Platforms have become an important concept in the design of electronic systems. We present here the motivations behind the interest shown and the challenges that we have to face to make the Platform-based Design method a standard. As a generic term, platforms have meant different things to different people. The main challenges are to distill the essence of the method, to formalize it and to provide a framework to support its use in areas that go beyond the original domain of application. Categories and Subject Descriptors B.7 [Integrated Circuits]: Design Aids General Terms Design, Performance, Standardization.
Alberto L. Sangiovanni-Vincentelli, Luca P. Carlon