Abstract: A flexible, reconfigurable processing system architecture allows for the implementation of a variety of processing system configurations to be implemented on a single device, which is preferably a PCI bus add-in extension board with an attached daughter card attached and electrically connected thereto through a PCI Mezzanine type connector, and which is plugged into a personal computer PCI expansion slot. The architecture uses the PCI bus, for example, as the local CPU bus for an embedded processor, which not only allows for flexibility in system configuration but also allows PCI devices to be hidden from the host CPU to allow for proper system startup. The architecture further permits an embedded processing CPU to be re-booted when the secondary PCI bus host bus bridge fails to respond without affecting host CPU or other secondary PCI bus peripheral devices.