Architectural Overview

An overview of this package’s architecture.

The Device Manager

The DeviceManager class is the backbone of this package. It is what facilitates connections to different devices and is responsible for correctly selecting the driver for the device being connected to. The DeviceManager keeps a mapping of all devices in use and provides access to the driver for each active device. The device driver is what is responsible for communication with the physical device and also contains useful attributes, which contain information about the device, and methods, which provide various functionality.

The DeviceManager uses a configuration parser (DMConfigParser) to read in connection information from an optional config file or environment variable as well as to store connection information that is provided directly via python code. This information contains the device type (e.g., SCOPE, AFG, SMU) as well as the address (e.g., hostname, IP address, or model and serial number for USBTMC). The config parser also reads in optional configuration settings that apply globally, such as turning on verbose VISA logging. The DeviceManager then connects to all the devices that the config parser has listed and provides access to the Python driver for each device. The Python device driver is the class responsible for actual communication with the physical (or virtual) device.

Block Diagram

classDiagram direction LR DeviceManager --> "0..n" Device : contains DeviceManager --> "1" DMConfigParser : uses

Device Types

These are the currently supported device types:

  1. Arbitrary Function Generators (AFGs)
  2. Arbitrary Waveform Generators (AWGs)
  3. Data Acquisition Systems (DAQs)
  4. Digital Multimeters (DMMs)
  5. Margin Testers
  6. Power Supplies (PSUs)
  7. Scopes (Oscilloscopes)
  8. Source Measure Units (SMUs)
  9. Systems Switches

Block Diagram

classDiagram direction LR Device <|-- AFG Device <|-- AWG Device <|-- DataAcquisitionSystem Device <|-- DigitalMultimeter Device <|-- Mainframe Device <|-- MarginTester Device <|-- PowerSupplyUnit Device <|-- Scope Device <|-- SourceMeasureUnit Device <|-- SystemsSwitch

Device Drivers

Object-Oriented Design Principles

The drivers are the biggest part of this package; each unique series of instrument gets a uniquely named Python driver class (see tm_devices.drivers for the list of available driver classes). These classes are implemented using object-oriented programming principles and make extensive use of inheritance. This allows common attributes and methods to be defined in higher-level, abstract classes that are then inherited by the individual driver classes.

Mixin classes are also used to provide shared implementations and abstract method signatures for the drivers. This allows multiple device types to all inherit from the same abstract class (mixin class) without sharing the exact same inheritance tree (since they might not share much else). The mixin classes define attributes and methods, some of which the driver will overwrite or implement for itself.

Family Base Classes

One other technique for enabling code reuse in the drivers is by using a “family base class”. Each family base class is an abstract class that defines the signature for all child classes that inherit from it. Occasionally a child class will need to overwrite an implementation due to the differences that can occur between different models of the same device type, but the class signature will not change. This means that all drivers that inherit from a common family base class are guaranteed to have the same class signature (attributes, methods, etc.), and this rule is enforced by unit tests.

Object-Oriented Design Benefits

These object-oriented principles result in individual driver classes that are quite simple to read, as they have very few actual lines of code. Code duplication is extremely low, which makes drivers easy to create and update.

Block Diagram

This package supports many devices, zoom in to see them all!

Note

  • Family Base Classes are outlined in orange red.
  • Device Drivers are highlighted in lawn green.
classDiagram direction LR AFG <|-- AFG31K AFG <|-- AFG3K AFG3K <|-- AFG3KB AFG3KB <|-- AFG3KC AWG <|-- AWG5200 AWG <|-- AWG5K AWG <|-- AWG70KA AWG <|-- AWG7K AWG5K <|-- AWG5KB AWG5KB <|-- AWG5KC AWG70KA <|-- AWG70KB AWG7K <|-- AWG7KB AWG7KB <|-- AWG7KC AbstractTekScope <|-- TekScope AbstractTekScope <|-- TekScopePC DMM75xx <|-- DMM7510 DMM75xx <|-- DMM7512 DPO2K <|-- DPO2KB DPO4K <|-- DPO4KB DPO5K <|-- DPO5KB DPO7 <|-- DPO7AX DPO70K <|-- DPO70KC DPO70K <|-- DPO70KDX DPO70K <|-- DPO70KSX DPO70KC <|-- DPO70KD DPO7K <|-- DPO7KC DSA70K <|-- DSA70KC DSA70K <|-- DSA70KD DataAcquisitionSystem <|-- DAQ6510 Device <|-- AFG Device <|-- AWG Device <|-- DataAcquisitionSystem Device <|-- DigitalMultimeter Device <|-- Mainframe Device <|-- MarginTester Device <|-- PowerSupplyUnit Device <|-- Scope Device <|-- SourceMeasureUnit Device <|-- SystemsSwitch DigitalMultimeter <|-- DMM6500 DigitalMultimeter <|-- DMM75xx MDO4K <|-- MDO4KB MDO4KB <|-- MDO4KC MP5xxx <|-- MP5103 MSO2K <|-- MSO2KB MSO4 <|-- MSO4B MSO4K <|-- MSO4KB MSO5 <|-- MSO5B MSO5 <|-- MSO5LP MSO5K <|-- MSO5KB MSO6 <|-- LPD6 MSO6 <|-- MSO6B MSO70K <|-- MSO70KC MSO70K <|-- MSO70KDX Mainframe <|-- MP5xxx MarginTester <|-- TMT4 PSU2200 <|-- PSU2220 PSU2200 <|-- PSU2230 PSU2200 <|-- PSU2231 PSU2200 <|-- PSU2280 PSU2200 <|-- PSU2281 PSU2231 <|-- PSU2231A PowerSupplyUnit <|-- PSU2200 SMU24xxInteractive <|-- SMU2450 SMU24xxInteractive <|-- SMU2460 SMU24xxInteractive <|-- SMU2461 SMU24xxInteractive <|-- SMU2470 SMU24xxStandard <|-- SMU2400 SMU24xxStandard <|-- SMU2401 SMU24xxStandard <|-- SMU2410 SMU2601B <|-- SMU2601BPulse SMU265xA <|-- SMU2651A SMU265xA <|-- SMU2657A SMU26xx <|-- SMU265xA SMU26xx <|-- SMU26xxA SMU26xx <|-- SMU26xxB SMU26xxA <|-- SMU2601A SMU26xxA <|-- SMU2602A SMU26xxA <|-- SMU2604A SMU26xxA <|-- SMU2611A SMU26xxA <|-- SMU2612A SMU26xxA <|-- SMU2614A SMU26xxA <|-- SMU2634A SMU26xxA <|-- SMU2635A SMU26xxA <|-- SMU2636A SMU26xxB <|-- SMU2601B SMU26xxB <|-- SMU2602B SMU26xxB <|-- SMU2604B SMU26xxB <|-- SMU2606B SMU26xxB <|-- SMU2611B SMU26xxB <|-- SMU2612B SMU26xxB <|-- SMU2614B SMU26xxB <|-- SMU2634B SMU26xxB <|-- SMU2635B SMU26xxB <|-- SMU2636B SMU6xxx <|-- SMU6430 SMU6xxx <|-- SMU6514 SMU6xxx <|-- SMU6517B Scope <|-- AbstractTekScope Scope <|-- TSOVu Scope <|-- TekScope2k Scope <|-- TekScope3k4k Scope <|-- TekScope5k7k70k SourceMeasureUnit <|-- SMU24xxInteractive SourceMeasureUnit <|-- SMU24xxStandard SourceMeasureUnit <|-- SMU26xx SourceMeasureUnit <|-- SMU6xxx SystemsSwitch <|-- SS3706A TekScope <|-- DPO7 TekScope <|-- MSO2 TekScope <|-- MSO4 TekScope <|-- MSO5 TekScope <|-- MSO6 TekScope2k <|-- DPO2K TekScope2k <|-- MSO2K TekScope3k4k <|-- DPO4K TekScope3k4k <|-- MDO3 TekScope3k4k <|-- MDO3K TekScope3k4k <|-- MDO4K TekScope3k4k <|-- MSO4K TekScope5k7k70k <|-- DPO5K TekScope5k7k70k <|-- DPO70K TekScope5k7k70k <|-- DPO7K TekScope5k7k70k <|-- DSA70K TekScope5k7k70k <|-- MSO5K TekScope5k7k70k <|-- MSO70K style AFG stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style AWG5200 stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style AWG5K stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style AWG70KA stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style AWG7K stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style DAQ6510 stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style DMM6500 stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style DMM75xx stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style MP5xxx stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style MarginTester stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style PSU2200 stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style SMU24xxInteractive stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style SMU24xxStandard stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style SMU26xx stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style SMU6xxx stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style SS3706A stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style TSOVu stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style TekScope stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style TekScope2k stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style TekScope3k4k stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style TekScope5k7k70k stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style TekScopePC stroke:orangered,stroke-width:4px style AFG31K fill:lawngreen style AFG3K fill:lawngreen style AFG3KB fill:lawngreen style AFG3KC fill:lawngreen style AWG5200 fill:lawngreen style AWG5K fill:lawngreen style AWG5KB fill:lawngreen style AWG5KC fill:lawngreen style AWG70KA fill:lawngreen style AWG70KB fill:lawngreen style AWG7K fill:lawngreen style AWG7KB fill:lawngreen style AWG7KC fill:lawngreen style DAQ6510 fill:lawngreen style DMM6500 fill:lawngreen style DMM7510 fill:lawngreen style DMM7512 fill:lawngreen style DPO2K fill:lawngreen style DPO2KB fill:lawngreen style DPO4K fill:lawngreen style DPO4KB fill:lawngreen style DPO5K fill:lawngreen style DPO5KB fill:lawngreen style DPO70K fill:lawngreen style DPO70KC fill:lawngreen style DPO70KD fill:lawngreen style DPO70KDX fill:lawngreen style DPO70KSX fill:lawngreen style DPO7AX fill:lawngreen style DPO7K fill:lawngreen style DPO7KC fill:lawngreen style DSA70K fill:lawngreen style DSA70KC fill:lawngreen style DSA70KD fill:lawngreen style LPD6 fill:lawngreen style MDO3 fill:lawngreen style MDO3K fill:lawngreen style MDO4K fill:lawngreen style MDO4KB fill:lawngreen style MDO4KC fill:lawngreen style MP5103 fill:lawngreen style MSO2 fill:lawngreen style MSO2K fill:lawngreen style MSO2KB fill:lawngreen style MSO4 fill:lawngreen style MSO4B fill:lawngreen style MSO4K fill:lawngreen style MSO4KB fill:lawngreen style MSO5 fill:lawngreen style MSO5B fill:lawngreen style MSO5K fill:lawngreen style MSO5KB fill:lawngreen style MSO5LP fill:lawngreen style MSO6 fill:lawngreen style MSO6B fill:lawngreen style MSO70K fill:lawngreen style MSO70KC fill:lawngreen style MSO70KDX fill:lawngreen style PSU2200 fill:lawngreen style PSU2220 fill:lawngreen style PSU2230 fill:lawngreen style PSU2231 fill:lawngreen style PSU2231A fill:lawngreen style PSU2280 fill:lawngreen style PSU2281 fill:lawngreen style SMU2400 fill:lawngreen style SMU2401 fill:lawngreen style SMU2410 fill:lawngreen style SMU2450 fill:lawngreen style SMU2460 fill:lawngreen style SMU2461 fill:lawngreen style SMU2470 fill:lawngreen style SMU2601A fill:lawngreen style SMU2601B fill:lawngreen style SMU2601BPulse fill:lawngreen style SMU2602A fill:lawngreen style SMU2602B fill:lawngreen style SMU2604A fill:lawngreen style SMU2604B fill:lawngreen style SMU2606B fill:lawngreen style SMU2611A fill:lawngreen style SMU2611B fill:lawngreen style SMU2612A fill:lawngreen style SMU2612B fill:lawngreen style SMU2614A fill:lawngreen style SMU2614B fill:lawngreen style SMU2634A fill:lawngreen style SMU2634B fill:lawngreen style SMU2635A fill:lawngreen style SMU2635B fill:lawngreen style SMU2636A fill:lawngreen style SMU2636B fill:lawngreen style SMU2651A fill:lawngreen style SMU2657A fill:lawngreen style SMU6430 fill:lawngreen style SMU6514 fill:lawngreen style SMU6517B fill:lawngreen style SS3706A fill:lawngreen style SupportedModels fill:lawngreen style TMT4 fill:lawngreen style TSOVu fill:lawngreen style TekScopePC fill:lawngreen