The book deals with engineering aspects of the two emerging and intertwined fields of synthetic and systems biology. Both fields hold promise to revolutionize the way molecular biology research is done, the way today 's drug discovery works and the way bio-engineering is done. Both fields stress the importance of building and characterizing small bio-molecular networks in order to synthesize incrementally and understand large complex networks inside living cells. Reminiscent of computer-aided design (CAD) of electronic circuits, abstraction is believed to be the key concept to achieve this goal. It allows hiding the overwhelming complexity of cellular processes by encapsulating network parts into abstract modules. This book provides a unique perspective on how concepts and methods from CAD of electronic circuits can be leveraged to overcome complexity barrier perceived in synthetic and systems biology.

The book deals with engineering aspects of the two emerging and intertwined fields of synthetic and systems biology. Both fields hold promise to revolutionize the way molecular biology research is done, the way today's drug discovery works and the way bio-engineering is done. Both fields stress the importance of building and characterizing small bio-molecular networks in order to synthesize incrementally and understand large complex networks inside living cells. Reminiscent of computer-aided design (CAD) of electronic circuits, abstraction is believed to be the key concept to achieve this goal. It allows hiding the overwhelming complexity of cellular processes by encapsulating network parts into abstract modules. This book provides a unique perspective on how concepts and methods from CAD of electronic circuits can be leveraged to overcome complexity barrier perceived in synthetic and systems biology.

Embedded electronic system design is currently faced with increasing levels of complexity, heterogeneity, and time-to-market demands. In order to cope with these pressures, abstraction and modularity are becoming cornerstones of today's design methodologies. However, if not accompanied by robust design frameworks and flows, they will not be successful. This book describes a number of frameworks and design flows which use a technique called Platform-based Design which addresses these concerns explicitly. This book discusses the emergence of Electronic System Level Design, the Metropolis and Metro II design frameworks, refinement verification and characterization techniques, as well as case studies in the areas of multimedia and distributed electronic system design. This work should be of interest to professionals and graduate students working in the areas of electronic design automation and embedded software design.