Benefits of Using the SID Simulator

In recent years, there has been notable growth in the use and the application of embedded systems. However, the improvements to the design and testing tools have not kept pace with the rapid development of customized hardware parts. This simulation tool has been designed to help close this gap and meet the needs of embedded software developers. The simulation of the target environment enables embedded software developers to analyze and test their software, even in the absence of the physical hardware.

In many respects, the virtual target simulation enables a better development environment, since you can analyze a system design's functionality and performance in ways that are not possible on the physical hardware.

There are three key benefits that can be gained from using this tool:

• With a simulated target, the debugger can see different states of the software that cannot be viewed on the hardware. Consequently, testing on the simulator tool is often faster and more flexible that performing similar software testing on the physical hardware.

• Using the SID simulation environment, you can gain more insight into the functional behavior of the software on your system. This results in a shortened time-to-market.

• Testing on a simulated target allows you to use system building blocks to explore alternative solutions before the hardware components are created. This can reduce the overall cost of the system implementation.

However, in order to get the full value of the simulation tool. You do need to understanding the differences between the actual hardware and virtual target simulation environments.