Emulation

Emulation is a process in which software or hardware copies the working of another software or hardware. There are numerous software which can enable a PC to mimic the characteristics of other computers or other devices. For instance, there is software that is capable of replicating Windows environments on MacOS and thus allows one to use Windows applications without having to install the Windows OS in the computer. It is of particular importance to check software compatibility on emulated systems and that is where this feature is highly helpful. This is not only widespread but also utterly legal, as one can easily witness with Microsoft’s VirtualPC.

It is especially popular in the gaming industry where emulators have been created to replicate the hardware of the game consoles to permit games that are compatible to be played directly from the hard drives.

Types of Emulation

Hardware Emulation: This can be done through the use of an actual physical device which is designed to imitate or simulate other physical devices in an attempt to execute functions which are characteristic of the said devices. It is widely employed in the testing and development of embedded systems, analyzing and debugging of hardware and in educational applications.

Software Emulation: In this type, software simulates the structure and operation of another system thus making software developed on one platform to be used in another platform with different operating system.

Network Emulation: This emulates ‘real’ network constraints, for example data throughput, delay and packet losses. It is valuable for gauge software or devices performance in real-world like network environment.

Operating System Emulation: This can be defined as the processes of imitating one operating system over another so that the software that has been created for one operating system can be used in another operating system. It is widely applied for the testing and development of applications which are to be run on different platforms.