Technical data

File 7
Agilent N8201A Performance Downconverter Synthetic Instrument Module, 250 kHz to 26.5 GHz 173
Format Numeric Data (Remote Command Only)
This command changes the format of the data. It specifies the format used for trace data
during data transfer across any remote port. REAL and ASCII formats will format trace data
in the current amplitude units. The format of state data cannot be changed. It is always in a
machine readable format only.
One-button measurement functions only support Binary Real 32, Binary Real 64, and ASCII
data formats.
When in Spectrum Analysis mode using older instrument firmware, you were only allowed
to change the format of trace type data that was returned using TRACe[:DATA]. With this
old firmware, other types of measurement data was only available in the ASCII format. (That
is, data returned using FETCh, MEASure and READ commands while in Signal Analysis
mode.)
For corrected trace data (:TRACe[:DATA] with parameter <trace_name>), REAL
and ASCII formats will provide trace data in the current amplitude units. INTeger format will
provide trace data in mdBm. The fastest mode is INTeger,32. However, some measurement
data will not fit in 32-bit integers.
ASCII - Amplitude values are in amplitude units separated by commas. ASCII format
requires more memory than the binary formats. Handling large amounts of this type of data
takes more time and storage space.
Integer,32 - Binary 32-bit integer values in internal units (dBm), in a finite length block.
Real,32 (or 64) - Binary 32-bit (or 64-bit) real values in amplitude units, in a finite length
block. Transfers of real data are done in a binary block format.
A finite length block of data starts with an ASCII header that begins with # and indicates
how many additional data points are following in the block. Suppose the header is #512320:
The first digit in the header (5) tells you how many additional digits/bytes there are in the
header.
The 12320 means that 12,320 data bytes follow the header.
Divide this number of bytes by your selected data format bytes/point, either 8 (for real 64),
or 4 (for real 32). In this example, if you are using real 64 then there are 1540 data points in
the block.
State Saved: Saved in Instrument State.
Factory Preset: Survives Preset but not power cycle. Powers up in ASCII format.
Remote Command:
:FORMat[:TRACe][:DATA] ASCii|INTeger,32|REAL,32|REAL,64
:FORMat[:TRACe][:DATA]?