Patent Document ID: 6134516
Application ID: 09019384
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method of executing a plurality of simulation jobs in a simulation system network, the simulation system network including a plurality of client workstations, a bus subsystem, and a simulation server which includes a reconfigurable hardware unit which contains a hardware model of at least a portion of the user design, comprising: queueing a first simulation job associated with a first user design and a second simulation job associated with a second user design; determining priority between the first simulation job and the second simulation job; and providing access to the reconfigurable hardware unit to the first simulation job and the second simulation job in a time-shared manner based on the priority determination and for a time duration until a preemption state is reached, including loading a software model of the first simulation job in at least one client workstation if the priority determination resolves in favor of the first simulation job; and configuring the reconfigurable hardware unit with the hardware model of the first user design if the priority determination resolves in favor of the first simulation job.