A reconfigurable
processing unit (1) is described which comprises, data flow controlling elements (10), data manipulating elements (20), a configuration memory unit (30) comprising a plurality of memory cells (31a, ....) for storing settings of the data flow controlling elements (10) and an addres decoder (40) for converting an address into selection signals for the memory cells (31a, ..). The reconfigurable
processing unit of the invention is characterized in that the
address decoder (40) is shared between the configuration memory unit (30) and a further memory unit (20), or between two configuration memory units (30, 30'). This provides for a reduction in memory area of the reconfigurable
processing unit (1).