Patent ID: 8522180

Claim:
A method for locating an IP component for an electronic design, comprising: performing a search of an IP catalog for an IP component that is to be used in a block-based implementation of an electronic design, wherein the IP component complies with a set of component requirements to be used within the electronic design; determining that there is an inability to identify a candidate IP component from the IP catalog that suitably corresponds to the set of component requirements for the IP component; based at least in part upon determining that there is the inability to identify the candidate IP component from the IP catalog that suitably corresponds to the set of component requirements for the IP component, using an expert system to provide a set of questions; and using the set of questions to infer the candidate IP component from the IP catalog to be integrated into the electronic design, wherein the expert system uses an answer to a first question in the set of questions to determine a second question in the set of questions.