Process of programming field programmable gate arrays using partial reconfiguration

Abstract

In an embodiment, a method is disclosed providing an improvement in speed and efficiency of programming field programmable gate array (FPGA) digital electronic integrated circuits (ICs) or other ICs that support partial reconfiguration, a particular FPGA having a plurality of reconfigurable partitions and a plurality of primitive variations configurable in each of the reconfigurable partitions, the method comprising: before writing configuration bitstreams to the particular FPGA, compiling and storing, using digital storage, a plurality of primitive bitstreams for a plurality of different primitive functions that can be written to and implemented on the particular FPGA; receiving input in a graphical user interface to select and connect graphical blocks representing functional logic of an algorithm to implement on the particular FPGA, the graphical blocks relating to reconfigurable logic; automatically determining a subset of the primitive functions comprising particular primitive functions that correspond to the graphical blocks; obtaining, from the digital storage, a subset of the primitive bitstreams that corresponds to the subset of the primitive functions; using one or more partial reconfiguration operations, writing the subset of the primitive bitstreams to the particular FPGA; wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.