Database for designing integrated circuit device, and method for designing integrated circuit device

Abstract

A database, in which data is stored in a flexibly usable state, is provided for use in the design of an integrated circuit device. And a method for designing an integrated circuit device using such a database is also provided. A design environment includes: a virtual core database (VCDB), which is hierarchical design data storage; and a virtual core database management system (VCDBMS) as a control system. The VCDB includes architecture information and a VC cluster. The VC cluster includes: a specification VC for storing thereon data at a specification level; an architecture VC for storing thereon data at an architectural level; an RTL-VC for storing thereon data at a register transfer level; and a performance index used for evaluating the performance of the respective VCs. By providing these VCs for respective layers, new VCs can be generated, data within the VCs can be modified and instances can be generated at the respective levels. As a result, the data can be used flexibly and recycled as well.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A database comprising a plurality of VC clusters for storing thereon data needed in designing an integrated circuit device, 
 each said VC cluster including:    a specification/architecture virtual core (VC) for storing thereon data at specification and architectural levels needed for constructing the integrated circuit device; and    an RTL-VC for storing thereon data at a register transfer (RT) level required for meeting a specification and an architecture represented by the data stored on the specification/architecture VC.    
     
     
         2 . The database of  claim 1 , wherein the specification/architecture VC is classified into: 
 a specification VC for storing thereon data at the specification level; and    an architecture VC for storing thereon data at the architectural level required for meeting the specification represented by the data stored on the specification VC.    
     
     
         3 . The database of  claim 1 , further comprising a performance index including a plurality of parameters used for evaluating the performance of the integrated circuit device, 
 wherein the performance index is represented in the specification/architecture VC as a first range within a multi-dimensional space using the parameters as coordinates, and    wherein the performance index is represented in the RTL-VC as a second range within a multi-dimensional space or a point using the parameters as coordinates, the second range being narrower than the first range.    
     
     
         4 . A database comprising a plurality of virtual cores (VCs) for storing thereon data needed in designing an integrated circuit device, 
 wherein the database includes an instance manager for managing instances obtained by replacing respective variables of the data stored on the VCs with associated constants.    
     
     
         5 . A database comprising a specification virtual core (VC) for storing thereon data at a specification level needed in designing an integrated circuit device, 
 wherein the specification VC stores:    design data describing specifications required for constructing the integrated circuit device;    verification data used for checking the specifications described by the design data; and    performance data used for evaluating the performance of the integrated circuit device.    
     
     
         6 . A database comprising an architecture virtual core (VC) for storing thereon data at an architectural level needed in designing an integrated circuit device, 
 wherein the data stored on the architecture VC is classified into data about hardware-implementable architectures and data about software-implementable architectures.    
     
     
         7 . A database comprising a VC cluster made up of a plurality of virtual cores (VCs) for storing thereon data needed in designing an integrated circuit device, 
 wherein the database includes a management table indicating a common characteristic or function portion among the data stored on the respective VCs within the VC cluster.    
     
     
         8 . A method for designing an integrated circuit device using a database including a plurality of virtual cores (VCs) for storing thereon data needed in designing the integrated circuit device, the method comprising the step of 
 generating instances by replacing respective variables of the data stored on the VCs with associated constants.    
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the instances are generated by replacing a name of a module, which is one of the variables of the data stored on the VCs, with an associated constant.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising the step of storing the instances generated on the database.  
     
     
         11 . A method for designing an integrated circuit device using a database including a specification virtual core (VC) for storing thereon data at a specification level needed in designing the integrated circuit device, the method comprising the steps of: 
 generating instances by changing the data stored on the specification VC into specific one; and    storing the instances generated on the database.    
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the instances are generated using external information.  
     
     
         13 . A method for designing an integrated circuit device using a database including: a specification virtual core (VC) for storing thereon data at a specification level needed in designing the integrated circuit device; and an architecture VC for storing thereon data at an architectural level needed for meeting a specification represented by the data stored on the specification VC, 
 wherein the method comprises the step of deleting an unnecessary portion of the data at the architectural level.    
     
     
         14 . A method for designing an integrated circuit device using a database including a plurality of virtual cores (VCs) for storing thereon data needed in designing the integrated circuit device, 
 wherein the method comprises the step of generating correlated information by extracting a portion sharable among at least some of the VCs from the data stored on the VCs.    
     
     
         15 . A method for designing an integrated circuit device using a database including an architecture virtual core (VC), on which data at an architectural level needed in designing the integrated circuit device is classified into data about hardware-implementable architectures and data about software-implementable architectures, 
 wherein the method comprises the step of performing hardware-software cooperative design or verification.    
     
     
         16 . A method for designing an integrated circuit device using a database including a VC cluster, the VC cluster including: a specification/architecture virtual core (VC) for storing thereon data at specification and architectural levels needed for constructing the integrated circuit device; and an RTL-VC for storing thereon data at a register transfer (RT) level required for meeting a specification and an architecture represented by the data stored on the specification/architecture VC, 
 wherein the method comprises the step of generating a new VC by using the data stored on the VCs within the VC cluster.