Patent ID: 7290244

Claim:
A method for configuring a reconfigurable system, the method comprising: displaying a graphical user interface on a display which is useable for configuring the reconfigurable system, wherein the reconfigurable system comprises a programmable hardware element and one or more fixed hardware resources coupled to the programmable hardware element, and wherein the graphical user interface displays fixed hardware resource icons corresponding to each of at least a subset of the one or more fixed hardware resources; wherein the programmable hardware element comprises a programmable gate array; receiving user input to the graphical user interface specifying a function; generating a hardware configuration program based on the user input, wherein the hardware configuration program is deployable on the reconfigurable system; and deploying the hardware configuration program on the programmable hardware element, wherein the hardware configuration program specifies use of one or more of the fixed hardware resources; wherein, after said deploying, the reconfigurable system is operable to perform the function.