Design methodology management is an emerging technology in the world of electrical computer aided design. It has spawned considerable research over the past decade, and a firm belief in many people's minds that it is the key to significant productivity enhancements in the next. How close are we to seeing this belief fulfilled? In this paper, we define the concepts that are important to design methodology management systems and explain how these systems relate to CAD frameworks. We then examine and characterize 23 notable design methodology management systems of the last 15 years in order to understand the state of the art. Finally, we describe and analyze the trends we have seen in these systems and propose where this technology is headed.>

The design of today's electronic systems involves the use of a growing number of complex CAD tools. Invoking and controlling these tools, independently or as part of a captured, multi-operation flow, remains an error-prone and largely unsolved problem. This problem is the focus of the Design Methodology Management Technical Subcommittee (DMMTSC) of the CAD Framework Initiative. This paper describes the DMM problem, establishes DMM requirements, and presents the state of the DMMTSC effort to define interface standards for proposed solutions.