February 22, 2010 -- The Open Virtual Platforms (OVP) Initiative has announced the release of a reference virtual platform of the ARM Integrator development board using OSCI SystemC TLM-2.0 C++. This virtual platform includes all the models needed for the virtual platform to enable users to run Linux. The virtual platform can be executed either in the OVP simulator (OVPsim), or in a SystemC/ TLM-2.0 simulation environment using any of the industry SystemC/ TLM-2.0 simulators. The virtual platform and all models are free and available as open source from the OVP website.

"We have used the ARM Integrator virtual platform available from OVP to help our customers understand how Linux and drivers worked on their hardware," said Dave Von Bank, President of Posedge Software, a consulting company for embedded software engineering.

The OVP ARM Integrator virtual platform can be used to understand the Linux operating system running on the development board, since the virtual platform simulation can provide more visibility and controllability than just executing and debugging on the hardware itself. The virtual platform can also be used for the development of applications running under Linux on an ARM-based system. Moreover, the virtual platform is open source, and it’s easy to add peripherals to the virtual platform using SystemC/TLM-2.0 models and develop drivers for those peripherals.

"For my course on system-on-chip (SOC) design, students learn about both hardware and software development aspects," said Professor Andreas Gerstlauer of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Texas at Austin. "We eventually implement a software-defined radio design on an ARM-based FPGA prototyping board. I have found the Open Virtual Platforms models allow my students to simulate the software, from drivers to applications running on top of the Linux OS. We use the OVP models in a SystemC/TLM-2.0 simulation environment, and find them fast and easy to use. That the models are open source and come with excellent documentation and support is an added benefit."