Connecting to the Instrument

The Zurich Instruments QHub is operated using the LabOneQ and LabOne software. After installation of LabOne, the instrument can be connected to a computer by using the Ethernet cable supplied with the instrument. The Universal Serial Bus (USB) is not supported and is meant only for instrument maintenance.

The instrument can be physically integrated into an existing local area network (LAN) by connecting the instrument to a switch in the LAN using an Ethernet cable. The instrument can then be accessed from a web browser running on any computer in the same LAN with LabOne installed. The Ethernet connection can also be point-to-point. This requires some adjustment of the network card settings of the host computer. Depending on the network configuration and the installed network card, one or the other connection scheme is better suited.

LabOne Software Architecture

The Zurich Instruments LabOne software gives quick and easy access to the instrument from a host PC. LabOne also supports advanced configurations with simultaneous access by multiple software clients (i.e., LabOne User Interface clients and/or API clients), and even simultaneous access by several users working on different computers. Here we give a brief overview of the architecture of the LabOne software. This will help to better understand the following chapters.

The software of Zurich Instruments equipment is server-based. The servers and other software components are organized in layers as shown in Figure 1.

• The lowest layer running on the PC is the LabOne Data Server, which is the interface to the connected instrument.
• The middle layer contains the LabOne Web Server, which is the server for the browser-based LabOne User Interface.
• The graphical user interface, together with the programming user interfaces, are contained in the top layer.

The architecture with one central Data Server allows multiple clients to access a device with synchronized settings. The following sections explain the different layers and their functionality in more detail.

Figure 1: LabOne Software architecture

LabOne Data Server

The LabOne Data Server program is a dedicated server that is in charge of all communication to and from the device. The Data Server can control a single or also multiple instruments. It will distribute the measurement data from the instrument to all the clients that subscribe to it. It also ensures that settings changed by one client are communicated to other clients. The device settings are therefore synchronized on all clients. On a PC, only a single instance of a LabOne Data Server should be running.

LabOne Web Server

The LabOne Web Server is an application dedicated to serving up the web pages that constitute the LabOne user interface. The user interface can be opened with any device with a web browser. Since it is touch enabled, it is possible to work with the LabOne User Interface on a mobile device - like a tablet. The LabOne Web Server supports multiple clients simultaneously. This means that more than one session can be used to view data and to manipulate the instrument. A session could be running in a browser on the PC on which the LabOne software is installed. It could equally well be running in a browser on a remote machine.

With a LabOne Web Server running and accessing an instrument, a new session can be opened by typing in a network address and port number in a browser address bar. In case the Web Server runs on the same computer, the address is the localhost address (both are equivalent):

• 127.0.0.1:8006
• localhost:8006

In case the Web Server runs on a remote computer, the address is the IP address or network name of the remote computer:

• 192.168.x.y:8006
• myPC.company.com:8006

The most recent versions of the most popular browsers are supported: Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari and Opera.

LabOne API Layer

The instrument can also be controlled via the application program interfaces (APIs) provided by Zurich Instruments. APIs are provided in the form of DLLs for the following programming environments:

• MATLAB
• Python
• LabVIEW
• .NET
• C

The instrument can therefore be controlled by an external program, and the resulting data can be processed there. The device can be concurrently accessed via one or more of the APIs and via the user interface. This enables easy integration into larger laboratory setups. See the LabOne Programming Manual for further information. Using the APIs, the user has access to the same functionality that is available in the LabOne User Interface.

LabOne Software Start-up

This section describes the start-up of the LabOne User Interface which is used to control the QHub Instrument. If the LabOne software is not yet installed on the PC please follow the instructions in Software Installation. If the device is not yet connected please find more information in Visibility and Connection.

The LabOne User Interface start-up link can be found under the Windows 10/11 Start Menu. As shown in Figure 2, click on Start Menu → Zurich Instruments LabOne. This will open the User Interface in a new tab in your default web browser and start the LabOne Data Server and LabOne Web Server programs in the background. A detailed description of the software architecture is found in LabOne Software Architecture.

Figure 2: Link to the LabOne User Interface in the Windows 11 Start Menu

LabOne is an HTML5 browser-based program. This simply means that the user interface runs in a web browser and that a connection using a mobile device is also possible; simply specify the IP address (and port 8006) of the PC running the user interface.

Note

By creating a shortcut to Google Chrome on your desktop with the Target path\to\chrome.exe -app=http://127.0.0.1:8006 set in Properties you can run the LabOne User Interface in Chrome in application mode, which improves the user experience by removing the unnecessary browser controls.

After starting LabOne, the Device Connection dialog Figure 3 is shown to select the device for the session. The term "session" is used for an active connection between the user interface and the device. Such a session is defined by device settings and user interface settings. Several sessions can be started in parallel. The sessions run on a shared LabOne Web Server. A detailed description of the software architecture can be found in the LabOne Software Architecture.

Figure 3: Device Connection dialog

The Device Connection dialog opens in the Basic view by default. In this view, all devices that are available for connection are represented by an icon with serial number and status information. If required, a button appears on the icon to perform a firmware upgrade. Otherwise, the device can be connected by a double click on the icon, or a click on the button at the bottom right of the dialog.

In some cases it’s useful to switch to the Advanced view of the Device Connection dialog by clicking on the "Advanced" button. The Advanced view offers the possibility to select custom device and UI settings for the new session and gives further connectivity options that are particularly useful for multi-instrument setups.

Figure 4: Device Connection dialog (Advanced view)

The Advanced view consists of three parts:

• Data Server Connectivity
• Available Devices
• Saved Settings

The Available Devices table has a display filter, usually set to Default Data Server, that is accessible by a drop-down menu in the header row of the table. When changing this to Local Data Servers, the Available Devices table will show only connections via the Data Server on the host PC and will contain all instruments connected to the local network. When using the All Data Servers filter, connections via Data Servers running on other PCs in the network also become accessible. Once your instrument appears in the Available Devices table, perform the following steps to start a new session:

1. Select an instrument in the Available Devices table.

2. Select a setting file in the Saved Settings list unless you would like to use the Default Settings.

3. Start the session by clicking on

Note

By default, opening a new session will only load the UI settings (such as plot ranges), but not the device settings (such as signal amplitude) from the saved settings file. In order to include the device settings, enable the Include Device Settings checkbox. Note that this can affect existing sessions since the device settings are shared between them.

Note

In case devices from other Zurich Instruments series are used in parallel, the list in Available Devices section can contain those as well.

The following sections describe the functionality of the Device Connection dialog in detail.

Data Server Connectivity

The Device Connection dialog represents a Web Server. However, on start-up the Web Server is not yet connected to a LabOne Data Server. With the Connect/Disconnect button the connection to a Data Server can be opened and closed.

This functionality can usually be ignored when working with a single QHub Instrument and a single host computer. Data Server Connectivity is important for users operating their instruments from a remote PC, i.e., from a PC different to the PC on which the Data Server is running or for users working with multiple instruments. The Data Server Connectivity function then gives the freedom to connect the Web Server to one of several accessible Data Servers. This includes Data Servers running on remote computers, and also Data Servers running on an MF Series instrument.

In order to work with a Zurich Instrument device remotely, proceed as follows. On the computer directly connected to the instrument (Computer 1) open a User Interface session and change the Connectivity setting in the Config tab to "From Everywhere". On the remote computer (Computer 2), open the Device Connection dialog by starting up the LabOne User Interface and then go to the Advanced view by clicking on on the top left of the dialog. Change the display filter from Default Data Server to All Data Servers by opening the drop-down menu in the header row of the Available Devices table. This will make the Instrument connected to Computer 1 visible in the list. Select the device and connect to the remote Data Server by clicking on . Then start the User Interface as described above.

Note

When using the filter "All Data Servers", take great care to connect to the right instrument, especially in larger local networks. Always identify your instrument based on its serial number in the form DEV0000, which can be found on the instrument back panel.

Available Devices

The Available Devices table gives an overview of the visible devices. A device is ready for use if either marked free or connected. The first column of the list holds the Enable button controlling the connection between the device and a Data Server. This button is greyed out until a Data Server is connected to the LabOne Web Server using the button. If a device is connected to a Data Server, no other Data Server running on another PC can access this device.

The second column indicates the serial number and the third column shows the instrument type. The fourth column shows the host name of the LabOne Data Server controlling the device. The next column shows the interface type. For QHub Instruments the interface 1GbE is available and listed if physically connected. The LabOne Data Server will scan for the available devices and interfaces every second. If a device has just been switched on or physically connected it may take up to 20 s before it becomes visible to the LabOne Data Server.

If a firmware update of the instrument is available, the second to last column will show a button, and a simple click on it will update the instrument. The last column indicates the status of the device. Table 1 explains the meaning of some of the possible device statuses.

Table 1: Device Status Information

Connected	The device is connected to a LabOne Data Server, either on the same PC (indicated as local) or on a remote PC (indicated by its IP address). The user can start a session to work with that device.
Free	The device is not in use by any LabOne Data Server and can be connected by clicking the Open button.
In Use	The device is in use by a LabOne Data Server. As a consequence the device cannot be accessed by the specified interface. To access the device, a disconnect is needed.
Device FW upgrade required/available	The firmware of the device is out of date. Please first upgrade the firmware as described in Software Update.
Device not yet ready	The device is visible and starting up.

Saved Settings

Settings files can contain both UI and device settings. UI settings control the structure of the LabOne User Interface, e.g. the position and ordering of opened tabs. Device settings specify the set-up of a device. The device settings persist on the device until the next power cycle or until overwritten by loading another settings file.

The columns are described in Table 2. The table rows can be sorted by clicking on the column header that should be sorted. The default sorting is by time. Therefore, the most recent settings are found on top. Sorting by the favorite marker or setting file name may be useful as well.

Table 2: Column Descriptions

	Allows favorite settings files to be grouped together. By activating the stars adjacent to a settings file and clicking on the column heading, the chosen files will be grouped together at the top or bottom of the list accordingly. The favorite marker is saved to the settings file. When the LabOne user interface is started next time, the row will be marked as favorite again.
Name	The name of the settings file. In the file system, the file name has the extension .md.
Date	The date and time the settings file was last written.
Comment	Allows a comment to be stored in the settings file. By clicking on the comment field a text can be typed which is subsequently stored in the settings file. This comment is useful to describe the specific conditions of a measurement.
Device Type	The instrument type with which this settings file was saved.

Special Settings Files

Certain file names have the prefix "last_session_". Such files are created automatically by the LabOne Web Server when a session is terminated either explicitly by the user, or under critical error conditions, and save the current UI and device settings. The prefix is prepended to the name of the most recently used settings file. This allows any unsaved changes to be recovered upon starting a new session.

If a user loads such a last session settings file the "last_session_" prefix will be cut away from the file name. Otherwise, there is a risk that an auto-save will overwrite a setting which was saved explicitly by the user.

The settings file with the name "Default Settings" contains the default UI settings. See button description in Table 3.

Table 3: Button Descriptions

Open	The settings contained in the selected settings file will be loaded. The button "Include Device Settings" controls whether only UI settings are loaded, or if device settings are included.
Include Device Settings	Controls which part of the selected settings file is loaded upon clicking on Open. If enabled, both the device and the UI settings are loaded.
Auto Start	Skips the session dialog at start-up if selected device is available. The default UI settings will be loaded with unchanged device settings.

Note

The user setting files are saved to an application-specific folder in the directory structure. The best way to manage these files is using the File Manager tab in the LabOne UI.

Note

The factory default UI settings can be customized by saving a file with the name "default_ui" in the Config tab once the LabOne session has been started and the desired UI setup has been established. To use factory defaults again, the "default_ui" file must be removed from the user setting directory using the File Manager tab.

Note

Double clicking on a device row in the Available Devices table is a quick way of starting the default LabOne UI. This action is equivalent to selecting the desired device and clicking the Open button.

Double clicking on a row in the Saved Settings table is a quick way of loading the LabOne UI with those UI settings and, depending on the "Include Device Settings" checkbox, device settings. This action is equivalent to selecting the desired settings file and clicking the Open button.

Tray Icon

When LabOne is started, a tray icon appears by default in the bottom right corner of the screen, as shown in the figure below. By right-clicking on the icon, a new web server session can be opened quickly, or the LabOne Web and Data Servers can be stopped by clicking on Exit. Double-clicking the icon also opens a new web server session, which is useful when setting up a connection to multiple instruments, for example.

Messages

The LabOne Web Server will show additional messages in case of a missing component or a failure condition. These messages display information about the failure condition. The following paragraphs list these messages and give more information on the user actions needed to resolve the problem.

Lost Connection to the LabOne Web Server

In this case the browser is no longer able to connect to the LabOne Web Server. This can happen if the Web Server and Data Server run on different PCs and a network connection is interrupted. As long as the Web Server is running and the session did not yet time out, it is possible to just attach to the existing session and continue. Thus, within about 15 seconds it is possible with Retry to recover the old session connection. The Reload button opens the Device Connection dialog shown in Figure 3. The figure below shows an example of the Connection Lost dialog.

Reloading...​

If a session error cannot be handled, the LabOne Web Server will restart to show a new Device Connection dialog as shown in Figure 3. During the restart a window is displayed indicating that the LabOne User Interface will reload. If reloading does not happen the same effect can be triggered by pressing F5 on the keyboard. The figure below shows an example of this dialog.

No Device Discovered

An empty "Available Devices" table means that no devices were discovered. This can mean that no LabOne Data Server is running, or that it is running but failed to detect any devices. The device may be switched off or the interface connection fails. For more information on the interface between device and PC see Visibility and Connection. The figure below shows an example of this dialog.

No Device Available

If all the devices in the "Available Devices" table are shown grayed, this indicates that they are either in use by another Data Server, or need a firmware upgrade. For firmware upgrade see Software Update. If all the devices are in use, access is not possible until a connection is relinquished by another Data Server.

Visibility and Connection

The instrument is connected to a host computer by 1 Gbit/s Ethernet (1GbE). The Ethernet connection can be a part of the local network (LAN) or in a dedicated sub-network. Depending on the network configuration and the installed network card, one or the other connectivity is better suited.

If an instrument is connected to a network, it can be accessed from multiple host computers. To manage the access to the instrument, there are two different connectivity states: visible and connected. It is important to distinguish if an instrument is just physically connected over Ethernet or actively controlled by the LabOne Data Server. In the first case the instrument is visible to the LabOne Data Server. In the second case the instrument is logically connected.

Visible Instruments

An instrument is visible if the Data Server can identify it. On a TCP/IP network, several PCs running a Data Server will detect the same instrument as visible, i.e., discover it. If a device is discovered, the LabOne Data Server can initiate a connection to access the instrument. Only a single Data Server can be connected to an instrument at a time.

Connected Instrument

Once connected to an instrument, the Data Server has exclusive access to that instrument. If another Data Server from another PC already has an active connection to the instrument, the instrument is still visible but cannot be connected.

Although a Data Server has exclusive access to a connected instrument, the Data Server can have multiple clients. Like this, multiple browser and API sessions can access the instrument simultaneously.

Ethernet Connectivity

To connect the instrument to the Ethernet interface, the instrument needs to get a valid IP address for the network that is connected to. There are three methods that can be used:

• Automatic assignment with DHCP
• Static Device IP
• Fallback Device IP

Automatic assignment with DHCP is the simplest and preferred connection method. Other connection methods can become necessary when using network configurations that conflict with local policies.

IP assignment methods

Automatic assignment with DHCP

The most straightforward TCP/IP connection method is to rely on a network configuration to recognize the instrument. When connecting the instrument to a local area network (LAN), the DHCP server will assign an IP address to the instrument like to any PC in the network. In case of restricted networks, the network administrator may be required to register the device on the network by means of the MAC address. The MAC address is indicated on the back panel of the instrument. The LabOne Data Server will detect the device in the network by means of a multicast.

If there is no DHCP server on the network, or if the host computer has other network cards installed, it is necessary to use a static IP setup as described below.

The instrument is configured to accept the IP address from the DHCP server, or to fall back to the local-link IP address if it does not get the address from the DHCP server.

Static Device IP

Although it is recommended to use a dynamic IP assignment method in the host network of the instrument, there may be cases where the user wants to assign a static IP to the instrument. For instance, when the host network only contains Ethernet switches and hubs but no Ethernet routers are included, there is no DHCP server to dynamically assign an IP to the instrument.

Note that the static IP assigned to the instrument must be within the same range of the IP assigned to the host computer. Whether the host computer’s IP is assigned statically or by a fallback mechanism, one can find this IP by running the command ipconfig or ipconfig/all in the operating system’s terminal. As an example, Figure 5 shows the outcome of running ipconfig in the terminal.

Figure 5: IP and subnet mask of host computer

It shows the network adapter of the host computer can be reached via the IP 169.254.16.57 and it uses a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0. To make sure that the instrument is visible to this computer, one needs to assign a static IP of the form 169.254.x.x and the same subnet mask to the instrument. To do so, the user should follow the instructions below.

1. Attach the instrument using an Ethernet cable to the network where the user’s computer is hosted.

2. Switch on the instrument.

3. Open the LabOne user interface (UI) and connect to the instrument.

4. Open the "Device" tab of the LabOne UI and locate the "Communication" section as shown in Configuration of static IP in LabOne UI.

5. Write down the desired static IP, e.g. 169.254.16.20, into the numeric field "IPv4 Address".

6. Add the same subnet mask as the host computer, e.g. 255.255.0.0 to the numeric field "IPv4 Mask".

7. You can leave the field "Gateway" as 0.0.0.0 or change to be similar to the IP address but ending with 1, e.g. 169.254.16.1.

8. Enable the radio button for "Static IP".

9. Press the button "Program" to save the new settings to the instruments.

10. Power cycle the instrument. The instrument should be visible to LabOne via Ethernet connection.

Figure 6: Configuration of static IP in LabOne UI

To make sure the IP assignment is done properly, one can use the command ping to check if the instrument can be reached through the network using its IP address. Figure 7 shows the outcome of ping when the instrument is visible via the IP 169.254.16.20.

Figure 7: Instrument visible through pinging

If set properly according to the instructions above, the instrument will use the same static IP configurations after each power cycle.

Fallback Device IP

When configured to a dynamic address, but no DHCP server is present in the network, e.g., device connected directly to a PC, the instrument falls back on an IP address in the local link IP range that is 169.254.x.x. If the host computer has also an IP address within the same range, the instrument becomes visible to the LabOne data server running on the host computer. This way, there is no need to go through the process described above to assign a static IP to the instrument.

Instrument discovery

Regardless of how the instrument gets its IP address, the LabOne software needs to know about the instrument and its address. This is done automatically by the LabOne discovery protocol. It uses multicast messages sent over all available Ethernet interfaces. When successful, no additional configuration is needed. If such messages are blocked, the automatic discovery might fail. That could happen if the network administrator has configured IGMP snooping to block or inadvertently interfere with multicast messages or with certain Ethernet routers. In this case, is possible to manually specify the IP addresses of the instruments with the --device-ip argument of the data server. For example:

$ ziDataServer --device-ip "192.168.1.2,192.168.1.3"

will search for Zurich Instruments devices on IP 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.3 on all Ethernet interfaces.