Performance Considerations

Here are some tips that will help you maximize the 89600 VSA's measurement update rate:

Hide the VSA application

When possible, hide the VSA application by sending :DISPlay:ENABle 0. This will eliminate time spent in updating the user interface.

Minimize number of traces defined

Reduce the number of traces defined in the VSA to the minimum set necessary for your measurement scenario to minimize the number of calculations performed for each measurement sweep.

Use measurement switching instead of recalling setup

Switching between measurements is quicker than recalling a setup or presetting the VSA. When you have several measurement setups to iterate through as part of your test, you can create multiple measurements, each with one setup loaded, rather than recalling multiple setups into a single measurement, one after the other.

The tradeoff to the multi-measurement approach is memory usage, since the measurement objects (which each have their own set of data vectors) will reside in memory simultaneously.

"Measurement Speed Considerations" topic for demodulators

Some of the demodulators have a topic named "Measurement Speed Considerations" that contains information about maximizing measurement performance for that particular demodulator. The topic is usually located at: Optional Measurement Software > (path to demodulator help) > Making Measurements > Measurement Speed Considerations.