Dual-Substrate Function Gating After Software Downgrade
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Solution Overview
Problem
When a substrate in a highly functional device is replaced or the software is downgraded, the billing scheme may no longer be valid, leading to unauthorized execution of restricted processing.
Innovation Solution
An information processing device with a main substrate and a sub-substrate stores additional information about added functions, using an acquisitor to acquire this information during startup and an operation controller to restrict operations if the function is not supported based on the program version.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of repair
If the substrate is replaced or software is downgraded, then device maintenance and flexibility are improved, but the billing scheme validity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the storage system into two independent parts: main storage for the program and sub-storage for additional information. This segmentation allows the sub-storage to retain billing-related information even when the main substrate is replaced or software is downgraded, thus maintaining billing scheme validity while allowing maintenance operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an acquisitor as an intermediary component that transfers additional information from sub-storage to main storage during startup. This intermediary mechanism ensures that billing-related information is preserved and properly initialized, preventing loss of billing scheme validity during substrate replacement or software downgrading.
2Device complexity
If additional function information is stored only in main storage, then device complexity is reduced, but information retention reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the storage system into main storage and sub-storage, placing additional information about added functions in the sub-storage. This segmentation doubles the storage components but ensures that critical billing-related information is preserved independently of main substrate replacements or software downgrades.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by having the acquisitor automatically transfer additional information from sub-storage to main storage during device startup. This preliminary initialization ensures that billing scheme information is restored before any operations occur, maintaining information retention reliability without requiring complex real-time synchronization mechanisms.
3Reliability
If the acquisitor transfers additional information during startup, then billing scheme validity is maintained, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by having the acquisitor transfer only the necessary additional information from sub-storage to main storage during startup, rather than performing a complete system initialization. This selective transfer maintains billing scheme validity while minimizing the time penalty during device startup.
Data Source
AI summary
An information processing device includes a main substrate, and a sub-substrate capable of communicating with the main substrate. The sub-substrate has a sub-storage that stores additional information indicating whether an additional function according to an update of a program executed on the main substrate has been added. The main substrate has a main storage that stores the program, an acquisitor that acquires the additional information stored in the sub-substrate when the information processing device is started up, and an operation controller that performs control so that an operation of the information processing device is restricted when the additional information acquired by the acquisitor indicates that the additional function has been added and the additional function is determined not to be supported on the basis of a version of the program.