Mini-Circuits ISC-2425-25+ User manual

ISC-2425-25+
Industrial System Controller
Quick Start Guide
AN-50-001
www.minicircuits.com

AN-50-001 Rev.: OR DCO-000695 (11/01/21) File: AN-50-001.docx
This document and its contents are the property of Mini-Circuits.
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................... 1
2. Quick Start (GUI)........................................................................................................................ 1
2.1 Step 1 – Assemble the hardware ....................................................................................................................2
2.2 Step 2 – Set up and run software ...................................................................................................................4
2.3 Step 2.1 – (Optional) Configure communication port .....................................................................................6
2.4 Step 3 – Check system status ..........................................................................................................................6
2.5 Step 4 – Find the best frequency for RF energy delivery.................................................................................7
2.6 Step 5 – Configure power..............................................................................................................................10
2.7 Step 6 – Start heating....................................................................................................................................10
2.8 Step 7 – Use the digital locked loop (DLL) to track the best match frequency..............................................11
3. Quick Start (Serial Terminal Interface) .................................................................................... 14
3.1 Step 1 – Assemble the hardware ..................................................................................................................14
3.2 Step 2 – Set up communication .................................................................................................................... 14
3.3 Step 3 – Check system status ........................................................................................................................16
3.4 Step 4 – Find the best frequency for RF energy delivery...............................................................................16
3.5 Step 5 – Configure power..............................................................................................................................17
3.6 Step 6 – Start heating
....................................................................................................................................17
3.7 Step 7 – Use the digital locked loop to track the best match frequency.......................................................18
Table of Contents

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1. Introduction
The ISC-2425-25+ Industrial System Controller and Small Signal Generator board is a powerful device with many
capabilities.
This document guides the user through the recommended steps to get a quick start with generating the output signals
for an RF energy application.
First, the hardware setup will be explained, then the software setup and interactions will be covered for both a graphical
user interface (GUI) and for a text-based serial terminal interface directly to the application programming interface (API)
of the controller.
Note: The commands used in this manual will not be explained in detail. This information can be found in the “command
set manual” available for download here:
www.xxxx.com/comand_set_manual_ISC-2425-25+
2. Quick Start (GUI)
The following instructions will enable the user to exercise a quick start with the ISC-2425-25+ signal generator and
system control board.
The following load scenario will be used:
The RF signal generator and power amplifier (the ISC-2425-25+ and the ZHL-2425-250X+, respective- ly) are
connected to a suitable microwave cavity. (Note: there are many other applicator examples that could be used e.g.,
plasma sources etc.)
The load inside the cavity is a material that needs to be processed with microwave energy.
A Windows or Linux PC is used to communicate with the ISC-2425-25+ board through the Mini-Circuits GUI. The goal is
to heat the chosen material, which presents a challenging load situation to the genertorsystem.

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2.1 Step 1 – Assemble the hardware
The ISC-2425-25+ controller is delivered in a box with the following accessories:
USB A – USB mini 1m cable
I2C bus cable (Molex to Molex) assembly
DC power supply connector
USB A – USB mini 1m I2C bus cable
(Molex to Molex)
The ZHL-2425-250X+ power amplifier is connected to the ISC-2425-25+ with an SMA-to-MCX RF cable(Mini-Circuits
part number XXXXXX, to be defined).
SMA-to-MCX RF cable (Mini-Circuits part number XXXXXX)
DC power supply
connector

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In addition to the ISC-2425-25+ controller and ZHL-2425-250X+ amplifier, the following components areneeded:
A power supply for the ZHL-2425-250X+ power amplifier32V,
16Amp for the power amplifier;
Note: a power supply for the ISC-2425-25+ is optional since it is by default powered by USB. (for RF out-put power
values up to 23dBm)
For applications where the full RF output power (25dBm) of the ISC-2425-25+ is needed, a dedicated5.5V supply is
required. (5.5V, 1 Amp);
An appropriate microwave cavity with the chosen material as the load
Additional Cables Required:
DC supply cable (32V, 16A, wire diameter ≥2.5mm2 or ≤14AWG) to connect the main power supply to the amplifier.
These are connected to the ZHL-2425-250X+ using Mating M5 screw (Mcmaster P/N92095A308), Belville washer
(Mcmaster P/N 90895A027), Ring Terminal (Mcmaster P/N7113K29), please refer to the ZHL-2425-250X+
datasheet.
N-type male (on amplifier side) RF cable to microwave cavity connection
Software:
Mini-Circuits GUI:
Developed for integration with touch displays and with a PC and mouse. Available for
download on Windows & Linux here: [Download link pending]
With the cables and other hardware ready, it is straightforward to connect it all together. See the diagramand
photograph below:

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2.2 Step 2 – Set up and run software
Download the software first (see above link).
Windows:
1. Simply unzip/extract the files to the desired destination folder.
2. In the extracted folder find the executable ‘Toolkit_GUI’ and double-click it to start the program.
Windows Defender may prevent the application from running.To grant
permission to run the application do the following:
a. Press “More Info”.
b. Press the “Run anyway” button that appears at the bottom.
Linux:
1. Simply unzip/extract the files to the desired destination folder on the Linux system.
2. Open a terminal (CTRL + ALT + T) and install the necessary dependencies.
Input the following lines:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install qt5-default libqt5serialport5 libqt5serialbus5
Note: This step requires internet access.
Note: Linux may request permission to do these actions. Provide ‘Y’ to approve.
Note: Some Linux distributions may use a different packet manager than ‘apt-get’.

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3. In the extracted folder locate the file ‘Toolkit_GUI’.
In the terminal application use the ‘chmod’ function to grant run permission to the GUI application:
sudo chmod +x /path/to/Toolkit_GUI
4. Double-click ‘Toolkit_GUI’ to start the program.

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2.3 Step 2.1 – (Optional) Configure communication port
By default, the application should automatically detect the hardware communication port at which the signal generator
is plugged in. If for whatever reason the application cannot find the signal generator board, it can be forced to use a
specific port by editing the program’s configuration file.
1. In the folder where the software was extracted find and open the file ‘config.txt’.
2. Inside the config.txt file find the entry ‘SGX_port_1’ and uncomment it by removing the ‘#’ in front, then provide a
valid port name for the signal generator board.
Note: The device’s port name can be found using Window’s Device Manager or by looking at the Linux’ / dev/ directory.
For detailed instructions see Chapter 3.2 Step 2 – Set up communication.
Automatic port detection can be re-enabled again by commenting out the line with a ‘#’.
2.4 Step 3 – Check system status
Before continuing to the RF application activity, take a moment to become familiarized with some of GUI’sfeatures.
In the ‘Home’ menu take a look at the status bar in the lower right area of the GUI to see if there are anyerrors.
In the ‘Settings’ menu take a look at the bottom row to see the version of the signal generator board’sfirmware as
well as the version of the GUI software.
In this case the firmware version on the ISC-2425-25+ is v1.11.0 and there are no pending errors.If there were
an error, it would be displayed on the GUI like so:
The GUI automatically attempts to clear errors. If any errors persist, that means there is an ongoing problemwith the setup
that must be resolved before continuing.

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2.5 Step 4 – Find the best frequency for RF energy delivery
Now you have the GUI installed you will want to run your first application. During an RF heating process, the user wants
to make sure that the available RF energy is used optimally to heat up the load (the chosen material). In a typical
application, this is not a trivial thing to do: The frequency where energy is effectively transferred into the load is called
the “match” and needs to be determined. A good match means most of the RF energy is absorbed by the load,
whereas a bad match means a large portion of the energy is reflected back into the RF generator system.
A match can be expressed in different ways depending on the units used to measure RF power. When
measuring the power using dBm, the match is expressed as ‘S11’:
Here, S11 is expressed in dB, and the powers PFWD and PRFL are expressed in dBm.
A lower value of S11, the better. For example, a value of about -13dB would indicate that more than 95% ofthe forward
RF power is used in the cavity.
When measuring the power using watts the match is expressed as “Reflection”:
The reflection has a value typically between 0 and 1, and is expressed as a percentage (%); The powersPFWD and
PRFL are expressed in watt. The closer the reflection is to 0%, the better.
The GUI displays forward power, reflected power and reflection (%) or S11 (dB) in the lower left corner.Switching
units (watt <-> dBm) is done by clicking the ‘unit’ button of any of the three displayed parameters:
S11 =(PRFL- PFWD)
Reflection= (PRFL / PFWD)

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Though this information is very useful, it alone is not sufficient to properly optimize the process. To find out the
frequency at which to heat (i.e., the match), a frequency sweep should be performed to assess the S11 parameter
across a pre-defined frequency band. This is done by briefly using low RF power and determining the S11 parameter at
various frequencies over a given frequency range. The resulting data can be formatted into a graph that provides insight
into the possible match within the tested frequency range.See figure 1 below.
In the example graph below, a ‘minimum’ S11 point can be seen around the 2450MHz range, this is the frequency where
the reflection is closest to 0 and the RF energy delivery into the load/process would be the most efficient.
Figure 1: S11 (dB) vs frequency & Reflection (%) vs Frequency