# US 2021/0240474 A1 · Computing system and method

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- Number: US 2021/0240474 A1
- Document ID: US20210240474A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/777,503
- Filed: 2020-01-30
- Published: 2021-08-05
- Earliest claimed: 2020-01-30
- Assignees: Core Scientific, Inc.
- Applicants: Core Scientific, Inc.
- Inventors: Kristy-Leigh Anne Minehan
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210240474A1

## CPC

- G06F 1/28: Supervision thereof, e.g. detecting power-supply failure by out of limits supervision
- G06F 9/30083: {Power or thermal control instructions}
- G06F 1/3206: Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality
- G06F 9/3877: {using a secondary processor, e.g. coprocessor (peripheral processor G06F13/12)}
- G06Q 20/02: involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
- G06Q 20/145: {Payments according to the detected use or quantity}
- G06Q 20/367: {involving electronic purses or money safes}
- G06Q 20/389: {Keeping log of transactions for guaranteeing non-repudiation of a transaction}
- G06Q 20/4037: {Remote solvency checks}
- G07F 15/003: {for electricity}
- H04L 9/0643: {Hash functions, e.g. MD5, SHA, HMAC or f9 MAC}
- H04L 9/3239: {involving non-keyed hash functions, e.g. modification detection codes [MDCs], MD5, SHA or RIPEMD}
- G06Q 2220/00: Business processing using cryptography
- H04L 9/50: {using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees}
- H04L 2209/56: Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
- Y04S 40/20: Information technology specific aspects, e.g. CAD, simulation, modelling, system security
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G07F: COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS (coin sorting G07D3/00; coin testing G07D5/00; {handling coins or paper currencies apart from payment activated apparatus G07D; payment architectures, schemes or protocols G06Q20/00})
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- Y04S: SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS

## Abstract

A datacenter including a first voltage sensor and/or first amperage sensor along with a second voltage sensor and/or second amperage sensor. The first amperage and voltage sensors are associated with a first computing device (FCD) and the second amperage and voltage sensors are associated with a second computing device (SCD). The datacenter also includes an electronic control unit (ECU) that communicates with the FCD and the SCD. The ECU is configured to receive FCD energy consumption information and additional updated FCD energy consumption information via the first voltage and/or amperage sensor(s). FCD energy consumption information is associated with energy consumed by the FCD during a first customer billing cycle. The ECU is also configured to divide a first blockchain mining reward into a first customer portion and a first datacenter portion and withhold the first customer portion when the first datacenter portion is less than a first minimum threshold.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A datacenter comprising:
at least one of a first voltage sensor and a first amperage sensor associated with a first computing device (FCD);
at least one of a second voltage sensor and a second amperage sensor associated with a second computing device (SCD); and
an electronic control unit (ECU) communicating with the FCD and the SCD, the ECU configured to:
receive FCD energy consumption information and additional updated FCD energy consumption information via at least one of the first voltage sensor and the first amperage sensor, wherein the FCD energy consumption information and the updated FCD energy consumption information is associated with energy consumed by the FCD during a first customer billing cycle;
divide a first blockchain mining reward into at least a first customer portion and a first datacenter portion; and
withhold the first customer portion from a first customer when the first datacenter portion is less than a first minimum threshold.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The datacenter of claim 1 wherein the first minimum threshold is a first customer fee owed to the datacenter, and wherein the ECU is further configured to:
receive SCD energy consumption information and additional updated SCD energy consumption information from at least one of the second voltage sensor and the second amperage sensor, wherein the SCD energy consumption information and the additional updated SCD energy consumption information is associated with energy consumed by the SCD during a second customer billing cycle;
divide a second blockchain mining reward into at least a second customer portion and a second datacenter portion; and
withhold the second customer portion from a second customer when the second datacenter portion is less than a second minimum threshold.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The datacenter of claim 2 wherein the ECU is further configured to:
provide the FCD energy consumption information and the additional updated FCD energy consumption information to the first customer during the first customer billing cycle; and
provide the SCD energy consumption information and the additional updated SCD energy consumption information to the second customer during the second customer billing cycle, wherein the ECU employs a self-executing smart contract to (i) receive the FCD energy consumption information and the additional updated FCD energy consumption information and (ii) withhold the first customer portion.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The datacenter of claim 3 wherein the FCD is a first graphical processing unit (GPU) and the SCD is a second GPU, and wherein first minimum threshold is based in part on at least one of the FCD energy consumption information and the additional updated FCD energy consumption information.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The datacenter of claim 4, the self-executing smart contract further configured to pass along the first customer portion to the first customer when the first datacenter portion is greater than the first minimum threshold, and wherein at least the FCD energy consumption information is received via at least one of a first driver interacting with the first GPU and a power distribution unit (PDU) interacting with the first GPU.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The datacenter of claim 5 wherein the FCD energy consumption information includes a first quantity of energy consumed by the FCD during a first time period and the additional updated FCD energy consumption information includes at least a second quantity of energy consumed by the FCD during a second time period and a third quantity of energy consumed by the FCD during a third time period, and wherein at least the first and second time periods are within the billing cycle.

### Claim 7 (depends on 5)

The datacenter of claim 5 wherein the FCD energy consumption information includes a first rate of energy consumption by the FCD during a first time period and the additional updated FCD energy consumption information includes at least a second rate of energy consumption by the FCD during a second time period and a third rate of energy consumption by the FCD during a third time period, and wherein at least the first and second time periods are within the billing cycle.

### Claim 8 (depends on 5)

The datacenter of claim 5, the processing unit further configured to:
provide a first set of billing information to the first customer and a second set of billing information to the second customer, wherein the first set of billing information includes at least one of the first customer fee, a total monthly operational time of the FCD, and a quantity of energy consumed by the FCD during the billing cycle; and
provide the billing information to a blockchain.

### Claim 9

A datacenter comprising:
a plurality of computing devices configured for cryptocurrency mining, the plurality of computing devices including a first computing device (FCD) associated with a first customer;
an electronic control unit (ECU) configured to:
repeatedly receive FCD energy consumption information for the FCD over a first timeframe, wherein the FCD energy consumption information is associated with at least energy consumed by the FCD during a first interval of the first timeframe and energy consumed by the FCD during a second interval of the first timeframe;
provide the FCD energy consumption information to a first customer, wherein the first customer is associated with the FCD;
proportion at least one cryptocurrency mining reward into at least a first customer portion and a first datacenter portion, wherein the at least one cryptocurrency reward is associated with work done by at least the FCD; and
determine if the first datacenter portion is less than a first minimum threshold.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The datacenter of claim 9, the plurality of computing systems further comprising a second computing device (SCD), wherein the ECU is further configured to:
repeatedly receive SCD energy consumption information for the SCD over the first timeframe, wherein the SCD energy consumption information is associated with at least energy consumed by the SCD during the first timeframe;
repeatedly provide the SCD energy consumption information to a second customer respectively over a plurality of intervals of the first timeframe, wherein the second customer is one of the first customer and a different customer; and
determine if a second customer portion of the datacenter mining reward is less than a second minimum threshold, the second minimum threshold may be one of the first minimum threshold and a different minimum threshold.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The datacenter of claim 10 wherein the ECU interacts with a self-executing smart contract such that the self-executing smart contract causes the ECU to automatically: i) carry out the proportionment of the at least one cryptocurrency mining reward into at least the first customer portion and the first datacenter portion and ii) withhold the first datacenter portion from the first customer when the first datacenter portion is less than the first minimum threshold.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The datacenter of claim 11 wherein the FCD energy consumption information is one of a plurality of kilowatt per hour information and a plurality of kilowatt-hour information, and wherein the FCD is one of a central processing unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a graphics processing unit (GPU), and a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The datacenter of claim 12 wherein the plurality of kilowatt-hour information includes a first quantity of kilowatt-hours consumed by the FCD over the first interval and a second quantity of kilowatt-hours consumed by the FCD over the second interval.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The datacenter of claim 11 further comprising an invoicing system configured to interact with the ECU to automatically provide an invoice to the first customer, wherein the self-executing smart contract automatically provides the first customer portion to the first customer when at least a portion of the invoice is paid to the self-executing smart contract.

### Claim 15

A method of operating a computing system comprising:
repeatedly receiving, at an electronic control unit (ECU), first energy consumption information for a first computing device (FCD) over intervals of a first timeframe, wherein the first energy consumption information is associated with energy consumed by the FCD over the intervals first timeframe;
providing, via the ECU, the first energy consumption information to a first customer, wherein the first customer is associated with the FCD; and
submitting a first smart contract to a blockchain network, wherein the first smart contract is configured to:
receive at least one cryptocurrency mining reward;
proportion the at least one cryptocurrency mining reward into at least a first customer portion and a first datacenter portion, wherein the at least one cryptocurrency reward is associated with work done by at least the FCD; and
determine if the first datacenter portion is less than a first minimum threshold.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15 further comprising:
repeatedly receiving, at the ECU, second energy consumption information via a second computing device (SCD) over a second timeframe, wherein the second energy consumption information is associated with energy consumed by the SCD over the second timeframe, wherein at least one of a first driver and a power distribution unit (PDU) provides the first energy consumption information to the ECU and at least one of a second driver and the PDU provides the second energy consumption information to the ECU;
providing, via the ECU, the second energy consumption information to a second customer, wherein the second customer is associated with the SCD; and
submitting a second smart contract to the blockchain network, wherein the second smart contract is configured to:
receive at least one additional cryptocurrency mining reward;
proportion the at least one additional cryptocurrency mining reward into a second customer portion and a second datacenter portion, wherein the at least one additional cryptocurrency reward is associated with work done by at least the SCD; and
determine if the second datacenter portion is less than a second minimum threshold.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16 wherein the first energy consumption information is in the form of at least one of kilowatt per hour information and kilowatt-hour information, and wherein the FCD is one of a central processing unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a graphics processing unit (GPU), and a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

### Claim 18 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15 further comprising repeatedly providing, via an oracle, the first energy consumption information to the first smart contract.

### Claim 19 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17 further comprising:
generating an invoice based on the first energy consumption information;
providing the invoice to the first customer;
withholding, via the smart contract, the first customer portion from the first customer if the first datacenter portion is less than the minimum threshold; and
conveying the first customer portion to the first customer when at least a portion of the invoice is conveyed to the smart contract.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19 wherein the first energy consumption information provided to the first customer over consecutive intervals includes at least two of: i) a first quantity of kilowatt-hours consumed by the FCD over a first time interval, ii) a second quantity of kilowatt-hours consumed by the FCD over a second time interval, and iii) a third quantity of kilowatt-hours consumed by the FCD over a third time interval, and wherein the timeframe is approximately one billing cycle.