BNC RTSA 7500 Operating and maintenance manual

RTSA 7500
Real Time Spectrum Analyzer
Programmer's Manual
Version 3.6.2
Berkeley Nucleonics Corporation, 2955 Kerner Blvd., San Rafael, CA 90901
Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone], [e-mail], www.berkeleynucleoncis.com

Important notice
The information in this
guide is furnished for
informational use only
and is subject to change
without notice. Berkeley
Nucleonics Corporation
assumes no
responsibility or liability
for any errors or
inaccuracies that may
appear in this document.
No part of this
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stored in an electronic
database, or transmitted,
in any form or by any
means, electronic,
mechanical, recording,
or otherwise, for any
purpose, without the
prior written permission
of BNC Corporation.
Trademarks
BNC, the BNC logo and
RTSA 7500 are
trademarks of Berkeley
Nucleonics Corporation.
The following are
trademarks or registered
trademarks of their
respective companies or
owners:
Windows, Windows XP /
Microsoft Corporation
All other brand or
product names are
trademarks or registered
trademarks of their
respective companies or
owners.
Berkeley
Nucleonics Corp
2955 Kerner Blvd.
San Rafael, CA 94901
[phone]
HARDWARE WARRANTY AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
Read this warranty carefully before you use the product.
RTSA7500 Real Time Spectrum Analyzers are warranted for workmanship and
materials for a period of one (1) year from the date of shipment as identified by the
Customer’s packing slip or carrier waybill. BNC reserves the right to void the
warranty on any equipment that has been altered or damaged due to Customer
negligence, unauthorized repair, misuse of equipment, evidence of physical or
environmental damage, transportation abuse or removal of any BNC identification
labels or serial numbers.
It will remain the responsibility of the Customer, having obtained a Return Material
Authorization (RMA) and shipping instructions from BNC, to return, at the
Customer's expense, the defective unit to BNC’s repair facilities. BNC will incur
shipping charges for the return of warranty repaired equipment. The RMAnumber
can be secured by calling BNC Customer Service and Support (+1.800.234.7858). If
the product does not fall within BNC’s warranty period or the product is found to be
functioning as designed, then under the terms of BNC’s warranty policy, all costs of
repairs and shipping will be charged directly to the Customer. BNC will warrant
repaired units for a period of 90 days from date of shipment from BNC to the
Customer. If the remaining period on the original hardware warranty is greater than
30 days, then BNC will honor this remaining warranty period.
BNC EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL OTHER WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS,
WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION,
WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS OR REPRESENTATIONS OF WORKMANSHIP,
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, DURABILITY, OR
THAT THE OPERATION OF THE HARDWARE OR LICENSED SOFTWARE WILL
BE ERROR FREE. IN NO EVENT WILL BNC BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT,
SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES.
USE OF PRODUCTS IN HIGH RISK ACTIVITIES
BNC PRODUCTS ARE INTENDED FOR STANDARD INDOOR COMMERCIAL
USE. WITHOUT THE APPROPRIATE NETWORK DESIGN ENGINEERING, THEY
MUST NOT BE USED FOR ANY “HIGH RISK ACTIVITY”, as described in this
paragraph. Customer acknowledges and agrees that the products supplied
hereunder are not fault-tolerant and are not designed, manufactured or intended for
use or resale as on-line control equipment in hazardous environments requiring fail
safe performance including but not limited to the operation of nuclear facilities,
aircraft navigation or communication systems, air traffic control, direct life support
machines, or weapons systems, in which the failure of products could lead directly to
death, personal injury, or severe physical or environmental damage, all of which are
examples of “High Risk Activity”. BNC AND ITS SUPPLIERS EXPRESSLY
DISCLAIMANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR HIGH
RISK ACTIVITIES.
GNU General Public License
This device contains free firmware: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This
program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUTANY
WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
FITNESS FORA PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License
for more details. GNU General Public License is available at
http://www.gnu.org/licenses.

Table of Contents
Abbreviations ..................................................................................................... 7
List of Figures ..................................................................................................... 8
List of Tables ....................................................................................................... 9
Preface ............................................................................................................. 10
Audience ........................................................................................................... 10
Conventions ..................................................................................................... 10
Obtaining Documentation and Releases ....................................................... 10
Document Feedback ........................................................................................ 11
Obtaining Technical Assistance ..................................................................... 11
RTSA 7500 Functional Overview ................................................................... 12
System Overview ............................................................................................. 12
The Architecture .............................................................................................. 15
RF Receiver Front-End .................................................................................... 17
Direct-Conversion Receiver Technology ............................................................................... 18
DC Offset Correction ....................................................................................................... 18
IQ Offset Correction ......................................................................................................... 19
Digital Signal Processing ................................................................................ 21
Digital Down Converter .......................................................................................................... 21
Triggers ............................................................................................................. 21
Frequency Domain Triggering ............................................................................................... 22
Periodic Triggering ................................................................................................................. 23
External Triggering ................................................................................................................. 23
Capture Controller ........................................................................................... 23
Trace Capture Control ........................................................................................................... 24
Sweep Capture Control ......................................................................................................... 24
Synchronized Sweep ............................................................................................................. 26
VITA-49 Radio Transport Protocol ................................................................. 28
Purpose ............................................................................................................ 28
RTSA7500's VRT Overview ............................................................................. 28
Packet Classes and Streams .......................................................................... 29
Receiver Context Packet Class ............................................................................................. 29
Context Field Change Indicator ....................................................................................... 31
Reference Point ............................................................................................................... 31
RF Reference Frequency ................................................................................................ 31
Gain ................................................................................................................................. 31
Temperature .................................................................................................................... 31
Digitizer Context Packet Class .............................................................................................. 32
Context Field Change Indicator ....................................................................................... 33
Bandwidth ........................................................................................................................ 33
Reference Level .............................................................................................................. 33

RF Frequency Offset ....................................................................................................... 34
Extension Context Packet Class ........................................................................................... 35
Context Field Change Indicator ....................................................................................... 36
IQ Swapped Indicator ...................................................................................................... 36
New Stream Start ID ........................................................................................................ 36
New Sweep Start ID ........................................................................................................ 36
IF Data Packet Class ............................................................................................................. 37
Picosecond Timestamp Words Format ........................................................................... 38
Data Payload Format ....................................................................................................... 38
Trailer Word Format ......................................................................................................... 40
SCPI Command Set ......................................................................................... 42
SCPI Language Overview ................................................................................ 42
IEEE Mandated SCPI Commands ................................................................... 43
*CLS ...................................................................................................................................... 43
*ESE/*ESE? ........................................................................................................................... 43
*ESR? .................................................................................................................................... 44
*IDN? ..................................................................................................................................... 44
*OPC/*OPC? ......................................................................................................................... 44
*RST ...................................................................................................................................... 44
*SRE/*SRE? .......................................................................................................................... 45
*STB? .................................................................................................................................... 45
*TST? ..................................................................................................................................... 45
*WAI ....................................................................................................................................... 46
SYSTem Commands ........................................................................................ 46
:SYSTem:ABORt .................................................................................................................... 46
:SYSTem:CAPability? ............................................................................................................ 46
:SYSTem:CAPTure:MODE? .................................................................................................. 46
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:APPLy .................................................................................... 47
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:CONFigure ............................................................................ 47
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:DNS ....................................................................................... 48
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:GATEway ............................................................................... 48
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:IP ........................................................................................... 48
:SYSTem:COMMunicate:LAN:NETMask ............................................................................... 49
:SYSTem:ERRor[:NEXT]? ..................................................................................................... 49
:SYSTem:ERRor:ALL? .......................................................................................................... 50
:SYSTem:FLUSh .................................................................................................................... 50
:SYSTem:LOCK:HAVE? ........................................................................................................ 51
:SYSTem:LOCK:REQuest? ................................................................................................... 51
:SYSTem:OPTions? ............................................................................................................... 52
:SYSTem:SYNC:MASTer ....................................................................................................... 52
:SYSTem:SYNC:WAIT ........................................................................................................... 53
:SYSTem:VERSion? .............................................................................................................. 53
:SYSTem:DATE ..................................................................................................................... 53
:SYSTem:TIME ...................................................................................................................... 54
:SYSTem:TIME:ADJust ......................................................................................................... 54
:SYSTem:TIME:SYNC ........................................................................................................... 54
:SYSTem:TIME:SYNC:STATus? ............................................................................................ 55
STATus Commands .......................................................................................... 56
:STATus:OPERation[:EVENt]? .............................................................................................. 57
:STATus:OPERation:CONDition? .......................................................................................... 57
:STATus:OPERation:ENABle ................................................................................................. 58
:STATus:PRESET .................................................................................................................. 58
:STATus:QUEStionable[:EVENt]? .......................................................................................... 58
:STATus:QUEStionable:CONDition? ..................................................................................... 58
:STATus:QUEStionable:ENABle ............................................................................................ 59

:STATus:TEMPerature? ......................................................................................................... 59
INPut Commands ............................................................................................. 60
:INPut:ATTenuator ................................................................................................................. 60
:INPut:ATTenuator:VARiable .................................................................................................. 60
:INPut:FILTer:PRESelect ....................................................................................................... 60
:INPut:GAIN ........................................................................................................................... 61
:INPut:GAIN:IF ....................................................................................................................... 61
:INPut:GAIN:HDR .................................................................................................................. 62
:INPut:MODE ......................................................................................................................... 62
SOURce Commands ........................................................................................ 63
:SOURce:REFerence:PLL ..................................................................................................... 63
:SOURce:REFerence:PLL:RESET ........................................................................................ 63
SENSe Commands ........................................................................................... 64
[:SENSe]:CORRection:DCOFfset .......................................................................................... 64
[:SENSe]:DECimation ............................................................................................................ 64
[:SENSe]:FREQuency:CENTer .............................................................................................. 65
[:SENSe]:FREQuency:IF? ..................................................................................................... 66
[:SENSe]:FREQuency:LOSCillator? ...................................................................................... 66
[:SENSe]:FREQuency:SHIFt ................................................................................................. 67
[:SENSe]:FREQuency:RESolution? ...................................................................................... 67
[:SENSe]:LOCK:REFerence? ................................................................................................ 67
[:SENSe]:LOCK:RF? ............................................................................................................. 68
OUTput Commands ......................................................................................... 68
:OUTput:IQ:MODE ................................................................................................................. 68
:OUTput:IQ:CONNector:INVersion? ...................................................................................... 69
TRIGger Commands ........................................................................................ 69
:TRIGger:TYPE ...................................................................................................................... 69
:TRIGger:LEVel ...................................................................................................................... 70
:TRIGger:PERiodic ................................................................................................................ 70
:TRIGger:STATus? ................................................................................................................. 70
TRACe Commands .......................................................................................... 71
:TRACe:BLOCk:DATA? ......................................................................................................... 71
:TRACe:BLOCk:PACKets ...................................................................................................... 72
:TRACe:SPPacket ................................................................................................................. 73
:TRACe:STReam:STARt ....................................................................................................... 73
:TRACe:STReam:STOP ........................................................................................................ 74
SWEep Commands .......................................................................................... 74
:SWEep:LIST:ITERations ...................................................................................................... 75
:SWEep:LIST:STARt .............................................................................................................. 76
:SWEep:LIST:STATus? .......................................................................................................... 76
:SWEep:LIST:STOP ............................................................................................................... 77
:SWEep:ENTRy:COPY .......................................................................................................... 77
:SWEep:ENTRy:COUNt? ...................................................................................................... 77
:SWEep:ENTRy:DELETE ...................................................................................................... 78
:SWEep:ENTRy:NEW ............................................................................................................ 78
:SWEep:ENTRy:READ? ........................................................................................................ 78
:SWEep:ENTRy:SAVE ........................................................................................................... 78
:SWEep:ENTRy:ATTenuator .................................................................................................. 79
:SWEep:ENTRy:DECimation ................................................................................................. 79
:SWEep:ENTRy:FILTer:PRESelect ....................................................................................... 79
:SWEep:ENTRy:FREQuency:CENTer ................................................................................... 79
:SWEep:ENTRy:FREQuency:STEP ...................................................................................... 80
:SWEep:ENTRy:FREQuency:SHIFt ...................................................................................... 80
:SWEep:ENTRy:GAIN:HDR .................................................................................................. 80

:SWEep:ENTRy:GAIN:IF ....................................................................................................... 81
:SWEep:ENTRy:MODE ......................................................................................................... 81
:SWEep:ENTRy:DWELl ......................................................................................................... 81
:SWEep:ENTRy:PPBlock ...................................................................................................... 81
:SWEep:ENTRy:SPPacket .................................................................................................... 82
:SWEep:ENTRy:TRIGger:LEVel ............................................................................................ 82
:SWEep:ENTRy:TRIGger:TYPE ............................................................................................ 82
Appendix A: Connecting to RTSA 7500 ....................................................... 82
Appendix B: Protocol for Discovering RTSA 7500 ..................................... 84
Appendix C: SCPI Command Syntax ........................................................... 85
Entering Commands ........................................................................................ 85
Notation ............................................................................................................ 86
Parameter types ............................................................................................... 86
Default Units ..................................................................................................... 87
Appendix D: SCPI Status and Event Registers ........................................... 88
Status Byte Register (SBR) ............................................................................. 88
Standard Event Status Register (ESR) ........................................................... 88
Operational Status (OSR) Register ................................................................. 89
Output Queue ................................................................................................... 89
Error and Event Queue .................................................................................... 89
Appendix E: SCPI Error Codes Used ........................................................... 90
Appendix F: SCPI Commands Quick Reference ......................................... 91
References ....................................................................................................... 97
Document Revision History ........................................................................... 98

Abbreviations
ADC
Analog-to-Digital Converter
API
Application Programming Interface
CIC
Cascaded Integrator-Comb
DC
Direct Current
DD
Direct Digitizer
DDC
Digital Down Converter
DDS
Direct Digital Synthesizer
DSP
Digital Signal Processing
ELO
External Local Oscillator
FFT
Fast Fourier Transform
FIR
Finite Impulse Response
FPGA
Field-Programmable Gate Array
GPIO
General Purpose Input/Output
HDR
High Dynamic Range
HIF
High Intermediate Frequency
IBW
Instantaneous Bandwidth
IEEE
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IF
Intermediate Frequency
IQ
In-phase and Quadrature
IQIN
External I and Q Input
LAN
Local Area Network
MB
Mega-Bytes
MSB
Most Significant Byte
NB
Narrowband
NCO
Numerically Controlled Oscillator
PLL
Phase-Locked Loop
RF
Radio Frequency
RFE
Receiver Front-End
Sa/s
Samples-per-Second
SCPI
Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments
SH
Super-Heterodyne
SHN
Super-Heterodyne with narrower bandwidth
TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
TD
Time Domain
TSF
TimeStamp-Fractional
TSI
TimeStamp-Integer
TSM
TimeStamp Mode
UTC
Coordinated Universal Time
VCO
Voltage Control Oscillator
VRT
VITA-49 Radio Transport
WB
Wideband
RTSA
Real Time Spectrum Analyzer
ZIF
Zero Intermediate Frequency

List of Figures
Figure 1: RTSA 7500 Functional Block Diagram ..................................................................................... 13
Figure 2: RF Receiver Front-end and Capture Controller Functional Block Diagram ............................. 16
Figure 3: DC Offset with Amplitude Roll-Off at +50MHz .......................................................................... 18
Figure 4: IQ Offset Correction .................................................................................................................. 20
Figure 5: DDC Functional Block Diagram ................................................................................................ 21
Figure 6: Association between Time and Frequency Domain .................................................................. 22
Figure 7: Synchronized Sweep using Sync-Word .................................................................................... 27
Figure 8: Synchronized Sweep with a Missed Capture ........................................................................... 27
Figure 9: Connectivity and 4 Different Packet Streams Supported by RTSA 7500 ................................. 28
Figure 10: An Example Illustrating Uninverted and Inverted Spectrums ................................................. 41
Figure 11: SCPI Language Hierarchical or Tree Structure Example ....................................................... 42
Figure 12: SCPI Measurement Function Block ........................................................................................ 43
Figure 13: Status Reporting Structure with Status & Enable Registers ................................................... 56

List of Tables
Table 1: System Level Control/Status Commands .................................................................................. 14
Table 2: Radio RFE Modes and DSP Data Output Formats .................................................................... 17
Table 3: RF Front-End Control/Status Commands .................................................................................. 20
Table 4: Trigger Control/Status Commands ............................................................................................. 23
Table 5: Trace Capture Control Commands ............................................................................................. 24
Table 6: Sweep Capture Control/Status Interface .................................................................................... 25
Table 7: The Categories of VRT Packet Streams Supported by Berkeley Nucleonics's RTSA 7500 ...... 28
Table 8: A List of Stream Identifiers As Used by Berkeley Nucleonics for Different Packet Classes ....... 29
Table 9: Receiver Context Packet Class Structure .................................................................................. 30
Table 10: Receiver Context Indicator Field Positions .............................................................................. 30
Table 11: Receiver Context Field Definition and Values .......................................................................... 30
Table 12: RF Reference Frequency Word Format ................................................................................... 31
Table 13: Gain Field Format ..................................................................................................................... 31
Table 14: Temperature Field Format ........................................................................................................ 32
Table 15: Digitizer Context Packet Class Structure ................................................................................. 32
Table 16: Digitizer Context Indicator Field Bit Positions .......................................................................... 33
Table 17: Digitizer Context Field Values .................................................................................................. 33
Table 18: Bandwidth Word Format ........................................................................................................... 33
Table 19: Reference Level Field Format .................................................................................................. 34
Table 20: RF Frequency Offset Word Format .......................................................................................... 35
Table 21: Extension Context Packet Class Structure .............................................................................. 35
Table 22: Extension Context Indicator Field Positions ............................................................................. 35
Table 23: Receiver Context Field Definition and Values .......................................................................... 36
Table 24: New Stream Start ID Field Format ........................................................................................... 36
Table 25: New Sweep Start ID Field Format ............................................................................................ 37
Table 26: Output Data Width and Packing Method for Different Data Formats ....................................... 37
Table 27: IF Data Class Field Values ....................................................................................................... 37
Table 28: Stream Identifier Values for Different Data Output Formats ..................................................... 38
Table 29: 64-bit or Two Words Picosecond Timestamp Format ............................................................... 38
Table 30: {I14Q14} Data Payload Arrangement with Upper 2-bit of Each Item Signed Extended to {I16
Q16} ......................................................................................................................................... 39
Table 31: {I14} Data Payload Arrangement with Upper 2-bit Signed Extended to {I16} .......................... 39
Table 32: {I24} Data Payload Arrangement with Upper 8-bit Signed Extended to {I32} .......................... 39
Table 33: Trailer Word Format .................................................................................................................. 40
Table 34: Trailer Indicator and Enable Bits .............................................................................................. 40
Table 35: Conditions Causing Abnormal Indicator State and Suggested Resolution .............................. 41
Table 36: RTSA 7500 Option Codes and the Corresponding Description ............................................... 52
Table 37: Max, Min, and Required Multiples for SPP and Samples-per-word for Different Data Output
Format ..................................................................................................................................... 73

Preface
This preface describes the audience for, the organization of, and conventions used in this
document. It also identifies related documentation and explains how to access electronic
documentation.
Audience
This document is written for software developers wishing to develop and/or maintain a
software interface to the RTSA7500 and who have a basic understanding, familiarity and
experience with network test and measurement equipment.
Conventions
This section describes the conventions used in this document.
Grayed-out Font
Indicates a command or a feature is not yet available in the current release.
Courier Font
Illustrates this is an example for a command or a concept.
Light Blue Font
Contains hyperlink to the referenced source that can be clicked on.
Normal Bold Font
When used within a sentence or a paragraph, it emphasizes an idea to be paid attention
to particularly.
Red Font
Conveys special information of that section.
Note: This symbol means take note. Notes contain helpful suggestions or references to
additional information and material.
Caution: This symbol means be careful. In this situation, you might do something that
could result in equipment damage or loss of data.
Warning: This symbol means danger. You are in a situation that could cause bodily
injury. Before you work on any equipment, be aware of the hazards involved with
electrical circuitry and be familiar with the standard practices for preventing accidents.
Obtaining Documentation and Releases
You can access the most current BNC documentation at relsease bundles at
http://www.berkeleynucleonics.com/support/model-7500-support-resources.