IEEE-488 is a short-range, digital communications
bus specification that has been in use for over 30 years. Originally created for use with
automated test equipment, the standard is still in wide use for that purpose. IEEE-488 is also commonly known as HP-IB (Hewlett-Packard Instrument Bus) and GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus).
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GENERAL PURPOSE INFORMATION/INTERFACE BUS. GPIB