CMT VNAs are USB-based and do not have built-in computers. There are a few benefits to having the VNA measurement module separate from the processing module. When they are separated, the user isn’t stuck with an obsolete built-in PC in a few years. It also means that the VNA can be smaller in size, making it more lightweight and portable.

The VNAs must run with an external PC and the VNA software (RVNA, TRVNA, S2VNA or S4VNA) to work. You can consider the VNA software as the driver for VNAs. When you write code to automate VNAs, you are communicating with the VNA software, which then communicates with the physical VNA through a USB connection.

This means even if automating the VNA with code, the VNA software must still be running, and it should not be closed during automation. The VNA software user interface can be hidden, but it must always be running in the background. This can be confusing because other VNA manufacturers have built-in PCs in the VNAs, and a separate instance of the VNA software isn’t necessary on the computer automating the network analyzer. Because of this, if you want to automate the entire measurement process without using the VNA software’s user interface, you must programmatically run the VNA software.

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