Learn more about xPC Target

Version 2.5 (R14) xPC Target

This table summarizes what's new in Version 2.5 (R14):

New Features and Changes	Version Compatibility Considerations	Fixed Bugs and Known Problems	Related Documentation at Web Site
Yes Details below	Yes Summary	Fixed Bugs Open Bugs	No

New features and changes introduced in this version are

• xPC Target Explorer (Beta)

• Multiple Targets

• Real-Time Data Acquisition to Files on Target PC

• Numeric Precision in Host/Target Communications

• C and COM API

• Support for Model Referencing

• Run-Time Parameters

• Inlined Parameters

• Configuration Parameters xPC Target Options Dialog

• RS-232, RS-422, and RS-485 Add-on Board Drivers

• Number of Available UDP Blocks Increase

• xPC Target Methods and Parameters

• xPC Target Scopes

• To xPC Target and From xPC Target Blocks

• xPC Target From File Block

• I/O Device Driver Support

• Recreate Target Boot Disk and Rebuild Applications

xPC Target Explorer (Beta)

This release includes a Beta version of the xPC Target Explorer. It is a graphical user interface for xPC Target. It provides a single point of contact for almost all xPC Target interactions, including

• Configure the host PC for xPC Target

• Add and configure target PCs for xPC Target

• Create boot disks for particular target PCs

• Connect the target PCs for your xPC Target system to the host PC

• Download a prebuilt target application, .dlm, to a target PC

• Build a target application for a specific target PC

• Start and stop the application that has been downloaded to the target

• Add scopes of type host, target, and file to the downloaded target application

• Add and remove signals to the xPC Target scopes

• Start and stop scopes

• Adjust parameter values for the signals while the target application is running

The xPC Target Explorer GUI runs on your xPC Target host machine.

You can use xPC Target Explorer or your usual xPC Target interfaces to perform xPC Target activities. This is the Beta release of the xPC Target Explorer. The MathWorks encourages you to use this new interface and provide feedback.

See the xPC Target User's Guide for details on xPC Target Explorer.

Registering Active X Controls

Associated with the xPC Target Explorer is a new script, xpc_register_ocx. If you are running MATLAB remotely (accessing MATLAB over the network), run this script to register Active X controls before you start xPC Target Explorer.

Multiple Targets

xPC Target now supports concurrent use of more than one target from a single host. In conjunction with this, the xpc method has been updated to accept the different communication types ('RS232' or 'TCPIP'). See the xPC Target User's Guide for details.

Real-Time Data Acquisition to Files on Target PC

xPC Target supports a new scope type of file. This new scope type enables you to acquire signal data in real time and store it to a file on the target PC. Using the new file objects and methods, you can then retrieve the file data to the host to plot or otherwise analyze the signal data. You do not need to have a target application loaded on the target PC before accessing the target PC file system.

To support this new capability, xPC Target now also provides

• A file system on the target PC

• FTP and file system objects that enable you to work with files on the target PC file system

• Basic file transfer methods

• Basic file system methods

• File system API

This functionality is limited to file systems of type FAT-12, FAT-16, or FAT-32.

See the following chapters of the xPC Target documentation:

• xPC Target User's Guide: Targets and Scopes in the MATLAB Interface; Signals and Parameters; Working with Target PC Files and File Systems; and Function Reference.

• xPC Target Getting Started Guide: Basic Tutorial.

• xPC Target API Guide: API Function and Method Reference.

Numeric Precision in Host/Target Communications

To improve numeric precision, the format of xPC Target host PC to target PC messaging has been converted to binary mode. This implies the transfer of the full binary image of data values during xPC Target interactions such as signal monitoring and parameter tuning.

C and COM API

You no longer need to purchase xPC Target Embedded Option to create stand-alone GUI applications with the xPC Target C or COM API. See the xPC Target API Guide for reference pages for the C and COM API functions and methods.

To deploy a GUI application to other host PC systems that do not have your licensed copy of xPC Target, you need the xPC Target Embedded Option. If you do not have the xPC Target Embedded Option and would like to deploy your GUI application, contact your MathWorks representative.

In support of this new feature, xPC Target provides the following new demos in the C:\matlabroot\toolbox\rtw\targets\xpc\api folder. These demos illustrate how to use the xPC Target COM API to create custom stand-alone GUI applications.

• VBNET\SigsAndParamsDemo\Demo.sln — Contains all the Microsoft^® Visual Basic^® .NET files to run the windows form application. This demo is a functional application that you can use as a template to create your own custom GUIs.

• VisualBasic\Models\sf_car_xpc — Contains all the relevant files for the sf_car_xpc demo, including the Microsoft Visual Basic project files and the model file (sf_car_xpc.mdl) and DLM file (sf_car_xpc.dlm) for which the demo is written.

• tcltk — Contains Tcl/Tk demo scripts that illustrate how to directly access xPC Target COM API functions through a command-line interpreter like Tcl/Tk.

COM API GetParam Syntax Change

The GetParam method now returns the correct size of elements returned. In earlier versions, this method required you to provide an element size.

Support for Model Referencing

xPC Target now supports the new Model block from Simulink. This block allows one model to include another model as if it were a block. This feature, called model reference, works by generating code for included models that the parent model executes from a binary library file. See the Real-Time Workshop Release Notes for further information. When using model referencing with xPC Target, note the following Configuration Parameter parameter setting requirements:

• In the Real-Time Workshop node, ensure that the RTW system target file parameter for both the top and referenced models is xpctarget.tlc.

• In the Solver node, ensure that the Solver settings for both the top and referenced models match.

Compatibility Considerations

If you download a target application to a target PC, and that target application was built from a model that contains referenced models, you cannot tune the parameters on any of the models. This is a limitation of Real-Time Workshop.

Run-Time Parameters

xPC Target provides the following target object methods to enable you to save run-time parameters for your target application. These parameters are those you would like to save for reuse, such as those for parameter tuning. See the xPC Target User's Guide for details:

• saveparamset

• loadparamset

In conjunction, the following API functions enable the same feature. See the xPC Target API Guide for details:

• xPCSaveParamSet

• xPCLoadParamSet

Inlined Parameters

xPC Target now supports the use of inlined parameters from Real-Time Workshop.

Configuration Parameters xPC Target Options Dialog

In previous releases, the Simulink model Configuration Parameters dialog contained the xPC Target options in two panes. The xPC Target options are now contained in one pane, available as a node in the Real-Time Workshop tree. The functionality of the dialog is otherwise identical.

RS-232, RS-422, and RS-485 Add-on Board Drivers

New drivers have been added for serial communication support:

• RS-232 — QSC-100 and ESC-100 PCI boards from Quatech

• RS-422, RS-485 — QSC-200/300 boards from Quatech

• RS-232, RS-422, RS-485 — Emerald-MM and Emerald-MM-8 PC/104 boards from Diamond Systems. These boards provide 4 and 8 serial ports, respectively. These boards are jumper-configurable for the protocols.

xPC Target provides a set of functionally similar drivers for these boards. See Serial Communication of the xPC Target I/O Reference for a description of the new driver blocks.

Number of Available UDP Blocks Increase

The number of available UDP blocks per model has been increased. You can now have up to 32 UDP blocks in any given model (any combination of Send and Receive blocks).

xPC Target Methods and Parameters

The following enhancements have been made to xPC Target methods and parameters:

• Parameters are no longer target object properties. You can no longer use the setparamid function to set parameter IDs, nor can you use the set or get function to get or set parameter values. For example, commands like the following no longer work:

  tg.P1 tg.P1=5 

  Instead, use the new methods, getparam and setparam.

• Signals are no longer target object properties. You can no longer use the get function to get signal values. For example, a command like the following no longer works:

  tg.S1 

  Instead, use the new method, getsignal.

• After setting new parameters with setparam, you can now revert values back to preceding ones with the parIndexVec structure.

• The target method, xpc, now allows you to establish communication with multiple target PCs.

These changes require you to update any xPC Target scripts or M-files that refer to these methods, parameters, or properties. Your existing scripts and M-files will no longer run on xPC Target otherwise.

See the xPC Target User's Guide for details.

xPC Target Scopes

The following enhancements have been made to xPC Target scopes:

• xPC Target now supports 10 scopes of each scope type for a maximum of 30 scopes. In prior releases, xPC Target supported a total of 10 scopes.

• Scopes created by xPC Target Scope blocks now acquire data according to Simulink sample time rules. In previous releases, scopes created by xPC Target Scope blocks acquired data at the base sample rate of the model, regardless of the sample time of their input signal. This includes non-regular execution, such as if the scope is in an enabled or triggered subsystem. Note that scopes created dynamically (from the MATLAB Command Window or the API) behave as before, sampling at the base rate, irrespective of the sample time of their signals.

To xPC Target and From xPC Target Blocks

The behavior when you double-click the To xPC Target and From xPC Target blocks has changed. If you double-click a To xPC Target or From xPC Target block that has been properly configured, the target parameter or signal that the block refers to is highlighted. If the To xPC Target or From xPC Target block has not yet been configured, double-clicking the block has no affect. In previous releases, double-clicking on these blocks displayed the Block Parameters dialog for the block.

To edit the block parameters for the To xPC Target or From xPC Target blocks, right-click on the block and select Mask parameters.

xPC Target From File Block

xPC Target has a new block, From File. This block reads data from a file on the target PC hard disk and distributes that data in chunks every sample time. As the xPC Target kernel on the target PC reads the file data, it writes that data into a software buffer whose size is user-defined.

I/O Device Driver Support

xPC Target 2.5 has new driver blocks, including support for the following boards:

• Adlink

  • PCI-8133

• Contec

  • CNT24-4D

• Diamond

  • Garnet-MM

  • Diamond-MM-16

  • Diamond-32-AT Frame A/D

  • Emerald-MM

  • Emerald-MM-8

  • Onyx-MM-DIO

  • Prometheus

• National Instruments

  • PXI-6071E

  • PCI-6601

  • PCI-6602

  • PCI/PXI-6711

  • PCI/PXI-6713

• North Atlantic Industries

  • PCI-76CS1

  • PCI-76CL1

  • PCI-76LD1

  • 73SD3

• Quanser

  • Q8

• Quatech

  • QSC-100

  • ESC-100

  • QSC-200/300

• Real Time Devices

  • DM6816

• Sensoray

  • Sensoray526

• VMIC

  • VMIC VMICPCI-5565 (previously released as part of the xPC Target Release 2.0.2 library update)

Some xPC Target 2.5 driver blocks have been updated, including

• The SBS and Systran^® shared memory blocks have been updated to better coincide with the VMIC shared memory blocks.

• All Diamond-MM blocks have been renamed to MM. If you have existing models with blocks named Diamond-MM, replace those blocks with the renamed equivalents.

• Diamond-MM A/D,D/A, DI, and DO blocks have parameter changes.

• The General Standards PCM-ADADIO block has been updated.

• Support for the following National Instruments boards has been enhanced:

  • PCI-6023E

  • PCI-6024E

  • PCI-6025E

  • PCI-6031E

  • PCI-6052E

  • PCI-6071E

  • PCI-MIO-16E-1

  • PCI-MIO-16E-4

  • PCI-MIO-16XE-10

  • PCI-6040E

  • PXI-6070E

• Support for the following UEI boards has been enhanced:

  • PD2-MF

  • PD2-MFS

  • PDXI-MF

  • PDXI-MFS

  • PD2-AO

• The following National Instruments drivers have been renamed:

  • PCI-MIO-16E-10, renamed to PCI-6030E

  • PCI-MIO-16E-4, renamed to PCI-PCI-6040E

  • PCI-MIO-16E-1, renamed to PCI-6070E

• The CIO-QUAD02, CIO-QUAD04, and PCI-QUAD04 Incremental Encoders now have a Filter prescale factor, which helps eliminate high frequency noise.

• The Softing board drivers have been updated.

Obsolete Device Drivers

Compatibility Considerations.   xPC Target has obsoleted the drivers for the following manufacturers:

• Burr-Brown

• Gespac™

You can still access these driver blocks by typing the command xpcobsoletelib at the MATLAB Command Window. Existing models that use these drivers will still work. However, their presence is not guaranteed for future releases. Do not use these driver blocks in new models.

In addition, in the xPC Target library (xpclib), there are new versions of the following Measurement Computing Incremental Encoder drivers. Use the new version of these drivers.

• CIO-QUAD02

• CIO-QUAD04

• PCI-QUAD04

To access the previous versions of these drivers, use the xpcobsoletelib command. The presence of the obsoleted versions of these drivers is not guaranteed for future releases.

Recreate Target Boot Disk and Rebuild Applications

Compatibility Considerations

If you upgrade your xPC Target software from a previous version, you must recreate the target boot disk and you must rebuild your xPC Target applications.

Version 2.6 (R14+) xPC Target

Version 2.0.3 (R13SP2)

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