The faster remote control data transfer feature available with MXO oscilloscopes is an efficient solution to optimize data collection processes in automated testing environments while still maintaining measurement synchronization.
MXO 5 series oscilloscope
Your task
Faster test feedback loops are crucial to improving production line efficiency in automated test equipment (ATE) applications. Rapid data exchange can also help speed up the development of reliable circuits in pivotal areas such as quantum computing analysis and high energy physics. High-speed information exchange to a control computer is a big advantage when testing and validating circuits.
Record one acquisition and transfer it: The new SCPI command needs fewer than 15 ms and 8 channels to transfer 100 ksample.
Rohde & Schwarz solution
To help speed up the exchange of information, Rohde & Schwarz oscilloscopes have capabilities greater than conventional solutions. A new export command and an Ethernet connection for expedited data transfer with MXO oscilloscopes are available. Directly transfer multiple waveforms to your receiver with the SCPI command “EXPort:WAVeform:DATA[:VALues]?”. The export command was specifically developed to increase data transfer speeds via remote control commands by omitting overhead in the internal configuration for multiple waveform acquisitions.
Older SCPI commands
Conventional data transfer commands do not prioritize maximum data exchange efficiency. For example, the traditional SCPI code “CHANnel{ch_sel}:DATA:VALues?” can be much slower than specialized commands. Nevertheless, when speed is not essential, the command makes it easy to assign retrieved data.
Synchronized versus non-synchronized measurements
Before a measurement result is retrieved from the instrument, it needs to complete the measurement. The result should also be valid and consistent with the instrument settings in a process known as synchronization. Synchronizing the waveform retrieval describes the syncpoints where the. A non-synchronized measurement cannot be mapped to other quantities, especially when they come from other remote-controlled instruments.
Rohde & Schwarz has enhanced waveform data transfer speeds without compromising on measurement synchronization. Unlike waveform streaming, Rohde & Schwarz oscilloscopes offer full SCPI synchronization, with *WAI, *OPC, *OPC? in combination with “EXPort:WAVeform:DATA[:VALues]?”.
Profit from higher number of acquisitions per minute compared to those of competitors:
Using one channel with RL = 1 Msample, sample rate = 625 Msample/s. Both transfer and binary data conversion (e.g. NumPy Array) are considered as data transfer time.
Speed comparison
Data transfer rates from Rohde & Schwarz oscilloscopes can be much faster than those of competitors. Even with a substantial number of samples (e.g. 1 Msample), Rohde & Schwarz oscilloscopes improve performance even with traditional SCPI commands and particularly excel when using one channel as observed in the figure. While competitors transfer time are seemingly restricted by internal processes (acquisition rate does not change with the amount of transferred data), Rohde & Schwarz oscilloscopes efficiently use their full data transfer performance. The most significant limitation is the amount of data as shown by the drop of acquisitions per minute towards higher channel count (see figure).
Implement this feature in your analysis including a special SCPI command in your analysis code. Here is an example code for faster waveforms transfer via “EXPort:WAVeform:DATA[:VALues]?” with four analog channels.
Accelerating data transfers not only reduces measurement times in offline analysis applications but also shortens development cycles in experiments. The faster remote control data transfer feature available with MXO oscilloscopes is an efficient solution to optimize data collection processes in automated testing environments while still maintaining measurement synchronization.
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