Apparatus and method to track device usage

• US 9,535,812 B2
• Filed: 06/28/2013
• Issued: 01/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Rajwan, Doron, Shulman, Nadav, Shapira, Dorit, Luria, Kosta, Rotem, Efraim
• Primary Examiner(s): Bonzo, Bryce
• Assistant Examiner(s): Arcos, Jeison C
• Application Number:
  US13/930,212
• Publication Number:
  US 20150006829A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,285 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 system comprising:

a processor comprising;

statistical logic to send a first indication to control logic to record an increase in processor usage corresponding to an elapsed time of processor operation, 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, wherein the random selection process comprises selection of a test number from the pool of numbers and comparison to a reference number, wherein the reference number is set equal to one of the numbers of the pool and a count of the numbers in the pool is associated with a frequency of recordation of the processor usage in a non-volatile memory of the processor;

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

dynamic random access memory coupled to the processor.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor further comprises measurement logic to provide the second indication that the processor usage has increased by the defined amount.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor usage is associated with a total count of processor clock cycles executed by the processor beginning at a start point.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the non-volatile memory comprises a plurality of programmable fuses.

5. At least one non-transitory 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;

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;

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.

6. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 5, 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.

7. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 6, 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.