R&S
®
ZVA / R&S
®
ZVB / R&S
®
ZVT Remote Control
Remote Control: Introduction
Operating Manual 1145.1084.12 – 30 575
6 Remote Control
This chapter provides instructions on how to set up the analyzer for remote control, a general introduction
to remote control of programmable instruments, and the description of the analyzer's remote control
concept. For reference information about all remote control commands implemented by the instrument,
complemented by comprehensive program examples, refer to the SCPI Reference chapter.
Remote Control: Introduction
The instrument is equipped with different interfaces for remote control:
A GPIB bus interface according to standard IEC 625.1/IEEE 488.1. The GPIB bus connector for
control of the analyzer from a controller is located on the rear panel of the instrument.
Analyzers connected to a Local Area Network can be controlled via the RSIB or VXI-11 protocols.
Two connectors for LAN connection are located on the rear panel. A VISA installation on the
controller is required.
The network analyzer can itself act as a master and control external devices (e.g. power meters,
generators) via LAN, USB, or GPIB interface. A VISA installation on the analyzer is required for
this remote control type.
Visa library
VISA is a standardized software interface library providing input and output functions to communicate with
instruments. The I/O channel (LAN or TCP/IP, USB...) is selected at initialization time by means of the
channel–specific resource string (also termed address string) or by an appropriately defined VISA alias
(short name). A VISA installation on the master device is a prerequisite for remote control over LAN
interface and for control of external devices from the analyzer.
The VISA I/O Library is available from Rohde & Schwarz, order no. 1310.0054.02. For more information
about VISA refer to the user documentation.
Starting a Remote Control Session
A remote control program must open a connection to the analyzer (using VISA functionality), before it can
send commands to the analyzer and receive device responses (e.g. measurement data). The
programming details depend on the library version used and on the programming language. For this
reason, the examples in chapters "Command Reference" and "Programming Examples" are reduced to
the mere SCPI syntax.
Example controller programs may be obtained from the Rohde & Schwarz support centers. In many
cases, it can be preferable to integrate the controller program into post-processing tools (e.g. Microsoft
Excel) in order to list, draw, or manipulate the measured values retrieved from the analyzer.
The following tools can make remote control more comfortable and faster:
Various software tools provide an easy-to-use graphical user interface for remote control. An
example is the GPIB Explorer which is pre-installed on the analyzer.
Instrument drivers provide an improved interface between the test software and the test
instruments. They perform the actual control of the instrument using higher-level functions for
operations such as configuring, reading from, writing to, and triggering the instrument. This
reduces development time, eliminating the need to learn the specific command set for each
To Next Page
Loading...
