Programming the PNA using COM or using SICL/VISA over LAN (as in this example) leaves the PNA free to control GPIB devices as needed.
The first example, using Visual Basic, demonstrates the following:
Performing a source power calibration of Port 2 for Channel 1.
Reading the calibration data.
The second example performs a Receiver Power Cal using VBScript.
Learn more about Power Calibrations.
See an example that Uploads a Source Power Cal.
To run this program, you need:
One of the following power meters connected to the PNA through GPIB: E4416A, E4417A, E4418A/B, E4419A/B, 437B, 438A, EPM-441A, EPM-442A
Note: If your power meter is other than these, you can create your own Power Meter Driver using our template.
Your PC and PNA both connected to a LAN (for communicating with each other).
The SICL and VISA components of Agilent’s I/O Libraries software installed on your PC (both are included when you install the software, unless you already have another vendor's VISA installed. Then specify Full SICL and VISA installation to overwrite the other vendor's VISA.
The module visa32.bas added to your VB project.
A form with one button labeled cmdRun.
A VISA interface configured on your remote PC to control the PNA. This could be GPIB interface or a VISA LAN Client.
On the PNA connect a Thru cable from port 1 to port 2.
Note: The SOURce:POWer:CORRection:COLLect:ACQuire command, when used with a power meter, cannot be sent over the GPIB unless the power meter is connected to a different GPIB interface. See the alternative methods described in the command details.
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'Session to VISA Default Resource Manager Private defRM As Long 'Session to PNA Private viPNA As Long 'VISA function status return code Private status As Long
Private Sub Form_Load() defRM = 0 End Sub
Private Sub cmdRun_Click() ' String to receive data from the PNA. ' Dimensioned large enough to receive scalar comma-delimited values ' for 21 frequency points (20 ASCII characters per point) Dim strReply As String * 420
Dim strStimulus, strCalValue Dim strResult As String
' Open the VISA default resource manager status = viOpenDefaultRM(defRM) If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError
' Open a session (viPNA) to the PNA at "address 16" on the VISA ' interface configured as "GPIB1" on this PC. This could be a ' VISA LAN Client pointing to the SICL LAN Server on the PNA, or ' an actual GPIB interface on this PC connected to the PNA GPIB ' (in which case the power meter would need to be connected to a ' different GPIB interface on the PNA, such as the Keysight 82357A ' USB-to-GPIB). status = viOpen(defRM, "GPIB0::16::INSTR", 0, 0, viPNA) If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError
' Set the number of sweep points to 21 on Channel 1. status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "SENS1:SWE:POIN 21") If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError
' Specify the GPIB address of the power meter ' that will be used in performing the calibration. status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "SYST:COMM:GPIB:PMET:ADDR 13") If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError
' Turn use of the loss table OFF (this assumes there is ' virtually no loss in the RF path to the power sensor ' due to a splitter, coupler or adapter). status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "SOUR:POW:CORR:COLL:TABL:LOSS OFF") If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError
' Turn frequency checking OFF (so one power sensor is used for the entire cal ' acquisition sweep regardless of frequency span). status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "SOUR:POW:CORR:COLL:FCH OFF") If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError
' Specify a nominal power accuracy tolerance (NTOLerance) in dB for the calibration, ' and the maximum number (COUNt) of iterations to adjust power at each point, ' attempting to achieve within tolerance of the desired power. If at any stimulus ' point the power fails to reach within the set tolerance of the desired power ' after the maximum number of iterations, the power at that point will be set to the ' value determined by the last iteration (the Source Power Cal dialog box will ' indicate the FAIL, but we can still apply the cal if desired when it's complete). ' Each iteration is based upon a SETTLED power reading (see comments preceding the ' next two commands below). status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "SOUR1:POW2:CORR:COLL:ITER:NTOL 0.1") If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "SOUR1:POW2:CORR:COLL:ITER:COUN 3") If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError
' The worst-case window of power uncertainty (for a calibration which meets ' tolerance) is the sum of the iteration tolerance and the power meter settling ' tolerance (which is described below).
' At each stimulus point, the PNA takes power meter readings and determine when ' they have settled by comparing the magnitude difference between consecutive ' readings versus a nominal dB tolerance limit (NTOLerance) on that magnitude ' difference. When consecutive readings are within tolerance of each other, or ' if they are not within tolerance but we've taken a maximum number of readings ' (COUNt), the PNA does a weighted average of the readings taken at that stimulus ' point and that is considered our settled power reading. status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "SOUR1:POW2:CORR:COLL:AVER:NTOL 0.1") If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "SOUR1:POW2:CORR:COLL:AVER:COUN 5") If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError
' Specify if the cal power level is offset (positive value for a gain, negative ' value for a loss) from the PNA port power setting on the channel when no source ' power cal is active. This is to account for components between the PNA test ' port and cal reference plane. In this example, we will calibrate at the PNA ' test port, so there is no offset (it is zero).
status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "SOUR1:POW2:CORR:OFFS 0 DB") If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError
' Show the source power cal dialog during the source power cal acquisition. ' (this is the default, so this command is only necessary if this setting ' may have been changed beforehand, perhaps by another program). status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "SOUR1:POW2:CORR:COLL:DISP ON") If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError ' Clear the PNA’s SCPI status registers because we are going to be monitoring ' the event status register to detect when the OPC bit gets set indicating ' the cal ACQuire completed. status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "*CLS") If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError ' Setting the I/O timeout value to 6000 milliseconds (6 seconds), because the ' PNA may take up to that amount of time to respond to some commands/queries ' while the cal ACQuire is progressing. status = viSetAttribute(viPNA, VI_ATTR_TMO_VALUE, 6000) If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError ' Specify the method (type of device) that will be used to perform the cal. ' Choose from power meter (PMETer), power meter and receiver (PMReceiver) ' or just receiver (RECeiver). ' PMReceiver uses the power meter for the first iteration of each point and ' the PNA's reference receiver for subsequent iterations, so is much faster ' than using power meter only. But the power meter accounts for compression ' when calibrating at the output of an active device, whereas the reference ' receiver cannot unless it is coupled to the cal reference plane (on a PNA ' which allows direct access to the receivers). ' Perform the source power cal acquisition sweep using the sensor attached to ' Channel A of the power meter (asking for an OPC reply when it’s done). This ' assumes that the power sensor is already connected to Port 2 of the PNA.
' We'll put up an hourglass cursor while waiting for the acquire to complete. Screen.MousePointer = vbHourglass status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "SOUR1:POW:CORR:COLL:ACQ PMET,'ASEN','Port 2',ASYNchronous;*OPC") If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError ' Other valid selections would be the following: ‘ This mode uses Power Meter and Reference Receiver 'status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "SOUR1:POW:CORR:COLL:ACQ PMR,'BSEN','Port 2',ASYN;*OPC") ' This mode uses PNA receiver only (no power meter) 'status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "SOUR1:POW:CORR:COLL:ACQ REC,'b1','Port 2',ASYN;*OPC")
' Polling in a loop to detect when the OPC bit (bit 0, weight value 1) gets ' set in the Event Status Register indicating the ACQuire finished. In this ' type of loop is where you could do other operations in-between the polling ' (like having your program’s user-interface still respond to user input). ' If instead of Visual Basic you are programming in C or C++, as an ' alternative to having a polling loop like this, you could set up an SRQ ' handling function in your program (for example, see the documentation ' supplied with your vendor’s implementation of VISA on how to register for ' callback when an SRQ event occurs). Do status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "*ESR?") If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError status = myGPIBRead(viPNA, strReply) If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError esrByte = CByte(strReply) Loop While (esrByte And 1) = 0
' Change mouse cursor from hourglass back to normal Screen.MousePointer = vbDefault
' Conclude the calibration. This applies the cal data to PNA channel memory, ' and turns the correction ON for Port 2 on Channel 1, ' but does NOT save the calibration. status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "SOUR1:POW2:CORR:COLL:SAVE") If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError
' At this point, if you choose to save the instrument state as a ".CST" file, ' the calibration will be saved with the instrument state in that file.
' Prepare for doing data transfer in ASCII format. status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "FORM:DATA ASCII") If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError
' Read the stimulus values from Channel 1. status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "SENS1:X?") If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError status = myGPIBRead(viPNA, strReply) If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError
' Tokenize the reply string into an array containing the values strStimulus = Split(strReply, ",")
' Read the source power correction data. status = myGPIBWrite(viPNA, "SOUR1:POW2:CORR:DATA?") If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError status = myGPIBRead(viPNA, strReply) If (status < VI_SUCCESS) Then HandleVISAError
' Tokenize the reply string into an array containing the values strCalValue = Split(strReply, ",")
' Print the data using a message box (here, Chr returns the ASCII characters ' for Tab (9) and Linefeed (10)). strResult = "Stimulus" & Chr(9) & Chr(9) & "Cal Value" & Chr(10) For i = 0 To UBound(strStimulus) strResult = strResult & Val(strStimulus(i)) & Chr(9) & Val(strCalValue(i)) & Chr(10) Next MsgBox strResult End Sub
Private Function myGPIBWrite(ByVal viHandle As Long, ByVal strOut As String) As Long
' The "+ Chr$(10)" appends an ASCII linefeed character to the ' output, for terminating the write transaction. myGPIBWrite = viVPrintf(viHandle, strOut + Chr$(10), 0) End Function
Private Function myGPIBRead(ByVal viHandle As Long, strIn As String) As Long myGPIBRead = viVScanf(viHandle, "%t", strIn) End Function
Sub HandleVISAError() Dim strVisaErr As String * 200 Call viStatusDesc(defRM, status, strVisaErr) MsgBox "*** Error : " + strVisaErr, vbExclamation
' Close the resource manager session (which also closes ' the session to the PNA).
If defRM <> 0 Then Call viClose(defRM) End End Sub
Public Sub Wait(ByVal mS_delay As Long)
Dim t0 As Single t0 = Timer Do While Timer - t0 < mS_delay / 1000 Dim dummy As Integer dummy = DoEvents() ' if we cross midnight, back up one day If Timer < t0 Then t0 = t0 - 86400 Loop End Sub |
The SCPI commands in this example are sent over a COM interface using the SCPIStringParser object. You do NOT need a GPIB connection to run this example.
This VBScript (*.vbs) program can be run as a macro in the PNA. To do this, copy the following code into a text editor file, such as Notepad, and save it on the PNA hard drive as *.vbs.
Learn how to setup and run the macro.
Dim pna
Dim scpi
Set pna = CreateObject("AgilentPNA835x.Application")
Set scpi = pna.ScpiStringParser
' For simplicity, this example starts from the preset instrument state
scpi.Execute "SYST:PRESet"
' Turn off continuous sweep
scpi.Execute "INITiate:CONTinuous OFF"
' Select the S11 measurement that was created by the instrument preset
scpi.Execute "CALCulate:PARameter:SELect 'CH1_S11_1'"
' Change the measurement parameter to measure the B receiver
scpi.Execute "CALCulate:PARameter:MODify B,1"
' Specify the Calibration Type, then Prompt
' to ensure the receiver is connected to port 1.
scpi.Execute "SENSe:CORRection:COLLect:METHod RPOWer"
MsgBox "Connect port 1 to port 2 so power is supplied to the B receiver, then press enter"
' Acquire the power measurement; returning reply to *OPC? when finished.
response = scpi.Execute( "SENSe:CORRection:COLLect:ACQuire POWer;*OPC?" )
' Compute the error term, store to calset and turn on the calibration.
response = scpi.Execute( "SENSe:CORRection:COLLect:SAVE" )
MsgBox "Done with calibration."
Last modified:
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9/22/06 |
Modified for receiver only feature |