-
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
1MA74_11 3 Rohde & Schwarz
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
1MA74_11 4 Rohde & Schwarz
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
1MA74_11 5 Rohde & Schwarz
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
1MA74_11 6 Rohde & Schwarz
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
1MA74_11 7 Rohde & Schwarz
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
1MA74_11 8 Rohde & Schwarz
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:
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 9 Rohde & Schwarz
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:
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 10 Rohde & Schwarz
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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 11 Rohde & Schwarz
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
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 12 Rohde & Schwarz
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
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 13 Rohde & Schwarz
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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 14 Rohde & Schwarz
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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 15 Rohde & Schwarz
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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 16 Rohde & Schwarz
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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 17 Rohde & Schwarz
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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 18 Rohde & Schwarz
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
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 19 Rohde & Schwarz
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
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 20 Rohde & Schwarz
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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 21 Rohde & Schwarz
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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 22 Rohde & Schwarz
Fig. 40 IP address to name Fig. 41 Name to IP Address
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 23 Rohde & Schwarz
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
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 24 Rohde & Schwarz
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
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 25 Rohde & Schwarz
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
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 26 Rohde & Schwarz
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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 27 Rohde & Schwarz
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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 28 Rohde & Schwarz
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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 29 Rohde & Schwarz
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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 30 Rohde & Schwarz
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.
Always 1 All traces from Ch1
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
All traces from sel. Channel
dB magn.
X - ;
DL_SCR_022 Selectable trace, S1P
- Specified by name
Real/ Imag
- S1P Alike SxP std.
DL_SCR_023 Selectable trace, S1P
- Specified by name
Lin. magn. & phase
- S1P Alike SxP std.
DL_SCR_024 Selectable trace, S1P
- Specified by name
dB magn. & phase
- S1P Alike SxP std.
DL_SCR_025 Selectable channel, S2P
Specified by number
All traces from sel. Channel
Accord. to SxP std.
- S2P Alike 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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 31 Rohde & Schwarz
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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 32 Rohde & Schwarz
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
Always 1 All traces from Ch1
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
All traces from sel. Channel
Real/ Imag
X - ;
DL_SCR_003 Simple format, dB magn.
Always 1 All traces from Ch1
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
All traces from sel. Channel
dB magn.
X - ;
DL_SCR_006 Selectable trace, S1P
- Specified by name
Real/ Imag
- S1P Alike SxP std.
DL_SCR_007 Selectable trace, S1P
- Specified by name
Lin. magn. & phase
- S1P Alike SxP std.
DL_SCR_008 Selectable trace, S1P
- Specified by name
dB magn. & phase
- S1P Alike SxP std.
DL_SCR_009 Selectable channel, S2P
Specified by number
All traces from sel. Channel
Accord. to SxP std.
- S2P Alike 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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 33 Rohde & Schwarz
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) .
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 34 Rohde & Schwarz
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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 35 Rohde & Schwarz
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 :
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 36 Rohde & Schwarz
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 :
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 37 Rohde & Schwarz
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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 38 Rohde & Schwarz
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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 39 Rohde & Schwarz
Excerpt 3: First rows of column 6 and 7
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.
Excerpt 4: First rows of column 8 and 9
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.
-
Software Description
1MA74_11 40 Rohde & Schwarz
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
1MA74_11 41 Rohde & Schwarz
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
1MA74_11 42 Rohde & Schwarz
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
1MA74_11 43 Rohde & Schwarz
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.