This is a collection of National Instruments Labview© Programs, that I use for test and measurements of optoelectronics devices and systems. Some of the instrument drivers are modified by me from the initial programs offered by instrument manufacturers or National Instruments, some are written by me. The application programs (user.llb) are written by me unless stated otherwise. These programs are offered for free private use. Any commercial use, sale, or redistribution is prohibited.
If you have any questions, please contact me at
General Considerations I use in writing Labview Programs:
- You will need Labview 6.0 Full Development License to run most of these programs, I use advanced library functions fairly often.
- I avoid using VISA library functions. Initially (until release 3.0) VISA library was not available, and first so called "VISA transition" library was extremely unreliable. When regular VISA appeared in releases 4.0 and 5.0 it required so called "VISA Session" handle to be passed from subVI to subVI once the session was open, which made debugging rather cumbersome. This was fixed in Labview 6.0, but I still don't quite trust VISA, except when used for Serial Port interfaces.
- I avoid using Sequence Frames. Initially (in releases 3.0 and 4.0) using multiple nested Sequence Frames made Labview programs unstable, polite way to say it crushed all the time:). Given that there was no Undo button then, this was enough to stay away from sequences as much as possible. I was told that this has been fixed now but I avoid using them anyway, since sequences also make diagrams less "transparent". Instead I try to structure the programs with subVI's as mush as possible and use "Error" cluster as a handle to insure proper sequencing.
- I don't use Charts. Release 6.0 has a bug, which sometimes adds a zero-element at the start of the chart buffer.
- There is a set of frequently used programs, that I collected in the library My_Tools_ges.llb. You will most likely need to download it if you want to use any of the programs from this site. Some of the VI's in it, again, are my own, some are modified form sources available on National Instrument site.
GRAPHIC LIBRARIES
| Library | Comments |
| Poincare_Sphere.llb | Plots Poincare Sphere and adds a point (array of points) represented by Stokes coordinates. The Poincare Sphere is generated from the data array saved internally. |
| Smith_Chart.llb | Plots S-parameter data on a Smith Chart. The Smith Chart grid is generated from the data array saved internally. The same technique is used in Vector Network Analyzer instrument library VI's. This program was first written when Labview did not have its own Smith Chart functions. Release 6.0 has it, but the picture variable representation is quite inconvenient, in my opinion, and takes more space/memory. |
| Plot_BER.llb | This is a library that allows to plot BER in a scale linear
for corresponding Q (The program finds Q corresponding to input BER,
according to the formula: BER=1/4*erfc(Q/sqrt(2)). The result is a picture variable that can be saved as a PNG file. The library with all required sub'VI's is rather large - 3Mb, so I did not place it here, but can e-mail to you on request. |
| Plot_BER_Matlab.llb | Alternatively, same function can be performed using Matlab graphic libraries. Matlab must be installed on the computer and Matlab release 12.0 or higher in combination with Labview 6.0, the fix needs to be performed. |
INSTRUMENT LIBRARIES
| Library | Comments |
| Agilent_8753_VNA_ges.llb | Agilent 8753 Vector Network Analyzer |
| Agilent_8712_VNA_ges.llb | Agilent 8712 Vector Network Analyzer |
| Agilent_8565_Spectrum_Analyzer_ges.llb | Agilent 8565 RF Spectrum Analyzer. Also contains the programms to calculate the RMS jitter from the phase noise spectrum of the clock signal, and RIN calculations for lasers |
| Agilent_86100A_DCA_ges.llb | Agilent 86100 Digital Communications Analyzer |
| Agilent_86141B_ges.llb | Agilent 86141B Optical Spectrum Analyzer |
| Ando AQ6317 OSA_ges.llb | Ando 6317 Optical Spectrum Analyzer |
| Advantest_Q8384_OSA.llb | Advantest Q8384 Optical Spectrum Analyzer |
| Agilent_8614_Tunable_Laser_ges.llb | Agilent 8614 Tunable Laser Source |
| HP8509B_OPA_ges.llb | Agilent 8609 Optical Polarization Analyzer |
| Advantest D3286 ERRD_ges.llb | Advantest D3286 Error Detector |
| Anritsu MP1764 ERRD_ges.llb | Anritsu MP1764 Error Detector |
| Agilent_71612_BERT_ges.llb | Agilent 71612 BERT (70843 Error Detector) |
APPLICATIONS / MEASUREMNTS LIBRARIES
| Library | Comments |
| CD_measmnt_Agilent_8753+8614.llb | Chromatics Dispersion Measurement using Agilent 8753/8720 VNA and Agilent 8614 TLS |
| CD_measmnt_Agilent_8712+8614.llb | Chromatics Dispersion Measurement using Agilent 8712 VNA and Agilent 8614 TLS |
| TRS_measurements_ges.llb | Time-Resolved Chirp Measurement using Agilent 86141 OSA and Agilent 86100DCA |
| PMD_Measurement_ges.llb | PMD Measurements using Agilent 8509 Optical Polarization Analyzer and Agilent 8614 TLS |
| FP_ASE_spectral_analysis.llb | Spectral Analysis of the output spectra of Fabry- Perot resonator. In particular its application to FP laser Amplified Spontaneous Emission spectra. See my review paper for detailed descriptions of the techniques. |