Rohde & Schwarz R&S SMW200A - Possible Setups and Access Functions; VISA Library

Network Operation and Remote Control
R&S
®
SMW200A
781User Manual 1175.6632.02 ─ 30
Figure 13-2: Overview of remote control interfaces, protocols and libraries
13.3.1 VISA Library
VISA is a standardized software interface library providing input and output functions to
communicate with instruments. Thus, you can configure the interface without having to
adjust the application program to the used interface.
The I/O channel (LAN or TCP/IP, USB, GPIB, etc.) is selected at initialization time with
the channel–specific address string ("VISA resource string"), or by an appropriately
defined VISA alias (short name). See also Table 13-2 for an overview.
Instrument access via VXI-11 or HiSLIP protocols is achieved from high level program-
ming platforms using VISA as an intermediate abstraction layer. VISA encapsulates the
low-level VXI or GPIB function calls and thus makes the transport interface transparent
for the user.
A VISA installation is a prerequisite for remote control using the following interfaces:
●
LAN interface using HiSLIP Protocol
●
LAN interface using VXI-11 Protocol
●
USB Interface
Instrument access via the LAN socket protocol or GPIB connections can be operated
both, with or without the VISA library. See also Chapter 13.2.1.4, "Socket Communica-
tion", on page 778 and Chapter 13.2.3, "GPIB Interface (IEC/IEEE Bus Interface)",
on page 779.
For more information about VISA library, refer to the user documentation.
13.3.2 Possible Setups and Access Functions
The following examples give an overview of dependencies between the available libra-
ries, the possible interfaces and protocols, and whether an instrument driver is provi-
ded. The involved parts are highlighted. For more information, see the application
note 1GP72: Connectivity of Rohde&Schwarz Signal Generators.
Remote Control Programs and Libraries