Agilent Technologies Infiniium DCA Manual

Agilent Technologies
Infiniium DCA and DCA-J
Agilent 86100A/B/C
Wide-Bandwidth
Oscilloscope
Programmer’s Guide

2
Notices
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Manual Part Number
86100-90092
Edition
March 2007
Printed in Malaysia
Agilent Technologies, Inc.
Digital Signal Analysis Division
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Santa Rosa, CA 95403, USA
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Contents
Contents-1
1Introduction
Introduction 1-2
Starting a Program 1-4
Multiple Databases 1-6
Files 1-8
Status Reporting 1-11
Command Syntax 1-23
Interface Functions 1-34
Language Compatibility 1-36
New and Revised Commands 1-42
Commands Unavailable in Jitter Mode 1-43
Error Messages 1-45
2Sample Programs
C Programming Examples 2-2
BASIC Programming Examples 2-28
3Common Commands
4Root Level Commands
5System Commands
6Acquire Commands
7Calibration Commands
8Channel Commands
9Clock Recovery Commands
10 Disk Commands
11 Display Commands
12 Function Commands

Contents-2
ContentsContents
13 Hardcopy Commands
14 Histogram Commands
15 Limit Test Commands
16 Marker Commands
17 Mask Test Commands
18 Measure Commands
19 S-Parameter Commands
20 Signal Processing Commands
21 TDR/TDT Commands
(Rev. A.05.00 and Below)
22 TDR/TDT Commands
(Rev. A.06.00 and Above)
23 Timebase Commands
24 Trigger Commands
25 Waveform Commands
26 Waveform Memory Commands

1
Introduction 1-2
Starting a Program 1-4
Multiple Databases 1-6
Files 1-8
Status Reporting 1-11
Command Syntax 1-23
Interface Functions 1-34
Language Compatibility 1-36
New and Revised Commands 1-42
Commands Unavailable in Jitter Mode 1-43
Error Messages 1-45
Introduction

1-2
Introduction
Introduction
Introduction
This chapter explains how to program the instrument. The programming syntax conforms to
the IEEE 488.2 Standard Digital Interface for Programmable Instrumentation and to the
Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments (SCPI). This edition of the manual doc-
uments all 86100-series software revisions up through A.07.00. For a listing of commands
that are new or revised, refer to “New and Revised Commands” on page 1-42.
If you are unfamiliar with programming instruments using the SCPI standard, refer to “Com-
mand Syntax” on page 1-23. For more detailed information regarding the GPIB, the IEEE
488.2 standard, or the SCPI standard, refer to the following books:
• International Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. IEEE Standard 488.1-1987,
IEEE Standard Digital Interface for Programmable Instrumentation. New York, NY, 1987.
• International Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. IEEE Standard 488.2-1987,
IEEE Standard Codes, Formats, Protocols and Common commands For Use with ANSI/
IEEE Std 488.1-1987. New York, NY, 1987.
Throughout this book, BASIC and ANSI C are used in the examples of individual commands.
If you are using other languages, you will need to find the equivalents of BASIC commands
like OUTPUT, ENTER, and CLEAR, to convert the examples.
The instrument’s GPIB address is configured at the factory to a value of 7. You must set the
output and input functions of your programming language to send the commands to this
address. You can change the GPIB address from the instrument’s front panel.
Data Flow The data flow gives you an idea of where the measurements are made on the acquired data
and when the post-signal processing is applied to the data. The following figure is a block dia-
gram of the instrument. The diagram is laid out serially for a visual perception of how the
data is affected by the instrument.

1-3
Introduction
Introduction
Figure 1-1. Sample Data Processing
The sample data is stored in the channel memory for further processing before being dis-
played. The time it takes for the sample data to be displayed depends on the number of post
processes you have selected. Averaging your sampled data helps remove any unwanted noise
from your waveform.
You can store your sample data in the instrument’s waveform memories for use as one of the
sources in Math functions, or to visually compare against a waveform that is captured at a
future time. The Math functions allow you to apply mathematical operations on your sampled
data. You can use these functions to duplicate many of the mathematical operations that your
circuit may be performing to verify that your circuit is operating correctly. The measure-
ments section performs any of the automated measurements that are available in the instru-
ment. The measurements that you have selected appear at the bottom of the display. The
Connect Dots section draws a straight line between sample data points, giving an analog look
to the waveform. This is sometimes called linear interpolation.

1-4
Introduction
Starting a Program
Starting a Program
The commands and syntax for initializing the instrument are listed in Chapter 3, “Common
Commands”. Refer to your GPIB manual and programming language reference manual for
information on initializing the interface. To make sure the bus and all appropriate interfaces
are in a known state, begin every program with an initialization statement. For example,
BASIC provides a CLEAR command which clears the interface buffer. When you are using
GPIB, CLEAR also resets the instrument's parser. After clearing the interface, initialize the
instrument to a preset state using the *RST command.
The AUTOSCALE command is very useful on unknown waveforms. It automatically sets up
the vertical channel, time base, and trigger level of the instrument.
A typical instrument setup configures the vertical range and offset voltage, the horizontal
range, delay time, delay reference, trigger mode, trigger level, and slope. An example of the
commands sent to the instrument are:
:CHANNEL1:RANGE 16;OFFSET 1.00<terminator>
:SYSTEM:HEADER OFF<terminator>
:TIMEBASE:RANGE 1E-3;DELAY 100E-6<terminator>
This example sets the time base at 1 ms full-scale (100 μs/div), with delay of 100 μs. Vertical
is set to 16 V full-scale (2 V/div), with center of screen at 1 V, and probe attenuation of 10.
The following program demonstrates the basic command structure used to program the
instrument.
10 CLEAR 707 ! Initialize instrument interface
20 OUTPUT 707;"*RST" !Initialize instrument to preset state
30 OUTPUT 707;":TIMEBASE:RANGE 5E-4"! Time base to 500 us full scale
40 OUTPUT 707;":TIMEBASE:DELAY 25E-9"! Delay to 25 ns
50 OUTPUT 707;":TIMEBASE:REFERENCE CENTER"! Display reference at center
60 OUTPUT 707;":CHANNEL1:RANGE .16"! Vertical range to 160 mV full scale
70 OUTPUT 707;":CHANNEL1:OFFSET -.04"! Offset to -40 mV
80 OUTPUT 707;":TRIGGER:LEVEL,-.4"! Trigger level to -0.4
90 OUTPUT 707;":TRIGGER:SLOPE POSITIVE"! Trigger on positive slope
100 OUTPUT 707;":SYSTEM:HEADER OFF"<terminator>
110 OUTPUT 707;":DISPLAY:GRATICULE FRAME"! Grid off
120 END
• Line 10 initializes the instrument interface to a known state and Line 20 initializes the
instrument to a preset state.
• Lines 30 through 50 set the time base, the horizontal time at 500 μs full scale, and 25 ns of
delay referenced at the center of the graticule.
• Lines 60 through 70 set the vertical range to 160 millivolts full scale and the center screen at

1-5
Introduction
Starting a Program
−40 millivolts.
• Lines 80 through 90 configure the instrument to trigger at −0.4 volts with normal triggering.
• Line 100 turns system headers off.
• Line 110 turns the grid off.
The DIGITIZE command is a macro that captures data using the acquisition (ACQUIRE) sub-
system. When the digitize process is complete, the acquisition is stopped. The captured data
can then be measured by the instrument or transferred to the computer for further analysis.
The captured data consists of two parts: the preamble and the waveform data record. After
changing the instrument configuration, the waveform buffers are cleared. Before doing a
measurement, the DIGITIZE command should be sent to ensure new data has been collected.
You can send the DIGITIZE command with no parameters for a higher throughput. Refer to
the DIGITIZE command in Chapter 4, “Root Level Commands” for details. When the DIGI-
TIZE command is sent to an instrument, the specified channel’s waveform is digitized with
the current ACQUIRE parameters. Before sending the :WAVEFORM:DATA? query to get
waveform data, specify the WAVEFORM parameters. The number of data points comprising a
waveform varies according to the number requested in the ACQUIRE subsystem. The
ACQUIRE subsystem determines the number of data points, type of acquisition, and number
of averages used by the DIGITIZE command. This allows you to specify exactly what the dig-
itized information contains. The following program example shows a typical setup:
OUTPUT 707;":SYSTEM:HEADER OFF"<terminator>
OUTPUT 707;":WAVEFORM:SOURCE CHANNEL1"<terminator>
OUTPUT 707;":WAVEFORM:FORMAT BYTE"<terminator>
OUTPUT 707;":ACQUIRE:COUNT 8"<terminator>
OUTPUT 707;":ACQUIRE:POINTS 500"<terminator>
OUTPUT 707;":DIGITIZE CHANNEL1"<terminator>
OUTPUT 707;":WAVEFORM:DATA?"<terminator>
This setup places the instrument to acquire eight averages. This means that when the DIGI-
TIZE command is received, the command will execute until the waveform has been averaged
at least eight times. After receiving the :WAVEFORM:DATA? query, the instrument will start
passing the waveform information when queried. Digitized waveforms are passed from the
instrument to the computer by sending a numerical representation of each digitized point.
The format of the numerical representation is controlled with the :WAVEFORM:FORMAT
command and may be selected as BYTE, WORD, or ASCII. The easiest method of entering a
digitized waveform depends on data structures, available formatting, and I/O capabilities. You
must scale the integers to determine the voltage value of each point. These integers are
passed starting with the leftmost point on the instrument's display. For more information,
refer to Chapter 25, “Waveform Commands”. When using GPIB, a digitize operation may be
aborted by sending a Device Clear over the bus (for example, CLEAR 707).
NOTE The execution of the DIGITIZE command is subordinate to the status of ongoing limit tests. (See commands
ACQuire:RUNTil on page 6-4, MTEST:RUNTil on page 17-7, and LTEST:RUNTil on page 15-4.) The DIGITIZE
command will not capture data if the stop condition for a limit test has been met.

1-6
Introduction
Multiple Databases
Multiple Databases
Eye/Mask measurements are based on statistical data that is acquired and stored in the color
grade/gray scale database. The color grade/gray scale database consists of all data samples
displayed on the display graticule. The measurement algorithms are dependent upon histo-
grams derived from the database. This database is internal to the instrument’s applications.
The color grade/gray scale database cannot be imported into an external database applica-
tion.
If you want to perform an eye measurement, it is necessary that you first produce an eye dia-
gram by triggering the instrument with a synchronous clock signal. Measurements made on a
pulse waveform while in Eye/Mask mode will fail.
Firmware revision A.03.00 and later allows for multiple color grade/gray scale databases to be
acquired and displayed simultaneously, including
• all four instrument channels
• all four math functions
• one saved color grade/gray scale file
The ability to use multiple databases allows for the comparison of
• channels to each other
• channels to a saved color grade/gray scale file
• functions to the channel data on which it is based
The advantage of acquiring and displaying channels and functions simultaneously is test
times are greatly reduced. For example, the time taken to acquire two channels in parallel is
approximately the same time taken to acquire a single channel.
Using Multiple
Databases in
Remote Programs
Most commands that control histograms, mask tests, or color grade data have additional
optional parameters that were not available in firmware revisions prior to A.03.00. You can
use the commands to control a single channel or add the argument APPend to enable more
than one channel. The following example illustrates two uses of the CHANnel<n>:DISPlay
command.
SYSTem:MODE EYE
CHANnel1:DISPlay ON
CHANnel2:DISPlay ON
The result using the above set of commands, is Channel 1 cleared and disabled while Channel
2 is enabled and displayed. However, by adding the argument APPend to the last command of
the set, both Channels 1 and 2 will be enabled and displayed .
SYSTem:MODE EYE
CHANnel1:DISPlay ON