The MathWorks Expands Fixed-Point Design Capabilities in MATLAB and Simulink
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| Image of a 10-bit receiver for an ultra wideband (UWB) wireless communications system, modeled in Simulink and the Signal Processing blockset. Simulink Fixed Point enables users to use fixed-point simulation to study the effects of limited range and precision on the receiver’s performance. Click on image to see enlarged view. |
The MathWorks today announced the availability of the new Fixed-Point Toolbox and Simulink Fixed Point, bringing fixed-point design capabilities to MATLAB® and enhanced fixed-point simulation in Simulink®. Together, the Fixed-Point Toolbox and Simulink Fixed Point offer a complete fixed-point design environment, enabling engineers to eliminate the time-consuming and error-prone process of creating and debugging fixed-point designs in the C programming language.
The Fixed-Point Toolbox provides a natural extension to the MATLAB language for developing, prototyping, and verifying fixed-point algorithms and system components using standard MATLAB notation. It enables users to develop fixed-point algorithms using bit-true arithmetic and logical operations with word lengths from 2 to 65,535 bits. Additionally, the Fixed-Point Toolbox works with Simulink so that designers can create test benches in MATLAB for bit-true testing of fixed-point Simulink models. The new toolbox also enables input and output of fixed-point data types from Simulink models, facilitating the analysis of fixed-point simulations and implementation.
“The increasing complexity of electronic and embedded systems has driven a dramatic growth and demand for higher-level system design tools,” said Ken Karnofsky, director of marketing, signal processing and communications, The MathWorks. “The MathWorks is meeting this demand by expanding its offering of products for Model-Based Design to address the problem of creating, simulating, and verifying fixed-point designs.”
Simulink Fixed Point, previously known as the Fixed-Point Blockset, brings fixed-point capabilities to the Simulink product family, including Simulink, the Signal Processing Blockset, the Video and Image Processing Blockset, and Stateflow®. It gives engineers high-performance system simulation and advanced fixed-point analysis and auto-scaling capabilities within Simulink, which streamline the design of control and signal processing systems with fixed-point components. Using Simulink Fixed Point, engineers can control fixed-point data types and scaling, identify overflow and saturation errors, and observe finite word effects on dynamic range and precision without modifying the original system model. Additionally, users can easily benchmark their final fixed-point implementation against the original floating-point design within the context of a complete system simulation. Users can also automatically generate fixed-point ANSI C-code from their Simulink models by using The MathWorks Real-Time Workshop®, Real-Time Workshop Embedded Coder, and Embedded Targets for specific processors.
Pricing and Availability
The Fixed-Point Toolbox and Simulink Fixed Point are available immediately for Microsoft Windows, UNIX/Linux, and Macintosh platforms. U.S. list prices start at $1,000 each.
About The MathWorks
The MathWorks is the world’s leading developer of technical computing software for engineers and scientists in industry, government, and education. With an extensive product set based on MATLAB and Simulink, The MathWorks provides software and services to solve challenging problems and accelerate innovation in automotive, aerospace, communications, financial services, biotechnology, electronics, instrumentation, process, and other industries.
The MathWorks was founded in 1984 and employs more than 1,000 people worldwide, with headquarters in Natick, Massachusetts. For additional information, visit www.mathworks.com .
MATLAB, Simulink, Stateflow, Handle Graphics, Real-Time Workshop, and xPC TargetBox are registered trademarks of The MathWorks, Inc. Other product or brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
