ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of Multivariable frequency domain toolbox (MATLAB), its facilities, and Toolboxes. MATLAB is a high-performance interactive software environment for numeric computation. The package enables the user to express problems and solutions as if they are written mathematically, without the use of conventional programming. The basic primitives for matrix manipulation and graphical output in MATLAB are implemented as built-in functions. Functions can be called with any number of input and output arguments, of any size. MEX-files enable large preexisting C and Fortran code to be called from MATLAB without having to be rewritten as MATLAB code. MATLAB offers the possibility of using extra sets of commands, known as toolboxes, which can be purchased separately. A toolbox generally consists of a collection of M-files which implement application-specific functions. The design of system controllers to satisfy many, often competing, criteria is a demanding task, usually involving a trial-and-error approach to achieve a compromise over the initial design criteria.
