The engine control design is becoming one of the most challenging aspects in the new generation Diesel engine development. It has to control precisely more and more complex engine technologies while dealing with increasing stringent pollution limits. The use of LMS Imagine.Lab AMESim for engine simulation in the control development process can significantly reduce the test time needed on real hardware while providing more information for understanding the system physics. Based on high-performance physical models such as HCCI combustion model, the virtual engine simulator is able to support the control design from controller development to real-time calibration.