Patent ID: 7793163

Claim:
A first system for extending the useful life of a second system, said first system comprising: duplicate devices each adapted to independently perform a same function within said second system, said duplicate devices exhibiting, when powered-up, performance degradation over time and further exhibiting, when powered-down, performance recovery over time; reference signal generators incorporated into each of said duplicate devices and adapted to track said performance degradation of said duplicate devices and to generate reference signals indicating values associated with said performance degradation, wherein each reference signal generator generates a corresponding reference signal that indicates, for a corresponding duplicate device, a performance degradation value associated with said corresponding duplicate devices; a comparator adapted to receive and compare said reference signals so as to determine differences between said values; and a state machine in communication with said comparator and with each of said duplicate devices, wherein said state machine is adapted to selectively power-up and power-down said duplicate devices as dictated by a predetermined policy and based, at least in part, on a minimum difference between said values, and wherein selectively powering-up and powering-down said duplicate devices allows said duplicate devices to recover following said performance degradation.