Patent ID: 8122238

Claim:
A method comprising: specifying a hardware configuration program, wherein the hardware configuration program comprises a processing function, wherein said specifying comprises: specifying inputs and outputs of the processing function, wherein the processing function comprises one or more filters; specifying a plurality of channels; and specifying channel scanning functionality for the plurality of channels; configuring a programmable hardware element with the hardware configuration program, wherein said configuring comprises: implementing the processing function and the channel scanning functionality on the programmable hardware element; storing a respective state and configuration of each of the plurality of channels in a memory of the programmable hardware element, wherein said storing enables logic-sharing between each of the plurality of channels; and operating the programmable hardware element, wherein said operating comprises: performing channel scanning on the plurality of channels; and updating the configuration information for one or more of the channels in the memory of the programmable hardware element without interrupting the channel scanning, without taking any of the channels offline, and/or without interrupting a continuity of an output of the programmable hardware element.