Emulation Definition

Emulation is the imitation by software or hardware of the operation of other programs or devices. Quite a lot of software exists for a PC that emulates another type of computer or other devices. Some of the programs could be used to emulate certain types of Windows-compatible platforms on computers with MacOS. This is a rather common solution, as they bypass present installation of other operating systems but can still be used to test whether some programs can run on an emulated system. Furthermore, they are perfectly legal, for instance VirtualPC is published and maintained by Microsoft. Emulation Emulation is rife within the gaming industry. For example there have been emulators for many years that emulate the hardware of various game consoles and the user can load all compatible games on their hard drive.

Emulation Types

Emulation can be further categorized by its various types and purposes:

Hardware emulation refers to the use of physical hardware in mimicking functions and traits associated with real hardware. Applications to this involve many fields of hardware emulation, like test and development embedded systems, analysis and debugging hardware devices, and education.

Software Emulation is a concept in which software mimics the working and architecture of an entirely different system. This allows running software for one platform to run on another one where its operating system might be different.

Network emulation is a simulated process of network characteristics, often including data rate, latency, and packet loss emulation. This allows the testing of software or devices on the network under real-world conditions.

Operating system emulation is an emulation of an operating system: software developed, initially for one OS, that runs on top of another OS. It can be used to test and develop cross-platform software.