XML-based system and method for collaborative web-based design and verification of system-on-a-chip

A method for distributed, collaborative design of a product in a computer-network based design environment, said method comprising:

• establishing a network-accessible design framework that enables remote access to individual members or groups of a design team;
• normalizing a set of tools within said design framework for utilization by each of said individual members or groups, wherein said tools are available via said network;
• providing secured access to said design framework by said individual members and groups from a terminal connected to said network;
• and
• providing, via said design framework and said terminals, real-time collaborative design of said product design with platform-independent application and service exchange utilizing eXtensible Markup Language (XML) wrapped data, service and applications;
• wherein said product is a system-on-a chip (SOC), further comprising enabling said collaborative features of said design framework utilizing a system on a chip extensible markup language (SOCML) that allows cross-interaction between different design teams utilizing different tools, said SOCML providing a specific XML schema to define System-on-a-Chip design data and a standard for storing and transporting SOC specification and design data.

A computer program product comprising:

• a computer readable medium;
• and
• program code on said computer readable medium for enabling collaborative design of an end-product, said program code comprising code for:
• implementing a virtual database management system, which receives data from a plurality of distinct sources and creates a single database interface to each of said distinct sources;
• mapping various informational structures utilized by said distinct sources to a common syntax;
• and
• providing publishing rules for extracting information on demand and publishing said extracted information in a format recognized by a requestor of said information;
• wherein said end-product is a system on a chip (SOC) and said common syntax utilized is an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) that is expanded with SOC-specific attribute type definitions to generate a plurality of functional components having SOC markup language (SOCML) features that operate according to SOCML design specification, said SOCML providing a specific XML schema to define System-on-a-Chip design data and a standard for storing and transporting SOC specification and design data.