Numerical controller having scalable performance

A system program for a numerical controller controlling a machine, wherein the system program comprises machine code embodied on a non-transitory storage medium, which when loaded into a memory of the numerical controller and executed by a processor of the numerical controller, causes the numerical controller to

• determine, with the processor having a first clock rate and by executing the useful program, target values for position-controlled axes of the machine and actuating the position-controlled axes in accordance with the determined target values,
• store criteria for deciding which and to which extent resources of the numerical controller are enabled or disabled, wherein enabling or disabling the resources specifies
• a number of processor cores of the at least one processor to be enabled for use, or
• a number of processor threads of the at least one processor to be enabled for use, or
• an extent of a processor cache or of a main memory of the at least one processor to be enabled for use, or
• hardware components of the numerical controller to be enabled for use, or
• an extent of external computing power to be permitted, and
• determine the target values for the position-controlled axes using only the enabled resources based on unlock codes received, during execution of the system program, but before execution of the useful program, from an operator or from a computer-controlled facility,
• with a first of the unlock codes determining which of the resources are enabled and disabled, and to which extent the resources are enabled, with a second of the unlock codes determining a minimum execution time, and with a third of the unlock codes determining a first upper limit for the first clock rate for execution of the useful program.

A numerical controller controlling a machine, wherein the numerical controller is programmed with a system program comprising machine code embodied on a non-transitory storage medium, which when loaded into a memory of the numerical controller and executed by a processor of the numerical controller, causes the numerical controller to

• determine, with the processor having a first clock rate and by executing the useful program, target values for position-controlled axes of the machine and actuating the position-controlled axes in accordance with the determined target values,
• store criteria for deciding which and to which extent resources of the numerical controller are enabled or disabled, wherein enabling or disabling the resources specifies
• a number of processor cores of the at least one processor to be enabled for use, or
• a number of processor threads of the at least one processor to be enabled for use, or
• an extent of a processor cache or of a main memory of the at least one processor to be enabled for use, or
• hardware components of the numerical controller to be enabled for use, or
• an extent of external computing power to be permitted, and
• determine the target values for the position-controlled axes using only the enabled resources based on unlock codes received, during execution of the system program, but before execution of the useful program, from an operator or from a computer-controlled facility,
• with a first of the unlock codes determining which of the resources are enabled and disabled, and to which extent the resources are enabled, with a second of the unlock codes determining a minimum execution time, and with a third of the unlock codes determining a first upper limit for the first clock rate for execution of the useful program.