Software Plug-Ins Expand Functionality in Free IDE Enhanced

Microchip Technology's popular MPLAB Integrated Development Environment (IDE) now features a free plug-in for The MathWorks MATLAB, Simulink, and Real-Time Workshop Embedded Coder modeling and code-generation programs. The MPLAB IDE is a free, feature-rich, integrated toolset for the development of embedded applications employing Microchip's PIC microcontrollers and dsPIC digital signal controllers. MATLAB is a high-level technical computing language and interactive environment for algorithm development, data visualization, data analysis, and numeric computation. Simulink is a platform for multi-domain simulation and Model-Based Design of dynamic systems. With Simulink, designers can quickly create, model and maintain a detailed block diagram of the system, using a comprehensive set of predefined blocks.

The MPLAB IDE, which runs as a 32-bit application on Windows, includes a host of free software components for fast application development and super-charged debugging. MPLAB also serves as a single, unified graphical user interface for additional Microchip and third-party software and hardware development tools. MATLAB and Simulink plug-ins debut in the current version of the MPLAB IDE, version 7.51, and enable designers to select Simulink software models, automatically generate source code, and include the files in MPLAB IDE projects for compilation and build, all within the familiar, easy-to-use MPLAB IDE graphical user interface.