REXGEAR

1 Preface

About Manual

This manual is applied to BCS series battery simulator, including programming guide based on standard SCPI protocol. The copyright of the manual is owned by REXGEAR. Due to the upgrade of instrument, this manual may be revised without notice in future versions.

This manual has been reviewed carefully by REXGEAR for the technical accuracy. The manufacturer declines all responsibility for possible errors in this operation manual, if due to misprints or errors in copying. The manufacturer is not liable for malfunctioning if the product has not correctly been operated.

To ensure the safety and correct use of BCS, please read this manual carefully, especially the safety instructions.

Please keep this manual for future use.

Thanks for your trust and support.

2 Safety Instructions

In the operation and maintenance of the instrument, please strictly comply with the following safety instructions. Any performance regardless of attentions or specific warnings in other chapters of the manual may impair the protective functions provided by the instrument.

REXGEAR shall not be liable for the results caused by the neglect of those instructions.

2.1 Safety Notes

• Confirm the AC input voltage before supplying power.
• Reliable grounding: Before operation, the instrument must be reliably grounded to avoid the electric shock.
• Confirm the fuse: Ensure to have installed the fuse correctly.
• Do not open the chassis: The operator cannot open the instrument chassis. Non-professional operators are not allowed to maintain or adjust it.
• Do not operate under hazardous conditions: Do not operate the instrument under flammable or explosive conditions.
• Confirm the working range: Make sure the DUT is within BCS's rated range.

2.2 Safety Symbols

Please refer to the following table for definitions of international symbols used on the instrument or in the user manual.

3 Overview

BCS series battery simulators provide LAN port and RS232 interface. Users can connect BCS and PC by the corresponding communication line to realize control.

4 Programming Command Overview

4.1 Brief Introduction

BCS commands include two types: IEEE488.2 public commands and SCPI commands.

IEEE 488.2 public commands define some common control and query commands for instruments. Basic operation on BCS can be achieved through public commands, such as reset, status query, etc. All IEEE 488.2 public commands consist of an asterisk (*) and three-letter mnemonic: *RST, *IDN ?, *OPC ?, etc.

SCPI commands can implement most of BCS functions of testing, setting, calibration and measurement. SCPI commands are organized in the form of a command tree. Each command can contain multiple mnemonics, and each node of the command tree is separated by a colon (:), as shown in the below figure. Top of the command tree is called ROOT. The full path from ROOT to the leaf node is a complete programming command.

ROOT
  [:STATE]
    :PROTection
      :CLEar
  :INPut
    :SHORT
      [:STATE]
        :MODE
        :FUNCtion

4.2 Syntax

BCS SCPI commands are the inheritance and expansion of IEEE 488.2 commands. SCPI commands consist of command keywords, separators, parameter fields and terminators. Take the following command as an example:

SOURce<n>:VOLTage 2.5

In this command, SOURce and VOLTage are command keywords. n is channel number 1 to 24. The colon (:) and space are separators. 2.5 is the parameter field. The carriage return is terminator. Some commands have multiple parameters. The parameters are separated by a comma (,).

MEASure:VOLTage?(@1,2)

This command means obtaining readback voltage of channel 1 and 2. Number 1 and 2 means channel number, which are separated by a comma.

Reading readback voltage of 24 channels at the same time:

MEASure:VOLTage?(@1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24)

Writing constant voltage value to 5V of 24 channels at the same time:

SOURCE:VOLTage 5(@1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24)

For the convenience of description, the symbols in the subsequent chapters will be applicable to the following conventions.

• Square brackets ([]) indicate optional keywords or parameters, which can be omitted.
• Curly brackets ({}) indicate the parameter options in the command string.
• Angle brackets (<>) indicate that a numeric parameter must be provided.
• The vertical line (|) is used to separate the options of multiple optional parameters.

4.2.1 Command Keyword

Each command keyword has two formats: long mnemonic and short mnemonic. Short mnemonic is short for long mnemonic. Each mnemonic should not exceed 12 characters, including any possible numeric suffixes. The battery simulator only accepts precisely long or short mnemonics.

4.2.2 Command Separator

1. Colon (:)

Colon is used to separate two adjacent keywords in the command, such as separating SOUR1 and VOLT in command SOUR1:VOLT 2.54.

Colon can also be the first character of a command, indicating it will seek path from the top node of command tree.

2. Space

Space is used to separate command field and parameter field.

3. Semicolon (;)

Semicolon is used to separate multiple command units when multiple command units are included in one command. The level of the present path does not change by using a semicolon.

Example:

SOUR1:VOLT 2.54;OUTCURR 1000

The above command is to set constant voltage value to 2.54V and output current limit to 1000mA in source mode. The above command is equivalent to the following two commands:

SOUR1:VOLT 2.54

SOUR1:OUTCURR 1000

4.2.3 Query

Question mark (?) is used to mark the query function. It follows the last keyword of the command field. For example, for querying constant voltage of channel 1 in source mode, the query command is SOUR1:VOLT?. If the constant voltage is 5V, the battery simulator will return a character string 5.

After the battery simulator receives the query command and completes the analysis, it will execute the command and generate a response string. The response string is first written into the output buffer. If the present remote interface is a GPIB interface, it waits for the controller to read the response. Otherwise, it immediately sends the response string to the interface.

Most commands have corresponding query syntax. If a command cannot be queried, the battery simulator will report an error message -115 Command can not query and nothing will be returned.

4.2.4 Command Terminator

The command terminators are line feed character (ASCII character LF, value 10) and EOI (only for GPIB interface). The terminator function is to terminate the present command string and reset the command path to the root path.

4.3 Parameter Format

Parameter programmed are represented by ASCII code in the types of numeric, character, bool, etc.

5 Commands

5.1 IEEE 488.2 Common Commands

Common commands are general commands required by IEEE 488.2 standard that instruments must support. They are used to control the general functions of instruments, such as reset and status query. Its syntax and semantics follow IEEE 488.2 standard. IEEE 488.2 common commands have no hierarchy.

*IDN?

This command reads information of the battery simulator. It returns the data in four fields separated by commas. The data include manufacturer, model, reserved field and software version.

Returns Example: REXGEARTECH,BCS,0,V1.00

*OPC

This command sets the Operation Complete (OPC) bit in the Standard Event Register to 1 when all operations and commands are completed.

*RST

This command is used to restore factory settings.

Command Syntax: *RST

Parameters: None

Returns: None

Related Commands: None

5.2 Measure Commands

MEASure<n>:CURRent?

This command queries the readback current of corresponding channel.

MEASure<n>:VOLTage?

This command queries the readback voltage of corresponding channel.

MEASure<n>:POWer?

This command queries the readback power of corresponding channel.

MEASure<n>:MAH?

This command queries the capacity of corresponding channel.

MEASure<n>:Res?

This command queries the resistance value of corresponding channel.

5.3 Output Commands

OUTPut<n>:MODE

This command is used to set the operation mode of corresponding channel.

OUTPut<n>:ONOFF

This command turns on or off the output of corresponding channel.

OUTPut<n>:STATe?

This command queries operating state of corresponding channel.

5.4 Source Commands

SOURce<n>:VOLTage

This command is used to set output constant voltage.

SOURce<n>:OUTCURRent

This command is used to set output current limit.

SOURce<n>:RANGE

This command is used to set current range.

5.5 Charge Commands

CHARge<n>:VOLTage

This command is used to set output constant voltage under charge mode.

CHARge<n>:OUTCURRent

This command is used to set output current limit under charge mode.

CHARge<n>:Res

This command is used to set resistance value under charge mode.

CHARge<n>:ECHO:VOLTage?

This command queries readback voltage under charge mode.

CHARge<n>:ECHO:Q?

This command queries readback capacity under charge mode.

5.6 SEQ Commands

SEQuence<n>:EDIT:FILE

This command is used to set sequence file number.

SEQuence<n>:EDIT:LENGth

This command is used to set total steps in the sequence file.

SEQuence<n>:EDIT:STEP

This command is used to set the specific step number.

SEQuence<n>:EDIT:CYCle

This command is used to set the cycle times for the file under editing.

SEQuence<n>:EDIT:VOLTage

This command is used to set the output voltage for the step under editing.

SEQuence<n>:EDIT:OUTCURRent

This command is used to set the output current limit for the step under editing.

SEQuence<n>:EDIT:Res

This command is used to set the resistance for the step under editing.

SEQuence<n>:EDIT:RUNTime

This command is used to set the running time for the step under editing.

SEQuence<n>:EDIT:LINKStart

This command is used to set the required link start step after the present step is completed.

SEQuence<n>:EDIT:LINKEnd

This command is used to set the link stop step for the step under editing.

SEQuence<n>:EDIT:LINKCycle

This command is used to set cycle times for the link.

SEQuence<n>:RUN:FILE

This command is used to set the sequence test file number.

SEQuence<n>:RUN:STEP?

This command is used to query the present running step number.

SEQuence<n>:RUN:Time?

This command is used to query the running time for the sequence test file.

5.7 SOC Commands

SOC<n>:EDIT:LENGth

This command is used to set the total operation steps.

SOC<n>:EDIT:STEP

This command is used to set the specific step number.

SOC<n>:EDIT:VOLTage

This command is used to set voltage value for the step under editing.

SOC<n>:EDIT:OUTCURRent

This command is used to set output current limit for the step under editing.

SOC<n>:EDIT:Res

This command is used to set resistance value for the step under editing.

SOC<n>:EDIT:Q?

This command is used to set the capacity for the step under editing.

SOC<n>:EDIT:SVOLtage

This command is used to set the initial/start voltage.

SOC<n>:RUN:STEP?

This command is used to query the present running step.

SOC<n>:RUN:Q?

This command is used to query the present capacity for the present running step.

6 Programming Examples

This chapter will describe how to control the battery simulator by programming commands.

Note 1: In this chapter, there are comments starting with //, following some commands. These comments cannot be recognized by the battery simulator, only for the convenience of understanding the corresponding commands. Therefore, it is not allowed to input comments including // in practice.

Note 2: There are 24 channels in total. For the below programming examples, it demonstrates functions of only channel number one.

6.1 Source Mode

Under Source mode, constant voltage and current limit value can be set.

Example: set the battery simulator to Source mode, CV value to 5V, output current limit to 1000mA and current range to Auto.

OUTPut1:ONOFF 0 //turn off the output for present channel
OUTPut1:MODE 0 //set operation mode to Source mode
SOURce1:VOLTage 5.0 //set CV value to 5.0 V
SOURce1:OUTCURRent 1000 //set output current limit to 1000mA
SOURce1:RANGE 3 //select 3-Auto for current range
OUTPut1:ONOFF 1 //turn on the output for channel 1

6.2 Charge Mode

Under Charge mode, constant voltage, current limit and resistance value can be set. The current range under charge mode is fixed as high range.

Example: set the battery simulator to Charge mode, CV value to 5V, output current limit to 1000mA and resistance value to 3.0mΩ.

OUTPut1:ONOFF 0 //turn off the output for present channel
OUTPut1:MODE 1 //set operation mode to Charge mode
CHARge1:VOLTage 5.0 //set CV value to 5.0 V
CHARge1:OUTCURRent 1000 //set output current limit to 1000mA
CHARge1: Res 3.0 //set resistance value to 3.0mΩ
OUTPut1:ONOFF 1 //turn on the output for channel 1

6.3 SOC Test

The main function of BCS SOC test is to simulate battery discharge function. Users need to input various parameters of battery discharge into the corresponding channels, such as capacity, constant voltage value, output current limit, and resistance value. The battery simulator judges whether the capacity difference of present running step and the next step is equal, according to the capacity of present running step. If equal, BCS will move to next step. If not equal, BCS will continue to accumulate the capacity for present running step. The capacity is determined by the connected DUT, that is, the output current.

Example: set the battery simulator to SOC mode, total steps to 3 and initial voltage to 4.8V. The steps parameters are as below table.

OUTPut1:ONOFF 0 //turn off the output for present channel
OUTPut1:MODE 3 //set operation mode to SOC mode
SOC1:EDIT: LENGth 3 //set total steps to 3
SOC1:EDIT: STEP 1 //set step No. to 1
SOC1:EDIT: Q 1200 //set capacity for step No. 1 to 1200mAh
SOC1:EDIT: VOLTage 5.0 //set CV Value for step No. 1 to 5.0V
SOC1:EDIT: OUTCURRent 1000 //set output current limit for step No. 1 to 1000mA
SOC1:EDIT: Res 0.1 //set resistance for step No. 1 to 0.1mΩ
SOC1:EDIT: STEP 2 //set step No. to 2
SOC1:EDIT: Q 1000 //set capacity for step No. 2 to 1000mAh
SOC1:EDIT: VOLTage 2.0 //set CV Value for step No. 2 to 2.0V
SOC1:EDIT: OUTCURRent 1000 //set output current limit for step No. 2 to 1000mA
SOC1:EDIT: Res 0.2 //set resistance for step No. 2 to 0.2mΩ
SOC1:EDIT: STEP 3 //set step No. to 3
SOC1:EDIT: Q 500 //set capacity for step No. 3 to 500mAh
SOC1:EDIT: VOLTage 1.0 //set CV Value for step No. 3 to 1.0V
SOC1:EDIT: OUTCURRent 1000 //set output current limit for step No. 3 to 1000mA
SOC1:EDIT: Res 0.3 //set resistance for step No. 3 to 0.3mΩ
SOC1:EDIT:SVOL 4.8 //set initial/start voltage to 4.8V
OUTPut1:ONOFF 1 //turn on the output for channel 1

6.4 SEQ Mode

The SEQ test mainly judges the number of running steps based on the selected SEQ file. It will run all the steps in sequence, according to the preset output parameters for each step. Links can also be made between steps. The corresponding cycle times can be set independently.

Example: set the battery simulator to SEQ mode, SEQ file No. to 1, total steps to 3 and file cycle times to 1. The steps parameters are as below table.

SOC1 RUN: STEP? //read the present running step No.
SOC1: RUN:Q? //read the capacity for present running step

OUTPut1:ONOFF 0 //turn off the output for present channel
OUTPut1:MODE 128 //set operation mode to SEQ mode
SEQuence1:EDIT:FILE 1 //set SEQ file No. to 1
SEQuence1:EDIT:LENGth 3 //set total steps to 3
SEQuence1:EDIT:CYCle 1 //set file cycle times to 1
SEQuence1:EDIT:STEP 1 //set step No. to 1
SEQuence1:EDIT:VOLTage 1.0 //set CV Value for step No. 1 to 1.0V
SEQuence1:EDIT:OUTCURRent 2000 //set output current limit for step No. 1 to 2000mA
SEQuence1:EDIT:Res 0.0 //set resistance for step No. 1 to 0mΩ
SEQuence1:EDIT:RUNTime 5 //set running time for step No. 1 to 5s
SEQuence1:EDIT:LINKStart -1 //set link start step for step No. 1 to -1
SEQuence1:EDIT:LINKEnd -1 //set link stop step for step No. 1 to -1
SEQuence1:EDIT:LINKCycle 0 //set link cycle times to 0
SEQuence1:EDIT:STEP 2 //set step No. to 2
SEQuence1:EDIT:VOLTage 2.0 //set CV Value for step No. 2 to 2.0V
SEQuence1:EDIT:OUTCURRent 2000 //set output current limit for step No. 2 to 2000mA
SEQuence1:EDIT:Res 0.1 //set resistance for step No. 2 to 0.1mΩ

SEQuence1:EDIT:RUNTime 10 //set running time for step No. 2 to 10s
SEQuence1:EDIT:LINKStart -1 //set link start step for step No. 2 to -1
SEQuence1:EDIT:LINKEnd -1 //set link stop step for step No. 2 to -1
SEQuence1:EDIT:LINKCycle 0 //set link cycle times to 0
SEQuence1:EDIT:STEP 3 //set step No. to 3
SEQuence1:EDIT:VOLTage 3.0 //set CV Value for step No. 3 to 3.0V
SEQuence1:EDIT:OUTCURRent 2000 //set output current limit for step No. 3 to 2000mA
SEQuence1:EDIT:Res 0.2 //set resistance for step No. 3 to 0.2mΩ
SEQuence1:EDIT:RUNTime 20 //set running time for step No. 3 to 20s
SEQuence1:EDIT:LINKStart -1 //set link start step for step No. 3 to -1
SEQuence1:EDIT:LINKEnd -1 //set link stop step for step No. 3 to -1
SEQuence1:EDIT:LINKCycle 0 //set link cycle times to 0
SEQuence1:RUN:FILE 1 //set the running SEQ file No. to 1
OUTPut1:ONOFF 1 //turn on the output for channel 1
SEQuence1: RUN:STEP? //read the present running step No.
SEQuence1: RUN:T? //read running time for present SEQ file No.

6.5 Measurement

There is a high-precision measurement system inside the battery simulator to measure output voltage, current, power and temperature.

MEASure1:CURRent? //Read the readback current for channel 1
MEASure1:VOLTage? //Read the readback voltage for channel 1
MEASure1:POWer? //Read the real-time power for channel 1
MEASure1:TEMPerature? //Read the real-time temperature for channel 1
MEAS2:CURR? //Read the readback current for channel 2
MEAS2:VOLT? //Read the readback voltage for channel 2
MEAS2:POW? //Read the real-time power for channel 2
MEAS2:TEMP? //Read the real-time temperature for channel 2

6.6 Factory Reset

Execute *RST command to do factory reset on battery simulator.

7 Error Information

7.1 Command Error

7.2 Execution Error