PROGRAMMATIC USE OF SOFTWARE DEBUGGING TO REDIRECT HARDWARE RELATED OPERATIONS TO A HARDWARE SIMULATOR

The present invention is a method that uses breakpoints in a debugging program to signify to a hardware software co-verification tool when to redirect hardware calls to a hardware simulator. The method includes executing a line of software code within a software component, determining whether the line of software code requires interaction with a hardware device, associating the line of software code with an interface module if the line of software code requires interaction with a hardware device, simulating the hardware device with a hardware model running under simulation, using the interface module to request a hardware operation from the hardware model when the line of software code requires a hardware operation; and providing data generated by the hardware model running under simulation in response to the request.