PIC Microcontroller Simulators

• XCSIM multiprocessor simulator (part of the ZMech CASE tool) http://www.xcprod.com/titan/ZMECH_PIC XCSIM and XCASM are available as integral PIC components of the ZMech CASE tool. XCSIM also provides high level debug support for XCSB (optimising structured BASIC compiler)

  
   

• http://www.feertech.com/misim miSim DE is an excellent, portable and powerful IDE for developing PIC applications.
  Editor, assembler, disassembler and simulator w/ virtual component "plugins" (LED,LCD,key,motor,TV,etc). This description says it best:

  Developing assembly language programs has traditionally left programmers with the unenviable task of building a development environment by hand from tools that haven't changed much in the last twenty years. These tools have a poor user interface, are rarely portable, have many obscure options and sometimes downright confusing behaviour.

  Just because you're developing low-level code doesn't mean you should have to work in a low-level environment.

  miSim DE started life as a portable, fast and powerful PIC simulator - concentrating on simulating real-world applications rather than limited test cases. On April 26th, version 2.0 was released and the software has changed beyond recognition.

  miSim DE 2.0 features a syntax-highlighting editor, macro assembler, disassembler and sophisticated simulator. The simulator allows anyone to develop Plugins that can simulate devices connected to the microcontroller. Plugins can also provide virtual debugging tools, logging and many other facilities. The GUI is designed to allow you to get on with the job of writing software, and properly integrates the tools together so you can move effortlessly from editing to assembly to debugging your code.

  In addition to being stable and very compatible with standard assemblers and other tools, miSim DE 2.0 features automatic upgrades via the internet. Web Update allows the latest components, projects, documents and Plugins to be installed with a single click. The software continues to grow and has an active developer community and some very enthusiastic users.

  miSim DE runs under Windows, Linux and Solaris as well as other operating systems.
   

• MPSIM (part of MPLAB)

  Carlos Fiestas says:

  Get speed.exe or from Eric Schlaepfer's ftp site speed.zip Execute this program during MPLAB session. This will decrease your program simulation times. It looks like Windows messages for other applications are slowly managed so MPLAB have more [processor time because of these] messages. Increasing the number the events [...increases] its run time simulation. Be careful because a great number would decrease another Windows applications performance.

• http://www.virtualbreadboard.com/ A very nice hardware / PIC simulator. Supports the smaller PICs PIC16C54/55/56/57/71/715/84. PIC16F83/84 and Basic Stamp1 along with a long list of logic chips and standard components. The VBB tutorial describes it well. $20 shareware registration for v1.2.1 and $495 for v2
   
• UMPs from VMDesign.com runs under Windows and simulates many processors and external hardware. New devices can be added by writing a DLL in C or pascal. Distributed in the US by wirz.com for $649
   
• http://www.interstice.com/~sdattalo/gnupic/gpsim.html runs under Linux, (free GNU license)
   
• Parallax PIC Simulator and Documentation (free)

Andy Howard from Xorix says:

PICdeSIM and WizPIC from Forest Electronic Developments. Also includes an excellent logic-analyser style display of registers, pins etc. http://www.fored.co.uk

See:

• /techref/scenix/simulators.htm

Questions:

• Using MPLAB 6.10 and simulating a PIC16F870 I have problems with the simulator not updating Wreg and PortX when I use movwf and movf. This is -so- annoying, as now I do not know wheter or not my circuit is not working because of software error, or if the simulation is broken. I've tried to reset both the simulation and the computer.. Hopefully you can not begin to imagine the frustration of seeing your "movf porta" command have no effect on the output.
  kjeims01@ryp.umu.se+
• Robert J Bliek asks:

  Hi,

  I'm trying to simulate input to the analog inputs of the F877. It would be nice if I could force the contents of ADRESL/H. Or better yet to let the simulator put a 'real' voltage on the ANx pins. I have no idea how to do this since the manual only explains how to force the contents of program memory. But I want to debug if the ADRESL/H data actually ends up where I put it. Your help is appreciated. Bliek1@telusplanet.net

  Al Williams of AWC Says:

  You should be able to do this in MPLAB by setting a "register stimulus file". Go to Debug | Simulator Stimulus | Register Stimulus and press the Help button. You can cause a list of values to be forced into a register at a certain point in your program
  
  Good luck!

  +

See also:

• deva seetharam refers to /techref/member/deva-alum-/simulpic.htm member deva-alum- simulpic+
• David A Cary refers to

  http://dattalo.com/gnupic/gpsim.html gpsim is a full-featured software simulator for Microchip PIC microcontrollers distributed under the GNU General Public License.
  http://dattalo.com/gnupic/gpsim.html
  
  

  +
• David A Cary refers to " /techref/microchip/mplab/sti-rs232.htm simulate RS232 communication in MPLAB
  /techref/microchip/mplab/sti-rs232.htm" +
• spamd.caryKILLspam at ieee.org refers to " /techref/emulates.htm "up" link: simulators for several different CPUs" +
• /techref/microchip/mpsim.htm Some MPSIM tips
  mpsim.htm+
• http://www.geocities.com/asterpic/ Free AsterPic EMULATOR+
• spamadoktarKILLspam at abo.fi refers to " http://www.abo.fi/~adoktar/picdev PIC Development Studio is a new simulator for PIC16F84. More info is available on the homepage. " +
• shares this code:

  JALss is a freeware logic simulator with limited analog capabilities, running under windows.
  It's mainly designed to simulate PICs but the user can add any device through a DLL.
  High level debugging is supported for JAL and XCSB.
  JALss works fluently together with JALcc, which is an Integrated Development Environement (IDE) specially designed for JAL and XCSB.

  +

David A Cary Says: " RS232 communication simulated inside MPLAB
/techref/microchip/mplab/sti-rs232.htm
" +

David A Cary Says:

gpsim is a full-featured software simulator for Microchip PIC microcontrollers distributed under the GNU General Public License.
http://dattalo.com/gnupic/gpsim.html

David A Cary Says:

"A CPU core simulator is build into the [JAL] compiler... It might also be usefull for debugging and testing stand-alone code." /techref/microchip/language/jal/doc/summary.html

Archive:

• PICList post "Oshon PIC simulator IDE and programmer" +

deva seetharam Says:

Simulpic is a free and open-sourced simulator that can be compiled with gcc.

i think the significance of Simulpic lies in its simplicity - the system is easy to understand, use and modify. for instance, i built a distributed embedded system simulator that is composed of thousands of 16F84's and i found Simulpic to be amenable to hacking. you might find it useful as a stand-alone simulator and/or as a building block for more complex systems.

Simulpic is available at: http://www.dseetharam.org/software/simulpic.tar.gz

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