E8257D — MATLAB Instrument Driver

A MATLAB class for controlling the Agilent/Keysight E8257D PSG Analog Signal Generator over a TCP/IP VISA connection. Provides a simple, object-oriented interface for configuring RF output power, frequency, modulation, and instrument state.

Requirements

MATLAB with the Instrument Control Toolbox (R2021a+ recommended for visadev)
The E8257D must be accessible on the local network with a known IP address

Installation

Clone or download this repository.
Add the folder to your MATLAB path:
```
addpath('/path/to/E8257D');
```

Quick Start

% Connect to the instrument by IP address
psg = E8257D('192.168.1.100');

% Set CW frequency to 1 GHz
psg.setCWFrequency(1e9);

% Set output power to -10 dBm
psg.setRFPower(-10);

% Enable RF output
psg.setOutput(true);

% Disable and clean up when done
psg.setOutput(false);
psg.deInit();

API Reference

Constructor

obj = E8257D(ip_addr)

Connects to the instrument at the given IP address via TCPIP/VISA, clears the error queue, and disables modulation on startup.

Parameter	Type	Description
`ip_addr`	`string`	IP address of the instrument (e.g. `'192.168.1.100'`)

RF Configuration

psg.setCWFrequency(freq)

Sets the CW output frequency in Hz.

psg.setRFPower(powdBm)

Sets the output power level in dBm.

psg.setOutput(bool)

Enables (true) or disables (false) the RF output.

psg.setModulation(bool)

Enables (true) or disables (false) the modulation output. Modulation is disabled by default on instantiation and on deInit().

Instrument Control

psg.reset()

Sends SYST:PRES to restore the instrument to its preset state.

psg.waitUntilDone()

Polls *OPC? until the instrument reports all pending operations are complete. Times out after 10,000 iterations with a warning.

rsp = psg.sendResp(cmd)

Sends a SCPI query and returns the response string.

psg.sendCommand(cmd)

Sends an arbitrary SCPI command with no return value.

psg.deInit()

Resets the instrument, disables modulation, and releases the VISA connection. Returns 1 on success, 0 if the connection was already invalid.

Notes

Uses MATLAB's visadev interface (introduced in R2021a). If you are using an older version of MATLAB, you will need to adapt the constructor to use the legacy visa() function instead.
The error queue is checked during construction via SYST:ERR? but the response is not currently validated — extend this if stricter error handling is needed.
deInit() should always be called when finished to cleanly release the instrument.

License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.