Some forms of Simulink logging write 64 bit integers as fi objects. Does that mean I need a Fixed-Point Designer license?

I've observed that some forms of logging in Simulink write integer variables out to MATLAB as fi objects.

For example, DSP Binary File Writer is logging 64 bit unsigned integers to fi( val, 0, 64, 0 ) objects.

Does that mean I need a Fixed-Point Designer license to log these variables?

Answer 1

[Andy Bartlett]

As of R2017a,

a Fixed-Point Designer license would NOT be required.

As of R2017a,

constructing a fi object whose type is equivalent to MATLAB's 11 built-in numerictypes

double, single, logical, uint8, int8, uint16, int16, uint32, int32, uint64, int64

does not require a Fixed-Point Designer license.

For example, this code

v_u64 = fi( 123, 0, 64, 0)
v_s64 = fi( 123, 1, 64, 0)
v_u32 = fi( 123, 0, 32, 0)
v_s32 = fi( 123, 1, 32, 0)
v_u16 = fi( 123, 0, 16, 0)
v_s16 = fi( 123, 1, 16, 0)
v_u8  = fi( 123, 0,  8, 0)
v_s8  = fi( 123, 1,  8, 0)

would not require a Fixed-Point Designer license.

In R2016b and earlier,

a Fixed-Point Designer license would be required.

This change coincided with another important license change.

In R2016b and earlier,

use of 64 bit integers in Simulink requires a Fixed-Point Designer license.

As of R2017a,

usage of 64 bit integers in Simulink does not require any additional licenses.

FYI:

If you'd like to change a fi object to its built-in MATLAB eqivalent, it's easy to do.

In R2020a and later, you can use utilities castFiToMATLAB

a = fi(123,0,64,0)
a = 
   123

          DataTypeMode: Fixed-point: binary point scaling
            Signedness: Unsigned
            WordLength: 64
        FractionLength: 0
>> b = castFiToMATLAB(a)
b =
  uint64
   123

or castFiToInt

> a = fi(123,0,64,0)
a = 
   123

          DataTypeMode: Fixed-point: binary point scaling
            Signedness: Unsigned
            WordLength: 64
        FractionLength: 0
>> b = castFiToInt(a)
b =
  uint64
   123

In earlier releases, you can simply cast using the name of the MATLAB class (a.k.a. data type name)

for example

>> a = fi(123,0,64,0)
a = 
   123

          DataTypeMode: Fixed-point: binary point scaling
            Signedness: Unsigned
            WordLength: 64
        FractionLength: 0

>> b = uint64( a )
b =
  uint64
   123