Programming the Polarization Controller
GPIB Interface
42
Agilent
8169A
Polarization Controller, Second Edition
GPIB Interface
The interface used by your instrument is the GPIB (General Purpose
Interface Bus).
GPIB is the interface used for communication between a controller and an
external device, such as the tunable laser source. The GPIB conforms to
IEEE standard 488-1978, ANSI standard MC 1.1 and IEC recommendation
625-1.
If you are not familiar with the GPIB, then refer to the following books:
• The International Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. IEEE Stand-
ard 488.1-1987, IEEE Standard Digital Interface for Programmable Instrumenta-
tion. New York, NY, 1987
• The International Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. IEEE Stand-
ard 488.2-1987, IEEE Standard Codes, Formats, Protocols and Common Com-
mands For Use with ANSI/IEEE Std 488.1-1987. New York, NY, 1987
To obtain a copy of either of these last two documents, write to:
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
345 East 47th Street
New York, NY 10017
USA.
In addition, the commands not from the IEEE-488.2 standard, are defined
according to the Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments
(SCPI).
For information about SCPI, and SCPI programming techniques, please
refer to:
• The SCPI Consortium: Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments. To
obtain a copy of this manual, contact the following address:
SCPI Consortium Office
Bode Enterprise
2515 Camino del Rio South, Suite 340
San Diego, CA, 92108
USA
Web: http://www.scpiconsortium.org
The interface of the Agilent 8163A/B Lightwave Multimeter,
Agilent 8164A/B Lightwave Measurement System, and Agilent 8166A/B
Lightwave Multichannel System to the GPIB is defined by the IEEE
Standards 488.1 and 488.2.
Table 1 shows the interface functional subset that the instruments implement.
