The Latest in Oscilloscope Connectivity

Like most technologies, oscilloscopes have also evolved with the times. Features that were once only available on expensive "top-of-the-line" oscilloscopes are now available on lower-priced oscilloscopes. These features include upgradeable bandwidth, memory depth, large display, and high-speed waveform capture rates. In the past, high-end oscilloscopes were equipped with Ethernet, USB, GPIB, VGA, trigger in, and trigger out connections. Economical oscilloscopes often do not have all of these connections, and some even use floppy drives or only have GPIB interfaces.

Fortunately new connectivity options are starting to trickle down to the more affordable oscilloscopes. What are the new options for non-Windows oscilloscopes?

USB Connectivity

In almost all cases, oscilloscopes have replaced floppy drives with USB. When the user wants to save a screenshot or data file, they simply insert the USB drive and save the screenshot and data?? This is often referred to as the "USB host side." As you might expect, USB offers far more technical advantages over previous data saving options, including greater storage space (up to 128GB on the Agilent 2000 and 3000 X-Series), smaller form factors, and easier transfer to your PC (remember when was the last time you used a floppy drive?).

Connections via the USB host are often called "intermediaries," and while you can easily use a USB drive to transfer files to and from the oscilloscope, this is not a true direct connection. You must still use the "intermediary" to pass information between the computer and the oscilloscope using the USB drive.

In addition to the USB host port, many oscilloscopes now have a USB device port connection. This is not used to connect a USB flash drive, but instead allows you to control the oscilloscope remotely via USB. To enable this connection, connect the USB host port on the PC and the USB device port on the oscilloscope together via a USB cable.

The USB device side of the connection usually involves some type of driver library. Agilent uses its IO library, which includes routines to help you set up the link to the oscilloscope. Once the connection is established, you can use commands to control the oscilloscope.

Ethernet connectivity

While USB connectivity is now common, Ethernet connectivity is fairly new, especially for less expensive non-Windows oscilloscopes. Now you have the ability to remotely control your oscilloscope over Ethernet and even print your oscilloscope measurements on a network printer. Ethernet connectivity not only provides another way to connect to your oscilloscope, but a new type of Ethernet connectivity called LXI (LAN Extensions for Instrumentation) provides a whole new way to interact with your test equipment. LXI not only makes it easy to configure your test system and integrate with other instruments through a variety of connectivity options (including traditional standards such as GPIB), it also has many very unique capabilities that make oscilloscope interaction very powerful. For example, Agilent LXI instruments have a web server embedded in them. This embedded web page has many outstanding advantages:

* Identify oscilloscope information such as model, serial number, host name, IP address, and VISA (address) connection string

* Remotely control the oscilloscope via the virtual front panel on your computer

* Ability to send SCPI (Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments) commands through the SCPI command window

* Ability to save setups, waveform data (in multiple formats) and template files on PC

* Ability to recall setups, waveform data files and template files from a PC

* Capture screen images and easily add them to documents

* The 'Active' message flashes for the oscilloscope being controlled - this is particularly useful when you are controlling one of multiple oscilloscopes in a cabinet, because you don't need to do anything special to know which oscilloscope is currently being controlled.

* Ability to upgrade firmware over the network
LXI instruments provide the ability to be remotely controlled through a virtual front panel. The virtual front panel reproduces all the functions of the oscilloscope. Some oscilloscopes, such as the Agilent InfiniiVision X-Series oscilloscopes, provide you with two virtual front panel options:

1. Basic Virtual Front Panel

2. Virtual front panel that is identical to a physical oscilloscope

The Basic Virtual Front Panel is usually a simplified view of the applicable functions of the oscilloscope. It is ideal for remote control of a PC with limited screen resolution, thus reducing the interaction with the oscilloscope to a very limited range. It is also more suitable for mouse rather than finger touch actuation.

Agilent InfiniiVision X Series oscilloscopes have another option, which is a virtual front panel that is exactly the same as the real oscilloscope front panel. This virtual front panel has the same functions as the oscilloscope front panel, which is the most obvious way of use and benefit. It is ideal for people who may use the oscilloscope remotely, because they have the same appearance and operation, just like directly operating the oscilloscope. If you are using a touch screen PC, you can easily use your fingers and mouse to achieve remote control on this front panel. [page]

In addition to the similar appearance and operation of the remote interface and the oscilloscope front panel being a great advantage, another major advantage of using this remote oscilloscope front panel is training and education. When you set up a new production line or laboratory, if not everyone has access to an oscilloscope at all times, you can connect the InfiniiVision oscilloscope to the company's internal network so that anyone can enter the oscilloscope's IP address and practice using it, so that by the time the oscilloscope is in front of them, they are already familiar with its operation. It is also a powerful teaching tool. With this feature, teachers in the lab can interact with an oscilloscope through its virtual front panel, and students can see the operation of the oscilloscope and observe the teacher interacting with it, capturing screens and saving data. Although multiple people cannot perform different actions at the same time, it is very useful for laboratories with limited equipment to allow many students to share or observe an oscilloscope at the same time.

Another benefit of the virtual front panel being exactly the same as the actual oscilloscope front panel is that engineers can mediate issues between multiple teams in different locations. Team engineers and you see exactly the same front panel and signal waveform, so you can solve everyone's concerns through direct communication.

Conclusion

If you are still using an oscilloscope with a floppy drive, or even a USB-only oscilloscope, you may be surprised by these new connectivity technologies, especially at their extremely low price points. With each successive generation of oscilloscopes, they become more powerful, flexible, and easy to use. New features in oscilloscopes, such as Ethernet connectivity, when combined with Web server capabilities, can greatly increase your productivity.

Figure 1: Save/Recall Screen. You can save and recall setups directly from your PC via the Remote User Interface. In addition, you can save images and data, and even save templates you have created directly to your PC.

Figure 2: Basic Virtual Front Panel. Note its more compact display, which is more suitable for users with lower resolution displays and/or those who use mouse control primarily.

Figure 3: Virtual Oscilloscope Front Panel. This virtual control interface accurately replicates the oscilloscope's front panel and can be used immediately by users familiar with the oscilloscope's front panel. It is also ideal for training and multi-site collaboration.