There are two methods you can use to remotely control the PNA: COM and SCPI. The following topics can help you choose the method that best meets your needs:
Other Topics about COM Concepts
COM uses a binary protocol, allowing you to directly invoke a PNA feature. This is more efficient than SCPI. For example, the following statement calls directly into the PNA, executing the routine GetIDString.
PNA.GetIDString()
SCPI is a text based instrument language. To retrieve the ID string, you would send the following text string to the PNA:
IbWrite( "*IDN?")
The PNA SCPI parser would first decode this text string to determine that the user has asked for the PNA to identify itself. Then the parser would call the COM method GetIDString().
Internal Control
With either COM or SCPI, the best throughput is attained by using the PNA's internal PC to execute your test code. However, if your test code uses too much system resources (CPU cycles and/or memory), this will slow the PNA's performance.
Using the SICL I/O Libraries, you can also connect to the PNA from a program running on the PNA.
External Control
You can control the PNA from a remote PC using either COM or SCPI.
COM - (Component Object Model) can be used to access any program like the PNA (835x.exe) or library (.dll) that exposes its features using a COM compliant object model. These programs or libraries are called "servers". Programs (like your remote program on your PC) that connect to and use the features of these servers are called "clients."
With COM, the server and the client do not need to reside on the same machine. DCOM, or distributed COM, makes the location of the server transparent to the client. When you access the PNA from a remote computer, you are using DCOM. In this case, the mechanical transport is a LAN (local area network).
However, using COM can add additional complexity:
There are some DCOM security issues that may be a problem for you. Learn more.
Using the default interface when compiling type libraries results in code that will only run with the latest firmware. Learn more.
SCPI - Using a GPIB interface card in a remote computer, you can connect to the instrument using a GPIB cable. There are some constraints on the length of this cable and the number of instruments that can be daisy-chained together.
Using the Keysight SICL I/O libraries, you can connect to the instrument over a LAN connection.
(LAN or INTERNAL) You can send SCPI commands using COM with the ScpiStringParser object.
If you have legacy code written in SCPI for another network analyzer, you may be able to leverage that code to control the PNA. However, the PNA uses a different platform than previous Keysight Network Analyzers. Therefore, not all commands have a direct replacement. See the PNA Code Translator Application.
You can program the PNA with either COM or SCPI using several languages. The most common include:
Keysight VEE - With this language you can send text based SCPI commands and also use automation. VEE 6.0 or later is recommended.
Visual Basic - This language has great support for automation objects and can be used to drive SCPI commands. The use of VISA drivers for your GPIB hardware interface will make the task of sending SCPI commands easier.
C++ - This language can do it all. It is not as easy to use as the above two, but more flexible.