Network and Remote Control Operation
R&S
®
SGU100A
119
User Manual 1176.7726.02 ─ 09
Using VXI-11, each operation is blocked until a VXI-11 device handshake returns. How-
ever, using HiSLIP, data is sent to the device using the "fire and forget" method with
immediate return. Thus, a successful return of a VISA operation such as
viWrite()
does not guarantee that the instrument has finished or started the requested com-
mand, but is delivered to the TCP/IP buffers.
For more information see also the application note:
1MA208: Fast Remote Instrument Control with HiSLIP
10.1.2.3
VXI-11 Protocol
The VXI-11 standard is based on the ONC RPC (Open Network Computing Remote
Procedure Call) protocol which in turn relies on TCP/IP as the network/transport layer.
The TCP/IP network protocol and the associated network services are preconfigured.
TCP/IP ensures connection-oriented communication, where the order of the
exchanged messages is adhered to and interrupted links are identified. With this proto-
col, messages cannot be lost.
10.1.2.4
Socket Communication
An alternative way for remote control of the software is to establish a simple network
communication using sockets. The socket communication, also referred to as “Raw
Ethernet communication”, does not require a VISA installation on the remote controller
side.
The simplest way to establish socket communication is to use the built-in telnet pro-
gram. The telnet program is part of every operating system and supports communica-
tion with the software on a command-by-command basis.
Socket connections are established on a specially defined port. The socket address is
a combination of the IP address or the host name of the instrument and the number of
the port configured for remote-control. All instruments use port number 5025 for this
purpose. The port is configured for communication on a command-to-command basis
and for remote control from a program running on a connected PC.
10.1.3
USB Interface
For remote control via USB connection, the PC and the instrument must be connected
via the USB interface. A USB connection requires the VISA library to be installed. VISA
detects and configures the R&S instrument automatically when the USB connection is
established. You do not have to install a separate driver.
USB resource string
The syntax of the used USB resource string is:
USB::<vendor ID>::<product ID>::<serial number>[::INSTR]
, where:
●
USB
denotes the used interface
Remote Control Interfaces and Protocols