System for using FPGA technology with a microprocessor for reconfigurable, instruction level hardware acceleration

A system comprising:

• a program memory;
• a plurality of processors in communication with the program memory, each processor sharing the program memory among other ones of the plurality of processors;
• a plurality of coprocessors separate from the plurality of processors, each coprocessor being coupled to a corresponding processor and including a field programmable gate array (FPGA);
• and
• a shared resource manager operable to program each field programmable gate array associated with the plurality of coprocessors,
• wherein a first processor of the plurality of processors is operable to execute an application and send an instruction from the program memory to each of the plurality of coprocessors to perform a function for the application,
• if none of the field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) associated with the plurality of coprocessors are programmed to perform the function for the application, then the shared resource manager is operable to dynamically program any one of the field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to perform the function for the application, in which the field programmable gate array (FPGA) selected to be dynamically programmed is selected in accordance with a least recently used algorithm, the least recently used algorithm specifying a function that can be disabled to free up logic resources within the field programmable gate array (FPGA) selected to be dynamically programmed.