1. A method of performing a hardware simulation in a hardware simulation accelerator, the method comprising: performing a simulation on a simulation model for a hardware design using a hardware simulation accelerator; during performance of the simulation, detecting an external request to access a memory array disposed within the hardware simulation accelerator, wherein the external request originates outside of the hardware simulation accelerator, and wherein the memory array is used to simulate an array accessed by the hardware design; and accessing the memory array without halting the simulation in response to detecting the external request; wherein detecting the external request is performed in response to processing a predetermined instruction in an instruction stream associated with the simulation model, and wherein the predetermined instruction is configured to ensure a predetermined period of inactivity for the memory array.