Apparatus and method for cryptographic-based license management

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide a cryptographic-based license management device comprising a license authority configured to generate a license in response to a product option request; an interface module having a plurality of product options that may be selectively enabled in response to a valid license issued by the license authority; a non-volatile memory associated with the interface module, the non-volatile memory module containing a programmable verification component for determining the authenticity of the license; and a license verification module associated with the interface module, the license verification module configured to verify the authenticity of a license using the programmable verification component contained within the non-volatile memory and enable selected product options provided the license is verified by the license verification module. Another feature of the present invention provides a method for cryptographic-based license management, the method comprising, generating a license in response to a product option request, the product option request identifying selected product options associated with an interface module; applying a digital signature to the license; supplying the license to an interface module; verifying the digital signature of the license with a verification component associated with the interface module; and enabling the selected product options associated with the interface module provided the digital signature of the license has been verified with the verification component.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.