Migrating to Ethernet: preserve code written for IEEE 488 instruments when you transfer to a new bus.(Instruments)

Test & Measurement World, October, 2004 by Cheij, Dany

IEEE 488 and RS-232 ports have sustained instrument communications for many years. But RS-232 is too slow for many test applications, and IEEE 488--although it is robust and has sufficient speed--requires the use of add-on cards.

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Ethernet and USB high-speed serial ports are emerging as new buses for instrument applications. These ports are standard peripherals on new PCs, and they are also starting to appear in test instruments from some manufacturers.

Using Ethernet and USB high-speed ports is fairly easy. Because of their supporting software infrastructure, you can use them without understanding their low-level drivers and function calls. Yet, there is a minor complication. Ethernet and USB were designed for...

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