Once the domain of specialized fixed-function devices, embedded systems are now becoming commonplace in nearly all segments of electronics, from consumer products to network appliances and wireless devices. Many of these smart products rely on the power and flexibility of embedded processing platforms to meet continually evolving functionality requirements and increasingly shorter time-to-market windows.

As the power and flexibility of these embedded platforms continues to increase, the concept of hardware that is considered "good enough" will become more of a reality. This "good enough" hardware paradigm allows companies to differentiate themselves with embedded software on a standard embedded-processing platform. Product functionality is shifting from the largely hardware-based focus of the past to a new software application focus. This new focus marks the beginning of the golden age of software.

Obviously, the dawning of this golden age elevates the priority and importance of creating software for embedded systems and requires companies to re-engineer their development processes to support the change in focus. Managing the design cycle requires attention to the software portion of product development much earlier in the design cycle and integrating software with hardware as early as possible. In this scenario, software development defines the critical path for the product design.

Additionally, this early focus on software development and integration requires new tools and methodologies not previously used by the design community. Virtual prototyping-a software model of a complete system without the need for physical hardware-offers one of the most promising vehicles for early software development using a realistic, fast, and adequately accurate representation of the hardware.

Attempts at virtual prototyping have been tried at various times in the past, but they all shared a common problem-insufficient performance. In the past, software models weren't fast enough to allow developers to run production-quality code, mainly because the models were derived from hardware implementation models. These hardware models included too much information, which resulted in poor execution performance.

Virtio proposes a new type of virtual prototyping methodology wherein the models of the hardware are developed from the software perspective. The technology is powerful and scalable enough to model a complex embedded system and yet fast enough to execute production-quality software very early in the design cycle. In addition, by integrating the modeling technology with Internet technology, this virtual modeling capability can be delivered online for embedded system developers and suppliers, thus providing an environment where embedded systems are evaluated, customized, and proliferated.

Virtual prototyping online will enable embedded IP suppliers (hardware and software) and embedded development tool suppliers to present their IP as part of a complete solution. The technology extends suppliers' reach, expands their market footprint, and helps them retain customers.

Making virtual prototyping a reality offers hope for the next generation of products incorporating embedded systems. For those companies developing embedded systems, virtual prototyping will enable them to meet critical market windows.

Shay Ben-Chorin is the president and CEO of Virtio Corp. (Campbell, CA). He has 20 years' experience in hardware and software product development for semiconductor, wireless, and embedded systems.