Safety, availability, or cost considerations can make it impractical to perform all the necessary tests with the complete embedded control system. Using hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation, you can simulate the parts of the system that pose these challenges. By thoroughly testing the embedded control device in a virtual environment before proceeding to real-world tests of the complete system, you can maintain reliability and time-to-market requirements in a cost-effective manner even as the systems you are testing become more complex.