An analysis tool analyzes a model to determine the digital effect of the model in a modeling or programming environment. With the analysis tool, a user can determine minimum hardware functionality needed to execute the software generated from the model. The hardware functionality may include the word size of the microprocessor that executes the software appropriately. The hardware functionality may also include the execution speed of the microprocessor executing the software. The hardware functionality may further include the functionality of other hardware elements, such as the word length of an Analog to Digital converter. The analysis tool enables a user to produce a system at a low cost while achieving necessary performance criteria.