Apparatus And Method To Track Device Usage

• US 20150006829A1
• Filed: 06/28/2013
• Published: 01/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Dorit Shapira, Doron Rajwan, Efraim Rotem, Kosta Luria, Nadav Shulman
• Inventors: ROTEM, EFRAIM, RAJWAN, DORON, SHULMAN, NADAV, SHAPIRA, DORIT, LURIA, KOSTA
• Granted Patent: US 9,535,812 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/154
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3037 where the computing system component is a memory, e.g. virtual memory, cache accessing, addressing or allocating within memory systems or architectures G06F12/00; checking stores for correct operation G11C29/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3419 by assessing time
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3476 Data logging G06F11/14, G06F11/2205 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/88 Monitoring involving counting

Abstract

In an embodiment, a processor includes measurement logic to measure a usage associated with the processor. The processor also includes statistical logic to determine, based on a statistical procedure, whether to provide a permission to record an increase in usage responsive to an indication that the usage has increased by a defined amount. The processor also includes control logic to record the defined increase in usage in non-volatile memory responsive to receipt of the permission to record from the statistical logic. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Claims

1. A processor comprising:

measurement logic to measure a usage associated with the processor;

statistical logic to determine based on a statistical procedure, whether to provide a permission to record an increase in usage responsive to an indication of a defined increase in the usage; and

control logic to record the defined increase in the usage in non-volatile memory responsive to receipt of the permission to record from the statistical logic.

2. The processor of claim 1, further comprising the non-volatile memory to store each instance of a plurality of successive instances of the defined increase in the usage.

3. The processor of claim 2, wherein the non-volatile memory comprises programmable fuses.

4. The processor of claim 1, wherein the statistical logic is to determine whether to provide the permission to record the defined increase in the usage based on a comparison of a test number that is randomly selected from a pool comprising a set of defined numbers, to a reference number.

5. The processor of claim 4, wherein the statistical logic is to select one of the defined numbers in the pool as the reference number.

6. The processor of claim 5, wherein the statistical logic is to repeat the determination for each successive instance of receipt of the indication of the defined increase in the usage, and wherein the reference number remains a same value in each successive determination.

7. The processor of claim 4, wherein the statistical logic is to determine the defined numbers in the pool based upon first configuration data stored in the processor.

8. The processor of claim 1, wherein the defined increase in the usage is determined from second configuration data stored in the processor.

9. The processor of claim 1, wherein the usage is associated with a number of cycles of the processor executed since an initial time.

10. The processor of claim 1, wherein the usage is associated with an energy consumed by the processor since an initial time.

11. A system comprising:

a processor comprising

statistical logic to send a first indication to control logic to record an increase in processor usage responsive to;

a second indication that the processor usage has increased by a defined amount; and

a match of a reference number to a test number selected by a random selection process from a defined pool of numbers, and

the control logic to record the increase in the usage in non-volatile memory responsive receipt of the indication to record; and

dynamic random access memory coupled to the processor.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor further comprises measurement logic to provide the indication that the processor usage has increased by the defined amount.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor usage is associated with a total count of processor clock cycles executed by the processor beginning at a start point.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the non-volatile memory comprises a plurality of programmable fuses.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the random selection process comprises selection of a test number from a pool of numbers and comparison to a reference number, and wherein the reference number is set equal to one of the numbers of the pool.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein a count of the numbers in the pool of numbers is associated with a frequency of recordation of the processor usage in the nonvolatile memory.

17. At least one computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon for causing a system to:

determine whether a processor usage associated with a processor has increased by a defined amount;

determine whether a test number procured via a statistical procedure matches a reference number; and

responsive to a match of the test number and the reference number and to the determination that the processor usage has increased by the defined amount, record an increase in the processor usage in non-volatile memory.

18. The at least one computer readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions to determine whether the test number matches the reference number includes instructions to:

set the reference number equal to a selected number of a defined pool of numbers;

perform a random selection of the test number from the defined pool of numbers; and

compare the reference number to the test number.

19. The at least one computer readable storage medium of claim 18, further comprising instructions to, for each successive time that it is determined that the processor usage has increased by the defined amount, determine whether a corresponding test number procured via the random selection matches the reference number and if so, to record the increase by the defined amount in the non-volatile memory.

20. The at least one computer readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions to, responsive to a determination that the processor usage has increased by an amount that exceeds the defined amount, store an incremental value corresponding to an incremental amount by which the amount exceeds the defined amount, reset a counter that determines the processor usage, and after the counter is reset add the incremental value to the counter.