#Qucs system simulation code#

#Qucs system simulation code#

They are particularly helpful to watch what happens inside the microcontroller when the code executes step by step: call stack, watches on variables, interrupt vectors etc. However, microcontrollers simulators do exist. But inherently, microcontrollers are highly predictable and except in certain cases, it is not worth it to go through simulation (do not mix up simulations and tests, tests are always required!). That's usually why tests are required, and step-by-step debugging is used as a means to locate any error that arises. concurrent access (though I can't say this is common in the micro realm), or insufficient resources (that is why dynamic allocation are highly discouraged, so that the resources allocation is known at compilation time) etc. *: As the code becomes more and more complex, it gets more and more difficult to follow what the microcontroller might do. Therefore, usually the analog, or digital circuits around a microcontroller would be given equivalent interfaces based on the microcontroller's behaviour and physical specifications, and simulated separately. Now, what they're told might allow glitches to happen, but that's a different story*. Microcontrollers on the other hand are sufficiently deterministic not to require any simulation: they do what they're told, except in very very very rare cases (single event upsets from radiation for example). Generally speaking, for both simulation becomes a must when the system is not dead simple. Non-programmable digital systems are deterministic in their behaviour, but only if the interfaces are correct - tight specifications on impedances and such often mean simulation is required here as well. Model the micro interfaces and simulate the peripherals separatelyĪnalog systems cannot be modelled accurately by hand calculations alone, therefore simulation is often a necessary step (on top of that, real circuits might behave differently from the model).

Simulating a microcontroller's program is common, but not as part of a circuit, unless you're into Systems on Chips.