Upgrade of licensed capacity on computer entity
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computer entity comprising:
- at least one data processor;
a data storage device;
a user interface;
at least one operating system for controlling operation of said computer entity;
a first license key data, said first license key data allowing partitioning of said data storage device to provide a first amount of licensed data storage capacity, wherein said first amount of data storage capacity is lower than a total amount of data storage capacity of said data storage device, said license key data comprising an upgrade flag data, said upgrade flag data determining whether or not said partitioned data storage capacity can be increased or not; and
a partition size control component configured to read said upgrade flag data and for determining whether an upgrade of said license data storage capacity can occur or not.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A headless computer entity is provided with a base license key data stored on a raw disk sector separate from a system disk and a data disk. The license key data is used to control the available data storage capacity within the headless computer entity, and protect the computer entity from unauthorized upgrade to a higher product specification. Upgrades in capacity of the computer entity can be achieved without replacement of data disk, by altering an upgrade license key data to allow use of spare data storage capacity on the data disk.
96 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A computer entity comprising:
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at least one data processor;
a data storage device;
a user interface;
at least one operating system for controlling operation of said computer entity;
a first license key data, said first license key data allowing partitioning of said data storage device to provide a first amount of licensed data storage capacity, wherein said first amount of data storage capacity is lower than a total amount of data storage capacity of said data storage device, said license key data comprising an upgrade flag data, said upgrade flag data determining whether or not said partitioned data storage capacity can be increased or not; and
a partition size control component configured to read said upgrade flag data and for determining whether an upgrade of said license data storage capacity can occur or not. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of controlling an amount of licensed functionality provided by a computer entity by controlling a licensed partition size, said computer entity comprising:
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at least one data processor;
a data storage device;
a user interface;
at least one operating system for controlling operation of said computer entity;
said method comprising the steps of;
storing a first license key data, said first license key data allowing partitioning of said data storage device to provide a first amount of data storage capacity, wherein said first amount of data storage capacity is lower than a total amount of data storage capacity of said data storage device, said license key data comprising an upgrade flag data, said upgrade flag data determining whether or not said license data storage capacity can be increased or not; and
determining whether an upgrade of said licensed data storage capacity can occur or not by reading said upgrade flag data. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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12. A method of providing functionality upgrades to a plurality of computer entity after manufacture, said method comprising the steps of:
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storing data uniquely describing said computer entity in a database;
receiving a request to modify a functionality of said computer entity;
checking from said data stored in said database whether said computer entity is capable of modification of functionality;
if said data in said database describes said computer entity as being capable of modification of functionality, then providing an upgrade license key data for enabling modification of said functionality of said computer entity.
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15. A license key data comprising:
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data uniquely identifying a computer entity;
data defining an amount of data storage capacity licensed for use by said computer entity.
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17. A method of operating a computer entity for applying a modification of licensed functionality provided by said computer entity, said computer entity comprising at least one operating system and a data storage device, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a first level of functionality according to a first license data stored on a disk sector of said data storage device inaccessible to said operating system;
modifying said licensed functionality provided by said computer entity according to a second license data stored on said data storage device.
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Specification