A paper, a bit outdated, about Qemu as a Virtual Platform :
links :
http://www.cadence.com/Community/blogs/sd/archive/2009/01/16/welcome-to-quot-understanding-the-virtual-platform-quot-series.aspx
http://www.cadence.com/Community/blogs/sd/archive/2009/01/21/exploring-the-virtual-platform-part-2.aspx
http://www.cadence.com/community/blogs/sd/archive/2009/02/05/exploring-the-virtual-platform-part-3.aspx
http://www.cadence.com/Community/blogs/sd/archive/2009/02/13/exploring-the-virtual-platform-part-4.aspx
http://www.cadence.com/community/blogs/sd/archive/2009/03/05/exploring-the-virtual-platform-part-5.aspx