Abstract: A data processing system (1) comprises a plurality of processing units (11) and a controller (30) operable to allocate processing units of the plurality of processing units into respective groups of the processing units, wherein each group of processing units comprises a set of one or more of the processing units of the plurality of processing units. The data processing system further comprises an arbiter (31, 32) for each group of processing units for controlling access by virtual machines (33, 34) that require processing operations to the processing units of the group of processing units that the arbiter has been allocated.

Abstract: A data processing system (1) comprises a plurality of, e.g. graphics, processing units (11), and a management circuit (12) associated with the processing units and operable to configure the processing units of the plurality of processing units into respective groups of the processing units. The management circuit (12) is configured to always operate with a high level of fault protection, but the groups of the processing units can be selectively operated with either a higher level of fault protection or a lower level of fault protection, by selectively subjecting them to fault detection testing (60).