Using power state to enforce software metering state

• US 7,539,647 B2
• Filed: 08/25/2005
• Issued: 05/26/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Xu, Zhangwei, Hall, Martin H., Ahdout, Isaac
• Primary Examiner(s): Hewitt, II; Calvin L
• Assistant Examiner(s): NIGH, JAMES D
• Application Number:
  US11/211,794
• Publication Number:
  US 20070050297A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,370 Days
• Field of Search: 705 50- 52
• US Class Current: 705/52
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing

Abstract

A pay-per-use or metered-use computer uses directives from an operating system or other software component to determine whether to meter or not. Because such directives may not be trustworthy, a metering system may determine a state of the computer to verify that the metering state complies with a policy. If the metering system determines that the power state is not in keeping with the metering state, the metering system may invoke a sanction, such as restarting metering or placing some or all of the computer in a standby power mode.

Claims

1. A method of enforcing a metering policy defining rules for metering in a pay-per-use computer comprising:

a power source and a hardware module that includes a power monitoring circuit, a timer, and a tamper-resistant memory, the method comprising;

storing in the tamper-resistant memory a metering account, a metering function, and a metering policy;

monitoring the power source by the power monitoring circuit and debiting, by the metering function, the metering account based on the monitoring and the metering policy;

determining at the hardware module that the computer is in a standby state or an off state and, based on the metering policy, sending a signal to the metering function to cease debiting the metering account;

in response to the signal, stopping the metering function and the monitoring by the power monitoring circuit and starting an interval using the timer in accordance with the metering policy;

determining at the hardware module, in accordance with the metering policy, that the interval has ended and re-monitoring the power source by the power monitoring circuit; and

based on the re-monitoring, debiting the account by the metering function.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a metering state of the computer to be one of a metered state and a non-metered state.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising shutting down the computer after debiting the account by the metering function.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising resetting the computer after debiting the account by the metering function.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising activating the metering function when directed to meter by a software component running on the computer.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising activating the metering function when the computer is in an active state unless directed to cease metering by a component running on the computer.