Section 2: General operation
Model 2281S-20-6 DC Power Supply and Battery Simulator Reference Manual
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077114601 / March 2019
One-to-many connection
With a LAN hub, a single network interface card can be connected to as many instruments as the hub
can support. This requires straight-through network (not crossover) cables for hub connections.
The advantage of this method is easy expansion of measurement channels when the test
requirements exceed the capacity of a single instrument. With only the instruments connected to the
hub, this is an isolated instrumentation network. However, with a corporate network attached to the
hub, the instruments become part of the larger network.
Figure 48: One-to-many connection using a network hub or switch
Two network card connection
If you need to connect independent corporate and instrumentation networks, two network interface
cards are required in the computer controller. Though the two networks are independent, stations on
the corporate network can access the instruments, and the instruments can access the corporate
network, using the same computer.
This configuration resembles a GPIB setup in which the computer is connected to a corporate
network, but also has a GPIB card in the computer to communicate with instruments.
Figure 49: Two network card connection
