Can we connect a Agilent Oscilloscope with MATLAB workspace without any external hardwares???

Hi, I am trying to connect and capture waveforms from oscilloscope (Agilent MSO X2024A) through instrument control tool box of MATLAB.I have gone through many tutorials,is there any possibility to connect the both without external hardwares using anyone of the interface(GPIB, VISA,etc..)

Thanks in Advance

Regards Vijith

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

No, that oscilloscope does not have a wireless interface. You will need to use one of the available interfaces, either the standard USB, or the optional ethernet or the optional GPIB.

Typical manual use with USB would be to connect it, power up, enter MATLAB, use serial() and fopen() to create a session, and fprintf() and fgetl() to send commands and read back responses. See the programming manual

It could be that the Instrument Control toolbox has methods of making this easier.

[Vijith Natarajan]

thanks walter,

Say if i want to use USB interface, can i connect usb cable directly between my PC and OScilloscope or i need a hardware inbetween them which will do some signal conditioning or something to matchUp with the oscilloscope...

thanks Again

[Walter Roberson]

Just the USB cable. The actual signal itself will not be carried on the USB cable: the USB cable will act as a serial port to talk serial protocols to the device.

[Vijith Natarajan]

hi walter, I am going to connect the oscilloscope with MATLAB PC through tmtool and instrument drivers which i downloaded from Agilent website, would i be requiring a VISA software or any Agilent libraries? If so, Please explain why..

Thanks Vijith

[Walter Roberson]

You should not need any VISA software. You are not connecting through the GPIB / VISA interface.

I do not know anything about the Agilent libraries. If they are only to provide VISA access then they are probably not providing the correct interface for your needs.

[Ankit Desai]

Actually for you to connect to the oscilloscope from MATLAB using Instrument Control Toolbox and using instrument drivers for your communication, you will need VISA software (Agilent calls it Agilent IO Libraries and NI calls it NI VISA).

The instrument drivers such as IVI-C, IVI-COM and VXIPnP require a bunch of software pre-installed. Most of the time, these software are bundled along with VISA software by instrument vendors.

The only exception is IVI-C which requires installation of NI IVI Compliance Package along with VISA.

Once you have these software in place, you can install the IVI driver from the instrument vendor and use it from MATLAB via Instrument Control Toolbox.

Hope this helps.

[Vijith Natarajan]

thanks ankit