Section 3: Functions and features
2606B System SourceMeter® Instrument Reference Manual
3-50
2606B-901-01 Rev. B / May 2018
Trigger generator
The 2606B has two trigger generators available from each module that you can use to generate
trigger events. Use the
trigger.generator[
N
].assert()
function to directly trigger events from
the command interface or a script (for example, you can trigger a sweep while the instrument is under
script control).
The
trigger.generator[
N
].EVENT_ID
constant is an identification number that identifies events
generated by this generator. To have another trigger object respond to trigger events generated by
this generator, set the other object's stimulus attribute to the value of this constant.
Manual triggering
The TRIG key is used for manual triggering. Each time the TRIG key is pressed, a trigger event is
generated. You can monitor for a manual trigger event using the event ID
display.trigger.EVENT_ID
Using the TRIG key to trigger a sweep
(on page 3-37) for an
example of how to use a manual trigger.
There are no action overruns for manual triggering.
Interactive triggering
The complexity of some test system configurations may not allow a static trigger setup. These
configurations require more dynamic control of triggering than the static trigger setup provides. For
such cases, a setup providing interactive trigger programming allows the generation and detection of
trigger events that can be controlled on demand under remote control. For example, interactive
triggering can be used when you need to make multiple source function changes or implement
conditional branching to other test setups based on recent measurements.
Detecting trigger events using the wait() function
All of the 2606B trigger objects (except for SMUs) have built-in event detectors that monitor for trigger
events. The event detector only monitors events generated by that object and cannot be configured to
monitor events generated by any other trigger object. Using the
wait()
function of the trigger object
causes the 2606B instrument to suspend command execution until a trigger event occurs or until the
specified timeout period elapses.
For example, use
trigger.blender[
N
].wait(
Y
)
to suspend command execution until an event
blender generates an event, where
N
is the specific event blender and
Y
is the timeout period. After
executing the
wait()
function, the event detector of the trigger object is cleared.
The following programming example illustrates how to suspend command execution while waiting for
various events to occur:
-- Wait up to 10 seconds for a front-panel TRIG key press.
display.trigger.wait(10)
-- Wait up to 60 seconds for timer 1 to complete its delay.
trigger.timer[1].wait(60)
-- Wait up to 30 seconds for input trigger to digital I/O line 10.
digio.trigger[10].wait(30)