Rohde & Schwarz has introduced MXO AI Connect, a software tool designed to connect AI assistants to the company’s MXO oscilloscopes and support AI-assisted workflows.
The company said MXO AI Connect enables engineers to use natural language to describe tasks, with an AI assistant drawing on instrument-specific knowledge to map requests to oscilloscope functions and actions.
Rohde & Schwarz positioned the release as a response to test environments that combine complex measurements, expanding instrument functionality and increasing automation requirements. The company said the software links a user’s chosen AI model with its own instrument-specific knowledge to help interpret user intent, determine how tasks can be carried out on the oscilloscope and interact with the connected instrument.
According to Rohde & Schwarz, MXO AI Connect supports all models in the MXO 3, MXO 4, MXO 5 and MXO 5C oscilloscope series, as well as R&S ScopeStudio. The software is delivered as a locally installed Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that runs on a user’s PC or a shared lab host, and does not require additional software on the instrument.
The company said engineers can use MXO AI Connect with AI clients including Cursor, Claude Desktop, Claude Code and GitHub Copilot, and select their preferred large language model and data-handling policy. It said the MCP server provides access to model-specific MXO help content and communicates with the instrument using standard VISA connections such as HiSLIP, VXI-11 or TCP/IP, keeping instrument communication within the local environment. Front-panel operation remains available while an AI assistant is connected, Rohde & Schwarz said.
Rohde & Schwarz outlined four categories of intended AI-assisted workflows: using documentation and application guidance in context (“Understanding”); translating natural language requests into functions, settings and automation approaches (“Configuration”); supporting review of measurement results and waveform characteristics (“Analysis”); and coordinating instrument control, analysis methods and software automation across broader test workflows (“Automation”).
Philip Diegmann, Vice President Digital & Power Test Solutions at Rohde & Schwarz, said: “AI offers engineers a new way to work with increasingly capable test instruments. With MXO AI Connect, they can move more quickly from a measurement task to the right instrument setup and from there to analysis and automation. This makes it easier to work with complex instrument functions and integrate them into broader test workflows.”
