US Patent 7823091 Compilable, reconfigurable network processor

A processor, particularly a network processor, is designed by first writing code to be processed by the processor. That code is then electronically compiled to design hardware of the processor and to provide executable code for execution on the designed hardware. To facilitate compilation, the written code may be restricted by predefined functional units to be implemented in hardware, and the executable code may include very long instruction word code. The functional units may be implemented in reconfigurable circuitry or custom circuitry, and the designed hardware may include combinational logic in reconfigurable circuitry.