Abstract
Owning to the rapid growth of consumer electronics market, there are urgent needs for better control over IC design projects, reuses of design knowledge (e.g., silicon intellectual property - SIP), and design collaboration in a virtual design platform. In order to provide IC industry a well-integrated design environment, this research proposes an information platform which combines the project management module, the design knowledge management module and the collaborative working environment for the IC industry. With the help of the project management module, the R&D team leaders can better control its partners' and its own schedules to shorten the time to market. Moreover, the design knowledge (SIP) management module provides the IC companies and their partners a knowledge exchange environment to enrich the design chain productivity and efficiency. Finally, the integration of collaborative working environment is the propeller to enable collaborative design. With the collaborative project and knowledge management platform, IC companies gain competitive advantages when working as a virtual design team. ©2007 IEEE.