Patent ID: 8516418

Claim:
A method, comprising: performing, by one or more computers: loading design data into a plurality of tables in a relational database, wherein said design data represents an integrated circuit and was generated by one or more tools of an integrated circuit design flow during design of said integrated circuit, wherein said design data comprises two or more abstractions of said integrated circuit, and wherein data corresponding to said two or more abstractions is related in said relational database; querying one or more of the plurality of tables in said relational database to access said design data; generating one or more design reports for said integrated circuit dependent on said accessed design data; and modifying the design data representing said integrated circuit that was accessed and used in generating the one or more design reports directly in the plurality of tables in the relational database without modifying the actual design of said integrated circuit within the integrated circuit design flow, wherein the modified design data represents a proposed version of said integrated circuit that has not been generated using the one or more tools of the integrated circuit design flow that were used to generate the design data.