Virtual Prototyping of Embedded Systems: Speed and Accuracy Tradeoffs

Abstract

Virtual prototyping has emerged as an important technique for the development of devices combining hardware and software, in particular for the development of embedded computer components integrated into larger cyber-physical systems with stringent performance, safety or security requirements. Because virtual prototypes allow for observing and testing the system without requiring a real hardware at hand, they make it possible to test application software and use formal methods tools to validate the system properties at early design stages. A virtual prototype is an abstraction that emulates, with more or less accuracy, the real system under design. That emulation is usually significantly slower than the real application. In this survey, we overview different virtual prototyping techniques that can be used, and the compromises that they may offer to trade-off some aspects of reality in exchange for other higher priority objectives of the project.