Sweeping Versus Streaming; Multi-Threading; Multiple Devices And Inter-Process Device Management - Signal Hound BB60C Programmer's Reference Manual

4. Configure the device as normal, setting sweep frequencies and reference level (or manually
setting gain and attenuation).
5. Configure the TG sweep with the
specific parameters.
6. Call bbInitiate
7. Get the sweep characteristics with bbQueryTraceInfo.
8. Connect the BB and TG device into the final test state without the DUT and perform one sweep
with bbFetchTrace. After one full sweep has returned, call
TG_THRU_0DB flag.
9. (Optional) Configure the setup again still without the DUT but with a 20dB pad inserted into the
system. Perform an additional full sweep and call
10. Once store through has been called, insert your DUT into the system and then you can freely call
the get sweep function until you modify the configuration or settings.
If you modify the test setup or want to re-initialize the device with a new configuration, the store
through must be performed again.

Sweeping versus Streaming

All modes of operation fall within two categories, sweeping and streaming. In any sweeping mode, the
device operates only when requested. For example, requesting a trace triggers a single trace acquisition,
otherwise the device and API are idle. Sweeping is very responsive and switching between different
types of sweep modes is very quick. Streaming modes are modes in which the API is continually
receiving a stream of digitized IF from the device. The device is never idle in these modes. Once this
process is started, it takes about ½ second to abort any streaming operation, to ensure all
channels/pipes have been cleared and the device is ready for its next command.
Note: Entering a streaming mode is nearly instantaneous if the device is coming from an idle or sweep
mode.
Depending on your application this ½ second abort time may not be acceptable (switching bands
quickly/changing settings quickly). If you are interested in utilizing a streaming mode to fully
characterize a signal of interest, a good approach might be to start in the standard sweep mode and
switch to a streaming mode once you identified a frequency of interest.

Multi-Threading

The BB60 API is not thread safe. A multi-threaded application is free to call the API from any number of
threads as long as the function calls are synchronized. Not synchronizing your function calls will lead to
undefined behavior.

Multiple Devices and Inter-process Device Management

The API is capable of managing multiple devices within one process. In each process the API manages a
list of open devices to prevent a process from opening a device more than once. You may open multiple
devices by specifying the serial number or allowing the API to discover them automatically.
Signal Hound | Sweeping versus Streaming
bbConfigTgSweep
with the BB_TG_SWEEP mode flag.
function. This function configures TG sweep
bbStoreTgThru
bbStoreTgThru with the TG_THRU_20DB.
with the
11