Chapter 1 45
Programming Fundamentals
Improving Measurement Speed
Improving Measurement Speed
There are a number of things you can do in your programs to make them run faster:
“Turn off the display updates” on page45.
“Use binary data format instead of ASCII” on page46.
“Minimize the number of GPIB transactions.” on page46.
“Avoid unnecessary use of *RST.” on page 47.
“Minimize DUT/instrument setup changes.” on page47.

Turn off the display updates

:DISPlay:ENABle OFF turns off the display. Updating the display slows down
the measurement. For remote testing, since the computer is processing the data
rather than a person, there is n o need to display the data on the analyzer screen.

Disable auto alignment

:CALibration:AUTO OFF disables the automatic alignment process of the
instrument. Automatic alignmen t processing occurs at the end o f each sweep. In a
stable operating environment, automatic alignment consumes very little instrument
resources. However, in a high throughput application, any demand upon
instrument resources affects measurement update rate.
NOTE When auto alignment is off, the Align Now, All function should be performed
periodically. Refer to the appropriate “Specifications and Characteristics” chapter
in the Agilent Technologies EMC Analyzers Specifications Guide for more
information on how often to perform Align Now, All when the auto alignment is
off.

Use a fixed IF Gain range

In applications where narrow resolution bandwidths (< 1 kHz) are required and a
high dynamic range is not required,
:DISPlay:WINDow:TRACe:Y[SCALe]:LOG:RANGe:AUTO OFF disables auto
ranging and results in increased measurement update rate.

Disable the IF/Video/Sweep output ports

If the analyzer has Options A4J (IF, Video and Sweep Ports) or AYX (Fast Time
Domain Sweeps), various output signals with rear-panel ports are controlled by
instrument processing. If these ports are not used in a particular application,
:SYSTem:PORTs:IFVSweep:ENABle OFF can be used to disable the ports and
conserve instrument resources.