20240054039. SILICON USAGE METERING TO PROVIDE SILICON-AS-A-SERVICE simplified abstract (Intel Corporation)

SILICON USAGE METERING TO PROVIDE SILICON-AS-A-SERVICE

Organization Name

Intel Corporation

Inventor(s)

Vasudevan Srinivasan of Portland OR (US)

Knut Grimsrud of Forest Grove OR (US)

Johan Van De Groenendaal of Portland OR (US)

Mariusz Oriol of Gdynia (PL)

Nishi Ahuja of Portland OR (US)

Shen Zhou of Shanghai (CN)

Samantha Alt of Portland OR (US)

Katalin Bartfai-walcott of El Dorado Hills CA (US)

Arkadiusz Berent of Tuchom (PL)

SILICON USAGE METERING TO PROVIDE SILICON-AS-A-SERVICE - A simplified explanation of the abstract

This abstract first appeared for US patent application 20240054039 titled 'SILICON USAGE METERING TO PROVIDE SILICON-AS-A-SERVICE

Simplified Explanation

The patent application describes methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture for implementing software-defined silicon feature configuration pay-as-you-go licensing.

• A silicon semiconductor device is disclosed with a first counter that increments a count when a timer expires.
• A feature configuration sampler samples the state of a feature configuration when the timer expires.
• A second counter increments a count when the sampled state indicates the feature is active.
• A feature up-time tracker outputs a value representing the amount of time the configuration has been active based on the counts from the first and second counters.

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1. 1. 1. Potential Applications

• Semiconductor industry for licensing and monitoring feature configurations in silicon devices.

1. 1. 1. Problems Solved

• Efficient management and monitoring of feature configurations in silicon devices.
• Implementing pay-as-you-go licensing for silicon features.

1. 1. 1. Benefits

• Flexibility in activating and deactivating features based on usage.
• Accurate tracking of feature up-time for licensing purposes.
• Improved control and monitoring of silicon device configurations.

Original Abstract Submitted

methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture (e.g., physical storage media) to implement software defined silicon feature configuration pay-as-you-go licensing are disclosed. a disclosed silicon semiconductor device includes a first counter that increments a first count when a timer expires and, responsive to expiration of the timer, a feature configuration sampler to sample a state of a configuration of a feature of the silicon semiconductor device. in addition, the silicon semiconductor device includes a second counter that increments a second count when the sampled state of the configuration of the feature indicates the feature is active. a feature up-time tracker is also included outputs a value representative of an amount of time the configuration has been active, where the amount of time is based on the first count and the second count.