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Simulink
Simulink is a software package for modeling, simulating, and analyzing dynamic systems. It supports linear and nonlinear systems, modeled in continuous time, sampled time, or a hybrid of the two. Systems can also be multirate, i.e., have different parts that are sampled or updated at different rates. For modeling, Simulink provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for building models as block diagrams, using click-and-drag mouse operations. With this interface, you can draw the models just as you would with pencil and paper (or as most textbooks depict them). This is a far cry from previous simulation packages that require you to formulate differential equations and difference equations in a language or program. Simulink includes a comprehensive block library of sinks, sources, linear and nonlinear components, and connectors. You can also customize and create your own blocks. Models are hierarchical, so you can build models using both top-down and bottom-up approaches. You can view the system at a high-level, then double-click on blocks to go down through the levels to see increasing levels of model detail. This approach provides insight into how a model is organized and how its parts interact. After you define a model, you can simulate it, using a choice of integration methods, either from the Simulink menus or by entering commands in MATLAB's command window. The menus are particularly convenient for interactive work, while the command-line approach is very useful for running a batch of simulations (for example, if you are doing Monte Carlo simulations or want to sweep a parameter across a range of values). Using scopes and other display blocks, you can see the simulation results while the simulation is running. In addition, you can change parameters and immediately see what happens, for "what if" exploration. The simulation results can be put in the MATLAB workspace for postprocessing and visualization. Model analysis tools include linearization and trimming tools, which can be accessed from the MATLAB command line, plus the many tools in MATLAB and its application toolboxes. And because MATLAB and Simulink are integrated, you can simulate, analyze, and revise your models in either environment at any point. Stateflow is part of this environment. The Stateflow block is a masked Simulink model. Stateflow builds an S-function that corresponds to each Stateflow machine. This S-function is the agent Simulink interacts with for simulation and analysis. The control behavior that Stateflow models complements the algorithmic behavior modeled in Simulink block diagrams. By incorporating Stateflow diagrams into Simulink models, you can add event-driven behavior to Simulink simulations. You create models that represent both data and control flow by combining Stateflow blocks with the standard Simulink blocksets. These combined models are simulated using Simulink. The Using Simulink document describes how to work with Simulink. It explains how to manipulate Simulink blocks, access block parameters, and connect blocks to build models. It also provides reference descriptions of each block in the standard Simulink libraries.