In the LabVIEW program, the user selects how many data points and what frequency range he or she wants to display the output on the Smith Chart. In other words, one can use them as top-level programs, or as subprograms within other programs (see Figure 3).Īs we perform the SOL calibration, we control the frequencies of the HP 8350 Sweep Oscillator by the LabVIEW program via the HPIB interface (see figure 1). LabVIEW VIs can used within other Vis as sub-Vis because they are hierarchical and modular. VIs are combination of a Front Panel and Block Diagram (see Figure 2 above).
#Labview cost software
LabVIEW is a useful instrumentation and analysis software developed by National Instruments. It stands for Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench. The measured data is corrected according to the calibration data and then displayed on a Smith Chart on the LabVIEW front panel. After the calibrations, we then make measurements for our device under test. We used our LabVIEW program to perform SHORT, OPEN, and LOAD (SOL) calibrations for the HP 8410B Network Analyzer. Before performing measurement of the device under test, a calibration procedure is used to characterize the errors created by the effects of the connectors, cables, and directional couplers within the analyzer. To create an accurate Network Analyzer using low cost available equipment in our laboratory was the main purpose of our project. GPIB stands for General Purpose Interface Bus.
The new replacement for HPIB is the GPIB or IEEE488. Note: HPIB stands for Hewlett-Packard Interface Bus. With the help of a LabVIEW VI program, calibration correction factors can be applied, accomplishing the same task as the modern network analyzer, but at very low cost.īlock Diagram of a Low Cost Microwave Network Analyzer System This set of instruments consist of an HP 8350A/B Sweep Oscillator Mainframe with HP 862XXA RF Plug-ins, an HP 8410B Network Analyzer with HP8414A Polar Display Plug-in, an HP 8743B Transmission-Reflection Test Unit with HP 8411A Harmonic Frequency Converter, a National Instrument PCI-6024E data acquisition (DAQ)card, and a personal computer with LabVIEW 6i. This older set of instruments is built in the pre-computer era, which lacks the computer processor unit. We found there is an alternative way to own a similar set of instruments with about one tenth of the funding. To generate such large amount of funding is a major obstacle for many microwave circuit researchers and designers at engineering colleges throughout the country. For example, the Agilent 8720ES S-parameter Vector Network Analyzer costs $68,245. Unfortunately, a modern Microwave Network Analyzer costs around $45,000 or more. Testing of these high frequency components requires a Microwave Network Analyzer. High frequency components benefit from high quality factor characteristics and excellent microwave performance. All of these products require high frequency components for their circuitry. In today’s high technology market, manufacturers are looking to build better products for wireless applications such as mobile phones, pagers and cordless equipment. These can be bought for between $50 and $150 and work amazingly well from about 50 kHz to 1.5 GHz (depending on version). If you’re working with a LabVIEW consultant or custom test equipment supplier (that uses LabVIEW), communicating and understanding is easier if you know the basics around LabVIEW.We haven't done any work on this in years.Īnyone interested in a low-cost VNA should probably consider a "NanoVNA", which has been out since about 2019. So you might ask yourself: “do I want to learn LabVIEW or do I want to hire someone to take it off my plate?”. While it is definitely easy to hack something simple together, creating a reliable, maintainable, and expandable application requires the same sort of rigor and knowledge that any other text-based programming language requires.
It’s graphical, which makes it seem super easy to use for non-programmers. LabVIEW is a full-up programming language (technically LabVIEW is the development environment and “G” is the language, but the two are often conflated). LabVIEW is a full-up programming language