Tektronix adds fast data transfer to oscilloscopes

Tektronix, Inc. has added a new firmware capability that enables higher data transfer speeds from testing instruments to the user’s PC. The new remote procedure call (RPC)-based solution, TekHSI (Tektronix’s high speed interface), is available on several Tektronix mixed-signal oscilloscopes, including the MSO 4B, MSO 5 and MSO 6 Series models (including B and LP).

The high speed interface will enable users to move data from their oscilloscopes to their PCs at 2.5× or higher speeds compared to current VXI Ethernet (VISA) connections. The scope hosts itself as a high speed interface server that allows remote clients, or PCs, to connect programmatically, Tektronix said.

It also reduces latency with a 2.5× faster update rate and delivers a 2.5× improvement in data throughput, which is “especially useful when acquiring large quantities of waveform sizes, like pulse trains or other repetitive signal types,” according to Tektronix.

A key challenge for test-and-measurement engineers is maximizing the bandwidth of the physical link in their test instruments, typically 1-Gbits/s Ethernet. Today’s test solutions require code optimization to achieve high data transfer rates using standard commands for programmable instruments (SCPI) such as curve and curvestream to move data from the instrument to the computer, which makes it difficult for test engineers, Tektronix said.

TekHSI enables higher data transfer speeds, thanks to abstractions that makes it easy to implement, use and scale for the highest performance output from the instrument’s physical link, according to the company.

TekHSI delivers faster data transfer from Tektronix scopes to PCs (Source: Tektronix, Inc.)

“Before the launch of TekHSI, our customers had to depend on SCPI curve and curvestream commands for data transfer, and those methods resulted in workflow bottlenecks for test and measurement engineers working with large record length and sample rate waveform files,” said Gaurav Marmat, Tektronix product manager, in a statement. “TekHSI is based on Google’s modern remote procedure call architecture and is very intuitive to adopt and scale across test automation needs for faster, more efficient data transfer results. It’s an alternative to those complex and slow data transfer options.”

TekHSI is available now through a Python library for automation projects. TekScope PC version 2.10 is also available for user interface-based applications.