DEVICE WITH IC, SOC OR SIP HAVING ONE OR MORE REMOTELY ENABLED MODULE AND METHODS FOR SELLING THE DEVICE
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A device comprising:
- an integrated circuit comprising;
N first circuit modules each having an enabled state, wherein N is an integer greater than zero; and
M second circuit modules each having a disabled state, wherein M is an integer greater than zero; and
a control module that outputs upgrade data including identification of said M second circuit modules for enabling said M second circuit modules, respectively, and that allows selection and enablement of at least one of said M second circuit modules by a purchaser based on payment of at least a corresponding one of M prices associated with said M second circuit modules.
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Abstract
A device comprises an integrated circuit comprising N first circuit modules each having an enabled state, wherein N is an integer greater than zero and M second circuit modules each having a disabled state, wherein M is an integer greater than zero. A control module that outputs upgrade data including identification of the M second circuit modules for enabling the M second circuit modules, respectively, and that allows selection and enablement of at least one of the M second circuit modules by a purchaser based on payment of at least corresponding ones of M prices associated with said M second circuit modules.
55 Citations
69 Claims
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1. A device comprising:
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an integrated circuit comprising; N first circuit modules each having an enabled state, wherein N is an integer greater than zero; and M second circuit modules each having a disabled state, wherein M is an integer greater than zero; and a control module that outputs upgrade data including identification of said M second circuit modules for enabling said M second circuit modules, respectively, and that allows selection and enablement of at least one of said M second circuit modules by a purchaser based on payment of at least a corresponding one of M prices associated with said M second circuit modules. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method comprising:
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providing an integrated circuit within a device; enabling N first circuit modules of said integrated circuit, wherein N is an integer greater than zero; disabling M second circuit modules of said integrated circuit, wherein M is an integer greater than zero; providing upgrade data to be made available to a purchaser, wherein said upgrade data includes identification of said M second circuit modules; and allowing selection and enablement of at least one of said M second circuit modules by said purchaser based on payment of at least a corresponding one of M prices associated with said M second circuit modules. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method comprising:
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incorporating an integrated circuit including (N+M) circuit modules into a device; enabling N of said circuit modules, wherein N is an integer greater than zero; disabling M of said circuit modules, wherein M is an integer greater than zero; establishing one or more pricing levels based on said N circuit modules that are enabled and said M circuit modules that are disabled; and configuring said integrated circuit to allow a purchaser to upgrade said device after taking possession of said device by enabling at least one of said M circuit modules based on payment for said at least one of said M circuit modules. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A device comprising:
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a first circuit module that is initially disabled when said device is delivered to a purchaser and that includes an activation module that is adapted to selectively enable said first circuit module after said delivery; and a control module that controls operation of at least one function of said device, that executes at least one first application that is enabled, and that executes at least one of T second applications that require enablement of said first circuit module, where T is an integer greater than zero, wherein said control module comprises an activation managing module that communicates with said activation module to activate said first circuit module based on enable data and identification (ID) data associated with said device. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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55. A method comprising:
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incorporating a first circuit module that is initially disabled into a device; configuring said first circuit module to be selectively enabled after delivery to a purchaser; loading at least one first enabled application on the device; loading T second applications on the device, execution of said T second applications requiring enablement of said first circuit module after delivery to the purchaser, where T is an integer greater than zero; and configuring said device to enable said first circuit module based on enable data and identification (ID) data associated with said device. - View Dependent Claims (56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
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Specification