cast - Cast variable to different data type - MATLAB (original) (raw)

Cast variable to different data type

Syntax

Description

b = cast([a](#bts9vqe-a),'like',[p](#bts9vqe-p)) converts a to the same numerictype, complexity (real or complex), and fimath as p. Ifa and p are both real, thenb is also real. Otherwise, b is complex.

example

Examples

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Define a scalar 8–bit integer.

Create a signed fi object with word length of 24 and fraction length of 12.

Convert a to fixed point with numerictype, complexity (real or complex), and fimath of the specified fi object, p.

b = 5

      DataTypeMode: Fixed-point: binary point scaling
        Signedness: Signed
        WordLength: 24
    FractionLength: 12

Define a 2-by-3 matrix of ones.

Create a signed fi object with word length of 16 and fraction length of 8.

Convert A to the same data type and complexity (real or complex) as p.

B = 1 1 1 1 1 1

      DataTypeMode: Fixed-point: binary point scaling
        Signedness: Signed
        WordLength: 16
    FractionLength: 8

Write a MATLAB® algorithm that you can run with different data types without changing the algorithm itself. To reuse the algorithm, define the data types separately from the algorithm.

This approach allows you to define a baseline by running the algorithm with floating-point data types. You can then test the algorithm with different fixed-point data types and compare the fixed-point behavior to the baseline without making any modifications to the original MATLAB code.

Write a MATLAB function, my_filter, that takes an input parameter, T, which is a structure that defines the data types of the coefficients and the input and output data.

function [y,z] = my_filter(b,a,x,z,T) % Cast the coefficients to the coefficient type b = cast(b,'like',T.coeffs); a = cast(a,'like',T.coeffs); % Create the output using zeros with the data type y = zeros(size(x),'like',T.data); for i = 1:length(x) y(i) = b(1)*x(i) + z(1); z(1) = b(2)*x(i) + z(2) - a(2) * y(i); z(2) = b(3)*x(i) - a(3) * y(i); end end

Write a MATLAB function, zeros_ones_cast_example, that calls my_filter with a floating-point step input and a fixed-point step input, and then compares the results.

function zeros_ones_cast_example

% Define coefficients for a filter with specification
% [b,a] = butter(2,0.25)
b = [0.097631072937818   0.195262145875635   0.097631072937818];
a = [1.000000000000000  -0.942809041582063   0.333333333333333];

% Define floating-point types
T_float.coeffs = double([]);
T_float.data   = double([]);

% Create a step input using ones with the 
% floating-point data type
t = 0:20;
x_float = ones(size(t),'like',T_float.data);

% Initialize the states using zeros with the 
% floating-point data type
z_float = zeros(1,2,'like',T_float.data);

% Run the floating-point algorithm
y_float = my_filter(b,a,x_float,z_float,T_float);
 
% Define fixed-point types
T_fixed.coeffs = fi([],true,8,6);
T_fixed.data   = fi([],true,8,6);

% Create a step input using ones with the 
% fixed-point data type
x_fixed = ones(size(t),'like',T_fixed.data);

% Initialize the states using zeros with the 
% fixed-point data type
z_fixed = zeros(1,2,'like',T_fixed.data);

% Run the fixed-point algorithm
y_fixed = my_filter(b,a,x_fixed,z_fixed,T_fixed);
 
% Compare the results
coder.extrinsic('clf','subplot','plot','legend')
clf
subplot(211)
plot(t,y_float,'co-',t,y_fixed,'kx-')
legend('Floating-point output','Fixed-point output')
title('Step response')
subplot(212)
plot(t,y_float - double(y_fixed),'rs-')
legend('Error')
figure(gcf)

end

Input Arguments

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Variable, specified as a fi object or numeric variable.

Complex Number Support: Yes

Prototype, specified as a fi object or numeric variable. To use the prototype to specify a complex object, you must specify a value for the prototype. Otherwise, you do not need to specify a value.

Complex Number Support: Yes

Tips

Using the b = cast(a,'like',p) syntax to specify data types separately from algorithm code allows you to:

Version History

Introduced in R2013a