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TSP Programming Fundamentals
Series 2600 System SourceMeters Reference Manual
2600S-901-01 Rev. A / May 2006
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Introduction
Conventional instrumentation responds to command messages sent to the
instrument. Each command message contains one or more commands. The
instrument executes these commands in order.
To conduct a test, a computer (controller), is programmed to send sequences of
commands to an instrument. The controller orchestrates the actions of the
instrumentation. The controller is typically programmed to request measurement
results from the instrumentation and make test sequence decisions based on
those measurements.
Keithley Instruments’ Test Script Processor based instruments can operate as
conventional instruments by responding to a sequence of command messages
sent by a controller. They are also capable of much more.
Test Script Processor (TSP)
Scripting
To orchestrate a sequence of actions.
Scripting Language
A programming language used for scripting.
The Test Script Processor (TSP) is a scripting engine that runs inside the
instrument. It is capable of running code written in a scripting language called Lua
(www.lua.org). We will refer to Lua as the Test Script Language (TSL). The TSP
runs portions of TSL code formally known as chunks. Most messages sent to the
instrument are directly executed by the TSP as TSL chunks. The simplest
messages sent to the instrument would be individual instrument control
commands. Even though these messages are executed as TSL chunks, using
them is no different than using a conventional instrument. The user sends a
command message and the instrument executes that command. When sending
individual command messages, it is irrelevant that the TSP is executing the
message as a chunk.
Instrument control commands are implemented as a library within the TSL. The
command set for a TSP-enabled instrument is referred to as the Instrument
Control Library (ICL) for that instrument. Each TSP-enabled instrument will have
its own ICL. Although each TSP-enabled instrument runs the same TSL, different
instruments respond to different commands and the ICL for each instrument may
be different.
ICL commands are very similar to the commands sent to a conventional
instrument but ICL commands look like function calls or assignment statements.
For example the command to set the output voltage level to one volt on channel A
is
smua.source.levelv = 1
. Similarly, the command to turn the Channel A
output on is
smua.source.output = smua.OUTPUT_ON
. These commands, when
sent individually as separate messages, are each a TSL chunk.
Summary of Contents for SourceMeter 2600 Series
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