Virtutech
Encyclopedia
Virtutech was founded in 1998 as a spin-off from the Swedish Institute of Computer Science
(SICS), in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2004, the headquarters was moved to San Jose, California, USA. The Stockholm site remains the company's R&D center. The company's main product is Simics
software, used by teams of software developer
s to simulate
computer systems. This facilitates the development, testing, and debugging of embedded software
that runs devices such as high-end servers, network hardware, aerospace/military vehicles, and automobiles. Virtutech markets products that allow embedded software developers to create virtual models of hardware using an ordinary desktop computer, run specified sets of tests, and walk the programs through each step of execution, both forwards and backwards. See the Simics
Wikipedia article for more on the product.
In 2001, AMD and Virtutech began working collaboratively on simulation for AMD's Hammer chips. In July 2005, IBM
selected Virtutech Simics for development of its POWER6
platform. In 2007, Virtutech and Freescale announced a collaboration program around multicore processors. Virtutech thus appears to have a customer base that is partly in the embedded software world, and partly in the general computing and server world.
Virtutech is a member of Power.org
.
As embedded systems become more complex, especially with the advent of multiprocessor
s, it has become increasingly difficult to develop and debug embedded software
without the use of specialized tools. Virtutech's idea is to provide tools that allow developers to develop software faster than they would using hardware and traditional development methods. In particular, by modeling a complex hardware system using software running on an ordinary workstation computer, Virtutech claims to reduce the challenge of embedded software development.
On February 5, 2010, Intel announced that it had acquired Virtutech on undisclosed terms, and that Simics will now be maintained by Intel's subsidiary Wind River Systems
.
Swedish Institute of Computer Science
The Swedish Institute of Computer Science, SICS, is an independent non-profit research organization with a research focus on applied computer science. The institute carries out research in a number of areas, including networked embedded systems, future Internet technologies, large scale...
(SICS), in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2004, the headquarters was moved to San Jose, California, USA. The Stockholm site remains the company's R&D center. The company's main product is Simics
Simics
Simics is a full-system simulator used to run unchanged production binaries of the target hardware at high-performance speeds. Simics was originally developed by the Swedish Institute of Computer Science , and then spun off to Virtutech for commercial development in 1998...
software, used by teams of software developer
Software developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
s to simulate
Computer architecture simulator
In computer science, a computer architecture simulator, or an architectural simulator, is a piece of software to model computer devices to predict outputs and performance metrics on a given input...
computer systems. This facilitates the development, testing, and debugging of embedded software
Embedded software
Embedded software is computer software that plays an integral role in the electronics it is supplied with.Embedded software's principal role is not Information technology , but rather the interaction with the physical world. It's written for machines that are not, first and foremost, computers...
that runs devices such as high-end servers, network hardware, aerospace/military vehicles, and automobiles. Virtutech markets products that allow embedded software developers to create virtual models of hardware using an ordinary desktop computer, run specified sets of tests, and walk the programs through each step of execution, both forwards and backwards. See the Simics
Simics
Simics is a full-system simulator used to run unchanged production binaries of the target hardware at high-performance speeds. Simics was originally developed by the Swedish Institute of Computer Science , and then spun off to Virtutech for commercial development in 1998...
Wikipedia article for more on the product.
In 2001, AMD and Virtutech began working collaboratively on simulation for AMD's Hammer chips. In July 2005, IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
selected Virtutech Simics for development of its POWER6
POWER6
The POWER6 is a microprocessor developed by IBM that implemented the Power ISA v.2.03. When it became available in systems in 2007, it succeeded the POWER5+ as IBM's flagship Power microprocessor...
platform. In 2007, Virtutech and Freescale announced a collaboration program around multicore processors. Virtutech thus appears to have a customer base that is partly in the embedded software world, and partly in the general computing and server world.
Virtutech is a member of Power.org
Power.org
Power.org is an organization whose purpose is to develop, enable and promote Power Architecture technology. The objective is to establish open standards, guidelines, best practices and certifications regarding Power Architecture, as well as drive adoption of the platform.Power.org was founded in...
.
As embedded systems become more complex, especially with the advent of multiprocessor
Multiprocessor
Computer system having two or more processing units each sharing main memory and peripherals, in order to simultaneously process programs.Sometimes the term Multiprocessor is confused with the term Multiprocessing....
s, it has become increasingly difficult to develop and debug embedded software
Embedded software
Embedded software is computer software that plays an integral role in the electronics it is supplied with.Embedded software's principal role is not Information technology , but rather the interaction with the physical world. It's written for machines that are not, first and foremost, computers...
without the use of specialized tools. Virtutech's idea is to provide tools that allow developers to develop software faster than they would using hardware and traditional development methods. In particular, by modeling a complex hardware system using software running on an ordinary workstation computer, Virtutech claims to reduce the challenge of embedded software development.
On February 5, 2010, Intel announced that it had acquired Virtutech on undisclosed terms, and that Simics will now be maintained by Intel's subsidiary Wind River Systems
Wind River Systems
Wind River Systems, Inc. is a company providing embedded systems, development tools for embedded systems, middleware, and other types of software. The company was founded in Berkeley, California in 1981 by Jerry Fiddler and David Wilner. On June 4, 2009, Wind River announced that Intel had bought...
.
Links
- SimicsSimicsSimics is a full-system simulator used to run unchanged production binaries of the target hardware at high-performance speeds. Simics was originally developed by the Swedish Institute of Computer Science , and then spun off to Virtutech for commercial development in 1998...
, the main Virtutech product - EE Times - Virtutech system-level simulator features Hindsight technology
- Virtual Strategy Magazine - New CEO John Lambert on Virtutech Present and Future
- Slashdot - Hindsight: Reversible Computing