13 | Keysight | 89601B/BN-200 Basic Vector Signal Analysis, 89601B/BN-300 Hardware Connectivity, 89600 VSA Software - Technical Overview
Limit lines
Limit tests
Marker results
Collection of limit lines applied to trace data. Defined by user or from save trace.
Pass/fail status for limit and margin; worst-case failed point, or smallest-margin point if no failure; limit
test status for all traces, limit line table with tabular results
Upper, lower limit; limit margin
Settable line parameters
Export/import from frequency mask
Limit programming
Limit test failure
All features controllable via .NET
Generates measurement status event
Software interface
Programming and macros
Fully encapsulates all access to the front-end measurement hardware. Direct programmatic access
to the measurement hardware is not required and not supported by any of these interfaces.
Remote programming
.NET
.NET is the primary remote interface. Software development environments capable of interacting with
.NET remoting include Microsoft Visual Studio and others.
SCPI
The SCPI remote interface allows SCPI-based instrument controllers full access to a subset of 89600
VSA software features. Compatible SCPI software development environments include Keysight VEE and
Keysight Command Expert. MATLAB users should consider using SCPI for their remote programming
needs.
COM
COM API compatibility interface allows applications written for the previous generation 89601A to ac-
cess many of the features of the 89600 VSA software while minimizing required code changes. Compat-
ible software development environments include Microsoft Visual Studio and others.
Macro language
Supports macro-recording with a built-in editor using C# and VB.NET. Also, macros can be developed
using any supported .NET language. Full-featured code editor complete with syntax coloring allows
copy and paste into Microsoft Visual Studio for editing and debugging. Macros developed for the
89601A using VBA can only access features that are part of the COM compatibility interface.
Remote displays
To operate the 89600 VSA software or view its display from a remote location, the use of commercially
available remote PC software is recommended.
File formats
ASCII
For storage and recall of measured or captured waveforms, spectra and other measurement results.
Tab delimited (.txt), comma delimited (.csv)
Binary
Keysight standard data format (.sdf, .cap, .dat), Keysight E3238 search system time snapshot (.cap),
time recording (.cap) files under 2 GB in size. Keysight N5110 or N5106 signal generator files (.bin) under
2 GB in size.
MATLAB 4 and later
MAT-file (.mat)
MATLAB 2006 and later
Simulation environments
Supported software
MAT-file (.mat) and HDF5 file format (.hdf, .h5)
Keysight SystemVue ESL, Keysight Advanced Design System (ADS), MathWorks Simulink (only available
with VSA version 7.00 to 17.20)