模拟VS. 仿真 Simulation VS. Emulation

模拟VS. 仿真 Simulation VS. Emulation

 

上系统结构课的时候，老师提到了模拟和仿真 的区别，一时没有回答上来，回来之后查阅了相关资料，现在总结一下并大家分享。

Emulationis the process of mimicking the outwardly observable behavior to match anexisting target. The internal state of the emulation mechanism does not have toaccurately reflect the internal state of the target which it is emulating.

仿真就是从外观上，功能上模仿现存的目标的过程。仿真机制的内在状态不必和被仿真的目标在内在状态上一致。

Simulation, on the other hand, involves modeling the underlyingstate of the target.The end result of a good simulationis that the simulation model will emulate the target which it is simulating.

在另外一个方面，模拟包括模拟目标的内在状态的建模。一个好的模拟就是对目标的建模能够对目标进行仿真。

Ideally, you should be able to look into the simulation andobserve properties that you would also see if you looked into the originaltarget. In practice, there may some shortcuts to the simulation for performancereasons -- that is, some internal aspects of the simulation may actually be anemulation.

理想中，在原始目标中你能够观察的细节，也能够在模拟过程中观察到。现实中，由于性能的原因，模拟有许多缺点，也就是，一些内部的模拟其实是用仿真代替的。

MAME is an arcade game emulator; Hyperterm is a (not very good)terminal emulator. There's no need to model the arcade machine or a terminal indetail to get the desired emulated behavior.

MAME一种游戏厅游戏机仿真器，从功能上仿真。

Flight Simulator is a simulator; SPICE is an electronicssimulator. They model as much as possible every detail of the target torepresent what the target does in reality.

Flight，模拟器，比如并不需要实际造出飞来，而是只需要对重要参数进行模拟。

USIMM，内存模拟器，运行USIMM，输入trace文件(一些类的访问地址，读写操作标志)，USIMM一条一条的读取trace文件，来模拟实际的内存，可以观察命中率，刷新等特性。能够对内存的内部特性进行深入的模拟，而不只是功能

EDIT: Other responses have pointed out that the goal of anemulation is to able to substitute for the object it is emulating. That's animportant point. A simulation's focus is more on the modelling of the internalstate of the target -- and the simulation does not necessarily lead toemulation. In particular, a simulation may run far slower than real time.SPICE, for example, cannot substitue for an actual electronics circuit (even ifassuming there was some kind of magical device that perfectly interfaceselectrical circuits to a SPICE simulation.) A simulation Simulation does notalways lead to emulation --

EDIT：还有一个重要的点就是，仿真的目标就是能够代替被仿真的对象。而模拟更关注被模拟对象的内部特征，并且模拟不一定代替仿真。模拟运行的速度远低于实际运行速度

 

t's a difference in focus. Emulators¹ focuson recreating the behavior of a system, with no regard for how the systemfunctions internally. Simulators² focuson modeling the components of a system. You use an emulator when you caremostly about what a system does, and a simulator when you care about how itdoes it.

 

模拟和仿真的侧重点不同。仿真侧重于重现系统的外部行为，不用管系统内部是如何运作的，只要达到外部的功能相似就行。而仿真侧重于对系统内部部件原理的建模。当你关心一个系统要干什么的时候你可以使用仿真器，当你关系一个系统原理的时候你可以使用模拟器。

 

Asfor their general English meanings, emulation is "the endeavor to equal orto excel another in qualities or actions",while simulation is "to model,replicate, duplicate the behavior, appearance or properties of". Not muchdifference. Emulation comes from æmulus,"striving, rivaling," and is related to "imitate" and"image," which suggests a surface-lever resemblance."Simulation" comes from similis "like", as does the word"similar," which perhaps suggests a deeper congruence.

 

从一般的英语意义上讲，emulation的意思是”在性能或者行为上尽量赶上或者超过被模拟的目标”，而simulation的意思是”建模，复制被模拟目标的行为”。Emulation表示外表上的相似，而Simulation的意思是从深层次上的一致，相似。

 

参考资料：

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1584617/simulator-or-emulator-what-is-the-difference