RSCommander Versatile Software Tool for Rohde & · PDF fileRSCommander Versatile Software Tool for Rohde & Schwarz Instruments Application Note Products: ı R&S®FSW ı R&S®SMW ı

RSCommander Versatile Software Tool for Rohde & Schwarz Instruments Application Note

Products:

ı R&S®FSW

ı R&S®SMW

ı R&S®CMW

ı R&S®FSC

ı R&S®SMC

ı R&S®RTO

ı R&S®RTM

RSCommander is a versatile software tool for a wide range of Rohde & Schwarz spectrum analyzers,

signal generators and network analyzers. It allows for automatic instrument discovery, making hardcopies,

reading traces, file transfer and for uploading user correction data for linearization.

Note:

Please find the most up-to-date document on our homepage

https://www.rohde-schwarz.com/appnote/1MA074.

This document is complemented by software. The software may be updated even if the version of the

document remains unchanged

App

licat

ion

Not

e

F.S

chüt

ze, O

.Ger

lach

, D

.Bue

s

1.

2017

– 1

MA

074_

15e

https://www.rohde-schwarz.com/appnote/1MA074

Table of Contents

1MA074_15e Rohde & Schwarz RSCommander Versatile Software Tool for Rohde & Schwarz Instruments

2

Table of Contents

1 Overview .............................................................................................. 3

2 Software ............................................................................................... 4

2.1 Features ........................................................................................................................ 4

2.2 Requirements ............................................................................................................... 4

2.3 Installation .................................................................................................................... 4

2.3.1 Windows 7/8/10 ............................................................................................................. 4

2.3.2 macOS 10.5.x ................................................................................................................ 4

3 Connecting the Instruments .............................................................. 5

4 Getting Started .................................................................................... 6

5 Software Description .......................................................................... 8

5.1 Main menu .................................................................................................................... 8

5.1.1 File ................................................................................................................................. 8

5.1.2 Functions .....................................................................................................................13

5.1.4 Help ..............................................................................................................................23

5.2 Command Buttons .....................................................................................................24

5.3 Scripts: Trace Data Download for Vector Network Analyzers and Oscilloscopes

.....................................................................................................................................25

5.3.1 File Creation and Download ........................................................................................25

5.3.2 Script Files for VNA Family ZNB ..................................................................................28

5.3.3 Script Files for VNA Family ZVAB ...............................................................................30

5.3.4 Sample Session ...........................................................................................................31

5.3.5 Script Files for Oscilloscope Family RTO ....................................................................38

5.3.6 Sample Session Using RTO and Script “dl_scr_027” ..................................................40

Overview


3

1 Overview

RSCommander is a versatile software tool for a wide range of Rohde & Schwarz

instruments. It makes it possible to take screenshots for documentation purposes, read

trace data for further processing and upload user correction data to signal generators

for linearization.

The software also allows for file management and interactive control of the instrument

using its remote control commands.

RSCommander automatically detects all supported Rohde & Schwarz instruments

connected via GPIB and LAN interfaces.

The following abbreviations are used in the following text for R&S® test equipment:

ı R&S® is a registered trademark of Rohde & Schwarz GmbH und Co. KG.

ı The R&S®FSV Spectrum Analyzer is referred to as FSV.

ı The R&S®FSW Signal and Spectrum Analyzer is referred to as FSW.

ı The R&S®ESRP EMI Test Receiver is referred to as ESRP.

ı The R&S®SMW200A Vector Signal Generator is referred to as SMW.

ı The R&S®CMW500 Radio Communication Tester is referred to as CMW.

Software


4

2 Software

2.1 Features

RSCommander features the following:

ı Automatic device detection via GPIB and LAN interfaces

ı "Look and feel" user interface

ı Hardcopy

ı Read trace data

ı File Manager

ı Obtain instrument status information

ı Interactive control using remote control commands

2.2 Requirements

RSCommander runs on a Windows 7/8/10 32/64-bit operating system and requires

R&S® VISA to be installed. In case a GPIB interface is installed make sure that the

according driver has been installed prior to installing R&S® VISA. You can also install

R&S® VISA if another VISA driver from a 3rd party manufacturer been installed

previously. R&S VISA has a managing tool for selecting a favorite VISA driver for each

interface type.

RSCommander runs on macOS 10.x and needs a VISA and GPIB driver to be

installed. Open the *.dmg image and copy RSCommander.app to your applications

directory.

2.3 Installation

2.3.1 Windows 7/8/10

Execute the program 1MA074_RSCOMMANDER_X64_1.X.X.EXE for 64-bit or

1MA074_RSCOMMANDER_X86_1.X.X.EXE for 32-bit operating systems.

2.3.2 macOS 10.5.x

Open the image 1MA074_RSCOMMANDER_1.X.X.DMG on a Mac and copy

RSCommander.app to your applications directory.

Connecting the Instruments


5

3 Connecting the Instruments

RSCommander supports GPIB and LAN instruments.

ı GPIB instruments can be connected to the controller with the traditional daisy

chain method.

GPIB

SMW FSV CMW

Controller

Fig. 3-1: GPIB Instruments

ı LAN instruments may be connected to the controller either directly, allowing only

one device per Ethernet port,

LAN

SMW FSV

Controller

Fig. 3-2: LAN instruments connected to PC

ı or via Ethernet switch/hub, which is optionally connected to a DHCP server

(company network)

LAN

SMW FSV

Controller LAN Switch Optional DHCP Server

ESRP

Fig. 3-3: LAN instruments connected to switch

Getting Started


6

4 Getting Started

This example shows how to make a hardcopy of an FSV spectrum. The FSV is

attached to the controller via Ethernet connection.

GPIB

To DHCP server

other

LAN

FSV

Controller LAN Switch

Fig. 4-1: Example configuration

ı Start RSCommander by double-clicking the icon.

ı In the Manually menu enter an INSTRUMENT NAME, select INSTRUMENT TYPE from

list, e.g. FSV, Interface LAN, Network Address e.g. 10.85.0.22 and press

ADD. The FSV will appear in the DEVICES TO ATTACH list.

Fig. 4-2: Adding instruments manually

Note: The Network Address can either be the full IP address, e.g. 10.85.0.183, or

the symbolic name, e.g. for the 30 GHz model of FSV with serial number 101794 the

name FSV30-101794.

ı The instruments are then added to the Selected Instrument list by pressing OK.

ı Choose the FSV in the Selected Instrument table and press the Hardcopy

button.

Getting Started


7

Fig. 4-3: FSV hardcopy

Software Description


8

5 Software Description

Double-click the RSCOMMANDER icon to start the program. The main screen will appear

after a few seconds.

5.1 Main menu

The main menu appears as shown below and features three pull-down menus: FILE,

FUNCTIONS and HELP.

Fig. 5-1: Main menu

5.1.1 File

Fig. 5-2: File Menu



9

5.1.1.1 Remote Interfaces

Allows automatic and manual detection of Rohde & Schwarz instruments connected to

GPIB and LAN interfaces. This dialog box has two areas – AUTOMATIC and MANUALLY.

Automatic

ı INTERFACE – Select GPIB0 (default), GPIB1, and depending on existing network

LAN (subnet) or LAN (any). The GPIB1 board identifier is used for a secondary

GPIB board installed in the PC.

ı SCAN – Scans the defined address range of the selected interface:

GPIB0, GPIB1 – ADDRESS 0 to 31

Fig. 5-3: GPIB Scan

LAN, WLAN interfaces and depending on computer configuration – scans IP

Addresses as limited by the subnet mask, e.g. 10.85.0.0 to 10.85.3.254.

Fig. 5-4: LAN subnet scan

If LAN or WLAN is selected the local subnet is scanned for VXI-11 compatible

instruments. Any successfully identified devices are then added to the list of

devices in the DEVICE TO ATTACH dialog box.



10

Manually

ı INTERFACE – Select from GPIB0, GPIB1 or LAN.

ı USER NAME – Enter a custom name for the instrument, e.g. Analyzer0.

ı INSTR. TYPE – Select the instrument type from the pull down menu.

ı NETWORK ADDRESS – Enter the IP address or computer name of an instrument,

e.g. FSW26-200391, and click on the ADD button.

Fig. 5-5: FSV LAN

ı GPIB ADDRESS – Select the primary address (PAD) of an instrument connected to

GPIB0 or GPIB1 and press ADD.

Fig. 5-6: FSV GPIB

After all instruments have been added to the DEVICES TO ATTACH list, check the ones

you will actually use and press OK.



11

Fig. 5-7: Scanned VISA resources

The instrument names will appear in the SELECTED INSTRUMENTS list. The instrument

type is shown in brackets. The INTERFACE indicator displays the VISA resource name

of the selected instrument. If a LAN device has been added another text box is

displayed to the left of the INTERFACE indicator, showing the computer name of the

device.

Fig. 5-8: Selected Instrument

Note: If the attempt to add any of the selected devices fails, an error message with

the custom name of the device is displayed. The successfully detected devices are

added to the instrument list of the software, but the REMOTE INTERFACES dialog box

remains opened. The device that is currently unavailable can then either be removed

or deselected, so that no further attempt is made to add it.



12

5.1.1.2 Settings

Opens a configuration window for HARDCOPY, TRACE.

Hardcopy

Allows to select the BACKGROUND COLOR and on a hardcopy event either

Fig. 5-9: Hardcopy Settings

1. COLOR – Enable/Disable colored hardcopies. This will only work on devices

that support colored hardcopies.

2. SAVE IMAGE TO FILE – automatically save the hardcopy image to a filed

named:

<name of the instrument>@yyyy-mm-dd_hr_min_sec.<ext>.

3. COPY IMAGE TO CLIPBOARD (default) – This is selected by default and copies

the image into the clipboard. It can be pasted to any Windows object with

Ctrl-V.



13

Trace

Allows to set the actions on a trace event.

Fig. 5-10: Trace Settings

1. SAVE DATA TO FILE – Save the ASCII data (level vs. frequency or level vs.

time) to the file

<name of the instrument>@yyyy-mm-dd_hr_min_sec.txt

2. COPY IMAGE TO CLIPBOARD – Copies the graph of the trace data to the

clipboard. It can be imported to any document with Ctrl-V.

3. COPY TRACE DATA TO CLIPBOARD (default) – Copies the ASCII data (level vs.

frequency or level vs. time) to the clipboard. It can be pasted to any Windows

object with Ctrl-V.

4. PASTE TRACE DATA INTO EXCEL – Pastes the trace data into an open

Microsoft Excel sheet.

5.1.1.3 File Save Directory

User-configurable directory where hardcopy and trace files are saved and user

correction files are loaded.

5.1.2 Functions

Fig. 5-11: Functions menu



14

5.1.2.1 HARDCOPY

Performs a hardcopy of the selected instrument screen and copies the image to the

selected destination.

Fig. 5-12: FSV Hardcopy

The following functions are available in the hardcopy window:

UPDATE – Performs another hardcopy and updates the current window.

COPY – Copies the hardcopy to the clipboard, from where it can be pasted into other

applications with Ctrl-V.

SAVE – Opens a file dialog for saving the image file.

PRINT – Opens a dialog for printing the hardcopy.



15

NOTE: The hardcopies of ZVA and ZVB network analyzers cannot be displayed with the

internal picture viewer. RSCommander uses Microsoft Windows / macOS default

picture viewer in this case.



16

5.1.2.2 Trace Display

Performs a trace on the selected instrument and returns the data to the selected

destination. The data is displayed in a customized graphic.

Fig. 5-13: FSW Trace

The following functions are available in the trace window:

TRACE – Selects the according trace. An additional trace must be defined on the device

manually (see instrument manual for details).

UPDATE – Reads the data of the trace number and updates the current window.

COPY DATA – Copies the trace data to the clipboard, from where it can be pasted into

other applications with Ctrl-V, e.g.:

987250000; -97.6549911499023

987290865.384615; -101.38890838623

987331730.769231; -100.270118713379

987372596.153846; -101.440811157227

987413461.538462; -99.4232406616211

987454326.923077; -98.0625915527344

987495192.307692; -97.9781723022461

987536057.692308; -98.2845458984375

987576923.076923; -99.3772201538086

987617788.461538; -98.2349472045898

SAVE TRACE – Opens a dialog box to specify a file name and save the current trace

data.

PRINT GRAPH – Opens a dialog for printing the trace graphic.



17

5.1.2.3 File Browser

Allows you to copy files from the instrument to the PC or vice versa. This function is

useful especially for GPIB instruments. A more effective way to access files on LAN

instruments is either via net drive or remote desktop.

Fig. 5-14: FSW File System



18

Navigation

CHOOSE DRIVE - The drive can be chosen with the first Combo box:

CHANGE DIRECTORY – The Directory can be changed by double-clicking on a folder or

by typing the path in the address line:

REFRESH – The current directory can be refreshed by clicking the refresh button:

BACK AND FORWARD – The previous/next directory can be shown by clicking the

Back/Forward-Button:

Open File

A file can be opened by double-clicking on it, with RIGHT CLICK > OPEN or by selecting

the file and clicking OPEN.

Download File

A file can be saved with RIGHT CLICK > SAVE TO or by selecting the file and clicking

DOWNLOAD.

Upload File

A file can be loaded to the instrument with click on UPLOAD or with drag & drop from

the Windows Explorer or Finder.



19

Alternative Use

The file browser function can also be used for displaying and copying screenshots

performed on the instrument itself. The following example shows how to display or

copy a screenshot file located on the FSW.

Note: When using a CMU instrument, RSCommander can only transfer and

view hardcopies, which have previously been initiated manually by

pressing the PRINT key on the frontpanel of the instrument.

ı Press the FILES button, <F5> key or select FUNCTIONS FILE BROWSER. Change

to the C: subdirectory.

Fig. 5-15: FSW File System

ı Double-click on the preferred file to either OPEN with the default windows viewer

or transfer and DOWNLOAD… to the local hard drive.

Fig. 5-16: CMU Hardcopy



20

5.1.2.4 Interactive Control

Allows to send commands to and receive data from the active instrument. The

COMMAND combo box allows to edit a custom command or select a predefined one:

ı *IDN? – Reads the ID string from the current device.

Fig. 5-17: ID String

ı *OPT? – Reads the list of hard- and software options.

Fig. 5-18: Hard- and Software Options



21

ı *CAL:RES? – Reads the calibration results, if a calibration has previously been

performed.

Fig. 5-19: Calibration Results

ı DIAG:SERV:STEST:RES? – Reads the results of a self-test that has previously

been performed.

Fig. 5-20: Selftest Results



22

ı DIAG:SERV:HWIN? – Reads the hardware info.

Fig. 5-21: Hardware Info

When a command terminated with a question mark is transferred to the instrument by

pressing SEND, the answer is automatically read and displayed. With COPY, the whole

command history and the answers from the instrument are copied to the clipboard.



23

5.1.4 Help

Fig. 5-22: Help Menu

5.1.4.1 Help

Opens this document.

5.1.4.2 About

Displays information about the program version and installed drivers on the remote PC.

This information can be copied to clipboard by pressing the button at the bottom of the

System Information page.

Fig. 5-23: Information about remote PC



24

5.2 Command Buttons

The five most used functions HARDCOPY, TRACE, FILES, SCRIPTS and INTERACT

CONTROL can also be accessed via the command buttons on the start page.

Fig. 5-24: Command buttons for quick acces



25

5.3 Scripts: Trace Data Download for Vector Network Analyzers

and Oscilloscopes

By means of the “Scripts” command button a special download function for vector

network analyzers (VNA) result files is available in Rohde & Schwarz Commander

(RSC). Similar to the general “Files” command button, data transfer can be performed

from the VNA to a local PC via the remote control interface. In contrast to the “Files”

button the data transfer function on behind the “Scripts” button does not expect any file

already available on the VNA, but automatically creates the file to be downloaded, for

instance s-parameter result files. The properties of the file to be created are specified

via so called “Script” files which include all information the VNA needs in order to

create a special file format. The user simply has to select a special format by selecting

an appropriate script file. For ZNB and ZVAB there are ten prepared basic script files

available each, according to the ten most common file formats.

Depending on the selected script file, the user sometimes is being asked for either a

channel number or a trace name. The user can finally specify the file name which is

used to store the result file on the local PC. Simply pressing the “Run” button at the

user interface of RSC will perform file creation on the VNA and will automatically

transfer the result file to the local PC. All this is done on a completely remote

controlled way, there is no need to operate the VNA manually for this purpose.

This way VNA result files of *.s1p, *.s2p or *.CSV formats with various options can be

easily created and downloaded to a local PC in order to be post-processed or being

displayed by means of various user application software.

For trace data download the “Trace” button is not usable anymore for all VNA families.

The “Script” button instead provides sophisticated and convenient replacement for the

“Trace” button. In Rohde & Schwarz commander above version 1.6.2 the “Trace”

button is disabled for all families of vector network analyzers.

The subsequent text provides detailed information how to perform file downloads, a

summary of the predefined script files, a description of a sample session and a set of

frequently asked questions.

Beginning with RSC version 1.7 R&S Digital Oscilloscopes from the RTO family are

also supported by scripts.

5.3.1 File Creation and Download

Explanation of the “Scripts” user interface and proceeding for file transfer :



26

(1) Select a script file from the list. The instruments where the script file can be applied

to are shown in brackets behind the name of the script file. Each selected script file

provides a description (2) regarding its file transfer properties. The user may move

through the entire description using the scroll bar at the right side of the description

field (2). The description field is updated for each newly selected script file. Therefore

steps (1) and (2) can be repeated until a suitable script file is found. When the focus is

on field (1) a mouse wheel can be used to step through the script files quickly. For

each wheel step field (1), (2) and (3) are updated.

The line starting with “LocalFile” (3) specifies the target location where the file will be

stored on the local PC. This field is filled in per default by a unique default name for

each selected script file. The default name as well as the default path can be

overwritten if the user wants a different path or file name. The default path is defined

within the RS Commander File Menu “File Save Directory” as shown below:

Depending on the selected script file sometimes additional parameters are requested.

For instance a trace name or a channel number are expected if it is needed by the

selected script file. Users entries are useful only in the ‘content’ column of the

parameter area (3). The ‘parameter’ column must not be modified in (3).

Pressing the “Run” button (4) will start file creation and file download. The file creation

and download process is repeated each time the “Run” button is activated. If the local

file already exists, it will be overwritten without any notice. If older file versions have to

be kept, file naming in a 000, 001, 002 – fashion is recommended as shown in field (3)

of the figure above. The status field (5) finally shows whether the operation was

successful or if a problem has been encountered.



27

When Rohde & Schwarz Commander is ended and started again, the recently selected

script file will be kept in memory in order the selection has to be done for the first time

use only.



28

5.3.2 Script Files for VNA Family ZNB

Starting with RSC version 1.6.2. script files for the ZNB family are available. For ZNB

there are currently ten script files available according to the ten most common file

formats. The script with the name “DL_SCR_016” is the simplest one. It stores all

traces from channel 1 of the VNA to the local file on the PC. A common CSV (comma

separated values) file format with real/imag values and semicolon as field separator is

used in this case.

Using script file “DL_SCR_017” a special t r a c e can be selected by its name for file

creation and download. Using script file “DL_SCR_018” a special c h a n n e l can

be selected by its number, all traces belonging to this channel are taken into account in

this case.

Each of the ten basic script files provides detailed information on its properties

displayed in the text field of the user interface directly below the name of the script file.

The entire content can be displayed by moving the scroll bar at the right of the text

field.

The table below summarizes the 10 script files for ZNB :

Name Purpose Channel Trace Data format

CSV SxP Field Sep

DL_SCR_016 Simple format, real / imag

Always 1 All traces from Ch1

Real/ Imag

X - ;

DL_SCR_017 Selectable trace, real / imag

- Specified by name

Real/ Imag

X - ;

DL_SCR_018 Selectable channel, real / imag

Specified by number

All traces from sel. Channel

Real/ Imag

X - ;

DL_SCR_019 Simple format, dB magn.


dB magn.

X - ;

DL_SCR_020 Selectable trace, dB magn

- Specified by name

dB magn.

X - ;

DL_SCR_021 Selectable channel, dB magn

Specified by number


dB magn.

X - ;

DL_SCR_022 Selectable trace, S1P

- Specified by name

Real/ Imag

- S1P Alike SxP std.


- Specified by name

Lin. magn. & phase



- Specified by name

dB magn. & phase


DL_SCR_025 Selectable channel, S2P

Specified by number


Accord. to SxP std.


Example: In an actual test setup the ZNB displays three traces in three channels. All

traces are known by their name and the data of just one single trace is to be

downloaded. The data format is expected to be in logarithmic magnitude in dB. In this

case script file “DL_SCR_020” has to be selected, because the selection of a special

trace by its name is possible in this case. For multiport tests using script

“DL_SCR_025” all measurement results must be available for successful download.

Two port tests for instance need the results of S11, S22, S12 and S21 parameters

before pressing the “Run” button in the scripts window, i.e. starting the download

function.



29

If the ZNB displays only a single trace either the script “DL_SCR_016” or

“DL_SCR_019” are recommended, depending on the expected data format

“real/imaginary” or “dB magnitude” respectively.

In order to explore the behaviour of the script files it is recommended to select one

after each other and press “Run”. Due to the unique default “LocalFile” name we will

get 10 different result files in the target directory which can be compared with the VNA

display one after each other. This way it is easy to get an idea about the output format

created by each script file. The marker function along with its info field is suitable to

compare the trace values with the data in the downloaded file.

The set of supported data formats within RSCommander can be easily extended by

additional script files. Please ask the authors of this application note if your

requirements are not covered by scripts so far available.

The scripts are installed along with the installation of RSCommander. Therefore the

scripts are automatically updated with each update of RSCommander.



30

5.3.3 Script Files for VNA Family ZVAB

For ZVAB there are currently ten script files available according to the ten most

common file formats. The script with the name “DL_SCR_000” is the simplest one. It

stores all traces from channel 1 of the VNA to the local file on the PC. A common CSV

(comma separated values) file format with real/imag values and semicolon as field

separator is used in this case.

Using script file “DL_SCR_001” a special t r a c e may be selected by its name for

file creation and download. Using script file “DL_SCR_002” a special c h a n n e l

may be selected by its number, all traces belonging to this channel are taken into

account in this case.

Each of the ten basic script files provides detailed information on its properties

displayed in the text field of the user interface directly below the name of the script file.

The entire content may be displayed by moving the scroll bar at the right of the text

field.

The table below summarizes the 10 script files for ZVAB:

Name Purpose Channel Trace Data format

CSV SxP Field Sep

DL_SCR_000 Simple format, real / imag


Real/ Imag

X - ;

DL_SCR_001 Selectable trace, real / imag

- Specified by name

Real/ Imag

X - ;

DL_SCR_002 Selectable channel, real / imag

Specified by number


Real/ Imag

X - ;

DL_SCR_003 Simple format, dB magn.


dB magn.

X - ;

DL_SCR_004 Selectable trace, dB magn

- Specified by name

dB magn.

X - ;

DL_SCR_005 Selectable channel, dB magn

Specified by number


dB magn.

X - ;


- Specified by name

Real/ Imag



- Specified by name

Lin. magn. & phase



- Specified by name

dB magn. & phase


DL_SCR_009 Selectable channel, S2P

Specified by number


Accord. to SxP std.


Example: In an actual test setup the ZVA displays three traces in three channels. All

traces are known by their name and the data of just one single trace is to be

downloaded. The data format is expected to be in logarithmic magnitude in dB. In this

case script file “DL_SCR_004” has to be selected, because the selection of a special

trace by its name is possible in this case.

If the ZVA displays only a single trace either the script “DL_SCR_000” or

“DL_SCR_003” are recommended, depending on the expected data format

“real/imaginary” or “dB magnitude” respectively.



31

There exist further script files for other instruments beyond ZNB and ZVAB, however

they behave in a similar way and are herein not described. In addition, script files

always provide their dedicated description as shown above in field (2) .

5.3.4 Sample Session

Provided the network analyzer ZVA shows results as depicted in the figure below:

There are 6 traces scattered over 5 channels. Channel 1 includes 2 traces. Each trace

is shown in an individual Smith chart in the upper half of the figure. The window in the

lower left includes one single trace Trc3 within the channel Ch2. The window in the

lower right includes 3 traces (Trc4, Trc5 and Trc6) distributed over 3 channels (Ch3,

Ch4 and Ch5).

In the following three examples we will show how to download specific parts of various

ZVA traces as shown in this screen shot.

Hint: In the following figures some colours or the appearance of the user interface can

be slightly different from that of the current version of R&S commander (RSC). This is

because the development system of RSC has been changed from Visual Basic VB6 to

Qt C++ beginning with RSC version 1.7. However, the script and parameter names

are identical to former versions of RSC as well as the performance and the

handling of the described functions. Therefore we decided to keep this part in the

documentation.



32

Example 1: Download all traces from Channel 1

In this case we will download S11 data from the green trace in the upper left and S22

data from the blue trace in the upper right. We can use the simplest script file from the

script file selection list as shown in the figure below :

We define the target path to “C:\test\” and the target file name to “S11_22_result.csv”.

This is done by clicking into the white field at the right of the field “LocalFile” and then

defining the appropriate path and name by means of the “Save as …” field which is

popping up.

After pressing the “Run”-button we will get the result file as listed in the excerpt below:

Both traces of channel 1 are included.

Example 2: Download the single trace “Trc2” (upper right curve of VNA display)

In this case we will use script “DL_SCR_001” as shown below

As we can see, this script is expecting a trace name. We have entered “Trc2”, because



33

we want the data from the upper right window of our VNA. The excerpt from the

resulting file “S22.CSV” is shown below :

Script file “DL_SCR_001” as used in this example provides data in complex values

including real and imaginary parts.

We can also get the format “dB magnitude / phase” which is provided by script

“DL_SCR_004” as shown below :

The excerpt of the appropriate target file “S22_db_magn.csv” is as follows :



34

Example 3: Download all traces from channel 2 (lower left curve of VNA display)

In this case we select script “DL_SCR_005” as shown below:

The script file now is expecting a channel number (chan). We enter “2” and press

“Run”. The appropriate result file “OrangeCurve.csv” is as follows (excerpt) :

We get one trace “Trc3” because there is only one trace in Channel 2.



35

Example 4: Create and download a file in the standard s2p-format

The SxP-standard file format requires that along with two-port-networks all 4 s-

parameters are concurrently measured, i.e. S11, S12, S21 and S22. For this reason

we create a new measurement setup with the VNA, where all 4 s-parameters are

measured according to the figure below :

Each s-parameter is displayed in its individual window. Additionally we have located a

marker at the starting point of the sweep frequency (1.7 GHz) for each window. Each

marker value is displayed in terms of its real and imaginary value in order to compare

the results with the downloaded file.



36

The figure below shows the script window in order to download the results in standard

S2P-format using RSCommander :

The appropriate result file “xxx_009.s2p” includes 9 columns of measurement data.

The following excerpts provide the very first rows along with certain columns as

indicated on top :

Excerpt 1: Head comments and column 1 to colum 3

Column 1 includes the frequency, column 2 (-2.449…) and column 3 (-2.665…) the

real and imaginary values of S11. We can compare this with the green curve in the

upper left of the VNA screen shot above. The appropriate marker values show

identical results for the first row in the table.

Excerpt 2: First rows of column 4 and 5



37

The first column (2.637…) and the second column (6.45…) provide the real and

imaginary values of S21. We can compare this with the orange curve in the lower left

of the VNA screen shot above. The appropriate marker values show identical results

for the first row in the table, i.e. for the frequency = 1.7 GHz.


The first column (3.0161 …) and the second column (5.014…) provide the real and

imaginary values of S12. We can compare this with the red curve in the lower right of

the VNA screen shot above. The appropriate marker values show identical results for

the first row in the table, i.e. for the frequency = 1.7 GHz.


The first column (-3.735 …) and the second column (1.553…) provide the real and

imaginary values of S22. We can compare this with the light blue curve in the upper

right of the VNA screen shot above. The appropriate marker values show identical

results for the first row in the table, i.e. for the frequency = 1.7 GHz.

By means of the markers we can easily compare the measured values with the

downloaded file. Another suitable way to verify the data is by means of EDA tools like

“Ansoft Designer SV” or “RFSim99” where the SxP-files can be loaded and displayed.

Files of CSV-format can easily be verified using Excel where they can be directly

loaded in and where they also can be graphically displayed. Matlab® or the freely

available Octave are also suitable tools for postprocessing VNA result files.



38

5.3.5 Script Files for Oscilloscope Family RTO

Starting with RSC version 1.7.2. R&S oscilloscopes of the RTO family are supported

for trace data download via script files. There are currently two script files available to

download voltage over time trace data from RTO oscilloscopes. The operation for

downloading trace data from oscilloscopes is very similar to the vector network

analyzers as described above. However, there are some basic differences in the

meaning of parameters because of the different characters of the instruments.

“Channels” for example mean “connectors” for oscilloscopes while “Channels” have a

complete different meaning for VNAs. Additionally there are no file format standards

available for oscilloscopes. Therefore it has been decided to use CSV file format

(comma-separated values) with semicolon used as field separator. Using semicolon

as field separator rather than comma will avoid confusion of decimal and thousands

separator in the European and American area, where point and comma are used in the

opposite way.

Additionally, using semicolon as field separator allows data import to all important post-

processing tools like MATLAB/Octave, OpenOffice Table and MS-Excel. In order to

verify the data files as being downloaded from RTO a sample MATLAB/Octave

program is provided at the end of this chapter.

Two scripts, DL_SCR_26 and DL_SCR_27 are available for RTO. The appearance

and use of Script DL_SCR_26 is shown here in the following :

In

Field (1) - this script has been selected. Field (2) provides a short description of the

currently selected script. Use the scroll bar at the right to display the entire description.

In parameter field (3) the channel can be selected, refer to the red circle marker.

For an oscilloscope the channel is the same as the connector of the instrument,

Connector “CH1” is currently selected. In the content field of “LocalFile” the path and

the file name of the target file is entered. A complete pathname is also possible, eg.

“C:\results\voltage_x.csv”. User entries are useful only in the ‘content’ column of the

parameter area (3). The ‘parameter’ column must not be modified in (3). File download

from RTO is started by pressing button (4). Finally status information like “Success!” is

given in field (5).



39

Script DL_SCR_027, the second script provided for RTO, has a very similar

appearance as shown above. However, the channel parameter is not available

anymore in area (3), because a multichannel download is performed using script

DL_SCR_027. All traces from active channels are downloaded into one single file.

In order to take into account all active channels following proceeding is recommended

using RTO along with script DL_SCR_027 :

Press PRESET

Activate the channels to be used,

E.g. by pressing buttons CH1, CH2, CH3 and CH4

Press AUTOSET

From now on data from all four channels will be

downloaded using script DL_SCR_027. If a channel is

not used the appropriate data can be easily ignored in

the postprocessing software.

This proceeding is not needed when using script

DL_SCR_026 because the channel number has to be

specified in this case.



40

5.3.6 Sample Session Using RTO and Script “dl_scr_027”

Supposed three channels of the RTO are used as shown in the picture below.

Channel 1 is connected to a periodical exponential signal, channel 2 to a square wave

and channel 3 to a sine wave. Channel 4 is off. Using script DL_SCR_027 for

multichannel download all traces currently displayed are downloaded to a remote PC

being connected with the RTO via LAN. Figure below shows the user dialog of the

appropriate DL_SCR_027.

When pressing the “Run” button data transfer is started and will be finally confirmed by

“Success!” as indicated at the bottom of the figure.

The data is stored in file “xxx_027.csv”, it can be found in the path as defined in the

“File Save Directory” in the File menu of R&S Commander as indicated below.



41

Now the contents of the file “xxx_027.csv” can be evaluated. First of all the contents of

the file can be printed or displayed by a standard text editor, eg. Notepad++ or the

Windows Editor. The first column up to the first semicolon provides the time

information from RTO’s horizontal scale according to the current settings of RTO. The

second column (0.6168…) between the first and second semicolon provides the data

of channel1 and so on. The first lines of the result file are looking as follows:

-0.0025;0.61683792 ;-1.027668 ;-1.3873518

-0.002495;0.61683792 ;-1.027668 ;-1.3873518

-0.00249;0.61683792 ;-0.98814231 ;-1.3873518

-0.002485;0.61683792 ;-0.98814231 ;-1.3478261

-0.00248;0.61683792 ;-0.98814231 ;-1.3478261

-0.002475;0.65636367 ;-1.027668 ;-1.3478261

-0.00247;0.61683792 ;-1.027668 ;-1.2687747

-0.002465;0.61683792 ;-0.98814231 ;-1.2687747

…

The details of the result file can be best explored using the Matlab program given on

next two pages. If Matlab is not available the freely available Octave can be used also

and does provide the same results. The appropriate plot is shown below.

For the sake of clarity the colors of the plot traces have been chosen according to

RTO’s channel identification colors, see RTO photo above. The appropriate 2-page

Matlab program as printed on next pages can be easily transferred to Matlab or Octave

using Window’s clipboard. The program expects a file named “xxx.csv” stored in the

same directory as the program is stored. This file can be overwritten for each trace

download by the appropriate file “xxx_026.csv” or “xxx_027.csv”. The Matlab program

detects the number of available traces automatically and can be therefore used for the

result files of DL_SCR_026 as well as for DL_SCR_027 also.



42

Hint: A further application for trace data downloaded from oscilloscopes and

appropriate postprocessing using MATLAB can be seen in the Radar video tutorial

https://youtu.be/sci073YSrR4

showing how to determine velocity of moving objects.

https://youtu.be/sci073YSrR4



43

% read and plot RTO csv files

% using automatic detection of

% the number of data channels

% Dec 21th, 2015

% c:\W\MatLab\xx17.m

clear;

clc;

close all; % close all plot windows

cd('c:\w\matlab');

filex='xxx.csv';

% determine number of data sets (nods)

fp = fopen(filex,'r');

y = fgetl(fp);

nods=length(strfind(y,';'))

fclose(fp);

% read csv file and plot data according to nods

x=dlmread(filex,';');

switch(nods)

case{1}

plot(x(:,1),x(:,2),'y');

grid();

case{2}

plot(x(:,1),x(:,3),'g');

hold on;

plot(x(:,1),x(:,2),'y');

grid();

case{3}

plot(x(:,1),x(:,4),'r');

hold on;

plot(x(:,1),x(:,3),'g');

hold on;

plot(x(:,1),x(:,2),'y');

grid();

% continued on next page !



44

case{4}

plot(x(:,1),x(:,5),'b');

hold on;

plot(x(:,1),x(:,4),'r');

hold on;

plot(x(:,1),x(:,3),'g');

hold on;

plot(x(:,1),x(:,2),'y');

grid();

otherwise

disp('invalid data file !');

end; %switch



45

Frequently asked questions on trace data downloads using script files

This section covers common pitfalls and obstacles along with their solutions.

Q1: when pressing “Run” I get the “Success” message, but I can’t find neither the

target file nor the target directory.

A1: check whether there are hidden directories within the file system on your PC. Use

the windows file explorer for this purpose and make them visible.

Q2: when repeating file download I each time get slightly different results even I don’t

change anything at the network analyzer.

A2: This is because the VNA is sweeping constantly and the results are overwritten for

each sweep. Change the “Free Run” trigger mode at the Network Analyzer to “Manual

Trigger”

(SWEEP Trigger Manual Trigger). In this case you will get constant results for

each download.

Q3: when I enter the channel name “Ch1” in order to specify the channel for download

(chan parameter) I always get the message “Error 141, Invalid character …”

A3: Channels are specified by n u m b e r s . Therefore enter just the number ‘1’ if you

want to download from Ch1 and enter the number ‘2’ if you want to download from Ch2

and so on.

Names and letters are only possible for the specification of a t r a c e. Therefore,

when selecting a trace for download you can specify the full name of the trace, ex.

“Trc1” or “Trc2”.

Q4: When I change the path/directory of the “LocalFile” I always have to re-enter this

when closing the Script window or when restarting RSCommander.

A4: Use the RSCommander File-Menu item “Directory for Saving Files …” in order to

specify the target path/directory. In this case the setting will stay constant even when

restarting RSCommander.

Q5: At the bottom of the description field I sometimes get the indication “example:” but

there is no example

A5: Use the scroll bar at the right side of the description field in order to read the entire

text.

Q6: When opening the “Scripts” window by pressing the appropriate button I can’t find

a script file for ZNB.

A6: ZNB is implemented only beginning with Rohde & Schwarz Commander version

1.6.2. Please download and install the latest version from the R&S homepage.



46

Q7: When using script “DL_SCR_025” along with ZNB I get an “Execution Error” when

trying to download the “s2p” file for a 2-port measurement.

A7: Multiport measurements always need the full set of s-parameters before result file

download. Please make available the traces for S11, S22, S12 and S21 on your ZNB

before starting the download.

Rohde & Schwarz

The Rohde & Schwarz electronics group offers

innovative solutions in the following business fields:

test and measurement, broadcast and media, secure

communications, cybersecurity, radiomonitoring and

radiolocation. Founded more than 80 years ago, this

independent company has an extensive sales and

service network and is present in more than 70

countries.

The electronics group is among the world market

leaders in its established business fields. The

company is headquartered in Munich, Germany. It

also has regional headquarters in Singapore and

Columbia, Maryland, USA, to manage its operations

in these regions.

Regional contact

Europe, Africa, Middle East +49 89 4129 12345 [email protected] North America 1 888 TEST RSA (1 888 837 87 72) [email protected] Latin America +1 410 910 79 88 [email protected] Asia Pacific +65 65 13 04 88 [email protected]

China +86 800 810 82 28 |+86 400 650 58 96 [email protected]

Sustainable product design

ı Environmental compatibility and eco-footprint

ı Energy efficiency and low emissions

ı Longevity and optimized total cost of ownership

This application note and the supplied programs

may only be used subject to the conditions of use

set forth in the download area of the Rohde &

Schwarz website.

R&S® is a registered trademark of Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co.

KG; Trade names are trademarks of the owners.

Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG

Mühldorfstraße 15 | 81671 Munich, Germany

Phone + 49 89 4129 - 0 | Fax + 49 89 4129 – 13777

www.rohde-schwarz.com

PA

D-T

-M: 3573.7

380.0

2/0

2.0

4/E

N/

mailto:[email protected]





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