Release 11 Enhancements (Release 11 New Features)

Release 11 New Features

Simulink 3.0

Simulink 3.0 introduces many significant enhancements in the following areas:

User interface
Blocks
Modeling
S-functions
Simulation
Printing
SB2SL 2.0

User Interface Enhancements

Library Browser (PC Only)

On the PC, Simulink 3.0 provides a library browser, a tree-structured view of all block libraries installed on your system. The browser enables you quickly to locate and copy any library block into your model. Simulink displays the library browser when you start Simulink.

See "Browsing Block Libraries" in Chapter 3 of Using Simulink.

Model Browser (PC Only)

On the PC, Simulink 3.0 model windows optionally display a model browser. To display the browser, select Model Browser from the Simulink View menu. See "The Model Browser" in Chapter 3 of Using Simulink.

Block Data Tips (PC Only)

On the PC, Simulink 3.0 displays information about a block in a pop-up window when you hover the pointer over the block in the diagram view. To disable this feature or control what information a data tip includes, select Block Data Tips from the Simulink View menu.

Zoomable Diagram View

Simulink 3.0 allows you to enlarge or shrink the view of the block diagram in the current Simulink window. See "Zooming Block Diagrams" in Chapter 3 of Using Simulink.

New Standard Dialog Button Layout

Simulink 3.0 changes the names and layout of the standard set of buttons that appear on all dialog boxes. Previously, all dialog boxes contained the following buttons: Apply, Revert, Help, and Close. These are now Ok, Help, Cancel, and Apply. Ok applies any changes and dismisses the dialog box. Cancel dismisses the dialog box without applying any changes. Apply applies any changes without dismissing the dialog box.

Recreating Saved Data in a Handle Graphics Window

The new Simplot tool (invoked with the simplot command) recreates saved data in a Handle Graphics window. This provides an easy way to interact with the saved data and add annotations, etc., to plots. Some of the key features of the Simplot tool include:

Plot Simulink output data, producing scope-like graphics for all data produced by Simulink output blocks. This includes matrices and structures with or without time data
Compare multiple runs
Plot difference between runs
Specify separate time vector
Obtain handles for all graphics objects.

Dynamic Masked Dialogs

Simulink 3.0 permits creation of dynamic masked dialogs, that is, dialogs that alter their appearance in response to changes in control settings. Dynamic masked dialogs permit you to replace several similar static dialogs with a single dynamic dialog. See "Creating Dynamic Dialogs for Masked Blocks" in Chapter 6 of Using Simulink.

Masked Dialog Parameter Limit Increased

Simulink 3.0 lets you define masked dialogs having as many as 100 parameters.

New Mask Display Command: port_label

Simulink 3.0 introduces a new mask display command, port_label, that lets you specify the labels of ports displayed on the icon. See "Displaying Text on the Block Icon" in Chapter 6 Using Simulink.

Signal Properties Dialog

The Signal Properties dialog allows you to view and edit properties of signals. See "Setting Signal Properties" and "The Signal Properties Dialog" in Chapter 3 of Using Simulink.

Block Enhancements

Reorganized Block Library

The Simulink 3.0 block library has a new organization that categorizes many blocks differently than the old organization did. Use the Library Browser (see "Library Browser" in Chapter 3 of Using Simulink) to obtain a quick overview of the new library structure.

Masked S-Function Blocks

Simulink 3.0 allows masking of the S-Function and Subsystem blocks.

Images in Masked Dialogs

Simulink 3.0 introduces a new pair of masked dialog functions, image and patch, that enable you to display bitmapped images and draw patches on masked block icons. See "Displaying Images on Masks" in Chapter 6 in Using Simulink.

New Blocks

Simulink 3.0 provides several new blocks. Each of these is described in more detail in Chapter 8 of Using Simulink.


Block	Description
Bus Selector	Selects a subset of bus signals from a bus defined by a Mux or another Bus Selector block. You can use the Bus Selector's parameters dialog box to specify which signals to select.
Configurable Subsystem	Allows you to choose from a library of alternative implementations of a subsystem
Function-Call Generator	Allows a model to execute a function-call subsystem at a specified rate
Probe	Outputs a signal's width, sample time, and type (real or complex)

Enhanced Blocks

Simulink 3.0 also enhanced several blocks. Each of these is described in more detail in Chapter 8 of Using Simulink.

Clock Block. The icon of the Simulink 3.0 Clock block optionally displays the current simulation time.

Mux Block. The Simulink 3.0 Mux block incorporates new features that allow it to function as a data bus. The new features are:

The output of a Mux block is a bus whose signals have names corresponding to the labels of input lines. The names of signals corresponding to unlabeled inputs default to SignalN where N is the number of the input.
You can enter a comma-separated list of signal names as the value of the Mux block's Number of Inputs parameter.
The Mux block has a new parameter, Display option, that affects the block icon. The new parameter can have the following values:

Round Sum Block. Simulink 3.0 allows you to choose a circular or rectangular shape for a sum block, whichever is appropriate for your environment. To change a sum block's shape, open its parameters dialog and select the desired shape from the Icon Shape drop-down list. Select the Apply or Ok button to apply the change.

Simulink 3.0 also allows you to manipulate the position of sum block input ports by inserting spacers between ports.

Scope Block. The Simulink 3.0 Scope block has the following new features:

Multiple ports and axes. All axes share the same time base, but have independent y-scales.

To set the number of axes, select the Properties button on the Scope's toolbar.

No limit on the number of traces (except for the floating scope).
New data structure gets written to the workspace when logging data.
Property dialogs for each axis are opened via the context menu (right click) on the axes.
Zoom handles multiaxes. The basic rule is that all axes must always share the same x-limits. So, if you zoom one axes, the x-limits of all other axes are modified to match.
Axes can be given titles. If desired, these titles can be inherited from signal names.

Modeling Enhancements

New Data I/O Formats

Simulink now allows structures and lists of structures and/or matrices to be used for the input and output of data to and from either files or the MATLAB workspace. In previous versions of Simulink, input and output data could be only in matrix form. Blocks that support the new data I/O formats include:

Outport
Inport
From File
To File
From Workspace
To Workspace

For more information, see "The Workspace I/O Page" in Chapter 4 and "To Workspace" in Chapter 8 of Using Simulink.

Data Type Conversion

The Data Type Conversion block allows you to convert a signal of one data type (e.g., float) to a signal of another type (e.g., int32). See "Data Type Conversion" in Chapter 8 in Using Simulink.

Data Types

Simulink 3.0 supports multiple data types for most signal and block parameter values. See "Data Types" in Chapter 3 in Using Simulink.

Complex/Real Conversions

Simulink 3.0 provides blocks for converting complex signals to real signals, and vice versa. See the following sections in Chapter 8 of Using Simulink:

"Complex to Magnitude-Angle"
"Complex to Real-Imag"
"Magnitude-Angle to Complex"
"Real-Imag to Complex"

Version Control

Simulink 3.0 tracks changes to a model and optionally displays version information, including that maintained by an external version control system, in an annotation block in a model's diagram. For more information, see "Tracking Model Versions" in Chapter 3 and "Model Information" in Chapter 8 of Using Simulink.

S-Function Enhancements

S-functions support has been enhanced. New features include:

Multiple ports
Port-based sample times -- you can independently set input and output port sample times
Tighter integration with the Real-Time Workshop code generation process
Wrapper S-functions -- eliminates calls through a function pointer
Fully embedded (inlined) S-functions -- eliminates the function call to your algorithm

Port-Based Sample Times Supported for S-Functions

Simulink supports port-based sample times for S-functions. This feature allows you to set sample times for input and output ports of your S-functions independently.

Use port-based sample times if your application requires unequal sample rates for input and output execution or if you don't want the overhead associated with running input and output ports at the highest sample rate of your block (which is the case with block-based sample times).

Simulation Enhancements

Reduced Memory Requirement

Simulink 3.0 reuses block I/O memory buffers to reduce simulation memory requirements. You can turn this feature off to facilitate debugging a model. See "Disable Optimized I/O Storage" in Chapter 4 of Using Simulink.

Simulation Error Navigation

Clicking on an error message in the simulation error dialog displays the block that caused the error. See "Simulation Errors Dialog" in Chapter 4 of Using Simulink.

Printing Enhancements

Simulink 3.0 printing has been enhanced to now support TIFF previews in EPS files. Also, large models now print without resource leaks.

SB2SL 2.0

The SB2SL Version 2.0 reduces the work of migrating from Xmath^® and SystemBuild™ to MATLAB and Simulink. The translator reads a SystemBuild Version 5 ASCII format model file and creates a Simulink model that represents the structure and hierarchy of the SystemBuild model. Xmath data from the SystemBuild model is translated into MATLAB workspace variables.

SB2SL is available to you free if you are licensed for Simulink. To install this feature with Simulink, look for the SB2SL entry in the installation script interface when you are installing MATLAB and Simulink.

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