IVI Driver Channel Naming

The IVI driver does not treat a switch card as a set of switch objects, it treats the switching circuitry like a 'black box' and applies channel labels to each terminal. The channel labels applied are chosen by the driver and are created to represent the functionality of the terminal.

A tool to explore the channel names of Pickering switch cards is available from our download site: ivi_data_inspector.exe

The normal channel labels applied for common switch types are shown in the following diagrams.

Simple Switch

Matrix

Multiplex

Changeover Switch

Simple switch

Simple switch with channel names

The channel names applied to a simple switch are 'com' and 'ch'; where there are a bank of such switches, these are followed by numerals to indicate the position of the switch in the bank.

So, a bank of 4 simple switches will be given the channel names:

com1,ch1
com2,ch2
com3,ch3
com4,ch4

So, to operate such a switch in the IVI driver, commands are formatted thus:

pi40iv_Connect(vi, "com1", "ch1");
pi40iv_Disconnect(vi, "com1", "ch1");

If a card contains multiple banks of simple switches, an addtional suffix indicating the bank is added:

comA1, chA1 etc for the first bank
comB1, chB1 etc for the second bank
etc

Matrix

Matrix switch with channel names

The channel names applied to a matrix are 'x' and 'y';these are followed by numerals to indicate the row and column number.

So, a 4x4 matrix will be given the channel names:

x1,x2,x3,x4,y1,y1,y3,y4

So, to operate a matrix in the IVI driver, commands are formatted thus:

pi40iv_Connect(vi, "x1", "y1");
pi40iv_Disconnect(vi, "x1", "y1");

If a card contains multiple matrices an addtional suffix is added to indicate the matrix, eg:

xA1, yA1 etc
xB1, yB1 etc
etc

How did we do?
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.