Publication No. 980935 Rev. A
3152B User Manual
EADS North America Test and Services
Programming Reference 5-53
Response
The 3152B returns NORM or SWAP depending on the current binary data format setting.
TRACe#<header><binary_block>
HS Syntax:
10001#<string>
Description
Downloads waveform data to 3152B waveform memory. Waveform data is loaded into the 3152B using a
binary transfer. A special command is defined by IEEE-STD-488.2 for this purpose. Binary transfer allows any
8-bit bytes (including extended ASCII codes) to be transmitted in a message. As an example, the next
command will download an arbitrary block of data of 1024 points:
TRACe#42048<binary_block>
This command causes the transfer of 2048 bytes of data (1024 waveform points) into the active memory
segment. The <header> is interpreted this way:
•
The ASCII "#" ($23) designates the start of the binary data block.
•
"4" designates the number of digits that follow.
•
"2048" is the even number of bytes to follow.
The generator accepts binary data as 16-bit integers, which are sent in two-byte words. Therefore, the total
number of bytes is always twice the number of data points in the waveform. For example, 20000 bytes are
required to download a waveform with 10000 points. The IEEE-STD-488.2 definition of Definite Length
Arbitrary Block Data format is demonstrated in Figure 5-1.
"#"
non-zero
ASCII digit
ASCII digit
low byte
(binary)
(binary)
high byte
Start of
Data Block
Number of Digits
to Follow
Byte Count:
2 x Number of Points
2 Bytes per
Data Point
Figure 5-1, Definite Length Arbitrary Block Data Format
Transfer of definite length arbitrary block data must terminate with the EOI bit set. This way, carriage-return
(CR – 0DH) and line feed (LF – 0AH) characters can be used as waveform data points and will not cause
unexpected termination of the arbitrary block data.
•
<binary_block>
Waveform data
The waveform data is made of 16-bit words, however, programmers may choose to prepare the data in two
bytes and arrange to download these two bytes in a sequence. Figure 5-2 shows a waveform word that is
acceptable for the 3152B. There are a number of points you should be aware of before you start preparing the
data:
1. Waveform data points have 16-bit values - 0x0000 to 0xFFFF
2. Data point range is 0 to 65,535 decimal for the 3152B and 0 to 4095 decimal for 3152A emulation.
Artisan Technology Group - Quality Instrumentation ... Guaranteed | (888) 88-SOURCE | www.artisantg.com
