SummaryThe paper addresses people from information technology, electrical engineering, computer science, and related areas. It gives an introduction and classification to fine-, coarse-, as well as multi-grain reconfigurable architectures. This data-stream-based and transport-triggered parallel computing technique in combination with dynamical and partial reconfiguration features demonstrates promising perspectives for future CMOS-based microelectronic solutions in multimedia and infotainment, mobile communication, as well as automotive application domains, among others.