METHOD FOR THE AUTOMATIC ADDRESS GENERATION OF MODULES WITHIN CLUSTERS COMPRISED OF A PLURALITY OF THESE MODULES

A method of automatic address generation by units within clusters of a plurality of such units in which individual configurable elements of a unit can be addressed. It is thus possible to address the individual elements directly for reconfiguration. This is a prerequisite for being able to reconfigure parts of the unit by an external primary logic unit without having to change the entire configuration of the unit. In addition, the addresses for the individual elements of the units are automatically generated in the X and Y directions, so that the addressing scheme represents the actual arrangement of units and configurable elements. Furthermore, manual allocation of addresses is not necessary due to automatic address generation. In accordance with the present invention, a cluster is provided with a number of configurable units, each having two inputs for receiving the X address of the last element of the preceding unit in the X direction (row) and the Y address of the last element of the preceding unit in the Y direction (column) and having two outputs to relay to the next unit the position of the last element of the unit in the X direction and in the Y direction.