Technical data

AR2010 USB Stick Synthesizer USB Programming Manual

1. Introduction

1.1 USB Conﬁguration

The Applied Radar AR2010 USB Stick Synthesizer has been designed to conﬁgure as a USB Test and

Measurement Class (USBTMC) device. No additional drivers are required.

The AR2010 has been designed to be Virtual Instrument Software Architecture (VISA) and Standard

Commands for Programmable Instrumentation (SCPI) compliant and as such, all you need in order to

communicate with the USB Stick Synthesizer is a VISA library installed on your machine. The AR2010

will work with any of the three major providers of VISA; National Instruments, Agilent, and Tektronics. If

you do not have a VISA library installed, please visit one of the three vendors listed above to obtain a

legal copy of the VISA library.

1.2 Command Syntax

In this manual, the following command syntax conventions are used:

∙ Square brackets ([ ]) indicate multiple keywords, one of which must be used

∙ Bars(|) can be read as "or" and are used to separate parameter options.

1.2.1 Mnemonic Forms

Each keyword has both a long and short form. A standard notation is used to differentiate the short form

and long form keyword. The long form of the keyword is shown, with the short form of the keyword shown

in uppercase letters and the rest of the keyword is shown in lowercase letters. For example, the short

form of FREQuency is FREQ.

1.2.2 Using a Semicolon(;)

Use a semicolon to separate two commands within the same command string.

1.2.3 Using Whitespace

You must use whitespace characters, [tab], or [space] to separate a parameter from a keyword.

1.2.4 Using "?" Commands

The bus controller may send commands at any time, but a SCPI instrument may only send a response

when speciﬁcally instructed to do so. Only commands that end with a "?", henceforth referred to as

queries, instruct the instrument to send a response message. Queries can return either measured val-

ues, instrument settings, or internal status codes.

Note: If you send multiple queries without reading the response between queries, only the result of the

last query will be returned when the response is read. The query buffer is a ﬁrst-in ﬁrst-out conﬁguration.

1.2.5 Using "*" Commands

Commands starting with a "*" are called common commands. They are required to perform identical

functions for all instruments that are compliant with the IEEE-488.2 interface standard. The "*" commands

are used to control reset, self-test, and status operations in the USB Stick Synthesizer.

1.3 Diagram Syntax Conventions

∙ Solid lines represent the recommended path

Applied Radar, Inc. Revision 1.0.0 6