RTSA7500 Functional Overview
42
BNC RTSA7500 Real Time Spectrum Analyzer Programmer's Guide
SCPI Command Set
This section is a SCPI reference guide for controlling the BNC RTSA7500 Real Time
Spectrum Analyzer. The RTSA7500 supports the Standard Commands for
Programmable Instruments (SCPI) standard version 1999.0 as described in the following
sections. SCPI lends itself to a command line interface and scripting, is supported by the
major instrument vendors and provides a high level of familiarity for instrument users.
Note:
BNC's version of SCPI does not provide commands for network connection. The
RTSA7500 receives SCPI commands and sends query responds over port 37001. See
Appendix A: Connecting to RTSA 7500 for more details.
SCPI Language Overview
In the early 1990s, a group of instrument manufacturers developed Standard Commands
for Programmable Instrumentation (SCPI) for controlling programmable instruments via a
communication link, such as RS232, USB, LAN, etc. SCPI specifies the command
structure and syntax using ASCII characters to provide some basic standardization and
consistency to the control commands. SCPI commands, hence, lend themselves to
communications with equipments via command line interface, scripting and/or
programming languages such as C/C++, MATLAB
®
, Python, etc.
The SCPI language is based on a hierarchical or tree structure as illustrated in
Figure 11
an example command set. The top level of the tree is the root node, which is followed by
one or more lower-level nodes.
Figure 11:
SCPI Language Hierarchical or Tree Structure Example
BLOCk
STReam
SPPacket
STARt
STOP
STATus
TRACe
