What is Instrument Control Toolbox?

Brian Hu, MathWorks

In this video, you will get an overview of Instrument Control Toolbox™, which provides functions and apps for communicating directly with test equipment in MATLAB^®. With the toolbox, you can configure and receive measured data from test instruments such as oscilloscopes, function generators, and network analyzers.

See how you can:

Test and verify hardware designs for WLAN, 5G, and LTE systems
Transmit a waveform created in MATLAB over the air through an RF signal generator
Use a signal analyzer to receive the waveform back into MATLAB to be analyzed

We will also cover support for:

Communicating using SCPI commands over hardware interfaces such as serial, GPIB, TCP/IP, and VISA
Control chips, circuit boards, and sensors through I2C and SPI protocols
Devices that conform to LXI, PXI, and AXIe standards
Communication using industry-standard instrument drivers such as IVI and VXIplug&play

The Instrument Control Toolbox provides functions and apps for communicating directly with test equipment. Together with MATLAB, you can interface with a variety of instruments to verify hardware designs and automate test systems.

Instrument Control Toolbox makes it easy to verify hardware designs for WLAN, 5G and LTE systems. You can send a waveform that you created in MATLAB over the air through an RF signal generator, and you can read the signal from a signal analyzer back into MATLAB. Once the received data is in MATLAB, you can analyze the received waveform to verify the quality of your signal.

The toolbox lets you configure and receive measured data from test instruments such as oscilloscopes, function generators, network analyzers, and more.

The toolbox supports text-based communication using SCPI commands through common hardware interfaces such as Serial, GPIB, TCP/IP, and VISA. Devices conforming to LXI, PXI, and AXIe standards are also supported.

The toolbox also supports industry standard device specific drivers such as IVI and VXI Plug & Play. These drivers can be integrated with the Quick-Control interface to provide ease of use when communicating with oscilloscopes, function generators, and RF signal generators.

Instrument Control Toolbox offers apps which allow you to control devices without having to write MATLAB code. You can use the Instrument Control Tool to detect connected devices, configure instrument parameters, and acquire data. With the session log, you can convert any workflow from the tool directly into a MATLAB script.

Alongside direct instrument communication, the Instrument Control Toolbox supports interfacing with control chips, circuit boards, and sensors using I2C or SPI protocols.

Support for MODBUS communication allows you to read and write from PLCs and other industrial test equipment.

After designing your instrument control script, you can build graphical interfaces which automate communication with test equipment. Using the MATLAB Compiler, you can deploy your custom interface onto computers that don’t have MATLAB.

To learn more, explore the product page for a closer look at features, videos, and examples.