Host independent emulator software architecture - in reference to the HP 64700 Series emulators - technical

Hewlett-Packard Journal, Dec, 1988 by William A. Fischer, Jr.

The data generated by the HP 64700 Series is received via the RS-232-D/RS-422 drivers. It is then processed by the prgrammatic interface and the data is put into data structures. The PC interface translates the data structures into ASCII for display in one of the windows.

Summary

The layered software interface for the HP 64700 emulators has succeeded in reducing the development time for new emulation products. The software contains well-defined interfaces that simplify software communication between layers. The terminal interface layer provides a host independent interface that is also used by all the host interfaces. Incorporating the entire emulation functionality in firmware has permitted easy development of more than one host interface, providing an emulation system that can be used as a hardware/software integration tool, a high-level software debugger, or a timing analyzer.

Acknowledgments

Much thanks goes to the software architects who devoted so many hours to the development of this system: Eric Kuzara, Jeff Downs, Cheryl Brown, Beth Vail Jones, Mike Gardner, Harold Shaw, Steve Warntjes, Rick Nygaard, Manfred Arndt, and Todd Bailey. A special thanks is given to John Romano who successfully guided us through this project.