N6705 Power Console

Professional cross-platform desktop application for controlling and monitoring a Keysight N6705 power analyzer over SCPI/TCP, built with Qt/QML (PySide6) and a Python MVVM backend.

Table of Contents

• Core Capabilities
• Technology Stack
• Architecture Overview
• Runtime Sequence
• Repository Structure
• Dependencies
• Run From Source
• Windows Installer (EXE Setup)
• Documentation
• Testing
• Troubleshooting
• Project Status
• License

Core Capabilities

• Remote Ethernet connection to N6705 (host, port, timeout)
• Instrument identification via *IDN?
• Per-channel control (CH1..CH4):
  • Voltage setpoint (VOLT)
  • Current limit (CURR)
  • Output state (OUTP ON/OFF)
• Real-time operation modes:
  • Meter View
  • Scope View (V/I/P + Ah/Wh trends)
  • Data Logger (channel status + event stream)
  • Log Plot (historical multi-file analysis)
• CSV logging with integrated channel accumulators (charge_ah, energy_wh)
• PNG export for historical chart panels
• Session persistence in JSON
• Light/Dark theme switch in top bar

Technology Stack

• Python 3.10+
• PySide6 / QtQuick / QtQuick.Controls (Material style)
• QML UI + Python ViewModels (MVVM)
• SCPI over TCP for instrument communication

Architecture Overview

flowchart LR
  UI[QML UI] --> VM[DashboardViewModel]
  VM --> DEV[N6705PowerAnalyzer]
  DEV --> TCP[ScpiTcpClient]
  TCP --> PSU[Keysight N6705]
  VM --> LOG[ConsumptionLogger]
  VM --> HIST[LogPlotLoader]
  LOG --> CSV[(CSV Files)]
  VM --> CFG[(session.json)]

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Main Roles

• ScpiTcpClient: TCP connection lifecycle and SCPI read/write/query primitives
• N6705PowerAnalyzer: instrument-level operations (setpoints, outputs, measurements)
• DashboardViewModel: UI orchestration, connection, polling, logging, session state
• ConsumptionLogger: deterministic CSV writing + Ah/Wh accumulation
• LogPlotLoader: historical load, validation, decimation, chart series payload

Runtime Sequence

sequenceDiagram
  participant User
  participant QML as QML UI
  participant VM as DashboardViewModel
  participant DEV as N6705PowerAnalyzer
  participant TCP as ScpiTcpClient
  participant PSU as Keysight N6705
  participant LOG as ConsumptionLogger
  participant CSV as CSV File

  User->>QML: Connect + Run
  QML->>VM: connectDevice(host, port, timeout)
  VM->>DEV: identify()
  DEV->>TCP: query("*IDN?")
  TCP->>PSU: *IDN?
  PSU-->>TCP: IDN response
  TCP-->>DEV: IDN string
  DEV-->>VM: connection ready
  VM-->>QML: status + connected state

  loop Polling cycle
    VM->>DEV: measure_channels([1..n])
    DEV->>TCP: query(SCPI MEAS commands)
    TCP->>PSU: SCPI query batch
    PSU-->>TCP: V/I/P values
    TCP-->>DEV: parsed responses
    DEV-->>VM: channel measurements
    VM-->>QML: telemetry update signals
  end

  opt Logging active
    VM->>LOG: register(sample, totals)
    LOG->>CSV: append row
  end

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Repository Structure

• app.py: application entrypoint
• n6705_ui/qml_main.py: Qt/QML bootstrap
• n6705_ui/communication/scpi_client.py: SCPI TCP client
• n6705_ui/device/n6705.py: N6705 device adapter
• n6705_ui/presentation/viewmodels/: MVVM orchestration layer
• n6705_ui/presentation/qml/: QML UI views/components
• n6705_ui/logging/: CSV logger + historical loader
• tests/: integration and service tests
• packaging/windows/: Windows build and installer scripts
• docs/doxygen/: documentation pages and UML assets

Dependencies

Runtime Dependencies

Defined in requirements.txt:

• PySide6>=6.8,<7

Build Dependencies (Windows Installer Pipeline)

Installed automatically by packaging/windows/build_installer.ps1:

• pyinstaller
• pyinstaller-hooks-contrib
• pillow

System dependency:

• Inno Setup 6 (ISCC.exe)

Run From Source

1) Create Virtual Environment

python -m venv .venv

2) Activate Environment

Linux/macOS:

source .venv/bin/activate

Windows PowerShell:

.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

3) Install Dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

4) Launch

python app.py

Windows Installer (EXE Setup)

The packaging pipeline generates:

1. Standalone application bundle (PyInstaller)
2. Installable setup executable (Inno Setup)

Prerequisites

• Windows 10/11 x64
• Python 3.10+ on the build machine
• Inno Setup 6 installed

Build Command

Preferred command (works even if PowerShell script policy is restrictive):

.\packaging\windows\build_installer.cmd -AppVersion 1.0.0

Alternative direct command:

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\packaging\windows\build_installer.ps1 -AppVersion 1.0.0

Output Artifacts

• App bundle: dist/windows/app/N6705PowerConsole/
• Installer: dist/windows/installer/n6705-power-console-<version>-setup.exe

Installer Behavior

• Per-user install path: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\N6705 Power Console
• Start Menu shortcut + optional Desktop shortcut
• Uninstaller registration
• User environment variable: N6705_UI_HOME

Build Flags

• -SkipTests: skip unit tests before packaging
• -SkipInstaller: build app bundle only
• -Clean: remove previous build outputs

Documentation

• Architecture reference: ARCHITECTURE.md
• User guide: USER_GUIDE.md
• Doxygen main page: docs/doxygen/mainpage.md
• Doxygen tutorial: docs/doxygen/tutorial.md
• UML/diagram assets: docs/doxygen/uml/

Generate Doxygen HTML:

doxygen Doxyfile

Output: docs/build/html/

Testing

Run test suite:

python -m unittest discover -s tests -v

Troubleshooting

• PySide6 is not installed:
  • install dependencies with pip install -r requirements.txt
• iscc.exe not found during installer build:
  • install Inno Setup 6, or ensure ISCC.exe is reachable
• QML module/plugin load issues on Windows:
  • run with the same interpreter where dependencies were installed
• Connection fails:
  • verify instrument IP/route, firewall, and TCP 5025

Project Status

Active development. Core workflows are stable and being iterated with UI, packaging, and documentation improvements.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.

Signature

Author: Mouhsine Kassimi Farhaoui
Mail: mouhsine98@gmail.com