Using Instrument Connectivity

Introduction

Transmitter wireless test benches support instrument connectivity. The following sections explain how to connect to instruments and describe the test benches' compatibility with Agilent Technologies instruments.

Connecting to Instruments

The wireless test benches rely on Connection Manager architecture for instrument connectivity. Connection Manager is the implementation of Agilent Technologies Connected Solutions for ADS.

A Connection Manager-based simulation is part of the client half of the Connection Manager client/server system, and operates through an instance of the Connection Manager server. You can think of the Connection Manager-based simulation as an interface into the measurement available on the server.

Detailed information about using Connection Manager, including functional concepts and server IO configuration is provided in Connection Manager.

The Connection Manager architecture also provides instrument discovery and measurement exploration.

Discovery makes it easy to identify the instruments that are connected to your server workstation, enabling the client to easily associate a particular instrument with a particular measurement.
Exploration locates measurements on the server and describes a measurement's capabilities so a client can easily determine what a measurement does and how to use that measurement.

Instrument Discovery

The transmitter test benches provide interactive selection of the instrument before simulation. The Signal to ESG parameter category includes an Instrument parameter that is set to a string following a specific syntax as shown in this example:
[GPIB::19::INSTR][localhost][4790]

To interactively select an instrument:

From the Wireless Test Bench component parameter dialog box, select the ESG_Instrument parameter.
Click the Select Instrument button to access the Set Server dialog box.
If Connect to server on remote Windows PC is selected, enter the IP address or DNS name of the Windows PC on which an instance of the Connection Manager server is running.
Enter the port number on which the server is waiting for incoming connection requests. Unless the server settings are changed manually, use the default port number 4790.
Click OK to access the Remote Instrument Explorer dialog box.
This dialog box shows the Visa Resource identifiers of all instruments that are currently connected to the workstation running the Connection Manager server. A Visa Resource identifier is like an IP address that can uniquely identify an instrument among all the instruments connected to the workstation through all available interfaces.

To map the Visa Resource identifiers to the associated instrument model number, select one or more of the Visa Resource entries and click the Query Instruments' IDs button. This tells the Connection Manager server to send the standard IEEE 488.2 identification command *IDN? to the instrument(s). Most modern instruments that understand this command will respond with an identification string. After all selected instruments are queried, the Instrument IDs are displayed:
Select a specific instrument based on the Instrument ID string displayed and click OK.
Click OK on the component dialog box to return to the RFDE dialog box. Click Cancel on any of the dialogs to retain your old settings.

Compatibility with Agilent Technologies Instruments

WLAN test benches, signal sources, and EVM measurements are compatible with the Agilent E4438C ESG Vector Signal Generator, and Agilent 89600 Series Vector Signal Analyzer; details are given in the following table.

WLAN Agilent Instrument Compatibility Information

WLAN Spec	ESG Models	VSA Models
SpecVersion= 1999	E4438C, Firmware Revision C.03.40 Option 417 - "802.11 WLAN" Software Personality (Signal Studio)	89600 Series, software version 4.xx/5.xx Option B7R - "WLAN Modulation Analysis"

TD-SCDMA test benches and signal sources are compatible with Agilent E4438C Signal Generator and Agilent 89600 Series Vector Signal Analyzer; details are given in the following table.

TD-SCDMA Agilent Instrument Compatibility Information

TD-SCDMA Spec	ESG Models	VSA Models
SpecVersion= 6-2002	E4438C, Firmware Revision C.03.40 Option 411 - "TD-SCDMA (TSM)" Software Personality (Signal Studio)	89600 Series, software version 4.xx/5.xx Option B7N - "3G Modulation Analysis"

3GPP FDD test benches and signal sources are compatible with Agilent E4406A VSA Series Transmitter Tester, Agilent PSA Series High-Performance Spectrum Analyzer, and Agilent 89600 Series Vector Signal Analyzer; details are given in the following table.

3GPP FDD Agilent Instrument Compatibility Information

3GPP Spec	ESG Models	VSA Models
SpecVersion= 3-2002	E4438C, Firmware Revision C.03.40 Option 400 - "3GPP W-CDMA FDD" Personality	E4406A, Firmware Revision A.06.03 Option BAF - "W-CDMA" Measurement Personality PSA, Firmware Revision A.04.07 Option BAF - "W-CDMA" Measurement Personality 89600 Series, software version 3.01/4.xx/5.xx Option B7N - "3G Modulation Analysis"

For more information about Agilent ESG Series of Digital and Analog RF Signal Generator and Options, visit
www.agilent.com/find/ESG.
For more information about Agilent PSG Series of Digital and Analog RF Signal Generator and Options, visit
www.agilent.com/find/PSG.
For more information about Agilent 89600 Series Vector Signal Analyzer and Options, visit
www.agilent.com/find/89600.
For more information about Agilent PSA series High-Performance Signal Analyzer and Options, visit
www.agilent.com/find/psa