Patent ID: 8549363

Claim:
A processor-implemented method for determining aging of a processing unit in a processor, the method comprising: calculating an effective aging profile for the processing unit, wherein the effective aging profile quantifies the effects of aging on the processing unit, wherein the effective aging profile is based at least in part upon at least one aging profile coefficient, and wherein the aging profile coefficient has an initial value; combining the effective aging profile with process variation data, actual workload data and operating conditions data for the processing unit; determining aging through an aging sensor of the processing unit using the effective aging profile, the process variation data, the actual workload data, architectural characteristics and redundancy data, and the operating conditions data for the processing unit; recalibrating the aging profile coefficient based at least in part upon the determined aging to generate a modified value for the aging profile coefficient; and recalculating the effective aging profile, wherein the recalculated effective aging profile is based at least in part upon the aging profile coefficient modified value.