Platform-Based Design and Frameworks: METROPOLIS and METRO II

System-level design (SLD) means many different things to many different people. In our view, SLD is about the design of a whole that consists of several components where specifications are given in terms of functionality along with • Constraints on the properties the design has to satisfy • Constraints on the components that are available for implementation • Objective functions that express the desirable features of the design when completed This definition is general since it relates to many application domains from semiconductors to systems such as cars, airplanes, buildings, telecommunications, and biological systems. To deal with system-level problems, our view is that the issue to address is not developing new tools, albeit they are essential to advance the state of the art in design; rather it is the understanding of the principles of system design, the necessary change to design methodologies, and the dynamics of the supply chain. Developing this understanding is necessary to define a sound approach to the needs of the system and component industry as they try to serve their customers better, and to develop their products faster andwith higher quality. This chapter is about principles and how a unified methodology together with a supporting software framework, as challenging as it may seem, can be developed to bring the embedded electronics industry to a new level of efficiency.