In order to boost the utility of an FPGA-based prototyping platform, certain critical components are required, including a high-performance, low latency communication channel and direct access to all pins, signals, nodes and registers within the FPGA. This paper provides an in-depth look at Synopsys™ new UMRBus (Universal Multi-Resource Bus) interface – the unique communications architecture that provides users of HAPS systems with: a built-in mechanism that allows bi-directional data exchange for more efficient debug; co-simulation for fast system bring-up; accelerated transaction-based verification and a physical connection to virtual prototyping environments through standard SCE-MI interfaces.