A computer system comprising mass storage, a system bus connected to the
mass storage, and a processor unit connected to the system bus. A library
of standard functions is stored in the mass storage. Each library function
is stored in at least one of two versions. The first version is obtained
from compilation of firmware code, as is conventional. The second version
is obtained from compilation of firmware code and comprises a set of
configuration data for loading into a field programmable gate array
(FPGA). The computer system is provided with a FPGA connected to the
system bus which can be configured by the second versions of the library
functions so that these can be performed in the FPGA, instead of in the
processor. The apparatus and method are well suited to libraries of
database search engine functions. Performance advantages can be obtained
by executing function calls in the FPGA.
