nirfmxinstr 25.5.0b0

Python APIs for interacting with NI-RFmx drivers

Info	Contains Python APIs for interacting with NI-RFmx drivers.
Author	National Instruments

Table of Contents

• Table of Contents
• About
  • Documentation
  • Operating System Support
• Installation
• License
• Support and Feedback
• Example

About

The nirfmx-python repository generates Python bindings (Application Programming Interface) for interacting with the NI-RFmx drivers.

nirfmx-python follows Python Software Foundation support policy for different versions.

The following drivers are supported:

• RFmx Instr (Python module: nirfmxinstr)
• RFmx SpecAn (Python module: nirfmxspecan)

RFmx Instr Python API Status

Item	Details
Driver Version Tested	2025 Q3
PyPI Package Version	v19.1
Supported Python Versions	Python 3.9+ (64-bit)
Documentation	RFmx Instr Docs

RFmx SpecAn Python API Status

Item	Details
Driver Version Tested	2025 Q3
PyPI Package Version	v19.1
Supported Python Versions	Python 3.9+ (64-bit)
Documentation	RFmx SpecAn Docs

Documentation

You can find the latest API documentation for the nirfmx-python package on Read the Docs

Refer to the NI-RFmx User Manual for an overview of NI-RFmx, system requirements, troubleshooting, key concepts, etc.

Operating System Support

nirfmx-python supports Windows systems where the supported drivers are installed. Refer to NI Hardware and Operating System Compatibility for which versions of the driver support your hardware on a given operating system.

Installation

You can use pip to download nirfmxinstr, nirfmxspecan and install it.

$ python -m pip install nirfmxspecan

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. While the source code is not publicly released, the license permits binary distribution with attribution.

Note: This Python driver depends on several third-party components that are subject to separate commercial licenses. Users are responsible for ensuring they have the appropriate rights and licenses to use those dependencies in their environments.

Support and Feedback

For support with Python API, hardware, the driver runtime or any other questions, please visit NI Community Forums.

Example

import nirfmxinstr
import nirfmxspecan
import numpy

try:
  # Open a RFmx Session
  instr_session = nirfmxinstr.Session(resource_name="RFSA", option_string="")

  # Configure RFmx Session
  instr_session.configure_frequency_reference(selector_string="",
    frequency_reference_source="OnboardClock", frequency_reference_frequency=10.0e+6)

  # Create SpecAn Signal
  specan = instr_session.get_specan_signal_configuration()

  # Configure SpecAn Signal
  specan.set_selected_ports(selector_string="", value="")
  specan.configure_frequency(selector_string="", center_frequency=1e+9)
  specan.configure_reference_level(selector_string="", reference_level=0.0)
  specan.configure_external_attenuation(selector_string="", external_attenuation=0.0)

  # Select Spectrum Measurement
  specan.select_measurements(selector_string="",
    measurements=nirfmxspecan.MeasurementTypes.SPECTRUM.value, enable_all_traces=True)

  # Configure Spectrum Measurement
  specan.spectrum.configuration.configure_span(selector_string="", span=1.0e+6)
  specan.spectrum.configuration.configure_measurement_method(selector_string="",
    measurement_method=nirfmxspecan.SpectrumMeasurementMethod.NORMAL.value)

  specan.initiate(selector_string="", result_name="")

  # Retrieve Results
  spectrum = numpy.empty(0, dtype=numpy.float32)
  x0, dx, _ = specan.spectrum.results.fetch_spectrum(selector_string="", timeout=10.0, spectrum=spectrum)
  peak_amplitude, peak_frequency, frequency_resolution, error_code = (
    specan.spectrum.results.fetch_measurement(selector_string="", timeout=10.0))

  # Print Results
  print(f"Peak Amplitude (dBm)             {peak_amplitude}")
  print(f"Peak Frequency (Hz)              {peak_frequency}")

except nirfmxinstr.RFmxError as e:
  print("ERROR: " + str(e.description))

finally:
  # Dispose Signal & Session
  if specan is not None:
      specan.dispose()
      specan = None
  if instr_session is not None:
      instr_session.close()
      instr_session = None