The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 23, 2010
Filed:
Jan. 19, 2005
Nathan G. Knight, Santa Cruz, CA (US);
Nathan G. Knight, Santa Cruz, CA (US);
Altera Corporation, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for providing protection of pre-designed electronic components or modules ('intellectual property') provided on target hardware devices are described herein. According to various embodiments, the component and the target hardware device include mechanisms for providing a first sequence and a second sequence respectively. While the component is running on the target hardware device, a comparator accesses and compares the first sequence with the second sequence. The comparator may either be included with the component or the target hardware device. If the first and second sequences match, a function of the component is allowed to operate with the target hardware device; otherwise, the function is prevented from operating with the target hardware device. As such, unauthorized use of intellectual property can be controlled.