Locking execution of cores to licensed programmable devices in a data center

A computer system, comprising:

• a processing system;
• and
• a hardware accelerator, coupled to the processing system, the hardware accelerator including:
• a static region comprising non-reconfigurable static circuitry;
• and
• kernel logic configured in a programmable portion of a programmable device, wherein the kernel logic is at least partially reconfigurable, and operation of the kernel logic is configured to be selectively enabled or disabled, and wherein the kernel logic comprises an intellectual property (IP) checker circuit in the kernel logic, the IP checker circuit configured to:
• obtain a device identifier (ID) of the programmable device and a signed whitelist, the signed whitelist including a list of device IDs and a signature;
• verify the signature of the signed whitelist;
• compare the device ID against the list of device IDs;
• and
• selectively enable or disable the operation of the kernel logic by selectively asserting or deasserting an enable of the kernel logic based on presence or absence, respectively, of the device ID in the list of device IDs and verification of the signature.

A method of locking kernel logic, the method comprising:

• configuring kernel logic in a programmable portion of a programmable device of a hardware accelerator, wherein the hardware accelerator comprises a static region comprising non-reconfigurable static circuitry, and wherein operation of the kernel logic is configured to be selectively enabled or disabled;
• obtaining, at an intellectual property (IP) checker circuit in the kernel logic, a device identifier (ID) of the programmable device and a signed whitelist, the signed whitelist including a list of device IDs and a signature;
• verifying the signature of the signed whitelist;
• comparing the device ID against the list of device IDs;
• and
• selectively enabling or disabling the operation of the kernel logic by selectively asserting or deasserting, by the IP checker circuit, an enable of the kernel logic based on presence or absence, respectively, of the device ID in the list of device IDs and verification of the signature.