LOOSELY-BIASED HETEROGENEOUS RECONFIGURABLE ARRAYS

A heterogeneous array includes clusters of processing elements. The clusters include a combination of ALUs and multiplexers linked by direct connections and various general-purpose routing networks. The multiplexers are controlled by the ALUs in the same cluster, or alternatively by ALUs in other clusters, via a dedicated multiplexer control network. Components of applications configured onto the array are selectively implemented in either multiplexers or ALUs, as determined by the relative efficiency of implementing the component in one or the other type of processing element, and by the relative availability of the processing element types. Multiplexer control signals are generated from combinations of ALU status signals, and optionally routed to control multiplexers in different clusters.