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Agilent 8163A/B Lightwave Multimeter,
Agilent 8164A/B Lightwave Measurement System, &
Agilent 8166A/B Lightwave Multichannel System
Programming Guide
Agilent Technologies
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Notices © Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2002-2005 Agilent warrants that its software and that its calibration measurements are This document contains proprietary firmware designated by Agilent for use traceable to the United States National information that is protected by with an instrument will execute its Institute of Standards and Technology, copyright. All rights are reserved. programming instructions when NIST (formerly the United States properly installed on that instrument. National B
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Warnings and Notices WARNING To avoid the possibility of injury or death, you must observe the following precautions before switching on the instrument. Insert the power cable plug only into a socket outlet provided with a protective earth contact. Do not negate this protective action by the using an extension cord without a protective conductor. WARNING Never look directly into the end of a fiber or a connector, unless you are absolutely certain that there is no signal in the fiber.
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Agilent Technologies Sales and Service Offices For more information about Agilent Technologies test and measurement products, applications, services, and for a current sales office listing, viesit our web site: http://www.agilent.com/comms/lightwave You can also contact one of the following centers and ask for a test and measurement sales representative. United States: 1 800 829 4444 1 800 829 4433(FAX) Canada: 1 877 894 4414 (1888 900 8921(FAX) Europe: (31 20) 547 2111 (31 20) 547 2190 (FAX)
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In this Manual This manual contains information about SCPI commands which can be used to program the following instruments: • Agilent 8163A/B Lightwave Multimeter • Agilent 8164A/B Lightwave Measurement System • Agilent 8166A/B Lightwave Multichannel System The Structure of this Manual This manual is divided into 5 parts: • “Introduction to Programming” on page 15 gives a general introduction to SCPI programming with the Agilent 8163A/B Lightwave Multimeter, the Agilent 8164A/B Lightwave Meas
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• SCPI commands are written in mixed case: text that you MUST print is written in capitals; text which is helpful but nor necessary is written in lower case. So, the command INITiate[:IMMediate] can be entered either as init[:imm], or as initiate[:immediate]. It does not matter whether you enter text using capitals or lower-case letters. • SCPI commands often contain extra arguments in square brackets. These arguments may be helpful, but they need not be entered. So, the command INITiate[:
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Table of Contents The Structure of this Manual 5 Conventions used in this Manual 5 Related Manuals 6 Introduction to Programming 15 GPIB Interface 16 Returning the Instrument to Local Control 18 Message Queues 19 How the Input Queue Works 20 Clearing the Input Queue 20 The Output Queue 21 The Error Queue 22 Programming and Syntax Diagram Conventions 23 Short Form and Long Form 24 Command and Query Syntax 25 Units 25 Data Types 26 Slot and Channel Numbers 26 Laser Selection Numbers 27 Common Comm
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Specific Commands 43 Specific Command Summary 44 Instrument Setup and Status 55 IEEE-Common Commands 56 Status Reporting – The STATus Subsystem 64 Interface/Instrument Behaviour Settings – The SYSTem Subsystem 76 Measurement Operations & Settings 79 Root Layer Command 80 Measurement Functions – The SENSe Subsystem 85 Agilent 81635A and Agilent 81619A- Master and Slave Channels 85 Signal Generation – The SOURce Subsystem 113 Signal Conditioning 148 The INPut and OUTput commands 148 The table of
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VISA Programming Examples 189 How to Use VISA Calls 190 How to Set up a Fixed Laser Source 192 How to Measure Power using FETCh and READ 195 How to Co-ordinate Two Modules 199 How Power Varies with Wavelength 203 How to Log Results 207 The Agilent 816x VXIplug&play Instrument Driver 213 Installing the Agilent 816x Instrument Driver 214 Using Visual Programming Environments 218 Getting Started with Agilent VEE 218 GPIB Interfacing in Agilent VEE 218 Getting Started with LabView 221 Getting Starte
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How to Perform a Lambda Scan Application 237 The Prepare Lambda Scan Function 237 The Get Lambda Scan Parameters Function 238 The Execute Lambda Scan Function 238 How to Perform a Multi-Frame Lambda Scan Application 239 The Equally Spaced Datapoints Function 240 The Register Mainframe Function 240 The Unregister Mainframe Function 240 The Prepare Multi Frame Lambda Scan Function 241 The Get MF Lambda Scan Parameters Function 242 The Execute Multi Frame Lambda Scan Function 242 The Get Lambda Sca
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List of Figures Figure 1 Remote Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Figure 2 The Event Status Bit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Figure 3 The Registers and Filters for a Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Figure 4 The Operational/Questionable Status System for 8163A/B & 8164A/B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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12 Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Sixth Edition
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List of Tables Table 1 GPIB Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Table 2 Units and allowed Mnemonics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Table 3 Common Command Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Table 4 Specific Command Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Table 5 Commands that can only be configured using the master ch
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14 Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Sixth Edition
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1 Introduction to Programming This chapter gives general information on how to control your instrument remotely. Descriptions for the actual commands for the instruments are given in the following chapters. The information in these chapters is specific to the Agilent 8163A/B Lightwave Multimeter, Agilent 8164A/B Lightwave Measurement System, and Agilent 8166A/B Lightwave Multichannel System and assumes that you are already familiar with programming the GPIB. GPIB Interface . . . . . . . .
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Introduction to Programming GPIB Interface GPIB Interface The interface used by your instrument is the GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus). GPIB is the interface used for communication between a controller and an external device, such as the tunable laser source. The GPIB conforms to IEEE standard 488-1978, ANSI standard MC 1.1 and IEC recommendation 625-1. If you are not familiar with the GPIB, then refer to the following books: • The International Institute of Electrical and Electronics
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GPIB Interface Introduction to Programming The interface of the Agilent 8163A/B Lightwave Multimeter, Agilent 8164A/B Lightwave Measurement System, and Agilent 8166A/B Lightwave Multichannel System to the GPIB is defined by the IEEE Standards 488.1 and 488.2. Table 1 shows the interface functional subset that the instruments implement. Table 1 GPIB Capabilities Mnemonic Function SH1 Complete source handshake capability AH1 Complete acceptor handshake capability T6 Basic talker; serial poll
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Introduction to Programming GPIB Interface Returning the Instrument to Local Control If the instrument is in remote control, a screen resembling Figure 1 will appear. Press [Local] if you wish to return the instrument to local control. Figure 1 Remote Control If your Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B or 8166A/B is in local lockout mode NOTE (refer to DISPlay:LOCKout on page 142) the Local softkey is not available. 18 Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Fifth Edition
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Message Queues Introduction to Programming Message Queues The instrument exchanges messages using an input and an output queue. Error messages are kept in a separate error queue. Agilent 8163A/B, 8164A/B & 8166A/B Mainframes, Fifth Edition 19
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Introduction to Programming Message Queues How the Input Queue Works The input queue is a FIFO queue (first-in first-out). Incoming bytes are stored in the input queue as follows: 1 Receiving a byte: • Clears the output queue. • Clears Bit 7 (MSB). 2 No modification is made inside strings or binary blocks. Outside strings and binary blocks, the following modifications are made: • Lower-case characters are converted to upper-case. • The characters 00 to 09 and 0B to 1F are converted to spaces
