![](/images/new-backgrounds/1280288/280288105x1.webp)
CHAPTER 6: IEEE 488 Primer
6. IEEE 488 Primer
6.1 History
The IEEE 488 bus is an
Before this standard was adopted most instrumentation manufacturers offered their own versions of computer interfaces. This placed the burden of system hardware design on the end user. If your application required the products of several different manufacturers, then you might need to design several different hardware and software interfaces.
The popularity of the IEEE 488 interface (sometimes called the General Purpose Interface Bus or GPIB) is due to the total specification of the electrical and mechanical interface as well as the data transfer and control protocols. The use of the IEEE 488 standard has moved the responsibility of the user from design of the interface to design of the
6.2 General Structure
The main purpose of the GPIB is to transfer information between two or more devices. A device can either be an instrument or a computer. Before any information transfer can take place, it is first necessary to specify which will do the talking (send data) and which devices will be allowed to listen (receive data). The decision of who will talk and who will listen usually falls on the System Controller, which is the Active Controller at
The System Controller is similar to a committee chairman. On a
53