 lb).

Figure 7: 2601B-P-INT dimensions

Installing the 2601B-P-INT

The 2601B-PULSE is shipped with the 2601B-P-INT Rear Panel Interlock and Cable Connector Box
accessory. The 2601B-P-INT:

• Simplifies test connections to the 2601B-PULSE by converting terminal strip connections to

standard BNC connectors

• Makes the connections between the CHANNEL A: DC and CHANNEL A: DC/PULSE

terminal strips

• Provides connections for an optional interlock

Refer to Using the interlock (on page 2-42) for detail on connecting the interlock.

You must use the screws that are provided with the 2601B-P-INT to attach it to the instrument. The
screws that you remove from the instrument will not provide a secure connection.

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To install the 2601B-P-INT:

1. Remove power connections from the 2601B-PULSE.

2. On the rear panel of the 2601B-PULSE, remove the screws to the left of the CHANNEL A:
DC/PULSE terminal strip and to the right of the CHANNEL A: DC terminal strip. Save the screws
for operation with the 2601B-P-INT uninstalled. Screw locations are shown in the following figure.

Figure 8: Remove screws from 2601B-PULSE rear panel

3. On the terminal strip panel of the 2601B-P-INT, position the INTERLOCK jumper. Use
needle-nose pliers to position the jumper in the ENABLE slot if you are using an interlock or
DISABLE if you are not using the interlock.

Figure 9: 2601B-P-INT Interlock Box terminal strip panel

4. Align the terminal strip panel of the 2601B-P-INT to the terminal strips on the rear panel of the
2601B-PULSE.

5. Press the 2601B-P-INT connections firmly onto the terminal strips on the rear panel of
the 2601B-PULSE.

6. Use the screws provided with the 2601B-P-INT to secure it to the rear panel of the
2601B-PULSE.

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Replacement jumpers are available from Keystone Electronics Corp., part number 1430-1,
Uninsulated Shorting Pin.

Cooling vents

Figure 10: Installation of the 2601B-P-INT

The 2601B-PULSE has side and top intake and rear exhaust vents. One side must be unobstructed
to dissipate heat.

Excessive heat could damage the 2601B-PULSE and degrade its performance. Only operate the
2601B-PULSE in an environment where the ambient temperature does not exceed 50 °C.

Do not place a container of liquid (water or coffee, for instance) on the top cover. If it spills, the liquid
may enter the case through the vents and cause severe damage.

To prevent damaging heat build-up and ensure specified performance, use the
following guidelines.

The rear exhaust vent and either the top or both side intake vents must be unobstructed to
properly dissipate heat. Even partial blockage could impair proper cooling.

Do not position any devices adjacent to the 2601B-PULSE that force air (heated or unheated)
toward its cooling vents or surfaces. This additional airflow could compromise accuracy.

When rack mounting the 2601B-PULSE, make sure there is adequate airflow around both
sides to ensure proper cooling. Adequate airflow enables air temperatures within
approximately one inch of the 2601B-PULSE surfaces to remain within specified limits under
all operating conditions.

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If high power dissipation equipment is rack mounted next to the 2601B-PULSE, it could cause
excessive heating. To produce specified 2601B-PULSE accuracies, maintain the specified
ambient temperature around the surfaces of the 2601B-PULSE. In rack configurations with
convection cooling only, proper cooling practice places the hottest non-precision equipment
(for example, the power supply) at the top of the rack away from and above precision
equipment (such as the 2601B-PULSE).

Mount precision equipment as low as possible in the rack, where temperatures are coolest.
Adding space panels above and below the 2601B-PULSE will help provide adequate airflow.

Turning the instrument on and off

The 2601B-PULSE operates from a line voltage of 100 V to 240 V at a frequency of 50 Hz or 60 Hz.
Line voltage is automatically sensed (there are no switches to set). Make sure the operating voltage
in your area is compatible.

Follow the procedure below to connect the 2601B-PULSE to line power and turn on the instrument.

Operating the instrument on an incorrect line voltage may cause damage to the instrument,
possibly voiding the warranty.

To turn a 2601B-PULSE on and off:

1. Before plugging in the power cord, make sure that the front-panel POWER switch is in the off (O)
position.

2. Connect the female end of the supplied power cord to the AC receptacle on the rear panel.

3. Connect the other end of the power cord to a grounded AC outlet.

The power cord supplied with the 2601B-PULSE contains a separate protective earth (safety
ground) wire for use with grounded outlets. When proper connections are made, the
instrument chassis is connected to power-line ground through the ground wire in the power
cord. In addition, a chassis ground connection is provided through a screw on the rear panel.
This terminal should be connected to a known protective earth. In the event of a failure, not
using a properly grounded protective earth and grounded outlet may result in personal injury
or death due to electric shock.

Do not replace detachable mains supply cords with inadequately rated cords. Failure to use
properly rated cords may result in personal injury or death due to electric shock.

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Hazardous voltages may be present in the test system. To prevent injury or death, remove
power from the instrument or test system and discharge any energy storage components (for
example, capacitors or cables) before changing any connections that might allow contact
with an uninsulated conductor.

On some sensitive or easily damaged devices under test (DUTs), the instrument power-up and
power-down sequence can apply transient signals to the DUT that may affect or damage it. When
testing this type of DUT, do not make final connections to it until the instrument has completed its
power-up sequence and is in a known operating state. When testing this type of DUT, disconnect it
from the instrument before turning the instrument off.

To prevent any human contact with a live conductor, connections to the DUT must be fully insulated
and the final connections to the DUT must only use safety-rated safety-jack-socket connectors that
do not allow bodily contact.

4. To turn your instrument on, press the front-panel POWER switch to place it in the on (I) position.

Placing a 2601B-PULSE in standby

5. To turn your instrument off, press the front-panel POWER switch to place it in the off (O) position.

Placing the 2601B-PULSE in standby does not place the instrument in a safe state (an
interlock is provided for this function).

When the instrument is on, the output may be placed in an active output state (output on) or a
standby mode (output off). From the front panel, pressing the OUTPUT ON/OFF control toggles the
output using the present instrument configuration. You can also place the output in standby over the
remote interface by sending the following command:

smua.source.output = smua.OUTPUT_OFF

Even though the instrument is placed in standby, the output may not actually be off.

Warmup period

The 2601B-PULSE must be turned on and allowed to warm up for at least two hours to achieve
rated accuracies.

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Line frequency configuration

The factory configures the 2601B-PULSE to detect the power line frequency automatically at each
power-up. This detected line frequency (either 50 Hz or 60 Hz) is used for aperture (NPLC)
calculations.

In noisy environments, you can manually configure the instrument to match the actual line frequency.

To configure the line frequency from the front panel:

1. Press the MENU key, then turn the navigation wheel to select LINE-FREQ, and then press the
ENTER key.

2. Turn the navigation wheel to select the appropriate frequency and then press the ENTER key.
To configure the instrument to automatically detect line frequency at each power-up,
select AUTO.

3. Press the EXIT (LOCAL) key to return to the main display.

To configure the line frequency from a remote interface:

Set the localnode.linefreq or the localnode.autolinefreq attribute. To set the line
frequency to 60 Hz, send:

localnode.linefreq = 60

To configure the instrument to automatically detect line frequency at each power-up:

localnode.autolinefreq = true

Remote communications interfaces

You can choose from one of several communication interfaces to send commands to and receive
responses from the 2601B-PULSE.

You can control the 2601B-PULSE from only one communications interface at a time. The first
interface on which the instrument receives a message takes control of the instrument. If another
interface sends a message, that interface can take control of the instrument. You may need to enter a
password to change the interface, depending on the setting of interface access.

The 2601B-PULSE automatically detects the type of communications interface (LAN, USB, GPIB, or
RS-232) when you connect to the respective port on the rear panel of the instrument. In most cases,
you do not need to configure anything on the instrument. In addition, you do not need to reboot if you
change the type of interface that is connected.

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Remote interface connections

1 IEEE-488 connection

2 LAN connection

3 USB connection

4 RS-232 connection

The 2601B-PULSE supports the following remote interfaces:

• USB: Communicate with the instrument over a USB connection.

• LAN: Local area network (LAN) communications provide the flexibility to build scalable and

functional test or data acquisition systems with a large degree of flexibility.

• GPIB: General purpose interface bus is an IEEE-488 instrumentation data bus.

• RS-232: Communicate with the instrument over the serial port or with another instrument using its

serial port.

The 2601B-PULSE can be controlled from only one communication interface at a time. The first
interface from which it receives a message takes control of the instrument. It ignores the other
interfaces until the instrument is returned to local operation.

For more information about the remote interfaces, see:

• USB communications (on page 2-13)

• LAN communications (on page 2-15)

• GPIB operation (on page 2-29)

• RS-232 interface operation (on page 2-32)

Figure 11: 2601B-PULSE IEEE-488, LAN, USB, and RS-232 connections

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Output queue

Response messages, such as those generated from print commands, are placed in the output queue.
All remote command interfaces share the same output queue.

The output queue sets the message available (MAV) bit in the status model.

The data in the output queue is cleared by the *CLS command.

USB communications

To use the rear-panel USB port, you need a driver that communicates using the USBTMC protocol,
such as NI-VISA, on the host computer.

When installed, the USBTMC protocol allows the Microsoft® Windows® operating system to recognize
the instrument.

When you connect a USB device that implements the USBTMC or USBTMC-USB488 protocol to the
computer, the driver automatically detects the device. Note that the driver does not recognize other
USB devices, such as printers, scanners, and storage devices.

In this section, "USB instruments" refers to devices that implement the USBTMC or
USBTMC-USB488 protocol.

See How to install the Keithley I/O Layer (on page 2-39) for more information on drivers.

Communicate with the instrument

When using Virtual Instrument Software Architecture (VISA) to communicate with the USB device,
you need to use a VISA communication driver. VISA requires a resource string in the following format
to connect to the correct USB instrument:

USB[board]::manufacturer ID::model code::serial number[::USB interface
number][::INSTR]

This requires that you determine the parameters. You can gather this information by running a utility
that automatically detects all instruments connected to the computer. If you installed the Keithley I/O
Layer, the Keithley Configuration Panel is available from the Microsoft® Windows® Start menu in the
Keithley Instruments menu.

To use the Keithley Configuration Panel to determine the VISA resource string:

1. Start the Keithley Configuration Panel. The Keithley Configuration Wizard opens to the Select
Operation dialog box.

2. Complete the wizard.

3. Save the configuration. From the Configuration Utility, select File > Save.

4. Open the Keithley Communicator.

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5. Select File > Open Instrument to open the instrument you named in the wizard.

Figure 12: Keithley Communicator Open an Instrument

6. Select OK.

7. Send a command to the instrument and see if it responds.

If you have a full version of NI-VISA on your system, you can run NI-MAX or the VISA Interactive
Utility. See their documentation for information.

If you have the Keysight IO Libraries on your system, you can run Keysight Connection Expert to
review your USB instruments. See their documentation for information.

Connecting multiple USB instruments to the computer

The most convenient way to connect USB instrumentation to the computer is to plug a USB cable
directly from the instrument to the computer. If you have more than one USB instrument or have other
USB devices, such as printers, keyboards, and mice, you might not have enough USB connectors on
the computer.

To gain more ports, you can use a USB hub or add more USB controller cards if you have available
PCI or PCI Express slots.

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LAN communications

You can communicate with the instrument using a local area network (LAN). The 2601B-PULSE can
connect directly to a host computer or interact with a DHCP or DNS server and other LXI-compliant
instruments on a local area network (LAN). The LAN interface can be used to build flexible test
systems that include web access. This section provides an overview of LAN communications for the
2601B-PULSE.

When you connect using a LAN, you can use a web browser to access the internal web page of the
instrument and change some of the instrument settings.

There is one LAN port, which is on the rear panel of the instrument, that supports full connectivity on
a 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps network. The 2601B-PULSE automatically detects the speed.

The 2601B-PULSE also supports Multicast DNS (mDNS) and DNS Service Discovery (DNS-SD),
which are useful on a LAN with no central administration.

Contact your network administrator to confirm your specific network requirements before setting up a
LAN connection.

If you have problems setting up the LAN, refer to LAN troubleshooting suggestions (on page 2-25).

The 2601B-PULSE is a Version 1.5 LXI Device Specification 2016 compliant instrument that supports
TCP/IP and complies with IEEE Std 802.3 (ethernet).

LAN cable connection

The 2601B-PULSE includes two LAN crossover cables. One cable is intended for use with the
TSP-Link® network and the other cable is intended for use with the LAN.

However, you can use any standard LAN crossover cable (RJ-45, male-to-male) or straight-through
cable to connect your equipment. The instrument automatically senses which cable you
have connected.

The following figure shows the location of the LAN port on the rear panel of the instrument. Connect
the LAN cable between this connection and the LAN port on the computer.

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Figure 13: 2601B-PULSE ethernet connection

1 2601B-PULSE ethernet port (LAN)

2 Straight-through LAN cable or crossover LAN cable

3 Ethernet port (on the host computer)

You can connect the instrument to the LAN in a one-to-one, one-to-many, two network card, or
enterprise configuration, as described in the following topics.

One-to-one connection

With most instruments, a one-to-one connection is done only when you are connecting a single
instrument to a single network interface card.

A one-to-one connection using a network crossover cable connection is similar to a typical RS-232
system using a null modem cable. The crossover cable has its receive (RX) and transmit (TX) lines
crossed to allow the receive line input to be connected to the transmit line output on the
network interfaces.

Figure 14: One-to-one connection with a crossover cable

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The 2601B-PULSE supports Auto-MDIX and can use either normal LAN CAT-5 cables (patch) or
crossover cables. The instrument automatically adjusts to support either cable.

One-to-many connection

With a LAN hub, a single network interface card can be connected to as many instruments as the hub
can support. This requires straight-through network (not crossover) cables for hub connections.

The advantage of this method is easy expansion of measurement channels when the test
requirements exceed the capacity of a single instrument. With only the instruments connected to the
hub, this is an isolated instrumentation network. However, with a corporate network attached to the
hub, the instruments become part of the larger network.

Figure 15: One-to-many connection using a network hub or switch

Two network card connection

If you need to connect independent corporate and instrumentation networks, two network interface
cards are required in the computer controller. Though the two networks are independent, stations on
the corporate network can access the instruments and the instruments can access the corporate
network using the same computer.

This configuration resembles a GPIB setup in which the computer is connected to a corporate
network, but also has a GPIB card in the computer to communicate with instruments.

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Figure 16: Two network card connection

Instrumentation connection to enterprise routers or servers

This connection uses an existing network infrastructure to connect instruments to the computer
controller. In this case, you must get the network resources from the network administrator.

Usually, the instruments are kept inside the corporate firewall, but the network administrator can
assign resources that allow them to be outside the firewall. This allows instruments to be connected
to the internet using appropriate security methods. Data collection and distribution can be controlled
from virtually any location.

Figure 17: Instrumentation connection to enterprise routers or servers

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Set up LAN communications on the instrument

The following topics describe how to check the existing LAN communications settings and set up
manual or automatic LAN communications.

Check communications settings

Before configuring the LAN, you can check the communications settings on the instrument without
making any changes.

To view the active network settings:

1. From the front panel, press the MENU key, and then select LAN > STATUS.

2. Use the navigation wheel to select one of the following network settings:

▪ IP-ADDRESS

▪ GATEWAY

▪ SUBNET-MASK

▪ METHOD

▪ DNS

▪ MAC-ADDRESS

3. Press the ENTER key to view the active setting.

4. Press the EXIT (LOCAL) key once to return to the STATUS menu.

Set up automatic LAN configuration

If you are connecting to a LAN that has a DHCP server or if you have a direct connection between the
instrument and a host computer, you can use automatic IP address selection.

If you select Auto, the instrument attempts to get an IP address from a DHCP server. If this fails, it
reverts to an IP address in the range of 169.254.1.0 through 169.254.254.255.

Both the host computer and the instrument should be set to use automatic LAN configuration.
Though it is possible to have one set to manual configuration, it is more complicated to set up.

To set up automatic IP address selection using the front panel:

1. From the front panel, press the MENU key, and then select LAN > CONFIG > METHOD.

2. Select AUTO.

3. Press the ENTER key.

4. Press the EXIT (LOCAL) key until you return to the LAN CONFIG menu.

5. Select APPLY_SETTINGS > YES, and then press the ENTER key.

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Set up manual LAN configuration

These steps assume that you are making all the settings in the order shown here. If you only change
one or a few settings, be aware that you need to apply the settings before they will be in effect. To
apply the settings, from the LAN CONFIG menu, select APPLY_SETTINGS > YES, and then press
the ENTER key.

Contact your corporate information technology (IT) department to secure a valid IP address for the
instrument when placing the instrument on a corporate network.

To set up the LAN configuration manually using the front panel:

1. Press the MENU key to display the MAIN MENU.

2. Use the navigation wheel to select LAN. The LAN CONFIG menu is displayed.

3. Select CONFIG > METHOD > MANUAL and then press the ENTER key.

4. Press the EXIT (LOCAL) key once to return to the LAN CONFIG menu.

5. Select CONFIG > IP-ADDRESS.

6. Turn the navigation wheel to select and enter a valid IP address for the instrument.

The IP address of the instrument can have leading zeros, but the IP address of the computer cannot.

7. Press the ENTER key to confirm the changes.

8. Press the EXIT (LOCAL) key twice to return to the LAN CONFIG menu.

9. Select CONFIG > GATEWAY.

10. Turn the navigation wheel to select and enter a valid gateway address for the instrument.

11. Press the ENTER key to confirm the changes.

12. Press the EXIT (LOCAL) key twice to return to the LAN CONFIG menu.

13. Select CONFIG > SUBNETMASK.

14. Turn the navigation wheel to select and enter a valid subnet mask for the instrument.

15. Press the ENTER key to confirm the changes.

16. Press the EXIT (LOCAL) key twice to return to the LAN CONFIG menu.

17. Select APPLY_SETTINGS > YES, and then press the ENTER key.

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LAN speeds

Another characteristic of the LAN is speed. The 2601B-PULSE negotiates with the host computer and
other LXI-compliant devices on the LAN to transmit data at the highest speed possible. LAN speeds
must be configured to match the speed of the other instruments on the network.

To set the LAN speed:

1. From the front panel, press the MENU key and select LAN > CONFIG > SPEED.

2. Turn the navigation wheel to select either 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps.

3. Press the ENTER key.

4. Press the EXIT (LOCAL) key once to return to the previous menu.

Configuring the domain name system (DNS)

The domain name system (DNS) lets you type a domain name in the address bar to connect to the
instrument. If you use DNS, you can use a name instead of an IP address.

Example:

Model2601B-PULSE.XYZcompany.com

Contact your corporate information technology (IT) department for information about DNS. If a DNS
server is not part of the LAN infrastructure, do not use this setting.

To enable or disable DNS host name verification:

1. From the front panel, press the MENU key, and then select LAN > CONFIG > DNS > VERIFY.

2. Turn the navigation wheel to select either ENABLE or DISABLE. When enabled, the
instrument performs a DNS lookup to verify the DNS host name matches the value specified in
the lan.config.dns.hostname (on page 11-113) attribute.

3. Press the ENTER key.

5. Select APPLY_SETTINGS > YES, and then press the ENTER key.

4. Press the EXIT (LOCAL) key twice to return to the LAN CONFIG menu.

To enable or disable DNS registration:

1. From the front panel, press the MENU key and select LAN > CONFIG > DNS > DYNAMIC.

2. Turn the navigation wheel to select either ENABLE or DISABLE. DNS registration works with
the DHCP to register the host name specified in the lan.config.dns.hostname attribute with
the DNS server.

3. Press the ENTER key.

4. Press the EXIT (LOCAL) key twice to return to the LAN CONFIG menu.

5. Select APPLY_SETTINGS > YES, and then press the ENTER key.

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To set the DNS server IP addresses:

1. From the front panel, press the MENU key and select LAN > CONFIG > DNS.

2. Turn the navigation wheel to select either DNS-ADDRESS1 or DNS-ADDRESS2.

3. Press the ENTER key.

4. Turn the navigation wheel to select and enter a valid IP address for the DNS server.

5. Press the ENTER key.

6. Press the EXIT (LOCAL) key twice to return to the LAN CONFIG menu.

7. Select APPLY_SETTINGS > YES, and then press the ENTER key.

Confirming the active speed and duplex negotiation

The 2601B-PULSE automatically detects the speed and duplex negotiation active on the LAN. Once
the speed and duplex negotiation is detected, the instrument automatically adjusts its own settings to
match the LAN settings.

To confirm the active LAN speed and duplex mode:

1. From the front panel, press the MENU key.

2. Select LAN > STATUS.

3. Use the navigation wheel to select one of the following:

▪ SPEED
▪ DUPLEX

4. Press the ENTER key to view the active setting.

5. Press the EXIT (LOCAL) key once to return to the STATUS menu.

To set the duplex mode:

1. From the front panel, press the MENU key and select LAN > CONFIG > DUPLEX.

2. Turn the navigation wheel to select either HALF or FULL.

3. Press the ENTER key.

4. Press the EXIT (LOCAL) key once to return to the LAN CONFIG menu.

5. Select APPLY_SETTINGS > YES, and then press the ENTER key.

Use the LXI Discovery Tool

To find the IP address of the 2601B-PULSE from a computer, use the LXI Discovery Tool, a utility that
is available from the Resources tab of the LXI Consortium website (lxistandard.org).

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LAN status LEDs

When an LED is:

The network:

Off

is not connected

On

is connected

Blinking

is sending or receiving data

The figure below illustrates the two status light emitting diodes (LEDs) that are on the LAN port of the
instrument. The table below the figure provides explanations of the LED states. The LED labeled 1
indicates the LAN port is connected to a 100 Mbps network. The LED labeled 2 indicates the LAN
port is connected to a 10 Mbps network.

Selecting a LAN interface protocol

You can use a remote interface protocol to connect to the 2601B-PULSE. The 2601B-PULSE
provides Telnet, VXI-11, and raw socket LAN interfaces, with associated LAN protocols (each
interface uses a different protocol). Select the interface based on the protocol needed.

Figure 18: LAN status

You can also use a dead socket termination interface (DST) to troubleshoot connection problems.

You can only use one remote interface at a time. Although multiple ethernet connections to the
instrument can be opened, only one can be used to control the instrument at a time.

Telnet connection

The Telnet protocol is similar to raw socket and can be used when you need to interact directly with
the instrument. Telnet is often used for debugging and troubleshooting. You will need a separate
Telnet program to use this protocol.

The 2601B-PULSE supports the Telnet protocol, which you can use over a TCP/IP connection to
send commands to the instrument. You can use a Telnet connection to interact with scripts or send
real-time commands.

VXI-11 connection

This remote interface is similar to GPIB and supports message boundaries, serial poll, and service
requests (SRQs). A VXI-11 driver or NI-VISA software is required. Test Script Builder (TSB) uses
NI-VISA and can be used with the VXI-11 interface. You can expect a slower connection with this
protocol.

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Raw socket connection

Port number

Command interface

Port number

Raw socket

5025

Telnet

23

VXI-11

1024

DST (dead socket termination)

5030

All Keithley instruments that have LAN connections support raw socket communication, which means
you can connect to the TCP/IP port on the instrument and send and receive commands. You can
communicate with the instrument using the Winsock API on computers with the Microsoft® Windows®
operating system or using the Berkeley Sockets API on Linux® or Apple® computers.

Raw socket is a basic ethernet connection that communicates in a manner similar to RS-232 without
explicit message boundaries. The instrument always terminates messages with a line feed, but
because binary data may include bytes that resemble line-feed characters, it may be difficult to
distinguish between data and line-feed characters.

Use raw socket as an alternative to VXI-11. Raw socket offers a faster connection than VXI-11.
However, raw socket does not support explicit message boundaries, serial poll, and service requests.

Dead socket connection

The dead socket termination (DST) port is used to terminate all existing ethernet connections. A dead
socket is a socket that is held open by the instrument because it has not been properly closed. This
most often happens when the host computer is turned off or restarted without first closing the socket.
This port cannot be used for command and control functions.

Use the dead socket termination port to manually disconnect a dead session on any open socket. All
existing ethernet connections will be terminated and closed when the connection to the dead socket
termination port is closed.

Confirming port numbers

To view the port number assigned to each remote interface protocol:

1. From the front panel, press the MENU key, and then select LAN > STATUS > PORT.

2. Use the navigation wheel to select one of the following:

▪ RAW-SOCKET
▪ TELNET
▪ VXI-11
▪ DST

3. Press the ENTER key to view the port number.

4. Press the EXIT (LOCAL) key once to return to the PORT menu.

The following table displays the remote interface protocols supported by the 2601B-PULSE and their
assigned port numbers.

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Reset LAN settings

To reset the LAN settings to the factory defaults from the front panel, select MENU > LAN > RESET.

LAN troubleshooting suggestions

If you are unable to connect to the web interface of the instrument, check the following items:

• The network cable is in the LAN port on the rear panel of the instrument, not one of the

TSP-Link® ports.

• The network cable is in the correct port on the computer. The LAN port of a laptop may be

disabled when the laptop is in a docking station.

• The setup procedure used the configuration information for the correct ethernet card.

• The network card of the computer is enabled.

• The IP address of the instrument is compatible with the IP address on the computer.

• The subnet mask address of the instrument is the same as the subnet mask address of

the computer.

You can also try restarting the computer and the instrument.

To restart the instrument:

1. Turn the power to the instrument off, and then on.

2. Wait at least 60 seconds for the network configuration to be completed.

Access the instrument web page

To access the instrument web page:

1. Open a web browser on the host computer.

2. Enter the IP address of the instrument in the web browser address box. For example, if the
instrument IP address is 192.168.1.101, enter 192.168.1.101 in the browser address box.

3. Press Enter on the computer keyboard to open the instrument web page.

If the web page does not open in the browser, see LAN troubleshooting suggestions (on page 2-25).

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Viewing LAN status messages

LAN CONFIG/FAULT messages

LAN message type

Possible messages

LAN fault

Could not acquire IP address

Duplicate IP address detected

DHCP lease lost

Lan Cable Disconnected

LAN configuration

Starting DHCP Configuration

DHCP Server Not Found

DHCP configuration started on xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

Searching for DNS server(s)

Starting DLLA Configuration

DLLA Failed

DLLA configuration started on xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

Starting Manual Configuration

Manual configuration started on xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

Closed

To view the LAN status messages:

1. From the front panel, press the MENU key and select LAN > STATUS > CONFIG/FAULT.

2. Press the ENTER key.

Figure 19: LAN CONFIG/FAULT

There are two types of LAN status messages:

• LAN fault messages: Communicate issues related to physical connectivity.

• LAN configuration messages: Communicate issues or events related to configuration.

The following table displays possible fault and configuration messages.

Monitoring the LAN

The lan.autoconnect command configures the instrument to monitor the LAN for lost connections.
All ethernet connections are disconnected if the LAN link is disconnected for longer than the time-out
value specified in the lan.linktimeout attribute.

For detail on these commands, refer to the following command descriptions:

• lan.autoconnect (on page 11-110)

• lan.linktimeout (on page 11-118)

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Logging LAN trigger events in the event log

Event log descriptions

Column title

Description

Example

Receive Time

Displays the date and time that the LAN trigger
occurred in UTC, 24-hour time

11:46:44.000 11 Mar 2020

Event ID

Identifies the lan.trigger[N] that generates an
event

LAN0 = lan.trigger[1]
LAN1 = lan.trigger[2]
LAN2 = lan.trigger[3]
LAN3 = lan.trigger[4]
LAN4 = lan.trigger[5]
LAN5 = lan.trigger[6]
LAN6 = lan.trigger[7]
LAN7 = lan.trigger[8]

From

Displays the IP address for the device that
generates the LAN trigger

localhost

192.168.5.20

Timestamp

A timestamp that identifies the time the event
occurred; the timestamp uses the following:

▪ PTP timestamp
▪ Seconds
▪ Fractional seconds; the 2601B-PULSE does

not support the IEEE Std 1588 standard; the
values in this field are always 0 (zero)

HWDetect

Identifies a valid LXI trigger packet

LXI

Sequence

Each instrument maintains independent
sequence counters:

▪ One for each combination of UDP multicast

network interface and UDP multicast
destination port

▪ One for each TCP connection

You can use the event log to record all LXI triggers generated and received by the 2601B-PULSE.
You can view the event log using any command interface or the embedded web interface. The
following figure shows the view of the LXI event log from the embedded web interface.

The timestamp, event identifier, IP address, and the domain name identify the incoming and outgoing
LXI trigger packets. The following table provides detailed descriptions for the columns in the
event log.

Figure 20: LXI Event Log

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Event log descriptions

Column title

Description

Example

Domain

Displays the LXI domain number; the default value
is 0 (zero)

0

Flags

Contain data about the LXI trigger packet;
values are:

▪ 1 - Error
▪ 2 - Retransmission
▪ 4 - Hardware
▪ 8 - Acknowledgments
▪ 16 - Stateless bit

16

Data

The values for this are always 0 (zero)

Accessing the event log from the command interface

You can access the event log from any remote command interface. The event log must be enabled
before LXI trigger events can be viewed. To enable the event log, send:

eventlog.enable = 1

To view the event log from a remote interface, send:

print(eventlog.all())

This command outputs one or more strings similar to the following:

14:14:02.000 17 Jun 2019, LAN0, 10.80.64.191, LXI, 0, 1560780842, not available, 0,

0x10,0x00

The string displays the same information as the web interface. Commas separate the fields. The
fields output in the following order:

• Received time (UTC time)

• Event ID

• From (Sender)

• HWDetect / version

• Domain

• Sequence number

• Timestamp (PTP time)

• Epoch (from 1588)

• Flags

• Data

See the table in Logging LAN trigger events in the event log (on page 2-27) for detailed descriptions.

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To generate log traffic, send the code:

local id = 1
lan.trigger[id].ipaddress = lan.status.ipaddress
lan.trigger[id].connect()
for domain = 1, 255 do
print(domain)
lan.lxidomain = domain
lan.trigger[id].assert()
delay(1)
end

GPIB operation

The following topics contain information about GPIB standards, bus connections, and primary
address selection.

GPIB standards

The GPIB is the IEEE-488 instrumentation data bus, which uses hardware and programming
standards originally adopted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) in 1975.
The instrument is IEEE Std 488.1 compliant and supports IEEE Std 488.2 common commands and
status model topology.

Connect the GPIB cable

To connect an instrument to the GPIB bus, use a cable equipped with standard IEEE-488 connectors,
as shown below.

Figure 21: GPIB connector

To allow many parallel connections to one instrument, stack the connectors. Each connector has two
screws on it to ensure that connections remain secure. The figure below shows a typical connection
diagram for a test system with multiple instruments.

To avoid possible mechanical damage, stack no more than three connectors on any one
instrument. To minimize interference caused by electromagnetic radiation, use only shielded
IEEE-488 cables. Contact Keithley Instruments for shielded cables.

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To connect the instrument to the IEEE-488 bus, line up the cable connector with the connector on the
rear panel. Install and tighten the screws securely, making sure not to overtighten them. The following
figure shows the location of the connector.

Connect any additional connectors from other instruments as required for your application. Make sure
the other end of the cable is properly connected to the controller. You can only have 15 devices
connected to an IEEE-488 bus, including the controller. The maximum cable length is either two
meters (6.5 feet) multiplied by the number of devices or 20 meters (65.6 feet), whichever is less.
Erratic bus operation may occur if you ignore these limits.

Primary address

The 2601B-PULSE ships from the factory with a GPIB primary address of 26. If the GPIB interface is
enabled, it momentarily displays the primary address on power-up. You can set the address to a
value from 0 to 30, but do not assign the same address to another device or to a controller that is on
the same GPIB bus (controller addresses are usually 0 or 21).

Figure 22: IEEE-488 connector location

To set or check the primary address from the front panel:

1. Press the MENU key, select GPIB, and then press the ENTER key or the navigation wheel .

2. Select ADDRESS, then press the ENTER key or the navigation wheel .

3. Use the navigation wheel to set the primary address to the appropriate value, then press the
ENTER key or the navigation wheel .

4. Press the EXIT (LOCAL) key twice to return to the normal display.

To set the primary address remotely:

gpib.address = address

To set the primary address remotely to 20:

gpib.address = 20

Note that changing the GPIB address takes effect when the command is processed. Any response
messages generated after processing this command are sent with the new settings. If command
messages are being queued (sent before this command has executed), the new settings may take
effect in the middle of a subsequent command message, so be careful when setting this attribute from
the GPIB interface.

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Terminator

Status indicator

Applies to

REM

GPIB, VXI-11, USB, RS-232

TALK

GPIB only

LSTN

GPIB only

SRQ

GPIB, VXI-11, USB

When receiving data over the GPIB, the instrument terminates messages on any line feed character
or any data byte with EOI asserted (line feed with EOI asserted is also valid). When sending data, it
appends a line feed character to all outgoing messages. The EOI line is asserted with the terminating
line feed character.

Front-panel GPIB operation

This section describes aspects of the front panel that are part of GPIB operation, including messages,
status indicators, and the LOCAL key.

Error and status messages

The front-panel display may show error and status messages (see Displayed error and status

messages (on page 3-13)). See Error summary list (on page 12-2) for a list of status and error

messages that are associated with IEEE-488 programming. The instrument can be programmed to
generate a service request (SRQ), and command queries can be performed to check for specific
error conditions.

Communication status indicators

The remote (REM), talk (TALK), listen (LSTN), and service request (SRQ) indicators show the
communication bus status. Each of these indicators is described below.

The SRQ applies to all available communication buses, however, actual service requests only apply
to GPIB, USB, and VXI-11 (see Status byte and service request (SRQ) (on page 15-15) for more
information).

REM

This indicator is illuminated when the instrument is in the remote-control state. When the instrument is
in the remote-control state, all front-panel keys, except for the EXIT (LOCAL) key and OUTPUT
ON/OFF control, are locked out. When REM is off, the instrument is in the local-control state and
front-panel operation is restored.

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TALK

This indicator is on when the instrument is in the talker active state. Place the instrument in the talk
state by addressing it to talk with the correct talk command. TALK is off when the instrument is in the
talker idle state. Place the instrument in the talker idle state by sending a UNT (untalk) command,
addressing it to listen, or by sending the IFC (interface clear) command.

LSTN

This indicator is on when the instrument is in the listener active state, which is activated by
addressing the instrument to listen with the correct listen command. LSTN is off when the instrument
is in the listener idle state. Place the instrument in the listener idle state by sending UNL (unlisten),
addressing it to talk, or by sending the IFC (interface clear) command over the bus.

SRQ

You can program the instrument to generate a service request (SRQ) when one or more errors or
conditions occur. When this indicator is on, a service request has been generated. This indicator
stays on until all conditions that caused the SRQ are cleared.

Note that while the SRQ indicator turns on when a service request is generated, it reflects the state of
the master summary status (MSS) bit and not the request for service (RQS) bit (see "Bit 6, Request
Service (RQS)/Master Summary Status (MSS)" in the topic Status Byte Register (on page 15-16) for
more detail). Therefore, performing a serial poll will not turn off the indicator. To turn off the indicator,
you must clear all the conditions that caused the MSS bit to be set. Refer to Clearing registers (on
page 15-13) for information.

LOCAL key

The EXIT (LOCAL) key cancels the remote state and restores local operation of the instrument.
Pressing the EXIT (LOCAL) key turns off the REM indicator and returns the display to normal if a
user-defined message was displayed. Pressing the EXIT (LOCAL) key or the OUTPUT ON/OFF
control also aborts any commands or scripts that are being processed.

If the LLO (local lockout setting) command is in effect, the EXIT (LOCAL) key is inoperative. For
safety reasons, the OUTPUT ON/OFF control can be used to turn the output off while in LLO.

RS-232 interface operation

The following topics contain information about configuring RS-232 communication parameters,
sending or receiving command messages, and requesting or retrieving data. To control the
2601B-PULSE, connect a controller or personal computer to the 2601B-PULSE RS-232 interface.
Alternatively, you can use the 2601B-PULSE to control another device over RS-232.

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Setting RS-232 interface parameters

RS-232 interface commands

Command

Description

serial.baud = baud

Set baud rate (300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200,
38400, 57600, 115200)

serial.databits = bits

Set number of bits (7 or 8)

serial.flowcontrol = flow

Set flow control:

serial.FLOW_NONE (no flow control)
serial.FLOW_HARDWARE (hardware flow control)

serial.parity = parity

Set parity:

serial.PARITY_NONE (no parity)
serial.PARITY_EVEN (even parity)
serial.PARITY_ODD (odd parity)

To set interface parameters from the front panel:

1. Press the MENU key, select RS232, and then press the ENTER key or the navigation wheel .

2. Select and enter the following interface parameters:

▪ BAUD: Set baud rate (see Baud rate (on page 2-34))
▪ BITS: Set number of bits (see Data bits and parity (on page 2-34))
▪ PARITY: Set parity
▪ FLOW-CTRL: Set Flow control and signal handshaking (on page 2-34)
▪ ENABLE: Enable or disable the RS-232 interface

3. Press the EXIT (LOCAL) key twice to return to the normal display.

Remote RS-232 parameters

Commands to set RS-232 parameters are listed in the following table. See the TSP command

reference (on page 11-1) for more information.

Changes to a serial port setting take effect when the command is processed. Any response
messages generated after the commands are processed will be sent with the new settings. If
command messages are being queued (sent before the commands have executed), the new settings
may take effect in the middle of a subsequent command message, so be careful when setting these
attributes from the RS-232 interface.

RS-232 programming example

The programming example below illustrates how to set the baud rate to 9600 with no flow control:

serial.baud = 9600
serial.flowcontrol = serial.FLOW_NONE

Sending and receiving data

The RS-232 interface transfers data using 7 or 8 data bits; 1 stop bit; and no, even, or odd parity.
Make sure the device you connect to the 2601B-PULSE also uses the same settings.

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Terminator

▪ 115200

▪ 9600

▪ 600

▪ 57600

▪ 4800

▪ 300

▪ 38400

▪ 2400

▪ 19200

▪ 1200

Baud rate

When receiving data over the RS-232 interface, the command interface terminates on line feeds. A
line feed is appended to all output messages when the RS-232 interface is being used as a command
interface.

Sending data using the serial.write() function does not append a terminator. Be sure to append
the appropriate terminator to the message before sending it.

The baud rate is the rate at which the 2601B-PULSE and the programming terminal communicate.
Select one of the following available rates:

The factory-selected baud rate is 9600.

Both the 2601B-PULSE and the programming terminal must be configured for the same baud rate.
Make sure the device connected to the 2601B-PULSE RS-232 port can support the selected
baud rate.

Data bits and parity

The RS-232 interface can be configured to send/receive data that is 7 or 8 bits long using even, odd,
or no parity.

Flow control and signal handshaking

Signal handshaking between the controller and the instrument allows the two devices to communicate
to each other to determine if they are ready to receive data.

The RS-232 interface provides two control lines (RTS and CTS) for this purpose. The instrument will
assert the RTS signal when it is admissible for the computer to transmit to the instrument. It will only
send information to the computer when the clear to send (CTS) signal is asserted by the computer.

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RS-232 connections

RS-232 connector pinout

Pin number

Description

1

Not used

2

TXD, transmit data

3

RXD, receive data

4

Not used

5

GND, signal ground

6

Not used

7

RTS, ready to send

8

CTS, clear to send

9

Not used

Computer serial port pinout

Signal*

DB-9 pin number

DB-25 pin number

DCD, data carrier detect

1 8 RXD, receive data

2 3 TXD, transmit data

3 2 DTR, data terminal ready

4

20

GND, signal ground

5 7 DSR, data set ready

6 6 RTS, request to send

7

4

CTS, clear to send

8

5

RI, ring indicator

9

22

* The 2601B-PULSE does not use all RS-232 signals. See the topic Flow control and signal handshaking
(on page 2-34).

Connect the RS-232 serial port of the 2601B-PULSE to the serial port of a computer using a
straight-through RS-232 cable terminated with DB-9 connectors. Do not use a null modem cable. The
serial port uses the transmit (TXD), receive (RXD), CTS and RTS (if flow control is enabled), and
signal ground (GND) lines of the RS-232 standard. The connector location is shown in Remote

communications interfaces (on page 2-11).

If your computer uses a DB-25 connector for the RS-232 interface, you will need a standard cable or
adapter with a DB-25 connector on one end and a DB-9 connector on the other.

Figure 23: RS-232 interface connector

The following table provides pinout identification for the 9-pin (DB-9) or 25-pin (DB-25) serial port
connector on the computer.

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Software components for applications and instrument drivers

The majority of software applications and all instrument drivers from Keithley Instruments depend on
some, or all, of the following software components:

• NI-VISA

• VISA shared components

• IVI shared components

• NI CVI runtime engine

• NI IVI compliance package

• Keithley instrument driver

These software components are available for download from the Product Support web page
(tek.com/product-support).

Instrument driver types

There are several different styles of instrument drivers. Keithley Instruments provides the following
instrument drivers for the 2601B-PULSE:

• A native LabVIEW driver

• An IVI-C driver

• An IVI-COM driver

You need to pick the style that best suits the application development environment (ADE) that you are
using. For example, if you are using LabVIEW, you would pick a native LabVIEW driver. If a native
LabVIEW driver is not available, you can use an IVI-C driver because LabVIEW has the option of
creating a wrapper for the IVI-C driver.

LabVIEW supports IVI-COM drivers, but they are not referred. However, if they are the only driver
types available for the instrument, they can be used.

If LabWindows/CVI or C/C++ is your programming language, an IVI-C driver is the best option. For
Microsoft® Visual Basic® 6.0 and any .NET language (C#, VB.NET, and so on), an IVI-COM driver is
the best option.

Sometimes instrument vendors do not provide all three driver types. Most languages can
accommodate other driver types, but this is not optimal.

The following sections describe the different driver types in more detail.

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VXIPnP drivers

VXIplug&play (VXIPnP) style drivers are Win32 DLLs that have some standard functions defined by
the IVI Foundation (ivifoundation.org), such as:

• init

• close

• error_message

• reset

• self_test

• read

• initiate

• fetch

• abort

The application programming interface (API) was defined so that users of instruments would have a
familiar API from instrument to instrument. There are some basic guidelines when creating APIs for
your instrument, such as using VISA data types and how to construct the CVI hierarchy.

LabVIEW drivers

Native LabVIEW drivers

A native LabVIEWTM driver is a LabVIEW driver that is created using entirely built-in LabVIEW VIs. It
does not make any calls to external DLLs or Library files. This makes the driver portable to all the
platforms and operating systems that LabVIEW and VISA supports (such as Linux® on x86, Mac OS®
X, and Microsoft® Windows®).

National Instruments (NITM) maintains a native LabVIEW driver style guide
(zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3271).

LabVIEW driver wrappers

All IVI-C drivers have a function panel file (.fp) that shows a hierarchy of the function calls into a DLL.
It is a tool that guides a user to select the correct function call in the driver, since a DLL only has a flat
API entry point scheme (unlike COM or .NET). Any CVI-generated .fp file can be imported into
LabVIEW and LabVIEW will generate a wrapper for the DLL. The drawback here is that the driver is
dependent on the DLL, which is not portable and is therefore specific to the Windows
operating system.

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Getting instrument drivers

To see what drivers are available for your instrument:

1. Go to the Product Support web page (tek.com/product-support).

2. Enter the model number of your instrument.

3. Select Software from the list.

4. Select and download the file.

For LabVIEWTM, you can also go to the National Instruments website and search their instrument
driver database.

Instrument driver examples

All Keithley drivers come with examples written in several programming languages that show you how
to do common tasks with the instruments. The examples are available in the drivers and through Test
Script Builder.

IVI shared components

The IVI shared components are similar in concept to the VISA shared components. The IVI
Foundation provides class drivers for:

• All the supported instruments (DMM, Scope, Fgen, and so on)

• The configuration store

The IVI shared components also create the installation folders and registry keys that all IVI drivers
and support files use for installation.

Interchangeable Virtual Instruments (IVI) style drivers

The IVI Foundation (ivifoundation.org) defined a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) for
instruments, including digital multimeters, arbitrary waveform/function generators, DC power supplies,
AC power supplies, oscilloscopes, switches, spectrum analyzers, RF signal generators, and
power meters.

There are two types of IVI drivers, IVI-COM and IVI-C. IVI-COM drivers use Microsoft® COM
technology to expose driver functionality. IVI-C drivers use conventional Microsoft® Windows® DLLs
to export simple C-based functions.

For more information about IVI drivers and the differences between the COM, C, and .NET interfaces,
see Understanding the Benefits of IVI
(ivifoundation.org/docs/Understanding%20the%20Benefits%20of%20IVI[3].pdf).

NI CVI runtime engine

IVI-C drivers that are created using the National Instruments (NITM) LabWindows/CVI environment
depend on either the CVI runtime DLL (cvirte.dll) or the instrument support runtime DLL
(instrsup.dll). These DLLs must be present on the system for them to run.

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NI IVI Compliance Package

The National Instruments (NITM) IVI Compliance Package (ICP) is a software package that contains
IVI class drivers and support libraries that are needed for the development and use of applications
that leverage IVI instrument interchangeability. The IVI Compliance Package also is based on and is
compliant with the latest version of the instrument programming specifications defined by the
IVI Foundation.

The NI ICP installer installs the IVI shared components, CVI runtime engine, and the instrument
support runtime engine.

Keithley I/O layer

The Keithley I/O Layer (KIOL) is a software package that contains several utilities and drivers. It is
mainly used as a supplement to IVI drivers or application software like Test Script Builder (TSB).

For additional detail on the Keithley I/O layer, including computer requirements, see the

tek.com/keithley website.

Keithley Configuration Panel

The Keithley Configuration Panel is a configuration utility for IVI drivers, similar to NI-MAX. It can also
autodetect USBTMC instruments and LAN instruments that support the VXI-11 protocol.

Keithley Communicator

The Keithley Communicator is a dumb terminal program that uses VISA to communicate with
the instrument.

How to install the Keithley I/O Layer

Before installing, it is a good practice to check the Product Support web page
(tek.com/product-support) to see if a later version of the Keithley I/O Layer is available.

You can download the Keithley I/O Layer from the Keithley website.

To install the Keithley I/O Layer from the Keithley website:

1. Download the Keithley I/O Layer Software from the Product Support web page
(tek.com/product-support). The software is a single compressed file.

2. Run the downloaded file from the temporary directory.

3. Follow the instructions on the screen to install the software.

4. Reboot your computer to complete the installation.

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General bus commands

General bus commands

Command

Effect on 2601B-PULSE

DCL

Returns the 2601B-PULSE and all devices on the GPIB to known conditions. See DCL (on
page 2-40) for details.

GET

Initiates a trigger. See GET (on page 2-40) for details.

GTL

Cancel remote; restore 2601B-PULSE front-panel operation. See GTL (on page 2-40) for
details.

IFC

Goes into talker and listener idle states. See IFC (on page 2-41) for details.

LLO

LOCAL key locked out. See LLO (on page 2-41) for details.

REN

Goes into remote operation when next addressed to listen. See REN (on page 2-41) for
details.

SDC

Returns the 2601B-PULSE to known conditions. See SDC (on page 2-41) for details.

SPE, SPD

Serial polls the 2601B-PULSE. See SPE, SPD (on page 2-42) for details.

General commands are commands that have the same general meaning, regardless of the
instrument (for example, DCL). The following table lists the general bus commands.

DCL

Use the device clear (DCL) command to clear the GPIB interface and return it to a known state. Note
that the DCL command is not an addressed command, so all instruments equipped to implement DCL
will do so simultaneously.

When the 2601B-PULSE receives a DCL command, it:

• Clears the input buffer, output queue, and command queue

• Cancels deferred commands

• Clears any command that prevents the processing of any other device command

A DCL does not affect instrument settings and stored data.

GET

The group execute trigger (GET) command is a GPIB trigger that triggers the instrument to take
readings from a remote interface.

GTL

Use the go to local (GTL) command to put a remote-mode instrument into local mode. Leaving the
remote state also restores operation of all front-panel controls.

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IFC

The interface clear (IFC) command is sent by the controller to place the 2601B-PULSE in the talker
idle state and the listener idle state. The instrument responds to the IFC command by canceling
illumination of the front-panel TALK or LSTN lights if the instrument was previously placed in one of
these states.

Transfer of command messages to the instrument and transfer of response messages from the
instrument are not interrupted by the IFC command. If transfer of a response message from the
instrument was suspended by IFC, transfer of the message resumes when the instrument is
addressed to talk. If transfer of a command message to the instrument was suspended by the IFC
command, the rest of the message can be sent when the instrument is addressed to listen.

LLO

When the instrument is in remote operation, all front-panel controls are disabled, except the LOCAL
and OUTPUT OFF keys (and the POWER switch). The local lockout (LLO) command disables the
LOCAL key, but does not affect the OUTPUT OFF switch, which cannot be disabled.

REN

The remote enable (REN) command is sent to the 2601B-PULSE by the controller to set up the
instrument for remote operation. Generally, the instrument should be placed in the remote mode
before you attempt to program it over the bus. Setting REN to true does not place the instrument in
the remote state. You must address the instrument to listen after setting REN to true before it goes
into remote operation.

SDC

The selective device clear (SDC) command is an addressed command that performs essentially the
same function as the device clear (DCL) command. However, because each device must be
individually addressed, the SDC command provides a method to clear only selected instruments,
instead of clearing all instruments simultaneously with the DCL command.

When the 2601B-PULSE receives an SDC command, it:

• Clears the input buffer, output queue, and command queue

• Cancels deferred commands

• Clears any command that prevents the processing of any other device command

An SDC call does not affect instrument settings and stored data.

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SPE, SPD

Use the serial polling sequence to obtain the 2601B-PULSE serial poll byte. The serial poll byte
contains important information about internal functions (see Status model (on page 15-1)). Generally,
the serial polling sequence is used by the controller to determine which of several instruments has
requested service with the SRQ line. The serial polling sequence may be performed at any time to
obtain the status byte from the 2601B-PULSE.

Using the interlock

You can set up an interlock for the 2601B-PULSE through the 2601B-P-INT Interlock and Cable
Connector Box. When properly used, the output of the instrument turns OFF when the safety fixture
switch opens.

The interlock requires a separate safety fixture switch that is wired to the interlock input on the
2601B-P-INT. For the interlock voltage, you can use the +5 V source pins of the 2601B-PULSE digital
I/O port or an external +5 V source.

It also requires use of the Keithley Model CS-1616-3 Safety Interlock Mating Connector, which is
supplied with the instrument. This part is also available from 3M, part number 37103-A165-00E.

See DUT Test Connections (on page 4-6) for important safety information when using a test fixture.

When an interlock is required for safety, a separate circuit should be provided that meets the
requirements of the application to reliably protect the operator from hazardous conditions.
The digital I/O port is a suitable source for the 5 V required to power the physical interlock
provided by the 2601B-P-INT. Failure to adhere to these guidelines could result in personal
injury or death.

The 2601B-PULSE with the 2601B-P-INT installed provides an optional interlock circuit.
Once engaged, the interlock helps facilitate the safe operation of the instrument in a test
system by prohibiting the output voltage and current when the interlock circuit is opened. Not
using the interlock could expose the operator to hazardous conditions within the test circuit
that could result in personal injury or death.

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Interlock operation

You can set up the interlock using the +5 V supply pins on the digital I/O port on the rear panel of the
instrument or by using an external 5 V source. Both methods use the Model 2601B-P-INT Interlock
and Cable Connector Box to make connections.

With either method, relays in the 2601B-P-INT are in a de-energized state until a remote switch is
closed. The de-energized state prevents current from passing to the device under test (DUT) by
keeping the FORCE HI terminal shorted to the FORCE LO terminal. When the external safety switch
closes, current is sourced from a +5 V pin on the digital I/O port or the external power supply, which
energizes the relay and opens the shorting contacts. When the contacts are open, the 2601B-PULSE
can source power to the DUT.

If the remote switch is part of a test fixture, if the lid of the test fixture opens, the relay is closed and
the output of the 2601B-PULSE instrument turns off. When the lid is closed, the relay contacts open
and the output can be turned on.

To use the interlock, you must set the jumper on the rear panel of the 2601B-P-INT to ENABLE. Refer
to Installing the 2601B-P-INT (on page 2-6) for information on setting the jumper.

When the jumper is set to ENABLE, the safety interlock relay immediately requires 5 V to open.
Depending on the availability of the 5 V signal, the short is applied to or removed from the Force HI
and LO terminals on the 2601B-P-INT, regardless of the interlock setting made through the front
panel or by using the remote commands.

To synchronize the operation of the 2601B-PULSE output with the jumper setting of the 2601B-P-INT,
you must also enable the interlock through the front panel or by using the remote commands.

To enable the interlock through the front panel:

1. Press the CONFIG key.

2. Select the OUTPUT menu item.

3. Select INTERLOCK.

4. Select DISABLE to disable the interlock or ENABLE to enable it.

To enable the interlock using a remote command, send:

smua.interlock.enable = smua.ENABLE

To disable the interlock using a remote command, send:

smua.interlock.enable = smua.DISABLE

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Interlock connections through digital I/O port

The following figure shows digital I/O port pin 20 as ground. You can also use pin 15, 16, 17, 18, 19,
or 21 as ground.

The +5 V source is shown as digital I/O port pin 22. You can also use pin 23 or 25 as the +5 V source.
Use a two-conductor low-voltage cable to connect the +5 V source to the low-voltage remote switch.
The recommended cable is 22 AWG (20 AWG maximum) with 1.2 mm to 1.6 mm outer diameter.

Figure 24: Digital I/O port interlock connections

Interlock connections using external source

Use a +5 V external power supply with a ±5% tolerance. The 2601B-P-INT interlock requires
approximately 125 mA to operate.

Use a two-conductor low-voltage cable to connect the +5 V source to the low-voltage remote switch.
The recommended cable is 22 AWG (20 AWG maximum) with 1.2 mm to 1.6 mm outer diameter.

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Figure 25: External source interlock connections

Wiring the interlock mating connector

Use the Keithley Instruments CS-1616-3 Safety Interlock Mating Connector supplied with the
2601B-PULSE to make the interlock connection to the 2601B-P-INT. You must supply connection
wire. When using the CS-1616-3 interlock mating connector with a Keithley instrument, use the
following recommendations for choosing a connection wire:

• Copper alloy

• 7 to 19 bare and tinned strands

• 0.25 mm

2

to 0.50 mm2, 20 AWG to 24 AWG

• Flexible vinyl, semi-flexible vinyl, polyethylene, cross-linked polyethylene, or PTFE

To ensure proper interlock operation, the combined resistance of the external interlock switch and
connection wires must be less than 10 Ω when the switch is closed.

To assemble the interlock:

1. Insert the wire into the CS-1616-3.

2. Use a pair of pliers to squeeze the connector sections together.

You cannot disassemble and reuse the CS-1616-3.

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The interlock pin locations and connections are shown in the following figure. The pins are:

• Pin 3: Earth and chassis ground

• Pin 2: Interlock

• Pin 1 (next to tab): +6 V dc out (current limited)

System information

You can retrieve serial number, firmware revision, calibration dates, and memory usage
from the instrument.

To view the system information from the front panel:

Figure 26: Interlock mating connector pins

1. Press the MENU key.

2. Select SYSTEM-INFO.

3. Select one of the following:

▪ FIRMWARE
▪ SERIAL#
▪ CAL
▪ MEMORY-USAGE

To retrieve system information from a remote interface:

To retrieve the firmware revision and serial number, send the *IDN? query (see Identification query:

*IDN? (on page 14-3) for more information).

To determine memory usage, see the meminfo() (on page 11-148) function.

To determine when calibration was last run, see smua.cal.date (on page 11-180).

To determine when calibration is due, see smua.cal.due (on page 11-181).

In this section:

Controls, indicators, and connectors ........................................ 3-1

Menu overview ......................................................................... 3-7

Beeper ................................................................................... 3-13

Displayed error and status messages .................................... 3-13

Display operations .................................................................. 3-14

USB storage overview ............................................................ 3-28

Controls, indicators, and connectors

Power switch. The in position turns the 2601B-PULSE on (I); the out position turns it
off (O).

Toggles between the source-measure or pulser display and the user message display.

Configures a function or operation.

Section 3

Instrument description

2601B-PULSE controls, indicators, and the USB port are on the front panel (on page 3-1). Make
connections to the 2601B-PULSE through connectors on the rear panel (on page 3-5).

Front panel

The front panel of the 2601B-PULSE is shown below. The descriptions of the front-panel controls,
USB port, and indicators follow the figure.

Figure 27: 2601B-PULSE front-panel controls

1. Power switch, display, and configuration keys

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3-2 2601B-PULSE-901-01A April 2020

SMU (source-measure unit) setup
SRC

When the pulser is disabled, selects the source function (voltage or current) and places
the cursor in the source field for editing. When the pulser is enabled, this key has no
action.

MEAS

Cycles through measure functions (voltage, current, resistance, or power).

LIMIT

When the pulser is disabled, places the cursor in the compliance limit field for editing.
Also selects the limit value to edit (voltage, current, or power). When the pulser is
enabled, switches the display between the source and sense protection levels.

MODE

Selects a meter mode (I-METER, V-METER, OHM-METER, or WATT-METER).

Performance control

DIGITS

Sets the display resolution (4½, 5½, or 6½ digits).

SPEED

Sets the measurement speed (FAST, MEDium, NORMAL, HI-ACCURACY, or OTHER).
Speed and accuracy are set by controlling the measurement aperture. Also see Speed
(on page 4-60).

REL

Controls relative measurements, which allows a baseline value to be subtracted from
a reading.

FILTER

Enables or disables the digital filter. You can use this filter to reduce reading noise.

Special operation

LOAD

Loads a test for execution (FACTORY, USER, or SCRIPTS).

RUN

Runs the last selected factory or user-defined test.

STORE

Accesses reading buffers and makes readings:

▪ TAKE_READINGS: Use to make readings and store them in a reading buffer.
▪ SAVE: Use to save a reading buffer to nonvolatile memory or to a user-installed

flash drive (USB1) in CSV or XML format.

Readings can include measurements, source values, and timestamp values.

RECALL

Recalls information (DATA or STATISTICS) stored in a reading buffer:

▪ DATA includes stored readings, and if configured, source values and

timestamp values.

▪ STATISTICS includes MEAN, STD DEV, SAMPLE SIZE, MINIMUM,

MAXIMUM, PK-PK.

TRIG

Triggers readings.

MENU

Accesses the main menu (on page 3-8). The main menu can be used to configure
many functions and features.

EXIT

Cancels the selection and returns to the previous menu or display. Also used as a
LOCAL key to take the instrument out of remote operation.

ENTER

Accepts the selection and moves to the next choice or exits the menu.

2. SMU setup, performance control, special operation, and numbers

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Numbers

Number keys

When enabled and in EDIT mode, the number keys (0-9, +/-, 0000) allow direct numeric
entry. Press the navigation wheel to enter EDIT mode. For more information, see

Setting a value (on page 3-11).

The RANGE and AUTO keys are only active when the pulser is disabled.

Selects the next higher source or measure range.

Enables or disables source or measure autorange.

Selects the next lower source or measure range.

In addition to selecting range functions, the up and down range keys change the format
for non-range numbers, such as when editing the limit value.

Turn the source output on or off.

Use the USB port to connect a USB flash drive to the instrument. You can use the USB
flash drive to store reading buffer data, scripts, and user setups. You can also use it to
upgrade the firmware.

Use the CURSOR keys to move the cursor left or right. When the cursor is on the
source or compliance value digit, press the navigation wheel to enter edit mode, and
turn the navigation wheel to edit the value. Press the navigation wheel again when you
finish editing.
Use the CURSOR keys or the navigation wheel to move through menu items. To view a
menu value, use the CURSOR keys for cursor control, and then press the navigation
wheel to view the value or submenu item.

3. Range keys

4. Output control

5. USB port

6. Cursor keys

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3-4 2601B-PULSE-901-01A April 2020

7. Navigation wheel

Turn the navigation wheel to:

▪ Move the cursor to the left and the right (the cursor indicates the selected value

or item)

▪ While in edit mode, increase or decrease a selected source or compliance value

Push the navigation wheel to:

▪ Enable or disable edit mode for the selected source or compliance value
▪ Open menus and submenu items
▪ Select a menu option or a value

Indicator

Meaning

4W

Remote (4-wire) sense selected

AUTO

Source or measure autorange is selected

EDIT

Instrument is in editing mode

ERR

Questionable reading or invalid calibration step

FILT

Digital filter is enabled

LSTN

Instrument is addressed to listen

REL

Relative mode is enabled

REM

Instrument is in remote mode

SRQ

Service request is asserted

TALK

Instrument is addressed to talk

* (asterisk)

Readings are being stored in the buffer

8. Display indicators (not shown)

The items listed below represent the possible display indicators and their meanings.

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Rear panel

These connectors provide connections for FORCE HI and FORCE LO.
Refer to FORCE and SENSE connectors (on page 4-8) for additional
information.

These connectors provide connections for SENSE LO and SENSE HI.
Refer to FORCE and SENSE connectors (on page 4-8) for additional
information.

This LED indicates the status of the interlock. When the interlock is not
asserted, the indicator is off. When the interlock is asserted, the indicator
is on.

This connector provides a connection for the optional interlock. Refer to

Using the interlock (on page 2-42) for information on setting up and

connecting the interlock.

The 2601B-PULSE rear panel with the 2601B-P-INT installed is shown below. The descriptions of the
rear-panel components follow the figure.

Figure 28: Rear panel

1. FORCE HI and FORCE LO connectors

2. SENSE LO and SENSE HI connectors

3. STATUS indicator

4. INTERLOCK connector

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5. Digital I/O

Female DB-25 connector. Use a cable equipped with a male DB-25
connector (Keithley Instruments part number CA-126-1A; L-com part
number CSMN25MF-5).
Pins provided:

▪ Fourteen digital input or output pins
▪ Seven GND pins
▪ Three +5 V pins

Connector for IEEE-488 (GPIB) operation. Use a shielded cable, such as
the Keithley Instruments Model 7007-1 or Model 7007-2.

Exhaust vent for the internal cooling fan. Keep the vent free of obstructions
to prevent overheating. Also see Cooling vents (on page 2-8).

RJ-45 connector for a local area network (LAN). The LAN interface
supports Auto-MDIX, so either a CAT-5e crossover cable (provided), or a
normal CAT-5e straight-through cable (not provided) can be used.

This USB-2.0 receptacle (Type B) located on the rear panel is used to
connect the instrument to a computer. You can use this connection to send
commands to the instrument.

Ground terminal for connecting output HI or LO to chassis ground.
Ground screw for connecting to chassis ground.

Expansion interface that allows a 2601B-PULSE and other TSP-enabled
instruments to trigger and communicate with each other.

6. IEEE-488

7. Cooling exhaust vents

8. LAN

9. USB port

10. Ground

11. TSP-Link

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12. Power module

Contains the ac line receptacle and power line fuse. The instrument can
operate on line voltages of 100 V ac to 240 V ac at line frequencies of
50 Hz or 60 Hz.

Female DB-9 connector. For RS-232 operation, use a straight-through (not
null modem) DB-9 shielded cable (Keithley Instruments Model 7009-5) for
connection to the computer.

13. RS-232

Menu overview

The following topics describe how to work with the front-panel menus.

Menu navigation

To navigate through the menus and submenus, the 2601B-PULSE must not be in edit mode (the
EDIT indicator is not illuminated).

Selecting menu items

To navigate the Main and Configuration menus, use the editing keys as follows:

• Press either CURSOR arrow key to highlight an option.

• Rotate the navigation wheel (clockwise or counterclockwise) to highlight an option.

• Press the ENTER key (or the navigation wheel ) to select an option.

• Use the EXIT (LOCAL) key to cancel changes or to return to the previous menu or display.

For quick menu navigation, turn the navigation wheel to highlight an option and then press the
navigation wheel to select the highlighted option.

Menu trees

You can configure instrument operation through the menus that are accessed from the front panel.

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Main menu

The main menu structure is summarized in the following figure and table. For other menu items, see

Configuration menus (on page 3-10).

Figure 29: Main menu tree

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The following table contains descriptions of the main menu options and cross-references to related

Menu selection

Description

For more information, see:

SCRIPT

Saves and recalls user scripts

Manage scripts (on page 10-3)

- LOAD

Loads scripts into nonvolatile memory

- SAVE

Saves scripts

SETUP

Saves and recalls user and factory setup options

Saved setups (on page 4-51)

- SAVE

Saves user setup options

- RECALL

Recalls user setup options

- POWERON

Sets the configuration used during startup

GPIB

Configures the GPIB interface options

Remote communications interfaces (on

page 2-11)

- ADDRESS

Configures the address for the GPIB interface

- ENABLE

Enables and disables the GPIB interface

LAN

Configures the local area network (LAN)

LAN communications (on page 2-15)

- STATUS

Displays LAN connection status

- CONFIG

Configures the LAN IP address and gateway

- APPLY_SETTINGS

Applies changes made using the CONFIG menu

- RESET

Restores the default settings

- ENABLE

Enables and disables the LAN interface

RS232

Controls the options for the RS-232 interface

Remote communications interfaces (on

page 2-11)

- BAUD

Sets the baud rate

- BITS

Configures the number of bits

- PARITY

Sets the parity

- FLOW-CTRL

Configures the flow control

- ENABLE

Enables and disables the RS-232 interface

TSPLINK

Configure the instrument in a TSP-Link® network

TSP-Link system expansion interface (on

page 10-45)

- NODE

Selects the instrument node identifier

- RESET

Resets the TSP-Link network

UPGRADE

Upgrades the firmware from a USB flash drive

Upgrading the firmware (on page 8-5)

DISPLAY

Accesses display functions

Front panel tests (on page 8-3)

- TEST

Runs the display test

See Numeric entry method in Setting a

value (on page 3-11)

- NUMPAD

Enables and disables the numeric keypad

DIGOUT

Controls digital outputs

Digital I/O (on page 6-36)

- DIG-IO-OUTPUT

Selects the digital I/O values

- WRITE-PROTECT

Write-protects specific digital I/O lines

- LEGACY-MODE

Sets digital I/O to work like an older
SourceMeter instrument

BEEPER

Controls the key beeps

Beeper (on page 3-13)

- ENABLE

Enables the key beeps

- DISABLE

Disables the key beeps

LINE-FREQ

Configures the line frequency

Line frequency configuration (on page

2-11)

- 50Hz

Set the line frequency to 50 Hz

- 60Hz

Set the line frequency to 60 Hz

- AUTO

Enables automatic line-frequency detection during
start up

SYSTEM-INFO

Displays the system information

System information (on page 2-46)

- FIRMWARE

Displays the version of firmware installed

- SERIAL#

Displays the serial number of the unit

- CAL

Displays the last calibration date

- MEMORY-USAGE

Displays memory usage in percentage

RESET-PASSWORD

Resets the system password

Password management (on page 10-34)

information. To access a menu option, press the MENU key, turn the navigation wheel to move
the cursor to select an item, and press the navigation wheel .

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Configuration menus

The configuration menu structure is summarized in the following figure and table. For directions on
navigating the menu, see Menu navigation (on page 3-7). For other menu items, see Main menu (on
page 3-8).

Figure 30: CONFIG menu tree

Press the EXIT key to return to a previous menu.

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Descriptions of the configuration menus

To access, press the
CONFIG key and then:

Options

For more information, see:

SRC

V-source sense and low range;
I-source low range; and
high capacitance mode

Range (on page 4-54), Basic
source-measure procedure (on page 4-30)

MEAS

V and I-measure range,
V-measure sense, low range, and
autozero

Range (on page 4-54), Basic
source-measure procedure (on page 4-30)

LIMIT

V-source and I-source compliance
limits

Limits (on page 4-2)

SPEED

Measurement speed (NPLC)

Speed (on page 4-60)

REL

Set relative values

Relative offset (on page 4-75)

FILTER

Control digital filter

Filters (on page 4-77)

OUTPUT ON/OFF

Set off-state, interlock

Output-off states (on page 4-26), Using the
interlock (on page 2-42)

STORE

Set buffer count and destination

Source-measure concepts (on page 7-1)

TRIG

Set trigger in, count, interval,
and delay

Triggering (on page 6-1)

The following table contains descriptions of the configuration menus and cross-references to
related information.

Setting values

Through the front panel, you can adjust a value using either the Navigation wheel method or
Numeric entry method (using the keypad).

When the pulser is enabled, you cannot adjust values through the front panel.

Setting a value

Navigation wheel method:

1. Use the CURSOR arrow keys (or turn the navigation wheel ) to move the cursor to the digit that
needs to be changed.

2. Press the navigation wheel or the ENTER key to enter edit mode. The EDIT indicator is
illuminated.

3. Rotate the navigation wheel to set the appropriate value.

4. Press the ENTER key to select the value or press the EXIT (LOCAL) key to cancel the change.

5. To return to the main menu, press the EXIT (LOCAL) key.

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Numeric entry method:

1. If the keypad is disabled, press the MENU key, then select DISPLAY > NUMPAD > ENABLE.

2. Use the CURSOR arrow keys (or turn the navigation wheel ) to move the cursor to the value
that needs to be changed.

3. Press the navigation wheel or the ENTER key to enter edit mode. The EDIT indicator is
illuminated.

4. Press any of the number keys (0-9, +/-, 0000) (see 2. SMU setup, performance control, special

operation, and numbers (on page 3-3)). The cursor moves to the next digit on the right.

5. Repeat the above steps as required to set the values.

6. Press the ENTER key to select the value or press the EXIT (LOCAL) key to cancel the change.

7. To return to the main menu, press the EXIT (LOCAL) key.

To set a value to zero, press the 0000 numeric entry key. To toggle the polarity of a value, press the

+/– numeric entry key.

Setting source and compliance values

When the 2601B-PULSE is in the edit mode (EDIT indicator is on), the editing controls are used to set
source and compliance values. Note that when you edit the source value, source autoranging is
turned off and remains off until you turn it on again.

To cancel source editing, press the EXIT (LOCAL) key.

To edit the source value:

1. Press the SRC key. The cursor flashes in the source value field.

2. Use the CURSOR keys (or turn the navigation wheel ) to move the cursor to the digit that
needs to be changed.

3. Press the navigation wheel or the ENTER key to edit the source value. The EDIT indicator is
illuminated.

4. Change the source value (see Setting a value (on page 3-11)).

The +/- key toggles the polarity. The 0000 key sets the value to 0.

5. When finished, press the ENTER key (the EDIT indicator is not illuminated).

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To edit compliance limit values:

1. Press the LIMIT key.

2. Select the type of compliance.

3. Press the navigation wheel or the ENTER key to enter edit mode. The EDIT indicator is

4. Change the compliance value (see Setting a value (on page 3-11)).

5. When finished, press the ENTER key (the EDIT indicator is not illuminated).

The up and down range keys change the format of the limit value.

Beeper

The 2601B-PULSE includes a beeper. When it is enabled, a beep indicates one of the following
actions have occurred:

• A front-panel key was pressed: A short beep, similar to a key click, is issued.

• The navigation wheel was turned or pressed: A short beep is issued.

• The output source was changed: A longer beep is issued when you select the OUTPUT

illuminated.

ON/OFF control (turn the output on or off).

To turn the beeper on or off from the front panel:

1. Press the MENU key, and then select BEEPER.

2. Select one of the following:

▪ ENABLE

▪ DISABLE

To turn the beeper on or off from the TSP command interface:

Set the beeper.enable attribute. For example, to enable the beeper, send:

beeper.enable = 1

Displayed error and status messages

During operation and programming, front-panel messages may be briefly displayed. Typical
messages are either status or error notifications (refer to the Error summary list (on page 12-2) for a
complete list of these messages and their meanings).

Status and error messages are held in a queue. For information about retrieving messages from
queues, refer to Queues (on page 15-2). For information about error messages, refer to the

Troubleshooting guide (on page 12-1).

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Display operations

This section describes methods for using the display and determining what is displayed.

Display mode

Use the DISPLAY key to scroll through the display modes shown in the figure below.

Figure 31: Display modes when the pulser is disabled

Figure 32: Display modes when the pulser is enabled

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Display functions and attributes

Cross-referencing functions and attributes to section topics

Function or attribute

Section topic

display.clear()

Clearing the display (on page 3-17)

display.getannunciators()

Indicators (on page 3-23)

display.getcursor()

Cursor position (on page 3-18)

display.getlastkey()

Capturing key-press codes (on page 3-26)

display.gettext()

Displaying text messages (on page 3-19)

display.inputvalue()

Parameter value prompting (on page 3-21)

display.loadmenu.add()
display.loadmenu.catalog()
display.loadmenu.delete()

Load test menu (on page 3-24)

display.locallockout

LOCAL lockout (on page 3-24)

display.menu()

Menu (on page 3-21)

display.numpad

Setting a value (on page 3-11)

display.prompt()

Parameter value prompting (on page 3-21)

display.screen

Display screen (on page 3-16)

display.sendkey()

Sending key codes (on page 3-26)

display.setcursor()

Cursor position (on page 3-18)

display.settext()

Displaying text messages (on page 3-19)

display.smua.digits

Display resolution (on page 3-16)

display.smua.limit.func

Limit functions (on page 3-16)

display.smua.measure.func

Measurement functions (on page 3-16)

display.trigger.clear()
display.trigger.wait()

Display trigger wait and clear (on page 3-16)

display.waitkey()

Capturing key-press codes (on page 3-26)

The display functions and attributes for the front panel are described in this section. The following
table lists each display function and attribute in alphabetical order and cross references it to the topic
where the function or attribute is explained.

The TSP command reference (on page 11-1) provides additional information about the display
functions and attributes.

Display features

You can set the front-panel display to display the units of measure, number of digits, and customized
text messages for your applications.

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Display screen

The front panel displays source-measure values and readings or user-defined messages. The display
screen options include:

• Source-measure, compliance screens: Display SMU source-measure readings and

compliance values.

• User screen: Display user-defined messages and prompts.

Configure the type of source-measure and compliance displayed by setting the display.screen
attribute. The following programming example illustrates how to display source-measure and
compliance values, and measure readings for SMU A:

display.screen = display.SMUA

Measurement functions

With a source-measure screen selected, the measured reading can be displayed as volts, amperes,
ohms, or watts. Configure the type of measured reading displayed by setting the
display.smua.measure.func attribute. The following programming example illustrates how to
display ohms measurements:

display.smua.measure.func = display.MEASURE_OHMS

Limit functions

When the pulser is disabled, the displayed limit value is either the primary limit value (current or
voltage) or the power limit value. Configure the type of limit function that is displayed by setting the
display.smua.limit.func attribute. The following programming example illustrates how to
display the power limit setting:

display.smua.limit.func = display.LIMIT_P

When the pulser is enabled, the sense and source protection levels are displayed. Use the LIMIT key
to switch between the sense and source protection level.

Display resolution

Display resolution for measured readings can be set to 4-1/2, 5-1/2 or 6-1/2. Configure the type of
resolution displayed by setting the display.smua.digits attribute. The following programming
example illustrates how to set 5-1/2 digit resolution for measured readings:

display.smua.digits = display.DIGITS_5_5

Display trigger wait and clear

To set the instrument to wait for the front-panel TRIG key to be pressed, send the

display.trigger.wait() function. To clear the trigger event detector, send the
display.trigger.clear() function.

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Display messages

You can define text messages that can be displayed on the front panel of the instrument. Most of the
display functions and attributes that are associated with display messaging will automatically select
the user screen. The attribute for the display screen is explained in Display screen (on page 3-16).

For example, while a test is running, the following message can be displayed on the 2601B-PULSE
front panel:

Test in Process
Do Not Disturb

The top line of the display can accommodate up to 20 characters (including spaces). The bottom line
can display up to 32 characters (including spaces) at a time.

The display functions display.clear(), display.setcursor(), and display.settext()
are overlapped, nonblocking commands. The script will not wait for one of these commands
to complete.

These nonblocking functions do not immediately update the display. For performance considerations,
they write to a background file and update the display as soon as processing time becomes
available.

The reset functions reset() and smua.reset() have no effect on the defined display message or
its configuration, but will set the display mode back to the previous source-measure display mode.

Clearing the display

When sending a command to display a message, a previously defined user message is not cleared.
The new message starts at the end of the old message on that line. It is good practice to routinely
clear the display before defining a new message.

After displaying an input prompt, the message is displayed even after the operator performs the
prescribed action. The clear() function must be sent to clear the display. To clear both lines of the
display, but not affect any of the indicators, send the following function:

display.clear()

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Cursor position

row

1 or 2

column

1 to 20 (row 1)
1 to 32 (row 2)

style

0 (invisible)
1 (blink)

When displaying a message, the cursor position determines where the message will start. On
power-up, the cursor is positioned at row 1, column 1 (see the following figure). At this cursor position,
a user-defined message will be displayed on the top row (row 1).

Top line text does not wrap to the bottom line of the display automatically. Any text that does not fit on
the current line is truncated. If the text is truncated, the cursor is left at the end of the line.

Figure 33: Row and column format for display messaging

The function to set cursor position can be used two ways:

display.setcursor(row, column)
display.setcursor(row, column, style)

Where:

When set to 0, the cursor is not visible. When set to 1, a display character blinks to indicate the
cursor position.

The display.getcursor() function returns the present cursor position, and can be used in
these ways:

row, column, style = display.getcursor()
row, column = display.getcursor()
row = display.getcursor()

The following programming example illustrates how to position the cursor on row 2, column 1, and
then read the cursor position:

display.setcursor(2, 1)
row, column = display.getcursor()
print(row, column)

Output:

2.00000e+00 1.00000e+00

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Displaying text messages

To define and display a message, use the display.settext(text) function, where text is the
text string to be displayed. The message starts at the present cursor position. The following
programming example illustrates how to display Test in Process on the top line, and Do Not

Disturb on the bottom line:

display.clear()
display.setcursor(1, 1, 0)
display.settext("Test in Process")
display.setcursor(2, 6, 0)
display.settext("Do Not Disturb")

Character codes

These special codes can be embedded in the text string to configure and customize the message:

• $N Starts text on the next line (newline). If the cursor is already on line 2, text is ignored after

the ‘$N’ is received.

• $R Sets text to Normal.

• $B Sets text to Blink.

• $D Sets text to Dim intensity.

• $F Set text to background blink.

• $$ Escape sequence to display a single “$”.

In addition to displaying alphanumeric characters, you can display other special characters. Refer to

Display character codes (on page 16-1) for a list of special characters and their corresponding codes.

The following programming example illustrates how to display the Greek symbol omega (Ω) :

display.clear()
c = string.char(18)
display.settext(c)

The following programming example illustrates how to use the $N and $B character codes to display
the message Test in Process on the top line and the blinking message Do Not Disturb on the
bottom line:

display.clear()
display.settext("Test in Process $N$BDo Not Disturb")

The following programming example illustrates how to use the $$ character code to display the
message You owe me $8 on the top line:

display.clear()
display.setcursor(1, 1)
display.settext("You owe me $$8")

If the extra $ character is not included, the $8 is interpreted as an undefined character code and is
ignored. The message You owe me is displayed.

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Be careful when embedding character codes in the text string. It is easy to forget that the character

embellished

Returns text as a simple character string (false) or includes character codes (true)

row

The row to read text from (1 or 2); if not included, text from both rows is read

columnStart

Starting column for reading text

columnEnd

Ending column for reading text

following the $ is part of the code. For example, if you want to display Hello on the top line and

Nate on the bottom line, send the following command:

display.settext("Hello$Nate")

The above command displays Hello on the top line and ate on the bottom line. The correct syntax
for the command is as follows:

display.settext("Hello$NNate")

Returning a text message

The display.gettext() function returns the displayed message (text) and can be used in the
following ways:

text = display.gettext()
text = display.gettext(embellished)
text = display.gettext(embellished, row)
text = display.gettext(embellished, row, columnStart)
text = display.gettext(embellished, row, columnStart, columnEnd)

Where:

Sending the command without the row parameter returns both lines of the display. The $N character
code is included to show where the top line ends and the bottom line begins. The $N character code
is returned even if embellished is set to false.

With embellished set to true, all other character codes that were used in the creation of each
message line are returned with the message. With embellished set to false, only the message
is returned.

Sending the command without the columnStart parameter defaults to column 1. Sending the
command without the columnEnd argument defaults to the last column (column 20 for row 1,
column 32 for row 2).

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Input prompting

menu

The name of the menu; use a string of up to 20 characters (including spaces)

items

A string is made up of one or more menu items; each item must be separated by white space

You can use display messaging with front panel controls to make a user script interactive. In an
interactive script, input prompts are displayed so that the operator can perform a prescribed action
using the front panel controls. While displaying an input prompt, the test pauses and waits for the
operator to perform the prescribed action.

Menu

You can present a user-defined menu on the display. The menu consists of the menu name on the
top line and a selectable list of menu items on the bottom line. To define a menu, use the
display.menu(menu, items) function, where:

When the display.menu() function is sent, script execution waits for the operator to select one of
the menu items. Rotate the navigation wheel to place the blinking cursor on a menu item. Items
that do not fit in the display area are displayed by rotating the navigation wheel to the right. With
the cursor on the menu item, press the navigation wheel (or the ENTER key) to select it.

Pressing the EXIT (LOCAL) key does not abort the script while the menu is displayed, but it will return
nil. The script can be aborted by calling the exit() function when nil is returned.

The following programming example illustrates how to present the operator with the choice of two
menu items: Test1 or Test2. If Test1 is selected, the message Running Test1 is displayed. If

Test2 is selected, the message Running Test2 is displayed.

display.clear()
menu = display.menu("Sample Menu", "Test1 Test2")
if menu == "Test1" then
display.settext("Running Test1")
else
display.settext("Running Test2")
end

Parameter value prompting

You can use the display.inputvalue() and display.prompt() functions to create an editable
input field on the user screen at the present cursor position.

The display.inputvalue() function uses the user screen at the present cursor position. Once
the command is finished, it returns the user screen to its previous state. The display.prompt()
function creates a new edit screen and does not use the user screen.

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Each of these functions can be used in the following ways:

format

String that creates an editable input field on the user screen at the present cursor position
(examples: +0.00 00, +00, 0.00000E+0)

Value field:
+ = Include for positive/negative value entry; omitting the + prevents negative value entry
0 = Defines the digit positions for the value (up to six zeros (0))
Exponent field (optional):
E = include for exponent entry
+ = Include for positive/negative exponent entry; omitting the + prevents negative value entry
0 = Defines the digit positions for the exponent

default

Option to set a default value for the parameter, which will be displayed when the command
is sent

min

Option to specify minimum limits for the input field

▪ When NOT using the “+” sign for the value field, the minimum limit cannot

be set to less than zero

▪ When using the “+” sign, the minimum limit can be set to less than zero

(for example, -2)

max

Option to specify maximum limits for the input field

units

Text string to identify the units for the value (8 characters maximum), for example:
Units text is “V” for volts and “A” for amperes

help

Informational text string to display on the bottom line (32 characters maximum)

display.inputvalue(format)
display.inputvalue(format, default)
display.inputvalue(format, default, min)
display.inputvalue(format, default, min, max)
display.prompt(format, units, help)
display.prompt(format, units, help, default)
display.prompt(format, units, help, default, min)
display.prompt(format, units, help, default, min, max)

Where:

Both the display.inputvalue() and display.prompt() functions display the editable input
field, but the display.inputvalue() function does not include the text strings for units
and help.

After one of the above functions is executed, command execution pauses and waits for the operator
to input the source level. The program continues after the operator enters the value by pressing the
navigation wheel or the ENTER key.

The following programming example illustrates how to prompt the operator to enter a source voltage
value for SMU A:

display.clear()
value = display.prompt("0.00", "V", "Enter source voltage")
display.screen = display.SMUA
smua.source.levelv = value

The script pauses after displaying the prompt message and waits for the operator to enter the voltage
level. The display then toggles to the source-measure display and sets the source level to value.

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Bit identification for indicators

Bit

B16

B15

B14

B13

B12

B11

B10

B9

Annunciator

REL

REAR

SRQ

LSTN

TALK

REM

ERR

EDIT

Weighted value*

32768

16384

8192

4096

2048

1024

512

256

Binary value

0/1

0/1

0/1

0/1

0/1

0/1

0/1

0/1 Bit

B8

B7

B6

B5

B4

B3

B2

B1

Annunciator

SMPL

STAR

TRIG

ARM

AUTO

4W

MATH

FILT

Weighted value*

128

64

32

16 8 4 2 1

Binary value

0/1

0/1

0/1

0/1

0/1

0/1

0/1

0/1

* The weighted values are for bits that are set to 1. Bits set to 0 have no value.

Indicators

If the operator presses EXIT(LOCAL) instead of entering a source value, value will be set to nil.

The second line of the above code can be replaced using the other input field function:

value = display.inputvalue("0.00")

The only difference is that the display prompt will not include the “V” units designator and the Enter
source value message.

To determine which front-panel display indicators are turned on, use the
display.getannunciators() function. For example, to determine which display indicators are
turned on, send the following commands.

annun = display.getannunciators()
print(annun)

The 16-bit binary equivalent of the returned value is a bitmap. Each bit corresponds to an indicator. If
the bit is set to 1, the indicator is turned on. If the bit is set to 0, the indicator is turned off.

The following table identifies the bit position for each indicator. The table also includes the weighted
value of each bit. The returned value is the sum of all the weighted values for the bits that are set.

Not all the indicators shown in above table may be used by the 2601B-PULSE.

For example, assume the returned bitmap value is 34061. The binary equivalent of this value is
as follows:

1000010100001101

For the above binary number, the following bits are set to 1: 16, 11, 9, 4, 3, and 1. Using the table, the
following indicators are on: REL, REM, EDIT, AUTO, 4W, and FILT.

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Local lockout

displayname

The name string that is added to the USER TESTS menu.

code

The code that is run from the USER TESTS menu when the RUN button is pressed.
It can include any valid Lua code.

memory

A value that specifies if the code and displayname parameters are saved in
nonvolatile memory. Set to one of the following values:

0 or display.DONT_SAVE
1 or display.SAVE (this is the default setting)

You can use the front-panel EXIT (LOCAL) key to cancel remote operation and return control to the
front panel. However, this key can be locked out to prevent a test from being interrupted. When
locked, this key becomes a NO-OP (no operation). Configure the following attribute to lock or unlock
the EXIT (LOCAL) key:

display.locallockout = lockout

Where lockout is set to one of the following values:

0 or display.UNLOCK

1 or display.LOCK

For example, to lock out the EXIT (LOCAL) key:

display.locallockout = display.LOCK

Load test menu

The LOAD TEST menu lists tests (USER, FACTORY, and SCRIPTS) that can be run from the
front panel.

Factory tests are preloaded and saved in nonvolatile memory at the factory. They are available in the
FACTORY TESTS submenu.

Named scripts that have been loaded into the runtime environment can be selected from the
SCRIPTS submenu. Refer to Manage scripts (on page 10-3) for additional information.

User tests

User tests can be added to or deleted from the USER TESTS submenu.

Adding USER TESTS menu entries

You can use the following function in either of two ways to add an entry into the USER TESTS menu:

display.loadmenu.add(displayname, code)
display.loadmenu.add(displayname, code, memory)

Where:

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Scripts, functions, and variables that are used in the code are not saved when display.SAVE is

displayname

Name to delete from the menu.

used. Functions and variables need to be saved with the script (see Manage scripts (on page 10-3)).
If the script is not saved in nonvolatile memory, it is lost when the 2601B-PULSE is turned off. See
Example 1 below.

Example 1:

Assume a script with a function named DUT1 has been loaded into the 2601B-PULSE, and the script
has not been saved in nonvolatile memory.

Now assume you want to add a test named Test to the USER TESTS menu. You want the test to
run the function named DUT1 and sound the beeper. The following programming example illustrates
how to add Test to the menu, define the code, and then save displayname and code in
nonvolatile memory:

display.loadmenu.add("Test", "DUT1() beeper.beep(2, 500)", display.SAVE)

When Test is run from the front-panel USER TESTS menu, the function named DUT1 executes and
the beeper beeps for two seconds.

Now assume you turn the 2601B-PULSE power off and then on again. Because the script was not
saved in nonvolatile memory, the function named DUT1 is lost. When Test is again run from the front

panel, the beeper beeps, but DUT1 will not execute because it no longer exists in the
runtime environment.

Example 2:

The following command adds an entry called Part1 to the front-panel USER TESTS submenu for the
code testpart([[Part1]], 5.0) and saves it in nonvolatile memory:

display.loadmenu.add("Part1", "testpart([[Part1]], 5.0)", display.SAVE)

Deleting USER TESTS menu entries

You can use the following function to delete an entry from the front-panel USER TESTS menu:

display.loadmenu.delete(displayname)

Where:

The following programming example removes the entry named Part1 from the front-panel USER
TESTS menu:

display.loadmenu.delete("Part1")

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Running a test from the front panel

To run a user, factory, or script test from the front panel:

1. Press the LOAD key to display the LOAD TEST menu.

2. Select the USER, FACTORY, or SCRIPTS menu item.

3. Position the blinking cursor on the test to be run and press ENTER or the navigation wheel .

4. Press the RUN key to run the test.

Key-press codes

Key codes are provided to remotely simulate pressing a front-panel key or the navigation wheel .
There are also key codes to simulate rotating the navigation wheel to the left or right (one click
at a time).

Sending key codes

Use the display.sendkey() function to remotely simulate pressing a front-panel key or the
navigation wheel. The following programming examples illustrate how to simulate pressing the MENU
key in two different ways:

display.sendkey(display.KEY_MENU)
display.sendkey(68)

Capturing key-press codes

A history of the key code for the last pressed front-panel key is maintained by the 2601B-PULSE.
When the instrument is turned on (or when transitioning from local to remote operation), the key code
is set to 0 (display.KEY_NONE).

When a front-panel key is pressed, the key code value for that key can be captured and returned.
There are two functions associated with the capture of key-press codes: display.getlastkey()
and display.waitkey().

display.getlastkey()

The display.getlastkey() function immediately returns the key code for the last pressed key.
The following programming example illustrates how to display the last key pressed:

key = display.getlastkey()
print(key)

The above code returns the key code value (see the following table). A value of
0 (display.KEY_NONE) indicates that the key code history had been cleared.

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Key codes

Value

Key list

Value

Key list

0

display.KEY_NONE

82

display.KEY_ENTER

65

display.KEY_RANGEUP

85

display.KEY_RECALL

68

display.KEY_MENU

86

display.KEY_MEASA

69

display.KEY_MODEA

87

display.KEY_DIGITSA

70

display.KEY_RELA

92

display.KEY_TRIG

71

display.KEY_RUN

93

display.KEY_LIMITA

72

display.KEY_DISPLAY

94

display.KEY_SPEEDA

73

display.KEY_AUTO

95

display.KEY_LOAD

75

display.KEY_EXIT

97

display.WHEEL_ENTER

77

display.KEY_FILTERA

103

display.KEY_RIGHT

78

display.KEY_STORE

104

display.KEY_LEFT

79

display.KEY_SRCA

107

display.WHEEL_LEFT

80

display.KEY_CONFIG

114

display.WHEEL_RIGHT

81

display.KEY_RANGEDOWN

You cannot track the OUTPUT ON/OFF control for a source-measure unit (SMU) using this function.

display.waitkey()

The display.waitkey() function captures the key code value for the next key press:

key = display.waitkey()

After sending the display.waitkey() function, the script pauses and waits for the operator to
press a front-panel key. For example, if the MENU key is pressed, the function returns the value 68,
which is the key code for that key. The key code values are the same as listed in display.getlastkey()
(on page 11-57).

The following programming example illustrates how to prompt the user to press the EXIT (LOCAL)
key to abort the script, or any other key to continue it:

display.clear()
display.setcursor(1, 1)
display.settext("Press EXIT to Abort")
display.setcursor(2, 1)
display.settext("or any key to continue")
key = display.waitkey()
display.clear()
display.setcursor(1, 1)
if key == 75 then
display.settext("Test Aborted")
exit()
else
display.settext("Test Continuing")
end

The above code captures the key that is pressed by the operator. The key code value for the EXIT
(LOCAL) key is 75. If the EXIT (LOCAL) key is pressed, the script aborts. If any other key is pressed,
the script continues.

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USB storage overview

The 2601B-PULSE includes a USB port on the front panel. To store scripts and to transfer files from
the instrument to the host computer, you need a USB flash drive.

• For information about saving reading buffers to a USB flash drive, see Saving reading buffers (on

page 5-4).

• For information about storing and loading scripts to and from a USB flash drive, see Save a user

script (on page 10-10).

• For information about file I/O, see File I/O (on page 9-7).

• For information about saving user setups, see Saved setups (on page 4-51).

Connecting the USB flash drive

The 2601B-PULSE supports flash drives that comply with USB 2.0 standards and USB 1.0 and 1.1
standards. You can save data to the USB flash drive from the front panel, or you can create a script
to save data to the USB flash drive.

To connect the USB flash drive, plug the USB flash drive into the USB port on the front panel of the
instrument, shown in the figure below.

Figure 34: USB port

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File system navigation

The 2601B-PULSE can use commands from the Lua fs library to navigate and list files that are
available on a flash drive. These Lua commands are in the fs command group in the instrument.

The fs commands make the file system of any given node available to the entire TSP-Link® system.
For example, you can use the command node[5].fs.readdir(".") to read the contents of the
current working directory on node 5.

The root folder of the USB flash drive has the absolute path:

"/usb1/"

You can use either the slash (/) or backslash (\) as a directory separator. However, the backslash is
also used as an escape character, so if you use it as a directory separator, you will generally need to
use a double backslash (\\) when you are creating scripts or sending commands to the instrument.

The instrument supports the following Lua fs commands:

fs.chdir() (on page 11-92)
fs.cwd() (on page 11-93)
fs.is_dir() (on page 11-93)
fs.is_file() (on page 11-94)
fs.mkdir() (on page 11-95)
fs.readdir() (on page 11-95)
fs.rmdir() (on page 11-96)

The following Lua fs commands are not supported:

fs.chmod()
fs.chown()
fs.stat()