Boonton 4540 Peak Power Meter User Manual - Manual (Page 135)

Boonton 4540 Series RF Power Meter
Remote Operation 5-1
5. Remote Operation
5.1 GPIB Configuration
The 4540 GPIB interface is configured using the System > I/O Config > GPIB menu. The primary listen/talk address
(MLTA) can be set to any value from 1 to 30 inclusive. The value assigned must be unique to each GPIB device. Secondary
address is not implemented.
ASCII talk and listen terminators are not required or supported – the 4540 supports the industry standard EOI method of
terminating strings send to and from the instrument. The talking device must assert the EOI bus signal on the GPIB bus
when transmitting the final character of the message. This function is performed automatically by most GPIB controllers. If
a CR and/or LF is present at the end of an incoming GPIB message, it will simply be ignored by the 4540.
The menu report item System > I/O Config > GPIB > View Buffers displays the current contents of the instrument’s internal
GPIB Listen buffer or Talk buffer. This feature is very useful for analyzing bus communication problems. The buffers show
what has most recently been received from the controller and what response string has been sent to the controller or is
waiting to be sent.
5.2 LAN Configuration
The 4540 LAN interface is configured using the System > I/O Config > LAN menu. The instrument may be set to
automatically accept its IP address and associated information from a DHCP server, or the configuration data may be entered
manually.
The 4540 communicates via the VXI-11 protocol for LAN control, which is a TCP/IP based format that allows GPIB
operation to be emulated via the LAN. Once the LAN parameters have been configured, the controller can perform a
broadcast and find all instruments on the subnet, or the instrument’s IP address (whether manually or automatically assigned)
may be used to assist the remote control software in locating and connecting to the 4540. Typically, the host will use VISA to
provide the interface layer between the instrument and the remote control software.
The menu report item System > I/O Config > LAN > View Buffers displays the current contents of the instrument’s internal
LAN send and receive buffers. This feature is very useful for analyzing programming problems. The buffers show what has
most recently been received from the controller and what response string has been sent to the controller or is waiting to be
sent.
5.3 USB Configuration
The 4540 USB interface is configured automatically by the host computer when the instrument is connected. There are no
instrument configuration settings to perform. The instrument will identify itself using the Boonton Electronics USB vendor
ID 0x1CB5, and a product ID of 0x4540.
The 4540 communicates via the USBTMC (USB Test and Measurement Class) protocol for USB control, that allows GPIB
operation to be emulated over the USB. Once the host computer has identified the instrument and initialized the USB
parameters, communication may begin. Typically, the host will use VISA to provide the interface layer between the
instrument and the remote control software.
The menu report item System > I/O Config > USB > View Buffers displays the current contents of the instrument’s internal
USB send and receive buffers. This feature is very useful for analyzing programming problems. The buffers show what has
most recently been received from the controller and what response string has been sent to the controller or is waiting to be
sent.