Virtual Prototypes in Developing Mobile Software Applications and Devices

The goal of this paper is to study how software based virtual prototypes and hardware simulation tools can be combined. By combining these tools and techniques we can shorten the time to market with parallel concurrent design and more importantly, we can provide a real-time simulation environment for virtual prototypes. Application designers get access to a simulated realistic real-time mobile device well before the first prototypes are available from the device manufacturer. The research work was done in two cases. In the first case the virtual prototypes were used to illustrate and help to select new mobile application concepts and to test new applications usability. In the second case the virtual prototypes were used for modelling the product platforms, e.g. the computer system and the simulation of the complete system including both hardware and software. Our approach facilitates early simulation and testing of the final user experience and system behaviour in cases where they are heavily dependent on the characteristics and performance of the underlying computer platform