Emulation involves using software to mimic the functionality of another piece of hardware. Emulators allow software to function as if it were running on the emulated hardware system. Developing accurate emulators is challenging as different systems have varying internal specifications like frame rates. Emulators can enhance experiences by running systems at higher speeds or changing display graphics. Beyond entertainment, emulation has educational and business uses like training pilots or running older software.

1. Emulation Machines Within Machines A flight emulation program A GameBoy Advance emulator running on an iPod Nano

2. An Emulator? . . . What's That!? “ Emulation” is copying or imitating another person or object. “ Monkey see, monkey do.” A monkey emulating a woman. Emulation in technology often means to emulate another piece of hardware through the usage of software. -----------------------------

3. Emulators in Technology The internals of separate pieces of hardware are very different. An emulator's job is to know how the hardware on another system functions, then emulate it through code written by an “emuwriter”--an author of emulator code. ← An “emuwriter” who is currently assisting in producing an emulator that simulates the Xbox gaming console. The internal workings of a Nintendo Wii console The internal workings of a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console.

4. Technicalities What Makes Emulation So Difficult? Electronic hardware is more different than one may think. Example : Screens show a certain amount of pictures or “snap shots” within one second (FPS - “Frames per Second”). However, this number varies from system to system. Video game consoles in what is called the “NTSC” region run games taking 30 “screen shots” per second. Video game consoles in what is called the “PAL” region run video games taking 25 “screen shots” per second.

5. PAL, NTSC, and SECAM Regions The system, such as a PC, may take many more screen shots per second than the original system, so the emuwriter must code the emulator so that it is able to display images at a completely different rate than the computer is designed to, whether it be 25 frames per second for PAL, or 30 for NTSC.

6. What Else Goes Into an Emulator ? Many other factors go into a properly functioning emulator. Example : The graphics displayed on screen go through a multi-step process inorder to be displayedproperly. The process in which less complex “two-dimensional” images are displayed within an emulator

7. What Else Can Emulators Do? Emulators can not only almost perfectly emulate other hardware but sometimes enhance or add features to the experience. While it's hard to make an emulator run at 100% speed, some well-developed and advanced emulators can run at speeds many times the original speed.

8. COOL! Anything Else? Depending on the emulator, you can change many other aspects of the system being emulated. Another example is changing how the display of the emulated system looks (the graphics). An emulator running a game with default settings An emulator running the same game a “shader” enabled

9. Emulation in the Education / Business World ● Emulation is used for many more purposes than entertainment. ● Example : If an operating system needs to use a program only available for a separate system, one can emulate it. ● Example : There are aircraft piloting emulators available to help train pilots for the real world. A pilot-in-training using an aircraft emulator Windows XP emulating Mac OS X 10.3 under “PearPC.”

10. Images : http://www.flickr.com/photos/ http://www.flyit.com/component/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ http://www.libgames.blogspot.com/ http://www.todoxbox360.com/ http://forums.ngemu.com/ http://img55.imageshack.us/ http://www.youtube.com/