The platform-centric SoC method is aimed at the design of today's SoC systems with emphasis on real-time, embedded systems. The approach provides a guideline and an SoC design environment that promotes an integration of state-of-the-art tools and techniques necessary for the development of the systems. It renders a new and better perspective towards co-design approaches, while also raising a level of design abstraction. Because the configurable platform objects are designed off-cycle, they contribute to a general improvement in development time. By incorporating their usage, the overall method strikes a balance between total design flexibility and minimal time-to-market.