USAGE METERING BASED UPON HARDWARE AGING
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques are generally disclosed for using an operating entity, including a method, apparatus, and/or system to control usage of the operating entity. In various embodiments, an in-use signal generator may be configured to generate at least one in-use signal, with the at least one in-use signal having a signal duration representative of at least one usage episode of the operating entity. An aging circuit may be coupled to the in-use signal generator and configured to output at least one age-affected signal in response to the at least one in-use signal. A metering module may be coupled to the aging circuit and, in response to the at least one age-affected signal, and configured to measure a signal characteristic of the at least one age-affected signal and translate the signal characteristic into a generated quantity of accumulative usage of the aging circuit.
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Citations
73 Claims
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1-50. -50. (canceled)
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51. An apparatus arranged to meter usage of a hardware unit, comprising:
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a signal generator to generate at least one signal, the at least one signal having a variable signal duration representative of at least a duration of one usage episode of the hardware unit; an aging circuit, coupled to the signal generator, configured to receive the at least one signal, and generate at least one age-affected signal based at least in part on the at least one signal, the aging circuit including at least one circuit path having at least one circuit component with a component parameter, wherein the component parameter is subjected to aging effects caused by the at least one signal, with the aging effects being irreversible; a metering circuit, coupled to the aging circuit, configured to receive the at least one age-affected signal, measure a signal characteristic of the at least one age-affected signal, and translate the measured signal characteristic into a generated quantity of accumulative usage of the aging circuit, to indicate a quantity of usage of the hardware unit; and a control module, coupled to the metering circuit, configured to selectively disable the hardware unit in response to the generated quantity of accumulative usage of the aging circuit indicating a preselected quantity of accumulative usage of the hardware unit. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. A method of metering usage of a hardware unit, comprising:
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generating at least one signal having variable signal duration representative of at least a duration of one usage episode of the hardware unit; applying the at least one signal to an aging circuit to generate at least one age-affected signal, wherein the aging circuit includes at least one circuit path with at least one circuit component that has a parameter performance irreversibly dependent on an accumulative usage of the aging circuit; measuring a signal characteristic of the at least one age-affected signal; translating the measured signal characteristic into a generated quantity of accumulative usage of the aging circuit, to indicate an quantity of usage of the hardware unit; and selectively disabling the hardware unit in response to the generated quantity of accumulative usage of the aging circuit indicating a preselected quantity of accumulative usage of the hardware unit. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71)
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72. One or more tangible computer readable non-transitory storage media comprising a plurality of programming instructions stored therein, wherein the programming instructions, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform a method of metering usage of a hardware unit, the method comprising:
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generating at least one signal using a signal generator on the apparatus, the at least one signal having a variable signal duration representative of at least one usage episode of a hardware unit of the apparatus; receiving the at least one signal using an aging circuit on the apparatus; generating at least one age-affected signal using the aging circuit, the aging circuit having at least one circuit path that includes at least one circuit component with a parameter performance irreversibly dependent on an accumulative usage of the aging circuit; measuring a signal characteristic of the at least one age-affected signal; translating the measured signal characteristic into a generated quantity of accumulative usage of the aging circuit, to indicate a quantity of usage of the hardware unit; and selectively disabling the hardware unit in response to the generated quantity of accumulative usage of the aging circuit indicating a preselected quantity of accumulative usage of the hardware unit. - View Dependent Claims (73)
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Specification