Using Simulink

Block Support for Data and Numeric Signal Types

All Simulink blocks accept signals of type double by default. Some blocks prefer boolean input and others support multiple data types on their inputs. See Simulink Blocks in the online Simulink documentation for information on the data types supported by specific blocks for parameter and input and output values. If the documentation for a block does not specify a data type, the block inputs or outputs only data of type double.

Specifying Block Parameter Data Types

When entering block parameters whose data type is user-specifiable, use the syntax

• type(value)
  

to specify the parameter, where type is the name of the data type and value is the parameter value. The following examples illustrate this syntax.

single(1.0)	Specifies a single-precision value of 1.0
int8(2)	Specifies an eight-bit integer of value 2
int32(3+2i)	Specifies a complex value whose real and imaginary parts are 32-bit integers

Creating Signals of a Specific Data Type

You can introduce a signal of a specific data type into a model in any of the following ways:

• Load signal data of the desired type from the MATLAB workspace into your model via a root-level inport or a From Workspace block.
• Create a Constant block in your model and set its parameter to the desired type.
• Use a Data Type Conversion block to convert a signal to the desired data type.

Displaying Port Data Types

To display the data types of ports in your model, select Port Data Types from Simulink's Format menu. Simulink does not update the port data type display when you change the data type of a diagram element. To refresh the display, type Ctrl+D.

Data Types Supported by Simulink

Data Type Propagation