System and method for reconfiguring and deploying soft stock-keeping units

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11218322-B2
Application number	US-201715719375-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 28, 2017
Priority date	Sep 28, 2017
Publication date	Jan 4, 2022
Grant date	Jan 4, 2022

Abstract

Techniques and apparatuses for issuance of license upgrades for hardware components in the field, as well as the hardware components, are described. In one embodiment, for example an apparatus may include processor circuitry and memory in communication with the processor circuitry, wherein the memory contains a configuration data block and license data block, the configuration data block being read from the memory via a licensing apparatus and the licensing data block being written to the memory by the licensing apparatus. The processor may include executable code to process the licensing data block to facilitate an upgrade of the capabilities of the processor circuitry.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a semiconductor package comprising:
processor circuitry having executable code embedded therein, the processor circuitry configured with one or more operational capabilities and a unique identifier to identify the processor circuitry; and
memory, in communication with the processor circuitry, the memory comprising:
a configuration data block containing at least the unique identifier identifying the processor circuitry, and a current configuration of the one or more operational capabilities of the processor circuitry, wherein the current configuration specifies a first number of computing threads to be executed by a processor core of the processor circuitry; and
a license data block, containing a license for a set of configuration parameters for the one or more operational capabilities of the processor circuitry, the license signed with the unique identifier, the set of configuration parameters to enable or disable each respective operational capability of the one or more operational capabilities of the processor circuitry, wherein the set of configuration parameters specifies a second number of computing threads to be executed by the processor core,
wherein the executable code is to upgrade the processor core to execute the second number of computing threads by overriding the current configuration with the set of configuration parameters.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the configuration data block includes a public encryption key associated with the semiconductor package.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the configuration data block is signed with the unique identifier and is encrypted.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the executable code contains instructions to:
read the license data block;
validate the license data block by verifying that the identifier used to sign the license data block matches the unique identifier of the processor circuitry; and
override the current configuration of the one or more operational capabilities of the processor circuitry with the set of configuration parameters specified in the license data block to upgrade the processor core to execute the second number of computing threads.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the license data block is signed with a private key and includes the unique ID of the processor circuitry and further wherein the semiconductor package contains a public encryption key and the code contains further instructions to decrypt the license data block using the public encryption key.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the memory is wireless capable and further wherein the configuration data block is read from the memory via a wireless connection and further wherein the license data block is stored into the memory via a wireless connection.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the current configuration specifies to disable a first operational capability of the one or more operational capabilities, wherein the configuration parameters specify to enable to first operational capability.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the executable code contains instructions to:
modify, based on the configuration parameters, one or more configuration register banks of the processor circuitry to enable the first operational capability.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first number of computing threads is different than the second number of computing threads, wherein the one or more operational capabilities comprise a plurality of processor cores of the processor circuitry, a cache of the processor circuitry, or an operating frequency of the processor circuitry, wherein the plurality of processor cores include the processor core.

10. A method comprising:
retrieving a license data block from a memory, the license data block containing a signed license allowing a set of configuration parameters for one or more operational capabilities to be applied to processor circuitry in communication with the memory, the one or more operational capabilities of the processor circuitry configured according to a current configuration, wherein the current configuration specifies a first number of computing threads to be executed by a processor core of the processor circuitry, wherein the configuration parameters specify a second number of computing threads to be executed by the processor core;
validating the license data block; and
applying the set of configuration parameters specified in the license data block to the processor circuitry to override the current configuration to enable or disable each respective operational capability of the one or more operational capabilities and upgrade the processor core to execute the second number of computing threads.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the license data block is signed by a signature generated with a private key, the method further comprising:
verifying the signature with a public key, the public key being encoded into the processor circuitry.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
extracting an identifier from the license data block; and
verifying that the identifier matches a unique identifier encoded into the processor circuitry.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first number of computing threads is different than the second number of computing threads, the method further comprising:
extracting the license from the verified license data block.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the method is embodied in executable code encoded into the processor circuitry.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the executable code is executed on a cold boot of the processor circuitry.

16. An apparatus, comprising:
memory, containing logic for execution by a first processor; and
a hardware signing module containing a private encryption key;
wherein the logic is configured to:
receive a request to modify one or more operational capabilities of a second processor from a current configuration to a modified configuration, wherein the current configuration specifies a first number of computing threads to be executed by a processor core of the second processor, wherein the modified configuration specifies a second number of computing threads to be executed by the processor core;
receive configuration data indicating the current configuration of the one or more operational capabilities of the second processor and a unique identifier identifying the second processor;
generate an authorization to override the current configuration to enable or disable each respective operational capability of the one or more operational capabilities of the second processor as specified by the modified configuration, the authorization containing the unique identifier and the authorization being signed by the private key; and
communicate the authorization to the second processor to upgrade the processor core to execute the second number of computing threads.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the logic is further configured to:
receive status information indicating the receipt of the authorization by the second processor; and
store the authorization and status information for transmission to a remote system.

18. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the configuration data is received through a wired connection and further wherein the authorization is communicated to the second processor via the wired connection.

19. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the configuration data is received through a wireless connection and further wherein the authorization is communicated

Assignees

• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Ghetie Sergiu D
• Upasani Neeraj S
• Nnebe Chukwunenye S
• Lee Won
• Murty Shaila R
• Berent Arkadiusz
• Chilukuri Vasuki
• Mayo David T
• Bobholz Scott P
• Rose Vinila
• Powiertowski Wojciech S

Classifications

• G06Q2220/18

  Licensing · CPC title

• H04L2209/80

  Wireless · CPC title

• H04L9/14

  using a plurality of keys or algorithms · CPC title

• H04L9/30

  Public key, i.e. encryption algorithm being computationally infeasible to invert or user's encryption keys not requiring secrecy · CPC title

• H04L9/3247 Primary

  involving digital signatures · CPC title