College of Natural Sciences
 
FAQs
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1.3.1.5. How does the Random generator work?

The algorithm for the rand function can be found in S. K. Park and K. W. Miller, "Random Number Generators: Good ones are hard to find," Comm. ACM, vol. 32, n. 10, Oct. 1988, pg 1192-1201. The formula used for the seed is:

seed=(7^5*seed)mod(2^31-1)

If you want to set the initial seed to an random value, type the following at the MATLAB prompt:

rand('SEED',fix(100*sum(clock)))

This will use the clock to set the seed.