Agilent 89601A labview drivers

[happysky]

I am trying to find labview drivers or laview application software for Agilent 89601A vector signal analysis software but I can't find it on national instrument website.  The 89601 software installs a .COM driver when it is installed and this is how to communicate with it.   I try to develop labview drivers based on .com driver.  However, I feel that it will take me a long time to develop this.  Does anybody already have developed labview drivers for 89601A software?   Or someone knows some labview drivers are very similar to this one so that it is easy to convert to 89601A Labview drivers?

Thank you for your help.

happysky

[smercurio_fc]

You wouldn't find drivers for that on the NI instrument driver site since the item you're talking about is software, and not an instrument. If it's COM-based you should be able to use Call Library Function to call the software functions. Did Agilent provide any documentation on how to call the software from, say, C?

Message Edited by smercurio_fc on 02-13-2006 03:54 PM

[Robert M]

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we have a driver for the Agilent 89601A on our Instrument Driver Network (IDNet).  Either the device is too new, or demand for a driver has not been high.  Make sure you submit a request for it.  The more requests we get for a device, the sooner we'll develop a driver for it.  smercurio_fc, we do provide LabVIEW drivers (as opposed to device drivers, which are only for our own products) for over 4,000 3rd party instruments on our site.

[smercurio_fc]

Er... I know that NI provides LabVIEW drivers for instruments made by other manufacturers and am well aware of the instrument driver library. However, the poster indicated in the original post that this is software, not an instrument, so why would there be drivers (LabVIEW or otherwise) for software in the instrument driver library? Unless he really meant an instrument, but I was going by what was stated in the message.

[Mike....]

I am also looking for a way to control the Agilent 89600 software suite from LabVIEW.  My particular interest is in the 89604 software that Agilent provides.  They do include some simple documentation of their "COM API".  Using some other examples as a starting point, I was able to create a very simple program that should do nothing more than launch the 89604 software.  When I run it I get an error message:  "Class not registered in active X".  To test my approach, I used the same type of program to launch MS Word, and it works as expected.

Is there a way to register a program?  When I right click on the automation reference control, and select "Active X class", and browse, I see the 89604 application listed in the very long list of programs, and can select what I think is the top most object.  It all looks like it is going to work, but I simply get an error message when trying to launch the 89604 software, while launching MS Word works.

Any thoughts?  I do not know much about Active X, but I figure if I can get to the point where I can lauch the program from LabVIEW, I'll be able to figure the rest out on my own.

Mike

[happysky]

Thank you for your reply.  I just want to know if someone already develop labview application program for Agilent 89601A vector signal analysis software.  It will save my time to develop by my own.  I also plan to use active X to call software function.  However, I don't have instruments (E4440 spectrum analyzer and 54855 scope (the VSA software will control those two instruments to do my mearesurment)) with me to play with.  I download 14 trial version software from Agilent website and I am able to communicate with VSA software to check software version.  I attach my sample program and hope it can help Mike.  My measurement will be more concentrate on digital demodulation mearsurement, especially for QPSK IQ phase error if someone already wrote the similar code for it.  Please share with me.  Thanks,

Happysky.

[tisiman]

Smercurico, although this is software, it behaves like an equipment (a better spectrum analyzer). So similar functions like setting markers, reading markers and all the advanced demod data readout would be helpful.
I would also be interested to get some function panels, but in my case for LabwindowsCVI.

tisiman

[Sparky]

Any further research into getting data out of the 89601 'instrument?'

I have some basic controls going through activex in Labview.  But now I’m to the point were the limited documentation is halted my development.  I need to be able to pull the digitally demodulated symbols out for a long recording (contagiously).  So after the instrument gets a trigger, it searches for the sync, and aligns to that point.  But there's a limitation on the number of symbols you can claim are apart of the packet, so for a long test pattern you cannot see all the symbols in the trace data (use the  'y' array dump from the symbols trace).

[beachbum]

How was this issue resolved? I need to automate the 89600 to make 802.11g EVM measurements and it does not appear to be as trivial as loading a driver. Does a special macro need to be written to address the 89600 with the IVI COM commands, and accessed through Labview? Agilent is not making it easy for controlling this equipment, the FSA from R&S is much easier.

[Sparky]

It is true the activeX command structure is not as descriptive as it should be.  Also the API COM library help has to be installed or loaded separately.  I managed to get it added to my desktop install of the 89600 software but not on the new MXA which uses the 89600 to do digital demod.

I have a library of commands/functions coming along but certainly is tedious.  SCPI support is coming down the pipe for this instrument but I'm not sure if it covers the 89600 software options as well.

I have a contact at agilent that helps me with any question, the answers appear to be cut-n-paste form a help file that is easy to read and a great help in understanding the obscure activeX function fields.