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MathWorks Release 12 Highlights
MATLAB 6 New Features
MATLAB 6 features a new desktop front end that provides quick access to your MATLAB code, variables, data files, graphics, demos, and online help. In addition, multiple new interactive tools
provide easy importing, plotting, and exporting of MATLAB graphics. Also included in MATLAB 6 are major enhancements for mathematical computing, accessing external data and code, and GUI development. MATLAB 6 highlights include:
- New desktop front end with a portfolio of tools for managing the MATLAB environment, including the Command Window, Command History window, Workspace Browser, Array Editor, and more
- New point-and-click tools for interactively editing and annotating graphics, minimizing coding and memorization of graphics commands and attributes
- New mathematical computation and algorithm enhancements: optimized LAPACK library for faster matrix computations, faster FFT-based function performance with the new FFTW library, Qhull-based
functions, new differential equation solvers, and more accurate quadrature algorithms
- New Data Statistics and Basic Fitting tools for quick analysis of plotted data
- New advanced visualization features: display of 2-D images, surfaces, and volumes as transparent objects; interactive camera toolbar for controlling perspective; and faster rendering with
OpenGL
- New interface for calling Java routines and using prebuilt Java objects directly from MATLAB
- New serial port communication interface to communicate with external instruments from MATLAB
- Enhanced GUI design tools (GUIDE) for developing state-of-the-art interfaces and displays
- New MATLAB add-in for Visual Studio development system for automatic conversion of C and C++ code to MATLAB executables (MEX-files) directly from Microsoft Visual Studio
Simulink 4 New Features
Simulink is a block-diagram modeling environment for simulating dynamic systems, evaluating performance, and refining control, DSP, and communications system designs. Enhancements to the
GUI as well as the runtime engine include:
- Graphical debugger to easily diagnose and debug modeling errors
- Matrix signal support and matrix propagation for most Simulink blocks
- Frame-based signal processing for faster DSP applications
- Features to support large model development, including updated toolbar options and improved line editing
- Integrated Find dialog box that allows you to easily search for a component within a Simulink model and/or a Stateflow chart • Simulink Data Objects for defining custom data structures
- New aerospace examples and block library
- Improved usability for Library Browser and Model Browser
- Library link disabling for easier editing of library blocks
- Improved configurable subsystems for making design alternatives easy to implement
- Advanced Lookup Table blocks with algorithm alternatives for fast, accurate, flexible simulations and generated code
- Single window mode saves valuable screen real estate
New Products in Release 12
Filter Design Toolbox 2
A collection of tools built on top of the MATLAB computing environment and the Signal Processing Toolbox. The Filter Design Toolbox provides advanced techniques for designing, simulating,
and analyzing digital filters. It extends the capabilities of the Signal Processing Toolbox, adding architectures and design methods for demanding real-time DSP applications and it also provides functions that simplify the design of fixed-point
filters and analysis of quantization effects.
Financial Derivatives Toolbox 1
Provides components to analyze interest rate derivative instruments and portfolios. The Financial Derivatives Toolbox allows you to calculate prices and sensitivities of derivatives and to
perform hedging analysis and visualize the results.
Instrument Control Toolbox 1
Provides features for communicating with data acquisition devices and instruments, such as spectrum analyzers, oscilloscopes, and function generators. Support is provided for GPIB (IEEE-488,
HPIB) and VISA communication protocols. You can generate data in MATLAB to send out to an instrument or read data into MATLAB for analysis and visualization.
Real-Time Workshop Embedded Coder 1
Extends Real-Time Workshop to provide high-quality embeddable code generation for Simulink models and enables production code generation from Stateflow (using Stateflow Coder) and for Ada
(using Real-Time Workshop Ada Coder).
Simulink Performance Tools 1
Provides four capabilities for Simulink users designing large, complex models:
- Simulink Accelerator speeds up model simulations two to ten times.
- Model Differencing tool graphically highlights the differences between two models.
- Model Profiler collects simulation performance data and generates an HTML report.
- Model Coverage reports the extent to which the simulation executes possible pathways through the model.
Products with Major Upgrades in Release 12
Communications Blockset 2 includes the functionality of the blocks in the Communications Toolbox 1.5 and the following new features:
- New digital modulation libraries, including QAM (square and cross), PSK, DPSK, and a new continuous-phase modulation library (CPM), including MSK and GMSK
- An APP soft-output decoder for convolutional codes and a more general trellis description for the convolutional encoder and Viterbi decoders
- Interleaving libraries supporting general block interleavers and general multiplexed interleavers, as well as several special cases
- Significantly enhanced documentation
Control System Toolbox 5 provides an interactive environment for modeling, analyzing, and designing automatic control systems. You can analyze and simulate both continuous-time and
discrete-time linear dynamic systems. New features include:
- New SISO Design Tool for performing compensator design
- The LTI Viewer now includes data markers for displaying data and system information
- Tools to set preferences and customize plots
Data Acquisition Toolbox 2 lets you control and communicate with a variety of external, data acquisition hardware devices. The toolbox lets you configure external hardware, stream
live data directly into MATLAB for analysis, and send data out. New features include:
- Support for Computer Boards devices that support any of the following:
- Analog input
- Analog output
- Digital I/O
- Data Acquisition Adaptor Kit for developing custom interfaces to data acquisition devices
DSP Blockset 4 consists of Simulink libraries for designing and simulating DSP applications. These libraries include key operations such as classical, multirate, and adaptive filtering;
transforms; matrix manipulation and linear algebra; statistics; and spectral analysis. Major enhancements include:
- Easier generation and processing of matrix signals
- Complete, seamless support of multi-channel, frame-based, and matrix signals
- Multipurpose source and sink blocks for frame-based and sample-based processing
Fixed-Point Blockset 3 lets you simulate effects commonly encountered in fixed-point systems to study the effects of word length, quantization, and scaling. Major enhancements include:
- Faster simulation speed
- 12 new blocks, for a total of 31
- Explicit logging of overflows and saturations with GUI support
- New Tapped Delay block and Dot Product block, significantly reducing the number of blocks needed to model filters of any order
MATLAB Compiler 2.1, MATLAB C/C++ Math and Graphics Libraries 2.1
These three products make up the MATLAB Compiler Suite, which allows you to convert your MATLAB M-files automatically to C and C++ for use as standalone programs. This suite contains new
optimizations that improve executable speed and significantly increase the range of compilable applications. A new component, the MATLAB add-in for Visual Studio, lets you use the MATLAB Compiler from Microsoft Visual Studio.
MATLAB Runtime Server 6 allows you to take an existing MATLAB application and turn it into a stand-alone product that is easy and economical to package and distribute.
Neural Network Toolbox 4 offers a comprehensive and customizable environment for neural network design and simulation. New features include:
- Graphical user interface for designing and manage neural networks
- Suite of new features, examples, and Simulink blocks to help apply the toolbox to control system applications
- Performance benchmarks for selecting the appropriate algorithm for your application
Power System Blockset 2 new features:
- Faster setup for power system simulation
- Support for discretized power system models for viable automatic code generation with Real-Time Workshop
- Enhanced and new blocks relating to machines, universal transformers, power electronics, and control
Quantized Filtering Toolbox 1 (Please see our new product, the Filter Design Toolbox)
Real-Time Workshop 4 complements Simulink by enabling automatic C code generation directly from Simulink models. New features include:
- Significantly faster Target Language Compiler (TLC) code generation process
- New optimizations in generated code, including improved signal storage reuse, constant block elimination, and parameter pooling
- User Interface improvements, including a redesigned Real-Time Workshop page and Model Parameter Configuration (tunable parameters) dialog
- Support for additional Simulink blocks, including Look-Up Table blocks with highly efficient generated code
- S-Function target support for variable-step solvers and parameter tuning
- Support for frame-based processing for DSP Blockset blocks and matrix operations for most Simulink blocks
- Functionality to generate code and executables from subsystems
Real-Time Workshop Ada Coder 4 is an extension of Real-Time Workshop that automatically generates Ada code from Simulink models and builds programs that can be run in real time in
a variety of environments. New features include:
- Generates Ada 83 code, in addition to Ada 95
- Supports noninlined Ada S-functions
- Enables you to include legacy Ada code in both Simulink simulations and generated Ada code
- Supports full logging (in Ada 95 only) and function-call subsystems
Real-Time Windows Target 2 provides a compact, easy-to-use, real-time prototyping environment that is controlled entirely through the Simulink user interface. Using either a portable
laptop or your desktop computer, Simulink models run in real time with sample rates in excess of 10KHz. New features include:
- Enhanced I/O device driver GUIs to simplify selection of analog or digital I/O
- I/O board settings are retained enabling easy selection of I/O available on your system
- Supports Microsoft Visual C/C++ 5.0 and 6.0
Signal Processing Toolbox 5 provides a completely new graphical user interface for designing and analyzing digital filters. New features include:
- New Filter Design & Analysis Tool (FDATool), for designing and analyzing filters
- SPTool can now play a selected portion of a signal (rather than the entire signal)
- SPTool now has a toolbar, which includes quick access to the markers (rulers). Marker readouts have been improved.
- FIR filter enhancements, including automatic order adjustment and improvements to the remez function
Spline Toolbox 3 includes a powerful GUI that provides easy access to spline creation and visualization algorithms. New command line options now let the approximation functions determine
the knots. In addition, enhanced documentation with an expanded tutorial and new glossary supports this release.
Stateflow 4 is an interactive design tool for modeling and simulating complex, event-driven systems. It is tightly integrated with MATLAB and Simulink and it is based on finite state
machine theory. Stateflow offers an elegant solution for designing embedded systems with supervisory logic. New features include:
- Temporal operators, such as “before” and “every”, to simplify event scheduling and replace conventional software counters
- Subcharts create layers within your Stateflow charts to improve readability and hide complexity
- Graphical functions using flow graphs are easier to create, access, and manage
- Toolbar and navigation enhancements that let you navigate throughout the chart hierarchy easily and access shortcuts to common tasks
- Straight-line transitions
- Symbol Autocreation Wizard simplifies symbol declaration
- New Explorer features let you define object characteristics faster and directly access MATLAB workspace variables
Stateflow Coder 4 generates high-quality code from Stateflow charts that rivals hand code and, in some cases, is 80% smaller than code generated by Stateflow 2.
Statistics Toolbox 3 enhances support for linear models, with new functions for analysis of variance and support for additional regression techniques. New functions also support:
- Multiple comparisons of means and other estimates
- Multiple response surface fitting • Calculation of simultaneous confidence bounds
- Robust regression and generalized linear models
System Identification Toolbox 5 is based on MATLAB's object technology. It provides functions for creating objects directly associated with your models and data. New enhancements include:
- New object-based syntax makes it much easier to perform analysis activities.
- Free parameterization for state-space models is now supported.
- You can now add initial filter conditions.
- You can now use the SearchDirection and Advanced properties of idmodel objects to access several variants of iterative search algorithms.
- You can now focus the model approximation inherent in system identification to various frequency regions, by using the Focus property.
Wavelet Toolbox 2 builds on the numeric and visualization capabilities of MATLAB to provide point-and-click graphical tools and command line functions for analysis, synthesis, denoising,
and compression of signals and images. The new version offers new wavelet families, GUI tools and functions, that make it even easier to perform wavelet analysis. New features include:
- New wavelet families, including complex Morlet and Gaussian wavelet, real reverse biorthogonal, and discrete Meyer wavelets
- New GUI tools for Continuous and Complex Continuous Wavelet 1-D Transforms, Signal and Image De-noising, Density Estimation and Regression Estimation, and Signal and Image Extension/Truncation
- New functions, including 1- and 2- dimensional discrete stationary wavelet transforms and their inverse, and 1- and 2-dimensional threshold computation methods
xPC Target 1.1 allows you to add I/O blocks to your Simulink block diagrams, generate code with Real-Time Workshop, and download the code to a second PC that runs the xPC Target real-time
kernel. New features include:
- Target communication through standard Internet browsers
- Target PC command-line interface
- Extensive I/O device driver library now supports over 70 standard boards, including CAN
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