KR20230154428A - Extension unit for aerosol generating devices - Google Patents

Abstract

An expansion unit for an aerosol generating device (and corresponding aerosol generating devices and systems) is provided, the expansion unit comprising, at a first end of the expansion unit, a first connection interface connectable to the aerosol generating device. Additionally, the unit, when connected to the aerosol generating device, comprises means for activating at least one additional function of the aerosol generating device in addition to aerosol generating.

Description

Extension unit for aerosol generating devices

The present invention relates generally to the field of aerosol generating devices. In particular, the present invention relates to an expansion unit for an aerosol generating device, an aerosol generating device, and a system comprising the expansion unit.

Aerosol generating devices such as electronic cigarettes, vaping devices and aerosol inhalers are known. Such aerosol generating devices are hand-held devices and typically include an atomizer, a power source, and a liquid-filled capsule disposed therein to generate an aerosol (i.e., vapor) that can be inhaled by the user. or similar means. The generated aerosol may comprise, for example, a form of nicotine, and the user of the aerosol generating device can simulate smoking a cigarette, for example by inhaling the generated aerosol.

Aerosol generating devices have several inherent limitations. In particular, as a non-limiting example, portable aerosol generating devices must generally be relatively small in size and relatively light in weight to be portable, generally have limited memory space and power, and have simple or minimal user interfaces.

Currently, there is an increasing demand for “smart” devices that can provide a variety of functions. The present inventors have recognized that incorporating more and more additional hardware into an aerosol generating device to provide additional functionality may result in an undesirable increase in size or weight of the device. Additionally, providing additional software and programs within an aerosol generating device to provide additional functionality may further strain the already limited memory space and power of such device.

Additionally, there is a demand for electronic devices that can be easily personalized or customized by the user according to the user's tastes and preferences. As such, the inventors have recognized that providing an aerosol generating device with additional hardware and/or software to activate certain functions may sometimes be unnecessary, depending on whether the user uses those particular features.

Accordingly, the present inventors have recognized that there is a need to provide a means to provide an aerosol generating device with additional functionality as needed. Additionally, the inventors have discovered that the device can maintain a relatively small size and relatively light weight while allowing the addition of functionality to the aerosol generating device, while also remaining within any constraints on the memory space, power, and user interface of the aerosol generating device. We recognized that there was a need to provide the means to do so.

The present invention is intended to solve one or more of the technical problems described above.

In particular, taking into account the above-mentioned limitations, the present inventors have designed an expansion unit according to the first exemplary aspect of the present application. The expansion unit includes, at a first end of the expansion unit, a first connection interface connectable to an aerosol generating device. The expansion unit, when connected to the aerosol generating device, further comprises means for activating at least one additional function of the aerosol generating device in addition to aerosol generating.

The inventors, according to the second exemplary aspect of the present application, have further designed an aerosol generating device comprising a power unit. The power unit includes a power source, a control section, and a connection interface connectable to an expansion unit according to the first exemplary aspect of the present application. The control section is configured to control at least one of the size of power supply through the connection interface, the direction of power supply through the connection interface, and the transmission of data through the connection interface.

The inventors, according to the third exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, have further designed a system comprising an expansion unit according to the first exemplary aspect and an aerosol generating device according to the second exemplary aspect.

The inventors, according to the fourth exemplary aspect of the disclosure, have further devised a method for controlling the communication of the aerosol generating device with one or more expansion units via a communication bus. Each of the one or more expansion units can be connected to an aerosol-generating device and, when connected to the aerosol-generating device, are configured to activate at least one additional function of the aerosol-generating device in addition to aerosol generating. The method includes identifying, using the communication address, among a plurality of communication addresses on a communication bus, at least one communication address used for receiving a signal from one of the one or more expansion units. The method further includes associating each of the at least one communication addresses with an expansion unit identifier indicating the expansion unit from which the signal was received. The method further includes, for each expansion unit identifier, determining a current connection state of the expansion unit indicated by the expansion unit identifier. The method includes, for each expansion unit identifier, controlling communication with the expansion unit indicated by the expansion unit identifier through a communication bus using a communication address associated with the expansion unit identifier and according to the determined current connection state of the expansion unit. Includes additional

The present inventors, in accordance with the fifth exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, have further designed a computer program comprising instructions, which instructions, when executed by the control section of the aerosol generating device, cause the control section to operate according to the fourth exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Perform the method according to the mode.

The inventors, according to the sixth exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, have further designed an aerosol generating device comprising a control section configured to perform the method according to the fourth exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

The inventors, according to the seventh exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, have further designed an aerosol generating device comprising a power unit according to the sixth exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

Accordingly, the first to seventh exemplary aspects enable one or more expansion units to be connected to an aerosol generating device. As each expansion unit provides at least one additional function other than the aerosol generating function provided by the aerosol generating device, one or more additional functions may be enabled in the aerosol generating device.

Additionally, the first to seventh exemplary embodiments allow the additional functionality provided by the aerosol generating device to be personalized based on the user's wants/needs, which allows the user to decide which expansion unit to connect to the aerosol generating device. Because you can choose. Therefore, while each expansion unit can provide additional functions to enrich the user's experience, unnecessary hardware and/or software for functions not relevant to the user are integrated or pre-installed into the user's aerosol generating device. You can prevent it from happening.

Additionally, in embodiments where the aerosol generating device can be used with multiple expansion units at a time, the user can be prevented from being limited to one additional function at a time. If an expansion unit has connection interfaces at both ends, the expansion unit can be installed in another expansion unit, thereby providing a kind of "expansion unit chain" that allows the user to create his own "configuration"; , the expansion units can be configured in any order relative to the aerosol generating device.

Wherein the control section of the aerosol generating device according to the second exemplary aspect is configured to control at least one of the magnitude of power supply through the connection interface, the direction of power supply by the connection interface, and the transfer of data through the connection interface, The aerosol generating device can control the expansion unit's demands on power, memory, and other resources of the aerosol generating device.

In addition, a method for controlling communication between one or more expansion units and an aerosol generating device through a communication bus according to the fourth exemplary aspect is such that the aerosol generating device performing the method simply and efficiently operates through a communication address of the communication bus. It makes it possible to scan and thereby identify addresses used for communication by connected expansion units and to appropriately control communication with these expansion units over the communication bus.

Accordingly, the method according to the fourth exemplary aspect can facilitate the provision of means by which additional functions can be provided to the aerosol generating device as needed. Additionally, the method according to the fourth exemplary aspect allows adding functionality to an aerosol generating device while also allowing the device to be of relatively small size without deviating from any constraints on memory space, power, and user interface of the aerosol generating device. And it can facilitate the provision of means that can maintain a relatively light weight.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments of the present invention will now be specifically described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings described below. Similar reference numbers appearing in different of the drawings may indicate identical or functionally similar elements, unless otherwise specified.
1 is a schematic diagram of an aerosol generating device, according to an exemplary aspect herein.
2 is a block diagram illustrating a power unit of an aerosol generating device, according to an exemplary aspect herein.
3 is a schematic diagram of an expansion unit for an aerosol generating device, according to an exemplary aspect herein.
FIG. 4A is a block diagram showing the configuration of a “master” device and a “slave” device using the I2C communication protocol.
FIG. 4B is a block diagram illustrating a detailed example configuration of a connection between a first device and a second device using the I2C communication protocol.
FIG. 4C is a block diagram illustrating a detailed example configuration of a connection between two devices using the serial UART communication protocol.
4D and 4E are block diagrams showing two detailed example configurations of connections between devices using the SPI communication protocol.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example configuration of a power circuit that may be included in the power unit of FIG. 3 to aid integration with external expansion units.
Figure 6A is a schematic diagram of a plurality of expansion units, and Figure 6B is a schematic diagram showing how expansion units may be connected to the aerosol generating device of Figure 3 to provide an aerosol generating system.
Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example configuration of a circuit that may be included in an expansion unit constructed according to the first example aspect.
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example configuration of circuit 800, which may be included in expansion unit 100 constructed according to the third example aspect.
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example configuration of circuit 900, which may be included in expansion unit 100 constructed according to the fourth example aspect.
10 is a block diagram illustrating a layered software architecture suitable for use with the disclosed example aspects.
FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for causing the aerosol generating device of FIG. 3 to control communication with one or more expansion units via a communication bus, according to example aspects herein.
FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process that allows the aerosol generating device of FIG. 3 to control communication with one or more expansion units via a communication bus, according to a first example aspect of the disclosure.
FIG. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process that allows the aerosol generating device of FIG. 3 to control communication with one or more expansion units via a communication bus, according to a second example aspect of the disclosure.
FIG. 14 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process that allows the aerosol generating device of FIG. 3 to control communication with one or more expansion units via a communication bus, according to a third example aspect of the disclosure.
FIG. 15 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process that allows the aerosol generating device of FIG. 3 to control communication with one or more expansion units via a communication bus, according to a fourth example aspect of the disclosure.
FIG. 16 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process that allows the aerosol generating device of FIG. 3 to control communication with one or more expansion units via a communication bus, according to a fifth example aspect of the disclosure.
Figures 17A-17C are flow diagrams illustrating operations performed by an aerosol generating device in the application software layer of the layered software architecture shown in Figure 10.
Figures 18A-18G are flow diagrams illustrating operations performed by an aerosol generating device in the system software layer of the layered software architecture shown in Figure 10.
Figures 19A-19C are flow diagrams illustrating operations performed by an aerosol generating device in the Board Support Layer of the layered software architecture shown in Figure 10.
FIGS. 20A-20C are flowcharts illustrating operations performed by an aerosol generating device in the Hardware Abstraction Layer of the layered software architecture shown in FIG. 10.

Now, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

When reference signs follow technical features in the drawings, detailed description, or any claims, the reference signs are included solely to enhance the understanding of the drawings, detailed description, and claims. Accordingly, the presence or absence of reference signs does not have any effect to limit the scope of any claim element.

1 is a schematic diagram of an aerosol generating device 1, according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure.

The aerosol generating device 1 is a portable device configured to generate an aerosol (i.e. vapor) that can be inhaled by a user of the aerosol generating device 1.

The aerosol generating device 1 may, as in this exemplary embodiment, be a so-called “electro-vapor” device. An electro-vapor device is one that heats a liquid, including, but not limited to, nicotine and/or flavors, but does not include tobacco, to produce vapor by direct electrical heating of the liquid contained within the device or replaceable cartridge. Create. In this case, the aerosol generating device 1 comprises a power unit 10, as in this exemplary embodiment, an aerosol generating unit 20, and optionally, a flavoring unit 30, as in this exemplary embodiment. may include.

The aerosol generating unit 20 may include, as in this example, a storage container 21 for storing the aerosol source and a load 22 for atomizing the aerosol source. Power is provided to load 22 by power unit 10. A wick or any other suitable means may be provided to draw the aerosol source from the reservoir 21 to the rod 22, which may include a liquid such as glycerin, propylene glycol or water that produces a vapor. .

Rod 22 atomizes the aerosol source (e.g., by heating), thereby producing an aerosol that passes through flavor unit 30 in response to the user's inhalation action. In one example, load 22 is represented by the electrical load of the heating element, ie the energy consumed by the heating element. The heating element may be resistive, inductive, etc.

Flavor unit 30 may include a flavor source 31 and an intake port 32, as shown in FIG. 1 . The flavor source 31 may include, for example, granules of shredded raw tobacco or other botanicals (e.g. mint or herbs), and/or flavoring agents such as menthol or fruit flavors, Accordingly, flavoring agent is added to the aerosol as it passes through the flavoring source 31.

The power unit 10, aerosol generating unit 20, and flavor unit 30 may be detachable so that the individual units can be easily replaced. By way of example, the elements of the aerosol generating device 1 may be formed by any suitable means, for example, an interference fit, snap fit, screw fit, bay, or interference fit between housings or other parts of the element. They can be detachably assembled together through a Yonet-type fit or magnetic fit. Alternatively, the power unit 10, the aerosol generating unit 20 and, optionally, the flavor unit 30 may be fixedly attached, for example by ultrasonic welding, so that the various elements cannot be detached.

Additionally or alternatively, the storage vessel 21 and/or the aerosol source and/or flavor source 31 stored therein may be replaced. By way of example, at least the storage container 21 of the aerosol generating unit 20 may be provided in the form of a replaceable cartridge. Additionally or alternatively, the flavor source 31 of the flavor unit 30 may be provided in the form of a replaceable cartridge.

Although the aerosol generating unit 20 and the flavoring unit 30 of the aerosol generating device 1 in Figure 1 are shown as separate units, alternatively these two units could be provided as one unit. As a further alternative, the aerosol generating device 1 may not comprise a flavoring unit. In this case, any flavoring agent may optionally be provided with the aerosol source in the storage vessel 21 of the aerosol generating unit 20.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in Figure 1, the aerosol generating device 1 is a so-called “electro-vapor” device. Alternatively, the aerosol generating device may be a so-called “T-vapor” device, also commonly referred to as a Heat-not-Burn device or a heated tobacco device. Non-combustion-heating includes tobacco that is heated directly by a heating element (eg, a tubular heater surrounding a tobacco stick) to produce vapor. Other types of heated tobacco devices include tobacco (e.g., tobacco powder in capsules or pods) that is indirectly heated to produce vapor by direct electrical heating of liquid contained within the device or replaceable cartridge.

In exemplary embodiments where the aerosol generating device is a “T-vapor” device, the aerosol generating device may include a heating oven or other means for heating (rather than burning) the tobacco provided within the device. Cigarettes may, for example, be provided in the form of tobacco sticks, similar to conventional sticks.

As a more specific example, in an exemplary embodiment in which the aerosol generating device is a “T-vapor” device, a power unit 10 may be provided within the aerosol generating unit, in addition to the power source, such as a heating oven for heating tobacco or other It may include means. In this case, the aerosol generating unit may only function to store cigarettes and may not contain any additional electronics.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a power unit 10 of an aerosol generating device, according to an exemplary aspect herein. The power unit 10 may be the power unit of the aerosol generating device 1 in FIG. 1 . Alternatively, the power unit 10 may be the power unit of any other suitable aerosol generating device, such as for example a T-vapor device.

The power unit 10 shown in FIG. 2 includes a control section 11 , a power source 12 and a connection interface 13 . Optionally, power unit 10 may include at least one sensor 14 and/or at least one input/output (I/O) section 15, as in this exemplary aspect. Additionally, if the power unit 10 is a power unit of a T-vapor device, the power unit 10 may optionally comprise a heating oven 16 or other means for heating the tobacco.

Power source 12 may be a rechargeable power source, as in this example. Power source 12 may be a lithium ion battery, as in this example. Alternatively, power source 12 may be, for example, a rechargeable secondary battery or an electric double layer capacitor (EDLC).

Control section 11 includes one or more processing units (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), such as a microprocessor, or a suitably programmed field programmable gate array (FPGA) or application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)). can do. Control section 11 may be configured to control the operation of the aerosol generating device, as in this exemplary embodiment.

By way of example, the control section 11 may control the power supply to the aerosol generating unit 20 and the charging of the power source 12 . Additionally or alternatively, the control section 11 may control the supply of power to the at least one sensor 14 as required and may receive and process signals from the at least one sensor 14 and , the operation of the aerosol generating device 1 can be controlled based on the received signal. Additionally or alternatively, the control section 11 may control the output to the user of the aerosol generating device 1 by means of at least one I/O section 15, and the at least one I/O section ( 15), the reception of user input can be controlled, and the operation of the aerosol generating device 1 can be controlled based on the received user input. The control section 11 may include separate modules or sections for performing each function.

Additionally or alternatively, the control section 11 may be equipped with any memory section (not shown) necessary to perform the function of controlling the operation of the aerosol generating device. Such a memory section may be provided (included) as part of the control section 11 (e.g. formed integrally or provided on the same chip), or may be provided separately within the power unit 10 to provide electricity to the control section 11. can be connected By way of example, a memory section may include volatile and non-volatile memory resources, including, for example, working memory (e.g., random access memory). Additionally, the memory section may include an instruction storage unit (e.g., ROM in the form of electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) or flash memory) that stores a computer program containing computer-readable instructions. , instructions, when executed by the control section 11, cause the control section 11 to perform various functions. The memory section further includes memory resources for storing additional information, such as information related to at least one sensor 14 and at least one input/output (I/O) section 15. can do.

The connection interface 13 is, as in this example, one or more charging terminals (e.g., USB terminal, micro USB terminal, wireless charging terminal, etc.) used for charging of the power source 12, and the power unit of FIG. It may include one or more discharge terminals that enable power supply from (10) to the aerosol generating unit (20). The connection interface will be described in more detail below.

In an exemplary aspect, such as this exemplary aspect, where the power unit 10 optionally includes at least one sensor 14, the at least one sensor 14 is configured to, as in this example, be connected to the aerosol generating device 1. It may include one or more of a suction sensor used in the detection of a suction action by the user, and/or a voltage and current sensor used in the detection of charging and discharging of the power source 12.

In an exemplary embodiment, such as this exemplary embodiment, where the power unit 10 optionally includes at least one I/O section 15, the at least one I/O section 15 is an aerosol generating device ( 1) may comprise input means allowing to receive input from a user of the aerosol generating device 1. As a non-limiting example, power unit 10 may include button 17 as shown in FIG. 1 . Alternatively, power unit 10 may include any suitable input means, such as one or more switches or a touch panel, or any suitable combination of such input means. As a further alternative, the at least one I/O means may not comprise an input means, and instead the operation of the aerosol generating device 1 may be controlled based on the output of the at least one sensor 14. .

Additionally or alternatively, the at least one I/O section 15 may comprise output means for providing information to the user of the aerosol generating device. By way of example, power unit 10 may include a display unit such as an LCD screen or a touch screen. Additionally or alternatively, the power unit 10 may have one or more LEDs configured to operate according to various lighting patterns to provide the user with respective indications (e.g., device power on, low battery, replacement of aerosol source required). may include. As an example, if the power supply unit 10 includes one LED, a continuous light may indicate that the aerosol generating device 1 is powered on, and a flashing light may indicate that the power supply 12 is low on battery (i.e., power supply 12). may indicate that charging is required.

In the exemplary power unit 10 shown in FIG. 2 , at least one sensor 14 and at least one I/O section 15 are shown separately from the control section 11 . Alternatively, one or more of the at least one sensor 14 and/or one or more of the at least one I/O unit 15 may be integrated with the control section 11 . As a further alternative, one or more of the at least one sensor 14 may be provided within the aerosol generating unit (e.g. the aerosol generating unit 20 shown in Figure 1) and a suitable connection terminal may be connected to the power unit 10. ) and within the aerosol generating unit so that the output of the sensor within the aerosol generating unit is provided to the control section 11.

As mentioned above, the inventors have recognized that there is a need to provide a means by which functionality can be added to an aerosol generating device only when/when required. Additionally, the inventors have demonstrated that functionality can be added to an aerosol generating device while also maintaining a relatively small size and relatively light weight without deviating from any constraints on the memory space, power, and user interface of the aerosol generating device. We recognized that there was a need to provide the means to do so.

Accordingly, the inventors have designed an expansion unit 100 for an aerosol generating device 200, as shown in FIG. 3, according to an exemplary embodiment herein.

The expansion unit 100 includes a first connection interface 101 at a first end of the first expansion unit, the first connection interface 101 comprising an aerosol generating device, and the expansion unit 100 comprising an aerosol generating device 200. ), in addition to aerosol generation, can be connected to means 103 for activating at least one additional function of the aerosol generating device 200.

Optionally, expansion unit 100 may include a second connection interface 102, as in this exemplary aspect. In an alternative example aspect, the expansion unit may include only a first connection interface 101 .

As shown in FIG. 3, the first connection interface 101 may be provided at the first end of the expansion unit 100. The first connection interface 101 may be connected to a first other expansion unit (e.g., expansion units 110 and 120 shown in FIG. 6B), as in this exemplary embodiment.

Additionally, an optional second connection interface 102 may be provided at a second end of the expansion unit 100 opposite the first end, as shown in Figure 3, and may be provided to connect a second other expansion unit (e.g. For example, it can be connected to expansion units 110 and 120 shown in FIG. 6B.

In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , the first connection interface 101 may be connected to the aerosol generating device 200 . Optionally, the second connection interface 102 may also be connected to the aerosol generating device 200, such that both the first connection interface 101 and the second connection interface 102 are connected to the aerosol generating device 200. You can. In this case, both ends of the expansion unit 100 can be connected to the aerosol-generating device 200, and the connected expansion unit 100, regardless of its orientation relative to the aerosol-generating device 200, can be connected to at least one attachment. A functional function can be provided to the aerosol generating device 200.

The first connection interface 101 and/or the second connection interface 102 may be formed by any suitable means, for example an interference fit, a snap fit, a screw fit, a bay between the housings or other parts of these elements. It may be connected to other expansion units and/or aerosol generating devices 200 via a Yonet-type fit or magnetic fit. That is, the first connection interface 101 and/or the second connection interface 102 may include any suitable means necessary to facilitate physical (i.e. mechanical) connection to the aerosol generating device 200. . By way of example, to facilitate connection to other expansion units and/or aerosol generating devices 200, the first connection interface 101 and/or the second connection interface 102 may be connected to the aerosol generating device or the first other It may include at least one of a magnetic connection, an interference fit connection, a plug connection, and a socket connection that can be connected to the expansion unit. In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , the first connection interface 101 includes a magnetic connection.

The expansion unit 100 may be configured to receive power supplied from the aerosol generating device 200, for example through the first connection interface 101. Alternatively, in an exemplary aspect, such as this example embodiment where the expansion unit 100 includes an optional second connection interface 102, the expansion unit 100 includes a first connection interface 101 and a second connection interface. When one of the interfaces 102 is connected to the aerosol generating device 200, it is configured to receive power supplied from the aerosol generating device 200 through one of the first connection interface 101 and the second connection interface 102. It can be.

Additionally or alternatively, the expansion unit 100 may be configured to supply power to the aerosol generating device 200 via the first connection interface 101 . Alternatively, in an exemplary aspect, such as this example embodiment where the expansion unit 100 includes an optional second connection interface 102, the expansion unit 100 includes a first connection interface 101 and a second connection interface. When one of the interfaces 102 is connected to the aerosol generating device 200, depending on the means 103 provided as part of the expansion unit 100, one of the first connection interface 101 and the second connection interface 102 It may be configured to supply power to the aerosol generating device 200 through one.

Additionally, the expansion unit 100 may be configured to receive data from or transmit data to the aerosol generating device 200 through the first connection interface 101 . Alternatively, in exemplary aspects such as this exemplary embodiment where expansion unit 100 includes an optional second connection interface 102, expansion unit 100 may additionally or alternatively have a connection interface 102 for aerosol generation. When connected to the device 200 , it may be configured to receive data from or transmit data to the aerosol generating device 200 via the first connection interface 101 and/or the second connection interface 102 . This may include, for example, commands, instructions, or feedback, and may be provided in any suitable form, for example, as a signal with a variable current or voltage.

The first connection interface 101 and/or the second connection interface 102 may include any suitable means necessary to facilitate electronic connection to other expansion units and/or to the aerosol generating device 200. For example, the first connection interface 101 and/or the second connection interface 102 may be connected to the control section 211 of the aerosol-generating device 200 via the connection interface 213 of the aerosol-generating device 200 and/or or any suitable means to facilitate electronic connection to the power source 212, and/or to the connection interface of another expansion unit.

As an example, at least one of the first connection interface 101 and the second connection interface 102 may include one or more data terminals and/or one or more power terminals. Preferably, the first and/or second connection interface may include an inter-integrated circuit (I2C) interface.

As an example, the first connection interface 101 may include one or more power terminals. When the expansion unit 100 is connected to the aerosol generating device 200, at least one of the size and direction of power supply by the first connection interface 101 can be controlled by the aerosol generating device 200. . Additionally or alternatively, in an exemplary aspect such as this exemplary embodiment where the expansion unit 100 includes an optional second connection interface 102, the second connection interface 102 may include one or more power terminals. It can be included. When the expansion unit 100 is connected to the aerosol generating device 200, at least one of the size and direction of power supply by the second connection interface 102 can be controlled by the aerosol generating device 200. . In this way, the power supply from the expansion unit 100 to the aerosol-generating device 200 and/or vice versa is via the first connection interface 101 and/or the second connection interface 102 to the aerosol-generating device 200 . It can be performed under the control of (200).

The present inventors have recognized that inter-integrated circuit (I2C) may be the most suitable hardware protocol for communication between expansion unit 100 and aerosol generating device 200 and/or other expansion units. As an alternative, other communication protocols may be used, such as Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) and asynchronous serial interfaces (e.g., RS-232 or universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART)). However, as discussed below, the use of I2C can provide additional added benefits.

I2C is a protocol that allows multiple "slave" digital integrated circuits ("chips") to communicate with one or more "master" chips. Like SPI, it is designed only for short-range communication within a single device. Like asynchronous serial interfaces (such as RS-232 or UART), it requires two signal wires to exchange information.

FIG. 4A is a block diagram showing the configuration of a “master” device 301 and “slave” devices 302A, 302B, and 302C using the I2C communication protocol. FIG. 4B is a block diagram illustrating a detailed example configuration of a connection between a first device and a second device using the I2C communication protocol. In this example, the “master” device is an aerosol generating device and the “slave” device is an expansion unit connectable to the aerosol generating device.

As shown in Figures 4A and 4B, the I2C bus consists of two gangs of signals: SCL and SDA. SCL is a clock signal and SDA is a data signal. The current bus master 301 always generates a clock signal; Some slave devices (302A, 302B, 302C) may delay the master device 301 from transmitting more data (or require more time to prepare data before the master device 301 attempts to clock out). ) can sometimes force the clock low. This is referred to as “clock stretching.” Unlike UART or SPI connections, the I2C bus driver is "open drain," meaning that it can pull that signal line low, but not drive it high. Therefore, bus contention cannot occur where one device tries to drive a line high while another device tries to push the line low, thereby eliminating the possibility of driver corruption or excessive power dissipation within the system. Each signal line has a pull-up resistor (R1, R2) (as shown in Figure 4b) to restore the signal high when the device does not assert the signal low. Resistor selection depends on the devices on the bus.

The I2C address is 7 or 10 bits. The use of 10-bit addresses is relatively rare, so standard chips typically have 7-bit addresses. Therefore, even when the standard is used, no more than 128 devices can be accommodated on the I2C bus because a 7-bit number can be from 0 to 127. When transmitting a 7-bit address, the device can be configured to transmit 8 bits, with the additional bits used to notify the slave device of the address when the master device writes to or reads from the slave device. . In particular, if the additional bit has a value of 0, this may indicate that the master device is writing to the address slave device. Likewise, if the additional bit has a value of 1, this may indicate that the master device is reading the address from the slave device. As an example, a 7-bit address may be located in the top seven bits of a byte, and the read/write (R/W) bits are located in the Least Significant Bit (LSB). If a 10-bit address is used, additional bits may be used, correspondingly, to indicate whether the master device is writing to or reading from the address slave device.

Figure 4C is a block diagram showing a detailed example configuration of a connection between two devices 401 and 402 using the serial UART communication protocol. Because serial ports are asynchronous (no clock data is transmitted), devices 401 and 402 using them must agree in advance on the data rate. The two devices 401, 402 should also have clocks that are close to the same speed: if the difference between the clock speeds of the two ends is excessive, the data may be distorted.

Asynchronous serial ports require hardware overhead: UARTs on both ends are relatively complex and difficult to implement accurately in software. At least one start and stop bit is part of each data frame. Accordingly, transmission of 8 bits of data requires 10 bits of transmission time.

Additionally, asynchronous serial ports are inherently suitable for communication between only two devices. Multiple devices can be connected to a single serial port, but bus contention (when two devices try to drive the same line at the same time) is always a problem. This must be handled carefully, usually via external hardware, to prevent damage to the device.

4D and 4E are block diagrams showing two detailed example configurations of connections between devices using the SPI communication protocol.

Compared to serial UART and I2C, SPI requires a relatively large number of pins. As shown in Figure 4D, connecting one master device 403 to one slave device 404 with an SPI bus requires four lines. Additionally, as shown in Figure 4E, each new slave device 405, 406 requires one additional chip select I/O pin on the master device 403, resulting in many devices having one When a master device 403 needs to be slaved, the pin connections grow rapidly with new slave devices 405 and 406.

Additionally, the large number of connections to each device can make signal routing more difficult in tight PCB layout situations. SPI allows only one master device 403 on the bus, but the bus can host any number of slave devices 404, 405, and (depending only on the driving capabilities of the devices connected to the bus and the number of chip select pins available) 406) is supported.

SPI is suitable for high data rate full-duplex (simultaneous transmission and reception of data) connections, supporting clock rates up to 10 MHz (and therefore 10 million bits per second) in some devices, and also rate scales. The hardware at both ends is generally a very simple shift register, making it easy to implement in software.

Accordingly, the use of the I2C communication protocol can be advantageous in that it requires only two wires, like the asynchronous serial protocol. In contrast, the SPI communication protocol requires a significant amount of additional wiring between each device.

Additionally, unlike the SPI communication protocol, the I2C communication protocol can support multi-master systems, thereby allowing more than one master device (although master devices cannot communicate with each other over the bus and alternate between lines using bus lines). A master device allows communication with all devices on the bus.

The data rate achieved by the I2C communication protocol lies between the data rates achieved by the asynchronous serial protocol and the SPI protocol. In particular, most I2C devices can communicate at 100kHz or 400kHz. There is an overhead with I2C: for every 8 bits of data, one additional bit of megadata (the "ACK/NACK" bit) is transmitted.

Although the hardware required to implement the I2C communication protocol is more complex than the SPI communication protocol, it is significantly less complex than that required to implement an asynchronous serial protocol. Additionally, the hardware needed to implement the I2C communication protocol can be relatively simply implemented in software.

Accordingly, I2C may be a particularly advantageous protocol choice for implementing communication between the expansion unit 100 and the aerosol generating device 200 and/or other expansion units. In particular, the ability to connect up to 127 devices with just two communication lines (SDA/SCL) allows multiple expansion units to be connected to one aerosol generating device without causing an undue increase in the amount of wiring required. let it be Additionally, most digital sensors and devices support the I2C protocol. Therefore, the fairly fast data transfer rate (up to 1 MHz) makes it possible to implement a variety of high-load data acquisition systems.

Referring back to FIG. 3 , the expansion unit 100 activates at least one additional function of the aerosol generating device 200 in addition to aerosol generation when the expansion unit 100 is connected to the aerosol generating device 200. It additionally includes means 103.

At least one additional function may be an electrical or electronic function, i.e. a function that can be obtained on the basis of electric power. By way of example, the means 103 may, when the expansion unit 101 is connected to the aerosol generating device 200, be connected to the aerosol generating device 200 via one of the first connection interface 101 and the second connection interface 102. It may be configured to be electronically connected to (e.g., the control section 211 or the power source 212 of the power unit 210). In particular, the means 103 may be configured so that at least one additional function can be achieved based on the transfer of power and/or data between the expansion unit 100 and the aerosol generating device 200 .

Additionally or alternatively, the at least one function may be performed by the aerosol generating device 200 (e.g. For example, it may be additional or supplementary to the aerosol generating function provided by the power unit 10, the aerosol generating unit 20 and optionally the flavoring unit 30). That is, at least one additional function can be distinguished from the function for aerosol generation, such as the addition of flavoring agents to the generated aerosol.

By way of example, the at least one additional functionality may include, for example, one or more of the following:

· Flashing light function;

· Tactile feedback function to indicate the status of the aerosol generating device;

· a power supply function relating to supplying power to the connection device via the first connection interface and/or the second connection interface;

· Display function; and

· Audio output function.

The means 103 depend on at least one additional function made possible by the expansion unit 100 . Examples of means 103 for various additional functions are described in detail below.

By way of example, any connection with the aerosol generating device 200 may be performed so that, even when an expansion unit is attached, the aerosol generating device 200 can be easily and conveniently handled and used to generate an aerosol to be inhaled by a user. It may be advantageous for the combination of expansion units 100 to maintain a relatively small size and relatively light weight.

In this case, each expansion unit may be equipped with a minimum number of additional functions (e.g., For example, it may be desirable to provide only one function, or no more than two or three functions. Accordingly, the expansion unit 100 provides a large number of electrical or electronic functions (e.g., compared to an aerosol generating device) and is suitable for relatively large and relatively heavy mobile communication devices (e.g., smartphones, mobile phones, It can be distinguished from tablets, laptop computers, etc.). In particular, it may be impractical and impractical to use aerosol generating device 200 while connected to one or more mobile communication devices. That is, the expansion unit 100 may not be a mobile communication device.

Additionally or alternatively, in such cases, when the expansion unit 100 is attached to the aerosol generating device 200 so that the aerosol generating device 200 and the expansion unit 100 can be used and handled together as one unit, An aerosol generating device (200) provided by the first and/or second connection interfaces (101, 102) of the expansion unit (100) so that the expansion unit (100) can be integrated with the main body of the aerosol generating device (200). It may be desirable to be able to establish a physical connection to .

Aerosol generating device 200 may be, as in this exemplary embodiment, aerosol generating device 1 shown in FIG. 1 or any alternative aerosol generating device described in connection with FIG. 1 . Accordingly, the above description regarding the aerosol generating device applies mutatis mutandis to the aerosol generating device 200.

More particularly, the aerosol generating device 200 may include a power unit 210. The power unit 210 may be the same as described above with respect to the power unit 10 of FIG. 2 . The power unit 210 may include a control section 211, a power source 212, and a connection interface 213. The description of the control section 11, power source 12, and connection interface 13 of the power unit 10 in FIG. 2 applies equally to the control section 211, power source 212, and connection interface 213. , and accordingly will not be repeated here.

The connection interface 213 may be connected to the expansion unit 100. By way of example, connection interface 213 may be connected by any suitable means, such as through an interference fit, snap fit, screw fit, bayonet fit, or magnetic fit between housings or other suitable portions of such elements. It can be connected to the expansion unit 100.

More generally, the connection interface 213 is such that the connection interface 213 of the aerosol generating device 200 is compatible with the first connection interface 101 or the second connection interface 102 of the expansion unit 100. Any suitable connection means may be provided. As an example, to facilitate connection of the expansion unit 100, the connection interface 213 may include at least one of a magnetic connection, an interference fit connection, a plug connection, and a socket connection that can be connected to the expansion unit 100. You can. In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , the connection interface 213 includes a magnetic connection that is compatible with the magnetic connection of the first connection interface 101 of the expansion unit 100 .

The control section 211 may be configured to control at least one of the size of power supply through the connection interface 213, the direction of power supply by the connection interface 213, and the transmission of data through the connection interface 213. there is.

As an example, the aerosol generating device 200 may be configured to supply power through the connection interface 213 when the expansion unit 100 is connected to the connection interface 213 of the aerosol generating device 200. Additionally or alternatively, the aerosol generating device 200 may comprise means 103 provided as part of the expansion unit 100 when the expansion unit 100 is connected to the connection interface 213 of the aerosol generating device 200. ), it may be configured to receive power supplied from the expansion unit 100 through the connection interface 213.

In order to facilitate the supply of power to the expansion unit via the connection interface 213 and, optionally, to receive power supplied from a suitably configured expansion unit, the power unit 210 of the aerosol generating device 200 may be provided in a number of Additional elements may be included. By way of example, power unit 210 may include one or more of a fuel gauge, battery charger, supply conversion transceiver, boost DC/DC converter, and power management logic. One or more of these elements may be provided as part of the control section 211 of the power unit 210.

As an example, FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example configuration of a power circuit 500 that may be included in power unit 210 of FIG. 3 to aid integration with external expansion units.

The power circuit 500 shown in FIG. 5 includes a fuel gauge 501, battery charger 502, supply conversion transceiver 503, boost DC/DC converter 504, and power management logic 505, as well as FIG. It includes a battery 506 serving as a power source 202 of the power unit 210 of 3 and an external connection 507 serving as a connection interface 213. One or more of these elements 501 to 505 may be provided as part of the control section 211 of the power unit 210 .

The primary function of the power circuit 500 is to control the supply of power and its direction through the external connection 507, as well as to establish a reference voltage in the aerosol generating device 200 itself and to charge the battery 506. It is about providing the ability.

The fuel gauge 501 functions to perform battery level measurement to support at least one additional function provided by an expansion unit such as expansion unit 100.

Fuel gauge 501 may be configured to measure the remaining power level of battery 506 used as a portable device. Fuel gauge 501 may be configured to reduce fuel gauge error with calibration techniques during measurement of battery temperature and voltage. Fuel gauge 501 can have high precision, thereby reducing or completely eliminating the need for external sensing equipment or similar means.

Battery charger 502 can be a linear charger IC for single-cell lithium-ion batteries and lithium polymer batteries. The path function can be advantageously configured to prioritize system power over charging the lithium-ion battery. Charging current can be adjusted with an external resistor.

The supply conversion transceiver 503 may be advantageously used to facilitate interfacing between an expansion unit, such as the expansion unit 100, and an aerosol generating device 200 operating at different supply voltages. As an example, supply conversion transceiver 503 may enable bidirectional voltage level conversion. As a further example, when the I2C communication protocol is used, one or more components of the power supply circuit 500 may operate at a first supply voltage (V_MCU), and the I2C range may operate at a second supply voltage of, for example, 5V. It can operate in .

Boost DC/DC converter 504 is a power converter that boosts a voltage from its input to its output. Accordingly, if one or more components of power supply circuit 500 operate at a first supply voltage and the I2C line operates at a second supply voltage of, for example, 5V, the boost DC/DC converter operates at a voltage available from the battery. rises to 5V as a general-purpose power supply for various ICs.

Power management logic 505 may implement various power supply circuits and power direction control. One of its primary functions is to control the direction of power supply through the VDD port of the external connection 507.

For example, when an expansion unit such as the expansion unit 100 is connected, the aerosol generating device 200 supplies a voltage of 5V to the external connection 507 to increase its power and reads the address of the expansion unit through the I2C bus. It is configured to do so. When the connected expansion unit is configured to supply power to the aerosol generating device 200, the power management logic 505 directs the power supply of this port 507 from output to input for additional charging of the battery 506. Switching is required.

Referring back to FIG. 3, the aerosol generating device 200 may additionally or alternatively transmit data to the expansion unit 100 through the connection interface 213 when the connection interface 213 is connected to the expansion unit 100. It may be configured to receive from or transmit to the expansion unit 100. This may include, for example, commands, instructions, or feedback, and may be provided in any suitable form, for example, as a signal with a variable current or voltage.

Connection interface 213 may include any suitable means necessary to facilitate electronic connection to expansion unit 100. For example, the connection interface 213 may include any suitable means for facilitating electronic connection via the first connection interface 101 or the second connection interface 102 of the expansion unit 100 . By way of example, connection interface 213 may include one or more data terminals and/or one or more power terminals. Preferably, the connection interface 213 may include an inter-integrated circuit (I2C) interface as described above with respect to the expansion unit 100.

As is clear from the foregoing, the configuration of expansion unit 100 and aerosol generating device 200 may include one or optionally more expansion units (expansion unit 100 and/or at least one correspondingly configured expansion unit). Including) is connected to the aerosol generating device 200 to provide an aerosol generating system.

As an example, Figure 6A is a schematic diagram of a plurality of expansion units 110, 120, 130, and Figure 6B shows expansion units 110, 120, 130 being attached to the aerosol generating device 200 to provide an aerosol generation system. This is a schematic diagram showing how they can be connected. The aerosol generating device 200 is shown in FIG. 3. The description of the expansion unit 100 in FIG. 3 applies equally to the expansion units 110, 120, and 130.

In the exemplary embodiment of Figure 6A, expansion unit 110 includes means for activating a flashing light function when expansion unit 110 is connected to aerosol generating device 200; When the expansion unit 120 is connected to the aerosol generating device 200, the expansion unit 120 supplies power to the aerosol generating device 200 and/or other connected devices through the first connection interface and/or the second connection interface. It includes means for activating a power supply function that supplies power to; The expansion unit 130 includes means for activating an audio output function when the expansion unit 130 is connected to the aerosol generating device 200.

As shown in FIG. 6B, expansion units 110, 120, and 130 may be connected in series to the aerosol generating device 200 to provide an aerosol generating system. As an example, one of the first connection interface and the second connection interface of the expansion unit 110 may be connected to the connection interface 213 of the power unit 210 of the aerosol generating device 200.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 6B , one of the first connection interface and the second connection interface of the expansion unit 120 is connected to the other one of the first connection interface and the second connection interface of the expansion unit 110. Additionally, one of the first connection interface and the second connection interface of the expansion unit 130 is connected to the other one of the first connection interface and the second connection interface of the expansion unit 120.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 6B , expansion units 110 , 120 , and 130 are configured such that expansion unit 110 is closest to aerosol generating device 200 and expansion unit 130 is closest to aerosol generating device 200. It is connected far away. Alternatively, expansion units 110, 120, 130 may be connected to aerosol generating device 200 in any order. As a further alternative, fewer or more expansion units may be connected to the aerosol generating device 200 than the example embodiment shown in FIG. 6B.

In the example embodiment of Figure 6A, each of expansion units 110, 120, and 130 includes an optional second connection interface. In an alternative exemplary embodiment in which each expansion unit (110, 120 and 130) includes only a first connection interface (101) and no such optional second connection interface, one of the expansion units (110, 120 and 130) An expansion unit may be connected to the aerosol generating device 200 at any given time to provide an aerosol generating system. In this case, the user of the aerosol generating device 200 can exchange the connected expansion unit among the expansion units 110, 120, and 130, depending on one or more additional functions requested by the user.

Accordingly, as each expansion unit 110, 120, and 130 provides at least one additional function other than the aerosol generation function provided by the aerosol generating device 200, one or more expansion units 110, 120, and 130 ), one or more additional functions can be enabled in the aerosol generating device 200.

Additionally, additional functions provided by the aerosol generating device 200 may be personalized based on the user's wants/needs. Therefore, while each expansion unit (110, 120, 130) provides additional functions to enrich the user's experience, unnecessary hardware and/or software for functions not related to the user are installed in the aerosol generating device ( 200) can be prevented from being integrated or pre-installed.

Additionally, in exemplary embodiments, such as those of FIGS. 6A and 6B , where the aerosol generating device 200 may be used with multiple expansion units 110, 120, and 130 at a time, the user may It can be prevented from being limited to additional functions. Since the expansion units 110, 120, 130 have connection interfaces at both ends, the expansion units can be installed in other expansion units, thereby creating a kind of "setting" that allows the user to create his own "settings". Providing an "expansion unit chain", the expansion units 110, 120, 130 can be configured in any order relative to the aerosol generating device.

In addition, the control section 210 of the aerosol generating device 200 determines the amount of power supply through the connection interface 213, the direction of power supply by the connection interface 213, and the transfer of data through the connection interface 213. By being configured to control at least one of the aerosol generating device 200, the aerosol generating device 200 can control the demand of the expansion units 110, 120, and 130 on power, memory, and other resources of the aerosol generating device 200.

Examples of means 103 of the expansion unit 110 for various additional functions will now be described in detail.

As a first exemplary aspect, at least one additional function of the expansion unit 101 may include a blinking light function.

The blinking light function is a function that emits light or provides additional light when needed, for example in response to input from a user. Flashing lights are useful tools that (in addition to their primary function) can be advantageously integrated into electronic portable devices, such as aerosol generating devices. Providing additional flashing light functionality by connecting a properly configured expansion unit to the aerosol generating device can be particularly practical, given that users often carry the aerosol generating device with them so that it is readily available when additional light is needed. there is. Accordingly, the expansion unit 100 configured to provide a flashing light function can provide the advantage of being easily accessible and simple to use.

In this exemplary aspect, the means 103 for activating at least one additional function may include at least one LED. Alternatively, means 103 may comprise any other suitable means for emitting light.

To operate correctly, the flashing lights must be controlled and powered. By way of example, the expansion unit 100 of the first exemplary aspect may rely on the aerosol generating device 200 for control and power supply.

By way of example, the at least one LED may be connected to, for example, the first connection interface 101 and/or (in exemplary embodiments where the expansion unit 100 includes an optional second connection interface) the second connection interface 102 It may be configured to emit light and/or cause the emitted light to blink or darken in response to a control signal received from the aerosol generating device 200 through . By relying on the aerosol generating device 200 for control and power supply, the expansion unit 100 of the first exemplary embodiment can be manufactured inexpensively and simply.

Accordingly, the means 103 may optionally include any elements necessary for power supply and control of the expansion unit 100 having a blinking light function. By way of example, the means for activating the blinker function 103 may include additional elements, including, for example, one or more of a GPIO expander, a DC/DC converter, a MOSFET or any other suitable transistor, and one or more resistors and capacitors. It can be included.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example configuration of circuit 700, which may be included in expansion unit 100 constructed according to the first example aspect.

Circuit 700 includes a GPIO expander 701, a DC/DC converter 702, a MOSFET 703, an LED 704, two resistors (R1, R2), and two capacitors (C1, C2), as well as 2 It includes two external connections 705, 706. The first connection interface 101 and the second connection interface 102 of the expansion unit 100 are implemented by external connection units 705 and 706, and the description of the external connection unit 507 in FIG. 5 is similar to the external connection units 705 and 706. 706) applies mutatis mutandis.

With respect to control, control signals may be provided from the aerosol generating device 200 via an I2C bus such as described with respect to FIGS. 4A, 4B and 5, or any other suitable communication means. The control signal may, for example, cause expansion unit 100 to turn lights on and off.

The GPIO expander 701 serves to convert logic data from the I2C bus into the physical state of the GPIO expander 701. Accordingly, when the expansion unit 100 according to the first exemplary aspect is connected to the aerosol generating device 200, the aerosol generating device 200 can directly control the LED state through the available interface. By controlling the GPIO expander 701 through the I2C bus, logic signals from I2C can be converted to physical ones.

In examples such as the circuit shown in FIG. 7 where an I2C bus is used, a 5V power supply line may be used as a power source for the expansion unit 100 according to the first example aspect. As many LEDs typically use 3 to 3.3V power for operation, if a 5V power supply is used, it is necessary to step down the voltage using the DC/DC converter 702.

MOSFET 703 is provided to prevent drawing current directly from the GPIO expander. MOSFET 703 is also used to control current flow from DC-DC converter 702.

LED 704 may be selected between a high power LED and a low power LED, which has lower power than the high power LED. High power LEDs provide brighter emitted light but draw more current, which may affect the battery life of the aerosol generating device 200. Low power LEDs provide less bright emission light than high power LEDs, but require less current and therefore have substantially less impact on the battery life of the aerosol generating device 200. As an example, low-power LEDs can be turned on for several hours.

Circuit 700 is configured to be compatible with both low-power LEDs and high-power LEDs, as both approaches may be useful in different cases. In the power circuit 700 of Figure 7, if the current for the LED is less than 500 mA, simply swap the LED 704 and resistor R2 to balance brightness and battery life.

Circuit 700 of Figure 7 further includes two resistors (R1, R2) and two capacitors (C1, C2). Resistors R1 and R2 serve to limit current flow, thereby preventing the LED 704 from overheating and malfunctioning. The resistance of resistors R1 and R2 varies depending on the power and current drawn by LED 704.

As a second exemplary aspect, the at least one additional function may include a tactile feedback function indicating the status of the aerosol generating device. In this case, the means 103 for activating at least one additional function may comprise, for example, an eccentric rotating mass (ERM) vibration motor and a linear resonant actuator (LRA), for generating tactile feedback in the form of vibration; It may include at least one vibration motor.

In such an expansion unit where the means 103 comprises at least one of an ERM vibration motor and an LRA vibration motor, the means 103 is connected, for example, to the first connection interface 101 of the expansion unit 100 and/or (extension configured to generate tactile feedback in response to a control signal received from the aerosol generating device 200 via the second connection interface 102 (in an exemplary embodiment where the unit 100 includes an optional second connection interface). It can be. By way of example, the expansion unit 100 according to the second example aspect may be configured to receive control signals using any of the communication protocols described above with respect to FIG. 3 .

Additionally or alternatively, the expansion unit 100 according to the second exemplary aspect may be controlled to provide tactile feedback to the user indicating the status of the aerosol generating device 200. For example, the expansion unit 100 of the second exemplary aspect, when connected to the aerosol generating device 200, provides tactile feedback indicating a low battery status of the aerosol generating device 200 or any other warning notification. It can be configured to do so.

As a third exemplary aspect, the at least one additional function may include a power supply function to supply power to the connected device.

By way of example, the expansion unit 100 of the third exemplary aspect may be configured to supply power to the connection device through the first connection interface 101 . Alternatively, in an example embodiment in which the expansion unit 100 includes a second connection interface, the expansion unit 100 of the third example aspect includes the first connection interface 101 and/or the second connection interface 102 ) may be configured to supply power to the connected device.

The connected device may include an aerosol generating device 200, as in this exemplary embodiment. As handheld, portable devices, aerosol generating devices such as aerosol generating device 200 have limited battery life. By providing power supply functionality to an expansion unit 100 that can be connected to the aerosol generating device 200, users of the aerosol generating device 200 can continue to use their device for longer periods of time. In an exemplary embodiment in which the expansion unit 100 includes a second connection interface, the powered connected device may further include another connected expansion unit.

In this case, the means 103 for activating at least one additional function may include at least one power source. The at least one power source may be, for example, a rechargeable power source, for example a rechargeable battery. In this case, the expansion unit 100 of the third exemplary embodiment can advantageously be self-charging. By way of example, the rechargeable power source may be a lithium-ion power bank or a lithium-polymer power bank. At the time of writing, lithium-ion power banks are more common.

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) cells are advantageous for this purpose in that they have relatively low manufacturing costs, have limited mAh capacity, but tend to last longer without memory effect. The memory effect occurs when a battery loses usable capacity over time due to charging-discharging and recharging. On the other hand, LiPo (lithium-polymer) cells are made thinner and lighter, to a degree similar to a credit card, and can store slightly more specific energy than Li-ion cells. However, LiPo cells have higher manufacturing costs, have a memory effect, and have a shorter lifespan. Table 1 summarizes the most important differences between Li-ion and LiPo power banks.

[Table 1]

As can be seen from the table, the main advantages of power banks of LiPo batteries are that they are more compact and lighter, both of which are advantageous for the purpose of the expansion unit 100 with power supply function. Li-ion batteries are advantageous with regard to low cost and durability.

The power supply function may optionally include a number of sun-functionalities. By way of example, this sun-function may include charging the power source 212 of the aerosol generating device 200 with power from a power source included in the means 103 of the expansion unit 100 according to the third exemplary aspect; providing the aerosol generating device 200 with information regarding the power level of the expansion unit 100 itself; supplying power to other expansion units connected thereto; and/or charging the power source included in the means 103 of the expansion unit 100 according to the third exemplary aspect.

For this purpose, the means for activating the power function 103 may optionally further comprise a control section. As an example, the control section may be configured to control at least one of the magnitude and direction of power supply through the first connection interface 101 and/or the second connection interface 102.

As an example, FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example configuration of circuit 800, which may be included in expansion unit 100 configured according to the third example aspect. Circuit 800 includes a power source in the form of a battery 801, a fuel gauge 802, a battery charger 803, a boost DC/DC converter 804, and power management logic 805, as well as external connections 806, 807. ) includes.

Battery 801 may be any of the power sources described above, such as a lithium-ion power bank or a lithium-polymer power bank. The description of the fuel gauge 501 and the battery charger 502 in FIG. 5 applies mutatis mutandis to the fuel gauge 802 and the battery charger 803. The first connection interface 101 and the second connection interface 102 of the expansion unit 100 are implemented by external connection units 806 and 807.

The boost DC/DC converter 804 boosts the voltage from its input to its output and increases the voltage from the battery 801 of the expansion unit 100 to a voltage of 5V to power the power source 212 of the aerosol generating device 200. It is a power converter used to charge.

The description of the external connection unit 507 in FIG. 5 applies mutatis mutandis to the external connection units 806 and 807. However, the external connection of the expansion unit 100 according to the third exemplary aspect has a more complex interface for the power line related function.

In particular, the external connection 806 may be referred to as a “Connector Out”, i.e. a connection connecting the expansion unit 100 of the third exemplary embodiment to the charged aerosol generating device 200. there is. The main difference from other expansion units is that the expansion unit 100 of the third exemplary embodiment does not receive power through this connection but supplies power to other devices. The expansion unit 100 of the third exemplary aspect has a power switching circuit through which it generally supplies power to the expander when a reverse current is detected in the 5V power supply line. The external connection 807 may be referred to as a “connection in”, that is, a connection connecting the expansion unit 100 of the third exemplary embodiment to another expansion unit or a charger. When another type of expansion unit is connected, the expansion unit 100 of the third exemplary aspect supplies 5V power to it through the VDD_In/Out port. However, when the charger is connected, the expansion unit 100 of the third exemplary aspect is charged through the VDD_In/Out port.

All of these functions for controlling the power lines at the connection are implemented in power management logic 805. These modules implement power management and power supply direction through the connections. Since, by default, the device supplies power to all expanders through the VDD pins of connector out 806, one of the functions of the module is to redirect power from these pins to charge the device itself. After changing the power direction, the expansion unit 100 of the third exemplary embodiment must independently supply power to the next expansion unit through the VDD_In/Out pin of the connection in 807. At the same time, when the charger is connected to the connection In 807, the module does not supply power to the expansion unit, but switches the supply direction at VDD_In/Out for its own charging.

As a fourth exemplary aspect, the at least one additional function may include a display function. In this case, the means 103 for activating at least one additional function may comprise at least one display unit.

As an example of a display unit, OLED technology can be advantageously used. OLED technology allows the creation of small screens, both in monochrome and in color. Such a solution is convenient to use, inexpensive and has small dimensions. The advantages of these displays are light weight and low power consumption.

A display unit, for example a screen, can be used to display more specific information, such as battery charge %, number of puffs, amount of memory available on the device, and other statistics useful to the user, in a format convenient to the user. You can. In particular, the information displayed by the display unit of the expansion unit 100 according to the fourth exemplary embodiment includes the charge level of the power source of the aerosol generating device, the number of inhalation actions that the user can perform, and the available memory of the aerosol generating device. It may include at least one of the amount, current time, and warning notification of the aerosol generating device.

Additionally or alternatively, the display unit may have, for example, a first connection interface 101 and/or (in an exemplary embodiment where the expansion unit 100 comprises an optional second connection interface) a second connection interface ( Through 102), it may be configured to display information to the user of the aerosol generating device 200 in response to a control signal received from the aerosol generating device 200.

As an example, FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing an example configuration of circuit 900, which may be included in expansion unit 100 configured according to the fourth example aspect. Circuit 900 includes a display unit 901 , external connections 902 , 903 and a module 904 configured to convert an input voltage (VDD) to a supply voltage (VCC) suitable for display unit 901 . The first connection interface 101 and the second connection interface 102 of the expansion unit 100 are implemented by external connection units 902 and 903, and the description of the external connection unit 507 in FIG. 5 is similar to the external connection units 902 and 903. 903) applies mutatis mutandis.

The expansion unit 100 according to the fourth exemplary aspect is configured to receive control signals from the aerosol generating device 200 via an I2C bus when connected to the aerosol generating device 200, such as in circuit 900 of FIG. 9 It is composed.

As a fifth exemplary aspect, the at least one additional function may include an audio output function. In this case, means 103 may provide an audio output transducer, for example one or more of a loudspeaker (e.g. a moving coil loudspeaker), buzzer, horn and sounder. It can be included.

As an example, the expansion unit 100 according to the fifth exemplary aspect may be controlled to output audio feedback indicating the state of the aerosol generating device 200 to the user when the expansion unit 100 is connected. For example, the expansion unit 100 of the fifth exemplary aspect, when connected to the aerosol generating device 200, is configured to output audio feedback indicating a low battery status of the aerosol generating device 200 or any other warning notification. It can be configured.

Additionally or alternatively, the means 103 may be configured, for example, to the first connection interface 101 of the expansion unit 100 according to the fifth exemplary embodiment and/or to the optional second connection interface 101 of the expansion unit 100 according to the fifth exemplary embodiment. may be configured to output audio feedback in response to a control signal received from the aerosol generating device 200 via the second connection interface 102 (in an exemplary embodiment including a connection interface). By way of example, the expansion unit 100 according to the fifth exemplary aspect may be configured to receive control signals using any of the communication protocols described above with respect to FIG. 3 .

Audio feedback output by the expansion unit 100 according to the fifth exemplary aspect may be provided in any suitable form, for example, a tone, a beep noise, a whistle noise, a melody, etc. Accordingly, the means 103 of the expansion unit 100 according to the fifth exemplary aspect optionally comprises a control section and/or a memory section for storing data representing audio feedback (e.g. one or more audio files). , it may further include any additional means necessary to control the audio output transducer to output audio feedback. Alternatively, the output of audio feedback may be controlled by the aerosol generating device 200 when the expansion unit 100 according to the fifth exemplary aspect is connected.

The expansion unit 100 according to the first to fifth exemplary embodiments described above has one respective additional function, and activates one additional function when the expansion unit 100 is connected to the aerosol generating device 200. It includes a means (103) for doing so. As an alternative, the expansion unit 100 may include means 103 for activating two or more additional functions when the expansion unit 100 is connected to the aerosol generating device 200.

For example, the expansion unit 100 may include a blinking light function as described in connection with the first example aspect, a tactile feedback function as described in connection with the second example aspect, and a function as described in connection with the fourth example aspect. means 103 for activating two or more of a display function as described above, and an audio output function as described in relation to the fifth exemplary aspect. By configuring the expansion unit 100 to provide at least two of these functions when connected to the aerosol generating device 200, it may advantageously provide multiple forms of feedback to the user. As a further example, the expansion unit 100 may include a blinking light function as described in connection with the first example aspect, a tactile feedback function as described in connection with the second example aspect, and a function as described in connection with the fourth example aspect. means 103 for activating a power supply function as described in connection with the third example aspect, together with a display function as described in connection with the fifth example aspect and an audio output function as described in connection with the fifth example aspect. In this way, information about the power status of the expansion unit 100 or the aerosol generating device 200, for example, information about remaining charging time, charging status, remaining power, etc., may be advantageously provided to the user.

More generally, the expansion unit 100 may include means 103 for activating any suitable number of additional functions or combinations thereof, including the functions described above or any other suitable functions.

For the development of the expansion unit 100 and more generally the aerosol generation system comprising the expansion unit 100 and the aerosol generation device 200, the inventors have used software to enable further maintenance and scaling. It was recognized that it could be advantageous to use a layered architecture for .

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a layered software architecture 1000 suitable for use with the disclosed example aspects. The layered software architecture 1000 of FIG. 10 includes a hardware abstraction layer (HAL) 1010, a board support layer (BSP) 1020, a system software layer 1030, and an application software layer 1040.

HAL 1010 provides a generic multi-instance simple set of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for interacting with the upper layers (applications, libraries, and stack). HAL (1010) consists of a general API and an extended API. HAL (1010) is built directly on the general architecture. HAL (1010) can enable a built-upon layer, such as a middleware layer, to implement its functions without requiring detailed knowledge of how to use the MCU. These layers provide access to hardware interfaces (I2C, SPI, UART, etc.), registers, and MCU interrupts.

BSP 1020 is a software layer that contains hardware-specific drivers and other routines to enable a particular software system (typically a real-time operating system or RTOS) to function in a particular hardware environment. BSP is customizable, allowing the user to specify which drivers and routines to include in the build based on the user's selection of hardware and software options. Driver and board support layer 1020 includes hardware-specific drivers and other routines that implement support for all equipment and features of a particular hardware platform.

The system software layer 1030 is a separate thread/module that provides thread-safe access to hardware resources, collects and passes data to the application layer, and performs system monitoring of hardware resources. /consists of services. Additionally, the system software layer 1030 provides an application programming interface (API) to the AppStract operating system.

The application software layer 1040 describes all business logic of user interaction with the device.

The aerosol generating device 200 performs control of communication with one or more expansion units via a communication bus (e.g., an I2C bus or any other suitable bus, as described above with respect to FIGS. 4A-4E). It may be configured in any suitable way so as to do so.

By way of example, the control section 211 of the aerosol generating device 200 may be configured to control communication with one or more expansion units via a communication bus. For example, the control section 211 may have a memory section that stores a computer program that, when executed by the control section 211 of the aerosol generating device 200, causes the control section 211 to Control of communication with one or more expansion units (110, 120, 130) through a communication bus is performed.

FIG. 11 illustrates a process 1100 for causing the aerosol generating device 200 of FIG. 3 to control communication with one or more expansion units 110, 120, 130 via a communication bus, according to example aspects herein. This is a flow chart.

As an example, control section 211 of aerosol generating device 200 may control aerosol generating device 200 to perform process 1100 of FIG. 11 . As described above with respect to FIGS. 3, 6A and 6B, each of the one or more expansion units 110, 120, 130 can be connected to the aerosol generating device 200, and when connected to the aerosol generating device 200 , in addition to aerosol generation, is configured to activate at least one additional function of the aerosol generating device 200.

In the process step S1101 of FIG. 11, the aerosol generating device 200 uses a communication address to receive at least one signal from one of the one or more expansion units 110, 120, and 130. A communication address is identified among a plurality of communication addresses on a communication bus.

A communication bus may include a plurality of possible communication addresses that can be used by devices communicating over the communication bus. Such plurality of communication addresses may include a fixed number of possible communication addresses that can be used. As an example, as discussed above with respect to FIGS. 4A and 4B, an I2C address may have 7 bits, such that up to 128 devices can be accommodated on the I2C communication bus, which is a 7-bit number. This is because it can be from 0 to 127. If 10-bit addresses are used, more addresses can be used. Additionally or alternatively, a plurality of communication addresses may be provided to the expansion units 110, 120, 130, obtained by removing the communication addresses used by the aerosol generating device 200 from a fixed number of possible communication addresses. may contain a set of communication addresses that can potentially be used by

Accordingly, the aerosol generating device 200 determines, for example, for each of the plurality of communication addresses, whether a signal has been received from the expansion units 110, 120, 130 that use that communication address to communicate via a communication bus. You can decide whether or not. Expansion units 110, 120, 130 may be considered to be communicating using a specific communication address if a signal can be addressed to this expansion unit via a communication bus using that address. Accordingly, at least the identified communication addresses represent the set of communication addresses determined to be used by expansion units 110, 120, 130 on the communication bus.

By way of example, the signal may be any suitable message, notification, or indication that expansion unit 110, 120, 130 can transmit to aerosol generating device 200 via a communication bus.

As a more specific example, the received signal may include an acknowledgment. For example, in an exemplary aspect, such as in the present exemplary aspect where the communication bus is an I2C bus, the aerosol generating device 200 (as a master device) is configured to communicate with the I2C bus by sending a signal to each of a plurality of communication addresses. Communication can be initiated, and each expansion unit 110, 120, 130 (i.e., slave device) connected to the communication bus can send back an acknowledgment. As a further example, the aerosol generating device 200 may attempt to transmit a signal to each expansion unit 110, 120, 130 a set number of times before determining that an acknowledgment has not been received.

Table 2 provides examples of signals received by the aerosol generating device 200 via the communication bus for example communication addresses {000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, 111}:

[Table 2]

In the example of Table 2, the aerosol generating device 200 uses the communication address to receive a signal from one of the one or more expansion units 110, 120, and 130. , 011, 100}. As an example, expansion unit 110 may communicate using communication address 000, expansion unit 120 may communicate using communication address 011, and expansion unit 130 may communicate using communication address (011). 100) can be used to communicate.

In process step S1102 of FIG. 11 , the aerosol generating device 200 associates each of the at least one communication address with an expansion unit identifier indicating the expansion unit from which the signal was received.

That is, each expansion unit identifier represents or identifies a specific expansion unit (110, 120, 130).

That is, each communication address at which the aerosol generating device 200 receives a signal through the communication bus may be associated with an expansion unit identifier indicating the expansion unit that transmitted the signal. By way of example, each expansion unit identifier may include any suitable information and may be in any suitable form that allows the expansion unit to be uniquely identified by aerosol generating device 200. For example, the extended unit identifier may be an identifying number in alphanumeric, decimal, hexadecimal, or binary form. The extension unit identifier associated with each identified communication address may be based on that communication address (eg, a communication address or a permutation thereof may be used as the extension unit identifier).

Table 3 provides examples of expansion unit identifiers {aaa, bbb, ccc}, respectively, associated with communication addresses {000, 011, 100}, identified in Table 2 above.

[Table 3]

That is, in this example, the expansion unit identifier (aaa) identifies expansion unit 110, the expansion unit identifier (bbb) identifies expansion unit 120, and the expansion unit identifier (ccc) identifies expansion unit 130. Identify .

In the process step S1103 of FIG. 11, the aerosol generating device 200 determines, for each expansion unit identifier, the current connection state of the expansion units 110, 120, and 130 indicated by the expansion unit identifier.

As an example, each connection state of the expansion units 110, 120, and 130 may indicate whether the expansion unit is physically connected to the aerosol generating device 200. As a further example, the aerosol generating device 200 may be configured to determine whether each expansion unit 110, 120, 130 with which an expansion unit identifier is associated is physically connected via a communication bus.

Each expansion unit 110, 120, 130, having an associated expansion unit identifier, will have been connected to the aerosol generating device 200 at the time a signal from the expansion unit is received by the aerosol generating device 200. However, there is a possibility that the user may detach the expansion unit from the aerosol generating device 200 (e.g., due to an incorrect physical connection, or that the user may not attach the expansion unit to the aerosol generating device 200 correctly). There is a possibility that the expansion unit may be accidentally separated from the aerosol generating device 200. Accordingly, process step 1103 may serve to verify the connection status of each expansion unit with its associated expansion unit identifier.

Table 4 provides examples of expansion unit identifiers {aaa, bbb, ccc} and communication addresses {000, 011, 100} from the above-mentioned Table 3, and the corresponding connection status of each expansion unit is extended unit identifier {aaa, It is indicated by bbb, ccc}.

[Table 4]

Process 1100 of the process of FIG. 11 may optionally include process step 1104. In optional process step 1104, the aerosol generating device 200 configures, for each expansion unit identifier, at least one additional function activated by the expansion unit 110, 120, 130 indicated by the expansion unit identifier. Determine the type.

As an example, the type of at least one additional function may be a specific function provided by the corresponding expansion unit. For example, the type of at least one additional function may be one of a flashing light function, a tactile feedback function, a power supply function, a display function, and an audio output function. As an alternative example, the at least one additional function may be activated based on means 103 for activating the at least one additional function, e.g., based on whether means 103 comprises a sensor, actuator, or power source. can do.

The type of expansion unit 110, 120, 130 may be determined in any suitable manner. As an example, each expansion unit 110, 120, 130 may be pre-configured to use only one or more specific communication addresses for communication over a communication bus. In this case, the aerosol generating device 200 may be equipped in advance with information indicating the correspondence between each communication address and the type of expansion unit that can use such communication address, and the aerosol generating device 200 may accordingly Based on the correspondence, the type of at least one additional function can be determined. Alternatively, the aerosol generating device 200 may be configured to determine the type of at least one additional function by exchanging additional signals with expansion units 110, 120, 130 connected via a communication bus. .

In process step S1105, the aerosol generating device 200 uses, for each expansion unit identifier, a communication address associated with the expansion unit identifier and according to the determined current connection state of the expansion units 110, 120, and 130, Controls communication with expansion units 110, 120, and 130 indicated by expansion unit identifiers through a communication bus.

In an exemplary embodiment, such as this exemplary embodiment in which the aerosol generating device performs an optional process step (S1104), the aerosol generating device 200 includes, for each expansion unit identifier, an expansion unit indicated by the expansion unit identifier ( According to the determined type of at least one additional function activated by 110, 120, 130, communication with the expansion unit 110, 120, 130 indicated by the expansion unit identifier can be controlled.

The aerosol generating device 200 communicates with a specific expansion unit (110, 120, 130) through a communication bus using a specific communication address by addressing commands and other messages to be transmitted to the corresponding expansion unit to the corresponding communication address. can be controlled. This can be achieved, for example, by including the corresponding communication address within the address frame of the message (signal) transmitted to the corresponding expansion unit.

The aerosol generating device 200 may, depending on the determined current connection state of the expansion unit 110, 120, 130 and optionally the type of at least one additional function activated by the expansion unit 110, 120, 130, Communication with specific expansion units (110, 120, 130) can be controlled in an appropriate manner.

For example, if the current connection status of the expansion unit indicates that the expansion unit is connected to the aerosol generating device 200, the aerosol generating device 200 may transmit a command to the expansion unit to perform at least one function activated by the expansion unit. can be controlled. In contrast, if the current connection status of the expansion unit indicates that the expansion unit is not connected to the aerosol generating device 200, the aerosol generating device 200 may not communicate with the expansion unit or determines that no confirmation has been received. It may attempt to transmit a signal to the expansion unit a fixed number of times before doing so.

As a further example, the form and/or content of commands and other messages transmitted by the aerosol generating device 200 to a particular expansion unit may vary depending on the type of at least one additional function activated by the expansion unit. More specifically, a command sent to an expansion unit with an audio output function may include a data field containing information indicating audio content to be output by the expansion unit, while a command sent to an expansion unit with a blinking light function may include a data field containing information indicating the audio content to be output by the expansion unit. It may not include such a data field and may allow the expansion unit to toggle between light emitting and non-light emitting states.

More generally, the aerosol generating device 200 uses, for each expansion unit identifier, a communication address associated with the expansion unit identifier by performing one or more of the processes described with respect to FIGS. 12-16 and According to the determined current connection status of the expansion units 110, 120, and 130, communication with the expansion units 110, 120, and 130 indicated by the expansion unit identifier is controlled through the communication bus.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example process 1200 that allows the aerosol generating device 200 of FIG. 3 to control communication with expansion units 110, 120, 130 via a communication bus, according to a first example aspect of the disclosure. ) is a flow chart showing.

In process step S1201 of FIG. 12, the aerosol generating device 200 selects a first expansion unit among the expansion units indicated by the expansion unit identifier according to the determined type of at least one additional function activated by the first expansion unit. Determines the command to be sent to the unit.

For example, in an expansion unit with a blinking light function, the determined command may be a command that causes at least one LED of the expansion unit to emit light and/or cause the emitted light to blink or dim in response to the command. As a further example, in an extension unit with a tactile feedback function, the determined command may be a command that causes the extension unit to generate tactile feedback for the user, for example in the form of vibration. Additionally, in an expansion unit having a display function or an audio output function, the determined command may be a command that causes the expansion unit to display information or output audio content, respectively, to the user of the aerosol generating device 200.

More generally, the determined command may vary depending on whether the means 103 of the expansion unit to which the command is sent comprises a sensor or an actuator. For example, a read command may be transmitted to an extension unit whose means 103 comprises a sensor, while a write command may be transmitted to an extension unit whose means 103 comprises an actuator.

In process step S1202 of FIG. 12 , the aerosol generating device 200 transmits a command to the first expansion unit via a communication bus using a communication address associated with an expansion unit identifier representing the first expansion unit.

13 illustrates an exemplary process 1300 that allows the aerosol generating device 200 of FIG. 3 to control communication with expansion units 110, 120, 130 via a communication bus, according to a second exemplary aspect of the disclosure. ) is a flow chart showing.

In the process step S1301 of FIG. 13, the aerosol generating device 200 selects each expansion unit identifier when the type of at least one additional function activated by the expansion unit indicated by the expansion unit identifier is the first type. For , control of transmitting a read command to the expansion unit is periodically performed using a communication address associated with the expansion unit identifier.

By way of example, the first type may indicate that the means 103 of the expansion unit comprises a sensor (e.g. a humidity, pressure or temperature sensor), whereby the aerosol generating device 200 produces the output by the sensor. Data can be obtained regularly.

By way of example, control of sending read commands to the expansion unit may be performed periodically according to a predefined frequency associated with the expansion unit or according to the type of at least one additional function activated by the expansion unit. For example, the predefined frequency may be once per minute, once per second, or multiple times per second.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example process 1400 that allows the aerosol generating device 200 of FIG. 3 to control communication with expansion units 110, 120, 130 via a communication bus, according to a third example aspect of the disclosure. ) is a flow chart showing.

Process 1400 of FIG. 14 may be performed in conjunction with each expansion unit identifier.

In process step S1401 of FIG. 14, the aerosol generating device 200 determines the previous connection state of the expansion unit indicated by the given expansion unit identifier.

In process step S1402 of FIG. 14 , the aerosol generating device 200 determines whether the previous connection state of the expansion unit indicated by the expansion unit identifier is the same as the current connection state of the expansion unit.

If the previous connection state of the expansion unit indicated by the expansion unit identifier is the same as the current connection state of the expansion unit, the process 1400 ends. If the previous connection state of the expansion unit indicated by the expansion unit identifier is not the same as the current connection state of the expansion unit, the process 1400 proceeds to process step S1403.

In the process step S1403 of FIG. 14, the aerosol generating device 200 determines whether the previous connection state of the expansion unit indicated by the expansion unit identifier represents a non-connection state and the current connection state of the expansion unit is a connection completed state. Determine whether to indicate .

If the previous connection state of the expansion unit indicated by the expansion unit identifier indicates a non-connection state and the current connection state of the expansion unit indicates a connection completion state, the process 1400 proceeds to step 1404. Otherwise, process 1400 proceeds to step 1405.

In process step 1404 of FIG. 14, the aerosol generating device 200 initializes the expansion unit. By way of example, initialization of an expansion unit may include setting the value of one or more parameters of the expansion unit. The parameters of the expansion unit may vary depending on the means 103 included in the expansion unit. By way of example, the parameters may include the sensor's operating frequency or synchronization time.

In process step 1405 of FIG. 14 , the aerosol generating device 200 outputs a notification to the user of the aerosol generating device 200 . For example, this may inform the user whether the connection state of the expansion unit has changed, for example whether the expansion unit has been disconnected from the aerosol generating device 200.

After process step S1405 in Figure 14, process 1400 ends.

15 illustrates an exemplary process 1500 for enabling the aerosol generating device 200 of FIG. 3 to control communication with expansion units 110, 120, 130 via a communication bus, according to a fourth exemplary aspect herein. ) is a flow chart showing.

In process step S1501 of FIG. 15 , the aerosol generating device 200 selects an input unit of the aerosol generating device (e.g. the button 17 shown in FIG. 1 or at least one I/ described in relation to FIG. 2 Input is received from the user of the aerosol generating device via any I/O section of the O section (15).

In process step S1502 of FIG. 15 , the aerosol generating device 200 determines a first expansion unit identifier and an associated first communication address based on the received input.

In process step S1503 of FIG. 15, the aerosol generating device 200 determines a command to be transmitted to the expansion unit indicated by the first expansion unit identifier based on the received input.

In process step S1504 of FIG. 15, the aerosol generating device 200 transmits a command to the expansion unit via the communication bus using the associated first communication address.

As an example, the user may provide input to the touch screen of the aerosol generating device 200 representing a command to turn on the LED of the expansion unit activating the blinker function. Accordingly, the aerosol generating device 200 may recognize the expansion unit identifier and associated communication address of the expansion unit that activates the blinking light function based on the received input. The aerosol generating device 200 may additionally determine commands, such as instructing an expansion unit to turn on an LED, and transmit these commands to the appropriate expansion unit.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example process 1600 that allows the aerosol generating device 200 of FIG. 3 to control communication with expansion units 110, 120, 130 via a communication bus, according to a fifth example aspect of the disclosure. ) is a flow chart showing.

In process step 1601 of Figure 16, the aerosol-generating device 200 receives a signal via a communication bus from one of the one or more expansion units indicative of input by a user of the aerosol-generating device.

At process step 1602 of FIG. 16, the aerosol generating device 200 determines the expansion unit identifier and the expansion unit's associated communication address.

In process step 1603 of FIG. 16 , the aerosol generating device 200 determines a command to transmit to the expansion unit based on the received signal.

In process step 1604 of FIG. 16, the aerosol generating device 200 transmits a command to the expansion unit via a communication bus using the determined associated communication address.

As an example, a user may provide input to an input unit of the expansion unit that activates a blinking light function, and the expansion unit may transmit this input to the aerosol generating device 200. The aerosol generating device 200 determines the expansion unit identifier of the expansion unit to be associated with the communication address used by the expansion unit from which the input was received. The aerosol generating device 200 may additionally determine commands, such as instructing the expansion unit to turn on the LED, based on the received signal and transmit these commands to the appropriate expansion unit.

Referring back to the process 1100 of FIG. 11, this process determines which addresses are used for communication by the connected expansion units 110, 120, and 130, and which addresses are used for communication by these expansion units 110, 120, and 130 over the communication bus. ), the aerosol generating device 200 can simply and efficiently scan through the communication address of the communication bus.

Process 1100 of FIG. 11 may be performed periodically by aerosol generating device 200. In this way, the aerosol generating device 200 can maintain up-to-date information about the connected expansion units 110, 120, 130.

Accordingly, the process 100 of FIG. 11 may facilitate the provision of means by which additional functionality may be provided to the aerosol generating device as desired. Additionally, the process 1100 of FIG. 11 allows adding functionality to the aerosol generating device 200 while also remaining within any constraints on the memory space, power, and user interface of the aerosol generating device 200. This may facilitate the provision of means by which the device can maintain a relatively small size and relatively light weight.

17A-17C, 18A-18G, 19A-19C and 20A-20C are diagrams of an aerosol generating device 200 in which the process 110 of FIG. 11 has a touch screen as I/O section. This is a flowchart showing an example of how it can be implemented in the layered software architecture 1000 shown at 10. Hereinafter, the expansion unit is also referred to as an expander.

FIGS. 17A-17C are flow diagrams illustrating operations performed by the aerosol generating device 200 in the application software layer 1040 of the layered software architecture 1000 shown in FIG. 10.

In process step S1701 of FIG. 17A, the aerosol generating device 200 initializes its hardware components.

In process step S1702 of FIG. 17A, the aerosol generating device 200 creates and initializes the touch screen module.

In process step S1703 of FIG. 17A, the aerosol generating device 200 performs a process to create and initialize the expander hub module. This process is described below with respect to FIG. 18A.

In process step S1704 of FIG. 17A , the aerosol generating device 200 registers the touch screen event callback process described with respect to FIG. 17B.

In process step S1705 of FIG. 17A, the aerosol generating device 200 registers the expander connection state change callback process described with respect to FIG. 17C.

In process step S1706 of FIG. 17A, the aerosol generating device 200 starts the OS (operating system) scheduler and then ends the process.

FIG. 17B is a flowchart illustrating a touch screen event callback process registered in process step S1704 of FIG. 17A.

In process step S1711 of FIG. 17B, the aerosol generating device 200 receives an event type as input to the touch screen event callback process.

In process step S1712 of FIG. 17B, the aerosol generating device 200 determines whether the event type is a double tap of the touch screen.

If the event type is double tapping of the touch screen, the touch screen event callback process proceeds to process step S1713. Otherwise, the touch screen event callback process terminates.

In process step S1713 of FIG. 17B, the aerosol generating device 200 executes the actuator command expander hub process as described with respect to FIG. 18G. Then, the touch screen event callback process ends.

FIG. 17C is a flowchart illustrating an expander connection state change callback process registered in process step S1705 of FIG. 17A.

In process step S1721 of FIG. 17C, the aerosol generating device 200 receives the expander type and connection state as input to the expander connection state change callback process. This input may be provided by the scanning procedure described with respect to FIG. 18F.

In process step S1722 of FIG. 17C, the aerosol generating device 200 determines whether the connection status indicates that the expander is connected.

If the connection status indicates a connection of an expander, the expander connection status change callback process proceeds to process step S1723. If not, the expander connection state change callback process proceeds to process step S1726.

In process step S1723 of FIG. 17C, the aerosol generating device 200 determines whether the expander type is a sensor.

If the expander type is a sensor, the expander connection state change callback process proceeds to process step (S1724). Otherwise, the expander connection state change callback process proceeds to process step 1726.

In process step S1724 of FIG. 17C, the aerosol generating device 200 registers the diastolic data preparation callback process.

In process step S1725 of FIG. 17C, the aerosol generating device 200 executes the process for pooling data from the diastolic sensor described with respect to FIG. 18B.

In process step S1726 of FIG. 17C, the aerosol generating device 200 provides a notification to the user of the aerosol generating device 200. Then, the expander connection state change callback process ends.

FIGS. 18A-18G are flow diagrams illustrating operations performed by the aerosol generating device 200 in the system software layer 1030 of the layered software architecture 1000 shown in FIG. 10.

FIG. 18A is a flowchart illustrating the process for creating and initializing an expander hub module executed in process step S1703 of FIG. 17A.

In process step S1801 of FIG. 18A, the aerosol generating device 200 creates an event group, which is a container for a set of events that stores events before being processed in the process described with respect to FIG. 18D.

In process step S1802 of FIG. 18A, the aerosol generating device 200 generates the dilator hub thread described with respect to FIG. 18D. Then the process ends.

FIG. 18B is a flow diagram illustrating the process for pooling data from a diastolic sensor executed in process step 1725 of FIG. 17C.

In process step S1811 of FIG. 18B, aerosol generating device 200 receives a diastolic data rate in Hz as input to a process for pulling data from diastolic sensors.

In process step S1812 of FIG. 18B, aerosol generating device 200 generates the expander <x> data preparation timer process described with respect to FIG. 18E. The process for pulling data from the diastolic sensor then ends.

Figure 18C is a flow diagram illustrating the scanning tarmac process.

In process step S1821 of FIG. 18C, the aerosol generating device 200 sets the timeout value to 1 second.

In process step S1822 of FIG. 18C, the aerosol generating device 200 delays execution of the process for pulling data from the diastolic sensor for 1 millisecond.

In process step S1823 of FIG. 18D, the aerosol generating device 200 decreases the value of timeout by 1 millisecond.

When the timeout reaches 0, in process step S1824 of FIG. 18C, the aerosol generating device 200 transmits a scanning event as the output of the process for pulling data from the diastolic sensor (one of the flow diagrams shown). In an illustrative example, the timeout value can be set to 1000 ms and delayed by 1 millisecond; the timeout value can be decreased by 1 millisecond and the process can be repeated while the timeout value is above 0; 0 When reached, the event ends). The process for pulling data from the diastolic sensor then ends.

FIG. 18D is a flow diagram illustrating the expander hub thread created in process step S1802 of FIG. 18A.

In process step S1831 of FIG. 18D, the aerosol generating device 200 generates a scanning tarmer as described with respect to FIG. 18C.

In process step S1832 of FIG. 18D, the aerosol generating device 200 sets the value of timeout to 0 seconds.

In process step S1833 of FIG. 18D, the aerosol generating device 200 waits until receipt of the next event.

In process step S1834 of FIG. 18D, aerosol generating device 200 receives expander hub event content as input to the expander hub thread.

In process step S1835 of FIG. 18D, the aerosol generating device 200 defines an event.

At process step S1836 of FIG. 18D , in response to receipt of a command event (which is an output of the actuator command expander hub process described with respect to FIG. 18G ), the aerosol generating device 200 performs the command event described with respect to FIG. 19A As shown, a process for transmitting a command to a specific extender is executed. The expander hub thread then returns to process step S1832.

In process step S1837 of FIG. 18D, in response to receiving a scanning event (which is the output of the process for pulling data from the expander described with respect to FIG. 18C), the aerosol generating device 200: Execute the scanning procedure, as described in relation thereto. The expander hub thread then returns to process step S1832.

At process step S1838 of FIG. 18D, in response to receipt of a data ready event (which is an output of the expander <x> data ready timer process described with respect to FIG. 18E), the aerosol generating device 200 performs the steps of FIG. 19B and As described herein, a process for reading data from a particular expander is executed. The expander hub thread then proceeds to process step S1839.

At process step 1839 of FIG. 18D, aerosol generating device 200 calls the data preparation callback process. The expander hub thread then returns to process step S1832.

FIG. 18E is a flow diagram illustrating the Expander <x> Data Ready Timer process generated in process step 1812 of FIG. 18B.

In process step S1841 of FIG. 18E, the aerosol generating device 200 receives a diastolic data rate in Hz as input to the diastolic <x> data ready timer process.

In process step S1842 of FIG. 18E, the aerosol generating device 200 sets the value of the timeout to 1000 milliseconds divided by the diastolic data rate in Hz received in process step S1841.

In process step S1843 of FIG. 18E, the aerosol generating device 200 delays execution of the expander <x> data ready timer process for 1 millisecond.

In process step S1844 of FIG. 18E, the aerosol generating device 200 decreases the value of timeout by 1 millisecond.

When the timeout reaches 0, in process step S1845 of Figure 18E, aerosol generating device 200 sends a data ready event as the output of the expander <x> data ready timer process. The expander <x> data ready timer process then terminates (an illustrative example can be derived similarly as described above with reference to Figure 18C, see the description regarding step S1824).

FIG. 18F is a flowchart showing the scanning procedure executed in process step S1837 of FIG. 18D.

In process step S1851 of FIG. 18F, the aerosol generating device 200 executes a process to obtain a list of connected dilators as described with respect to FIG. 19C.

In process step S1852 of FIG. 18F, the aerosol generating device 200 receives the list of connected dilators as input to a scanning procedure from execution of a process to obtain the list of connected dilators.

In process step S1853 of FIG. 18F, the aerosol generating device 200 sets variable (i) to 0.

In process step S1854 of FIG. 18F, the aerosol generating device 200 is set to repeat the scanning procedure as long as i is less than the number of connected expanders.

In process step S1855 of FIG. 18F, the aerosol generating device 200 determines whether the current connection state of the dilator corresponding to the value of i is the same as the previous connection state.

If the current connection state of the expander corresponding to the value of i is not the same as the previous connection state, the scanning procedure proceeds to process step S1856. Otherwise, the scanning procedure proceeds to process step S1859.

In process S1856, the aerosol generating device determines whether the current connection state of the expander corresponding to the value of i indicates a connected expander.

If the current connection status of the expander corresponding to the value of i indicates a connected expander, the scanning procedure proceeds to process step S1857. Otherwise, the scanning procedure proceeds to process step S1858.

In process step S1857 of FIG. 18F, the aerosol generating device 200 initializes the expander corresponding to the value of i.

In process step S1858 of FIG. 18F, aerosol generating device 200 calls the expander connection state change callback described with respect to FIG. 17C.

In process step S1859 of FIG. 18F, the aerosol generating device 200 increases the value of i by 1. When the value of i becomes equal to the number of connected expanders, the scanning procedure ends.

FIG. 18G is a flow diagram illustrating the actuator command expander hub process executed in process step S1713 of FIG. 17B.

In process step S1861 of FIG. 18G, the aerosol generating device 200 receives an actuator command (e.g., information representing a user's input to an expander using an actuator of that expander is transmitted to the aerosol generating device via a communication bus. transmitted to 200 or input by a user using an actuator, such as a touch screen, of aerosol generating device 200).

In process step S1862 of Figure 18g, the aerosol generating device sends a command event as an output of the actuator command expander hub process. The actuator command expander hub process then terminates.

FIGS. 19A-19C are flow diagrams illustrating operations performed by the aerosol generating device 200 in the board support layer 1020 of the layered software architecture 1000 shown in FIG. 10.

FIG. 19A is a flow diagram illustrating the process for sending instructions to a specific actuator expander executed at process step 1836 of FIG. 18D.

In process step S1901 of FIG. 19A, the aerosol generating device 200 receives an expander ID and command as input to the process for transmitting the command to a specific actuator expander.

In process step S1902 of FIG. 19A, the aerosol generating device 200 defines the interface and driver based on the expander ID.

In process step S1903 of FIG. 19A, the aerosol generating device 200 executes the I2C write process described with respect to FIG. 20A. The process for transmitting commands to specific actuator expanders then ends.

FIG. 19B is a flow diagram illustrating a process for reading data from a particular expander whose instructions are executed at process step 1838 of FIG. 18D.

In process step S1911 of FIG. 19B, the aerosol generating device 200 receives an expander ID as an input to the process for reading data from a specific expander.

In process step S1912 of FIG. 19B, the aerosol generating device 200 defines the interface and driver based on the expander ID.

In process step S1913 of FIG. 19B, the aerosol generating device 200 executes the I2C readout process described with respect to FIG. 20B. Then, the process for reading data from a particular expander ends.

FIG. 19C is a flow diagram illustrating the process for obtaining a list of connected expanders whose instructions are executed at process step 1851 of FIG. 18F.

In process step 1921 of FIG. 19C, the aerosol generating device 200 obtains a list of all possible I2C addresses of the expander.

In process step S1922 of FIG. 19D, the aerosol generating device 200 sets the value of variable (i) to 0.

In process step S1923 of FIG. 19D, the aerosol generating device 200 is set to repeat the process to obtain a list of connected expanders while i is less than the number of possible I2C addresses of the expanders.

In process step S1924 of FIG. 19D, the aerosol generating device 200 executes a process to check device acknowledgment (ACK) on the I2C communication bus as described with respect to FIG. 20C.

In process step S1925 of FIG. 19D, the aerosol generating device 200 determines whether an ACK has been received for the I2C address corresponding to the value of i.

If an ACK is received for the I2C address corresponding to the value of i, the process proceeds to process step S1926 to obtain a list of connected extenders. If not, the process to obtain a list of connected expanders proceeds to process step S1927.

In process step S1926 of FIG. 19D, the aerosol generating device 200 adds an expander ID based on the I2C address corresponding to the value of i to the list of connected expanders.

In process step S1927 of FIG. 19D, the aerosol generating device 200 increases the value of i by 1.

When the value of i becomes equal to the number of possible I2C addresses of the expander, the process for obtaining the list of connected expanders proceeds to process step S1928. In process step S1928 of FIG. 19D, the aerosol generating device 200 returns to the list of connected expanders.

FIGS. 20A-20C are flow diagrams illustrating operations performed by the aerosol generating device 200 in the hardware abstraction layer 1010 of the layered software architecture 1000 shown in FIG. 10.

FIG. 20A is a flowchart showing the I2C write process executed in process step S1903 of FIG. 19A.

In process step S2001 of FIG. 20A, the aerosol generating device 200 receives, as input to the I2C write process, a device address, a register, data to write, and the size of the data.

In process step S2002 of FIG. 20A, the aerosol generating device 200 performs an I2C hardware write sequence. Then, the I2C write process ends.

FIG. 20B is a flowchart showing the I2C read process executed in process step S1913 of FIG. 19B.

In process step S2011 of FIG. 20B, the aerosol generating device 200 receives the device address, register, buffer for data, and size of data as input to the I2C write process.

In process step S2012 of FIG. 20B, the aerosol generating device 200 performs an I2C hardware read sequence. Then, the I2C read process ends.

FIG. 20C shows a flow diagram illustrating the process for checking device acknowledgment (ACK) on the I2C communication bus executed in process step S1924 of FIG. 19C.

In process step S2021 of FIG. 20C, the aerosol generating device 200 receives the device address and a number of trials as input to the process for checking device acknowledgment (ACK) on the I2C communication bus. Receive.

In process step S2022 of FIG. 20C, the aerosol generating device 200 sets the value of variable (i) to 0.

In process step S2023 of FIG. 20C, the aerosol generating device 200 sets the process for checking device acknowledgment (ACK) on the I2C communication bus to be repeated while i is less than the number of attempts.

In process step S2024 of FIG. 20C, the aerosol generating device 200 generates an I2C START condition.

In process step S2025 of FIG. 20C, the aerosol generating device 200 determines whether the I2C I2C STOPF flag is set.

If the I2C STOPF flag is set, the process to check device acknowledgment (ACK) on the I2C communication bus proceeds to process step (S2027). If not, the process for checking device acknowledgment (ACK) on the I2C communication bus proceeds to process step S2026.

In process step S2026 of FIG. 20C, the aerosol generating device 200 increases the value of i by 1.

When the value of i becomes equal to the number of attempts, the process proceeds to process step S2027 to check device acknowledgment (ACK) on the I2C communication bus. In process step S2027 of FIG. 20C, the aerosol generating device 200 returns with the results of the check.

Additionally, the following aspects are provided:

A1. An expansion unit for an aerosol generating device, comprising:

At a first end of the expansion unit, a first connection interface connectable to an aerosol generating device; and

Means for activating at least one additional function of the aerosol generating device, in addition to aerosol generating, when connected to the aerosol generating device.

An expansion unit containing.

A2. In aspect A1,

The expansion unit further comprising a second connection interface, located at a second end of the expansion unit opposite the first end, connectable to the first other expansion unit.

A3. In aspect A2,

The first connection interface may be additionally connected to a second other expansion unit;

An expansion unit, wherein the second connection interface can be additionally connected to an aerosol generating device.

A4. The method of Aspect A2 or A3,

An expansion unit, wherein the first connection interface and/or the second connection interface comprises at least one of a magnetic connection, an interference fit connection, a plug connection, and a socket connection, which can be connected to the aerosol generating device or to the first other expansion unit. .

A5. In any one of Aspect A2 to A4,

At least one of the first connection interface and the second connection interface includes one or more data terminals and/or one or more power terminals, and preferably the first and second connection interfaces include an inter-integrated circuit (I2C) interface. , expansion unit.

A6. In any one of Aspect A1 to A5,

The expansion unit, when connected to the aerosol generating device, is configured to receive power supplied from the aerosol generating device.

A7. In any one of Aspect A1 to A6,

at least one additional function includes a flashing light function;

An expansion unit, wherein the means for activating at least one additional function comprises at least one LED.

A8. In aspect A7,

The expansion unit, wherein the at least one LED is configured to emit light and/or cause the emitted light to blink or dim in response to a control signal received from the aerosol generating device.

A9. In any one of Aspect A1 to A8,

The at least one additional function includes a tactile feedback function indicating the status of the aerosol generating device;

The means for activating at least one additional function comprises an eccentric rotating mass (ERM) vibration motor and a linear resonant actuator (LRA), in response to a control signal received from the aerosol generating device, for generating tactile feedback in the form of vibration. , an expansion unit including at least one of a vibration motor.

A10. In any one of Aspect A1 to A6,

The at least one additional function includes a power supply function to provide power to the connected device;

An expansion unit, wherein the means for activating at least one additional function includes at least one power source.

A11. In aspect A8,

An expansion unit, wherein the means for activating at least one additional function further comprises a control section configured to control at least one of the magnitude and direction of the power source.

A12. In any one of Aspect A1 to A6,

at least one additional function includes a display function;

The extension unit, wherein the means for activating at least one additional function comprises at least one display configured to display information to a user of the aerosol generating device in response to a control signal received from the aerosol generating device.

A13. An aerosol generating device comprising a power unit, the power unit comprising:

everyone;

control section; and

A connection interface connectable to an expansion unit according to any one of aspects A1 to A12.

Including,

The control section is configured to control at least one of the magnitude of power supply through the connection interface, the direction of power supply by the connection interface, and the transmission of data through the connection interface.

A14. In aspect A13,

The connection interface includes at least one of a magnetic connection, an interference fit connection, a plug connection, and a socket connection that can be connected to the expansion unit;

An aerosol generating device, wherein the connection interface includes one or more data terminals and/or one or more power terminals, and preferably the connection interface includes an inter-integrated circuit (I2C) interface.

A15. As a system,

An aerosol generating device according to aspect A13 or aspect A14; and

A first expansion unit according to any one of aspects A1 to A14.

Including,

The system wherein the first expansion unit is connected to the connection interface of the power unit.

B1. A method for controlling communication of an aerosol generating device with one or more expansion units over a communication bus, wherein each of the one or more expansion units can be connected to an aerosol generating device, and when connected to the aerosol generating device, an aerosol generating device other than the aerosol generating device. configured to activate at least one additional function, the method comprising:

Using the communication address, identifying at least one communication address used for receiving a signal from one of the one or more expansion units among the plurality of communication addresses on the communication bus;

Associating each of the at least one communication address with an expansion unit identifier indicating the expansion unit from which the signal was received;

For each expansion unit identifier, determining the current connection state of the expansion unit indicated by the expansion unit identifier; and

For each expansion unit identifier, controlling communication with the expansion unit indicated by the expansion unit identifier through a communication bus using a communication address associated with the expansion unit identifier and according to the determined current connection state of the expansion unit.

Method, including.

B2. In aspect B1,

For each expansion unit identifier, determining the type of at least one additional function activated by the expansion unit indicated by the expansion unit identifier,

The method wherein, for each expansion unit identifier, communication with the expansion unit indicated by the expansion unit identifier is further controlled according to a determined type of at least one additional function activated by the expansion unit indicated by the expansion unit identifier.

B3. In aspect B2,

determining a command to be transmitted to a first expansion unit among expansion units indicated by the expansion unit identifier according to the determined type of at least one additional function activated by the first expansion unit; and

transmitting a command to the first expansion unit via a communication bus using a communication address associated with an expansion unit identifier indicating the first expansion unit.

A method further comprising:

B4. In aspect B2 or aspect B3,

If the type of at least one additional function activated by the expansion unit indicated by the expansion unit identifier is the first type, for each expansion unit identifier, a read command to the expansion unit using the communication address associated with the expansion unit identifier. A method further comprising periodically performing control over transmitting.

B5. In aspect B4,

Method, wherein control of transmitting read commands to the expansion unit is performed periodically according to a predefined frequency associated with the expansion unit or according to the type of at least one additional function activated by the expansion unit.

B6. In any one of Aspect B1 to Aspect B5,

For each expansion unit identifier, determining a previous connection state of the expansion unit indicated by the expansion unit identifier; and

For each expansion unit identifier, if the previous connection state of the expansion unit indicated by the expansion unit identifier is not the same as the current connection state of the expansion unit, outputting a notification to the user of the aerosol generating device.

A method further comprising:

B7. In aspect B6,

For each expansion unit identifier, if the previous connection state of the expansion unit indicated by the expansion unit identifier indicates a non-connection state and the current connection state of the expansion unit indicates a connection completion state, an additional step of initializing the expansion unit is added. Including, method.

B8. In any one of Aspect B1 to Aspect B7,

receiving input from a user of the aerosol generating device through an input unit of the aerosol generating device;

determining a first expansion unit identifier and an associated first communication address based on the received input;

determining a command to be transmitted to the expansion unit indicated by the first expansion unit identifier based on the received input; and

transmitting a command to the expansion unit via a communication bus using the associated first communication address.

A method further comprising:

B9. The method of any one of Aspects B1 to B8,

receiving a signal from one of the one or more expansion units representing input by a user of the aerosol generating device via a communication bus;

determining an expansion unit identifier and an associated communication address of the expansion unit;

determining a command to be transmitted to the expansion unit based on the received signal; and

Transmitting a command to the expansion unit through a communication bus using the determined associated communication address

A method further comprising:

B10. In any one of Aspect B1 to Aspect B9,

The communication bus is an inter-integrated circuit (I2C) communication bus;

The aerosol generating device functions as a master device;

A method, wherein each of the one or more expansion units functions as a slave device.

B11. A computer program comprising instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by a control section of an aerosol generating device, cause the control section to perform the method of any one of aspects B1 to B10.

B12. A power unit for an aerosol generating device, comprising a control section configured to perform the method according to any one of aspects B1 to B10.

B13. An aerosol generating device comprising a power unit according to aspect B12.

It should be noted that any of the Aspects described above may be combined with any of the Aspects B described above.

Although specific embodiments have been described, this is merely to provide a better understanding of the invention as defined by the independent claims and should not be considered limiting.

Claims (15)

An expansion unit for an aerosol generating device, comprising:
At a first end of the expansion unit, a first connection interface connectable to the aerosol generating device; and
means for activating at least one additional function of the aerosol generating device, in addition to aerosol generating, when connected to the aerosol generating device.
Including,
The first connection interface includes one or more power terminals, and when connected to the aerosol generating device, at least one of the size and direction of power supply by the first connection interface is controlled by the aerosol generating device. , expansion unit. According to paragraph 1,
At a second end of the expansion unit opposite the first end, the expansion unit further comprises a second connection interface, connectable to the first other expansion unit. According to paragraph 2,
The first connection interface may be additionally connected to a second other expansion unit;
Expansion unit, wherein the second connection interface can be additionally connected to the aerosol generating device. According to paragraph 2 or 3,
The first connection interface and/or the second connection interface comprises at least one of a magnetic connection, an interference fit connection, a plug connection, and a socket connection that can be connected to the aerosol generating device or to the first other expansion unit. expansion unit. According to any one of claims 2 to 4,
At least one of the first connection interface and the second connection interface includes one or more data terminals, and preferably the first and second connection interfaces include an inter-integrated circuit (I2C) interface. According to any one of claims 1 to 5,
An expansion unit, when connected to the aerosol generating device, configured to receive power supplied from the aerosol generating device. According to any one of claims 1 to 6,
at least one additional function includes a flashing light function;
An expansion unit, wherein the means for activating the at least one additional function comprises at least one LED. In clause 7,
Wherein the at least one LED is configured to emit light and/or cause the emitted light to blink or dim in response to a control signal received from the aerosol generating device. According to any one of claims 1 to 8,
the at least one additional function includes a tactile feedback function indicating the status of the aerosol generating device;
The means for activating the at least one additional function comprises an eccentric rotating mass (ERM) vibration motor and a linear resonant actuator, in response to a control signal received from the aerosol generating device, to generate tactile feedback in the form of vibration. LRA) expansion unit, comprising at least one of the vibration motors. According to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The at least one additional function includes a power supply function for supplying power to a connected device;
and wherein the means for activating the at least one additional function comprises at least one power source. According to clause 8,
The expansion unit, wherein the means for activating the at least one additional function further comprises a control section configured to control at least one of the magnitude and direction of the power supply. According to any one of claims 1 to 6,
the at least one additional function includes a display function;
The means for activating the at least one additional function comprises at least one display unit configured to display information to a user of the aerosol generating device in response to a control signal received from the aerosol generating device. An aerosol generating device comprising a power unit, the power unit comprising:
everyone;
control section; and
Connection interface connectable to the expansion unit according to any one of claims 1 to 12
Including,
The connection interface includes one or more power terminals, and the control section is configured to control at least one of the magnitude of power supply through the connection interface and the direction of power supply by the connection interface. According to clause 13,
The connection interface includes at least one of a magnetic connection, an interference fit connection, a plug connection, and a socket connection that can be connected to the expansion unit;
The connection interface includes one or more data terminals, the connection interface is configured to control the transfer of data through the connection interface, preferably the connection interface includes an inter-integrated circuit (I2C) interface, the aerosol Generating device. As a system,
An aerosol generating device according to claim 13 or 14; and
A first expansion unit according to any one of claims 1 to 14.
Including,
The system wherein the first expansion unit is connected to a connection interface of the power unit.