MATLAB 7 Expands Its Power and Scope

Productivity enhancements include a redesigned desktop offering programming and debugging tools, automated program analysis for code quality, and publishing of code and output directly to HTML and Word. New interactive point-and-click plotting tools are said to make creating MATLAB graphics faster and include the ability to generate code that recreates plotting sessions for later use or redistribution.

MATLAB 7 lets you work on larger data sets because of its support for integer and single-precision data types, which afford significant performance and storage savings compared with double-precision values. This capability combined with new FFT (fast Fourier transform) algorithms enables users to perform a single-precision FFT 20 percent faster on average than before, says the company. Also, MATLAB now takes advantage of the Intel MMX library, resulting in up to eight times speed up for computations on integer data.

Also new in the MATLAB family is an enhanced compiler that supports the full MATLAB language, including most MATLAB toolboxes. The MATLAB Compiler enables engineers to deploy their MATLAB work to others as self-contained applications or incorporate their algorithms in environments such as Excel, C, C++, and COM.

In related news, The MathWorks also announced the immediate availability of Simulink 6, its software for simulation and embedded system development. Simulink 6 brings Model-Based Design to complex projects encompassing large models and multiple design teams. New capabilities in Simulink for controls, signal processing, and communications support a broader range of applications.

Both MATLAB 7 and Simulink 6 are available for Windows, Unix/Linux, and Macintosh systems. Pricing starts at $1,900 for MATLAB and $2,800 for Simulink.