rscommander - versatile software tool for rohde & schwarz instruments

Subject to change O.Gerlach, D. Bues 05.2014 - Application Note 1MA74_11

Products: RSCommander supported devices

RSCommander

Versatile Software Tool for

Rohde & Schwarz Instruments

RSCommander is a versatile software tool for a wide range of Rohde & Schwarz spectrum analyzers, sig-nal generators and network analyzers. It allows for automatic instrument discovery, making hardcopies,

reading traces, file transfer and for uploading user correction data for linearization.

Overview

1MA74_11 2 Rohde & Schwarz

Contents

1 Overview ................................................................................................. 3 2 Software Features ................................................................................... 3 3 Installing the Software ............................................................................. 4 4 Connecting the Instruments .................................................................... 4 5 Getting Started ........................................................................................ 5 6 Software Description ............................................................................... 8

Main menu ......................................................................................... 8 File ................................................................................................ 8 New ............................................................................................. 13 Utility functions menu .................................................................. 19 Special Functions menu ............................................................. 23 Window menu ............................................................................. 25 Help ............................................................................................. 26

Command Buttons ........................................................................... 27 Scripts: NWA s-parameter download ............................................... 28

7 Hardware and Software Requirements ................................................. 41 8 Additional Information ........................................................................... 42 9 List of Supported Instruments ............................................................... 42 10 Ordering Information Examples ............................................................ 42 Appendix A RSCommander.ini ............................................................... 43 Appendix B VisaDevices.ini .................................................................... 43

Overview


1 Overview

RSCommander is a versatile software tool for a wide range of Rohde & Schwarz instruments. It makes it possible to take screenshots for documentation purposes, read trace data for further processing and upload user correction data to signal generators for linearization. The software also allows for file management and interactive control of the instrument using its remote control commands. RSCommander can au-tomatically detect all Rohde & Schwarz instruments connected via GPIB and LAN interfaces.

R&S is a registered trademark of Rohde & Schwarz GmbH und Co.

KG. The R&S Spectrum Analyzer FSQ, the R&S

Vector Signal Gen-

erator SMU200A and the R&S Universal Radio Communication Tester

CMU200 are referred to as FSQ, SMU and CMU in the remaining ap-plication note.

2 Software Features

RSCommander features the following:

Automatic device detection via GPIB and LAN interfaces

"Look and feel" user interface

Hardcopy

Read trace data

Print peak tables

Upload user correction data to signal generators

File Manager

Obtain instrument status information

Interactive control using remote control commands

Installing the Software


3 Installing the Software

Execute the program RSCOMMANDER_X.X.EXE and select the desired options.

4 Connecting the Instruments

RSCommander supports GPIB and LAN instruments:

GPIB instruments can be connected to the controller with the tradi-tional daisy chain method

GPIB

SMU FSQ CMU

Controller

Fig. 1 GPIB instruments

LAN instruments may be connected to the controller either directly, allowing only one device per Ethernet port,

FSQ SMU

LAN

Controller

Fig. 2 LAN instruments connected to PC

or via Ethernet switch/hub, which is optionally connected to a DHCP server (company network)

SMU

LAN

FSQ ESPI

Controller LAN Switch

Optional DHCP server

Fig. 3 LAN instruments connected to switch

Getting Started


5 Getting Started

This example shows how to make a hardcopy of an FSQ spectrum ana-lyzer and send user correction data to an SMU signal generator. The FSQ is attached to the controller via Ethernet connection, and the SMU is connected with a GPIB cable.

GPIB

To DHCP server

SMU

LAN

FSQ

Controller LAN Switch

Fig. 4 Example configuration

Start RSCOMMANDER by double-clicking the icon.

Search for attached GPIB instruments with FILE REMOTE INTERFACES SCAN. The SMU will appear in the DEVICES TO ATTACH list.

In the ADD INSTRUMENT MANUALLY menu, select INSTR. NAME e.g. MYFSQ, INTERFACE LAN, NETWORK ADDRESS e.g. FSQ26-200023 and press ADD. The FSQ will appear in the VISA RESOURCES TO SCAN list.

Fig. 5 Adding instruments manually

Note: The instrument can name can either be selected from the alphabetical list of instruments or can be defined manually (e.g. MyFSQ)

Note: The Network Address can either be the IP address, e.g. 192.168.0.1, or the symbolic name, e.g. FSQ8-200176.

The instruments are then added to the SELECTED INSTRUMENT list by pressing OK.

Choose the FSQ in the SELECTED LIST table and press the HARDCOPY button.

Getting Started


Fig. 6 FSQ hardcopy

Choose the SMU in the SELECTED LIST table.

In the FILE SETTINGS menu, select the tab USER CORRECTION and select the appropriate parameters for the example file USERCOR.TXT.

Fig. 7 User correction settings

Perform SPECIAL FUNCTIONS USER CORRECTION. In the USER CORRECTION menu enter a NAME, COMMENT and press the LOAD button.

Ref -20 dBm Att 5 dB SWT 100 ms

*

Center 1 GHz 10 ms/

1 RM

CLRWR

A

-110

-100

-90

-80

-70

-60

-50

-40

-30

Tx Channel W-CDMA 3GPP FWD

Bandwidth 3.84 MHz Power -30.82 dBm

Adjacent Channel

Bandwidth 3.84 MHz Lower -50.49 dB Spacing 5 MHz Upper -50.31 dB

Alternate Channel

Bandwidth 3.84 MHz Lower -51.24 dB

Spacing 10 MHz Upper -51.22 dB

Date: 23.OCT.2006 09:45:26

Getting Started


In the SELECT USER CORRECTION menu, open the file USERCOR.TXT containing frequency response example data of an RF cable.

Fig. 8 User correction data

Press UPLOAD to send the correction data to the active generator.

Software Description


6 Software Description

Double-click the RSCOMMANDER icon to start the program. The main screen will appear after a few seconds.

Main menu

The main menu appears as shown below and features five pull-down menus: FILE, NEW, UTILITY FUNCTIONS, SPECIAL FUNCTIONS, WINDOW and HELP.

Fig. 9 Main menu

File

Fig. 10 File menu

REMOTE INTERFACES Dialog box Allows automatic and manual detec-tion of Rohde & Schwarz instruments connected to GPIB and LAN in-terfaces. This dialog box has two areas Interface Scan and Add In-strument Manually.

INTERFACE SCAN:



INTERFACE Select GPIB0 (default), GPIB1, LAN (subnet) or LAN (any). The GPIB1 board identifier is used for a secondary GPIB board installed in the PC.

SCAN Scans GPIB ADDRESS 0 to 31 on interface GPIB0, GPIB1, LAN (subnet) or LAN (any).

Fig. 11 GPIB Scan

If LAN (subnet) is selected the local subnet is scanned for VXI-11 compatible instruments. Any successfully identified devices are then added to the list of devices in the INTERFACE SCAN dia-log box.

After the scan procedure has been finished a yellow circle is

dispsplayed on the right side of the Scan button . Clicking on this icon displays a list of all VXI-11 compatible devices on the subnet. Only devices identified as instruments and having their port for remote control available are however added to the list of devices.

The option Include RSIB allows you to find old Windows NT based Devices by including the RSIB Passport Library. RSIB Passport has to be installed on your system. If RSIB Passport is not installed on your System, this option will silently fail.

Warning: This option can dramatically slow down your search process you should only use it if you know that you have such a device.

Fig. 12 Fig. 12 LAN (subnet) Scan

In order to scan outside the subnet the LAN (any) option can be used. It allows the local address (0 to 255) of a custom network domain (e.g. 192.168.0.) to be searched for R&S instruments.

Fig. 13 LAN (any) Scan

ADD INSTRUMENT MANUALLY:



INSTR. NAME Enter a custom name for the instrument, e.g. MyFSQ or choose a predefined one from the pull down menu.

INTERFACE Select from LAN, GPIB0 or GPIB1.

NETWORK ADDRESS Enter an IP address or logical name of an instrument, e.g. FSQ8-200176, and press Enter or click on the ADD button.

Fig. 14 FSQ LAN

GPIB ADDRESS Select the primary address (PAD) of an in-strument connected to GPIB0 or GPIB1 and press ADD.

Fig. 15 FSQ GPIB

After all instruments have been added to the DEVICES TO ATTACH list, check the ones you will actually use and press OK.

Fig. 16 Scanned VISA resources

The instrument names will appear in the SELECTED INSTRUMENTS list. The instrument type is shown in brackets. The INTERFACE indi-cator displays the VISA resource name of the selected instrument. If a LAN device has been added another text box is displayed to the left of the INTERFACE indicator, showing the computer name of the device.



Fig. 17 Selected Instrument

Note: If the attempt to add any of the selected devices fails, an error message with the custom name of the device is displayed. The successfully detected devices are added to the instrument list of the software, but the REMOTE INTERFACES dialog box remains opened. The device that is currently unavailable can then either be removed or deselected, so that no further attempt is made to add it.

SETTINGS Opens a configuration window for HARDCOPY, TRACE and USER CORRECTION.

HARDCOPY Allows to select the BACKGROUND COLOR and on a hardcopy event either

Fig. 18 Hardcopy settings

1. Color Enable/Disable colored hardcopys. This will only work on devices that support colored hardcopys.

2. SAVE IMAGE TO FILE automatically save the hardcopy im-age to a filed named: @yyyy-mm-

dd_hr_min_sec..

3. COPY IMAGE TO CLIPBOARD (default) This is selected by default and copies the image into the clipboard. It can be pasted to any Windows object with Ctrl-V.

4. PASTE IMAGE TO WORD Automatically copies the image at the cursor position in an open Microsoft Word document.

TRACE Allows to set the actions on a trace event.

Fig. 19 Trace Settings



1. SAVE DATA TO FILE Save the ASCII data (level vs. fre-quency or level vs. time) to the file @yyyy-mm-dd_hr_min_sec.txt

2. COPY IMAGE TO CLIPBOARD Copies the graph of the trace data to the clipboard. It can be imported to any document with Ctrl-V.

3. COPY TRACE DATA TO CLIPBOARD (default) Copies the ASCII data (level vs. frequency or level vs. time) to the clip-board. It can be pasted to any Windows object with Ctrl-V.

4. PASTE TRACE DATA INTO EXCEL Pastes the trace data into an open Microsoft Excel sheet.

USER CORRECTION Allows to use custom files by varying the parameters: COLUMN SEPARATOR, position of FREQuency and LEVEL values, START IN ROW.

Fig. 20 User correction settings

- COLUMN SEPARATOR Defines the character used for sepa-rating the two values, either or custom one, e.g. , ;, , etc.

- FREQ. VALUES IN Defines which column is used as fre-quency value. Default: first column.

- LEVEL VALUES IN Defines which column is used as level correction value. Default: Last (usually 2

nd column).

- START IN ROW Defines which row to start with. This is necessary in case the file has a header.

Note: Data files generated by the frequency response meas-urement program FreRes *.dat (see Application Note 1MA09) need the following configuration in order to be imported correctly. The columns are separated by a .

Fig. 21 User correction settings for FreRes



DIRECTORY FOR SAVING FILES User-configurable directory where hard-copy and trace files are saved and user correction files are loaded.

New

Fig. 22 New menu

HARDCOPY Performs a hardcopy of the selected instrument screen and copies the image to the selected destination.

Note: If an instrument does not provide WMF, EWMF, BMP or JPG formatted hardcopies, e.g. UPL (PCX), a mes-sage appears notifying the user that the standard ex-ternal viewer will be used.

Fig. 23 FSQ Hardcopy

The following functions are available in the hardcopy window :

UPDATE Performs another hardcopy and updates the current win-dow.

COPY Copies the hardcopy to the clipboard, from where it can be pasted into other applications with Ctrl-V.

SAVE Opens a file dialog for saving the *.wmf file.

PRINT Opens a file dialog for printing the hardopy.

TRACE DISPLAY Performs a trace on the selected instrument and returns the data to the selected destination. The data is displayed in a customized graphic.



Fig. 24 FSQ trace

The following functions are available in the trace window :

TRACE NUMBER Selects the according trace. An additional trace must be defined on the device manually (see instrument manual for details).

UPDATE Reads the data of the trace number and updates the cur-rent window.

COPY Copies the trace data to the clipboard, from where it can be pasted into other applications with Ctrl-V, e.g.:

987250000; -97.6549911499023 987290865.384615; -101.38890838623 987331730.769231; -100.270118713379 987372596.153846; -101.440811157227 987413461.538462; -99.4232406616211 987454326.923077; -98.0625915527344 987495192.307692; -97.9781723022461 987536057.692308; -98.2845458984375 987576923.076923; -99.3772201538086 987617788.461538; -98.2349472045898

COLOR Selects the desired trace color.

Fig. 25 Trace color

SCALE X Performs an auto scale of the x coordinate.

SCALE Y Performs an auto scale of the y coordinate.

SAVE Opens a dialog box to specify a file name and save the cur-rent trace data.

PRINT Opens a dialog for printing the trace graphic.



MARKER 1..6 Turns on marker 1 to 6 and displays current posi-tion.

Fig. 26 Trace markers

The X- and Y-Lin/Log checkbox allows you to switch between linear and logarithmic display of both coordinate axis. If one of the axis has already a logarithmic unit like dBm, this option will be disabeled for this axis.

Clicking the right mouse button while the mouse cursor is inside the graphics window displays the marker menu.

Fig. 27 Marker menu

ZOOM Allows you to zoom in X, Y, XY and reset to original auto scale setting (Zoom out). Select the desired function, e.g. Zoom XY, and mark an area by positioning the mouse cursor at the start point and moving it to the stop point with pressed left mouse button.



Fig. 28 Selecting the zoom area

After you release the mouse button, the selected area is fitted into the whole graphics window.

Fig. 29 Zoomed trace

PAN Allows you to move the trace in X, Y or XY direction inside the graphics window with the mouse cursor by pressing the left mouse button.

POINTS Draws points on all measured values.

LINE Connects all measured points with lines when enabled.



FILE BROWSER INSTRUMENT Allows you to copy files from the in-strument to the PC or vice versa. This function is useful for GPIB instruments. A more effective way to access files on LAN instru-ments is either via net drive or remote desktop.

Fig. 30 FSQ file system

The file browser function can also be used for displaying and copy-ing screenshots performed on the instrument itself. The following example shows how to display or copy a screenshot file located on the CMU200.

Select the CMU as active instrument and press OK.

Fig. 31 CMU VISA resource

Note: When using a CMU instrument, RSCommander can on-ly transfer and view hardcopies, which have previously been initiated manually by pressing the PRINT key on the frontpanel of the instrument.



Press the FILES button, key or select NEW FILE BROWSER - INSTRUMENT. Change to the INT:\USERDATA\PRINT subdirectory.

Fig. 32 CMU file system

Right-click on the preferred file to either OPEN with the default windows viewer or transfer and SAVE TO the local harddrive.

Fig. 33 CMU file view or save

Fig. 34 CMU screencopy



PRINT TABLES Performs a copy of the peak list table of the select-ed instrument screen and copies the image to the selected destina-tion.

Fig. 35 FSQ peak list table

The following functions are available in the tables window :

UPDATE Updates the current window.

COPY Copies the table to the clipboard, from where it can be pasted into other applications with Ctrl-V.

SAVE Opens a file dialog for saving the table e.g. as text file.

SCRIPTS Invokes a predefined sequence of SCPI-commands. This function is used in order to download s-parameter result files from network analyzers (NWA). A detailed describtion is available below in the chapter Scripts: NWA s-parameter download.

Utility functions menu



Fig. 36 Utility functions menu

POLL STATUS INFORMATION Polls and displays the status infor-mation, installed options and recent error messages of the active instrument.

Fig. 37 Polling status information

The firmware revision of the device is the last item of the DEVICE ID string, e.g. 2.1.6.0-02.02.64 beta.

The Copy button copies the contents of the box to the clipboard.

INTERACTIVE CONTROL Allows you to send commands to and re-ceive data from the active instrument.

Fig. 38 Interactive control

When a command terminated with a question mark is transferred to the instrument by pressing SEND, the answer is automatically read and displayed. With COPY, the whole command history and the an-swers from the instrument are copied to the clipboard.



RAW READING Copies data of the active instrument to a file. This menu option is useful for reading ASCII or binary data points from an instrument. Usually there are also several commands necessary to configure and trigger a measurement and read the data. Use the Add button to add more commands to the list. The results of only the last command are saved into the file. If the whole command- response history is necessary, the Interactive Control box can be used. The list of commands is cleared by closing the Raw Reading window.

Fig. 39 Raw reading

IP ADDRESS RESOLVER Helpful utility for resolving the IP address from an instrument name or vice versa. Choose the method of re-solving and enter the IP address or computer name into the upper box. Pressing the Enter button or clicking on Resolve displays the result in the lower box.



Fig. 40 IP address to name Fig. 41 Name to IP Address



Special Functions menu

Fig. 42 Special functions

Read Calibration Results Reads the active instruments result file of the most recent internal calibration procedure.

Fig. 43 Calibration results



READ SELFTEST RESULTS Reads the active instruments result of its most recent selftest procedure (usually the last power-up).

Fig. 44 Selftest results

READ HARDWARE INFO Reads the active instruments information on hardware options and revisions.

Fig. 45 Hardware info



Window menu

Fig. 46 Window menu

The Window menu allows you to customize the RSCommander user in-terface.

CASCADE The windows are cascaded.

Fig. 47 Cascaded windows



TILE HORIZONTALLY Full view of all windows, which are resized to fit the screen.

Fig. 48 Horizontally tiled windows

TILE VERTICALLY Full view of all windows, which are resized to fit the screen.

ARRANGE ICONS Arranges icons for better readability.

SKINS Selects from three different skins.

Help

Fig. 49 Help menu

HELP Opens the online help, displaying the list of contents.

ABOUT Displays information about the program version.



Command Buttons

By means of the five command buttons the functions of the NEW-menu can be directly invoked. The functions are described in the chapter of the NEW-menu above in this document.



Scripts: NWA s-parameter download

INTRODUCTION

By means of the Scripts command button a special download function for Network Analyzer (NWA) result files is available. Similar to the gen-eral Files command button, data transfer can be performed from the NWA to a local PC via the remote control interface. In contrast to the Files button the data transfer function on behind the Scripts button does not expect any file already available on the NWA, but automatical-ly creates the file to be downloaded, for instance s-parameter result files. The properties of the file to be created are specified via so called Script files which include all information the NWA needs in order to create a special file format. The user simply has to select a special for-mat by selecting an appropriate script file. For ZNB and ZVAB there are ten prepared basic script files available each, according to the ten most common file formats.

Depending on the selected script file, the user sometimes is being asked for either a channel number or a trace name. The user can finally specify the file name which is used to store the result file on the local PC. Simply pressing the Run button at the user interface of RSC will perform file creation on the NWA and will automatically transfer the re-sult file to the local PC. All this is done on a completely remote con-trolled basis, there is no need to operate the NWA manually for this purpose.

This way NWA result files of *.s1p, *.s2p or *.CSV formats with various options can be easily created and downloaded to a local PC in order to be post-processed or being displayed by means of various user appli-cation software.

For trace data download the Trace button is not usable anymore for all network analyzer families. The Script button instead provides so-phisticated and convenient replacement for the Trace button. In Rohde & Schwarz commander above version 1.6.2 the Trace button is disabled for all families of network analyzers.

The subsequent text provides detailed information how to perform file downloads, a summary of script files, a description of a sample session and a set of frequently asked questions.



FILE CREATION AND DOWNLOAD

Explanation of the Scripts user interface and proceeding for file transfer :

(1) Select a script file from the list. The instruments where the script file can be applied to are shown in brackets behind the name of the script file. Each selected script file provides a description (2) regarding its file transfer properties. The user may move through the entire description using the scroll bar at the right side of the description field (2). The de-scription field is updated for each newly selected script file. Therefore steps (1) and (2) may be repeated until a suitable script file is found. When the focus is on field (1) a mouse wheel may be used to step through the script files quickly. For each wheel step field (1), (2) and (3) are updated.

The line starting with LocalFile (3) specifies the target location where the file will be stored on the local PC. This field is filled in per default by a unique default name for each selected script file. The default name as well as the default path can be overwritten if the user wants a different path or file name. The default path is defined within the RS Commander File Menu Directory for saving files as shown below :

Depending on the selected script file sometimes additional parameters are requested. For instance a trace name or a channel number are ex-pected if it is needed by the selected script file.

Pressing the Run button (4) will start file creation and file download. The file creation and download process is repeated each time the Run button is activated. If the local file already exists, it will be overwritten without any notice. If older file versions have to be kept, file naming in a 000, 001, 002 fashion is recommended as shown in field (3) of the figure above. The status field (5) finally shows whether the operation was successful or if a problem has been encountered.

When Rohde & Schwarz Commander is ended and started again, all settings will be kept in memory in order the settings have to be done for the first time use only.



SCRIPT FILES FOR NWA FAMILY ZNB

Starting with RSC version 1.6.2. script files for the ZNB family are available. For ZNB there are currently ten script files available accord-ing to the ten most common file formats. The script with the name DL_SCR_016 is the simplest one. It stores all traces from channel 1 of the NWA to the local file on the PC. A common CSV (comma sepa-rated values) file format with real/imag values and semicolon as field separator is used in this case.

Using script file DL_SCR_017 a special t r a c e can be selected by its name for file creation and download. Using script file DL_SCR_018 a special c h a n n e l can be selected by its number, all traces belonging to this channel are taken into account in this case.

Each of the ten basic script files provides detailed information on its properties displayed in the text field of the user interface directly below the name of the script file. The entire content can be displayed by mov-ing the scroll bar at the right of the text field.

The table below summarizes the 10 script files for ZNB :

Name Purpose Channel Trace Data format

CSV SxP Field Sep

DL_SCR_016 Simple format, real / imag

Always 1 All traces from Ch1

Real/ Imag

X - ;

DL_SCR_017 Selectable trace, real / imag

- Specified by name

Real/ Imag

X - ;

DL_SCR_018 Selectable channel, real / imag

Specified by number

All traces from sel. Channel

Real/ Imag

X - ;

DL_SCR_019 Simple format, dB magn.


dB magn.

X - ;

DL_SCR_020 Selectable trace, dB magn

- Specified by name

dB magn.

X - ;

DL_SCR_021 Selectable channel, dB magn

Specified by number


dB magn.

X - ;

DL_SCR_022 Selectable trace, S1P

- Specified by name

Real/ Imag

- S1P Alike SxP std.


- Specified by name

Lin. magn. & phase



- Specified by name

dB magn. & phase


DL_SCR_025 Selectable channel, S2P

Specified by number


Accord. to SxP std.


Example: In an actual test setup the ZNB displays three traces in three channels. All traces are known by their name and the data of just one single trace is to be downloaded. The data format is expected to be in logarithmic magnitude in dB. In this case script file DL_SCR_020 has to be selected, because the selection of a special trace by its name is possible in this case. For multiport tests using script DL_SCR_025 all measurement results must be available for successfull download. Two port tests for instance need the results of S11, S22, S12 and S21 pa-rameters before pressing the Run button in the scripts window, i.e. starting the download function.



If the ZNB displays only a single trace either the script DL_SCR_016 or DL_SCR_019 are recommended, depending on the expected data format real/imaginary or db magnitude respectively.

In order to explore the behaviour of the script files it is recommended to select one after each other and press Run. Due to the unique default LocalFile name we will get 10 different result files in the target directo-ry which can be compared with the NWA display one after each other. This way it is easy to get an idea about the output format created by each script file. The marker function along with its info field is suitable to compare the trace values with the data in the downloaded file.

The set of supported formats within RSCommander can be easily ex-tended by additional script files. Please ask the authors of this applica-tion note if your requirements are not covered by scripts so far availa-ble.

The scripts are installed along with the installation of RSCommander. Therefore the scripts are automatically updated with each update of RSCommander.



SCRIPT FILES FOR NWA FAMILY ZVAB

For ZVAB there are currently ten script files available according to the ten most common file formats. The script with the name DL_SCR_000 is the simplest one. It stores all traces from channel 1 of the NWA to the local file on the PC. A common CSV (comma separated values) file format with real/imag values and semicolon as field separator is used in this case.

Using script file DL_SCR_001 a special t r a c e may be selected by its name for file creation and download. Using script file DL_SCR_002 a special c h a n n e l may be selected by its num-ber, all traces belonging to this channel are taken into account in this case.

Each of the ten basic script files provides detailed information on its properties displayed in the text field of the user interface directly below the name of the script file. The entire content may be displayed by mov-ing the scroll bar at the right of the text field.

The table below summarizes the 10 script files for ZVAB :

Name Purpose Channel Trace Data format

CSV SxP Field Sep

DL_SCR_000 Simple format, real / imag


Real/ Imag

X - ;

DL_SCR_001 Selectable trace, real / imag

- Specified by name

Real/ Imag

X - ;

DL_SCR_002 Selectable channel, real / imag

Specified by number


Real/ Imag

X - ;

DL_SCR_003 Simple format, dB magn.


dB magn.

X - ;

DL_SCR_004 Selectable trace, dB magn

- Specified by name

dB magn.

X - ;

DL_SCR_005 Selectable channel, dB magn

Specified by number


dB magn.

X - ;


- Specified by name

Real/ Imag



- Specified by name

Lin. magn. & phase



- Specified by name

dB magn. & phase


DL_SCR_009 Selectable channel, S2P

Specified by number


Accord. to SxP std.


Example: In an actual test setup the ZVA displays three traces in three channels. All traces are known by their name and the data of just one single trace is to be downloaded. The data format is expected to be in logarithmic magnitude in dB. In this case script file DL_SCR_004 has to be selected, because the selection of a special trace by its name is possible in this case.

If the ZVA displays only a single trace either the script DL_SCR_000 or DL_SCR_003 are recommended, depending on the expected data format real/imaginary or db magnitude respectively.



There exist further script files for other instruments beyond ZNB and ZVAB, however they behave in a similar way and are herein not de-scribed. In addition, script files always provide their dedicated descrip-tion as shown above in field (2) .



SAMPLE SESSION

Provided the network analyzer ZVA shows results as depicted in the figure below :

There are 6 traces scattered over 5 channels. Channel 1 includes 2 traces. Each trace is shown in an individual Smith chart in the upper half of the figure. The window in the lower left includes one single trace Trc3 within the channel Ch2. The window in the lower right includes 3 traces (Trc4, Trc5 and Trc6) distributed over 3 channels (Ch3, Ch4 and Ch5).

In the following three examples we will show how to download specific parts of various ZVA traces as shown in this screen shot.



Example 1: Download all traces from Channel 1

In this case we will download S11 data from the green trace in the up-per left and S22 data from the blue trace in the upper right. We can use the simplest script file from the script file selection list as shown in the figure below :

We define the target path to C:\test\ and the target file name to S11_22_result.csv. This is done by clicking into the white field at the right of the field LocalFile and then defining the appropriate path and name by means of the Save as field which is popping up.

After pressing the Run-button we will get the result file as listed in the excerpt below :

Both traces of channel 1 are included.

Example 2: Download the single trace Trc2 (upper right curve of NWA display)

In this case we will use script DL_SCR_001 as shown below

As we can see, this is script is expecting a trace name. We have en-tered Trc2, because we want the data from the upper right window of our NWA. The excerpt from the resulting file S22.CSV is shown below :



Script file DL_SCR_001 as used in this example provides data in complex values including real and imaginary parts.

We can also get the format db magnitude / phase which is provided by script DL_SCR_004 as shown below :

The excerpt of the appropriate target file S22_db_magn.csv is as fol-lows :

Example 3: Download all traces from channel 2 (lower left curve of NWA display)

In this case we select script DL_SCR_005 as shown below :



The script file now is expecting a channel number (chan). We enter 2 and press Run. The appropriate result file OrangeCurve.csv is as follows (excerpt) :

We get one trace Trc3 because there is only one trace in Channel 2.

Example 4: Create and download a file in the standard s2p-format

The SxP-standard file format requires that along with two-port-networks all 4 s-parameters are concurrently measured, i.e. S11, S12, S21 and S22. For this reason we create a new measurement setup with the NWA, where all 4 s-parameters are measured according to the figure below :

Each s-parameter is displayed in its individual window. Additionally we have located a marker at the starting point of the sweep frequency (1.7 GHz) for each window. Each marker value is displayed in terms of its real and imaginary value in order to compare the results with the down-loaded file.



The figure below shows the script window in order to download the re-sults in standard S2P-format using RSCommander :

The appropriate result file xxx_009.s2p includes 9 columns of meas-urement data. The following excerpts provide the very first rows along with certain columns as indicated on top :

Excerpt 1: Head comments and column 1 to colum 3

Column 1 includes the frequency, column 2 (-2.449) and column 3 (-2.665) the real and imaginary values of S11. We can compare this with the green curve in the upper left of the NWA screen shot above. The appropriate marker values show identical results for the first row in the table.

Excerpt 2: First rows of column 4 and 5

The first column (2.637) and the second column (6.45) provide the real and imaginary values of S21. We can compare this with the or-ange curve in the lower left of the NWA screen shot above. The appro-priate marker values show identical results for the first row in the table, i.e. for the frequency = 1.7 GHz.




The first column (3.0161 ) and the second column (5.014) provide the real and imaginary values of S12. We can compare this with the red curve in the lower right of the NWA screen shot above. The appropri-ate marker values show identical results for the first row in the table, i.e. for the frequency = 1.7 GHz.


The first column (-3.735 ) and the second column (1.553) provide the real and imaginary values of S22. We can compare this with the light blue curve in the upper right of the NWA screen shot above. The appropriate marker values show identical results for the first row in the table, i.e. for the frequency = 1.7 GHz.

By means of the markers we can easily compare the measured values with the downloaded file. Another suitable way to verify the data is by means of EDA tools like Ansoft Designer SV or RFSim99 where the SxP-files can be loaded and displayed. Files of CSV-format can easily be verified using Excel where they can be directly loaded in and where they also can be graphically displayed. Matlab or the freely available Octave are also suitable tools for postprocessing NWA result files.

Frequently asked questions on NWA s-parameter downloads us-ing script files

This section covers common pitfalls and obstacles along with their solu-tions.

Q1: When pressing Run I get the Success message, but I cant find neither the target file nor the target directory. A1: Check whether there are hidden directories within the file system on your PC. Use the windows file explorer for this purpose and make them visible.

Q2: When repeating file download I each time get slightly different re-sults even I dont change anything at the network analyzer.

A2: This is because the NWA is sweeping constantly and the results are overwritten for each sweep. Change the Free Run trigger mode at the Network Analyzer to Manual Trigger (SWEEP Trigger Manual Trigger). In this case you will get con-stant results for each download.



Q3: When I enter the channel name Ch1 in order to specify the chan-nel for download (chan parameter) I always get the message Error 141, Invalid character

A3: Channels are specified by n u m b e r s . Therefore enter just the number 1 if you want to download from Ch1 and enter the number 2 if you want to download from Ch2 and so on. Names and letters are only possible for the specification of a t r a c e. Therefore, when selecting a trace for download you can specify the full name of the trace, ex. Trc1 or Trc2.

Q4: When I change the path/directory of the LocalFile I always have to re-enter this when closing the Script window or when restarting RSCommander.

A4: Use the RSCommander File-Menu item Directory for Saving Files in order to specify the target path/directory. In this case the setting will stay constant even when restarting RSCommander.

Q5: At the bottom of the description field I sometimes get the indication example: but there is no example

A5: Use the scroll bar at the right side of the description field in order to read the entire text.

Q6: When opening the Scripts window by pressing the appropriate button I cant find a script file for ZNB.

A6: ZNB is implemented only beginning with Rohde & Schwarz Com-mander version 1.6.2. Please download and install the latest version from the R&S homepage.

Q7: When using script DL_SCR_025 along with ZNB I get an Execu-tion Error when trying to download the s2p file for a 2-port meas-urement.

A7: Multiport measurements always need the full set of s-parameters before result file download. Please make available the traces for S11, S22, S12 and S21 on your ZNB before starting the download.

Hardware and Software Requirements


7 Hardware and Software Requirements

The minimum requirements for running RSCommander are:

PC with Pentium 5 500 MHz processor or higher, 1 GB RAM, 100 MB free hard disk space, XGA monitor (1024x768), LAN inter-face and Windows XP / 7 32- or 64-bit operating systems.

Optional National Instruments (NI) or Agilent GPIB controller.

Since RSCommander supports Rohde & Schwarz instruments with var-ious interfaces (GPIB and LAN), the appropriate driver software must be installed first. The following table shows which software must be in-

stalled when using devices with certain interfaces ().

NI-GPIB

v3.x NI-VISA

v4.x

Agilent I/O Library M01.01

RSIB-Passport

v1.4

Rohde & Schwarz instrument and NI-GPIB controller Rohde & Schwarz instrument and Agilent GPIB controller Rohde & Schwarz instrument and LAN interface Rohde & Schwarz instrument with Windows/NT OS and LAN interface

A software driver needs to be installed only once and not separately for each device.

If you are using a National Instruments GPIB controller (AT-GPIB, PCI-GPIB or PCMCIA-GPIB), the NI-VISA runtime version is free of charge. If no NI hardware or software (LabWindows/CVI or Lab-VIEW) is installed but you need NI-VISA for LAN control, please ob-serve National Instruments licensing regulations (see http://www.ni.com for details).

If you are using an Agilent GPIB controller, you only need the Ag-ilent I/O Library M01.01 (or higher), which may be obtained at http://www.agilent.com.

Note: Older instruments with Windows NT OS cannot be upgraded to VXI-11 compatibility and require the controlling PC to have RSIB-Passport installed (application note 1EF47). Scan LAN will discover such devices if the Include RSIB option is active (see section 6) and RSIB Passport is installed.

Additional Information


8 Additional Information

Please contact [email protected] for comments and further suggestions.

9 List of Supported Instruments

A list of the supported instruments is available at:

http://www.rohde-schwarz.com/appnote/1ma74

10 Ordering Information Examples

The following list gives only some examples for ordering information. Please contact your local sales office for details.

Signal Generator R&S SMW200A (100 kHz to 6 GHz) 1412.0000.02 R&S SMU200A (100 kHz to 6 GHz) 1141.2005.02 R&S SMA100A (9 kHz to 3 GHz) 1400.0000.02 R&S SMLxx (9 kHz to 3.3 GHz) 1090.3000.xx R&S SMV03 (9 kHz to 3.3 GHz) 1147.7509.13 R&S SMJ100A (100 kHz to 6 GHz) 1403.4507.02

Microwave Generator R&S SMF100A (1 GHz to 44 GHz) 1167.0000.02

Test Receiver R&S ESRx (9 kHz to 7 GHz) 1316.4500.0x R&S ESRPxx (9 kHz to 3 GHz) 1166.5950.03 R&S FSMRxx (20 Hz to 50 GHz) 1166.3311.xx R&S ESUxx (20 Hz to 40.0 GHz) 1302.6005.xx

Spectrum Analyzer R&S FSWxx (2 Hz to 50 GHz) 1312.8000.xx R&S FSCx (9 kHz to 6 GHz) 1314.3006.xx R&S FSH4/8 (9 kHz to 8 GHz) 1309.6000.0x R&S FSUxx (20 Hz to 67 GHz) 1129.9003.xx R&S FSQxx (20 Hz to 40 GHz) 1313.9100.xx R&S FSL6 (9 kHz to 6 GHz) 1300.2502.16 R&S FSUPxx (20 Hz to 50.0 GHz) 1166.3505.xx

Network Analyzer R&S ZNBxx (9 kHz to 40 GHz) 1311.6010.xx R&S ZVAxx (300 kHz to 40 GHz) 1145.1110.xx R&S ZVBxx (300 kHz to 20 GHz) 1145.1010.xx R&S ZNBxx (9 kHz to 40 GHz) 1311.6010.xx R&S ZVH4/8 (100 kHz to 8 GHz) 1309.6800.2x R&S ZVT8 (300 kHz to 20 GHz) 1300.0000.08

Communication Tester R&S CMWxxx Univ. Radio Communic.Tester 1201.0002.xx R&S CBT Bluetooth Tester 1153.9000.35

Digital Oscilloscope R&S RTOxxxx Digital Osc. 4 Channels, 2

GHz, 10 GSa/s, 20/80 MSa 13xx.xxxx.xx

R&S RTExxxx Digital Osc. 4 Channels, 1 GHz, 5 GSa/s, 10/40 MSa

1317.2500.xx

R&S RTMxxxx Digital Osc. 4 Channels, 500 MHz, 5 GSa/s, 10/20 MSa

5710.0xxx.xx

Audio Analyzer R&S UPV Audio Analyzer 1146.2003.02

Appendix A RSCommander.ini


Appendix A RSCommander.ini

The file RSCommander.ini contains data about the resource strings of the instruments that have previously been used within the program. This file will be created upon the first program startup. To reset the set-tings of RSCommander simply remove this file from your hard drive.

The RSCommander.ini from version 1.4 is incompatible to former ver-sions. Please refrain from using an old version of this file.

It is possible to add a section to the RSCommander.ini called [ESCAPESEQS]. Computer names starting with strings defined in this block shall be skipped during the scan procedure for autodiscovery of instruments connected to the LAN. If any workstations on the LAN are significantly slowing down the scan procedure they can be entered in this list to improve the performance of the scan.

Example:

[ESCAPESEQS]

VAL1 = XYZ

VAL2 = YZX

These entries avoid scanning of workstations with computer names starting with XYZ or YZX.

Appendix B VisaDevices.ini

The file VisaDevices.ini contains all currently supported devices and their features. Normally, no changes to this file are required.

The section [MASTERDEVICES] contains all currently supported mas-ter devices. As moast masterdevices require specific code, adding new master devices is not possible to users.

The section [MAPPINGS] contains all mapped devices. If a device is mapped to a master device RSCommader will treat it like it is of the master devices type. This only works on compatible devices.

The section [FUNCTIONS] contains the individual features of the mas-ter devices.

ROHDE & SCHWARZ GmbH & Co. KG . Mhldorfstrae 15

. D-81671 Mnchen

. P.O.B 80 14 69

. D-81614 Mnchen

.

Telephone +49 89 4129 -0 . Fax +49 89 4129 - 13777

. Internet: http://www.rohde-schwarz.com

This Application Note and the supplied programs may only be used subject to the conditions of use set forth in the down-load area of the Rohde & Schwarz website.

rscommander - versatile software tool for rohde & schwarz instruments

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