Method and system for facilitating electronic circuit and chip design using remotely located resources

A method for providing circuit design resources from a plurality of suppliers to a plurality of end users, comprising:

• connecting, on a demand basis, a plurality of user system to a portal site over a distributed electronic network, said portal site comprising an application server interconnected with a plurality of databases, said plurality of databases include a database of component data for a plurality of available circuit components;
• connecting a plurality of supplier systems to said portal site over said distributed electronic network;
• receiving a request from at least one user system for access to said database of component data;
• automatically responding to said request from said at least one user system;
• transmitting component data from said portal site to said at least one user system;
• retrieving a stored user profile for a user at one of said user systems;
• and
• suggesting to the user a next action at the portal site based upon the closeness of the stored user profile to the user's current status.

A method for providing circuit design resources from a plurality of providers to a plurality of end users, comprising the steps of:

• receiving a user request at a portal site for a listing of providers of integrated circuit fabrication services, said user request received from a user system over a distributed electronic network;
• obtaining a list of providers of integrated circuit fabrication services from a database;
• transmitting said list of providers of integrated circuit fabrication services to said user system over said distributed electronic network;
• receiving at the portal site, over said distributed electronic network, a selection from the user system of one of said providers of integrated circuit fabrication services;
• obtaining additional information regarding the selected provider of integrated circuit fabrication services from said database;
• transmitting said additional information to said user system over said distributed electronic network;
• and
• receiving at the portal site, over said distributed electronic network, a selection from said user system of the selected provider of integrated circuit fabrication services for use.

A method for design knowledge capture in a portal site adapted for transacting commerce relating to electronic design, comprising the steps of:

• tracking movements of a plurality of users through the portal site;
• storing, in a metrics database, said movements of said users through the portal site;
• obtaining design data regarding the electronic design projects of said users and the information and services purchased by said users through the portal site;
• and
• suggesting options for navigating through said portal site to a visiting user based upon the information stored in said metrics database for said users similarly situated to the visiting user.

A computer program product that includes a computer-readable medium having a sequence of instructions which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to execute a process for providing circuit design resources from a plurality of providers to a plurality of end users, the process comprising:

• receiving a user request at a portal site for a listing of providers of integrated circuit fabrication services, said user request received from a user system over a distributed electronic network;
• obtaining a list of providers of integrated circuit fabrication services from a database;
• transmitting said list of providers of integrated circuit fabrication services to said user system over said distributed electronic network;
• receiving at the portal site, over said distributed electronic network, a selection from the user system of one of said providers of integrated circuit fabrication services;
• obtaining additional information regarding the selected provider of integrated circuit fabrication services from said database;
• transmitting said additional information to said user system over said distributed electronic network;
• and
• receiving at the portal site, over said distributed electronic network, a selection from said user system of the selected provider of integrated circuit fabrication services for use.

A system for providing circuit design resources from a plurality of providers to a plurality of end users, comprising:

• means for receiving a user request at a portal site for a listing of providers of integrated circuit fabrication services, said user request received from a user system over a distributed electronic network;
• means for obtaining a list of providers of integrated circuit fabrication services from a database;
• means for transmitting said list of providers of integrated circuit fabrication services to said user system over said distributed electronic network;
• means for receiving at the portal site, over said distributed electronic network, a selection from the user system of one of said providers of integrated circuit fabrication services;
• means for obtaining additional information regarding the selected provider of integrated circuit fabrication services from said database;
• means for transmitting said additional information to said user system over said distributed electronic network;
• and
• means for receiving at the portal site, over said distributed electronic network, a selection from said user system of the selected provider of integrated circuit fabrication services for use.