Some Problems of Digital Systems Simulation

Our objective is to discuss the technique of digital system simulation. This procedure has already achieved a considerable stature in industrial and research organizations and promises to attain even greater importance in the future. Yet, with few exceptions (5)¹, the published literature in the area consists of introductory expositions (10) or of descriptions of the solution of a particular problem (7) where the technique itself is correctly relegated to secondary position. The only publication devoted entirely to the topic (12) is a compendium of papers of the latter type with little attempt to summarize or generalize. Simulations are, of course, as varied as the systems which they represent but they do have certain common characteristics and problems. An identification of these problems would at least allow the investigator to anticipate them and plan accordingly.

This paper consists of three sections. The first is an attempt to describe characteristics common to many system simulations; the second is a discussion of some problems involved in the construction of a digital simulator; and the third concerns problems that arise in the use of such a simulator.