Patent ID: 7895558

Claim:
A data processing system, comprising: processing resources; and data storage coupled to said processing resources and including a tool executable by said processing resources to configure a digital design including a plurality of design entities and having an associated configuration database representing a configuration of said digital design, wherein, when executed by the processing resources, said tool causes the data processing system to perform: responsive to receiving an input value for an instantiation of a Dial, said Dial defining a relationship between each of a plurality of Dial input values of the Dial and a respective one of a plurality of different Dial output values of the Dial: accessing the configuration database to determine whether said Dial has an associated mapping function; deriving a value from the input value based upon the relationship defined by the Dial; responsive to a determination that said Dial has an associated mapping function, accessing said mapping function by reference to said configuration database to apply said mapping function to the value derived from said input value to obtain a transformed value, wherein said mapping function is one of a set of transformations consisting of a mathematical transformation, a logical transformation, a shift and generation of a pseudo-random value; and utilizing said transformed value to set a value of a configuration latch within one of said plurality of design entities forming said digital design.