Electronic branding technology
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- providing a primary electronic component having a first identifier stored therein;
providing a secondary electronic component having a second identifier stored therein;
coupling the secondary component to the primary component;
comparing the first identifier to the second identifier;
operating the primary component in conjunction with the secondary component if the first identifier matches the second identifier; and
operating the primary component without the secondary component if the first identifier does not match the second identifier.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for identifying brands of electronic components and enabling a primary electronic system to make use of only those components which are identified as having the same brand as the primary system. In a preferred embodiment, each of a primary component and one or more secondary components includes a non-volatile memory for storing a brand identifier. Upon boot-up of the primary component, the identifier in the memory of each secondary component is compared to the identifier in the memory of the primary component. Secondary components having identifiers that match the identifier of the primary component are enabled and those having identifiers that do not match the identifier of the primary component are disabled.
10 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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providing a primary electronic component having a first identifier stored therein;
providing a secondary electronic component having a second identifier stored therein;
coupling the secondary component to the primary component;
comparing the first identifier to the second identifier;
operating the primary component in conjunction with the secondary component if the first identifier matches the second identifier; and
operating the primary component without the secondary component if the first identifier does not match the second identifier. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A system comprising:
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a primary component having a first memory, wherein the first memory has a first identifier stored therein; and
a secondary component having a second memory, wherein the second memory has a second identifier stored therein;
wherein the secondary component is configured to be coupled to the primary component;
wherein the primary component is configured to compare the first identifier to the second identifier;
wherein the primary component is configured to enable operation with the secondary component if the first identifier matches the second identifier;
wherein the primary component is configured to prevent operation with the secondary component if the first identifier does not match the second identifier. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An electrical component configured to have a secondary component coupled thereto, wherein the electrical component comprises:
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a functional portion;
an interface configured to couple the functional portion to a secondary component;
a memory configured to store a first identifier; and
a comparator configured to receive a second identifier from the secondary component and to compare the first identifier to the second identifier, wherein the comparator is configured to enable operation of the functional portion with the secondary component if the first identifier matches the second identifier and to disable operation of the functional portion with the secondary component if the first identifier does not match the second identifier. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification