Abstract: A plurality of configurable computational units are embedded in a programmable device, such as a field programmable gate array. Each configurable computational unit includes an adder circuit that is switchably coupled to a multiplier circuit and an accumulator circuit. The configurable computational unit may be configured permanently or on-the-fly to perform desired arithmetic type functions efficiently and effectively. For example, the computational unit may be configured for digital signal processing functions, filtering functions, and algorithm functions. The computational units may be cascaded by programmably connecting the computational units together, e.g., through the routing resources of the programmable device.