User`s manual

Getting Started 13

Chapter 1

Instrument Definition

Each Digital I/O module installed in an Agilent mainframe is treated as an

independent instrument; having a unique secondary GPIB address. Each

instrument is also assigned a dedicated error queue, input and output buffers,

status registers and, if applicable, dedicated mainframe memory space for

readings or data. Multiple Digital I/O modules cannot be combined into a

single instrument.

Downloading SCPI Drivers

The Agilent Digital I/O Driver allows the Agilent E1330B module to

operate with either B-size mainframes or Agilent E1405/06 Command

Modules in a C-size mainframe. The driver implements the Standard

Commands for Programmable Instrumentation (SCPI) command language.

The B-size Agilent E1300/E1301 Mainframe has a built in driver, or can use

a downloadable driver. The two drivers are slightly different and the

differences are detailed in Chapter 5 — “Agilent E1330B Digital I/O

Command Reference”.

To use the Agilent E1330B with a C-size mainframe and command module,

you must use a downloadable driver. The downloadable driver name for the

Digital I/O module is “DIG_IO”. The procedure for downloading the drivers

is contained in the Agilent E1405B and Agilent E1406A Command Module

User Guides.

Programming the Digital I/O Module

To program the Digital I/O module using SCPI commands, you will need to

know the controller language and interface addresses you will be using. See

the Agilent 75000 Series B or Series C Installation and Getting Started

Guide for detailed interface addressing and controller language information.

Note This discussion applies only to SCPI (Standard Commands for

Programmable Instruments) programming. See Appendix B — “Digital I/O

programming and direct register access.