The VCore [1](*) based design methodology, which has been developed at the VCDS (**) Project, is a SoC design methodology using VCores. A VCore is a reusable, high level abstracted design component. We have developed the VCore based design methodology and the VCDS tool prototype. We used the developed tool and did a trial SoC design. The design result showed that SoC design productivity improved using the proposed methodology.

The reuse-based design paradigm is the key to improve the design productivity of SoCs (System on a Chip). However, SoC designers have difficulty in using conventional IPs (Intellectual Property) because they don't have enough variability, it is difficult to customize them. In this paper, we propose the variability of VCores (Virtual Cores) and show VCores are superior to IPs for system-level design property. Based on VCores, we have developed a VCore-based platform. We show the SoC design productivity will be improved by using VCores and the VCore-based platform.

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