ThinkRF R5700
Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer
with GNSS
Programmer's Guide
Version 1.0.0
October 20, 2018
Document no. 75-0033-181020
Copyright © 2018 ThinkRF Corporation, all rights reserved.
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HARDWARE WARRANTY AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
Read this warranty carefully before you use the product.
R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzers with GNSS are warranted for workmanship
and materials for a period of one (1) year from the date of shipment as identified by
the Customer’s packing slip or carrier waybill. ThinkRF reserves the right to void the
warranty on any equipment that has been altered or damaged due to Customer
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identification labels or serial numbers.
It will remain the responsibility of the Customer, having obtained a Return Material
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Customer's expense, the defective unit to ThinkRF’s repair facilities. ThinkRF will
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number can be secured by calling ThinkRF Customer Service and Support (1-613369-5104). If the product does not fall within ThinkRF’s warranty period or the
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ThinkRF Corp
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USE OF PRODUCTS IN HIGH RISK ACTIVITIES
THINKRF PRODUCTS ARE INTENDED FOR STANDARD INDOOR COMMERCIAL
USE. WITHOUT THE APPROPRIATE NETWORK DESIGN ENGINEERING, THEY
MUST NOT BE USED FOR ANY “HIGH RISK ACTIVITY”, as described in this
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use or resale as on-line control equipment in hazardous environments requiring fail
safe performance including but not limited to the operation of nuclear facilities,
aircraft navigation or communication systems, air traffic control, direct life support
machines, or weapons systems, in which the failure of products could lead directly to
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examples of “High Risk Activity”. THINKRF AND ITS SUPPLIERS EXPRESSLY
DISCLAIM ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR HIGH
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GNU General Public License
This device contains free firmware: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
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This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
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FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License
for more details. GNU General Public License is available at
http://www.gnu.org/licenses.
Table of Contents
Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................... 7
List of Figures .................................................................................................................................. 8
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................... 9
Preface ............................................................................................................................................... 10
Audience ................................................................................................................................... 10
Conventions ............................................................................................................................ 10
Obtaining Documentation and Releases .......................................................................... 10
Document Feedback .............................................................................................................. 11
Obtaining Technical Assistance ......................................................................................... 11
R5700 Functional Overview .................................................................................................... 12
System Overview .................................................................................................................... 12
The Architecture ..................................................................................................................... 15
RF Receiver Front-End .......................................................................................................... 17
Direct-Conversion Receiver Technology ............................................................................. 17
DC Offset Correction ..................................................................................................... 17
IQ Offset Correction ....................................................................................................... 18
Digital Signal Processing ..................................................................................................... 19
Digital Down Converter ........................................................................................................ 19
Triggers .................................................................................................................................... 20
Frequency Domain Triggering ............................................................................................. 20
Periodic Triggering ............................................................................................................... 21
External Triggering .............................................................................................................. 21
Capture Controller ................................................................................................................. 22
Trace Capture Control ......................................................................................................... 22
Sweep Capture Control ....................................................................................................... 23
Synchronized Sweep ........................................................................................................... 24
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol ...................................................................................... 26
Purpose .................................................................................................................................... 26
R5700's VRT Overview .......................................................................................................... 26
Packet Classes and Streams ............................................................................................... 27
Receiver Context Packet Class ........................................................................................... 27
Context Field Change Indicator ..................................................................................... 29
RF Reference Frequency .............................................................................................. 29
Gain ............................................................................................................................... 29
Temperature .................................................................................................................. 29
Digitizer Context Packet Class ............................................................................................ 30
Context Field Change Indicator ..................................................................................... 31
Bandwidth ...................................................................................................................... 31
RF Frequency Offset ..................................................................................................... 31
Reference Level ............................................................................................................ 32
Formatted GPS Geolocation .......................................................................................... 32
Extension Context Packet Class .......................................................................................... 34
Context Field Change Indicator ..................................................................................... 35
IQ Swapped Indicator .................................................................................................... 35
New Stream Start ID ...................................................................................................... 36
New Sweep Start ID ...................................................................................................... 36
IF Data Packet Class ........................................................................................................... 36
Picosecond Timestamp Words Format .......................................................................... 37
Data Payload Format ..................................................................................................... 37
Trailer Word Format ...................................................................................................... 39
SCPI Command Set ..................................................................................................................... 42
SCPI Language Overview ..................................................................................................... 42
IEEE Mandated SCPI Commands ....................................................................................... 43
*CLS .................................................................................................................................... 43
*ESE/*ESE? ........................................................................................................................ 43
*ESR? .................................................................................................................................. 44
*IDN? ................................................................................................................................... 44
*OPC/*OPC? ....................................................................................................................... 44
*RST .................................................................................................................................... 44
*SRE/*SRE? ........................................................................................................................ 45
*STB? .................................................................................................................................. 45
*TST? .................................................................................................................................. 45
*WAI .................................................................................................................................... 46
SYSTem Commands .............................................................................................................. 46
:SYSTem:ABORt ................................................................................................................. 46
:SYSTem:CAPTure:MODE? ................................................................................................ 46
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:HISLip:SESSion? ........................................................................ 46
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:APPLy .................................................................................. 47
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:CONFigure .......................................................................... 47
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:DNS ..................................................................................... 48
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:GATEway ............................................................................ 48
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:IP ......................................................................................... 49
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:MTU ..................................................................................... 49
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:NETMask ............................................................................. 50
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:NTP ............................................................................................. 50
:SYSTem:ERRor[:NEXT]? ................................................................................................... 50
:SYSTem:ERRor:ALL? ........................................................................................................ 51
:SYSTem:ERRor:CODE[:NEXT]? ........................................................................................ 51
:SYSTem:ERRor:CODE:ALL? ............................................................................................. 52
:SYSTem:ERRor:COUNt? ................................................................................................... 52
:SYSTem:FLUSh ................................................................................................................. 52
:SYSTem:LOCK:HAVE? ...................................................................................................... 53
:SYSTem:LOCK:REQuest? ................................................................................................. 53
:SYSTem:OPTions? ............................................................................................................ 54
:SYSTem:SYNC:MASTer .................................................................................................... 54
:SYSTem:SYNC:WAIT ........................................................................................................ 55
:SYSTem:VERSion? ............................................................................................................ 55
:SYSTem:DATE ................................................................................................................... 55
:SYSTem:TIME .................................................................................................................... 56
:SYSTem:TIME:ADJust ....................................................................................................... 56
:SYSTem:TIME:SYNC ......................................................................................................... 56
STATus Commands ............................................................................................................... 58
:STATus:OPERation[:EVENt]? ............................................................................................ 59
:STATus:OPERation:CONDition? ........................................................................................ 59
:STATus:OPERation:ENABle .............................................................................................. 60
:STATus:OPERation:NTRansition ....................................................................................... 60
:STATus:OPERation:PTRansition ....................................................................................... 60
:STATus:PRESET ............................................................................................................... 61
:STATus:QUEStionable[:EVENt]? ....................................................................................... 61
:STATus:QUEStionable:CONDition? ................................................................................... 61
:STATus:QUEStionable:ENABle .......................................................................................... 62
:STATus:QUEStionable:NTRansition .................................................................................. 62
:STATus:QUEStionable:PTRansition ................................................................................... 62
:STATus:TEMPerature? ...................................................................................................... 63
INPut Commands ................................................................................................................... 63
:INPut:ATTenuator ............................................................................................................... 63
:INPut:ATTenuator:VARiable ............................................................................................... 63
:INPut:GAIN ......................................................................................................................... 64
:INPut:GAIN:HDR ................................................................................................................ 65
:INPut:MODE ....................................................................................................................... 65
SOURce Commands .............................................................................................................. 66
:SOURce:REFerence:PLL ................................................................................................... 66
:SOURce:REFerence:PPS .................................................................................................. 66
SENSe Commands ................................................................................................................. 67
[:SENSe]:DECimation .......................................................................................................... 67
[:SENSe]:FREQuency:CENTer ........................................................................................... 68
[:SENSe]:FREQuency:IF? ................................................................................................... 69
[:SENSe]:FREQuency:INVersion? ....................................................................................... 69
[:SENSe]:FREQuency:LOSCillator? .................................................................................... 69
[:SENSe]:FREQuency:SHIFt ............................................................................................... 70
[:SENSe]:LOCK:REFerence? .............................................................................................. 70
[:SENSe]:LOCK:RF? ........................................................................................................... 71
GNSS Commands ................................................................................................................... 71
:GNSS[:ENABle] .................................................................................................................. 71
:GNSS:POSition .................................................................................................................. 72
:GNSS:REFerence? ............................................................................................................ 72
TRIGger Commands .............................................................................................................. 72
:TRIGger:TYPE .................................................................................................................... 73
:TRIGger:LEVel ................................................................................................................... 73
:TRIGger:PERiodic .............................................................................................................. 74
TRACe Commands ................................................................................................................. 74
:TRACe:BLOCk:DATA? ....................................................................................................... 75
:TRACe:BLOCk:PACKets .................................................................................................... 76
:TRACe:SPPacket ............................................................................................................... 76
:TRACe:STReam:STARt ..................................................................................................... 77
:TRACe:STReam:STOP ...................................................................................................... 78
SWEep Commands ................................................................................................................ 78
:SWEep:LIST:ITERations .................................................................................................... 79
:SWEep:LIST:STARt ........................................................................................................... 79
:SWEep:LIST:STATus? ....................................................................................................... 80
:SWEep:LIST:STOP ............................................................................................................ 80
:SWEep:ENTRy:COPY ........................................................................................................ 80
:SWEep:ENTRy:COUNt? .................................................................................................... 81
:SWEep:ENTRy:DELETE .................................................................................................... 81
:SWEep:ENTRy:NEW .......................................................................................................... 81
:SWEep:ENTRy:READ? ...................................................................................................... 82
:SWEep:ENTRy:SAVE ........................................................................................................ 82
:SWEep:ENTRy:ATTenuator ............................................................................................... 82
:SWEep:ENTRy:ATTenuator:VARiable ............................................................................... 83
:SWEep:ENTRy:DECimation ............................................................................................... 83
:SWEep:ENTRy:FREQuency:CENTer ................................................................................. 83
:SWEep:ENTRy:FREQuency:STEP .................................................................................... 83
:SWEep:ENTRy:FREQuency:SHIFt .................................................................................... 84
:SWEep:ENTRy:GAIN:HDR ................................................................................................ 84
:SWEep:ENTRy:MODE ....................................................................................................... 84
:SWEep:ENTRy:DWELl ....................................................................................................... 84
:SWEep:ENTRy:PPBlock .................................................................................................... 85
:SWEep:ENTRy:SPPacket .................................................................................................. 85
:SWEep:ENTRy:TRIGger:LEVel .......................................................................................... 85
:SWEep:ENTRy:TRIGger:TYPE .......................................................................................... 85
Appendix A: Connecting to RTSA ...................................................................................... 86
Simple 2-port TCP/IP Connection ....................................................................................... 86
Connection Using HiSLIP ..................................................................................................... 87
Appendix B: Protocols for Discovering RTSA ............................................................. 90
Discovery Using mDNS/DNS-SD ........................................................................................ 90
Discovery Using Broadcast UDP ........................................................................................ 90
Appendix C: SCPI Command Syntax ................................................................................ 92
Entering Commands .............................................................................................................. 92
Notation .................................................................................................................................... 93
Parameter types ...................................................................................................................... 93
Default Units ............................................................................................................................ 93
Appendix D: SCPI Status and Event Registers ........................................................... 95
Status Byte Register (SBR) .................................................................................................. 95
Standard Event Status Register (ESR) .............................................................................. 95
Operational Status Register (OSR) .................................................................................... 96
Questionable Status Register (QSR) ................................................................................. 96
Output Queue .......................................................................................................................... 97
Error and Event Queue ......................................................................................................... 97
Appendix E: SCPI Error Codes Used ................................................................................ 98
Appendix F: SCPI Commands Quick Reference ......................................................... 99
R5500 vs. R5700 List of Changes ...................................................................................... 105
References ..................................................................................................................................... 106
Document Revision History ................................................................................................. 107
Abbreviations
ADC Analog-to-Digital Converter
API Application Programming Interface
CIC Cascaded Integrator-Comb
DC Direct Current
DD Direct Digitizer
DDC Digital Down Converter
DDS Direct Digital Synthesizer
DSP Digital Signal Processing
FFT Fast Fourier Transform
FIR Finite Impulse Response
FPGA Field-Programmable Gate Array
GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System
GPIO General Purpose Input/Output
GPS Global Positioning System
GUI Graphical User Interface
HDR High Dynamic Range
IBW Instantaneous Bandwidth
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IF Intermediate Frequency
IQ In-phase and Quadrature
LAN Local Area Network
MB Mega-Bytes
MSB Most Significant Byte
MSa Mega-Samples
NB Narrowband
NCO Numerically Controlled Oscillator
NTP Network Time Protocol
NTPD Network Time Protocol Daemon
PLL Phase-Locked Loop
RF Radio Frequency
RFE Receiver Front-End
RTSA Real Time Spectrum Analyzer
Sa/s Samples-per-Second
SCPI Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments
SH Super-Heterodyne
SHN Super-Heterodyne with narrower bandwidth
TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
TD Time Domain
TSF TimeStamp-Fractional
TSI TimeStamp-Integer
TSM TimeStamp Mode
UTC Coordinated Universal Time
VCO Voltage Control Oscillator
VRT VITA-49 Radio Transport
WB Wideband
ZIF Zero Intermediate Frequency
List of Figures
Figure 1: R5700 Functional Block Diagram ............................................................................................. 13
Figure 2: RF Receiver Front-end and Capture Controller Functional Block Diagram ............................... 16
Figure 3: DC Offset with Amplitude Roll-Off at +50MHz .......................................................................... 18
Figure 4: IQ Offset Correction .................................................................................................................. 18
Figure 5: DDC Functional Block Diagram ................................................................................................ 20
Figure 6: Association between Time and Frequency Domain .................................................................. 21
Figure 7: Synchronized Sweep using Sync-Word .................................................................................... 25
Figure 8: Synchronized Sweep with a Missed Capture ............................................................................ 25
Figure 9: Connectivity and 4 Different Packet Streams Supported by R5700 .......................................... 26
Figure 10: An Example Illustrating Uninverted and Inverted Spectrums .................................................. 41
Figure 11: SCPI Language Hierarchical or Tree Structure Example ........................................................ 42
Figure 12: SCPI Measurement Function Block ........................................................................................ 43
Figure 13: Status Reporting Structure with Status & Enable Registers .................................................... 58
Figure 14: 2-port TCP/IP connection to RTSA ......................................................................................... 86
Figure 15: HiSLIP and TCP connections to RTSA ................................................................................... 88
List of Tables
Table 1: System Level Control/Status Commands with GNSS ................................................................ 14
Table 2: Radio RFE Modes and DSP Data Output Formats .................................................................... 16
Table 3: RF Front-End Control/Status Commands .................................................................................. 18
Table 4: Trigger Control/Status Commands ............................................................................................. 21
Table 5: Trace Capture Control Commands ............................................................................................ 23
Table 6: Sweep Capture Control/Status Interface .................................................................................... 23
Table 7: The Categories of VRT Packet Streams Supported by ThinkRF's R5700 ................................. 26
Table 8: A List of Stream Identifiers As Used by ThinkRF for Different Packet Classes .......................... 27
Table 9: Receiver Context Packet Class Structure .................................................................................. 28
Table 10: Receiver Context Indicator Field Positions ............................................................................... 28
Table 11: Receiver Context Field Definition and Values .......................................................................... 28
Table 12: RF Reference Frequency Word Format ................................................................................... 29
Table 13: Gain Field Format .................................................................................................................... 29
Table 14: Temperature Field Format ....................................................................................................... 29
Table 15: Digitizer Context Packet Class Structure ................................................................................. 30
Table 16: Digitizer Context Indicator Field Bit Positions ........................................................................... 30
Table 17: Digitizer Context Field Values .................................................................................................. 31
Table 18: Bandwidth Word Format .......................................................................................................... 31
Table 19: RF Frequency Offset Word Format .......................................................................................... 32
Table 20: Reference Level Field Format .................................................................................................. 32
Table 21: Formatted GPS Geolocation Fields ......................................................................................... 33
Table 22: Geolocation Angle (Degrees) Format ...................................................................................... 33
Table 23: Altitude Subfield Format ........................................................................................................... 34
Table 24: Speed Over Ground Subfield Format ....................................................................................... 34
Table 25: Extension Context Packet Class Structure ............................................................................... 34
Table 26: Extension Context Indicator Field Positions ............................................................................. 35
Table 27: Extension Context Field Definition and Values ........................................................................ 35
Table 28: New Stream Start ID Field Format ........................................................................................... 36
Table 29: New Sweep Start ID Field Format ............................................................................................ 36
Table 30: Output Data Width and Packing Method for Different Data Formats ........................................ 36
Table 31: IF Data Class Field Values ....................................................................................................... 37
Table 32: Stream Identifier Values for Different Data Output Formats ..................................................... 37
Table 33: 64-bit or Two Words Picosecond Timestamp Format .............................................................. 37
Table 34: {I14Q14} Data Payload Arrangement with Upper 2-bit Signed Extended to {I
Table 35: {I14} Data Payload Arrangement with Upper 2-bit Signed Extended to {I16} .............................. 38
Table 36: {I24} Data Payload Arrangement with Upper 8-bit Signed Extended to {I32} .............................. 39
Table 37: Trailer Word Format ................................................................................................................. 39
Table 38: Trailer Indicator and Enable Bits .............................................................................................. 39
Table 39: Conditions Causing Abnormal Indicator State and Suggested Resolution ............................... 40
Table 40: RTSA Option Codes and the Corresponding Description ........................................................ 54
Table 41: Performance of The Gain Settings of R5700-418, 427 and Their Variants .............................. 64
Table 42: Maximum Threshold Level Where +/-3 dBm Error or Less Still Hold For A Given Attenuation
Level ....................................................................................................................................... 74
Table 43: Max, Min, and Required Multiples for SPP and Samples-per-word for Different Data Output
Format .................................................................................................................................... 77
Table 44: HiSLIP Message Header Format ............................................................................................. 88
Table 45: ThinkRF Vendor Specific Message Type Value Definitions ..................................................... 89
Table 46: ThinkRF Data Channel Initialization Transaction ..................................................................... 89
} .................... 38
16 Q16
Preface
This preface describes the audience for, the organization of, and conventions used in this
document. It also identifies related documentation and explains how to access electronic
documentation.
Audience
This document is written for software developers wishing to develop and/or maintain a
software interface to the R5700 and who have a basic understanding, familiarity and
experience with network test and measurement equipment.
Conventions
This section describes the conventions used in this document.
Grayed-out Font
Indicates a command or a feature is not yet available in the current release.
Courier Font
Illustrates this is an example for a command or a concept.
Light Blue Font
Contains hyperlink to the referenced source that can be clicked on.
Normal Bold Font
When used within a sentence or a paragraph, it emphasizes an idea to be paid attention
to particularly.
Red Font
Conveys special information of that section.
Note: This symbol means take note. Notes contain helpful suggestions or references to
additional information and material.
Caution: This symbol means be careful. In this situation, you might do something that
could result in equipment damage or loss of data.
Warning: This symbol means danger. You are in a situation that could cause bodily
injury. Before you work on any equipment, be aware of the hazards involved with
electrical circuitry and be familiar with the standard practices for preventing accidents.
Obtaining Documentation and Releases
You can access the most current ThinkRF documentation and the latest release bundles
at http://www.thinkrf.com/resources.
Document Feedback
Please send your comments about this document or our other documentation to
support@thinkrf.com.
Thank you, we appreciate your comments.
Obtaining Technical Assistance
The ThinkRF Support website provides online documents for resolving technical issues
with ThinkRF products at www.thinkrf.com/resources.
For all customers who hold a valid end-user license, ThinkRF provides technical
assistance 9 AM to 5 PM Eastern Time, Monday to Friday. Contact us at
www.thinkrf.com/support/ or by calling +1.613.369.5104.
Before contacting Support, please have the following information available:
• R5700's serial number and product version, which are located on the identification
label on the R5700's underside.
• The firmware version running on the R5700.
• Versions of ThinkRF software you are using, potentially including the S240, API
libraries to third-party applications.
• The operating system and version you are using.
R5700 Functional Overview
This section overviews the R5700's functionality and protocols used, and summarizes the
SCPI command sets for controlling the individual functions.
Note: This is a living and evolving document. We welcome your feedback.
The features and functionality described in this section may exist in the current product
firmware release or are scheduled for a future product firmware release (grayed out
commands and/or text). Please refer to Appendix F: SCPI Commands Quick Reference
for the complete list of commands and the availability information. No hardware upgrade
is required at each feature release (unless specified though unlikely).
System Overview
The R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer (RTSA) with GNSS (Global Navigation
Satellite System) provides the benefits of a high-performance software-defined RF
receiver, digitizer and analyzer along with integrated GNSS technology offering location
and time information in one package. With patent-pending software-defined RF receiver
technology, the RTSA provides industry leading combined sensitivity, tuning range, wide
instantaneous bandwidth (IBW) and scan rate. Additionally, it provides real-time
sophisticated triggering and capture control. Figure 1 illustrates an RTSA solution
system example.
R5700 Functional Overview
The R5700 is designed for stand-alone, remote and/or distributed wireless signal
analysis. Whether using as a single unit or a network of radio sensors, R5700 is ideal for
monitoring, management and surveillance of transmitters, whether they are in-building or
spread across a geographic area. Applications include, but are not limited to:
• 5G wireless technology;
• test and measurement;
• monitoring and surveillance;
• research;
• OEM integration.
The R5700 hardware largely consists of:
• a hybrid super-heterodyne, direct-conversion and direct-digitization RF receiver
front-end (RFE);
• receiver front end inputs and outputs to support clock synchronization, and IF
outputs for high-end digitization;
• a 125 MSample/sec 14-bit wideband (WB) ADC with a dynamic range of greater
than 70 dB;
• a 325 kSample/sec 24-bit narrowband (NB) ADC with a dynamic range in excess of
100 dB;
• a GNSS module with embedded 10MHz reference clock source for further RTSA’s
time synchronization;
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 12
R5700 Functional Overview
• a Xilinx's Zynq FPGA with built-in dual-core ARM®-based processor, Gigabit
Ethernet interface and custom embedded digital signal processing (DSP) logic;
• 1 GB of DDR3 shared between firmware and real-time caching of digitized data;
• a general purpose input/output (GPIO) port.
Figure 1: R5700 Functional Block Diagram
ThinkRF's products conform with standardized protocols for interoperability. ThinkRF
provides application programming interfaces (APIs) designed for easy integration with
third-party applications. Standard protocols include the Standard Commands for
Programmable Instruments (SCPI) protocol (page 42) for controlling and obtaining status
from the RTSA and the VITA-49 Radio Transport (VRT) protocol (page 26) for digitized
data and its associated context information.
In addition, API libraries, written in C/C++, Python, MATLAB and/or NI LabVIEW, are
provided for quick interfacing, data acquisition and as well as for spectral analysis. The
Python API is built within the PyRF development framework and is open-source under
BSD licensing. PyRF handles the low-level details of real-time acquisition, signal
processing and visualization, and provides feature rich libraries, example applications
and source code, all specific to the requirements of signal analysis. Usage examples are
provided through the available source codes of the Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) or
any applications included in each release package.
Refer to Appendix A for how to connect to an RTSA and Appendix B for the protocol on
how to find any RTSAs available on the local network. The source code provided for the
aforementioned APIs and GUIs/applications would serve as examples.
The R5700 provides system level control and status commands as defined in Table 1.
13 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
R5700 Functional Overview
Table 1: System Level Control/Status Commands with GNSS
SCPI Command Description
:SYSTem Page 46
:ABORt Aborts the current data capturing process and puts the RTSA system into
a normal manual mode (i.e. sweep, trigger, and streaming will be aborted)
:CAPTure
:MODE? Gets the current capture mode of the RTSA (i.e. sweeping, streaming or
block mode)
:COMMunicate
:HISLip
:SESSion? Returns the HiSLIP connection’s session ID
:LAN<commands> Subset of commands for configuring/querying RTSA's LAN settings
:ERRor
[:NEXT]? Returns the next error code and message from the SCPI error/event
queue
:ALL? Returns all the error codes and messages from the SCPI error/event
queue
:CODE
[:NEXT]? Returns next the error code from the SCPI error/event queue
:ALL? Returns all the error codes from the SCPI error/event queue
:COUNt? Returns the number of errors in the SCPI error/event queue
:FLUSh Clears the R5700's internal data storage buffer of any remaining data that
has not transferred out of the RTSA
:LOCK
:HAVE? Returns the current lock state of the task specified
:REQuest? Requests the R5700 to provide a lock on a specific task such that only the
application that has the lock can perform the task
:OPTions? Returns comma separated 3-digit values to represent the hardware
option(s) or features available with a particular RTSA model
:SYNC
:MASTer[?] Sets an RTSA unit to be the master or slave for a synchronization trigger
system with multiple units. Affects :TRIGger:TYPE PULSe or WORD.
:WAIT[?] Sets the delay time in nanoseconds that the system must wait after
receiving the trigger signal before performing data capture
:VERSion? Returns the SCPI version number that the instrument complies with
:DATE[?] Sets/reads date
:TIME[?] Sets/reads time
:SYNC[?] Sets/ gets the System time synchronization source via network or SCPI,
or disable
:STATus Page 57
:OPERation
[:EVENt]? Queries the Operation Status Register for any operation event
:CONDition? Queries the Operation Condition Register for any operation event
:ENABle[?] Enables or queries bits in the Operation Enable Register
:NTRansition[?] Enables or queries bits in the Operation Negative Transition Register
:PTRansition[?] Enables or queries bits in the Operation Positive Transition Register
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 14
R5700 Functional Overview
SCPI Command Description
:PRESET Presets the R5500 (similar to *RST)
:QUEStionable
[:EVENt]? Queries the Questionable Status Register for any questionable event
:CONDition? Queries the Questionable Condition Register for any questionable event
:ENABle[?] Enables or queries bits in the Questionable Enable Register
:NTRansition[?] Enables or queries bits in the Questionable Negative Transition Register
:PTRansition[?] Enables or queries bits in the Questionable Positive Transition Register
:TEMPerature? Returns the R5700's internal ambient temperature
:GNSS
[:Enable][?] Enables or queries the status of the GNSS module
:POSition Queries the last known GNSS position in degrees latitude, degrees
:REFerence? Queries which timing reference source used to discipline the 10 MHz
See SCPI Command Set section (page 42 onward) for further details on the commands.
longitude and altitude in meters
GNSS reference oscillator
Caution pertaining to multi-users: See Appendix A: Connecting to RTSA for important
notes on this caution.
The Architecture
The R5700 is an integrated wireless radio receiver, digitizer/analyzer and GNSS
technology. It has an embedded capture controller that enables users to:
• define and execute real-time and sophisticated triggers, traces and sweeps;
• configure the radio RFE and DSP in association with those traces or sweeps;
• obtain device’s location position and time as provided by the GNSS through VRT
packets (page 32); and
• have time-stamped with data output.
Traces and sweeps are controlled by the capture controller as illustrated in the Digitizer
portion of Figure 2. A trace and a sweep are defined as a single (block or continuously
streamed) capture and a series of captures, respectively, each with their associated
hardware configurations.
When the GNSS module is enabled, GNSS position and time information is sent to users
through VRT context packets roughly every second (see VRT’s Formatted GPS
Geolocation section). Besides two existing internal and external 10 MHz reference clock
sources, the GNSS module also provides a third 10MHz reference clock source option to
provide synchronized time-stamp for VRT packets (see SOURce Commands).
15 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
R5700 Functional Overview
Figure 2: RF Receiver Front-end and Capture Controller Functional Block Diagram
(Note: The GPS (GNSS) option is included in this model)
The R5700 supports different RFE modes of operation and subsequent DSP capabilities
as per Table 2 and as described in the following subsections.
Table 2: Radio RFE Modes and DSP Data Output Formats
Mode Description Freq Range
(MHz)
ZIF
SH
SHN
HDR
DD
1
For SH and SHN modes, when the decimation is used, a frequency shift of 35MHz will be applied
automatically to bring the R5700's center frequency back to the zero IF. Thus, the data output will
be I and Q.
2
In DD mode, there is no frequency tuning except for performing frequency shift. When
decimation is applied, the decimation will be around the zero frequency.
Zero-IF Receiver 50 - max 100 I14 Q
Super-Heterodyne
50 - max 40 I
Receiver
SH Receiver with
50 - max 10 I
narrower BW
High Dynamic Range
50 - max
Receiver
Direct Digitization
0.009 - 50
Receiver
2
IBW
(MHz)
0.1 I
50 I
DSP Data Output Format
None CIC/Dec Frequency Shift
14I14 Q14
14
I14 Q
14
I14 Q
24
14
I
14 Q14
1
14
1
14
- -
1
I14 Q
I14 Q
I14 Q
I14 Q
14
14
14
14
R5700 complies to VRT protocol for sending digitized IF data packets and their
associated context information depending on the capture mode. It is very important to
follow the VRT's IF Data Packet Class section (page 36) for the exact VRT data output
formats as well as packing method.
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 16
R5700 Functional Overview
RF Receiver Front-End
The Receiver portion of Figure 2 shows a block diagram of the RFE within the R5700.
The architecture consists of a super-heterodyne (SH) front-end with a back-end that
utilizes an I/Q mixer similar to that in a direct-conversion (or zero-IF) receiver.
Depending on the frequency of the signals being analyzed, one of the three receiver
signal processing paths is selected. Signals in the frequency range 9kHz to 50MHz are
directly digitized, while all other signals are translated to the frequencies of the first IF
block via one of the other two signal processing paths. The IF block consists of a bank of
multiple SAW filters. SAW filter selection depends on the frequency of the input signal.
The output of the SAW filter feeds the I/Q mixer.
The three signal processing paths are further classified into different modes of operation
for the capture engine as shown in Table 2. The radio modes ZIF, SH, SHN and HDR
support tuning the center frequency from 50MHz to the maximum frequency supported by
the particular product model (ex. 8GHz, 18GHz, and 27GHz for R5700-x08, -x18, and
-x27, respectively, where x is a model number variant).
The ZIF, SH and SHN radio modes support a tuning resolution of 10Hz. Digital
frequency shifting is then used to enhance the tuning resolution to the nearest 1Hz
(±0.23Hz). The frequency shifting technology used is an embedded Numerically
Controlled Oscillator (NCO) based Direct Digital Synthesizer (DDS) as described in the
Digital Down Converter subsection.
The HDR radio mode supports a tuning resolution of 10Hz. No further fine tuning is
available.
The remaining radio mode, DD, supports 50MHz IBW Direct Digitization of the baseband
from the external RF IN. Hence, this mode does not support frequency tuning of the
radio although the DSP's frequency shift mode may be applied.
Direct-Conversion Receiver Technology
Direct-conversion (or ZIF) receivers are ideal for signal analysis of wideband waveforms,
such as 4G/LTE, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. With that benefit comes the drawback of both IQ
and DC offsets which are inherent to direct-conversion technology.
DC Offset Correction
The R5700's WB ADC sampling rate is 125 MSa/s, intermediate frequency (IF) is 0 and
the entire IF bandwidth is 125MHz. The analog filter results in an amplitude roll-off at
approximately +50MHz around the center frequency Fc, as illustrated in Figure 3.
Direct-conversion receivers have a DC offset at the center of the band. The offset is
primarily compensated for in real-time in the receiver hardware but there always is some
residual offset that (depending on the application and bandwidth of interest) might need
to be compensated for in software. Several options such as calibration or dynamic offset
compensation in software have been described in the open literature.
17 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
R5700 Functional Overview
D C
O f f s e t
F c - 5 0 M H z
F c + 5 0 M H z
1 2 5 M H z
F c
A n a l o g f i l t e r
S i g n a l
I m a g e
X d B
F r e q u e n c y
F
c
F r e q u e n c y
F
c
F c + F s
F c - F s
c a l i b r a t e I Q
Figure 3: DC Offset with Amplitude Roll-Off at +50MHz
If the application only needs to utilize up to 50MHz of IBW, a simple alternative to DC
offset compensation is to use the SH mode of operation.
IQ Offset Correction
Direct-conversion receivers have phase and/or amplitude offsets between in-phase (I)
and quadrature (Q) components of the baseband signal. Due to this, when an FFT is
performed on digitized baseband data where there is a signal tone present, there will be
an ‘image’ at the same frequency offset from the center frequency as the tone itself. This
is illustrated in Figure 4.
A correction algorithm would be needed to adjust this offset necessary for signal analysis,
especially for the ZIF mode. The ThinkRF's APIs have included a correction.
Figure 4: IQ Offset Correction
Table 3: RF Front-End Control/Status Commands
SCPI Command Description
:INPut Page 63
:ATTenuator[?]
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 18
Enables/disables the front-end's attenuation for R5700-408 & their
variants only
R5700 Functional Overview
SCPI Command Description
:VARiable[?]
:GAIN[?]
:HDR[?]
:MODE[?]
:SOURce Page 66
:REFerence
:PLL[?]
:PPS[?]
[:SENSe] Page 67
:DECimation[?] Sets the decimation rate as an exponent of 2 (i.e. rate = 2
:FREQuency
:CENTer[?] Sets the center frequency of the RFE
:IF? Queries the IF frequencies that are used for the current input mode and
:INVersion? Queries if a spectral inversion is required at a given frequency
:LOSCillator? Gets the frequency of the external LO 1, 2 or 3 in corresponding to
:SHIFt[?] Sets the frequency shift value (not available for HDR mode)
:LOCK
:REFerence? Queries the lock status of the PLL reference clock
:RF? Queries the lock status of the RFE's PLL
Sets the variable attenuation for R5700-418 and -427 & their variants
Sets the input gain stage for R5700-418, -427 & their variants
Sets gain level for the NB ADC of of the HDR signal path
Selects the receiver mode of operation
Selects the 10MHz reference clock source
Selects the PPS input source
level
where level =
0, 1, 2 - 10)
center frequency
current the RTSA's center frequency
See SCPI Command Set section (page 42 onward) for further details on each set of
commands.
Digital Signal Processing
The R5700 has embedded DSP blocks to provide further signal processing capabilities,
such as DDC with up to 10 levels of decimation and FFT computation.
Digital Down Converter
The DDC block takes the frequency band of interest and shifts it down in frequency, then
provides decimation of the sampling rate to one that is lower and consistent with the
bandwidth of the signal of interest. This enables channelization of signals having
bandwidth smaller than the IBW.
Referring to Figure 5, the DDC has two major elements, an NCO (DDS) and a down
sampling with filtering. The NCO generates a complex sinusoid, which is mixed with the
IQ input using a complex multiplier, to shift or offset the signal spectrum from the selected
carrier frequency. This process provides the frequency fine-tuning (and shifting) feature
as mentioned in the previous subsections.
19 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
R5700 Functional Overview
I
Q
in
in
fs
fsfs
I
Q
out
out
NCO (DDS)
Figure 5: DDC Functional Block Diagram
The complex multiplication is then followed by either a finite impulse response (FIR) filter
or cascaded integrator-comb (CIC) filters with a FIR filter combined. The CIC filter has a
‘droop’ associated with it in the passband. In order to compensate for this droop, the CIC
filter is followed by a compensating FIR filter. Each filter type has its own decimator.
This whole process effectively reduces the sample rate and filters the signal to remove
adjacent channels, minimize aliasing, and maximize the received signal-to-noise ratio.
Note: The use of the NCO converts the in-phase signal (I data) input of the receiver's
DD, SH and SHN processing paths to complex I and Q data output. See Table 2.
Triggers
Triggers provide a means of qualifying the storage of captured time domain IQ data
based on an external, periodic or frequency domain event. Triggering can be considered
a means of filtering signals of interest for the purposes of subsequent visualization
and/or analysis.
The following describes the different types of triggers and their common controls.
Selection of different types is mutually exclusive.
Frequency Domain Triggering
Frequency domain triggering relies on the embedded real-time FFT mechanism to
transform the sampled signal from the time domain to the frequency domain. The R5700
uses a 1024 point real-time FFT core embedded within the FPGA to transform 1024 time
domain IQ samples to 1024 frequency domain FFT bins. Each bin is an average of the
spectral activity over a range of 125MHz divided by the DDC decimation rate divided by
the 1024 FFT points.
The frequency domain triggering supported by R5700 is a level trigger type, used to
capture any signal above the noise floor within a specified frequency range. The user
defines a single amplitude level within a frequency range. The frequency range
encompasses all FFT bins with center frequencies within the range defined by START
and STOP. If the sampled signal amplitude exceeds the defined trigger level at any
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 20
R5700 Functional Overview
single sample within the defined frequency range, the trigger will occur and the
subsequent IQ data capture will proceed.
Figure 6 illustrates the association of the time domain and the frequency domain. The
internal frequency domain data lags the time domain data by 1024 samples at the rate of
125 MSa/s. After a trigger event is detected, the subsequent time domain IQ data is then
stored to memory.
Figure 6: Association between Time and Frequency Domain
The measurable range of the input signal, and the corresponding allowable trigger level
range, varies depending on the selected center frequency, the calibrated reference level
and the attenuation setting. The threshold level error is approximately ±3 dBm or less
when the trigger level is set within the range mentioned in the :TRIGger:LEVel command.
See TRIGger Commands (page 72) or SWEep's trigger (page 85) for further details.
Periodic Triggering
Periodic triggering provides a means of capturing a defined amount of IQ data on a
periodic basis. Periodic triggering is typically used for statistical analysis of the captured
signal.
External Triggering
External triggering provides a means of synchronized triggering based on the receiving of
a trigger signal provided via the R5700's GPIO. The trigger “signal” could be a single
pulse, PPS or a sync-word. See Synchronized Sweep (page 24) for additional details.
Caution: The pulse and sync-word is applied to the GPIO's TRIG IN pin, while PPS is
through PPS pin. Contact ThinkRF's Support for details on how to use the GPIO port
prior to connecting anything to the port.
Table 4: Trigger Control/Status Commands
SCPI Command Description
:TRIGger Page 72
21 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
SCPI Command Description
:TYPE[?] Sets or disable the trigger type including LEVel | PERiodic | PPS | PULSe
:LEVel[?] Sets the frequency range and amplitude of a frequency domain level
:PERiodic[?] Sets the time period of a periodic trigger
See TRIGger Commands (page 72) or SWEep's trigger (page 85) for further details.
Capture Controller
The Capture Controller provides a means of defining and performing simple traces and
complex sweeps. For example, it allows for:
• the definition and execution of a complex sweep;
• the interruption of that sweep;
• the execution of a specific trace; and
• the resumption of the previous sweep.
Caution: The configurations of the capture engine associated with :TRACe and :SWEep
commands are fully independent of each other. A :TRACe command uses the
configurations of the capture engine based on the root :INPut, :SENSe and :TRIGger
commands. It does not use the configurations based on the :SWEep command subset.
R5700 Functional Overview
| WORD | NONE
trigger
Note: Besides the information provided in the following sections, refer to appnotes “740050 Data Acquisition” and “74-0071 Sweep Synchronization with I and Q output” for
more information, including examples.
Trace Capture Control
The :TRACe capture control initiates the capture, storage and conditionally the sending of
IQ data through triggering when used. It supports both streaming and block mode
capture.
The :TRACe:BLOCk (page 75) command initiates a block capture of continuous IQ data
(available to be "pulled" from the R5700 per command issued). Once it is issued, data
will be stored instantly (conditional on triggering), contiguously and reliably and are
available to be read. The maximum size of a block is limited by the memory device in the
RTSA.
The :TRACe:STReam (page 77) command initiates the streaming of IQ data (which is
"pushed" from the R5700). Once it is issued, data packets will be sent instantly
(conditional on triggering) and continuously on best effort basis (in other words, data
might not be continuous from one packet to the next once the internal buffer is full).
The execution of the trace capture could be conditioned by the triggering. The triggering
may be enabled or disabled via the :TRIGger:TYPE command, thereby, supporting freerun or triggered signal searches.
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 22
R5700 Functional Overview
Table 5: Trace Capture Control Commands
SCPI Command Description
:TRACe Page 74
:BLOCk
:DATA? Initiates the sending of the IQ data captured
:PACKets[?] Sets the number of IQ data packets to be captured per block (a block =
:SPPacket[?] Defines the number of samples per VRT packet
:STReam
:STARt Initiates the capture, storage and streaming of IQ data
:STOP Stops streaming
See TRACe Commands section (page 74) for further details.
Sweep Capture Control
The :SWEep capture control provides the ability to define and execute simple or complex
sweeps. A sweep setup consists of defining a list or multiple lists and executing one of
the defined lists, with each list consisting of one or more entries storing different capture
engine configurations. A list may be edited, deleted and/or executed using the
:SWEep:LIST command set.
:PACKets * SPP)
The :SWEep:ENTRy commands provide the ability to define the capture engine
configurations equivalent to most of :INPut, :SENSe, :TRACe and :TRIGger commands
for each sweep entry. Sweep entries are identified by an index number and may be
inserted, edited and/or deleted like rows in a table or spreadsheet.
There are slight differences between the configuration options for trace versus sweep
captures. The sweep allows for definition of a range of center frequencies whereby the
center frequency is incremented in frequency by a step value. Level triggers may be
defined over the entire range of center frequencies. Sweeping does not support time
delayed triggers.
In addition, sweep mode data packets, whether VRT context or digitized data, are
“streamed” or “pushed” from the RTSA (similar to :TRACe:STReam).
Table 6: Sweep Capture Control/Status Interface
SCPI Command Description
:SWEep Page 78
:LIST
:ITERations[?] Defines the number of times the list is repeated during execution
:STARt Begins execution of the current sweep list from the first entry
:STATus? Get the current sweep status
:STOP Stops execution of the current sweep list
:ENTRy All entry commands operate on the current list
:COPY Copies the settings of an existing sweep entry into the current settings for
quick editing
:COUNt? Gets the number of entries available in the list
:DELETE Deletes the specified entry or all entries
23 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
R5700 Functional Overview
SCPI Command Description
:NEW Sets the sweep entry settings to default values
:READ? Gets the settings of an existing sweep entry
:SAVE Saves the current editing entry to the end of the list or before the specified
ID location in the list when the integer value is given
:ATTenuator As defined in :INPut:ATTenuator, page 63
:VAR[?] As defined in :INPut:ATTenuator:VARiable, page 63
:DECimation[?] As defined in [:SENSe]:DECimation, page 67
:FREQuency
:CENTer[?] Defines the center frequency of the RFE or a range of frequencies that
are stepped by the value defined by the :FREQuency:STEP
:STEP[?] Defines the amount of frequency that the center frequency is stepped by
:SHIFt[?] As defined in [:SENSe]:FREQuency:SHIFt, page 70
:GAIN
:HDR[?] As defined in :INPut:GAIN:HDR, page 65
:MODE As defined in :INPut:MODE, page 65
:DWELl[?] Sets the maximum amount of time waited for a trigger to occur after which
the trigger is aborted
:PPBlock[?] Same as :TRACe:BLOCk:PACKets, page 76
:SPPacket[?] As defined in :TRACe:SPPacket, page 76
:TRIGger
:TYPE[?] As defined in :TRIGger:TYPE, page 73
:LEVel[?] As defined in :TRIGger:LEVel, page 73
:PERiodic[?] As defined in :TRIGger:PERiodic, page 74
See SWEep Commands section (page 78) for further details.
Synchronized Sweep
The R5700 supports a synchronized sweep function for the purposes of comparing the
same signal received via multiple R5700s.
Synchronized sweep is an extension of the external trigger capability. One of the R5700s
in a network is configured to be the master (:SYSTem:SYNC:MASTer ON) and the other
R5700s are configured as slaves (:SYSTem:SYNC:MASTer OFF). The master and
slaves are configured with a sweep list, in which each sweep entry has a synchronization
trigger type (:SWEep:ENTRy:TRIGger:TYPE PULSE | WORD). The synchronization
trigger is generated and delivered from the master's GPIO to that of the slaves to indicate
the beginning of a capture.
Figure 7 provides a synchronization trigger example using sync-word. The master sends
the sync-word when the setup of its front-end has been completed. Master and slaves
are also individually configured with a delay variable (:SYSTem:SYNC:WAIT <nsec> with
a resolution of 8 nsec). This delay wait time accounts for the typical worst-case front-end
setup time and for differences in the synchronization cable length. Master and slaves
then begin the capture upon the expiration of the wait (or delay).
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 24
R5700 Functional Overview
front end setup
capture...........
syncpreamble
front end setup capture...........
sweep step
MASTER
sent
syncword
received
syncword
delay
delay
setup
and
capture
setup
and
capture
SLAVE
syncpreamble
syncpreamble
front end setup
front end setup
capture...........
missed capture
sweep step
MASTER
sent
syncword
received
syncword
delay
delay
setup
and
capture
setup
and
capture
SLAVE
syncpreamble
The front-end setup time is typically of approximately 200 usec but is variable due to the
embedded running processes. Referring to Figure 8, if the front-end setup time on one
(or more) of the slaves is longer than the combined duration of the master's setup time
plus the sync-word plus the slave's delay, then the slave will miss the beginning of the
capture. The host-side application that is collating the capture data may recognize the
missed capture by noting the timestamps and/or frequency of the capture data within the
associated VRT Receiver Context packets. The rate of sweep versus the amount of
missed captures may be balanced by adjusting the delay values.
Figure 7: Synchronized Sweep using Sync-Word
Figure 8: Synchronized Sweep with a Missed Capture
See SWEep Commands section (page 78) for further interface details or contact
ThinkRF's Support for more information.
25 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol
The section describes the R5700's VRT Information Class as per the "VITA Radio
Transport (VRT) Draft Standard" Specification VITA-49.0 – 2007 Draft 0.21.
Purpose
Convey an arbitrary 100MHz of IF data and associated information from the R5700 to
another equipment using an industrial standard.
R5700's VRT Overview
ThinkRF's VRT supports four different packet streams of information defined and
organized as shown in Figure 9 and Table 7. The streams of packets are sent when the
data capture is started. The context packets carry the R5700 settings information
associated with the immediate following IF data packets.
Receiver Context Stream
Reference Point
Digitizer Context Stream
Extension Context Stream
RECEIVER DIGITIZER
IF Data Stream
Figure 9: Connectivity and 4 Different Packet Streams Supported by R5700
Table 7: The Categories of VRT Packet Streams Supported by ThinkRF's R5700
Standard Formats Custom Formats
Contents
Context
Data
IF Context Packet Stream
conveys metadata concerning IF Data
Packet Stream and the settings
- Digitizer Context Packet Class Stream
- Receiver Context Packet Class Stream
IF Data Packet Stream
conveys discrete time sampled signal
data
Extension Context Packet Stream
conveys additional Context concerning IF
or Extension Data Packet Stream
- Extension Context Packet Class Stream
Extension Data Packet Stream
conveys any signal or data derived from a
signal
- IF Data Packet Class Stream
- Currently not used
Receiver Context Packet Class Stream
26 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol
The Receiver Context Packet Class Stream is used to convey informational messages
about changes in the configuration and status of the RF receiver in the R5700.
Digitizer Context Packet Class Stream
The Digitizer Context Class Stream is used to convey information messages about
changes in the configuration and status of the IF digitizer in the R5700.
Extension Context Packet Class Stream
The Extension Context Packet Class Stream is used to convey metadata for the IF Data
Packet Stream, which no provision has been made in the IF Context Packet Stream.
IF Data Packet Class Stream
The IF Data Packet Stream is used to convey complex IQ samples from the digitizer to
devices external to the R5700.
Table 8 summarizes numerically the list of Stream Identifiers used by ThinkRF for
different Packet Class Stream. Each ID will be mentioned in the subsequent
corresponding Packet Class sections.
Table 8: A List of Stream Identifiers As Used by ThinkRF for Different Packet Classes
Stream Identifier Packet Class
0x90000001 Receiver Context
0x90000002 Digitizer Context
0x90000003 IF Data – {I14Q14} Format
0x90000004 Extension Context
0x90000005 IF Data – {I14} Format
0x90000006 IF Data – {I24} Format
Packet Classes and Streams
This section describes in details the rules and structure of those Packet Classes and
Streams. By definition, a series of packets instantiated from the same Packet Class
form a Packet Stream. See Table 8 for the list of Stream Identifiers used to identify these
different Packet Classes.
Note: All data words in each VRT packets are in big-endian order, and sent MSB first.
Receiver Context Packet Class
This Packet Class is a type of IF Context Packet Class. The packet information conveys
changes in the configuration and status of the R5700's RF receiver.
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 27
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol
Table 9: Receiver Context Packet Class Structure
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Pkt Type
0 1 0 0
C R T
1. Pkt Type is 0100 to indicate this is a context packet.
2. C is set to 0 to indicate there is no Class Identifier in the packet.
3. R is 00 as they are reserved bits.
4. TSM (TimeStamp Mode) is 0, indicating that context packet timestamps are
precise.
5. TSI (TimeStamp-Integer) field is 01, indicating that integer (seconds) part of the
timestamps are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
6. TSF (TimeStamp-Fractional) field is 10, indicating that the fractional part of the
timestamp measures in real time picosecond resolution.
7. Pkt Count starts at 0000 and increments once for each context packet, until
reaching 1111 (or 15), where it shall rollover to 0000 on the next count.
8. Pkt Size indicates the total number of 32-bit words in the entire context packet,
including all headers, the context indicator field and context sections.
9. Stream Identifier is the 32-bit word, 0x90000001
10. Timestamp - Integer Seconds is in UTC format and represents the number of
seconds occurred since Midnight, January 1, 1970, GMT.
11. Timestamp - Integer Picoseconds counts the number of picoseconds past since
the last increment of the Timestamp seconds field. See the Picosecond
Timestamp Words Format section for the format.
12. The Context Indicator Field follows the format indicated in Table 10.
TSI TSF Pkt Count Pkt Size
S
M
Stream Identifier (1 word)
Timestamp - Integer Seconds (1 word)
Timestamp - Integer Picoseconds (2 words)
Context Indicator Field (1 word)
Context Fields (Variable Size, see Table 11, 3rd column)
Table 10: Receiver Context Indicator Field Positions
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
I R - F - G - T -
13. The Context Fields section contains a context field for every field that is indicated
to be present in the Context Indicator Field. The fields is arranged in the identical
order of their occurrence in the Context Indicator Field. See Table 11 for the
definition and associated value of each field.
Table 11: Receiver Context Field Definition and Values
Indicator
Bit Name
Bit
Position
Context Field Type # of Words in
Context Fields
Period of
Validity
I 31 Context Field Change Indicator 0 N/A
R 30 Reference Point 1 Persistent
F 27 RF Reference Frequency 2 Persistent
G 23 Gain 1 Persistent
T 18 Temperature 1 Persistent
28 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol
Context Field Change Indicator
The Context Field Change Indicator is used to indicate when some context value of the
system has changed. One or more of the other bits in the indicator field will be also set,
indicating which values have been changed and have their updated values in the context
fields that follow. It is possible that a context packet may be sent where the Context Field
Change Indicator is set to 0, indicating that no change has occurred.
RF Reference Frequency
The RF Reference Frequency communicates the frequency of origin for the signal. The
value of the RF Reference Frequency is expressed in units of Hertz. The RF Reference
Frequency sub-field uses the 64-bit, two’s-complement format as shown in Table 12.
This field has an integer and a fractional part, with the radix point to the right of bit 20 in
the second 32-bit word. This gives the RF Reference Frequency a range of ±8.79THz
with a resolution of 0.95μHz.
Table 12: RF Reference Frequency Word Format
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Integer RF Reference Value (43..12), Hz
Integer RF Ref. Value (11..0), Hz Fractional RF Reference Value(19..0)
Gain
The gain is a 32-bit value that is split into two 16-bit values, representing the Stage 1 and
Stage 2 gain values. The Stage 1 gain represents the amount of gain in the front-end
system, the RF gain. The Stage 2 gain represents the amount of gain in the back-end
system, the IF gain.
Each gain value is a signed two's-complement number, having two sub-fields, bits 15:7
being the integer value, and 6:0 being the fractional value. This gives each gain figure a
range of ±256dB with a resolution of 1/128dB (0.0078125dB).
Table 13: Gain Field Format
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Integer IF Fractional IF Integer RF Fractional RF
Temperature
This field is not yet available.
The R5700 has a temperature sensor and will report changes in temperature to the
system. The value of the Temperature field is expressed in units of degrees Celsius (°C).
The Temperature field uses the 32-bit format shown in Table 14 with the upper 16 bits
reserved and is set to zero. The Temperature value is expressed in signed two’scomplement format in the lower 16 bits of this field. This field has an integer and a
fractional part, with the radix point to the right of bit 6.
Table 14: Temperature Field Format
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Reserved Integer Temperature Fractional Temp.
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 29
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol
The valid range of the Temperature field is -273.15 °C to +511.984375 °C. The
resolution of the Temperature field is 0.015625 °C (1/64 °C).
For examples, a Temperature field value of:
• 0x0040 represents +1 °C,
• 0xFFC0 represents -1 °C,
• 0x0001 represents +0.015625 °C, and
• 0xFFFF represents -0.015625 °C.
Digitizer Context Packet Class
This Packet Class is a type of IF Context Packet Class. The packet information conveys
changes in the configuration and status of the R5700's IF digitizer.
Table 15: Digitizer Context Packet Class Structure
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Pkt Type
0 1 0 0
C R T
TSI TSF Pkt Count Pkt Size
S
M
Stream Identifier (1 word)
Timestamp - Integer Seconds (1 word)
Timestamp - Integer Picoseconds (2 words)
Context Indicator Field (1 word)
Context Fields (Variable Size, see Table 17, 3rd column)
1. Pkt Type is 0100 to indicate this is a context packet.
2. C is 0 to indicate there is no Class Identifier in the packet.
3. R is 00 as they are reserved bits.
4. TSM is 0, indicating that context packet timestamps are precise.
5. TSI field is 01, indicating that integer (seconds) part of the timestamps are in UTC.
6. TSF field is 10, indicating that the fractional part of the timestamp measures real
time picosecond resolution.
7. Pkt Count starts at 0000 and increments once for each context packet, until
reaching 1111 (or 15), where it shall rollover to 0000 on the next count.
8. Pkt Size indicates the size of the entire context packet, including all headers, the
context indicator field and context sections.
9. Stream Identifier is the 32-bit word, 0x90000002.
10. Timestamp - Integer Seconds is in UTC format and will represent the number of
seconds occurred since Midnight, January 1, 1970 GMT.
11. Timestamp - Integer Picoseconds counts the number of picoseconds past since
the last increment of the Timestamp seconds field. See the Picosecond
Timestamp Words Format section for the format.
12. The Context Indicator Field follows the format indicated in Table 16.
Table 16: Digitizer Context Indicator Field Bit Positions
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
I B O R G
13. The Digitizer Context Fields section contains a context field for every field that is
indicated to be present in the Context Indicator Field. The fields is arranged in the
30 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol
identical order of their occurrence in the Context Indicator Field. See Table 17 for
the definition and associated value of each field.
Table 17: Digitizer Context Field Values
Indicator
Bit Name
Bit
Position
Context Field Type # of Words in
I 31 Context Field Change Indicator 0 N/A
B 29 Bandwidth 2 Persistent
O 26 RF Frequency Offset 2 Persistent
R 24 Reference Level 1 Persistent
G 14 Formatted GPS Geolocation 11 Persistent
Context Field Change Indicator
The Context Field Change Indicator is used to indicate when some context value of the
system has changed. One or more of the other bits in the indicator field will be also set,
indicating which values have been changed and have their updated values in the context
fields that follow. It is possible that a context packet may be sent where the Context Field
Change Indicator is set to 0, indicating that no change has occurred.
Bandwidth
The Bandwidth is used to indicate that the amount of spectrum that is currently view-able
due to decimation settings.
The Bandwidth field has the 64-bit, two’s-complement format as shown in Table 18. This
field has an integer and a fractional part, with the radix point to the right of bit 20 in the
second 32-bit word. This gives the RF Reference Frequency a range of ±8.79THz with a
resolution of 0.95μHz.
Context Fields
Period of
Validity
Table 18: Bandwidth Word Format
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Integer Bandwidth (43..12), Hz
Integer Bandwidth (11..0), Hz Fractional Bandwidth (19..0)
RF Frequency Offset
The RF Frequency Offset specifies the amount of frequency in Hz the received data has
been shifted.
The RF Frequency Offset field has the 64-bit, two’s-complement format as shown in
Table 19. This field has an integer and a fractional part, with the radix point to the right of
bit 20 in the second 32-bit word. This gives the RF Reference Frequency a range of
±8.79THz with a resolution of 0.95μHz.
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 31
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol
P=R+ 20∗log(IQ
measured
)
IQ
measured
=√(I
fft
2
+ Q
fft
2
)
Table 19: RF Frequency Offset Word Format
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Integer RF Ref. Value (11..0), Hz Fractional RF Reference Value(19..0)
Reference Level
The Reference Level provides a power level reference so that the magnitude of the
received data can be calculated by a user. The reference level provided in the context
packet is adjusted according to the RFE's gain setting. However, the reference levels
must also be adjusted accordingly any other conditions that might applied.
The absolute power level P (in dBm) is then computed using the following formula:
with
where:
R = the reference level provided in the VRT context packet, dBm
IQ
simplified example as it doesn't include any corrections, such as IQ imbalance,
DC offset or windowing
I
fft
on the VRT I data, which is normalized by dividing each Q by 2
Q
= as shown in the formula above. The IQ
measured
= the real component of the FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) computation applied
= the imaginary component of the FFT computation applied on the VRT Q
fft
data (when used), which is normalized by dividing each Q by 2
Integer RF Reference Value (43..12), Hz
measured
formula, however, is a
bit_size – 1
bit_size – 1
The Reference Level field uses the 32-bit format shown in Table 20 with the upper 16 bits
reserved and is set to zero. The Reference Level field value is expressed in signed
two’s-complement format in the lower 16 bits of this field. This field has an integer and a
fractional part, with the radix point to the right of bit 7.
Table 20: Reference Level Field Format
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Reserved Integer Ref. Level Frac. Ref. Level
The value of the Reference Level field has a range of nearly ±256dBm with a resolution
of 1/128dBm (0.0078125dBm).
For examples, a Reference Level field value of:
• 0x0080 represents a reference level of +1dBm,
• 0xFF80 represents -1dBm,
• 0x0001 represents +0.0078125dBm, and
• 0xFFFF represents -0.0078125dBm.
Formatted GPS Geolocation
Note: For legacy specification reasons, such as with ANSI/VITA 49, the term GPS,
instead of GNSS, is used in this section to refer generically to Global Navigation
Systems.
32 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol
The Formatted GPS Geolocation field communicates the location and time of the RTSA.
The field uses eleven 32-bit words format as shown in Table 21 with the upper 16 bits
reserved and is set to zero. The Reference Level field value is expressed in signed
two’s-complement format in the lower 16 bits of this field. This field has an integer and a
fractional part, with the radix point to the right of bit 7.
Table 21: Formatted GPS Geolocation Fields
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Reserved TSI TSF GPS Manufacturer OUI
Integer-second Timestamp of Position Fix (31..0)
Upper Fractional-second Timestamp of Position Fix (63..32)
Lower Fractional-second Timestamp of Position Fix (31..0)
Latitude (31..0), degrees
Longitude (31..0), degrees
Altitude (31..0), meters
Speed over Ground (31..0), meters/second
Heading Angle (31..0), degrees
Track Angle (31..0), degrees
Magnetic Variation (31..0), degrees
1. TSI field is 10, indicating that Integer-second part of the timestamps are in GNSS
time.
2. TSF field is 10, indicating that the fractional part of the timestamp measures in
real time picosecond resolution.
3. The GPS Manufacturer OUI subfield contains the 24-bit field for the IEEEassigned Organizationally Unique Identifier of the GPS manufacturer.
4. The Timestamp of Position Fix subfields may differ from the Timestamp fields
in the Digitizer Context packet that contains them. Note that the Timestamp of
Position Fix fields refer to the time of the most recent GPS Position Fix, which
may not be the current time or the Timestamp of the Digitizer/IF Context packet
itself. These fields are useful for indicating the loss of the GPS signal.
5. The Geolocation Angle Format describes angles in units of degrees. The
format uses the 32-bit, two’s-complement format shown in Table 22. This field
has an integer and a fractional part with the radix point to the right of bit 22.
Hence, it has a possible range of ±512 degrees and a resolution of 2.38x10-7
degrees. Particular angular measurements allow various ranges such as 0 to 360
degrees, ±180 degrees, or ±90 degrees.
This format is used for several other subfields within the GPS Geolocation field
including Latitude, Longitude, Heading Angle, Track Angle, and Magnetic
Variation subfields, which will be described further in the following points.
Table 22: Geolocation Angle (Degrees) Format
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Integer Angle, degrees Fractional Angle, degrees
6. The Latitude subfield uses the Geolocation Angle Format shown in Table 22
with value ranging from -90.0 (South) to +90.0 (North) degrees.
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 33
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol
7. The Longitude subfield uses the Geolocation Angle Format shown in Table 22
with value ranging from -180.0 (West) to +180.0 (East) degrees.
8. The Altitude subfield uses the 32-bit, two’s-complement format shown in Table
23 with value expressed in units of meters. This subfield has an integer and a
fractional part with the radix point to the right of bit 5. Hence, the subfield has a
range of ±67108 kilometers and a resolution of 3.1 centimeters. In addition, the
Altitude subfield references the height above the WGS-84 ellipsoid.
Table 23: Altitude Subfield Format
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
9. The Speed Over Ground subfield uses the 32-bit, two’s-complement format
shown in Table 24 with value expressed in units of meters per second. It has an
integer and a fractional part with the radix point to the right of bit 16. Thus, the
subfield has a range of 0 to 65636 m/s and a resolution of 1.5e-5 m/s.
Table 24: Speed Over Ground Subfield Format
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Integer Speed, m/s Fractional Speed, m/s
10. The Heading Angle subfield uses the Geolocation Angle Format shown in Table
22. It expresses the platform’s orientation with respect to true North in decimal
degrees. Its value ranges from 0.0 to +359.999999761582 degrees.
11. The Track Angle subfield uses the Geolocation Angle Format shown in Table
22. It conveys the platform’s direction of travel with respect to true North in
decimal degrees. Its value ranges from 0.0 to +359.999999761582 degrees.
12. The Latitude, Longitude, Altitude, Speed Over Ground, Heading, Track Angle,
and Magnetic Variation subfields take the value 0x7FFFFFFF when unspecified.
Integer Altitude, meters Fractional Alt.
Extension Context Packet Class
This Packet Class conveys metadata concerning IF Data Packet Class that cannot be
communicated in the IF Context Packet Class. See Table 25 for the organization of this
context packet class.
Table 25: Extension Context Packet Class Structure
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Pkt Type
0 1 0 1
1. Pkt Type is 0101 to indicate this is an extension packet.
2. C is 0 to indicate there is no Class Identifier in the packet.
3. R is 00 because they are reserved bits.
4. TSM is 0, indicating that context packet timestamps are precise.
34 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
C R T
TSI TSF Pkt Count Pkt Size
S
M
Stream Identifier (1 word)
Timestamp - Integer Seconds (1 word)
Timestamp - Integer Picoseconds (2 words)
Context Indicator Field (1 word)
Context Fields (Variable Size)
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol
5. TSI field is 01, indicating that integer (seconds) part of the timestamps are in UTC.
6. TSF field is set to 10, indicating that the fractional part of the timestamp measures
in real time picosecond resolution.
7. Pkt Count starts at 0000 and increments once for each context packet, until
reaching 1111, where it shall rollover to 0000 on the next count.
8. Pkt Size indicates the total number of 32-bit words in the entire context packet,
including all headers, the context indicator field and context sections.
9. Stream Identifier is set to be 0x90000004
10. Timestamp - Integer Seconds is in UTC format and represents the number of
seconds occurred since Midnight, January 1, 1970, GMT.
11. Timestamp - Integer Picoseconds counts the number of picoseconds past since
the last increment of the Timestamp seconds field. See the Picosecond
Timestamp Words Format section for the format.
12. The Context Indicator Field follows the format indicated in Table 26.
Table 26: Extension Context Indicator Field Positions
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
I IQ Sc St Sw
13. The Context Fields section contains a context field for every field that is indicated
to be present in the Context Indicator Field. The fields is arranged in the identical
order of their occurrence in the Context Indicator Field. See Table 27 for the
definition and associated value of each field.
Table 27: Extension Context Field Definition and Values
Indicator
Bit Name
Bit
Position
Context Field # of Words
in Field
I 31 Context Field Change Indicator 0 N/A
IQ 3 IQ Swapped Indicator 0 Persistent
Sc 2 N/A N/A N/A
St 1 New Stream Start ID 1 Persistent
Sw 0 New Sweep Start ID 1 Persistent
Context Field Change Indicator
The Context Field Change Indicator is used to indicate when some context value of the
system has changed. One or more of the bits in the indicator field will then be set,
indicating which values have been changed and have their updated values in the context
field(s) that follow. It is possible that a context packet may be sent where the Context
Field Change Indicator is set to 0, indicating that no change has occurred.
IQ Swapped Indicator
The IQ Swapped Indicator is used to indicate whether the two ADC data channels has
been swapped due to the mixing of a high-side or low-side LO injection at a given center
frequency. When the value is 1, the channels are swapped and 0 if not. This swapping
is necessary to maintain the data output format to always be {I,Q} such that the spectral
inversion is not required at the user-end during data processing.
Period of
Validity
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 35
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol
This information, however, matters only when operating in the ZIF mode. The ZIF mode
is a direct conversion receiver architecture that typically creates some artifacts, mainly
due to IQ gain and phase imbalances. The artifacts are compensated by using a specific
correction algorithm, which incorporates both time- and frequency-domain corrections.
Further information on the algorithm and its usage will be provided in a future release.
Contact ThinkRF's Support for more information if necessary.
New Stream Start ID
The New Stream Start ID indicator indicates a new stream capture has started, any
packets following this Context Packet belong to this new stream capture.
The value of the New Stream Start ID field uses the 32-bit unsigned integer format shown
in Table 28.
Table 28: New Stream Start ID Field Format
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
New Sweep Start ID
The New Sweep Start ID indicator indicates a new sweep has started, any packets
following this Context Packet belong to this new sweep.
New Stream Start ID
The value of the New Sweep Start ID field uses the 32-bit unsigned integer format shown
in Table 29.
Table 29: New Sweep Start ID Field Format
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
New Sweep Start ID
IF Data Packet Class
The IF Data Packet Class conveys digitized IF Data from the digitizer to devices external
to the R5700. The payload data and its output format is dependent on the RFE modes of
operation (:INPut:MODE or :SWEep:ENTRy:MODE). In addition to Table 2 (page 16),
the following Table 30 describes the output data width and packing method for the
different data type in order comply with VRT's 32-bit word output format:
Table 30: Output Data Width and Packing Method for Different Data Formats
Original Data
Format
{I14Q14} Signed 2-complement {I16Q16} {I16Q16}
{I14} Signed 2-complement {I16} {I116I216}
{I24} Signed 2-complement {I32} {I32}
The different Stream Identifier values will be used to indicate these different formats.
Binary Format Per
Data Component
Signed
Extension
Per 32-bit Word
Packing Method
The order of the fields in an IF Data packet is organized as shown in Table 31. Packets
is transmitted in big-endian byte order.
36 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol
Table 31: IF Data Class Field Values
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Pkt Type C T - TSI TSF Pkt Count Pkt Size
Stream Identifier (1 word)
Timestamp - Integer Seconds (1 word)
Timestamp - Integer Picoseconds (2 words)
Data Payload (Variable Size)
Trailer (1 word)
1. Pkt Type is 0001, indicating that an IF stream identifier is present.
2. C is set to 0, indicating that there is no class identifier present.
3. T is set to 1, indicating there is a trailer word in the packet.
4. TSI field is set to 01, indicating that integer (seconds) part of the timestamps is in
UTC.
5. TSF field is set to 10, indicating that the fractional part of the timestamp measures
in real time picosecond resolution.
6. Pkt Count starts at 0000, and increments once for each IF Data packet that is
received, until reaching 1111, when it then wraps back to 0000 on the next count.
7. Pkt Size is the number of 32-bit words that are present in the packet, including all
headers, data payload and trailer if available.
8. Stream Identifier has the values as shown in the following Table 32.
Table 32: Stream Identifier Values for Different Data Output Formats
Data Output Format Stream Identifier
{I14Q14} 0x90000003
{I14} 0x90000005
{I24} 0x90000006
9. Timestamp - Integer Seconds is in UTC format and will represent the number of
seconds occurred since Midnight, January 1st, 1970, GMT.
10. Timestamp - Integer Picoseconds counts the number of picoseconds past since
the last increment of the Timestamp seconds field. See Table 33.
11. Data Payload contains the IF data from the R5700, arranged in the format
indicated in Table 34 to Table 36.
12. Trailer is included and arranged in the format described in Table 37.
Picosecond Timestamp Words Format
The two 32-bit words timestamp allotted for picoseconds are arranged as below.
Table 33: 64-bit or Two Words Picosecond Timestamp Format
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Timestamp – picoseconds, Word 1 (63..32)
Timestamp – picoseconds, Word 2 (31..0)
Data Payload Format
The data payload of an IF Data packet contains a contiguous sequence of the Data
Samples from an IF Data Sample stream. The number of words in the data payload is
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 37
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol
variable from packet to packet, and can be determined at the receiving end of the link
from the Packet Size by subtracting the number of words dedicated to the header, trailer,
and other additional fields. The presence or absence of these fields can be determined
entirely from information in the header.
1. The maximum number of data payload 32-bit words is 216-16 and must be a
multiple of 32. Limitation due to embedded data transferring engine.
2. The data payload consists of an integer number of contiguous 32-bit words.
3. IF Data Packets convey either the time domain in-phase (I or real) and/or
quadrature (Q or imaginary) components forming the Complex Cartesian samples.
{I14Q14} Data Payload Format
4. Each I or Q data is a signed two's-complement 14-bit data with signed extended
into 16-bit. Thus, each component is an integer ranging from -8192 to +8191 (or
±213).
5. The I-component is in the upper 16-bit of each data word followed by the Qcomponent in the lower 16-bit, as seen in Table 34.
Table 34: {I14Q14} Data Payload Arrangement with Upper 2-bit Signed Extended to {I
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
0bxx
0bxx
0bxx
.
.
.
Item 1 (Sample 1 I14)
Item 3 (Sample 2 I14)
Item 5 (Sample 3 I14)
.
.
.
0bxx
0bxx
0bxx
.
.
.
Item 2 (Sample 1 Q14)
Item 4 (Sample 2 Q14)
Item 6 (Sample 3 Q14)
.
.
.
16 Q16
Example conversion, given the big-endian bytes 0x0018FFFE received:
• Split into two data items (i = 0x0018, q = 0xFFFE)
• Parse signed two's complement (i = 24, q = -2)
• Compute fractional value if needed: i/213 and q/2
13
{I14} Data Payload Format
6. Each I data is a signed two's-complement 14-bit sample with signed extended into
16-bit. Thus, each component is an integer ranging from -8192 to +8191 (or ±213).
7. The first I sample is in the upper 16-bit of each data word follows by the second I
sample in the lower 16-bit, as seen in Table 35.
Table 35: {I14} Data Payload Arrangement with Upper 2-bit Signed Extended to {I16}
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
0bxx
0bxx
0bxx
.
.
.
Item 1 (Sample 1 I14)
Item 3 (Sample 3 I14)
Item 5 (Sample 5 I14)
.
.
.
0bxx
0bxx
0bxx
.
.
.
Item 2 (Sample 2 I14)
Item 4 (Sample 4 I14)
Item 6 (Sample 6 I14)
.
.
.
}
Same conversion example as {I14Q14}.
{I24} Data Payload Format
8. Each data word is one I-component as seen in Table 36.
38 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol
9. Each I data is a signed two's-complement 24-bit sample with signed extended into
32-bit. Thus, each component is an integer ranging from -8388608 to +8388607
(or ±223).
Table 36: {I24} Data Payload Arrangement with Upper 8-bit Signed Extended to {I32}
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
0bxxxxxxxx
0bxxxxxxxx
0bxxxxxxxx
.
.
.
Item 1 (Sample 1 I24)
Item 2 (Sample 2 I24)
Item 3 (Sample 3 I24)
.
.
.
Examples conversion:
• Given the big-endian bytes 0x0018FFFE, then I24 = 0x18FFFFE.
• Given the big-endian bytes 0xFF800034, then I24 = 0x800034 (or -8388556).
• Compute fractional value if needed: i/223.
Trailer Word Format
Table 37: Trailer Word Format
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Enables State and Event Indicators E Associated Context
DV RL SI OR SL DV RL SI OR SL
Packet Count
State and Event Indicators and the associated Enable bits are positions as indicated in
Table 38.
1. For each Indicator bit in the State and Event Indicators field, there is a
corresponding Enable bit at the same position in the Enables field.
2. When an Enable bit is set to 1, the corresponding indicator functions as shown in
Table 38. Otherwise, the corresponding indicator shall not be considered valid.
3. Unused bits in the Enables field and the Indicators field is set to 0.
4. The E field is set to 0 to specify the Associated Context Packet Count field as
undefined.
5. The Associated Context Packet Count field is unused and is set to 0.
Table 38: Trailer Indicator and Enable Bits
Enable Bit Position Indicator Bit Position Indicator Name
30 18 Valid Data Indicator
29 17 Reference Lock Indicator
26 14 Spectral Inversion Indicator
25 13 Over-range Indicator
24 12 Sample Loss Indicator
6. The Valid Data Indicator, when set to 1, indicates that the data in the packet is
valid. When set to zero, it indicates that some condition exists that may invalidate
the data.
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 39
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol
7. The Reference Lock Indicator, when set to 1, indicates all PLLs in the system are
locked and stable, and when set to 0, indicates one or all of the PLLs is not locked
or unstable. It is very crucial to check this indicator bit.
8. The Spectral Inversion Indicator, when set to 1, indicates that the signal
conveyed in the data payload has an inverted spectrum with respect to the
spectrum of the signal at the system Reference Point (such as the antenna). When
processing the data payload, for plotting purpose for instance, follow the suggested
solution in Table 39 to properly display the spectrum.
Note: The Spectral Inversion Indicator does not apply to R5700 models as the I/Q output
connectors are not available. Information is listed here for general knowledge only.
9. The Over-range Indicator isset to 1 if any data value in the packet has reached
full scale at the input of the digitizer.
10. The Sample Loss Indicator, when set to 1, indicates that data overflow has
occurred before the current captured VRT packet, not within that current packet.
In other words, there are data dropped between the previous packet and the
current packet which has the sample loss indicator. The data between those two
packets are not continuous and contiguous.
Table 39 lists the conditions in which an indicator would signal an abnormal state and the
suggested resolutions.
Table 39: Conditions Causing Abnormal Indicator State and Suggested Resolution
Indicator
Name
Valid Data 0 1) One or more PLLs failed to
Reference
Lock
Spectral
Inversion
Over-range 1 The over-range threshold is
Abnormal
Conditions Suggested Resolution
State
lock.
2) In HDR mode, the NB
ADC's filter has not settled.
0 One or more PLLs failed to
lock.
1 Spectral inversion occurs
when the frequency of the
local oscillator exceeds that of
the RF input signal being
processed. At some signal
frequency ranges input to the
R5500, the IF output spectrum
is inverted. Figure 10
illustrates an example.
the absolute full-scale of I or Q
data. For WB ADC, the overrange threshold is at Vpeak =
1.0 V; and for NB ADC, Vpeak
= 1.6 V.
1) Try to reset the frequency or
restart the RTSA. If the condition
persists, contact ThinkRF's
Support.
2) Discard the data packet and reacquire the data. This condition is
unlikely as the settle time is within
hundred of nanoseconds.
Same as 1) above
When this indicator is 1, either
swap each {I,Q} data point when
both {I,Q} components are
available or invert the output data
bins of the computed spectral
power when have {I} only data.
- Enable the :ATTentuator if it is
not yet on.
- If :ATTentuator is already on,
reduce the input level or the gain
settings.
40 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol
Indicator
Name
Sample
Loss
Abnormal
Conditions Suggested Resolution
State
1 This condition occurs only in
Stream mode when the
internal buffer is full.
Use a decimation value such that
the transfer rate matches that of
the capture rate.
Figure 10: An Example Illustrating Uninverted and Inverted Spectrums
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 41
SCPI Command Set
SCPI Command Set
This section is a SCPI reference guide for controlling the ThinkRF R5700 Real Time
Spectrum Analyzer. The R5700 supports the Standard Commands for Programmable
Instruments (SCPI) standard version 1999.0 as described in the following sections. SCPI
lends itself to a command line interface and scripting, is supported by the major
instrument vendors and provides a high level of familiarity for instrument users.
Note: ThinkRF's version of SCPI does not provide commands for network connection.
The R5700 receives SCPI commands and sends query responds over port 37001. See
Appendix A: Connecting to RTSA for more details.
SCPI Language Overview
In the early 1990s, a group of instrument manufacturers developed Standard Commands
for Programmable Instrumentation (SCPI) for controlling programmable instruments via a
communication link, such as RS232, USB, LAN, etc. SCPI specifies the command
structure and syntax using ASCII characters to provide some basic standardization and
consistency to the control commands. SCPI commands, hence, lend themselves to
communications with equipments via command line interface, scripting and/or
programming languages such as C/C++, MATLAB®, Python, etc.
The SCPI language is based on a hierarchical or tree structure as illustrated in Figure 11
an example command set. The top level of the tree is the root node, which is followed by
one or more lower-level nodes.
TRACe
BLOCk STReam SPPacket
STARt
Figure 11: SCPI Language Hierarchical or Tree Structure Example
SCPI defines a measurement function block that is directly applicable to the ThinkRF
RTSA. The measurement function converts a physical signal into an internal data form
that is available for formatting into bus data. It may perform the additional tasks of signal
conditioning and post-conversion calculation. The measurement function box is
subdivided into three distinct parts: INPut, SENSe, and CALCulate as seen in Figure 12.
STATus?STOP
42 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
INPut SENSeINPut CALCulate
Measurement Function
SCPI Command Set
Figure 12: SCPI Measurement Function Block
Refer to the Appendix C: SCPI Command Syntax section for the general SCPI command
syntax format and usage details.
IEEE Mandated SCPI Commands
These commands control and query the communication event/error and status registers
as defined in the Appendix D: SCPI Status and Event Registers section. They are
mandated by the IEEE.
Caution: The mandated IEEE SCPI commands are not affected by *RST command.
*CLS
The Clear Status (CLS) command clears the Status Byte register (STB), the standard
Event Status register (ESR), the standard Questionable status register, the standard
Operation Status register, and the error/event queue.
Syntax *CLS
Parameter/Response None
TRIGger
TRACe and
SWEep
*ESE/*ESE?
*ESE command enables bits in the ESE register. The decimal integer value entered is
the binary equivalent of the desired 8-bit mask. Bits enabled in ESE and set in ESR
register will result in the Standard Event Status Summary bit (bit 5) in the STB register
being set. This then allows the reading of ESR by using the *ESR? query command to
determine the cause.
*ESE? query returns the decimal sum of the enabled bits in the ESE register. The
decimal sum is the binary equivalent of the 8-bit mask.
See Figure 13 for the ESE/ESR register bits mapping.
Syntax *ESE <integer>
*ESE?
Parameter/Response <integer>
Allowable Values 0 - 255
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 43
SCPI Command Set
*ESR?
Query the standard Event Status Register (ESR), which returns the decimal sum of the
bits set in the ESR. The decimal sum is the binary equivalent of the 8-bit mask. Any
specific bit in the ESR will only appear set if and only if its event has occurred and the
corresponding bit in the ESE is also enabled.
See Figure 13 for the ESR register bits mapping.
Caution: This is a destructive read. Once queried, the register is cleared.
*IDN?
Returns the R5700's identification information string.
Syntax *ESR?
Parameter None
Response <integer>
Description Refer to the Appendix D: SCPI Status and Event Registers section
for the ESR register bit definition
Note: The model string returned will not include the option code. To find out which
options a model has, use :SYSTem:OPTions? command.
Syntax *IDN?
Parameter None
Response “<Manufacturer>,<Model>,<Serial number>,<Firmware version>”
Data Type string
*OPC/*OPC?
*OPC (Operation Complete) command sets to confirm bit 0 in the ESR to 1 when all
commands received before *OPC or *OPC? have been completed.
*OPC? returns the ASCII character 1 in the Standard Event register indicating completion
of all pending operations. The query also stops any new commands from being
processed until the current processing is complete.
Syntax *OPC
*OPC?
Parameter None
Query Response 1
*RST
Resets the R5700 to its default settings. This includes stopping any running capture
mode and trigger mode, and also performs :SYSTem:FLUSh.
44 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
SCPI Command Set
*RST does not affect the registers or queues associated with the IEEE mandated
commands. Each non-IEEE mandated command description in this reference shows the
*RST value when affected.
Syntax *RST
Parameter/Response None
*SRE/*SRE?
The *SRE (Service Request Enable) command enables bits in the SRE register. The
decimal integer value entered is the binary equivalent of the desired 8-bit mask to be
enabled. Bits enabled in this register allow accessing the equivalent bits status in the
STB register.
*SRE? query returns the decimal sum of the enabled bits in the SRE register. The
decimal sum is the binary equivalent of the 8-bit mask.
See Figure 13 for the SRE/STB register bits mapping.
Syntax *SRE <integer>
*SRE?
Parameter/Response <integer>
*STB?
*STB? (Status Byte) query returns the decimal sum of the bits set in the STB register
without erasing its content. The decimal sum is the binary equivalent of the 8-bit mask.
Any specific bit in the STB will only appear set if and only if its event has occurred and
the corresponding bit in the SRE is also enabled.
See Figure 13 for the ESE/ESR register bits mapping and the Status Byte Register (SBR)
section of the Appendix D for the bits definition.
Syntax *STB?
Parameter None
Response <integer>
*TST?
*TST? (self-test) query initiates the device's internal self-test and returns one of the
following results:
• 0 - all tests passed.
• 1 - one or more tests failed.
Syntax *TST?
Parameter None
Response 0 | 1
Output Data Type Integer
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 45
SCPI Command Set
*WAI
*WAI (Wait-to-Continue) command suspends the execution of any further commands or
queries until all operations for pending commands are completed.
Parameter/Response None
SYSTem Commands
These commands control and query the communication event and status registers as
defined in the Appendix D: SCPI Status and Event Registers. They are the minimal
:SYSTem sets required in all SCPI instruments.
:SYSTem:ABORt
This command will cause the R5700 to stop the data capturing, whether in the manual
trace block capture, triggering or sweeping mode. The R5700 will be put into the manual
mode; in other words, process such as streaming, trigger and sweep will be stopped.
The capturing process does not wait until the end of a packet to stop, it will stop
immediately upon receiving the command.
Syntax *WAI
Syntax :SYSTem:ABORt
Parameter/Response None
*RST State N/A
Example
:SYST:ABORT
:SYSTem:CAPTure:MODE?
This command returns what the current RTSA data capture mode is (i.e. sweeping,
streaming or block mode).
When stream or sweep mode is stopped, block mode will resume.
Syntax :SYSTem:CAPTure:MODE?
Parameter None
Response BLOCK | STREAMING | SWEEPING
Output Data Type Character
*RST State BLOCK
Example
:SYST:CAPTURE:MODE?
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:HISLip:SESSion?
When connected over HiSLIP, this command returns the HiSLIP Session ID, which is
used to establish the associated data connection. See Connection Using HiSLIP section
of Appendix A for more information.
46 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
SCPI Command Set
Syntax :SYSTem:COMMunicate:HISLip:SESSion?
Parameter None
Response <integer>
Output Data Type 16-bit Integer
*RST State N/A
Examples
:SYST:COMM:HISL:SESS?
Note: Connection types other than HiSLIP do not have a Session ID. In these cases,
the response is undefined.
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:APPLy
This command will apply the changes to the LAN settings and the embedded system will
automatically reconfigure the Ethernet to put in effect the new LAN setting. Once the
LAN settings are applied, they are not affected by power-on, :STATus:PRESET, or *RST.
Caution: When changing from DHCP to STATIC mode, this command should to be sent
only when all the required LAN settings are set using the appropriate
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN commands.
Syntax :SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:APPLy
Parameter/Response None
*RST State N/A
Examples
:SYST:COMM:LAN:APPLY
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:CONFigure
The set command will store the new LAN configuration type to be applied to the RTSA.
This command does not take effect until :SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:APPLy is sent
(please refer to the Caution note of the :APPLy command). Once the option is applied, it
is not affected by power-on, :STATus:PRESET, or *RST.
The query will return the option set or that of the actual current configuration if one is not
set. The CURRENT query will return what is currently and actually used by the RTSA's
LAN interface.
Note: *RST command cannot be used to set the box to its manufacturing default state of
DHCP. To set the box back to DHCP from a working STATIC mode, use this command
or the web-browser as mentioned in the RTSA User's Guide.
Syntax SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:CONFigure DHCP | STATIC
SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:CONFigure? [CURRENT]
Parameter Set: DHCP | STATIC
Query: [CURRENT]
Response DHCP | STATIC
I/O Data Type Character
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 47
SCPI Command Set
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:DNS
The set command will store the new LAN DNS server address(es) to be applied to the
RTSA. This command does not take effect until :SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:APPLy is
sent (please refer to the Caution note of the :APPLy command). Once the setting is
applied, it is not affected by power-on, :STATus:PRESET, or *RST.
The query will return the LAN DNS address(es) set or that of the actual current
configuration if one is not issued. The CURRENT query will return what is currently and
actually used by the RTSA's LAN interface.
*RST State N/A
Examples
:SYST:COMM:LAN:CONF DHCP
:SYST:COMM:LAN:CONF? CURRENT
Syntax SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:DNS <main DNS>[,alternative DNS]
SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:DNS? [CURRENT]
Parameter Set: D.D.D.D[,D.D.D.D] where D = 0 – 255
Query: [CURRENT]
Response D.D.D.D[,D.D.D.D]
I/O Data Type String
*RST State N/A
Examples
SYSTEM:COMMUNICATE:LAN:DNS 208.67.110.0
SYST:COMM:LAN:DNS 208.67.110.0,208.67.100.10
SYSTEM:COMMUNICATE:LAN:DNS?
SYST:COMM:LAN:DNS? CURRENT
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:GATEway
The set command will store the new LAN gateway to be applied to the RTSA. This
command does not take effect until :SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:APPLy is sent (please
refer to the Caution note of the :APPLy command). Once the setting is applied, it is not
affected by power-on, :STATus:PRESET, or *RST.
The query will return the gateway address set or that of the actual current configuration if
one is not issued. The CURRENT query will return what is currently and actually used by
the RTSA's LAN interface.
Syntax SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:GATEway <IPv4 address>
SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:GATEway? [CURRENT]
Parameter Set: D.D.D.D where D = 0 – 255
Query: [CURRENT]
Response D.D.D.D
I/O Data Type String
*RST State N/A
Examples
SYST:COMM:LAN:GATEWAY 102.101.0.13
SYSTEM:COMMUNICATE:LAN:GATEWAY?
SYST:COMM:LAN:GATE? CURRENT
48 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
SCPI Command Set
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:IP
The set command will store the new LAN IP to be applied to the RTSA. This command
does not take effect until :SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:APPLy is sent (please refer to the
Caution note of the :APPLy command). Once the setting is applied, it is not affected by
power-on, :STATus:PRESET, or *RST.
The query will return the IP address set or that of the actual current configuration if one is
not issued. The CURRENT query will return what is currently and actually used by the
RTSA's LAN interface.
Syntax SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:IP <IPv4 address>
SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:IP? [CURRENT]
Parameter Set: D.D.D.D where D = 0 – 255
Query: [CURRENT]
Response D.D.D.D
I/O Data Type String
*RST State N/A
Examples
SYST:COMM:LAN:IP 101.125.1.16
SYSTEM:COMM:LAN:IP?
SYST:COMM:LAN:IP? CURRENT
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:MTU
The set command will store the new LAN MTU (maximum transfer unit, in bytes) to be
applied to the RTSA. This command does not take effect until
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:APPLy is sent (please refer to the Caution note of the
:APPLy command). Once the setting is applied, it is not affected by power-on,
:STATus:PRESET, or *RST. The factory default value is 1500 bytes.
The query will return the MTU set or that of the actual current configuration if one is not
issued. The CURRENT query will return what is currently and actually used by the
RTSA's LAN interface.
Note: Use this command to change the maximum network packet or frame size in a transaction;
however, changing the MTU value could affect the transfer rate or causing lost of network packets
if the packets have an MTU value larger than that permitted by your network. Check with your
network administrator before changing this value.
Syntax SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:MTU <valid MTU value in bytes>
SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:IP? [CURRENT]
Parameter Set: 576 – 1500 bytes
Query: [CURRENT]
Response Integer
I/O Data Type Integer
*RST State N/A
Examples
SYST:COMM:LAN:MTU 1400
SYSTEM:COMM:LAN:MTU?
SYST:COMM:LAN:MTU? CURRENT
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 49
SCPI Command Set
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:NETMask
The set command will store the new LAN netmask address to be applied to the RTSA.
This command does not take effect until :SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:APPLy is sent
(please refer to the Caution note of the :APPLy command). Once the setting is applied, it
is not affected by power-on, :STATus:PRESET, or *RST.
The query will return the mask address set or that of the actual current configuration if
one is not issued. The CURRENT query will return what is currently and actually used by
the RTSA's LAN interface.
Syntax SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:NETMask <address>
SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:NETMask? [CURRENT]
Parameter Set: D.D.D.D where D = 0 – 255
Query: [CURRENT]
Response D.D.D.D
I/O Data Type String
*RST State N/A
Examples
SYST:COMM:LAN:NETMASK 255.255.255.0
SYSTEM:COMMUNICATE:LAN:NETM?
SYST:COMM:LAN:NETM? CURRENT
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:NTP
This command sets or queries the NTP configuration server address(es) of up to three IP
addresses. When set, this command will accept server IP address(es) in the form of
D.D.D.D only, comma separated. However, the query response will return the IP
address(es) set through this command or domain/IP address(es) set through R5700's
web administrative page.
Syntax SYSTem:COMMunicate:NTP <address>
SYSTem:COMMunicate:NTP?
Parameter <IP Address D.D.D.D>, where D = 0 – 255
Response <web/IP addr>[,<web/IP addr>[,<web/IP addr>]]
I/O Data Type String
*RST State N/A
Examples
SYSTEM:COMMUNICATE:NTP 132.163.96.4
SYST:COMM:NTP?
Note: This feature could also be set through R5700's administrative web page, with up
to 3 domain/IP addresses can be entered.
:SYSTem:ERRor[:NEXT]?
This query returns the oldest uncleared error code and message from the SCPI
error/event queue. When there are no error messages, the query returns 0,"No error".
*RST does not affect the error queue.
50 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
SCPI Command Set
Note: It is recommended to do this query command after each non-query command is
sent to ensure that the non-query command is executed without error. Since each error
message is queued into a buffer, if multiple commands have been sent follow by this
command, it would be uncleared which command has resulted in which error.
Syntax :SYSTem:ERRor[:NEXT]?
Parameter None
Response <error code>,<description>
Output Data Type <integer>,<string>
Description Refer to the Appendix E: SCPI Error Codes Used section
*RST State N/A
Example
:SYST:ERR?
:SYSTem:ERRor:ALL?
This query returns all the uncleared error codes and messages from the SCPI error/event
queue. If there are no error messages, the query returns 0,"No error". *RST does not
affect the error queue.
Syntax :SYSTem:ERRor:ALL?
Parameter None
Response <error code>,<description>{,<error code>,<description>}
Output Data Type <integer>,<string>{,<integer>,<string>}
Description Refer to the Appendix E: SCPI Error Codes Used section
*RST State N/A
Example
:SYST:ERR:ALL?
:SYSTem:ERRor:CODE[:NEXT]?
This query is similar to :SYSTem:ERRor[:NEXT]? but returns only the error code from the
SCPI error/event queue. When there are no errors, the query returns 0. *RST does not
affect the error queue.
Note: Similarly, it is recommended to do this query command (or
:SYSTem:ERRor[:NEXT]?) after each non-query command is sent to ensure that the
non-query command is executed without error.
Syntax :SYSTem:ERRor:CODE[:NEXT]?
Parameter None
Response <error code>
Output Data Type <integer>
Description Refer to the Appendix E: SCPI Error Codes Used section
*RST State N/A
Example
:SYST:ERR:CODE?
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 51
SCPI Command Set
:SYSTem:ERRor:CODE:ALL?
This query is similar to :SYSTem:ERRor:ALL? but returns error codes only from the SCPI
error/event queue. If there are no errors, the query returns 0. *RST does not affect the
error queue.
:SYSTem:ERRor:COUNt?
This query returns the number of errors/events in the error/event queue.
Syntax :SYSTem:ERRor:CODE:ALL?
Parameter None
Response <error code>{,<error code>}
Output Data Type <integer>{,<integer>}
Description Refer to the Appendix E: SCPI Error Codes Used section
*RST State N/A
Example
Syntax :SYSTem:ERRor:COUNt?
Parameter None
Response <count>
Output Data Type <integer>
*RST State N/A
Example
:SYST:ERR:CODE:ALL?
:SYST:ERR:CODE:ALL?
:SYSTem:FLUSh
This command clears the R5700's internal data storage buffer of any data that is waiting
to be sent.
IMPORTANT Note: It is highly recommended that the flush command (after issuing
:SYSTem:ABORt) should be used before start of any data capture or when switching
between different capture modes to clear up the remnants of data in the RTSA.
Caution: Issuing :SYSTem:FLUSh any time during streaming or sweeping mode will
cause the stream or sweep capture to stop (abort) and switch automatically to block
capture mode.
Note: Flush command only handles the RTSA's internal buffer storage. The host
application should ensure that the socket buffer is also cleared up of any potential data in
the socket buffer. This can be done by calling the receive socket (non-blocking) until no
data is returned. With Streaming or Sweeping, the start ID in a VRT extension packet
marks the beginning of packets belonging to the new stream or sweep. This helps to
distinct old packets from new packets.
52 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
Syntax :SYSTem:FLUSh
Parameter/Response None
*RST State N/A
Examples
:SYST:FLUSH
:SYSTem:LOCK:HAVE?
This query returns the current lock state of the specified task.
Syntax :SYSTem:LOCK:HAVE? ACQuisition
Parameter ACQuisition
Input Data Type Character
Response 1 | 0
1 – Have the lock
0 – Does not have the lock
Output Data Type Boolean
*RST State N/A
Examples
:SYST:LOCK:HAVE? ACQ
SCPI Command Set
:SYSTem:LOCK:REQuest?
This query attempts to attain the lock on the R5700 for a specific task, such as data
acquisition. The query returns 1 when lock is successful or 0 if it fails.
Attaining a lock is equivalent to having the sole ownership for that task. This prevents
multiple connected applications from doing the same task that would result in an
erroneous operation or feedback from the R5700. The R5700's system lock ownership
works in the following manner:
• The first application to connect to R5700 will automatically have the lock. The next
application will need to perform this query request to attain the lock.
• When there is only one application connected (or the last one remaining), that
application will automatically have the lock.
• The last application that requested successfully has the lock until another
application requests it.
Any application that doesn't have the specific lock will not be able to perform that task.
Note: When a TCP/IP socket connection is not exited properly, that socket might
continue to exist in the R5700 server for a few minutes. This could affect a situation
when only one application is used to connect to the R5700 as re-connection by that
application might not get the lock. This application would then need to request the lock.
Note: HiSLIP defines a more comprehensive instrument locking mechanism that locks
out SCPI operations for sessions that do not have the instrument lock. This effectively
prevents other HiSLIP clients from grabbing the data stream.
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 53
SCPI Command Set
For HiSLIP connections, the HiSLIP lock request should immediately be followed by
:SYST:LOCK:REQ? ACQ to ensure that the application regains the data stream.
A mixture of HiSLIP and non-HiSLIP connections will cause issues as the non-HiSLIP
connections are unaware of HiSLIP instrument locks.
:SYSTem:OPTions?
This command queries the hardware option(s) or features that a particular RTSA model
supported. The response string contains comma separated 3-digit values to represent
the options. See Table 40 for the translated list of available codes (when available).
Syntax :SYSTem:LOCK:REQuest? ACQuisition
Parameter ACQuisition
Input Data Type Character
Response 1 | 0
1 – Successfully locked
0 – Failed to lock
Output Data Type Boolean
*RST State N/A
Example
:SYST:LOCK:REQ? ACQ
Syntax :SYSTem:OPTions?
Parameter None
Response <xxx>{,<xxx>}
Output Data Type Comma separated 3-digit value (ex: 000, 001, 002)
*RST State None
Example
:SYST:OPT?
Table 40: RTSA Option Codes and the Corresponding Description
Option Code Description Related SCPI Command
000 No Special Option/Feature
:SYSTem:SYNC:MASTer
This command sets the RTSA unit to be the master or slave for a synchronization trigger
system with multiple units, in which only one unit can be the master.
The master sends a sync-word or pulse (set through :TRIGger:TYPE or
:SWEep:ENTRy:TRIGger:TYPE) via its GPIO to that of the slaves to indicate the
beginning of a capture. The master RTSA itself will has an internal loop-back of the
synchronization signal it sent out.
Syntax :SYSTem:SYNC:MASTer <Boolean>
:SYSTem:SYNC:MASTer?
Parameter ON | OFF | 1 | 0
Input Data Type Integer | Character
54 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
SCPI Command Set
Query Response 0 | 1
Output Data Type Integer
*RST State 0
Examples
:SYSTem:SYNC:MASTER ON
:SYSTem:SYNC:MAST?
:SYSTem:SYNC:WAIT
This command sets the delay time in nanoseconds that an RTSA system must wait after
receiving the satisfying trigger signal and before performing data capture. The delay time
should be a multiple of 8 nsec as the RTSA system runs with a 125MHz clock.
Syntax :SYSTem:SYNC:WAIT <integer>
:SYSTem:SYNC:WAIT?
Parameter/Response
Allowable Values 0 – 4294967295 (or 2
*RST State 0
Examples
<integer>
32
-1)
:SYSTem:SYNC:WAIT 120
:SYSTem:SYNC:WAIT?
:SYSTem:VERSion?
This query returns the SCPI version number that the instrument software complies with.
Syntax :SYSTem:VERSion?
Parameter None
Response <NR2>
Output Data Type String (decimal number YYYY.V)
Example :SYST:VERS
:SYSTem:DATE
This command sets or queries the current date of the R5700. When the date is set, the
change is applied to the real time clock (RTC) of the R5700 system, and the
:SYSTem:TIME:SYNC field is changed to DISable automatically. The date returned is
representative of the current time mode that is UTC.
This command is not affected by a power-on, factory reset, or *RST command.
Syntax :SYSTem:DATE <integer>,<integer>,<integer>
:SYSTem:DATE?
Parameters/Response <year>,<month>,<date>
I/O Data Type String (comma separated integers)
Allowable Values Year: YYYY - requires a four digit integer, 1900 - 9999
Month: 1 - 12
Date: 1 - 31
*RST State N/A
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 55
SCPI Command Set
Examples
:SYST:DATE 2017,12,2
:SYSTEM:DATE?
:SYSTem:TIME
This command sets or queries the current time of the R5700. When the time is set, the
change is applied to the RTC of the R5700 system, and the :SYSTem:TIME:SYNC field
is changed to DISable automatically. The time returned is representative of the current
time mode that is UTC.
This command is not affected by a power-on, factory reset, or *RST command.
Syntax :SYSTem:TIME <integer>,<integer>,<integer>[,<integer>]
:SYSTem:TIME?
Parameters <hour>,<minute>,<second>[,<millisecond>]
Response <hour>,<minute>,<second>[,<millisecond>] in UTC
I/O Data Type String (comma separated integers)
Allowable Values Hour: 0 - 23
Minute: 0 - 59
Second: 0 – 59
Millisecond: 0 - 999
*RST State N/A
Examples
:SYST:TIME 10,30,15
:SYSTEM:TIME?
:SYSTem:TIME:ADJust
This command adjusts the system time relative to its current time.
Further information will be provided in a future revision of this document.
Syntax :SYSTem:TIME:ADJust <integer> [unit]
:SYSTem:TIME:ADJust?
Parameters <second or sub-second> [unit]
Allowable Values 0 – 4294967295 (or 232 - 1)
Response <integer>
Default I/O unit ns
*RST State 0
Examples
:SYST:TIME:ADJUST 10 ns
:SYSTEM:TIME:ADJUST?
:SYSTem:TIME:SYNC
This command selects the time synchronization source for R5700 and the query returns
the source selected. Choosing NTP (Network Time Protocol) as the synchronization
source will impact the system real time clock (RTC), causing it to update either at a
continuous interval or one time only. When :SYSTem:DATE and/or :SYSTem:TIME
commands are used to change the time, the source will automatically be changed to
DISable.
56 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
*RST does not affect this command. At factory install, the synchronization is defaulted to
disabled.
I/O Data Type Character | String (comma separated characters)
STATus Commands
SCPI Command Set
Syntax :SYSTem:TIME:SYNC DISable | NTP,{ONCE | CONTinuous}
:SYSTem:TIME:SYNC?
Parameter DISable | NTP,{ONCE | CONTinuous}
Response DISabled | NTP,{ONCE | CONTinuous}
*RST State DISable
Examples
:SYST:TIME:SYNC NTP,ONCE
:SYST:TIME:SYNC DISABLE
:SYSTEM:TIME:SYNC?
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 57
SCPI Command Set
N/ A
N/ A
TI ME
PO Wer
TE MPer at ure
FRE Quenc y
N/ A
N/ A
CA LI brat ion
TB D
TB D
TB D
TB D
N/ A
N/ A
No t used
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
L
o
g
i
c
a
l
O
R
Co ndi tion S tatu s Ena ble
QUE S tion abl e Reg iste rs
CA LIb rat ing
SE TTling
N/A
TB D
N/A
TR IGger ing
N/A
CO RRect ing
TB D
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
PR OG ram R unning
No t Use d
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
L
o
g
i
c
a
l
O
R
OPE R ation R egister s
Op eratio n Com plete (OP C)
N/ A
Qu ery Er ro r (QY E)
De vice Depe nde nt Er ro r ( DDE )
Ex ecu tion E rror (EXE )
Co mma nd Er ro r (CM E)
No t Use d
Po wer O N (P ON )
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
L
o
g
i
c
a
l
O
R
*E SR ? *E SE
Sta n da r d E ve nt
Sta tus R egister (E SR)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
N/ A
N/ A
Er ro r/E vent Q ueue (E AV)
Qu estiona ble Reg ister
Me ssag e Available ( MAV)
Sta ndard ESR
Req uest Service (R QS)
Op eratio n R egister
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
L
o
g
i
c
a
l
O
R
*S TB? *S R E
Sta tu s B yte (S T B)
Serv ic e Req uest E n able (SRE)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
.
.
.
Er ro r/E ven t Queue
Su mma ry of IEEE 488 .2 S ta tu s Structure R egister s
Co ndi tion S tatu s Ena ble
58 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
The STATus commands control the SCPI-defined status-reporting structures as
illustrated in Figure 13.
SCPI defines the QUEStionable, OPERation, Instrument SUMmary and INSTrument
registers in addition to those in IEEE 488.2. These registers conform to the IEEE 488.2
specification and each may be comprised of a condition register, an event register, an
enable register, and negative and positive transition filters.
SCPI also defines an IEEE 488.2 queue for status. The queue provides a human
readable record of instrument events. The application programmer may individually
Figure 13: Status Reporting Structure with Status & Enable Registers
SCPI Command Set
enable events into the queue. :STATus:PRESET enables errors and disables all other
events. If the summary of the queue is reported, it shall be reported in bit 2 of the status
byte register. A subset of error/event numbers is defined by SCPI.
:STATus:OPERation[:EVENt]?
This command queries the standard Operation Status Register (OSR, page 96) for any
operation event. The query returns the decimal sum of the bits set in the OSR. The
decimal sum is the binary equivalent of the 16-bit mask. The last bit is unused.
A bit set in the OSR when an enabled transition on the condition is detected (refer to
Appendix D: SCPI Status and Event Registers). Transitions are enabled using the
Operation Transition Registers (see :STATus:OPERation:NTRansition and
:STATus:OPERation:PTRansition).
Caution: This query clears all bits in the register to 0. However, new events may occur
concurrently and are guaranteed not to be missed.
See Figure 13 for the Operation Status register bits mapping.
Syntax :STATus:OPERation[:EVENt]?
Parameter None
Response <integer>
Output Values 0 – 32767 (2
*RST State None
Example
:STAT:OPER?
15
-1)
:STATus:OPERation:CONDition?
This command queries the standard Operation Condition Register (OCR) for any
operation condition. The query returns the decimal sum of the bits set in the OCR. The
decimal sum is the binary equivalent of the 16-bit mask. The last bit is unused. The
content of the OCR remains unchanged after it is read.
The data in this register is continuously updated to reflect the most current conditions.
See Figure 13 for the Operation Condition Register bits mapping.
Syntax :STATus:OPERation:CONDition?
Parameter None
Response <integer>
Output Values 0 – 32767 (2
*RST State None
Example
:STAT:OPER:COND?
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 59
15
-1)
SCPI Command Set
:STATus:OPERation:ENABle
This command enables or queries bits in the Operation Enable Register (OER). The
decimal integer value entered is the binary equivalent of the desired 16-bit mask to be
enabled. Bits enabled in this register allow the equivalent bit status in the OSR (see
page 96) to propagate up through the Service Request (SRQ) chain.
Bits enabled in the OER and set in the OSR will result in the Standard Operation Status
Summary bit (bit 7) in the STB register being set. See Figure 13.
Parameter/Response <integer>
:STATus:OPERation:NTRansition
This command enables or queries bits in the Operation Negative Transition Register
(ONTR). The decimal integer value entered is the binary equivalent of the desired 16-bit
mask to be enabled. Bits enabled in ONTR will allow a negative transition in the
corresponding condition to set the bit in the OSR (see page 96).
Syntax :STATus:OPERation:ENABle <integer>
:STATus:OPERation:ENABle?
Allowable Values 0 – 32767 (2
*RST State 0
Examples
:STAT:OPER:ENAB 256
:STAT:OPER:ENAB?
15
-1)
Syntax :STATus:OPERation:NTRansition <integer>
:STATus:OPERation:NTRansition?
Parameter/Response <integer>
Allowable Values 0 – 32767 (2
*RST State 0
Examples
:STAT:OPER:NTR 256
15
-1)
:STAT:OPER:NTR?
:STATus:OPERation:PTRansition
This command enables or queries bits in the Operation Positive Transition Register
(OPTR). The decimal integer value entered is the binary equivalent of the desired 16-bit
mask to be enabled. Bits enabled in OPTR will allow a positive transition in the
corresponding condition to set the bit in the OSR (see page 96).
Syntax :STATus:OPERation:PTRansition <integer>
:STATus:OPERation:PTRansition?
Parameter/Response <integer>
Allowable Values 0 – 32767 (2
*RST State 0
Examples
:STAT:OPER:PTR 256
:STAT:OPER:PTR?
15
-1)
60 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
SCPI Command Set
:STATus:PRESET
This command presets the R5500 (similar to *RST), and OSE and QSE to zero.
Syntax :STATus:PRESET
Parameter/Response None
:STATus:QUEStionable[:EVENt]?
This command queries the standard Questionable Status Register (QSR, page 96) for
any event. The query returns the decimal sum of the bits set in the QSR. The decimal
sum is the binary equivalent of the 16-bit mask. The last bit is unused.
A bit set in the QSR when an enabled transition on the condition is detected (refer to
Appendix D: SCPI Status and Event Registers). Transitions are enabled using the
Questionable Transition Registers (see :STATus:QUEStionable:NTRansition and
:STATus:QUEStionable:PTRansition).
Caution: This query clears all bits in the register to 0. However, new events may occur
concurrently and are guaranteed not to be missed.
See 13 for the Questionable Status register bits mapping.
Syntax :STATus:QUEStionable[:EVENt]?
Parameter None
Response <integer>
Output Values 0 – 32767 (2
*RST State None
Example
:STAT:QUES?
15
-1)
:STATus:QUEStionable:CONDition?
This command queries the standard Questionable Condition Register (QCR) for any
questionable condition. The query returns the decimal sum of the bits set in the QCR.
The decimal sum is the binary equivalent of the 16-bit mask. The last bit is unused. The
content of the QCR remains unchanged after it is read. The data in this register is
continuously updated to reflect the most current conditions.
See Figure 13 for the QCR bits mapping.
Syntax :STATus:QUEStionable:CONDition?
Parameter None
Response <integer>
Output Values 0 – 32767 (2
*RST State None
Example
:STAT:QUES:COND?
15
-1)
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 61
SCPI Command Set
:STATus:QUEStionable:ENABle
This command enables bits in the Questionable Enable Register (QER). The decimal
integer value entered is the binary equivalent of the desired 16-bit mask to be enabled.
Bits enabled in this register allow the equivalent bit status in the QSR to propagate up
through the Service Request (SRQ) chain.
Bits enabled in QER and set in QSR will result in the Standard Questionable Status
Summary bit (bit 3) in the STB register being set. See Figure 13.
:STATus:QUEStionable:NTRansition
This command enables or queries bits in the Questionable Negative Transition Register
(QNTR). The decimal integer value entered is the binary equivalent of the desired 16-bit
mask to be enabled. Bits enabled in QNTR will allow a negative transition in the
corresponding condition to set the bit in the QSR (see page 96).
Syntax :STATus:QUEStionable:ENABle <integer>
:STATus:QUEStionable:ENABle?
Parameter/Response <integer>
Output Values 0 – 32767 (2
*RST State 0
Examples
:STAT:QUES:ENAB 256
:STAT:QUES:ENAB?
15
-1)
Syntax :STATus:QUEStionable:NTRansition <integer>
:STATus:QUEStionable:NTRansition?
Parameter/Response <integer>
Allowable Values 0 – 32767 (2
*RST State 0
Examples
:STAT:QUES:NTR 256
15
-1)
:STAT:QUES:NTR?
:STATus:QUEStionable:PTRansition
This command enables or queries bits in the Operation Positive Transition Register
(QPTR). The decimal integer value entered is the binary equivalent of the desired 16-bit
mask to be enabled. Bits enabled in QPTR will allow a positive transition in the
corresponding condition to set the bit in the QSR (see page 96).
Syntax :STATus:QUEStionable:PTRansition <integer>
:STATus:QUEStionable:PTRansition?
Parameter/Response <integer>
Allowable Values 0 – 32767 (2
*RST State 0
Examples
:STAT:QUES:PTR 256
:STAT:QUES:PTR?
15
-1)
62 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
:STATus:TEMPerature?
This command queries the RTSA's internal temperature provided by one or more
temperature sensors. The response field varies depending on how many sensors are
available in an RTSA model. The R5700 model, for instance, returns comma separated
values for the sensors at the RF, Mixer and Digital sections.
Output Data Type Float
INPut Commands
:INPut:ATTenuator
SCPI Command Set
Syntax :STATus:TEMPerature?
Parameter None
Response <NRf>{,<NRf>}
For R5700: <RF>,<Mixer>,<Digital>
Unit degrees Celsius
*RST State None
Example :STATUS:TEMP?
This command sets or queries the fix attenuation of the R5700's RFE.
Note: This command applies to R5700-308, -408 and their variants only. It is not
applicable for -418 and -427 and their variants, see :INPut:ATTenuator:VARiable
command instead.
Syntax :INPut:ATTenuator <integer>
:INPut:ATTenuator?
Parameter 0 | 10 | 20 | 30 [dB]
Input Data Type Integer, optional character unit
Query Response 0 | 10 | 20 | 30
Output Data Type Integer
*RST State 30
Examples
:INP:ATT 20
:INPUT:ATT?
:INPut:ATTenuator:VARiable
This command sets or queries the variable attenuation of the R5700's RFE.
Notes:
- This command applies to R5700-418, -427, and their variants only. For R5700-408
and their variants, see :INPut:ATTenuator command instead.
- Recommend setting the attenuation to 0 dB for best performance
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 63
SCPI Command Set
:INPut:GAIN
This command sets or queries the input gain stage for an RTSA. The number of gain
stages is dependent on the models as listed below. Any out of range index will result in
an Execution Error response (see Error and Event Queue section). Contact ThinkRF's
Support for further details and the gain ranges of each stage.
Syntax :INPut:ATTenuator:VARiable <Integer [dB]>
:INPut:ATTenuator?
Parameter 0 | 10 | 20 | 30 [dB]
Input Data Type Integer, optional character unit
Query Response 0 | 10 | 20 | 30
Output Data Type Integer
*RST State 30
Examples
:INP:ATT:VAR 0
:INPUT:ATT:VAR?
Syntax :INPut:GAIN <Index> <Boolean>
:INPut:GAIN? <Index>
Parameter <Integer> <ON | OFF | 1 | 0>
Input Data Type <Integer> <Character | Integer>
Allowable Values Index: Varies depending on the product model
- R5700-408 & its variant: No controllable gain stage
- R5700-418, 427 & their variants: 1, 2. See Table 41 for the gain
settings' performance
Boolean: ON | OFF | 1 | 0
Query Response 1 | 0
Output Data Type Integer
*RST State 1 for all available stages
Examples
:INPUT:GAIN 2 ON
:INP:GAIN? 1
:INP:GAIN 1 0
Note: The reference level context information (see page 32) is only valid when all the
gain stages are enabled for R5700-418, 427 and their variants.
Table 41: Performance of The Gain Settings of R5700-418, 427 and Their Variants
Stage 1 Stage 2 Gain Level Performance
0 (OFF) 0 (OFF) Low High Saturation Level
0 (OFF) 1 (ON) -- Not Optimal*
1 (ON) 0 (OFF) Medium Good DANL and Saturation Level
1 (ON) 1 (ON) High Best DANL
(Reference Level context data
provided)
* This setting is not recommended.
64 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
SCPI Command Set
:INPut:GAIN:HDR
This command sets or queries variable NB IF gain of the HDR signal path, and thus, the
command is to be used with HDR input mode only (i.e. set :INPut:MODE HDR).
Note: The HDR gain is a gain block at the receiver back-end. It will not, therefore,
impact the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The HDR gain is used in particular for optimizing
the third order intercept point (IP3) by determining the most linear spot of the cumulative
amplification I/O characteristics in the receiver chain.
Since the IP3 measurement relies on the relative signal-to-3rd order product ratio and not
on the absolute signal value nor the SNR, the R5700 product is not calibrated for the
different HDR gain levels. The only HDR gain value that is calibrated and optimized is
the default 25 dB gain.
Syntax :INPut:GAIN:HDR <NR1 [unit]>
:INPut:GAIN:HDR? [MAX | MIN]
Parameter <NR1 [unit]>
Input Data Type Signed integer [character]
Allowable Values -10 to 34
Query Response <NR1>
Output Data Type Signed integer
Default I/O unit dB
*RST State 25
Examples
:INPUT:GAIN:HDR -5
:INP:GAIN:HDR 20 dB
:INP:GAIN:HDR?
:INPut:MODE
This command sets or queries the R5700's RFE mode of operation.
Notes: The different RFE modes (in combination with any DSP applied) affect the VRT
IF data packing method due to the different output data type width. For example, SH
mode is I14 data format, but with decimation, it would change to I14Q14 data output. The
VRT's Stream ID would identify the data format accordingly. See Table 2: Radio RFE
Modes and DSP Data Output Formats and VRT's IF Data Packet Class for more details.
- It is also important to see Table 2 for the IBW of each mode and the related notes.
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 65
SCPI Command Set
Parameter/Response ZIF | DD | HDR | SH | SHN
I/O Data Type Character
1
The RFE mode availability is product dependent. Hence, the *RST state and the initial power-up
default would be different depending on the product version.
SOURce Commands
:SOURce:REFerence:PLL
This command selects and queries the 10MHz PLL reference clock source, whether it be
via the internal free-run clock source, the embedded GNSS module’s clock, or through
the external SMA connector.
To see which timing reference source used to discipline the 10 MHz GNSS reference
oscillator, with or without a GNSS fix, refer to :GNSS:REFerence? query command.
Syntax :INPut:MODE ZIF | DD | HDR | SH | SHN
:INPut:MODE?
*RST State
Examples
Product version dependent
:INP:MODE SH
1
:INPUT:MODE?
Caution: When the external 10MHz reference is used, its reference level must be
between -10dBm and 0dBm. Exceeding the level of 0dBm will result in permanent
damage to the internal clock circuit. Additionally, the 10MHz reference must be powered
down prior to powering down the R5700.
Note: :GNSS[:ENABle] must be set to ON before selecting the GNSS option for this
command; otherwise, an error of “-221 Settings Conflict” will be returned.
Syntax :SOURce:REFerence:PLL INT | EXT | GNSS
:SOURce:REFerence:PLL?
Parameter/Response INT | EXT | GNSS
I/O Data Type Character
*RST State GNSS
Examples
:SOURCE:REF:PLL INT
:SOUR:REF:PLL?
:SOURce:REFerence:PPS
This command selects and queries the PPS source for synchronizing the NTPD (NTP
daemon) and the VRT timestamp system, whether it be via the external GPIO source, or
through the GNSS’s module.
Note: :GNSS[:ENABle] must be set to ON before selecting the GNSS option for this
command; otherwise, an error of “-221 Settings Conflict” will be returned.
66 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
Parameter/Response EXT | GNSS
SENSe Commands
[:SENSe]:DECimation
This command sets or queries the rate of decimation of samples in a trace capture.
When the rate is set to 1 (or OFF), no decimation is performed on the trace capture. The
decimation range varies depending on the RFE modes as described below.
In HDR mode, the decimation is done directly by the on-board NB ADC. The decimation
value supported by this mode is 1, 2 and 4.
Syntax :SOURce:REFerence:PPS EXT | GNSS
:SOURce:REFerence:PPS?
I/O Data Type Character
*RST State EXT
Examples
:SOURCE:REF:PPS GNSS
:SOUR:REF:PPS?
SCPI Command Set
In the remaining RFE modes, R5700 uses DDC to provide 10 levels of decimation of
values 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024 (i.e. decimation rate = 2
level
where level = 2 –
10). The decimation process consists of CIC and FIR filters, each type of filters with its
own decimator. The decimator captures one sample at every <integer> number of
samples. The filters are arranged in the following manner:
• For the decimation rate of 4, only a FIR filter with a fixed decimation by 4 is used,
CIC filter is bypassed.
• For the decimation rates of 8 to 1024, a 4-stage CIC of rate 4 to 512 is applied first
for each I and/or Q data. The resulting I and/or Q data pipes are then passed to a
FIR filter with a fixed decimation of 2 to arrive at the rate set. For example, for a
rate of 16, I and Q data will first pass-through the CIC filters with a decimation rate
of 8. The CIC output will be further decimated by 2 by the FIR filter which has a
fixed decimation rate of 2.
Note: When in SH/SHN mode and a decimation is on, the R5700 will automatically be
shifted by 35MHz to the zero IF before decimation is applied. This implies the VRT data
output will be {I,Q} for SH/SHN with decimation.
Syntax :SENSe:DECimation OFF | <integer>
:SENSe:DECimation? [MAX | MIN]
Parameter OFF | <decimation value>
Input Data Type Integer | Character
Allowable Values In HDR mode:
OFF, 1, 2, 4
For ZIF, SH, SHN modes:
OFF, 1, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512 and 1024
1 Equivalents to decimation off.
Query Response In HDR mode:
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 67
SCPI Command Set
[:SENSe]:FREQuency:CENTer
This command sets or queries the center frequency of the RTSA with one exception as
mentioned in the following note.
Note: For the DD mode, this command does not apply as DD mode is not tune-able
(however, [:SENSe]:FREQuency:SHIFt command is still applicable to those modes). To
use the frequency range below 50 MHz, use :INPut:MODE DD command instead.
The frequency resolution varies depending on the RFE modes of operation. ZIF, SH and
SHN signal paths utilize the WB ADC; thus, the frequency tuning resolution is 10Hz. For
those receiver modes, the resolution can be down to the nearest 1Hz resolution
(±0.23Hz) using [:SENSe]:FREQuency:SHIFt command. While for HDR receiver mode,
the frequency resolution is 10Hz without further frequency shifting capability. Refer to RF
Receiver Front-End (page 17) for more details.
1, 2, 4
For ZIF, SH, SHN modes:
1, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512 and 1024
Output Data Type Integer
*RST State 1
Examples
:DEC 16
:SENSE:DEC OFF
For example, the system is in ZIF mode, to tune to a frequency of 2441.16MHz require
the sending of two commands: [:SENSe]:FREQuency:CENTer 2441.1MHz and
[:SENSe]:FREQuency:SHIFt 60kHz. The set values can be verified by querying. If a
valid frequency with an inappropriate resolution is set, the frequency value will be
rounded down to the nearest valid resolution, no error is set.
In addition, depending on the product models, the allowable range of programmable
frequencies varies. Check with your product's data sheet. For example, R5700-408 has
a range of 0.1 to 8GHz, while R5700-427 has 0.1 to 27GHz.
Syntax [:SENSe]:FREQuency:CENTer <NRf [unit]>
[:SENSe]:FREQuency:CENTer? [MAX | MIN]
Parameters <center frequency [unit]>
Input Data Type NRf [character]
Allowable Values Varies depending on the product model
Query Response <integer>
Default I/O Unit Hz
*RST State 2400000000
Examples
:FREQ:CENTER 2441.5 MHz
SENSE:FREQ:CENT 200000000
:FREQ:CENT 2.01 GHZ
SENSe:FREQ:CENTer?
68 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
SCPI Command Set
[:SENSe]:FREQuency:IF?
This command queries the IF frequencies that are used for the current input mode and
center frequency.
This command works in all R5700 models but the number and significance of the IF
frequencies will vary depending on the model and configured options (see
:SYSTem:OPTions? command). The IF index can be specified either as a positive
number (1 to N) where 1 indicates the first IF mixing stage after the input from the front
end, or as a negative number (-1 to -N) where -1 indicates the last IF before the digitizer
input. If the input index is beyond the number of available IFs, Error: Reference source
not found will return a -222,“Data out of range” response.
Syntax [:SENSe]:FREQuency:IF? <non-zero integer>
Parameters <IF index>
Input Data Type Non-zero Integer
Allowable Values Varies depending on RFE input mode, frequency, model and options
Query Response IF frequency
Output Data Type <integer>
Default Output Unit Hz
*RST State N/A
Examples
SENSE:FREQ:IF? -1
[:SENSe]:FREQuency:INVersion?
This query only command is used to determine if a spectral inversion is required on the
data output at the IQ OUT connector at a given frequency, regardless of the DSP mode
enabled. See Table 39 for more information on spectral inversion.
This command is not available for the sweep entry subset of commands. However, this
command can be used iteratively during say initialization stage to query the frequency
range of interest. The results can than be stored in a look-up table, for example.
Syntax [:SENSe]:FREQuency:INVersion? [NRf [unit]]
Parameters Optional [center frequency [unit]]
Input Data Type [Double [character]]
Default Input Unit Hz
Allowable Values Varies depending on the product model
Query Response 1 | 0
where 1 is equivalent to the inversion is required
Output Data Type Integer
*RST State N/A
Examples
SENSE:FREQ:INV? 2441.5 MHz
FREQ:INV?
[:SENSe]:FREQuency:LOSCillator?
This command queries the frequency of the local oscillator (LO) 1, 2 or 3 in
corresponding to current the RTSA's center frequency set.
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 69
SCPI Command Set
[:SENSe]:FREQuency:SHIFt
This command sets or queries the frequency shift value. A negative shift value
corresponds to a left shifting.
This command is also used in additional to [:SENSe]:FREQuency:CENTer to fine tune
the RTSA down to 1Hz resolution.
Note: Frequency shift mode is not available for some RFE modes of operation. Also,
when enabled, it would affect the data output format of some RFE modes. See Table 2:
Radio RFE Modes and DSP Data Output Formats (page 16).
Syntax [:SENSe]:FREQuency:LOSCillator? <1 | 2 | 3>
Parameter None
Query Response <integer>
0 := LO Off
*RST State 1
Example
:FREQ:LOSC? 2
Syntax [:SENSe]:FREQuency:SHIFt <NRf [unit]>
[:SENSe]:FREQuency:SHIFt? [MAX | MIN]
Parameters <Frequency [unit]>
Input Data Type Float [character]
Allowable Values -62.5 – 62.5MHz
Query Response <integer>
Default I/O Unit Hz
*RST State 0
Examples
:FREQ:SHIF -10.5 MHz
SENSE:FREQ:SHIFT 20000000.0
SENSe:FREQ:SHIFT?
FREQ:SHIFT? MAX
[:SENSe]:LOCK:REFerence?
This command queries the lock status of the PLL reference clock in the digital card.
Syntax [:SENSe]:LOCK:REFerence?
Parameter None
Query Response 0 | 1
1 Reference PLL is locked
0 Reference PLL is not locked
Output Data Type Integer
*RST State N/A
Example
LOCK:REF?
70 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
[:SENSe]:LOCK:RF?
This command queries the lock status of the RF VCO (Voltage Control Oscillator) in the
RFE.
Query/Response 0 | 1
Output Data Type Integer
GNSS Commands
The following set of commands are used for configuring the GNSS module as well as
query its related information. Other GNSS related configurations could be found in
SOURce Commands section.
:GNSS[:ENABle]
Syntax [:SENSe]:LOCK:RF?
Parameter None
1 RF PLL is locked
0 RF PLL is not locked
*RST State N/A
Example
LOCK:RF?
SCPI Command Set
This command turns on or off, or queries the state of the GNSS module. Turning the
module on would result in GNSS data being sent back from the RTSA as VRT context
packets. The GNSS VRT packets are sent one every second. See Formatted GPS
Geolocation section for more information.
Note: When turned on from the off state, the GNSS module will subject to Time To First
Fix (TTFF) or Time to Subsequent Fix(TTSF), which is a measure of the time required for
a GNSS receiver after switching on to acquire sufficient satellite signals and navigation
data, and calculate an accurate position solution.
The module is defaulted to ON at powered up.
Syntax :GNSS[:ENABle] ON | OFF | 1 | 0
:GNSS[:ENABle]?
Parameter ON | OFF | 1 | 0
Input Data Type Integer | Character
Query Response 0 | 1
Output Data Type Integer
*RST State 1
Examples
:GNSS ON
:GNSS:ENABLE?
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 71
SCPI Command Set
:GNSS:POSition
This command returns the last known GNSS position in degrees latitude, degrees
longitude and altitude in meters, such as:
In the absence of GNSS fix, the command returns invalid data, corresponding to all ones
values in the GPS VRT context packet definition, or:
:GNSS:REFerence?
45.421500,75.697200,70.000000
512.000000,512.000000,67108863.968750
Syntax :GNSS:POSition?
Query Response latitude (degrees),longitude (degrees),altitude (meters)
Output Data Type Comma separated floats
*RST State N/A
Example
Output Example
:GNSS:POS?
45.421500,75.697200,70.000000
This command returns the timing reference source used to discipline the 10 MHz GNSS
reference oscillator. A value of "GNSS" is returned if a GNSS fix is obtained and is being
used as the disciplining source for the GNSS reference oscillator. A value of "INT" is
returned in the absence of a GNSS fix, in which case the 10 MHz GNSS reference
oscillator is in a holdover state until a GNSS fix is obtained.
The GNSS reference oscillator is a valid reference source regardless of GNSS fix status.
Note: If GNSS is selected as the PLL reference source, the REF LED indicator flashes
green in the presence of GNSS fix or flashes yellow otherwise.
The absence of GNSS fix is also reflected in bit 9 of the IEEE488 Questionable Status
Register (QSR), with a 1 indicating absence of a GNSS fix.
Query Response GNSS | INT
Output Data Type character
TRIGger Commands
Syntax :GNSS:REFerence?
*RST State GNSS
Examples
:GNSS:REF?
Note: Trigger is not supported with HDR input mode.
72 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
SCPI Command Set
:TRIGger:TYPE
This command sets or queries the type of trigger event. Setting the :TRIGger:TYPE to
NONE is equivalent to disabling the trigger execution, while setting to any other type will
enable the trigger engine.
The LEVel trigger type is condition by the start and stop frequencies range and the
amplitude level. See the :TRIGger:LEVel command.
The PULSe and WORD trigger types belong to the external synchronization trigger
through a GPIO port (see External Triggering, page 21). This external trigger type uses
the TRIG IN pin of the GPIO port.
The PPS trigger type is similar to the PULSE type with the pulse occurs at every second
and hence, the capture. Therefore, it is important that the total data capture size should
be less than one second. This external trigger type uses the PPS pin of the GPIO port.
Syntax :TRIGger:TYPE LEVel | PERiodic | PPS | PULSe | WORD | NONE
:TRIGger:TYPE?
Parameter/Response
I/O Data Type Character
*RST State NONE
Examples
LEVEL | PERIODIC | PPS | PULSE | WORD | NONE
:TRIG:TYPE LEVEL
:TRIG:TYPE?
:TRIGger:LEVel
This command sets or queries the frequency range and amplitude of a frequency domain
level trigger. If the sampled signal amplitude exceeds the defined trigger level at any
single sample within the defined frequency range then the trigger will occur and the
associated IQ data will be stored.
The frequency range encompasses all FFT bins of which their center frequencies are
within the range defined by START and STOP. The defined START and STOP
frequencies may exceed, but only affect, the range defined by the IBW (with consider of
the DDC decimation) centered around the [:SENSe]:FREQuency:CENTer value.
The threshold error is ±3 dBm or less when the trigger level is set
• at or below the maximum level mentioned in Table 42 and
• ~20 dBm or higher above the noise floor.
When the level is set higher and further away from the maximum level or within ~20 dBm
of and closer to the noise floor, the threshold error increases. Recommend adjusting the
attenuation level (using :INPut:ATTenuator:VARiable or :INPut:ATTenuator) accordingly
to achieve detection at the desired level with error within ±3 dBm range.
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 73
SCPI Command Set
Table 42: Maximum Threshold Level Where +/-3 dBm Error or Less Still Hold For A
Given Attenuation Level
Refer to the Frequency Domain Triggering section for more information.
Parameters/Response
Attenuation (dB) ZIF Mode (dBm) SH / SHN Mode (dBm)
0 -35 -25
10 -25 -15
20 -15 -5
30 -5 5
Syntax :TRIGger:LEVel <NRf [unit]>,<NRf [unit]>,<NR1 [unit]>
:TRIGger:LEVel?
<start>,<stop>,<level>
Input Data Type Comma separated values with:
Frequency: Double [character]
Level: signed integer value
Allowable Values Frequency: See [:SENSe]:FREQuency:CENTer
Levels: Dependent on the attenuation setting. See Table 42.
Output Data Type <integer>,<integer>,<signed integer>
Default I/O Units Hz,Hz,dBm
*RST State N/A (Trigger is off)
Examples
:TRIG:LEVEL 2000 MHZ,2100 MHZ,-70 DBM
:TRIG:LEVEL 15000000,15050000,-50
:TRIG:LEVEL?
:TRIGger:PERiodic
Further information will be provided in a future revision of this document.
TRACe Commands
A "trace capture" consists of a set of continuous data samples, ranging from 128 samples
to a maximum determined by the R5700 version (see :TRACe:BLOCk:PACKets and
:TRACe:SPPacket). Each data word is 32-bit wide, arranged differently depending on
the :INPut:MODE and see VRT's Data Payload Format, page 37.
ThinkRF's R5700 data packet returned through a network is complied with the industry
standard VRT protocol. Therefore, every data packet returned is encapsulated with a
VRT header and a VRT trailer. In addition, the VRT packet format sets a limit on the
maximum number of samples per packet. Refer to the “Receiver Context Class”
subsection of the VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol section for further details on the VRT
packet organization.
To do a single block capture of continuous data, the total number of samples captured is
determined by the number of samples per packet (:TRACe:SPPacket) and the number of
packets per block (:TRACe:BLOCk:PACKets). When the block data capture command
(:TRACe:BLOCk:DATA?) is issued, the R5700 will capture and store the total number of
samples into a buffer. Hence, the samples within a single block capture is continuous
74 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
SCPI Command Set
from one packet to the other, but not necessary between successive block capture
commands issued.
In streaming mode, the number of samples per packet (:TRACe:SPPacket) must be set
to determine the size of each packet coming back. The samples from one packet to
another will be continuous until the sample loss indicator (aka overflow indicator) is
detected within the trailer of the data packet. When this indicator is high in the current
VRT packet, it indicates that data overflow occurs after the current captured packet, not
within the packet. In other words, the samples of the immediate packet following after the
current packet that has the sample loss indicator bit high are not continuous from those of
the current packet.
Note: The :DECimation command can be used to slow down the capture rate, thus,
effectively lowers the rate of discontinuity between packets to provide contiguous data
stream of data.
The R5700 can stored up to 32 MSa of ZIF or 64 MSa of SH continuous data.
:TRACe:BLOCk:DATA?
This command will start the single block capture and the return of all trace packets set by
:TRACe:BLOCk:PACKets command, with each packet of the size set through
:TRACe:SPPacket command. The data within a single block capture trace is continuous
from one packet to the other, but not necessary between successive block capture
commands issued.
Syntax :TRACe:BLOCk:DATA?
Parameter None
Response Control port 37001: empty string
Data port 37000: <NRr>
Output Data Type Hexadecimal bytes
*RST State N/A
Examples
:TRACE:BLOCK:DATA?
Note: The status of the query will be return through the control port 37001 as usual,
however the data will be returned through the data port 37000. Once the
:TRACe:BLOCk:DATA? command is issued, a block of SPP * PACKets of data will be
returned. In other words, :TRACe:BLOCk:DATA? needs to be sent only once to get SPP
* PACKets block of data.
The returned data in each VRT packet is presented in continuous hexadecimal chunk, as
shown here:
Response <NRr> ::= <VRT header bytes>{<data payload bytes>}
[<4 bytes VRT trailer>]
Further description on the VRT data output formats can be found in the VRT's IF Data
Packet Class section, page 36.
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 75
SCPI Command Set
:TRACe:BLOCk:PACKets
This command sets or queries the total number of packets set in the RTSA. The
maximum is limited by the storage capacity of a R5700 and the samples per packet
(SPP) size set through :TRACe:SPPacket. Therefore, when :TRACe:BLOCk:PACKets?
MAX query command is sent, the returned value will vary depending on the SPP value of
an RTSA and the data output format. For example, the R5700 has 128 MBytes storage
capacity, if SPP is 32768 with I14Q14 output format, then the maximum packet size is 1023
(or 128 MB / (4 bytes-per-sample * (32768 + 6))). If I14 is the output format, then the
maximum is 2047 (or 128 MB * / (2 bytes-per-sample * (32768 + 6))).
In single block capture mode, this command is used in conjunction with the
:TRACe:SPPacket command to set the total number of samples to capture. In other
words, the data from one packet to the next within a single block capture mode is
continuous.
Syntax :TRACe:BLOCk:PACKets <integer>
:TRACe:BLOCk:PACKets? [MAX | MIN]
Parameter <input packet value>
[MAX | MIN] for query1 – (RTSA's max storage storage
capacity ÷ (# bytes-per-sample * (SPP value + 6 Header and trailer
words)))
Input Data Type Integer | Character
Allowable Values 1 – (RTSA's max storage storage capacity ÷ (# bytes-per-sample *
(SPP value + 6 Header and trailer words)))
Query Response <integer>
*RST State 1
Examples
:TRACE:BLOC:PACK 100
:TRACE:BLOCK:PACK?
:TRACe:SPPacket
This command sets or queries the number of Samples Per Packet (SPPacket). In block
capture mode, it is used in conjunction with the :TRACe:BLOCk:PACKets command to
set the total number of (continuous and contiguous) samples to capture.
The upper bound of the SPP is limited by the VRT's 16-bit Packet Size field less the
VRT's headers and any optional fields (see IF Data Packet Class for more details). The
16-bit Packet Size defines the total number of 32-bit words in each packet, not samples
which could have different bits per sample. However, the total samples must be a
multiple of 32 due to the use of burst transfer method of the capture engine. The
maximum SPP is, therefore, simplified to 65504 or (216 – 32) for all data format.
The lower bound of the SPP is limited by the capture engine's minimal transfer
requirement of 256 samples. Table 43 summarizes the SPP boundary sizes and the
required multiple values for different data output format.
76 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
SCPI Command Set
Table 43: Max, Min, and Required Multiples for SPP and Samples-per-word for Different
Data Output Format
Format Samples-per-word Min SPP Size Max SPP Size Required Multiples
{I14Q14} 1
256 65504 32{I14} 2
{I24} 1
Syntax :TRACe:SPPacket <integer>
:TRACe:SPPacket? [MAX | MIN]
Parameter <integer>
[MAX | MIN] for query
Input Data Type Integer | Character
Allowable Values 256 – 65504, must be a multiple of 32
Query Response <integer>
*RST State 1024
Examples
:TRACE:SPP 4096
:TRAC:SPP?
:TRACe:STReam:STARt
This command begins the execution of the real time stream capture. It will also initiate
data capturing. Data packets will be streamed (or pushed) from the R5700 whenever
data is available.
Through the sending of a VRT Extension Context Packet carrying the ID value, the use of
an ID in this command is to indicate the beginning of new data packets belonging to a
new stream start. Even though the start ID value is optional, a VRT Extension Context
Packet with the New Stream Start ID (page 36) value will always be sent out after this
command is received and before data packets of the new stream become available.
When no ID value is provided, the default ID value 0 is returned in the Context Packet.
Note: Once :TRACe:STReam:STARt is issued, the RTSA will not accept any setting
changes. Changes can be sent after :TRACe:STReam:STOP command is issued.
Syntax :TRACe:STReam:STARt [ID]
Parameter <Stream ID value>
Input Data Type Unsigned 32-bit integer
Response None
*RST State 0 (Stream stopped)
Examples
:TRAC:STREAM:START 1
:TRACE:STR:START
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 77
SCPI Command Set
:TRACe:STReam:STOP
This command stops the stream capture. After receiving the command, the RTSA
system will stop when the current capturing VRT packet is completed with the required
samples (as opposed to :SYSTem:ABORt).
Note: After this command is issued, :SYSTem:FLUSh command should be issued as
well as to clear up any data remained in the internal memory.
Parameter/Response None
SWEep Commands
Note: Currently, only one single sweep list is supported. Thus, some description on list
in this section might not apply. For example, the string identifier is not needed yet,
neither is list editing as there is only one list. The entries, however, can be configured as
described.
Syntax :TRACe:STReam:STOP
*RST State N/A (Stream stopped)
Examples
:TRACE:STREAM:STOP
:TRAC:STREAM:STOP
A sweep control setup consists of defining one or more sweep lists and one or more
entries for each list. The sweep execution is controlled by issuing the commands (such
as start, stop or resume) listed under :LIST.
A sweep list can be thought of as being similar to a spreadsheet or table where the
columns define the different specific capture engine configurations (such as :ATTenuator,
:FREQuency and :DECimation), and the rows as sweep entries with each consisting of a
sweep frequency or range and its associated capture engine configurations.
A :SWEep:LIST is created and identified using a unique string identifier set by the user.
A list may be edited, deleted and/or executed using the :SWEep:LIST command set.
Each list is executed indefinitely or a finite number of time as determined by the
:ITERations command.
More information will be provided in the future revision of this document for multiple lists
handling.
The :SWEep:ENTRy commands provide the ability to define the capture engine
configurations for each sweep entry including the equivalent of :INPut, :SENSe and
:TRIGger commands. There may be any number of entries in a sweep list for up to 500.
Sweep entries are identified by an index number and may be inserted, edited and/or
deleted like rows in a table or spreadsheet. A sweep entry is created by using either
:NEW or :COPY and :SAVE command. The entry will not be part of a list until :SAVE is
issued.
If trigger is defined for an entry, captured data is returned only if a trigger event occurred.
Otherwise, when the :DWEll time is reached, the trigger is aborted and the next sweep
entry will be executed.
78 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
SCPI Command Set
During sweeping, the RTSA internal buffer might become full, at which point the sweep
engine will pause. The engine will resume sweeping once the buffer is freed up.
The engine will stop when the iterations have been reached or either a :SYSTem:ABORt
or :SWEep:LIST:STOP command has been issued.
Notes:
- Unlike with [:SENSe]:FREQuency:CENTer, the center frequency command of a sweep
entry can take a frequency range and the step size as the parameters.
- Unlike :TRACe:BLOCk capture, sweep mode data packets, whether VRT context or
digitized data, are “streamed” (similar to :TRACe:STReam). As soon as
:SWEep:LIST:STARt command is issued, this will initiate also the data capturing and
data packets will be “pushed” from the R5700 when available.
- When sweep is stopped, the RTSA will retain the settings of the last performed sweep
entry when :STOP command is received and executed. Any non-sweep commands can
then be operated on the RTSA. When the :SWEep is resumed (:STARt), the settings as
per the sweep entries are executed.
- When the RTSA is sweeping, any non-sweep commands sent will resulted in an error
and are not executed. The sweep will not be affected and keep on running. However,
sweep related settings can still be changed while sweep is running.
:SWEep:LIST:ITERations
This command sets or queries the number of times the sweep list is repeated.
Syntax :SWEep:LIST:ITERations <integer>
:SWEep:LIST:ITERations?
Parameter <integer>
Allowable Values 0 – 4294967295 (or 2
0 := infinity
Query Response <integer>
I/O Data Type Integer
*RST State 0
Examples
:SWEEP:LIST:ITER 10
32
-1)
:SWE:LIST:ITER?
:SWEep:LIST:STARt
This command begins the execution of the current sweep list from the first entry.
This command will also initiate data capturing. Data packets will be streamed (or
pushed) from the R5700 whenever it is available.
Through the sending of a VRT Extension Context Packet carrying the ID value, the use of
an ID in this command is to indicate the beginning of new data packets belonging to a
new sweep start. Even though the start ID value is optional, a VRT Extension Context
Packet with the New Sweep Start ID (page 36) value will always be sent out after this
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 79
SCPI Command Set
command is received and before data packets of the new sweep become available.
When no ID value is provided, the default ID value 0 is returned in the Context Packet.
:SWEep:LIST:STATus?
This query returns the current status of the sweep engine.
Syntax :SWEep:LIST:STARt [ID]
Parameter <List ID>
Input Data Type Unsigned 32-bit integer
Response None
*RST State 0 (Sweep stopped)
Examples
:SWEEP:LIST:STAR
:SWE:LIST:START
Syntax :SWEep:LIST:STATus?
Parameter None
Query Response RUNNING | STOPPED
Output Data Type Character
*RST State STOPPED
Examples
:SWEEP:LIST:STATUS?
:SWE:LIST:STAT?
:SWEep:LIST:STOP
This command stops the sweeping and stores the entry index where it is stopped. The
RTSA retains the settings of the last performed sweep entry when :STOP command is
executed.
Syntax :SWEep:LIST:STOP
Parameter/Response None
*RST State N/A (Sweep stopped)
Examples
:SWEEP:LIST:STOP
:SWE:LIST:STOP
Note: This command should be issued to clear the R5700's data buffer of any data that
has not been sent from the R5700 prior to setting up the next capturing process.
:SWEep:ENTRy:COPY
This commands will copy and populate all the capture engine configurations under
:SWEep:ENTRy with values from the sweep entry of the specified index. No new entry is
created until :SWEep:ENTRy:SAVE command is issued and any changes will not affect
the existing entry.
80 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
Syntax :SWEep:ENTRy:COPY <integer>
Parameter <Sweep entry integer index>
Input Data Type Unsigned integer
Allowable Values If :COUNt? returns non-zero, 1 to :COUNt? value
If :COUNt? returns zero, an execution error is returned
Query Response None
*RST State N/A
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTR:COPY
:SWE:ENTRY:COPY
:SWEep:ENTRy:COUNt?
This query command returns the number of entries available in a list.
Syntax :SWEep:ENTRy:COUNt?
Parameter None
Query Response <integer>
Output Data Type Integer
*RST State N/A
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTR:COUNT?
SCPI Command Set
:SWEep:ENTRy:DELETE
This commands delete one or all the entries. When an entry is deleted, the following
indexes if existed will be reduced by one accordingly, just as rows in a spreadsheet.
Syntax :SWEep:ENTRy:DELETE <integer> | ALL
Parameter <Entry index value> | ALL
Input Data Type Integer | Character
Allowable Values 1 to COUNt? value
*RST State N/A
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTR:DELETE 5
:SWE:ENTR:DELETE ALL
:SWEep:ENTRy:NEW
This commands will populate all the capture engine configurations under :SWEep:ENTRy
with default values. No new entry is created until :SWEep:ENTRy:SAVE command is
issued.
Syntax :SWEep:ENTRy:NEW
Parameter/Response None
*RST State N/A
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTRY:NEW
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 81
SCPI Command Set
:SWEep:ENTRy:READ?
This query command returns the current configuration settings of a sweep entry.
:SWEep:ENTRy:SAVE
Syntax :SWEep:ENTRy:READ? <integer>
Parameter [Entry index value]
Input Data Type Integer
Allowable Values 1 to COUNt? value
Query Response <integer>,<{ingeger | char}>
:==
<RFE mode>,<freq start>,<freq stop>,<freq step>,<freq shift>,
<decimation>, <attenuator>,<IF gain>,<HDR gain>,
<SPPacket>,<packets>,<dwell:second>,<dwell:microsecond>,
<trigger type: NONE | PULSe | WORD | <LEVel,freq start,freq stop,
amplitude> | PPS>
Output Data Type Comma separated integer and character values
*RST State N/A
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTR:READ? 5
:SWE:ENTR:READ? 1
This command saves a new entry into the current editing list with all the current capture
engine configurations under :SWEep:ENTRy. The saving is done by inserting either the
new entry before the specified index value or to the end of the list when no index value is
given.
When saved, a new entry is given an index value. Index value starts from 1. When an
index value is specified along with the :SAVE command, the new entry will take the index
of that value and all other following indexes will be incremented by one accordingly, just
as rows in a spreadsheet. Otherwise, the new index will be one up from the index of the
last sweep entry in the list.
When there are no existing entries and an index value other than 1 is specified, an error
will be returned. Similarly for non-existing index location except if the index value is
equal to the value returned by :SWEep:ENTRy:COUNt? plus one.
Syntax :SWEep:ENTRy:SAVE [integer]
Parameter [Entry index value]
Input Data Type Integer
Allowable Values :COUNt? value + 1
*RST State N/A
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTR:SAVE
:SWE:ENTR:SAVE 5
:SWEep:ENTRy:ATTenuator
Refers to the :INPut:ATTenuator section (page 63) for the definition of this command.
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTRY:ATTENUATOR 20
:SWEEP:ENTR:ATT?
82 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
SCPI Command Set
:SWEep:ENTRy:ATTenuator:VARiable
Refers to the :INPut:ATTenuator:VARiable section (page 63) for the definition of this
command.
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTRY:ATT:VAR 10
:SWEEP:ENTR:ATT:VAR?
:SWEep:ENTRy:DECimation
Refers to the [:SENSe]:DECimation section (page 67) for the definition of this command.
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTR:DEC 16
:SWEEP:ENTRY:DEC?
:SWEep:ENTRy:FREQuency:CENTer
This command or query defines the center frequency or a range of center frequencies to
sweep. When a range is provided, the sweep will step through the center frequencies
with the value provided by :SWEep:ENTRy:FREQuency:STEP.
Syntax :SWEep:ENTRy:FREQuency:CENTer <NRf [unit]>[,<NRf [unit]>]
:SWEep:ENTRy:FREQuency:CENTer?
Parameter <start freq [unit]>[,<stop freq [unit]>]
Input Data Type Double [character] | Comma separated doubles [character]
Allowable Values Varies depending on the product model
Query Response <integer>,<integer>
Default I/O Units Hz
*RST State 2400000000,2480000000
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTRY:FREQ:CENT 0,10 GHZ
:SWE:ENTRY:FREQ:CENT 2400 MHZ,6 GHZ
:SWE:ENTR:FREQ:CENT 2400000000
:SWEEP:ENTRY:FREQ:CENTER?
:SWEep:ENTRy:FREQuency:STEP
This command or query defines the frequency step size for the sweep center frequency
range specified by :SWEep:ENTRy:FREQuency:CENTer command. If a range is not
given, the step size is ignored.
Syntax :SWEep:ENTRy:FREQuency:STEP <NRf [unit]>
:SWEep:ENTRy:FREQuency:STEP?
Parameter <freq [unit]>
Input Data Type Double [character]
Allowable Values 0 – Maximum frequency of the R5700 model used
Query Response <integer>
Default I/O Units Hz
*RST State 100000000
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 83
SCPI Command Set
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTRY:FREQ:STEP 10.5 MHZ
:SWE:ENTRY:FREQ:STEP 4000 KHZ
:SWEEP:ENTR:FREQ:STEP 10000000
:SWEEP:ENTR:FREQ:STEP?
:SWEep:ENTRy:FREQuency:SHIFt
Refers to the [:SENSe]:FREQuency:SHIFt section (page 70) for the definition of this
command.
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTR:FREQ:SHIFT 25 MHZ
:SWEEP:ENTRY:FREQ:SHIF?
:SWEep:ENTRy:GAIN:HDR
Refers to the :INPut:GAIN:HDR section (page 65) for the definition of this command.
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTR:GAIN:HDR -10
:SWEEP:ENTRY:GAIN:HDR?
:SWEep:ENTRy:MODE
Refers to the :INPut:MODE section (page 65) for the definition of this command.
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTRY:MODE ZIF
:SWE:ENTR:MODE?
:SWEep:ENTRy:DWELl
This command or query defines the maximum amount of time to wait for the trigger of a
sweep entry to occur, after which the trigger is aborted and the next sweep entry, if
existed, will run. However, when the required amount of data has been captured before
the dwell time has been reached, the sweep engine will move onto the next entry.
Note that, the default dwell time is 0 second, 0 microsecond. This is equivalent to an
infinite dwell time. In this case, the sweep engine will move on as soon as the current
data capture amount has been met (as explained in the previous paragraph).
When the trigger type is NONE, dwell time is ignored.
Syntax :SWEep:ENTRy:DWELl <integer>[,<integer>]
:SWEep:ENTRy:DWELl?
Parameter <second>[,<microsecond>]
Allowable Values 0 – 4294967295 (or 232 – 1)
0,0 := infinity
Query Response <integer>,<integer>
I/O Data Type Integer | Comma separated integers
*RST State 0,0 (infinite dwell time)
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTR:DWEL 5,30
:SWEEP:ENTR:DWELL 2
:SWEEP:ENTR:DWELL?
84 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
SCPI Command Set
:SWEep:ENTRy:PPBlock
This command (where PPBlock is defined as Packets per block) has the same
functionality as the :TRACe:BLOCk:PACKets command since at each sweep frequency
step of an entry, a block of data can be captured.
Refers to the :TRACe:BLOCk:PACKets section (page 76) for the definition of this
command.
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTR:PPB 10
:SWEEP:ENTRY:PPB?
:SWEep:ENTRy:SPPacket
Refers to the :TRACe:SPPacket section (page 76) for the definition of this command.
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTR:SPP 16384
:SWEEP:ENTRY:SPP?
:SWEep:ENTRy:TRIGger:LEVel
Refers to the :TRIGger:LEVel section (page 73) for the definition of this command.
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTR:TRIG:LEV 2400 MHZ,2900 MHZ,-60
:SWEEP:ENTRY:TRIGGER:LEVEL?
:SWEep:ENTRy:TRIGger:TYPE
Refers to the :TRIGger:TYPE section (page 73) for the definition of this command.
Note: For PPS (as well as PULSE) trigger type, it is important that the total data capture
size should take into account this PPS (or pulse range) time frame, the sweep step tuning
time, and the decimation rate. For safe measure, it should be less than 500 ms for PPS
type. A large capture size could cause missing the pulse.
Examples
:SWEEP:ENTR:TRIG:TYPE LEVEL
:SWEEP:ENTRY:TRIG:TYPE?
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 85
Appendix A: Connecting to RTSA
Network
Remote Host
<IP>:37000
<IP>:37001
RTSA
<IP>:37000
<IP>:37001
RTSA
<IP>:37000
<IP>:37001
SCPI
SCPI
SCPI
VRT pkts
VRT pkts
VRT pkts
Appendix A: Connecting to RTSA
ThinkRF RTSA supports two different methods of device connection, which will be
explained in the following sections.
Caution pertaining to multi-users:
ThinkRF RTSA allows multiple applications to connect to a unit simultaneously or
concurrently, however, each connection method to be mentioned in this Appendix will
behave differently.
Simple 2-port TCP/IP Connection method does not support independent sessions.
Therefore, the actions of one user may over-write those of another. If multiple
applications are connecting to the unit, it is advised that only one of those is controlling
the unit at any time.
Connection Using HiSLIP method, on the other hand, provides both exclusive and share
locks. Refers to “Locking Mechanism” section of the IVI HiSLIP document for more
information. However, the HiSLIP locking mechanism is only effective when all
simultaneous connections are of HiSLIP type. If any other connection methods are used,
HiSLIP locking mechanism does not apply and the same caution mentioned above
applied.
Simple 2-port TCP/IP Connection
Note: We recommend using the HiSLIP connection method described in the next section
as the standard HiSLIP method provides many features not available with this simple
connection, particularly lock handling during multi-user access.
ThinkRF RTSAs are network ready devices conveying control commands and data using
TCP/IP protocol. Each RTSA receives SCPI commands and sends query responds over
port 37001, and sends VRT context and data packets over port 37000, as illustrated in
Figure 14.
Figure 14: 2-port TCP/IP connection to RTSA
86 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
An RTSA, when powered up, will have a dynamic or preassigned static IP address, which
when bind with a port will form a network socket. To successfully establish a connection
to an RTSA, both <IP>:37000 and <IP>:37001 sockets must be created one right after
the other. The order is not important.
In addition, refer to the “Connecting to the R5700” of the R5700 User Guide (v4.0 or
higher) for more information on how to connect to R5700 and to determine its IP address.
Connection Using HiSLIP
Note: The HiSLIP connection method is highly recommended over the other connection
methods given its many beneficial features as listed below that the others lack.
High-Speed LAN Instrument Protocol (HiSLIP) is an industry standard developed by the
Interchangeable Virtual Instruments (IVI) Foundation (www.ivifoundation.org). It is
designed as a modern emulation of the IEEE-488 instrumentation bus standard and
provides more sophisticated capabilities to instruments, including:
• instrument locking (shared and exclusive locks),
• service request from the instrument,
• multiple sessions, even from the same client.
Appendix A: Connecting to RTSA
Refer to the HiSLIP documentation, IVI-6.1
(www.ivifoundation.org/specifications/default.aspx), for further details.
ThinkRF RTSA acts as a HiSLIP server, listening on a TCP port 4880. Two TCP
connections to the same port are established in a single HiSLIP connection using the
initialization sequence described in the standard. The two connections are linked
together with a common Session ID, with one connection serves as a synchronous
channel and the other an asynchronous channel.
The synchronous channel primarily carries the command-response SCPI channel and all
communication is controlled from the client (controller). The asynchronous channel is
truly bidirectional, allowing either the client (controller) or the server (instrument) to signal
each other at any time. This capability avoids unnecessary polling, allowing event driven
applications to be developed.
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 87
Appendix A: Connecting to RTSA
Network
Remote Host
<IP>:4880
<IP>:4880
R5500
<IP>:4880
<IP>:4880
HiSLIP
HiSLIP
HiSLIP
SCPI
SCPI
Async Channel
Async Channel
HiSLIP
HiSLIP
R5500
<IP>:4880
<IP>:4880
SCPI
Async Channel
HiSLIP
Data (VRT) Channel
<IP>:4881
<IP>:4881
<IP>:4881
Data (VRT) Channel
Data (VRT) Channel
HiSLIP port 4880 only addresses the control channel of the R5700, similar to the role that
TCP socket 37001 plays in the 2-port TCP/IP connection mentioned in the previous
section. A third TCP connection at port 4881 to RTSA is required to carry the VRT data
stream. The Session ID used to associate the synchronous and asynchronous channels
during connection establishment is also used outside of HiSLIP to further associate the
data channel to the HiSLIP connection.
Figure 15: HiSLIP and TCP connections to RTSA
The following steps summarize how a VRT stream connection is associated with a
HiSLIP connection:
1. The host establishes a HiSLIP connection with the instrument on port 4880.
2. The host establishes a TCP connection with the instrument on port 4881.
3. The host queries the HiSLIP connection's Session ID via SCPI using the
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:HISLip:SESSion? command.
4. The host sends a message to the instrument with the HiSLIP Session ID. This
method is similar to how HiSLIP associates the asynchronous channel to the
synchronous channel.
5. The instrument searches the Session ID among its established connections. The
instruments acknowledges the association if the Session ID is found.
The message sent over the data connection is derived from HiSLIP. For reference, the
following table describes the HiSLIP message format. All values are in network order
(big-endian).
Table 44: HiSLIP Message Header Format
Field Octets Field Offset
Prologue (ASCII “HS”) 2 0
Message Type 1 2
Control Code 1 3
Message Parameter 4 4
Payload Length 8 8
Data (optional) Payload Length 16
88 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
Appendix A: Connecting to RTSA
This message pair used to establish the data channel is modeled after the HiSLIP
AsyncInitialize and AsyncInitializeResponse messages used to establish the
asynchronous channel on port 4880.
Table 45: ThinkRF Vendor Specific Message Type Value Definitions
Designation Channel Numerical Value
ThinkRFDataInitialize Data 128
ThinkRFDataInitializeResponse Data 129
Table 46: ThinkRF Data Channel Initialization Transaction
Step Initiator Message Content Action
1 Client Opens the data TCP connection Client does an active TCP open on
port 4881.
2 Client <ThinkRFDataInitialize><0>
<SessionID><0>
3 Server <ThinkRFDataInitializeResponse>
<0><SessionID><0>
(successful)
3 Server <ThinkRFDataInitializeResponse>
<0><0x80000000><0>
(unsuccessful)
4 Once the transaction completes
successfully, the TCP connection is
ready to transmit the VRT stream
from the server to the client.
The client sends the SessionID of
the HiSLIP connection to associate
this data channel with it.
Server acknowledges and echoes
back the Session ID.
Server did not find the Session ID.
It sends back an error code (MSB
= 1).
Once the data connection is associated, it is free to carry the VRT stream.
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 89
Appendix B: Protocols for Discovering RTSA
Appendix B: Protocols for Discovering RTSA
This section explains the two different protocols for discovering any RTSA devices
available on the same local network as the host computer(s). These protocols cannot be
used to find any RTSAs on a different network.
Discovery Using mDNS/DNS-SD
The LAN eXtensions for Instrumentation (LXI) Consortium (www.lxistandard.org) has
standardized the use of multicast DNS (mDNS) and DNS-based service discovery (DNSSD) protocols as the discovery protocols for network-connected instruments. These
protocols, commonly referred to as Zero Configuration Networking or Zeroconf, were
originally developed by Apple Computer for discovering local network services such as
printers but have been expanded to support any network service.
Conforming with the industry standard, R5700 supports device discovery using the
mDNS/DNS-SD protocols. Industry standard tools and applications supporting these
protocols are now able to discover the R5700 with the said firmware version. Refer to the
following resources for more information about mDNS/DNS-SD protocols:
• http://www.lxistandard.org/Specifications/Specifications.aspx
• https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6762 for mDNS
• https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6763 for DNS-SD
Discovery Using Broadcast UDP
ThinkRF also provides a simple broadcast UDP protocol for discovering RTSA devices.
The remote host computer would first send out a UDP message of broadcast type to port
18331. The message contains a query request code followed by query discovery version
in big-endian order as follows:
where each field is:
Name Data Type Length Required Value
The discovery version is used to determine how to parse the response message. Note
that the <> bracket is for clarity of the explanation purpose only, not to be included in the
message.
An RTSA with the discovery version 2 would respond with the following data:
32-bit unsigned integer 1 0x93315555
32-bit unsigned integer 1 2
where each field is:
90 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
Appendix B: Protocols for Discovering RTSA
Name Data Type Length Response Value
The IP address of an RTSA can be retrieved from the responding socket. The RTSA may
be identified by matching the serial number (S/N) in the response message with the S/N
on the label of the RTSA.
32-bit unsigned integer 1 0x93316666
32-bit unsigned integer 1 2
ASCII character, nul-padded 16 RXXXX-XXX
(ex: R5700-427)
ASCII character, nul-padded 16 XXXXXX-XXX
(ex: 120600-020)
ASCII character, nul-padded 20 vX.X.X
(ex: v1.0.0)
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 91
Appendix C: SCPI Command Syntax
:SENSE:FREQ:CENTER 2441500000 Hz
Root node
Level 1
Level 2
Single space separator
Parameter
Single space separator
Optional unit
Appendix C: SCPI Command Syntax
Each SCPI command consists of a root node, one or more lower level nodes, follow by
applicable parameters and separators:
Entering Commands
SCPI commands have both a long and short version, such as :SOURCE and :SOUR.
The SCPI interface responds to either version, but will not respond to variations of either
version. The interface does not differentiate between upper-case and lower-case letters
but only the long or short form of a command.
An example correct and incorrect SCPI entry format for :SOURce command:
Command Entry
Correct Entry :SOURCE :SOURce :source
:SOUR :sour
Incorrect Entry :SOU :SOURC
:sourc
Note: At the end of each SCPI command string, whether a single command or multiple
commands separated by semicolons “;”, a new line-feed or carriage return is required.
Example in C: “:FREQ:CENTER 2400 MHZ\n” or “FREQ:CENT 2400 MHZ;INP:ATT 0\n”.
92 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
Notation
Notation Description
: Links command keywords together
; Separates multiple commands entered together on a single
single space Uses to separate a parameter from a command or unit from a
, Uses to separate multiples parameters of a command
[] Uses to optionally enclose zero or more parameters
{.} or {.}* The enclosed item maybe included zero or more times
{.}+ The enclosed items occurs one or more times
{.|.|.} One and only one of the two or more enclosed items separated
<> Uses to enclose required parameter descriptions
? Indicates query command, use where applicable
| Indicates “or” and is used to separate alternative parameter
::= Means “is defined as”
Parameter types
Appendix C: SCPI Command Syntax
program message
parameter
by | maybe included
options
This section defines different SCPI parameter data type.
<boolean> ON | OFF | 1 | 0
<integer>
<int>
<NR1> Signed integer without a decimal point (implied radix point)
<NR2> Signed number with an explicit radix point
<NR3> Scaled explicit decimal point numeric value with and an exponent
<NRf> <NR1>|<NR2>|<NR3>
<NRr> Non-decimal numeric value such as hexadecimal, octal or binary
<char>
<character>
<string> ASCII string surrounded by single or double quotes
Default Units
frequency Hz
time s or ns where applicable
voltage V
absolute amplitude dBm
relative amplitude dB
Parameter Type Description
Boolean parameters are always returned as 1 or 0 in NR1 format
by query commands
Unsigned integer of NR1 format
Ex: 1 or 3432
Ex: -25 or 0
Ex: -1.234 or 1.0 or 0.0
Ex: 2.73e+2 or 2.351e2
Character program data
Ex: MAXimum or MEDium
Ex: “This is an example”
Parameter Default Unit
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 93
Appendix C: SCPI Command Syntax
Units other than the default may be specified. If units are not specified then the default
units apply. Note the following examples, which are all equivalent.
Example
is equivalent to
is equivalent to
is equivalent to
is equivalent to
:FREQ:CENTer 2441.5 MHz
:FREQ:CENTer 2441500000
:FREQ:CENTer 2441500000 Hz
:FREQ:CENTer 2441500 kHz
:FREQ:CENTer 2441.5e6
94 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
Appendix D: SCPI Status and Event Registers
Appendix D: SCPI Status and Event Registers
The RTSA's SCPI interface has a status and event reporting system that enables the
user to handle device events. The interface conforms to IEEE Std 488.2-1987 and SCPI
1999.0. This section discusses these status registers, status register enable masks,
event queues and event handling.
Status Byte Register (SBR)
The SBR is used to determine the specific nature of the event or condition. It is read by
issuing a *STB? command. The contents of the SBR are clear by issuing either a *STB?
or *CLS command.
Bit Name Description
0 not used This bit is not used and always 0.
1 not used This bit is not used and always 0.
2 Error / Event Available
(EAV)
3 Questionable Register
Summary
4 Message Available (MAV) This bit is set if there is any unread data in the Output
5 Standard Event Status Bit
(ESB)
6 Master Summary Status This bit is set when any of the other bits are set.
7 Operation Register
Summary
This bit is set if there are any unread error or event in
the System Error queue. It is read using the
:SYSTem:ERRor[:NEXT]? command.
Summary of the Questionable Status register
queue.
This bit is set if there is any unread or non-cleared
data in the Standard Event Status register.
Summary of the Operation Status register
Standard Event Status Register (ESR)
The ESR is used to determine the nature of the status and error conditions. It is read by
issuing a *ESR? command. The contents of the ESR are cleared by issuing either a
*ESR? or *CLS command.
Bits in the ESR will cause a Service Request only when the corresponding bits in the
Standard Events Status Enable Register are set.
Bit Name Description
0 Operation Complete
(OPC)
1 Request Control (RQC) This bit is not used and always 0.
2 Query Error (QYE) Set to indicate that a query has been made for which
95 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
Set to indicate that all pending operations are
complete and R5500 is ready to accept another
command, or that query results are available.
no response is available.
Query errors have SCPI error codes from -499 to
-400.
Bit Name Description
3 Device Dependent Error
(DDE)
4 Execution Error (E) Set to indicate that a parameter exceeds its allowed
5 Command Error (CME) Set to indicate that a command error has occurred.
6 not used This bit is always 0.
7 Power ON (PON) Set once upon power-up.
Operational Status Register (OSR)
The OSR is a 16-bit register that is used to determine the state of operation. It is read by
issuing a :STATus:QUEStionable[:EVENt]? command.
Bit Name Description
0 CALibrating This bit is currently not used and always 0.
1 SETTling This bit is set when the device is tuning or is
2 RANGing This bit is currently not used and always 0.
3 SWEeping This bit is currently not used and always 0.
4 MEASuring This bit is currently not used and always 0.
5 Waiting for TRIG This bit indicates that the device is armed and waiting
6 Waiting for ARM This bit indicates that the device is configured for
7 CORRecting This bit is currently not used and always 0.
8 Data Available This bit indicates that new data is available to be
9-12 not used These bits are not used and always 0.
13 INSTrument summary This bit is currently not used and always 0.
14 PROGram running This bit is currently not used and always 0.
15 not used This bit is not used and always 0.
Appendix D: SCPI Status and Event Registers
Set to indicate that a device-dependent error has
occurred.
Device-dependent errors have SCPI error codes from
-399 to -300.
range.
Execution errors have SCPI error codes from -299
to -200.
Command errors have SCPI error codes from -199
to -100.
otherwise not yet ready to capture data.
for a trigger event.
triggering but has not been armed.
read. Note that this bit may toggle momentarily so
transition detection should be used.
Questionable Status Register (QSR)
The QSR is a 16-bit register that is used to indicate conditions that may cause the
measurement results to be of questionable quality. It is read by issuing a
:STATus:QUEStionable[:EVENt]? command.
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 96
Appendix D: SCPI Status and Event Registers
Bit Name Description
0 VOLTage This bit is currently not used and always 0.
1 CURRent This bit is currently not used and always 0.
2 TIME This bit is currently not used and always 0.
3 POWer This bit is currently not used and always 0.
4 TEMPerature This bit is currently not used and always 0.
5 FREQuency This bit is currently not used and always 0.
6 PHASe This bit is currently not used and always 0.
7 MODulation This bit is currently not used and always 0.
8 CALibration This bit is currently not used and always 0.
9 POSition This bit is used by GNSS-equipped RTSA products to
10-12
not used
13 INSTrument summary This bit is currently not used and always 0.
14 Command Warning This bit is currently not used and always 0.
15 not used This bit is not used and always 0.
Output Queue
indicate GNSS out-of-lock.
These bits are not used and always 0.
The R5700 has an Output FIFO Queue that is structured as a FIFO and holds the
response messages to queries. The SBR's MAV bit is set when there are messages in
the queue. The unread results of a previous command are cleared from the queue when
a new command or query is received.
Error and Event Queue
The R5700 has an Error and Event FIFO Queue that holds up to 16 errors and events. It
is queried using the :SYSTem:ERRor[:NEXT]? command. The *CLS command clears all
entries from the queue.
97 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
Appendix E: SCPI Error Codes Used
Appendix E: SCPI Error Codes Used
Code Message Description
0 No error
Command error, range [-199, -100]
-144 Character data too long The character data contained more than 12 characters.
-171 Invalid expression The command syntax was incorrect.
Execution error, range [-299, -200]
-200 Execution error A generic execution error for which more specific information is
not available.
-210 Trigger error
-220 No matched module The specific operation is not installed.
-221 Settings conflict Indicates that a legal program data element was parsed but
could not be executed due to the current device state
-222 Data out of range A parameter was of the proper type but outside of the defined
range for the specific command.
-223 Too much data A parameter was received that contained more data than the
device could handle.
-224 Illegal parameter value A parameter was received that is NOT allowed for the particular
command.
-230 Data corrupt or stale Possibly invalid data; new reading started but not completed
since last access.
-240 Hardware error Indicates that a legal program command or query could not be
executed because of a hardware problem in the device.
-241 Hardware missing Indicates that a legal program command or query could not be
executed because of missing device hardware. For example,
an option is not installed.
Device specific error, range [-399, -300]
-310 System error
-321 Out of memory An internal operation needed more memory than that was
available.
-330 Self test failed
-340 Calibration failed
-350 Query overflow The SCPI remote interface error queue overflowed.
Query error, range [-499, -400]
-410 Query INTERRUPTED A condition causing an INTERRUPTED query error occurred.
ThinkRF's RTSA Specific, range [-999, -900]
-901 No data Read trace command issued while there is no data available.
-911 Need firmware upgrade The current firmware needs upgrading.
-912 Invalid option license The option could not be installed because of invalid license.
98 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
Appendix F: SCPI Commands Quick Reference
Appendix F: SCPI Commands Quick Reference
This section summarizes the SCPI commands available for interfacing with R5700. The
commands are listed alphabetically based on the main node, then sub-nodes, so on. The
sub-nodes are grouped and listed alphabetically based on functionality.
See Appendix C's Notation section for details on notations used in the Parameter column.
The Release column indicates from which firmware release version that the commands
are available. Grayed-out commands are not yet implemented.
Keyword Parameter Description Release
IEEE Mandated
*CLS Clear all status registers v1.0
*ESE <integer> Event Status Enable register v1.0
*ESE? Query ESE register v1.0
*ESR? Query Event Status Register v1.0
*IDN? Query device identification v1.0
*OPC Operation Complete v1.0
*OPC? Query OC v1.0
*RST Reset to factory default v1.0
*SRE <integer> Service Request Enable bits v1.0
*SRE? Query SRE register v1.0
*STB? Query Status Byte register v1.0
*TST? Query self-test status v1.0
*WAI Wait-to-Continue v1.0
:GNSS
[:Enable] ON | OFF | 1 | 0 Enables the status of the GNSS module v1.0
[:Enable]?
:POSition? Queries the last known GNSS position in
:REFerence? Queries which timing reference source used to
Page 43
Page 71
degrees latitude, degrees
longitude and altitude in meters
discipline the 10 MHz GNSS reference oscillator
v1.0
v1.0
:INPut
:ATTenuator 0 | 10 | 20 | 30 Set the fix attenuation for R5700-308 and -408
:ATTenuator?
:VARiable 0 | 10 | 20 | 30 Set the variable attenuation for R5700-418 and
:VARiable?
:GAIN <index> <ON | OFF | 1 | 0>
:GAIN? <index>
:HDR Set gain level for the narrow-band ADC of the
Page 63
models and their variants
-427 models and their variants
Set an input gain stage to be on or off. The index
range is model dependent
HDR signal path
v1.0
v1.0
v1.0
v1.0
ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide 99
Appendix F: SCPI Commands Quick Reference
Keyword Parameter Description Release
:HDR? [MAX | MIN]
:MODE ZIF | DD | HDR | SH | SHN Select the receiver mode of operation.
See the complete command description section
for special notes.
:MODE?
v1.0
[:SENSe]
:DECimation OFF | <integer> Set the decimation rate as an exponent of 2 (i.e.
:DECimation? [MAX | MIN]
:FREQuency
:CENTer <NRf [unit]> Set the center frequency of the RFE v1.0
:CENTer? [MAX | MIN]
:IF? <non-zero integer> Query the IF frequencies that are used for the
:INVersion? [NRf [unit]] Query if spectral inversion is required at a given
:LOSCillator? <1 | 2 | 3> Get the frequency of the external LO 1, 2, or 3
:SHIFt <NRf [unit]> Set the frequency shift value (not available for
:SHIFt? [MAX | MIN] v1.0
:LOCK
:REFerence? Query the lock status of the PLL reference clock v1.0
:RF? Query the lock status of the RFE's RF PLL v1.0
:SOURce
:REFerence
:PLL INT | EXT | GNSS
:PLL?
:PPS EXT | GNSS
:PPS?
Page 67
rate = 2
current input mode and center frequency
frequency
in corresponding to current the RTSA's center
frequency
HDR mode)
Page 66
Select the 10MHz reference clock source
Select the PPS synchronization source
level
where level = 0, 1, 2 - 10)
v1.0
v1.0
v1.0
v1.0
v1.0
v1.0
v1.0
:STATus
:OPERation
[:EVENt]? Return the standard Operation Status Register
:CONDition? Queries the Operation Condition Register for
:ENABle <integer> Enables bits in the Operation Enable Register v1.0
:ENABle?
:NTRansition Enables bits in the Operation Negative
:NTRansition?
:QTRansition Enables bits in the Operation Positive Transition
:QTRansition?
:PRESET Presets the R5700 (similar to *RST) v1.0
:QUEStionable
Page 57
v1.0
(OSR) for any event
v1.0
any operation event
v1.0
Transition Register
v1.0
Register
100 ThinkRF R5700 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer’s Guide
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