Avoiding attachment of an ineligible smart interchangeable cover to an electronic device
First Claim
1. In a base portion of an electronic apparatus, a method of operation comprising:
- detecting for presence of a removably attached interchangeable cover;
authenticating the removably attached interchangeable cover as an eligible cover; and
operating the electronic apparatus, enabling/disabling all or selected functions/features offered by the base portion and the removably attached interchangeable cover in view of whether the removably attached interchangeable cover is authenticated.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A base portion of an electronic apparatus and a plurality of eligible smart interchangeable covers are provided with corresponding instructions for the base to authenticate an attached cover. The base operates the apparatus at a function/feature level in view of whether the base is able to authenticate the cover. In one embodiment, the authentication involves exchange of challenges and responses between the base and the cover, employment of session keys to facilitate the exchanges via encrypted communications, employment of private and public keys of the cover to facilitate provision of the session key(s) to the cover, and employment of a certificate to facilitate provision of the public key of the cover to the base. In one embodiment, the challenges/responses comprise at least a subset of the functions/features implementing instructions/data of the cover, and the certificate is signed by a common licensor of the vendors of the base and the covers.
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Citations
77 Claims
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1. In a base portion of an electronic apparatus, a method of operation comprising:
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detecting for presence of a removably attached interchangeable cover;
authenticating the removably attached interchangeable cover as an eligible cover; and
operating the electronic apparatus, enabling/disabling all or selected functions/features offered by the base portion and the removably attached interchangeable cover in view of whether the removably attached interchangeable cover is authenticated. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. In an interchangeable cover removably attachable to a base portion of an electronic apparatus, a method of operation comprising:
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receiving a first challenge from a base portion of an electronic apparatus to which to interchangeable cover is removable attached, to facilitate the base portion in determining that the interchangeable cover is an eligible cover; and
in response, generating and providing the base portion with a first response to said first challenge to facilitate the base portion in making said determination. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. An apparatus comprising:
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a base body case;
a processor encased within said base body case for use to execute instructions;
storage medium encased within said base body case, coupled to said processor, and having stored therein a plurality of instructions designed to implement a plurality of functions/features, to authenticate a removably attached smart interchangeable cover attached to the base body case as an eligible cover, and to operate the electronic apparatus, enabling/disabling all or selected ones of the implemented functions/features and functions/features offered by the removably attached smart interchangeable cover consistent with whether the removably attached smart interchangeable cover is authenticated. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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59. A cover for an electronic apparatus, comprising:
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a cover body to cover a base portion of the electronic apparatus;
a processor disposed on a surface of the cover body for use to execute instructions;
storage medium disposed on a surface of the cover body, coupled to said processor, and having stored therein data and a plurality of instructions designed to authenticate the interchangeable cover to a base portion of an electronic apparatus to which the interchangeable cover is attached. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77)
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Specification