| FORUM

FEDEVEL
Platform forum

Firmware simulation of a uC in Altium. Is it possible? How?

Vit.Gallo , 02-18-2023, 12:09 PM
Hello everyone,
I am new in this forum and I hope to make a contribution.​

Into the web you can find information about Proteus software for the
simulation of firmware in schematics. Virtual System Modelling combines SPICE mixed-mode simulation with fast simulation of world-leading microcontrollers on schematics.

Can this be achieved with Altium? Is there such a thing? How?

​​​​​
robertferanec , 02-20-2023, 01:32 AM
No, Altium can't do microcontroller simulations. Why would you need this?

PS: Normally I just buy a development board and build hardware and software around them.
Vit.Gallo , 02-20-2023, 01:41 AM
I want to realize board "pre-production" simulation.
Are there other possibilities?
qdrives , 02-20-2023, 04:01 PM
What is the purpose of the simulation:
1) To test the circuit?
2) To test the (application) software?
3) To test the peripherals?

I would say most mistakes with a microcontroller is not properly connecting the pin to the peripheral functions.
This can often be checked with tools from the (MCU) manufacturer.
There are already limitations/bugs in those software tools, so I would not trust a third party to be reliable enough.

For points 1 you can use any SPICE simulation and for points 2 and 3, like @robertferanec already mentioned, there are development boards.
For point 2 you could run C code on your desktop and check that it 'works' that way.

All said, there is no test like on the actual hardware.
Vit.Gallo , 02-20-2023, 04:06 PM
Ok, thanks for the support
robertferanec , 02-21-2023, 05:47 AM
As @qdrives pointed out, simulations are not perfect. I would not spend time trying to simulate a microcontroller - you will get much better results using development boards. Often development boards of microcontrollers are not expensive.
Use our interactive Discord forum to reply or ask new questions.
Discord invite
Discord forum link (after invitation)

Didn't find what you were looking for?