  Detection of the redshifted 21-cm signal of neutral hydrogen from the Cosmic
Dawn and the Epoch of Reionization is one of the final frontiers of modern
observational cosmology. The inherently faint signal makes it susceptible to
contamination by several sources like astrophysical foregrounds and
instrumental systematics. Nevertheless, developments achieved in the recent
times will combine to make signal detection possible with the upcoming Square
Kilometer Array (SKA), both statistically and via tomography. This review
describes an indigenously developed end-to-end pipeline that simulates
sensitive interferometric observations. It mainly focuses on the requirements
for \hi detection in interferometers. In its present form, it can mimic the
effects of realistic point source foregrounds and systematics- calibration
error and position error on 21-cm observations. The performance of the pipeline
is demonstrated for test cases with 0.01\% calibration error and position
error. Its performance is consistent across telescope, foreground, and signal
models. The focus of the simulation pipeline during the initial stages was for
EoR science. But since this is a general interferometric simulation pipeline,
it will be helpful to the entire SKA user community, irrespective of the
science goals.
