Patent ID: 7213225
Filing Date: 2007-05-01
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method of specifying a configurable digital system in one or more files, said method comprising: in at least one hardware definition language (HDL) file, specifying at least one desigu entity containing a functional portion of the digital system, said at least one desigu entity logically containing first and second latches each having a respective plurality of different possible latch values; with at least one first statement in said at least one HDL file, associating a first Dial instance with said first latch and associating a second Dial instance with said second latch such that a setting of said first Dial instance controls which of the plurality of different possible values is loaded in said first latch and a setting of said second Dial instance controls which of the plurality of different possible values is loaded in said second latch; with at least one second statement in said at least one HDL file, concurrently associating a Register instance with both said first and said second latches, such that a setting of said Register instance controls the latch values loaded in said first and second latches; generating, from the at least one first statement and the at least one second statement, a configuration database including at least one first data structure representing said first and second Dial instances and at least one second data structure representing said Register instance, wherein said at least one first data structure specifies, for each of the first and second Dial instances, a mapping uniciuely associating each of a plurality of different settings of that Dial instance with a respective latch value; managing a dynamic configuration of the configurable digital system during its operation by reference to the configuration database, wherein managing the dynamic configuration includes: