Communication
This page lists all the different communication connectors used within QuTech. Most of these are not used with the SPI Rack, only the displayport connector and micro-USB are. The other ones are used either on the IVVI Rack, or are general communication connectors found on a lot of test and measurement equipment.
| Name | Picture | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Displayport |  |
Communication between the SPI Rack C1b controller module and the SPI Rack controller box (C2) happens via a standard Displayport cable. The default cable is 3 meter long and should not be replaced by a cable of different length. Inside the C2 module is a circuit that is tuned for this exact cable length. If the cable is replaced by one of a different length, correct communication with the SPI Rack cannot be guaranteed. |
| USB |  |
USB is one of the most commonly used communication standards. Most test and measurement equipment comes with a USB port of some sort. The IVVI and SPI Rack use USB to communicate between the PC and the controller boxes. |
| 250 μm Fiber |  |
The orange 250 μm optical fiber is used for communication between the IVVI D5-DAC module and the controller box. It has a FSMA connector. |
| 1 mm Fiber |  |
The grey 1mm optical fiber is used for critical current measurements with the IVVI Rack. See the critical current measurement page on the IVVI Rack website for details. It also has a FSMA connector. |
| Ethernet |  |
|
| GPIB |  |
|
| Serial/COM |  |
For an interesting overview of different bus performances, see this nice overview by National Instruments: Instrument Bus Performance.