Patent ID: 7131001

Claim:
An apparatus for enabling functionality of a component, said apparatus comprising: an identification module, said identification module having an identification number stored therein; a hash function module in communication with said identification module; a host in communication with said identification module, said host being configured to communicate with a manufacturer to request a guess passcode corresponding to the identification number stored in said identification module; a guess register in communication with said host; an encryption module in communication with said guess register; a public key module in communication with said encryption module, said public key module having a public key stored therein; a comparator in communication with said encryption module and said hash function module, wherein said comparator compares a first bit string to a second bit string to generate a function enable output for the component, and wherein said first bit string comprises a ciphertext bit string generated by the encryption module and said second bit string comprises a hash value generated by said hash function module; and a selecting device for selecting at least one of the function enable output and a bonding option output, said selecting device comprising an OR gate having at least one input for receiving said function enable output and the bonding option output.