Communicate Using TCP/IP Server Sockets

About Server Sockets

Support for server sockets is available using the tcpserver function. This support is for a single remote connection. You can use this connection to communicate between a client and MATLAB^® or between two instances of MATLAB.

For example, you might collect data such as a waveform into one instance of MATLAB and then transfer it to another instance of MATLAB.

Note

The use of the server socket on either the client or server side should be done in accordance with the license agreement as it relates to your particular license option and activation type. If you have questions, you should consult with the administrator for your license or your legal department.

This is intended for use behind a firewall on a private network.

Communicate Between Two Instances of MATLAB

The following example shows how to connect two MATLAB sessions on the same computer, showing the example code for each session. To use two different computers, replace "localhost" with the IP address of the server in the code for Session 2. Using 0.0.0.0 as the IP address means that the server will accept the first machine that tries to connect. To restrict the connections that will be accepted, replace "0.0.0.0" with the address of the client in the code for Session 1.

Session 1: MATLAB Server

Accept a connection from any machine on port 30000.

server = tcpserver("0.0.0.0",30000)

server = 

  TCPServer with properties:

        ServerAddress: "0.0.0.0"
           ServerPort: 30000
            Connected: 0
        ClientAddress: ""
           ClientPort: []
    NumBytesAvailable: 0

  Show all properties, functions

Session 2: MATLAB Client

This code is running on a second instance of MATLAB.

Create a client interface that connects to the server.

client = tcpclient("localhost",30000)

client = 

  tcpclient with properties:

              Address: 'localhost'
                 Port: 30000
    NumBytesAvailable: 0

  Show all properties, functions

Create a waveform and visualize it.

data = sin(1:64);
plot(data);

Write the waveform to the client. Since the client is connected to the server, this data is available in the server session.

write(client,data,"double")

Session 1: MATLAB Server

Read the waveform and confirm it visually by plotting it.

data = read(server,server.NumBytesAvailable,"double");
plot(data);