SimBricks – Modular Full-System Simulation for HW-SW Systems
Hi HN, we are building SimBricks, an open-source simulation framework for heterogeneous systems, especially with custom hardware. SimBricks modularly combines existing simulators for machines, networks, and hardware, allowing you to build, test, and evaluate intricate complete systems in a virtual environment. Head over to the SimBricks website (https://simbricks.github.io/, also has a quick demo video) to learn more. We have pre-built docker images, and you can even immediately play around on codespaces. Concrete use-cases: - Evaluate HW accelerators, from early design with…
In plain words
SimBricks is an open-source simulation framework that combines existing simulators for machines, networks, and hardware to model complete heterogeneous systems in a virtual environment. Designed for hardware and software engineers, it enables evaluation of custom hardware accelerators, network protocols, and complex integrated systems by allowing users to test behavioral models through full Verilog implementations alongside complete operating systems and applications. The project provides pre-built Docker images and immediate access through GitHub Codespaces for testing.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
In the maker’s words, at launch
Hi HN, we are building SimBricks, an open-source simulation framework for heterogeneous systems, especially with custom hardware. SimBricks modularly combines existing simulators for machines, networks, and hardware, allowing you to build, test, and evaluate intricate complete systems in a virtual environment. Head over to the SimBricks website (https://simbricks.github.io/, also has a quick demo video) to learn more. We have pre-built docker images, and you can even immediately play around on codespaces. Concrete use-cases: - Evaluate HW accelerators, from early design with simple behavioral models, to simulating complete Verilog implementations, both as part of complete systems with many instances of the accelerator and machines running full OS and real applications (we did a university course on this with SimBricks). - Test network protocols, topologies, and communication stacks for real workloads in potentially large systems (we ran up to 1000 hosts so far). - Rapid RTL prototyping for FPGAs, no waiting for synthesis or fiddling with timing initially (we simulate the complete unmodified RTL for the Corundum Open-source NIC with their unmodified PCIe drivers). SimBricks originally started out as an internal research tool, for helping us build and evaluate our research ideas on network protocol offload, but has since grown into a separate open-source project. Would be great if you give it a shot and let us know what you think!
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