On the relationship between virtual machines and emulators

Efrem G. Mallach
1973 Proceedings of the workshop on virtual computer systems on -  
The subjects of virtual machines and emulators have been treated as entirely separate. The purpose of this paper is to show that they have much in common. Not only do the usual implementations have many shared characteristics, but this commonality extends to the theoretical concepts on which they are based; the concepts of memory mapping and I/0 operation simulation are discussed to emphasize this. The paper then discusses structural issues, and points out why the question of instruction set is
more » ... becoming less valid as a point of distinction between the concepts. Possible combinations of virtual machines and emulators are discussed. In conclusion, it is recommended that workers in both fields keep the relationship between the two in mind.
doi:10.1145/800122.803952 fatcat:3rqvouckpzfjlar62kxlvemavu