System comprising aerosol supply system and wireless beacon

Abstract

A non-combustible aerosol provision system includes a wireless communication system configured to receive, from a wireless communication beacon using a connectionless data channel, data related to a physical location associated with the beacon; and a user interface system configured to transmit an indication related to the received data through a user interface element of the non-combustible aerosol supply system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to device-to-device sensing and, in particular, but not exclusively, to sharing operational data between devices using a connectionless data channel. Background Art

[0002] A "non-flammable" aerosol supply system is an aerosol supply system in which the constituent aerosol generating materials of the aerosol supply system (or components thereof) do not burn or ignite to facilitate delivery of at least one substance to a user.

[0003] The non-flammable aerosol delivery system may be an electronic cigarette, also known as a vapor device or an electronic nicotine delivery system (END), but it should be noted that the presence of nicotine in the aerosol generating material is not required.

[0004] The non-flammable aerosol supply system may be an aerosol generating material heating system, also referred to as a heat not burn system. An example of such a system is a tobacco heating system.

[0005] The non-flammable aerosol supply system can be a hybrid system that uses a combination of aerosol generating materials to generate an aerosol, wherein one or more of the aerosol generating materials can be heated. Each aerosol generating material can be, for example, in the form of a solid, liquid or gel, and may or may not contain nicotine. The hybrid system can include a liquid or gel aerosol generating material and a solid aerosol generating material. The solid aerosol generating material can include, for example, tobacco or non-tobacco products.

[0006] Typically, a non-flammable aerosol supply system may include a non-flammable aerosol supply device and a consumable for use with the non-flammable aerosol supply device. The consumable may include an aerosol generating material from which the non-flammable aerosol supply device may generate an aerosol.

[0007] The non-flammable aerosol supply system (such as a non-flammable aerosol supply device thereof) may include a power source and a controller. The power source may be, for example, an electrical source or an exothermic source. The exothermic source includes a carbon matrix that may be powered to distribute power in the form of heat to an aerosol generating material or a heat transfer material proximate to the exothermic source.

[0008] The non-flammable aerosol supply system may include an area for receiving a consumable product, an aerosol generator, an aerosol generating area, a housing, a mouthpiece, a filter and / or an aerosol modifier.

[0009] Consumables for use with a non-flammable aerosol supply device may include an aerosol generating material, an aerosol generating material storage area, an aerosol generating material delivery component, an aerosol generator, an aerosol generating area, a shell, a wrapper, a filter, a mouthpiece and / or an aerosol modifier.

[0010] When using a non-flammable aerosol supply system, information related to the status of the device can be collected by the device. This information can be information that is useful to a user of the non-flammable aerosol supply system, and it relates to information such as the following: the content of aerosol generating material, the battery charge level or information related to the remaining aerosol generating material level such as the puff count and / or the total puff duration value. In addition, information such as error codes can be generated by the device. In addition, there may also be information that is useful to the user who is intended to regulate his / her use of the non-flammable aerosol supply system. Such information can also be used for some form of administrator entity, for example to allow the number and type of error occurrences to be recorded. The inventors have designed a method for obtaining such information in an energy-saving and non-intrusive manner.

[0011] Use Bluetooth TM A method of communicating data using a low-power communications protocol such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) (also known as Bluetooth Smart), often involving establishing a channel based on a partnership, bonding, pairing, or other connection between two entities to facilitate the transfer of information via the protocol. Summary of the invention

[0012] Particular aspects are set out in the independent and dependent claims.

[0013] From a first aspect, a non-flammable aerosol supply system can be provided, which includes: a wireless communication system configured to receive data related to a physical location associated with the beacon from a wireless communication beacon using a connectionless data channel; and a user interface system configured to transmit instructions related to the received data through a user interface element of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0014] From another aspect, a wireless communication beacon can be provided, comprising: a data interface configured to receive data related to a physical location associated with the beacon; and a wireless communication system configured to send data related to the physical location associated with the beacon using a connectionless data channel.

[0015] From a further aspect, a system can be provided, which includes a non-flammable aerosol supply system and a wireless beacon, the wireless beacon including: a data interface configured to receive data related to a physical location associated with the beacon; and a wireless communication system configured to send data related to the physical location associated with the beacon using a connectionless data channel; and the non-flammable aerosol supply system includes: a wireless communication system configured to receive data related to the physical location associated with the beacon from the wireless communication beacon using a connectionless data channel; and a user interface system configured to transmit indications related to data related to the physical location associated with the beacon through a user interface element of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0016] From an additional aspect, a method can be provided, comprising: receiving, by a non-flammable aerosol supply system, data related to a physical location associated with the beacon using a connectionless data channel and from a wireless communication beacon; and transmitting, by a user interface element of the non-flammable aerosol supply system, an indication related to the received data.

[0017] Viewed from another aspect, a method for a wireless beacon may be provided, comprising: receiving data related to a physical location associated with the beacon via a data interface; and sending the data related to the physical location associated with the beacon using a wireless communication system configured to use a connectionless data channel.

[0018] From a further aspect, a method for a system including a non-flammable aerosol supply system and a wireless beacon can be provided, the method comprising: using a data interface of the wireless beacon to receive data related to a physical location associated with the beacon; using a wireless communication system configured to transmit using a connectionless data channel to send data related to the physical location associated with the beacon; using a wireless communication system configured to receive using a connectionless data channel to receive data related to the physical location associated with the beacon; and using a user interface system configured to transmit through a user interface element of the non-flammable aerosol supply system to transmit an indication of data related to the physical location associated with the beacon.

[0019] Furthermore, although the above examples, aspects, and embodiments are implemented in the context of a user interface of a non-flammable aerosol supply system, the same techniques may also and / or alternatively be deployed in the context of a user interface of a device that is in data connection with the non-flammable aerosol supply system. For example, the device may be a user device that has a wired or wireless connection with the non-flammable aerosol supply system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Embodiments of the present teachings will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0021] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a non-flammable aerosol supply system;

[0022] Figure 2 A schematically illustrates a method for providing communication between a plurality of separate non-flammable aerosol supply systems;

[0023] Figure 2 B is a flow chart of a method for providing communication between a plurality of separate non-flammable aerosol supply systems;

[0024] 3A, 3B and 3C schematically illustrate another method for providing communication between a plurality of separate non-flammable aerosol supply systems;

[0025] 3D is a flow chart of a method for providing communication between a plurality of separate non-flammable aerosol supply systems;

[0026] Figure 4 A schematically illustrates a method for providing communication between a plurality of separate non-flammable aerosol supply systems;

[0027] Figure 4 B is a flow chart of a method for providing communication between a plurality of separate non-flammable aerosol supply systems;

[0028] FIG5A schematically illustrates a method for providing communication between a non-flammable aerosol supply system and a beacon;

[0029] 5B is a flow chart of a method for providing communication between a non-flammable aerosol supply system and a beacon;

[0030] Figure 5C is a flow chart of a method for providing communication between a non-flammable aerosol supply system and a beacon;

[0031] Figure 6 A is a schematic diagram of a sequence of user interface screens;

[0032] Figure 6 B is a schematic diagram of a sequence of user interface screens.

[0033] Although the presently described method is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments are shown by way of example in the drawings and described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the drawings and their detailed description are not intended to limit the scope to the particular forms disclosed, but rather, the scope should cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives that fall within the spirit and scope defined by the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] The present disclosure as a whole relates to sharing information between different non-flammable aerosol supply system devices and then displaying the information on the non-flammable aerosol supply system itself. Both the sharing and the displaying occur without any transmission of data to, from, or via a connected device (such as a smartphone).

[0035] The present disclosure also relates to sharing inventory information from beacons associated with inventory holding locations to a non-flammable aerosol supply system. The inventory information is then displayed directly to a user by the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0036] It will be appreciated that the present method involves sending data to and from a non-flammable aerosol supply system and for causing the non-flammable aerosol supply system to process stored data and / or received data. Therefore, in order to illustrate an apparatus suitable for providing such functionality, for Figure 1 An exemplary non-flammable aerosol supply system 10 is shown.

[0037] Figure 1 An example of a non-flammable aerosol supply system 10 is schematically shown in FIG. As shown, the aerosol delivery device 10 is a device comprising elements related to aerosol generation, such as an aerosol generating material container or a cartridge 12 (in the case of a terminal device, the aerosol generating material container or a cartridge 12 will contain nicotine or a nicotine-containing preparation), an aerosol generating chamber 14 and an outlet 16, through which the generated aerosol can be discharged. The aerosol generating material container or a cartridge 12 generally stores an aerosol generating material (alternatively referred to as an aerosol medium) and can be a consumable or part of a consumable. A battery 18 can be provided, which provides power to a heat generator element (such as a heater coil 20) in the aerosol generating chamber 14 (or functionally adjacent to the aerosol generating chamber). The battery 18 can also power a processor / controller 22, which can be used for the purpose of device use (such as activating a device for aerosol generation in response to an activation trigger), as well as for communication and functional control purposes. The processor / controller 22 may access a memory 24, which may be used to store operating instructions for the processor / controller 22. The memory 24 may also be used to store data describing operating conditions and / or states of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10 and / or one or more of its components. The memory 24 may be located internal to the processor / controller 22, or may be provided as an additional separate physical element.

[0038] To perform the transmission and reception of data and / or messaging, the processor / controller 22 is provided with a transmitter / receiver element 26. The transmitter / receiver element 26 enables the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10 to communicate with a connected device using a connection technology such as a personal area network protocol. Exemplary personal area network protocols include Bluetooth TM , Bluetooth Low Energy(tm) (BLE), Zigbee TM , wireless USB, and near field communication (NFC). Exemplary personal area network protocols also include protocols utilizing optical communications such as infrared data association (IrDA) and data over voice. Other wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi may be used if the non-flammable aerosol supply system has suitable capabilities. TM In other examples, the transmitter / receiver element 26 may be configured to provide a wired communication channel between the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10 and a physical port of a connected device. Such a wired communication channel may utilize a physical connection technology such as USB. TM , Serial Port, FireWire TM Or other point-to-point wired connections. The remainder of this discussion will use the example of BLE, and will use BLE terminology, but it will be understood that corresponding or equivalent functionality of other personal area network technologies may be substituted. Thus, in this example, the transmitter / receiver element 26 is a BLE interface element that includes or is connected to a radio antenna for wireless communication. In other examples (such as those indicated above), this may be an interface element and / or a wired connection interface for alternative wireless technologies.

[0039] Any communications established with the connected device may be non-permanent or otherwise transient, in that the channel may be established for the period of time required to perform a particular function, but may also be disconnected when not required. In the present example, the connected device will typically be another non-flammable aerosol supply system. In some examples, the connected device may additionally or alternatively be some form of user device (which may also be referred to as a remote device, in the sense that the device is remote from the non-flammable aerosol supply system), such as a mobile phone (cell phone) or tablet computer of a user (and / or owner) of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0040] continue Figure 1 As discussed above, in one example, the processor / controller 22 may be an ARM-based processor such as that provided by STMicroelectronics. TM Cortex TM -M processor based STM32 microcontroller. In other examples, alternative microcontrollers or processors may be used, which may be based on ARM TMArchitecture and Atom TM architecture or other low-power processor technology. Alternatively or additionally, in one example, the transmitter / receiver element 26 may include an nRF BLE chip for cooperating with the processor / controller to provide a BLE connection to the non-flammable aerosol supply system. In other examples, other communication interface chips or modules may be deployed to provide connection services.

[0041] As shown, the processor / controller 22 can be connected to, for example, an aerosol generating material container or a cigarette cartridge 12, an aerosol generating chamber 14, and a battery 18. The connection can be to an interface connection or output from one of the components, and / or can be to sensors located at some of the components or in some of the components. These connections can provide access to the characteristics of the corresponding components by the processor. For example, a battery connection can be used to control the activation of a non-flammable aerosol supply system for aerosol generation.

[0042] Other functionality of the processor / controller 22 and / or memory 24 will be described with reference to examples of the present method below.

[0043] In addition, the non-flammable aerosol supply system includes an output element 28. The output element is capable of outputting a representation / derivation of data stored in the memory 24 and / or received by the transmitter / receiver element 26. In this example, the output element includes a visual display element, such as an illuminable indicator (e.g., LED, multicolor LED, etc.) or a display configured to output one or more letters, numbers or symbols. If the output element 28 is a display, this can be a matrix or grid type display (such as an LED display, an LCD display, etc.). In some examples, the output element 28 can additionally or alternatively include an audio output element. Such an audio output element can be configured to emit one or more sounds. In some examples, the output element 28 can additionally or alternatively include a tactile feedback element. Such a tactile feedback element can be configured to cause a detectable vibration or buzzer of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0044] The non-flammable aerosol supply system may also include an input element 30. In this example, the input element 30 includes a button or other element capable of receiving physical input from a user. In the case where the output element 28 is a display, the input element may be a touch-sensitive and / or pressure-sensitive detector included in the display, such as a touch screen display. In some examples, the input element 30 may also or alternatively include an audio detector capable of receiving audio input. Such audio input may then be processed for recognition (such as voice recognition processing) by the controller / processor 22 (or other processing hardware of the non-flammable aerosol supply system) to receive audio input from the user.

[0045] The output element 28 and the input element 30 (where present) may be described as a user interface system of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10 or a part thereof. Content transmitted via the output element 28 is provided from the processor / controller 22 to the output element, and input received via the input element 30 is provided to the processor / controller 22. Therefore, the processor or controller 22 and / or the instructions operating thereon may also be described as part of the user interface system. The user interface system provides a mechanism by which a user of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10 can receive information / notifications from the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10, and optionally also provides a mechanism by which a user can provide input to the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10. The output element 28 and the input element 30 may be collectively referred to as user interface elements. In some examples, the non-flammable aerosol supply system may be activated to generate an aerosol via the input element 30 or by performing an action that causes a detectable airflow through one or more aerosol generation-related components of the non-flammable aerosol supply system. Therefore, the mechanism by which the non-flammable aerosol supply system is activated to generate an aerosol may be considered to be part of the user interface system or separate from the user interface system.

[0046] Although the above describes that the non-flammable aerosol supply system includes one or more user interface elements of the user interface system, the present teachings are also applicable to situations where the connected device (e.g., connected in a wired or wireless manner using a transmitter / receiver element) has its own user interface system. Such a connected device user interface can be used to implement and achieve any or all of the user interface behaviors described herein, which can be in addition to or instead of some or all of those user interface behaviors performed using the user interface system of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0047] Thus, a nonflammable aerosol supply system has been described that can interact with one or more other nonflammable aerosol supply systems to provide a number of additional functionalities of the nonflammable aerosol supply system to a user of the nonflammable aerosol supply system. Examples of such functionalities will now be described.

[0048] Figure 2 A and Figure 2 B collectively illustrates a first method for providing communication between a plurality of separate non-flammable aerosol supply systems.

[0049] The method involves a given non-flammable aerosol supply system configured to provide an indication to a user that one or more other non-flammable aerosol supply systems are proximate to the user's non-flammable aerosol supply system. In this example, Figure 2As shown in A, two non-flammable aerosol supply systems 10a and 10b are located within a BLE communication distance D of each other. Either or both of the non-flammable aerosol supply systems can perform a determination as to whether the other non-flammable aerosol supply system is within range of another non-flammable aerosol supply system. In response to individually determining at each non-flammable aerosol supply system that the other non-flammable aerosol supply system is within range, the corresponding display element 28 of each non-flammable aerosol supply system can display an indication that at least one other non-flammable aerosol supply system is active within range. Although Figure 2 A indicates that both non-flammable aerosol supply systems 10a and 10b have executed the method so that each is able to display an indication that at least one other non-flammable aerosol supply system is within range, but the method is equally applicable if only one of two or more non-flammable aerosol supply systems that are within range of each other executes the described method.

[0050] Figure 2 B shows a method that can be independently performed by each non-flammable aerosol supply system to achieve this function. Beginning at step S2-1, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a sends an advertising packet. This can be a standard BLE advertising packet of the type that is conventionally used to advertise the existence of BLE devices that can be used for BLE connection / pairing. This method does not require a specific advertising packet payload. In order to provide a high level of proximity information to users of the non-flammable aerosol supply system, the non-flammable aerosol supply system can be configured to repeatedly send such advertising packets at appropriate time intervals without user input. On the other hand, it can appropriately save battery power for aerosol generation or other functions of the non-flammable aerosol supply system, so that user input can be used to trigger the sending of an advertising packet or the activation of an operating mode for sending such an advertising packet. In the case where the function requires user input, the non-flammable aerosol supply system will include an input element 30.

[0051] In response to the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b receiving the BLE advertising packet, the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b sends a response packet. The response packet may be a BLE scan request packet or a BLE connection request packet. Then, at step S2-3, a response packet is received at the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a. From the fact that the response information has been received, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a already knows that the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b is within the communication range. If this is not the case, no response packet will be received. Therefore, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a knows that there is another active non-flammable aerosol supply system within the communication range.

[0052] Therefore, at step S2-7, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a displays some information using the display element 28a of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a to indicate to the user that another non-flammable aerosol supply system is within range. Figure 2 As shown in A, in this example, the displayed information is a symbol indicating that some other non-flammable aerosol supply system is within range. In other examples, the information can be provided by one or more of the other symbols, one or more letters, one or more numbers, one or more audible indications, and / or one or more tactile indications.

[0053] Although it is explained that the response packet can be a BLE scan packet or a BLE connection request packet (either or both of which can be used as part of the process of establishing a BLE pairing or connection), the method of this example can be utilized without establishing a BLE pairing / connection. In other words, this method utilizes the unconnected state of Bluetooth / BLE to achieve the described results. It is possible that such a pairing / connection is required / expected, and therefore, in addition to this method, such a pairing / connection can be optionally continued. As mentioned above, although this example discusses Bluetooth / BLE terms, the method taught can adopt other connection technologies (such as other personal area network technologies) to provide the exchange of unconnected and / or connection precursor packets. As will be appreciated, a connectionless state packet is a packet sent without a formal binding, pairing, or other connection establishment process (or before completing a formal binding, pairing, or other connection establishment process). Therefore, a connectionless channel is a channel through which a connectionless state packet can be sent and / or received, i.e., a channel for exchanging packets, and for which a formal binding, pairing, or other connection establishment process has not yet been completed.

[0054] Optionally, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a may perform additional steps to determine the range to the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b from which the response was received at step S2-3. As shown at optional step S2-5, this determination includes calculating the range to the device from which the response packet was received (in this example, the device is the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b). This range calculation can be based on the received signal power of the response packet. By knowing the received signal power, an approximate value of the distance D can be calculated. Therefore, the display of the information at step S2-7 can be performed to indicate when another non-flammable aerosol supply system is within a distance D corresponding to a threshold.

[0055] In this example, the distance calculation is a threshold distance calculation. In other words, the calculation determines whether the received signal power of the response packet is greater than or less than a preset threshold. The threshold is preset in the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a to a given value representing the distance D. Therefore, in a specific example, the threshold can be set to determine when another non-flammable aerosol supply system 10 enters within 10m of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a. Other range values ​​are also possible, and the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a can have multiple different range thresholds, and the user can choose between these thresholds for the purpose of "within range" detection.

[0056] In order to set the threshold value used by the non-flammable aerosol supply system, a calculation can be performed based on an assumed and / or expected average transmit power of all non-flammable aerosol supply systems 10 compatible with the present method and an assumed power drop with distance in the expected transmission medium (which may be air, but some degree of intermediate building structures and / or biological organisms and / or signal interference may be taken into account). As will be understood, the use of such a threshold value to determine the range based on such assumed parameters is necessarily approximate, because factors such as unexpectedly high or low response packet transmit power, a higher or lower number of intermediate building structures or biological organisms, and a higher or lower level of interference in the transmission band may affect the received signal power. In this way, a threshold value representing a specific distance D will necessarily cover a range of possible distances, where there is a probability that the distance between two non-flammable aerosol supply systems 10 is approximately the specific distance D.

[0057] By using a threshold-based calculation as explained above, a single non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a can calculate the distance using a simple calculation that does not require a large amount of processing power. As such, the present method can be implemented in a non-flammable aerosol supply system 10 having a low-power controller / processor 22.

[0058] In other examples, and by accepting that the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a will need to perform more complex calculations, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a can calculate the actual (albeit approximate) range to other non-flammable aerosol supply systems 10b from which the response packet is received. In this example, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a will use the actual or possible transmit power for such received packets. This can be included as an assumed value within the programming of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a, or can be included as a payload in the received response packet. The non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a will also use a value or equation indicating the expected signal strength drop with distance. By knowing the received signal power of the response packet and these two additional pieces of information, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a can calculate the actual range to other non-flammable aerosol supply systems 10b. This actual range will be affected by uncertainty in the same way as explained above regarding the threshold method. Using this method, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a can include a representation of the distance in the display information.

[0059] Although the above discussion refers to providing an indication that another non-flammable aerosol supply system is within range of the user's non-flammable aerosol supply system, the same method may be used to determine such a range condition with respect to multiple other non-flammable aerosol supply systems. The same method will be performed by the user's non-flammable aerosol supply system for each other non-flammable aerosol supply system (note that a single advertising packet may cause responses from more than one other non-flammable aerosol supply system, or separate advertising packets may each cause responses from different other non-flammable aerosol supply systems). The displayed information may then, for example, indicate multiple other non-flammable aerosol supply systems within range. Additionally or alternatively, the non-flammable aerosol supply system may provide for the use of an input element 30 so that information about each detected non-flammable aerosol supply system is displayed in sequence.

[0060] Although the above discussion is described from the perspective of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a, it is also applicable to the case where the method is performed by the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b, but in this case, it is the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b that sends the advertisement and the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a provides the response.

[0061] Thus, a method has been described by which a non-flammable aerosol supply system can determine when at least one other non-flammable aerosol supply system is within a particular range (such as a communication range, a predetermined distance and / or a calculated distance) and display information describing this situation to a user of the non-flammable aerosol supply system via the non-flammable aerosol supply system itself. In other words, the method enables a user of a non-flammable aerosol supply system to be informed when another non-flammable aerosol supply system comes within range. This can allow or encourage information exchange and / or assistance between different users of two non-flammable aerosol supply systems.

[0062] 3A , 3B, 3C, and 3D collectively illustrate another method of providing communication between multiple separate non-flammable aerosol supply systems.

[0063] This method is similar to Figure 2 A and Figure 2 B, however, in this method, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a is configured to indicate proximity to one or more other activated non-flammable aerosol supply systems.

[0064] In this example, as shown in FIG. 3A , two non-flammable aerosol supply systems 10a and 10b are within a distance D1 from each other. In this example, the distance D1 is a relatively long distance, which may be at or near the maximum communication range of the non-flammable aerosol supply system. Therefore, the display 28a of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a indicates another non-flammable aerosol supply system at a long distance, and in this example also indicates the identifier of the other non-flammable aerosol supply system. The identifier may be information included in a response packet received from the other non-flammable aerosol supply system, or may be an arbitrary identifier assigned by the non-flammable aerosol supply system that displays proximity information. In the case where the identifier is included in the response packet received from the other non-flammable aerosol supply system, the identifier may be an actual identifier of the user or device, or may be a nickname or other non-personal identification identifier. In the case where any type of identifier is provided in the response packet, in some examples, the identifier may be included only in the response packet in which the user of the non-flammable aerosol supply system has provided permission for such identifier sharing.

[0065] In the example shown, the display 28a of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a displays an identifier "User 2" as well as a distance indicator, the identifier "User 2" being used to indicate that the other non-flammable aerosol supply system is identified as or is assumed to be associated with a user different from the user of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a, which in this example has been given the identifier "User 1". The display 28b of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b has correspondingly performed the same method and therefore displays a similar range indicator, but with an identifier assigned to or received from the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a, in this example the received or applied identifier "User 1".

[0066] Then, as shown in Fig. 3B, the two non-flammable aerosol supply systems 10a and 10b are separated by a distance D2, which is less than the distance D1. Therefore, the display 28 of each non-flammable aerosol supply system now indicates the same identifier information as in Fig. 3A, but the distance indicator now represents the reduced distance (or greater proximity) between the two non-flammable aerosol supply systems.

[0067] Then as further shown in Figure 3C, the two non-flammable aerosol supply systems 10a and 10b are separated by a distance D3, which is less than the distance D1 and the distance D2. Therefore, the display 28 of each non-flammable aerosol supply system now indicates the same identifier information as in Figures 3A and 3B, but the distance indicator now represents a further reduced distance (or even greater proximity) between the two non-flammable aerosol supply systems.

[0068] As mentioned above Figure 2 A and Figure 2 B, the illustrations in Figures 3A, 3B and 3C indicate display element 28 of each non-flammable aerosol supply system that has performed the method, but similarly, the present disclosure covers the method being performed by only one (or otherwise less than all) non-flammable aerosol supply systems.

[0069] Thus, a given non-flammable aerosol supply system may provide an indication of the proximity of one or more other non-flammable aerosol supply systems.A method that may be independently performed by each non-flammable aerosol supply system to achieve this functionality is now further described with reference to FIG. 3D.

[0070] Beginning at step S3-1, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a sends an advertising packet. This can be a standard BLE advertising packet of the type conventionally used to advertise the presence of BLE devices that can be used for BLE connection / pairing. The present method does not require a specific advertising packet payload. In order to provide a high level of proximity information to users of the non-flammable aerosol supply system, the non-flammable aerosol supply system can be configured to repeatedly send such advertising packets at suitable time intervals without user input. On the other hand, it can appropriately save battery power for aerosol generation or other functions of the non-flammable aerosol supply system, so that user input can be used to trigger the sending of an advertising packet or the activation of an operating mode for sending such an advertising packet. In the case where the function requires user input, the non-flammable aerosol supply system will include an input element 30.

[0071] In response to the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b receiving the BLE advertising packet, the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b sends a response packet. The response packet may be a BLE scan request packet or a BLE connection request packet. Then, at step S3-3, the response packet is received at the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a. Therefore, the response packet again indicates to the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a that the other non-flammable aerosol supply system is in an activated state and is within the communication range.

[0072] Although it is explained that the response packet can be a BLE scan packet or a BLE connection request packet (either or both of which can be used as part of the process of establishing a BLE pairing or connection), the method of this example can be utilized without establishing a BLE pairing / connection. In other words, the method utilizes the unconnected state of Bluetooth / BLE to achieve the described results. It may be the case that such a pairing / connection is needed / desired, and therefore such a pairing / connection can be optionally continued in addition to the method.

[0073] After receiving the response packet at step S3-3, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a determines a specific range to the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b. As shown at optional step S3-5, this determination includes calculating the range to the device from which the response packet was received (in this example, the device is the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b). Figure 2 A and Figure 2B is very similar to what is described, and the distance calculation can be based on the received signal power of the response packet. By knowing the received signal power, an approximate value of the distance D can be calculated. Therefore, at step S3-7, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a uses the display element 28a of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a to display some information to indicate to the user that another non-flammable aerosol supply system is within the range. As shown in Figures 3A, 3B and 3C, in this example, the displayed information is an indication of the identifier of the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b and an indication of the proximity (or range distance) of the non-flammable aerosol supply system. In other examples, the information can be provided by one or more of other symbols, one or more letters, one or more numbers, one or more audible indications and / or one or more tactile indications.

[0074] In this example, the distance calculation is a threshold distance calculation. In other words, the calculation determines that the received signal power of the response packet is greater than or less than each of two or more preset thresholds. Each threshold is preset in the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a as a given value representing the distance. Therefore, in this example in which there may be three ranges, the received signal power is compared with each of the three thresholds, one threshold corresponding to the longest distance D1, the second threshold corresponding to the middle distance D2, and the third threshold corresponding to the shortest distance D3. Therefore, in a specific example, a threshold can be set to determine when another non-flammable aerosol supply system 10 exists within 10m of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a, within 8m of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a, and within 2m of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a. In other examples, other range values ​​and / or greater or smaller number of thresholds can be implemented. In a specific example, two range thresholds are used, and these thresholds can correspond to, for example, a range of 10m and 4m.

[0075] Each such threshold can be expressed as Figure 2 A and Figure 2 B is set in the same way as the thresholds already described. Therefore, it can be expected that the ranges are to some extent approximate or indicative of probabilities in the same way.

[0076] As discussed above, from the fact that the response information has been received, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a already knows that the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b is within the communication range. If this is not the case, then no response packet will be received. Therefore, in some examples, this fact can be used as an indication that the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b is within the first (longest) distance D1, so that no threshold test is required to determine that the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b is within the longest distance D1. The threshold method can then be used to determine one or more additional ranges. Therefore, in the example in which only two ranges are presented, the presence of other non-flammable aerosol supply systems in the longer of the two ranges is determined by receiving a response packet, and the presence of other non-flammable aerosol supply systems in the shorter of the two ranges is determined by testing against a threshold representing the shorter range.

[0077] By using a threshold-based calculation as explained above, a single non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a can calculate the distance using a simple calculation that does not require a large amount of processing power. As such, the present method can be implemented in a non-flammable aerosol supply system 10 having a low-power controller / processor 22.

[0078] In other examples, and by accepting that the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a will need to perform more complex calculations, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a can calculate the actual (albeit approximate) range to other non-flammable aerosol supply systems 10b from which a response packet is received. In this example, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a will use the actual or possible transmit power for such received packets. This can be included as an assumed value within the programming of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a, or can be included as a payload in the received response packet. The non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a will also use a value or equation indicating the expected signal strength drop with distance. By knowing the received signal power of the response packet and these two additional pieces of information, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a can calculate the actual range to other non-flammable aerosol supply systems 10b. This actual range can then be included in the display 18a, either as a symbolic range relative to detectable maximum and minimum values, or as a numerical actual range.

[0079] Although the above discussion refers to providing an indication that another non-flammable aerosol supply system is within the range of the user's non-flammable aerosol supply system, the same method can be used to determine such a range condition with respect to multiple other non-flammable aerosol supply systems. The same method will be performed by the user's non-flammable aerosol supply system for each other non-flammable aerosol supply system (note that a single advertising packet may cause responses from more than one other non-flammable aerosol supply system, or separate advertising packets may each cause responses from different other non-flammable aerosol supply systems). The display information may then, for example, indicate multiple other non-flammable aerosol supply systems within each range. Additionally or alternatively, the non-flammable aerosol supply system may provide for the use of an input element 30 so that information about the number of non-flammable aerosol supply systems detected within each range bracket and / or information about the range of each detected non-flammable aerosol supply system is displayed in sequence.

[0080] Although the above discussion is described from the perspective of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a, it is also applicable to the case where the method is performed by the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b, but in this case, it is the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b that sends the advertisement and the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a provides the response.

[0081] Thus, a method has been described by which a non-flammable aerosol supply system can determine when at least one other non-flammable aerosol supply system is within one or more ranges (or one or more degrees of proximity) and display information describing that situation to a user of the non-flammable aerosol supply system via the non-flammable aerosol supply system itself. In other words, the method enables a user of a non-flammable aerosol supply system to be informed when another non-flammable aerosol supply system is present within a particular range. This can allow or encourage information exchange and / or assistance between different users of two non-flammable aerosol supply systems.

[0082] Figure 4 A and Figure 4 B collectively illustrates another method of providing communication between multiple separate non-flammable aerosol supply systems.

[0083] This method is similar to Figure 2 A and Figure 2 B (and may optionally be combined with Figure 2 A and Figure 2 B or any combination of the methods shown in Figures 3A, 3A, 3C and 3D), but in this case, the payload information included in the response packet is used to provide additional information to a user of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0084] In this example, if Figure 4 As shown in A, two non-flammable aerosol supply systems 10a and 10b are within a communication distance D of each other. Either or both of the non-flammable aerosol supply systems may execute a method to determine whether the other non-flammable aerosol supply system is within range of another activated non-flammable aerosol supply system, and also determine some additional operational information about the other non-flammable aerosol supply system. In response to individually determining at each non-flammable aerosol supply system that the other non-flammable aerosol supply system is activated and within range, and obtaining additional operational information, the corresponding display element 28 of each non-flammable aerosol supply system may display an indication that at least one other activated non-flammable aerosol supply system is within range, and display additional operational information about the other non-flammable aerosol supply system. Although Figure 4 A indicates that both non-flammable aerosol supply systems 10a and 10b have performed the method so as to both be able to display such information, but the method is equally applicable if only one of two or more non-flammable aerosol supply systems that happen to be within range of each other performs the described method.

[0085] In this example, the additional operating information (described as "additional" because the operating information activated relative to other non-flammable aerosol supply systems is additional) includes information about the aerosol generating material used in the non-flammable aerosol supply system. The aerosol generating material may, for example, be contained in an aerosol generating material container or a cartridge 12. Information about the aerosol generating material may be stored in the memory 24. In this example, the aerosol generating material container or the cartridge 12 is a removable / replaceable element, and the information describing the aerosol generating material in the aerosol generating material container or the cartridge 12 may be detectable by the controller / processor 22. In other examples, the aerosol generating material container or the cartridge 12 may be a refillable container or cartridge, and the user may be able to provide information about the aerosol generating material to the non-flammable aerosol supply system directly or via a connected smartphone or tablet. In other examples, the aerosol generating material container or the cartridge 12 may be a non-replaceable element, so that information about the aerosol generating material can be stored in the non-flammable aerosol supply system as part of the manufacturing process.

[0086] Information about aerosol generating materials may include information about flavorings or fragrances of aerosol generating materials. As used herein, the terms "flavoring" and "flavor" refer to materials that can be used to produce a taste, fragrance, or other physical sensation desired by adult consumers in a product, where permitted by local regulations. It may include naturally occurring flavoring materials, plants, plant extracts, synthetically obtained materials, or combinations thereof (e.g., tobacco, narcotic substances, licorice, hydrangea, eugenol, Japanese magnolia leaves, chamomile, fenugreek, cloves, maple, matcha, menthol, Japanese mint, aniseed (fennel), cinnamon, turmeric, Indian spices, Asian spices, herbs, holly, cherry, berry, cranberry, cranberry, peach, apple, orange, mango, citrus, lemon, lime, tropical fruit, papaya, rhubarb, Grapes, durian, pitaya, cucumber, blueberry, mulberry, citrus fruits, Durham, bourbon, scotch, whiskey, gin, tequila, rum, spearmint, mint, lavender, aloe, cardamom, celery, bitter bean peel, nutmeg, sandalwood, bergamot, geranium, khat, sorghum, betel leaf, coriander, pine, honey essence, rose oil, vanilla, lemon oil, orange oil, orange blossom, cherry blossom, cinnamon, coriander, cognac, jasmine, ylang-ylang, sage, fennel , mustard, green pepper, ginger, coriander, coffee, narcotic substances, mint oil from any species of the mint plant, eucalyptus, star anise, cocoa, lemongrass, red beans, flax, ginkgo leaves, hazelnuts, hibiscus, laurel, mate, orange peel, rose, tea (e.g., green or black), thyme, juniper, elderberry, basil, bay leaves, cumin, oregano, chili pepper, rosemary, saffron, lemon peel, mint, beefsteak, turmeric, coriander, myrtle, black currant, valerian, Spanish bell pepper, mace , damion, marjoram, olive, lemon balm, lemon basil, shallot, parsley, verbena, tarragon, limonene, thymol, camphene), flavor enhancers, bitter receptor site blockers, sensory receptor site activators or stimulators, sugars and / or sugar substitutes (e.g., sucralose, acesulfame potassium, aspartame, saccharin, cyclamate, lactose, sucrose, glucose, fructose, sorbitol or mannitol), and other additives such as charcoal, chlorophyll, minerals, plants, or breath fresheners. They can be imitation, synthetic or natural ingredients or mixtures thereof. They can be in any suitable form, such as liquid (such as oil), solid (such as powder), or gas.

[0087] In some examples, flavorings include menthol, spearmint and / or peppermint. In some embodiments, flavorings include flavoring components of cucumber, blueberry, citrus fruit and / or cranberry. In some embodiments, flavorings include eugenol. In some embodiments, flavorings include flavoring components extracted from tobacco.

[0088] In some examples, in addition to or in lieu of aroma or taste nerves, flavoring agents may include sensates that are intended to achieve somatic sensations that are typically chemically induced and sensed by stimulation of the fifth cranial nerve (trigeminal nerve), and these may include agents that provide heating, cooling, tingling, numbing effects. Suitable thermal effect agents may be, but are not limited to, vanillyl ethyl ether, and suitable cooling agents may be, but are not limited to, eucalyptol, WS-3.

[0089] Information about aerosol generating materials can also or alternatively include information about the active substance of aerosol generating materials. As used herein, active substances can be physiologically active materials, which are materials intended to achieve or enhance physiological responses. Active substances can, for example, be selected from nutrients, nootropics, psychoactive substances. Active substances can be naturally occurring or synthetically obtained. Active substances can include, for example, nicotine, caffeine, taurine, caffeine, vitamins (such as B6 or B12 or C), melatonin, or compositions, derivatives or combinations thereof. Active substances can include one or more compositions, derivatives or extracts of tobacco or another plant.

[0090] In some examples, the active substance includes nicotine. In some embodiments, the active substance includes caffeine, melatonin, or vitamin B12.

[0091] like Figure 4 As shown in A, in this example, the information about the aerosol generating material includes information about the flavoring and information about the nicotine strength of the aerosol generating material. As shown, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a of user 1 has an aerosol generating material with cherry flavoring and a nicotine strength of 6 mg per milliliter, and the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b of user 2 has an aerosol generating material with mint flavoring and no nicotine content. It will be understood that these two specific illustrations of the content of the aerosol generating material are provided only by way of example, and the present teachings cover a wide variety of possible aerosol generating material contents, including but not limited to one or more of the flavorings mentioned above and / or one or more of the active substances. Also as discussed above, the user identifier can be assigned / determined in a variety of different ways, and / or can be a personal identifier or a non-personal identifier in nature.

[0092] Information about aerosol generating materials can be considered as information about aerosol generating material containers or cartridges 12, and therefore can also be considered as information about consumables. Such consumables can be referred to as SKUs, or can be referred to or identified using SKU identifiers.

[0093] Other forms of further operational information may additionally or alternatively be used. These may include the remaining amount of aerosol generating material (absolute or relative) and / or the remaining battery charge level (also absolute or relative).

[0094] In some examples, additional operational information of the non-flammable aerosol supply system for a user may only be provided by the non-flammable aerosol supply system after the user has permitted such data to be shared.

[0095] Thus, a given non-flammable aerosol supply system may provide an indication of the proximity of one or more other non-flammable aerosol supply systems. Figure 4 B further describes methods that can be independently performed by each non-flammable aerosol supply system to achieve this function.

[0096] Beginning at step S4-1, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a sends an advertising packet. This can be a standard BLE advertising packet of the type conventionally used to advertise the presence of BLE devices that can be used for BLE connection / pairing. The present method does not require a specific advertising packet payload. In order to provide users of the non-flammable aerosol supply system with a high level of information about other nearby non-flammable aerosol supply systems, the non-flammable aerosol supply system can be configured to repeatedly send such advertising packets at suitable time intervals without user input. On the other hand, it can appropriately save battery power for aerosol generation or other functions of the non-flammable aerosol supply system, so that user input can be used to trigger the sending of an advertising packet or the activation of an operating mode for sending such an advertising packet. In the case where the function requires user input, the non-flammable aerosol supply system will include an input element 30.

[0097] In response to the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b receiving the BLE advertising packet, the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b sends a response packet. The response packet may be a BLE scan request packet or a BLE connection request packet. Then, at step S4-3, a response packet is received at the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a. Therefore, the response packet again indicates to the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a that the other non-flammable aerosol supply system is activated and within the communication range. The response packet in this example includes additional operation information. The additional operation information can therefore be included in the response packet as part of the payload space.

[0098] Although it is explained that the response packet can be a BLE scan packet or a BLE connection request packet (either or both of which can be used as part of the process of establishing a BLE pairing or connection), the method of this example can be utilized without actually establishing a BLE pairing / connection. In other words, the method utilizes the unconnected state of Bluetooth / BLE to achieve the described results. It may be the case that such a pairing / connection is needed / desired, and therefore such a pairing / connection can be optionally continued in addition to the method.

[0099] In some examples, multiple packets may be required to convey additional operational information because the additional operational information is larger than the available payload space of the response packet. In the present example using BLE for communication, this situation is accommodated by using a first response packet in the form of a BLE scan packet, in response to receiving the BLE scan packet, the non-flammable aerosol supply system sends a scan response packet to trigger a connection request packet from the other non-flammable aerosol supply system. In this way, the payload space of both the scan request packet and the connection request packet can be used to convey additional operational information without having to establish a pairing / connection state.

[0100] After receiving the response packet at step S4-3, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a extracts the payload information from the response packet to obtain the additional operation information. Therefore, at step S4-7, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a displays the additional operation information using the display element 28a of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a. Figure 4 As shown in A, in this example, the displayed information is an identifier indicating other non-flammable aerosol supply systems 10b and an indication of the flavoring and nicotine strength being used by the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b. In other examples, the information can be provided by one or more of other symbols, one or more letters, one or more numbers, one or more audible indications, and / or one or more tactile indications.

[0101] Although the above discussion is described from the perspective of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a, it is also applicable to the case where the method is performed by the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b, but in this case, it is the other non-flammable aerosol supply system 10b that sends the advertisement and the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a provides the response.

[0102] Thus, a method has been described by which a non-flammable aerosol supply system can determine operational information about other non-flammable aerosol supply systems from at least one other non-flammable aerosol supply system located within a communication range, and display information describing the operational information to a user of the non-flammable aerosol supply system via the non-flammable aerosol supply system itself. In other words, the method enables users of non-flammable aerosol supply systems to be informed about operational characteristics of another non-flammable aerosol supply system within a communication range via their non-flammable aerosol supply system. This can allow or encourage information exchange and / or assistance between different users of two non-flammable aerosol supply systems.

[0103] although Figure 2 A and Figure 2 B and the methods shown in FIG. 3A , FIG. 3B , FIG. 3C and FIG. 3D are Figure 4 A and Figure 4 The methods shown in B are described separately, but these methods can be used in combination. Thus, for example, an implementation can be created in which a user's non-flammable aerosol supply system is able to display information about two ranges (whether a single range or one of multiple ranges) and additional operating information about the other non-flammable aerosol supply system to another activated non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0104] Additionally or alternatively, the non-flammable aerosol supply system can provide a display of the proximity of an entity other than another non-flammable aerosol supply system. For example, the non-flammable aerosol supply system can be configured to provide a distance from a beacon (and / or other information provided by the beacon). Such a beacon can be deployed in geographical association with a facility (such as a supplier location), from which supplies for the non-flammable aerosol supply system can be obtained. Such a supplier location can include a battery recharging facility and / or an aerosol generating material container or a cigarette cartridge refilling facility, and / or can retail supplies, such as replacement batteries and / or aerosol generating material containers or cigarette cartridges. Figures 5A and 5B jointly illustrate a method for providing communication between a beacon and a non-flammable aerosol supply system. Such a beacon can have a data interface that links the beacon to an inventory information data record (such as an inventory list, one or more records of an inventory database, etc.), and the beacon can receive inventory information via the data interface. Such inventory information may be retrieved by the beacon in real time (ie, in response to any specific request from the non-flammable aerosol supply system) and / or may be cached in the beacon's memory (in which case periodic refreshing of the inventory information cache may be implemented).

[0105] This method is similar to Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 4The method shown (and indeed, the non-flammable aerosol supply system may be configured to perform Figures 2 to 4 5A and 5B ), but in this case, the communication is with the beacon and the payload information included in the response packet from the beacon is used to provide the distance and / or information about the facility or location associated with the beacon.

[0106] In this example, as shown in FIG5A , the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a is within a communication distance D with the beacon 40. The non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a may perform a method to determine whether other non-flammable aerosol supply systems are within range of the beacon 40, and / or determine certain information provided by the beacon 40. In response to determining at the non-flammable aerosol supply system that the beacon is activated and within range, the display element 28a of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a may display an indication that the beacon is within range. As shown, the display element may display a logo or symbol indicating that there is a beacon for a place or facility nearby. In some examples, based on additional information communicated from the beacon to the non-flammable aerosol supply system, the nature of the displayed symbol or logo may be used to indicate information about the nature of the place or facility associated with the beacon.

[0107] Alternatively or additionally, once the non-flammable aerosol supply system obtains the further information, the display element 28a of the non-flammable aerosol supply system may display information about the location or facility associated with the beacon based on the further information received by the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0108] In this example, the additional information (described as "additional" because it is additional to the information that the beacon is activated, which is inherently conveyed by the fact that a reply is received from the beacon) includes information about the place or facility associated with the beacon. In this example, such a beacon is associated with the facility or place in terms of the content of the additional information and geographically (i.e., the beacon is in, on, or near the place or facility, so that the receipt of the beacon signal indicates that the non-flammable aerosol supply system is close to the actual place or facility). The content of the additional information provided by the beacon may include information about products and / or services available at the place or facility. Such products and / or services may include, for example, battery recharging facilities, aerosol generating material container or cartridge refilling facilities, replacement battery retail locations, and one or more of aerosol generating material container or cartridge retail locations.

[0109] This information may refer to an aerosol generating material container or a cartridge, and thus may also be considered information about a consumable.Such a consumable may be referred to as a SKU, or may be referred to or identified using a SKU identifier.

[0110] In one set of examples, the additional information includes inventory information related to consumables that may be of interest to users of the non-flammable aerosol supply system. In these examples, the beacon may communicate an indication of the availability of inventory for the non-flammable aerosol supply system in real time or near real time (in retail terms, such as every minute, every hour, or every day). In this example, such consumables include inventory of replacement or alternative aerosol generating material containers or cartridges for the non-flammable aerosol supply system, but may also or alternatively include inventory of refill materials for refillable aerosol generating material containers or cartridges used by the non-flammable aerosol supply system and / or battery replacement for recharging availability of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0111] In some such implementations, the additional information in the beacon generally provides information about the inventory of consumables, such as indicating that the site / facility has some inventory of one or more ranges of consumables for one or more types of non-flammable aerosol supply systems, without indicating which types of consumables are in stock. In further implementations, the additional information may indicate the inventory of consumables in the form of indicating the types of non-flammable aerosol supply systems that are available in stock. In such examples, the non-flammable aerosol supply system may analyze the received additional information to be able to identify whether the inventory information is relevant to that specific non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0112] In additional implementations, an advertisement or subsequent connectionless message received by the beacon from a non-flammable aerosol supply system indicates the type of non-flammable aerosol supply system and / or the type of consumables used by the non-flammable aerosol supply system, and then, the additional information provided by the beacon is made specific to the type of non-flammable aerosol supply system or the type of consumables identified to the beacon by the non-flammable aerosol supply system. For example, the facility / venue may have an inventory of consumables for multiple different non-flammable aerosol supply system types (which may be multiple types from one manufacturer or corresponding to non-flammable aerosol supply systems from multiple different manufacturers), and by using the information to tailor the beacon content to the specific non-flammable aerosol supply system type, the notification to the user can then be made more relevant to the facts of the situation.

[0113] In some examples, the additional information may additionally or alternatively include information about the status of the facility / venue associated with the beacon. Such status information may include information about whether the facility / venue is open for business and / or information about the opening hours of the facility / venue.

[0114] Thus, for example, depending on the deployed configuration, the symbol / logo indicated in the display element 28a in FIG. 5A may indicate any of the following: a proximity beacon (where proximity may be a simple indication of general proximity, or an indication of a degree of proximity); proximity beacons associated with a particular type of facility / venue, proximity beacons associated with a facility / venue that generally has an inventory of consumables; proximity beacons associated with a facility / venue with an inventory of consumables of a type specific to a non-flammable aerosol supply system; and proximity beacons associated with a facility / venue with a given open / closed state. It will be understood that one or more additional or alternative forms of content display on the display element 28a may be implemented, including different symbols / logos based on proximity, available products / services, available specific consumables, and / or the relevance of available consumables. Additionally or alternatively, the display content may be text / digital in nature, such as indicating the availability of available products / services and / or consumables in words.

[0115] In some examples, sending information about the non-flammable aerosol supply system and / or related consumables, etc. to a beacon may only be provided by the non-flammable aerosol supply system after a user has allowed such data to be shared.

[0116] Now refer to Figures 5B and Figure 5C Exemplary methods that may be performed by the non-flammable aerosol supply system to accomplish this functionality are further described.

[0117] Beginning at step S5-1, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a sends an advertising packet. This can be a standard BLE advertising packet of the type conventionally used to advertise the presence of BLE devices that can be used for BLE connection / pairing. The present method does not require a specific advertising packet payload. In order to provide users of the non-flammable aerosol supply system with a high level of information about nearby beacons, the non-flammable aerosol supply system can be configured to repeatedly send such advertising packets at suitable time intervals without user input. On the other hand, it can appropriately save battery power for aerosol generation or other functions of the non-flammable aerosol supply system, so that user input can be used to trigger the sending of an advertising packet or the activation of an operating mode for sending such an advertising packet. In the case where the function requires user input, the non-flammable aerosol supply system will include an input element 30.

[0118] In response to the beacon 40 receiving the BLE advertising packet, the beacon sends a response packet. The response packet may be a BLE scan request packet or a BLE connection request packet. Then, at step S5-3, the response packet is received at the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a. Therefore, the response packet again indicates to the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a that the beacon is activated and within the communication range. The response packet in this example includes additional information.

[0119] Optionally, as indicated by the dashed line, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a can perform steps to determine the range to the beacon 40 from which the response was received at step S5-3. As shown at optional step S5-5, this determination includes calculating the range to the device from which the response packet was received (in this example, the device is the beacon 40). This range calculation can be based on the received signal power of the response packet. By knowing the received signal power, an approximate value of the distance D can be calculated.

[0120] Therefore, at optional step S5-7, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a uses the display element 28a of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a to display some information to indicate to the user that the beacon is within the range. As shown in Figure 5A, in this example, the displayed information is a symbol indicating that the beacon (or the place / facility associated with the beacon) is within the range. In other examples, the information can be provided by one or more, one or more letters, one or more numbers, one or more audible indications and / or one or more tactile indications in other symbols. If the optional step S5-5 is also performed, the information displayed at step S5-7 can be performed to indicate the range to the beacon and / or convey that the beacon is within a distance D corresponding to the threshold proximity. As will be understood, the distance information can be processed and displayed in the same manner as described above with reference to Figures 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D, thereby providing an indication of the approximate range / proximity of the non-flammable aerosol supply system to the beacon.

[0121] Additionally, the additional information discussed above with respect to FIG. 5A may therefore be included in the response packet as part of the payload space.

[0122] Although it is explained that the response packet can be a BLE scan packet or a BLE connection request packet (either or both of which can be used as part of the process of establishing a BLE pairing or connection), the method of this example can be utilized without actually establishing a BLE pairing / connection. In other words, the method utilizes the unconnected state of Bluetooth / BLE to achieve the described results. It may be the case that such a pairing / connection is needed / desired, and therefore such a pairing / connection can be optionally continued in addition to the method.

[0123] In some examples, multiple packets may be required to convey additional operational information because the additional information is larger than the available payload space of the response packet. In the present example using BLE for communication, this situation is accommodated by using a first response packet in the form of a BLE scan packet, in response to receiving the BLE scan packet, the non-flammable aerosol supply system sends a scan response packet to trigger a connection request packet from the other non-flammable aerosol supply system. In this way, the payload space of both the scan request packet and the connection request packet can be used to convey additional information without having to establish a pairing / connection state.

[0124] After receiving the response packet at step S5-3 (and before or after optional steps S5-5 and S5-7, if performed), the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a extracts the payload information from the response packet to obtain additional information. Therefore, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a displays the additional information using the display element 28a of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a at step S5-9. As shown in Figure 5A, in this example, the displayed information is a symbol or logo indicating the relevance of the beacon content to the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a. In other examples, the information can be provided by one or more of other symbols, one or more letters, one or more numbers, one or more audible indications, and / or one or more tactile indications. As will be understood, if the payload information indicates that the location / facility associated with the beacon has no relevance or has a low relevance to a user of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a (for example, if it does not have an inventory of consumables for the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a), then display step S5-11 may be omitted, or a display content may be provided indicating that a low-relevance beacon signal has been received (and / or that a low-relevance facility / location is within range).

[0125] In some examples, the payload information may include an identifier of a place / facility associated with the beacon. Such an identifier may be displayed on the display element 28a of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a and / or provided to the connected device via the transmitter / receiver element 26 of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a. Thus, the user may be provided with information from which further details of the place / facility may be obtained, such as by obtaining the information via the Internet using a separate data connection to the connected device. Such information may include, for example, the address / location of the place / facility.

[0126] exist Figure 5C Another exemplary method is shown in , which corresponds to an implementation in which the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a sends information identifying the type of non-flammable aerosol supply system and / or consumables used by the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0127] As shown in this example, the advertisement sent at step S5-21 includes identification information, according to which the beacon can identify the type of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a and / or the type of consumables for the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a. The information may include any one or all of the indications of the non-flammable aerosol supply system type, compatible consumable types, and compatible consumable types with desired consumable characteristics. For example, a given non-flammable aerosol supply system type may be compatible with consumables with varying nicotine concentration levels and / or flavorings. Therefore, the user may select the identification information to indicate not only the non-flammable aerosol supply system / consumable type, but also the flavoring, strength, and / or other characteristics of the consumables. Therefore, the user of the non-flammable aerosol supply system may be able to control the notification corresponding to the desired consumable characteristics or a certain type of notification. The advertisement may be a standard BLE advertising packet conventionally used to promote the type of BLE device that can be used for BLE connection / pairing. The identification information may be included as the payload of the BLE advertising packet.

[0128] In response to the beacon 40 receiving the BLE advertising packet, the beacon sends a response packet. The response packet can be a BLE scan request packet or a BLE connection request packet. Then, at step S5-23, the response packet is received at the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a. Therefore, the response packet again indicates to the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a that the beacon is activated and within the communication range. In addition, the response packet of this example includes additional information that is customized by the beacon for the specific identification information provided in the advertisement.

[0129] In the examples of FIGS. 5A and 5B , the beacon may have more additional information available (such as inventory and other information) than a single cycle of connectionless packets can accommodate. In such a case, the beacon may use multiple response packet cycles (i.e., as triggered by multiple separate advertising packets from the non-flammable aerosol supply system) to send a complete set of additional information to the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0130] Although it is explained that the response packet can be a BLE scan packet or a BLE connection request packet (either or both of which can be used as part of the process of establishing a BLE pairing or connection), the method of this example can be utilized without actually establishing a BLE pairing / connection. In other words, the method utilizes the unconnected state of Bluetooth / BLE to achieve the described results. It may be the case that such a pairing / connection is needed / desired, and therefore such a pairing / connection can be optionally continued in addition to the method.

[0131] In some examples, multiple packets may be required to convey additional operational information because the additional information is larger than the available payload space of the response packet. In the present example using BLE for communication, this situation is accommodated by using a first response packet in the form of a BLE scan packet, in response to receiving the BLE scan packet, the non-flammable aerosol supply system sends a scan response packet to trigger a connection request packet from the other non-flammable aerosol supply system. In this way, the payload space of both the scan request packet and the connection request packet can be used to convey additional information without having to establish a pairing / connection state.

[0132] In some examples, the method may be varied such that the advertisement does not include identification information, and in response to the advertisement, the beacon sends a scan request packet having a payload corresponding to an invitation to the non-flammable aerosol supply system to provide identification information for the non-flammable aerosol supply system / consumables when required. The non-flammable aerosol supply system then sends a scan response packet containing a payload (which includes the identification information), and in response thereto, the beacon sends a connection request packet having additional information included in the payload. If the non-flammable aerosol supply system sends a scan response packet without identification information, the method may continue with the beacon sending a connection request packet having generic additional information in the payload, and processing may then continue as indicated in steps S5-5 to S5-11 of Figure 5B.

[0133] After receiving the response packet with additional information, at step S5-25, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a extracts the payload information from the response packet to obtain the additional information. The additional information is then analyzed to determine the relevance of the additional information provided to the non-flammable aerosol supply system (or other situations). Therefore, at step S5-27, the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a displays the additional information using the display element 28a of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a. As shown in Figure 5A, in this example, the displayed information is a symbol or logo indicating the relevance of the beacon content to the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a. In other examples, the information can be provided by one or more of the other symbols, one or more letters, one or more numbers, one or more audible indications, and / or one or more tactile indications. As will be understood, if the payload information indicates that the location / facility associated with the beacon has no relevance or has a low relevance to a user of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a (for example, if it does not have an inventory of consumables for the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a), then display step S5-27 may be omitted, or a display content may be provided indicating that a low-relevance beacon signal has been received (and / or that a low-relevance facility / location is within range).

[0134] In this example, the steps of distance calculation and display may also be optionally performed.

[0135] In some examples, the payload information may include an identifier of a place / facility associated with the beacon. Such an identifier may be displayed on the display element 28a of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a and / or provided to the connected device via the transmitter / receiver element 26 of the non-flammable aerosol supply system 10a. Thus, the user may be provided with information from which further details of the place / facility may be obtained, such as by obtaining the information via the Internet using a separate data connection to the connected device. Such information may include, for example, the address / location of the place / facility.

[0136] As will be appreciated, FIG. 5B and Figure 5C The methods of displaying an advertisement may overlap and may be performed as a single method, where a decision is made to determine which method to use. For example, the advertisement may not include identification information (as in step S5-1), and then if the response from the beacon includes details of a particular consumable inventory, the method will proceed with the non-flammable aerosol supply system determining the relevance of the detailed inventory information to the non-flammable aerosol supply system and displaying it accordingly. On the other hand, if the response from the beacon does not include detailed inventory information and / or an invitation to provide identification information, the non-flammable aerosol supply system may provide identification information to the beacon and wait for detailed inventory information corresponding to the identification information in a further response from the beacon. The method will then proceed with the non-flammable aerosol supply system determining the relevance of the particular inventory to the non-flammable aerosol supply system and displaying it accordingly.

[0137] Thus, a method has been described by which a non-flammable aerosol supply system can determine, from a beacon within communication range, information about a location or facility associated with the beacon, and display information describing that information to a user of the non-flammable aerosol supply system via the non-flammable aerosol supply system itself. In other words, the method enables users of non-flammable aerosol supply systems to be informed, via their non-flammable aerosol supply system, of the operating characteristics of nearby locations or facilities at which relevant services or consumables may be obtained.

[0138] although Figure 2 A and Figure 2 B, and the methods shown in FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B, FIG. 3C and FIG. 3D, and Figure 4 A and Figure 4 The method shown in B has been compared with FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B and Figure 5CThe methods shown in are described separately, but these methods can be used in combination. Thus, for example, an implementation can be created in which a user's non-flammable aerosol supply system can display information about another activated non-flammable aerosol supply system as information about a beacon.

[0139] In the above examples, the display on the display element 28a is indicated as a single display of symbols / text / numbers, etc. In some examples, the display element 28a can be configured to display content on one or more separate display "screens" or pages. For example, an initial display can be made to indicate another non-flammable aerosol supply system (such as referenced above). Figure 2 A) and / or the proximity of a beacon (such as shown in reference to FIG. 5A above), and may then receive user input (received using input element 30) to display the calculated distance (such as the symbolic range or numerical range indicated in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C above) and / or additional operational information (such as shown in reference to FIG. 5A above). Figure 4 A) and / or information related to details of the facility / location associated with the beacon.

[0140] exist Figure 6 A and Figure 6 An example is shown in B. Figure 6 In the example of A, the initial display is a symbol indicating another non-flammable aerosol supply system that is nearby. In response to user input (such as a button press when the initial display is in place, or a predetermined number of shakes / taps when the initial display is in place), the display is updated to include the range of the non-flammable aerosol supply system of user 2 and additional operating information. Although this is indicated as a two display step approach, in other examples there may be more steps, such as, for example, if the distance and additional operating information are set forth in separate display steps.

[0141] exist Figure 6In the example of B, a method of three display steps is shown, this time for the beacon example. In this example, the initial display is a symbol indicating a nearby beacon (or a place facility associated with the beacon). In response to user input (such as a button press when the initial display is in place, or a predetermined number of shakes / knocks when the initial display is in place), the display is updated to include a description of a store with some consumables in stock within a specific distance. In response to additional user input, the display is further updated to include a description of specific consumables available at the store. Which specific consumables can be indicated based on a non-flammable aerosol supply system that stores data indicating specific consumables of interest (such as a list provided by the user and / or a list of previously inserted consumables). Although this is indicated as a method of three display steps, in other examples, there can be fewer or more steps, such as, for example, if a specific consumable display is omitted or if additional specific consumable displays are required.

[0142] The user input may also be used to move to a display of a second non-flammable aerosol supply system that is also within range. Thus, a user may be able to scroll through displays representing multiple within-range non-flammable aerosol supply systems. Similarly, the user input may be used to move to a display of a second within-range beacon, or to move between other within-range non-flammable aerosol supply systems and within-range beacons. Thus, a scrolling display of multiple within-range devices (whether another non-flammable aerosol supply system or a beacon) may be provided.

[0143] Additionally, different user inputs may be used to move through the display. For example, a first input type (such as a specific duration and / or number of button presses, and / or a predetermined number of shakes / taps) may be used to move to information about another device currently being displayed (e.g., through Figure 6 A or Figure 6 B), and a second input type (such as a different specific duration and / or number of button presses, and / or a predetermined number of shakes / tap) can be used to move to information about another device within range (e.g., within Figure 6 A and Figure 6 B, or between instances of the process of 6A to another within-range non-flammable aerosol supply system, or between instances of the process of 6B to another within-range beacon).

[0144] Thus, there has now been described an example of a multi-screen user interface that may be used to present to a user of a non-flammable aerosol supply system information regarding another nearby non-flammable aerosol supply system and / or information provided by nearby beacons.

[0145] As mentioned above, although detailed examples are explained in terms of communication via BLE between a non-flammable aerosol supply system and another non-flammable aerosol supply system or a beacon, other communication technologies may be used instead of BLE for the connection technology.

[0146] As mentioned above, BLE is an example of a so-called personal area network technology. Therefore, another personal area technology may be substituted for BLE, where corresponding / equivalent messaging is used to communicate information between the non-flammable aerosol supply systems and / or between the non-flammable aerosol supply system and the beacon. Suitable examples include Bluetooth TM 、Zigbee TM , Wireless USB, Near Field Communication (NFC), RFID, Infrared Data Association (IrDA), and Data-over-Voice.

[0147] Other connection technologies may be wireless networks such as Wi-Fi TM Technology. In such a case, it will be assumed that both non-flammable aerosol supply systems or the non-flammable aerosol supply system and the beacon are connected to the same WiFi network (and in fact, the beacon may be part of or associated with a Wi-Fi access point through which the non-flammable aerosol supply system can connect to the Wi-Fi network). Therefore, without establishing a specific Wi-Fi network between the non-flammable aerosol supply system and the other non-flammable aerosol supply systems or beacons, the non-flammable aerosol supply system may be able to advertise its presence on the Wi-Fi network, and any other non-flammable aerosol supply system or beacon also connected to the Wi-Fi network will be able to reply using the information indicated in the various examples set forth above.

[0148] Other options for connection technology include cellular technologies such as GSM, GPRS, 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G. Another example is narrowband-IoT low power wide area technology. In addition, as mentioned above, wired connection technology such as USB can be used. TM , Serial Port, FireWire TM Or other point-to-point wired connections.

[0149] Additionally, for any or all of the connection techniques mentioned above or earlier, in addition to effective point-to-point communications between two non-flammable aerosol supply systems and / or between a non-flammable aerosol supply system and a beacon, communications may be through one or more communication hubs or other communication concentrator devices.

[0150] The various methods discussed above enable information about one or more other nearby non-flammable aerosol supply systems to be presented to a user of a non-flammable aerosol supply system via the non-flammable aerosol supply system itself. In other words, a user of a non-flammable aerosol supply system can receive such information without the need to additionally refer to another device, such as a smartphone or tablet connected to their non-flammable aerosol supply system. Thus, a user of a non-flammable aerosol supply system can receive such information, for example, while having their non-flammable aerosol supply system at hand to utilize the aerosol generation functionality. This provides the freedom to convey such information about other nearby non-flammable aerosol supply systems to a user without the need for the user to also have a phone or tablet on hand and connected to their non-flammable aerosol supply system while using (or preparing to use or having recently used) their non-flammable aerosol supply system to generate an aerosol.

[0151] The various embodiments described herein are presented only to help understand and teach the claimed features. These embodiments are provided only as representative samples of embodiments and are not exhaustive and / or exclusive. It should be understood that the advantages, embodiments, examples, functions, features, structures and / or other aspects described herein should not be considered as limitations on the scope of the invention defined by the claims or limitations on the equivalents of the claims, and other embodiments may be utilized and may be modified without departing from the scope of the claimed invention. In addition to those specifically described herein, various embodiments of the present invention may appropriately include appropriate combinations of disclosed elements, parts, features, parts, steps, devices, etc., be composed of appropriate combinations of disclosed elements, parts, features, parts, steps, devices, etc., or be substantially composed of appropriate combinations of disclosed elements, parts, features, parts, steps, devices, etc. In addition, the present disclosure may include other inventions that are not currently claimed but may be claimed in the future.

[0152] Thus, from one perspective, a non-flammable aerosol supply system has been described that includes: a wireless communication system configured to receive data related to a physical location associated with the beacon from a wireless communication beacon using a connectionless data channel; and a user interface system configured to transmit instructions related to the received data through a user interface element of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0153] Further examples are set out in the following numbered clauses:

[0154] Article 1. A non-flammable aerosol supply system, comprising: a data system configured to store operating data related to the operating state of the non-flammable aerosol supply system, and to store received operating data related to the operating state of another non-flammable aerosol supply system; a wireless communication system configured to receive operating data related to the operating state of another non-flammable aerosol supply system from the other non-flammable aerosol supply system using a connectionless data channel; and a user interface system configured to transmit an indication of the received operating data related to the operating state of another non-flammable aerosol supply system through a user interface element of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0155] Clause 2. A non-flammable aerosol supply system according to Clause 1, wherein the operating data related to the operating status of another non-flammable aerosol supply system includes one or more items selected from a group including: information that the other non-flammable aerosol supply system is activated; and information identifying consumables used by the other non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0156] Clause 3. A non-flammable aerosol supply system according to clause 1 or 2, wherein the indication comprises information indicating that another non-flammable aerosol supply system is located within an operating range of the wireless communication system.

[0157] Clause 4. A non-flammable aerosol supply system according to clause 1, 2 or 3, wherein the indication comprises information indicating that another non-flammable aerosol supply system is located within a specific range of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0158] Clause 5. A non-flammable aerosol supply system according to any one of clauses 1 to 4, wherein the indication includes information indicating that another non-flammable aerosol supply system located within an operating range of the wireless communication system or within a specific range of the non-flammable aerosol supply system is the other non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0159] Clause 6. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to any one of clauses 1 to 5 is also configured to compare received operating data related to the operating status of another non-flammable aerosol supply system with one or more preset values, and the user interface system is also configured to output one of multiple predetermined outputs based on the result of the comparison.

[0160] Clause 7. A non-flammable aerosol supply system according to any of clauses 1 to 6, wherein the user interface element comprises one or more items selected from the group consisting of: a display configured to visually convey indications; an audio output device configured to audibly convey indications; and a tactile device configured to convey indications using touch-detectable movements.

[0161] Clause 8. A non-flammable aerosol supply system according to any one of clauses 1 to 7, wherein the user interface system includes an input element configured to receive a selection input, and the user interface system is further configured to transmit, in response to the received selection input, a further indication of the received operating data relating to the operating state of another non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0162] Clause 9. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to clause 8, wherein the input element is a button, a pressure-sensitive element, a touch membrane of a display and / or a microphone.

[0163] Clause 10. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to any one of clauses 1 to 9, wherein the wireless communication system is further configured to transmit operational data related to an operational status of the non-flammable aerosol supply system to another non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0164] Clause 11. A non-flammable aerosol supply system according to any one of clauses 1 to 10, wherein: the wireless communication system is also configured to receive data related to a location associated with the beacon from the beacon using a connectionless data channel; and the user interface system is also configured to transmit an indication of the received data related to the location associated with the beacon by the user interface element.

[0165] Clause 12. The non-flammable aerosol supply system of any one of clauses 1 to 11, wherein the wireless communication system is configured to use personal area network technology to receive data using a connectionless channel.

[0166] Clause 13. The non-flammable aerosol supply system of any one of clauses 1 to 12, wherein the connectionless channel is configured as a pre-paired advertising package using a personal area network technology.

[0167] Clause 14. A non-flammable aerosol supply system according to Clause 13, wherein the pre-paired advertising packet comprises: an advertising packet sent by the non-flammable aerosol supply system; and a request packet and / or a response packet sent by another non-flammable aerosol supply system and subsequently received by the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0168] Clause 15. A non-flammable aerosol supply system according to any one of clauses 1 to 14, wherein the wireless communication system is configured to use wireless network technology to interface with a wireless network, the non-flammable aerosol supply system and another non-flammable aerosol supply system are both connected to the wireless network, and wherein the connectionless channel is configured to receive operating data using network packets sent through the wireless network without establishing a network session with another non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0169] Clause 16. The non-flammable aerosol supply system of any one of clauses 1 to 15, wherein the wireless communication system uses a hub-based approach.

[0170] Clause 17. A system comprising: a first non-flammable aerosol supply system and a second non-flammable aerosol supply system, the first non-flammable aerosol supply system comprising: a first wireless communication system configured to receive operating data related to the operating state of the second non-flammable aerosol supply system from the second non-flammable aerosol supply system using a connectionless data channel; a first data system configured to store the received operating data related to the operating state of the second non-flammable aerosol supply system; and a first user interface system configured to transmit an indication of the received operating data related to the operating state of the second non-flammable aerosol supply system through a user interface element of the first non-flammable aerosol supply system; the second non-flammable aerosol supply system comprising: a second wireless communication system configured to receive operating data related to the operating state of the first non-flammable aerosol supply system from the first non-flammable aerosol supply system using a connectionless data channel; a second data system configured to store the received operating data related to the operating state of the second non-flammable aerosol supply system; and a second wireless communication system configured to send operating data related to the operating state of the second non-flammable aerosol supply system to the first non-flammable aerosol supply system using a connectionless data channel.

[0171] Clause 18. A system according to clause 17, wherein: the first data system is also configured to store operating data related to the operating status of the first non-flammable aerosol supply system; the first wireless communication system is also configured to send operating data related to the operating status of the first non-flammable aerosol supply system to the second non-flammable aerosol supply system using a connectionless data channel; the second wireless communication system is also configured to receive operating data related to the operating status of the first non-flammable aerosol supply system from the first non-flammable aerosol supply system using a connectionless data channel; and wherein the second non-flammable aerosol supply system also includes a second user interface system, which is configured to transmit an indication of received operating data related to the operating status of the first non-flammable aerosol supply system through a user interface element of the second non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0172] Clause 19. A system according to clause 17 or 18, wherein the operating data relates to the operating status of the first non-flammable aerosol supply system and / or the second non-flammable aerosol supply system and includes one or more items selected from the group comprising: information that the other of the first non-flammable aerosol supply system and the second non-flammable aerosol supply system is activated; and information identifying consumables used by the other of the first non-flammable aerosol supply system and the second non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0173] Clause 20. The system of clause 17, 18 or 19, wherein the indication includes information indicating that the other of the first non-flammable aerosol supply system and the second non-flammable aerosol supply system is within an operating range of the wireless communication system.

[0174] Clause 21. The system of any one of Clauses 17 to 20, wherein the indication includes information indicating that the other of the first non-flammable aerosol supply system and the second non-flammable aerosol supply system is located within a specific range of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0175] Clause 22. A system according to any one of clauses 17 to 21, wherein the indication includes information indicating that the other of the first non-flammable aerosol supply system and the second non-flammable aerosol supply system that is located within the operating range of the wireless communication system or within a specific range of the non-flammable aerosol supply system is the other of the first non-flammable aerosol supply system and the second non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0176] Clause 23. A system according to any one of clauses 17 to 22, wherein the first non-flammable aerosol supply system is configured to compare received operating data related to the operating state of the second non-flammable aerosol supply system with one or more preset values, and the first user interface system is configured to output one of a plurality of predetermined outputs based on a result of the comparison.

[0177] Clause 24. A system according to clause 18 or according to any one of clauses 19 to 23, when subject to clause 18, wherein the second non-flammable aerosol supply system is configured to compare received operating data related to the operating state of the first non-flammable aerosol supply system with one or more preset values, and the second user interface system is configured to output one of a plurality of predetermined outputs based on the result of the comparison.

[0178] Clause 25. A system according to any of clauses 18 to 24, wherein the first user interface element and / or the second user interface element comprises one or more items selected from the group consisting of: a display configured to visually transmit indications; an audio output device configured to audibly transmit indications; and a tactile device configured to transmit indications using touch-detectable movements.

[0179] Clause 26. A system according to any of clauses 18 to 25, wherein the first user interface system or the second user interface system includes an input element configured to receive a selection input, and the user interface system is further configured to transmit, in response to the received selection input, an additional indication of received operating data related to the operating state of the other of the first non-flammable aerosol supply system and the second non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0180] Clause 27. The system of clause 26, wherein the input element is a button, a pressure sensitive element, a touch film of a display, and / or a microphone.

[0181] Clause 28. A system according to any one of clauses 18 to 27, wherein: the first wireless communication system and / or the second wireless communication system is also configured to receive data related to a place associated with the beacon from the beacon using a connectionless data channel; and the first user interface system and / or the second user interface system is also configured to transmit an indication of the received data related to the place associated with the beacon through a user interface element.

[0182] Clause 29. The system of any of clauses 18 to 29, wherein the first wireless communication system and the second wireless communication system are configured to receive data using a connectionless channel using a personal area network technology.

[0183] Clause 30. The system of any of clauses 18 to 29, wherein the connectionless channel is configured as a pre-paired advertising packet using a personal area network technology.

[0184] Clause 31. A system according to clause 30, wherein the pre-paired advertising packet includes: an advertising packet sent by the first non-flammable aerosol supply system or the second non-flammable aerosol supply system; and a request packet and / or a response packet sent by the second non-flammable aerosol supply system or the first non-flammable aerosol supply system and subsequently received by the first non-flammable aerosol supply system or the second non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0185] Clause 32. A system according to any one of clauses 18 to 31, wherein the wireless communication system is configured to use wireless network technology to interface with a wireless network to which the first non-flammable aerosol supply system and the second non-flammable aerosol supply system are both connected, and wherein the connectionless channel is configured to receive operating data using network packets sent over the wireless network without establishing a network session with another non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0186] Clause 33. The system of any of clauses 18 to 32, wherein the wireless communication system uses a hub-based approach.

[0187] Clause 34. A method comprises: receiving, by a non-flammable aerosol supply system, operating data related to the operating status of another non-flammable aerosol supply system from the other non-flammable aerosol supply system using a connectionless data channel; storing, by the non-flammable aerosol supply system, the received operating data related to the operating status of the other non-flammable aerosol supply system; and transmitting, by the non-flammable aerosol supply system, an indication of the received operating data related to the operating status of the other non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0188] Clause 35. A method according to clause 34, wherein the operational data relating to the operational status of another non-flammable aerosol supply system comprises one or more items selected from a group comprising: information that the other non-flammable aerosol supply system is activated; and information identifying consumables used by the other non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0189] Clause 36. The method of clause 34 or 35, wherein the indication comprises information indicating that another non-flammable aerosol supply system is located within an operating range of the wireless communication system of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0190] Clause 37. The method of clause 34, 35 or 36, wherein the indication comprises information indicating that another non-flammable aerosol supply system is located within a specific range of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0191] Clause 38. A method according to any one of clauses 34 to 37, wherein the indication includes information indicating that another non-flammable aerosol supply system located within an operating range of the wireless communication system or within a specific range of the non-flammable aerosol supply system is the other non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0192] Clause 39. The method according to any one of clauses 34 to 38, further comprising: comparing received operating data related to the operating status of another non-flammable aerosol supply system with one or more preset values; and transmitting one of a plurality of predetermined outputs depending on the result of the comparison.

[0193] Clause 40. The method of any of clauses 34 to 39, wherein the transmitting comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of: transmitting the indication visually; transmitting the indication audibly; and transmitting the indication using a touch-detectable motion.

[0194] Clause 41. The method of any of clauses 34 to 40, further comprising: receiving a selection input; and in response to the received selection input, transmitting a further indication representing the received operational data associated with an operational state of another non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0195] Clause 42. The method of clause 41, wherein receiving the selection input receives the selection input via a button, a pressure sensitive element, a touch film of a display, and / or a microphone.

[0196] Clause 43. The method of any one of clauses 34 to 42, further comprising: sending operational data related to an operational status of the non-flammable aerosol supply system to another non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0197] Clause 44. The method of any of clauses 34 to 43, further comprising: receiving data related to a location associated with the beacon from the beacon using the connectionless data channel; and transmitting an indication representing the received data related to the location associated with the beacon.

[0198] Clause 45. The method of any of clauses 34 to 44, wherein receiving the data using the connectionless channel comprises receiving the data using personal area network technology.

[0199] Clause 46. The method of any of clauses 34 to 45, wherein the connectionless channel is configured as a pre-paired advertising packet using a personal area network technology.

[0200] Clause 47. The method of clause 46, wherein the pre-pairing advertising packet comprises: an advertising packet sent by a non-flammable aerosol supply system; and a request packet and / or a response packet sent by another non-flammable aerosol supply system and subsequently received by the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0201] Clause 48. A method according to any one of clauses 34 to 47, wherein receiving data using a connectionless data channel includes: receiving data via a wireless network, wherein the non-flammable aerosol supply system and another non-flammable aerosol supply system are both connected to the wireless network, and wherein receiving data via the wireless network includes: receiving operating data using network packets sent over the wireless network without establishing a network session with another non-flammable aerosol supply system.

[0202] Clause 49. The method of any of clauses 34 to 48, wherein the wireless communication system uses a hub-based approach.

Claims

1. A non-flammable aerosol supply system, comprising: a wireless communication system configured to receive data related to a physical location associated with a wireless communication beacon from the beacon using a connectionless data channel; as well as A user interface system is configured to transmit an indication related to the received data via a user interface element of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

2. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to claim 1, wherein: The beacon is located at, within, or near the physical location.

3. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The received data includes information indicating that the beacon associated with the physical location is within an operating range of the wireless communication system or within a specific range of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

4. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further configured to compare the received data with one or more preset values, and the user interface system is further configured to transmit one of a plurality of predetermined outputs depending on the result of the comparison.

5. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The received data includes data related to an open / closed status of the physical location.

6. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to claim 5, wherein: The data related to the open / closed status of the physical location includes one or more of: a current open / closed status; and a future open / closed status.

7. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: The received data includes data related to inventory available at the physical location.

8. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to claim 7, wherein: The physical location is a retail establishment, and the data related to inventory available at the physical location is information regarding types of consumables and / or accessories available at the retail establishment.

9. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to claim 7 or 8, wherein: The user interface system has an input element configured to receive a selection input, in response to which the user interface system is configured to transmit a further indication representing the received data related to inventory available at the physical location.

10. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to any one of claims 7 to 9, further comprising a processor configured to filter the data related to inventory available at the physical location to remove data related to inventory not associated with the non-flammable aerosol supply system, and wherein The user interface system is configured to communicate filtered inventory information.

11. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein: The data received regarding the inventory available at the physical location associated with the beacon in response to sending a first advertising packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system to the beacon is different from the data received regarding the inventory available at the physical location associated with the beacon in response to sending a second advertising packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system to the beacon.

12. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein: The wireless communication system uses Bluetooth and / or Bluetooth low energy protocols and is configured to send and / or receive data using a connectionless channel.

13. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein: The connectionless channel involves the use of pre-pairing advertising packets.

14. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to claim 13, wherein: The pre-pairing advertising packet includes: an advertising packet, which is sent by the non-flammable aerosol supply system; and a request packet and / or a response packet, which is sent by the beacon and then received by the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

15. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein: The wireless communication system uses a hub-based approach.

16. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein: The user interface element includes one or more selected from a display, an audio output device, and a haptic device.

17. The non-flammable aerosol supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein: The user interface system further comprises an input element configured to receive a selection input for selecting a user interface function.

18. A wireless communication beacon, comprising: a data interface configured to receive data related to a physical location associated with the beacon; as well as A wireless communication system is configured to transmit data related to the physical location associated with the beacon using a connectionless data channel.

19. The wireless beacon of claim 18, wherein: The beacon is located at, within, or near the physical location.

20. The wireless beacon according to claim 18 or 19, wherein: The data related to the physical location includes data related to an open / closed status of the physical location.

21. The wireless beacon of claim 20, wherein: The data related to the open / closed status of the physical location includes one or more of: a current open / closed status; and a future open / closed status.

22. A wireless beacon according to any one of claims 18 to 21, wherein: The data related to the physical location includes data related to inventory available at the physical location.

23. The wireless beacon of claim 22, wherein: The physical location is a retail establishment, and the data related to inventory available at the physical location is information regarding types of consumables and / or accessories available at the retail establishment.

24. A wireless beacon according to any one of claims 22 to 23, wherein: The wireless communication system is configured to receive a packet from a non-flammable aerosol supply system via a connectionless channel and to transmit the data relating to the physical location in response thereto.

25. The wireless beacon of claim 24, wherein: The amount of data associated with the physical location is greater than the payload capacity that can be sent via the connectionless channel in response to a received packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system, and wherein the wireless beacon is configured to send a first portion of the data associated with the physical location via the connectionless channel in response to a first packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system, and to send a second portion of the data associated with the physical location via the connectionless channel in response to a second packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

26. A wireless beacon according to claim 24 or 25, when dependent at least on claim 22, wherein: The packet received from the non-flammable aerosol supply system identifies a subset of the data related to inventory available at the physical location, and the data related to inventory available at the physical location includes the subset of the data related to inventory available at the physical location.

27. A wireless beacon according to any one of claims 18 to 26, wherein: The wireless communication system uses Bluetooth and / or Bluetooth low energy protocols and is configured to send and / or receive data using a connectionless channel.

28. A wireless beacon according to any one of claims 18 to 27, wherein: The connectionless channel involves the use of pre-pairing advertising packets.

29. The wireless beacon of claim 28, wherein: The pre-pairing advertising packet includes: an advertising packet from a non-flammable aerosol supply system located within the operating range of the wireless beacon and received by the wireless beacon; and a request packet and / or a response packet sent by the wireless beacon and subsequently received by the non-flammable aerosol supply system located within the operating range of the wireless beacon.

30. A wireless beacon according to any one of claims 18 to 29, wherein: The wireless communication system uses a hub-based approach.

31. A system comprising: Non-flammable aerosol supply systems and wireless beacons, The wireless beacon comprises: a data interface configured to receive data related to a physical location associated with the beacon; and a wireless communication system configured to transmit data related to the physical location associated with the beacon using a connectionless data channel; And the non-flammable aerosol supply system comprises: a wireless communication system configured to receive, from a wireless communication beacon using the connectionless data channel, the data related to the physical location associated with the beacon; and A user interface system is configured to communicate, via a user interface element of the non-flammable aerosol supply system, an indication related to the data related to the physical location associated with the beacon.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein: The beacon is located at, within, or near the physical location.

33. A system according to claim 31 or 32, wherein: The data related to the physical location associated with the beacon includes information indicating that the beacon is located within an operating range of the wireless communication system or within a specific range of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

34. A system according to any one of claims 31 to 33, wherein: The non-flammable aerosol supply system is further configured to compare the data related to the physical location associated with the beacon with one or more preset values, and the user interface system is further configured to transmit one of a plurality of predetermined outputs depending on the result of the comparison.

35. A system according to any one of claims 31 to 34, wherein: The data related to the physical location associated with the beacon includes data related to an open / closed status of the physical location.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein: The data related to the open / closed status of the physical location includes one or more of: a current open / closed status; and a future open / closed status.

37. A system according to any one of claims 31 to 36, wherein: The received data includes data related to inventory available at the physical location.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein: The physical location is a retail establishment, and the data related to inventory available at the physical location is information regarding types of consumables and / or accessories available at the retail establishment.

39. A system according to claim 37 or 38, wherein: The user interface system has an input element configured to receive a selection input, in response to which the user interface system is configured to transmit a further indication representing the received data relating to inventory available at the physical location.

40. A system according to any one of claims 37 to 39, wherein: The non-flammable aerosol supply system also includes a processor configured to filter the data related to the inventory available at the physical location to remove data related to inventory not related to the non-flammable aerosol supply system, and wherein the user interface system is configured to transmit the filtered data related to the inventory available at the physical location.

41. A system according to any one of claims 37 to 40, wherein: The data relating to inventory available at the physical location associated with the beacon received in response to sending a first advertising packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system to the beacon is different from the data relating to inventory available at the physical location associated with the beacon received in response to sending a second advertising packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system to the beacon.

42. A system according to any one of claims 31 to 41, wherein: The wireless communication system uses Bluetooth and / or Bluetooth low energy protocols and is configured to send and / or receive data using a connectionless channel.

43. A system according to any one of claims 31 to 42, wherein: The connectionless channel involves the use of pre-pairing advertising packets.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein: The pre-pairing advertising packet includes: an advertising packet, which is sent by the non-flammable aerosol supply system and then received by the wireless beacon; and a request packet and / or a response packet, which is sent by the beacon and then received by the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

45. A system according to any one of claims 31 to 33, wherein: The wireless communication system uses a hub-based approach.

46. ​​A system according to any one of claims 31 to 45, wherein: The user interface element includes one or more selected from a display, an audio output device, and a haptic device.

47. A system according to any one of claims 31 to 46, wherein: The user interface system further comprises an input element configured to receive a selection input for selecting a user interface function.

48. A system according to any one of claims 31 to 47, wherein: The wireless communication system of the wireless beacon is configured to receive packets from the non-flammable aerosol supply system via a connectionless channel and, in response thereto, transmit the data relating to the physical location associated with the beacon.

49. The system of claim 48, wherein: The amount of data related to the physical location associated with the beacon is greater than the payload capacity that can be sent over the connectionless channel in response to a received packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system, and wherein the wireless beacon is configured to send a first portion of the data related to the physical location associated with the beacon over the connectionless channel in response to a first packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system, and to send a second portion of the data related to the physical location associated with the beacon over the connectionless channel in response to a second packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

50. A system according to claim 48 or 49, when dependent at least on claim 37, wherein: The packet received from the non-flammable aerosol supply system identifies a subset of the data related to inventory available at the physical location, and the data related to inventory available at the physical location includes the subset of the data related to inventory available at the physical location.

51. A method comprising: receiving, by the non-flammable aerosol supply system, data related to a physical location associated with the beacon from the wireless communication beacon using the connectionless data channel; as well as An indication related to the received data is communicated by a user interface element of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein: The beacon is located at, within, or near the physical location.

53. The method according to claim 51 or 52, wherein: The received data includes information indicating that the beacon associated with the physical location is within an operating range of the wireless communication system or within a specific range of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

54. The method according to any one of claims 51 to 53, further comprising: The received data is compared to one or more preset values, and wherein the transmitting includes transmitting one of a plurality of predetermined outputs depending on a result of the comparison.

55. The method according to any one of claims 51 to 54, wherein: The received data includes data related to an open / closed status of the physical location.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein: The data related to the open / closed status of the physical location includes one or more of: a current open / closed status; and a future open / closed status.

57. The method according to any one of claims 51 to 56, wherein: The received data includes data related to inventory available at the physical location.

58. The method of claim 57, wherein: The physical location is a retail establishment, and the data related to inventory available at the physical location is information regarding types of consumables and / or accessories available at the retail establishment.

59. The method according to claim 57 or 58, further comprising: A selection input is received, and in response to the selection input, the user interface system displays a further indication representing the received data related to inventory available at the physical location.

60. The method according to any one of claims 57 to 59, further comprising: The data related to inventory available at the physical location is filtered to remove data related to inventory not associated with the non-flammable aerosol supply system, and wherein the user interface system communicates the filtered inventory information.

61. The method according to any one of claims 57 to 60, wherein: The received data relating to inventory available at a physical location associated with the beacon received in response to sending a first advertising packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system to the beacon is different from the data relating to inventory available at a physical location associated with the beacon received in response to sending a second advertising packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system to the beacon.

62. The method according to any one of claims 51 to 61, wherein: Connectionless channels use the Bluetooth and / or Bluetooth Low Energy protocols.

63. The method according to any one of claims 51 to 62, wherein: The connectionless channel involves the use of pre-pairing advertising packets.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein: The pre-pairing advertising packet includes: an advertising packet, which is sent by the non-flammable aerosol supply system; and a request packet and / or a response packet, which is sent by the beacon and then received by the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

65. The method according to any one of claims 51 to 64, wherein: Wireless communication systems use a hub-based approach.

66. The method according to any one of claims 51 to 65, wherein: The communicating includes using an interface element in the form of one or more selected from a display, an audio output device, and a haptic device.

67. The method according to any one of claims 51 to 66, further comprising: A selection input for selecting a user interface function is received via an input element of the interface system.

68. A method for wireless beaconing, comprising: receiving, via a data interface, data related to a physical location associated with the beacon; as well as Data related to the physical location associated with the beacon is transmitted using a wireless communication system configured to use a connectionless data channel.

69. The method of claim 68, wherein: The beacon is located at, within, or near the physical location.

70. The method of claim 68 or 69, wherein: The data related to the physical location includes data related to an open / closed status of the physical location.

71. The method of claim 70, wherein: The data related to the open / closed status of the physical location includes one or more of: a current open / closed status; and a future open / closed status.

72. The method of any one of claims 68 to 71, wherein: The data related to the physical location includes data related to inventory available at the physical location.

73. The method of claim 72, wherein: The physical location is a retail establishment, and the data related to inventory available at the physical location is information regarding types of consumables and / or accessories available at the retail establishment.

74. The method according to any one of claims 72 to 73, further comprising: receiving a packet from a non-flammable aerosol supply system via a connectionless channel; and in response thereto, transmitting said data associated with said physical location.

75. The method of claim 74, wherein: The amount of the data associated with the physical location is greater than the payload capacity that can be sent through the connectionless channel in response to a received packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system, and wherein the sending includes: sending a first portion of the data associated with the physical location through the connectionless channel in response to a first packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system, and sending a second portion of the data associated with the physical location through the connectionless channel in response to a second packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

76. A method according to claim 74 or 75, when dependent on at least claim 72, wherein: The packet received from the non-flammable aerosol supply system identifies a subset of the data related to inventory available at the physical location, and the data related to inventory available at the physical location includes the subset of the data related to inventory available at the physical location.

77. The method of any one of claims 68 to 76, wherein: Transmitting using a connectionless channel includes using Bluetooth and / or Bluetooth low energy protocols.

78. The method of any one of claims 68 to 77, wherein: Sending using a connectionless channel includes using a pre-pairing advertising packet.

79. The method of claim 78, wherein: The pre-pairing advertising packet includes: an advertising packet from a non-flammable aerosol supply system located within the operating range of the wireless beacon and received by the wireless beacon; and a request packet and / or a response packet sent by the wireless beacon and subsequently received by the non-flammable aerosol supply system located within the operating range of the wireless beacon.

80. The method of any one of claims 68 to 79, wherein: Wireless communication systems use a hub-based approach.

81. A method for use in a system including a non-flammable aerosol supply system and a wireless beacon, the method comprising: receiving, using a data interface of the wireless beacon, data related to a physical location associated with the beacon; transmitting data related to the physical location associated with the beacon using a wireless communication system, the wireless communication system configured to transmit using a connectionless data channel; receiving the data related to the physical location associated with the beacon using a wireless communication system, the wireless communication system configured to receive using the connectionless data channel; as well as An indication representing the data related to the physical location associated with the beacon is communicated using a user interface system configured to be communicated by a user interface element of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

82. The method of claim 81, wherein: The beacon is located at, within, or near the physical location.

83. The method of claim 81 or 82, wherein: The data related to the physical location associated with the beacon includes information indicating that the beacon is located within an operating range of the wireless communication system or within a specific range of the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

84. The method according to any one of claims 81 to 83, wherein: The non-flammable aerosol supply system is further configured to compare the data related to the physical location associated with the beacon with one or more preset values, and the user interface system is further configured to transmit one of a plurality of predetermined outputs depending on the result of the comparison.

85. The method of claim 81 or 84, wherein: The data related to the physical location associated with the beacon includes data related to an open / closed status of the physical location.

86. The method of claim 85, wherein: The data related to the open / closed status of the physical location includes one or more of: a current open / closed status; and a future open / closed status.

87. The method according to any one of claims 81 to 86, wherein: The received data includes data related to inventory available at the physical location.

88. The method of claim 87, wherein: The physical location is a retail establishment, and the data related to inventory available at the physical location is information regarding types of consumables and / or accessories available at the retail establishment.

89. The method of claim 87 or 88, further comprising: receiving a selection input using an input element of the user interface system; and transmitting, in response to the selection input, using the user interface system, a further indication representing the received data relating to inventory available at the physical location.

90. The method of any one of claims 87 to 87, further comprising: The data related to inventory available at the physical location is filtered by the non-flammable aerosol supply system to remove data related to inventory not associated with the non-flammable aerosol supply system, and wherein the transmitting includes: transmitting the filtered data related to inventory available at the physical location.

91. The method of any one of claims 87 to 90, further comprising: Prior to sending data related to available inventory, a packet is sent from the wireless communication system of the non-flammable aerosol supply system to the wireless communication system of the wireless beacon, and wherein receiving data related to available inventory includes receiving different data related to available inventory in response to each of sending two packets.

92. The method of any one of claims 81 to 91, wherein: Transmitting using a connectionless channel includes using Bluetooth and / or Bluetooth low energy protocols.

93. The method according to any one of claims 81 to 92, wherein: Sending using a connectionless channel includes using a pre-pairing advertising packet.

94. The method of claim 93, wherein: The pre-pairing advertising packet includes: an advertising packet, which is sent by the non-flammable aerosol supply system and then received by the wireless beacon; and a request packet and / or a response packet, which is sent by the beacon and then received by the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

95. The method of any one of claims 81 to 94, wherein: The wireless communication system uses a hub-based approach.

96. The method of any one of claims 81 to 95, wherein: The transmission includes: One or more selected from a display, an audio output device, and a haptic device is used.

97. The method of any one of claims 81 to 96, further comprising: An input element of the user interface system is used to receive a selection input for selecting a user interface function.

98. The method of any one of claims 81 to 97, further comprising: receiving, via a connectionless channel, a packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system using a wireless communication system of the wireless beacon; and in response thereto transmitting the data related to the physical location associated with the beacon.

99. The method of claim 98, wherein: The amount of the data related to the physical location associated with the beacon is greater than the payload capacity that can be sent through the connectionless channel in response to a received packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system, and the method also includes: sending a first portion of the data related to the physical location associated with the beacon through the connectionless channel in response to a first packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system, and sending a second portion of the data related to the physical location associated with the beacon through the connectionless channel in response to a second packet from the non-flammable aerosol supply system.

100. The method of claim 98 or 99, when dependent on at least claim 87, further comprising: Based on the indication of the subset included in the received packet, the subset of data related to inventory available at the physical location is transmitted as data related to inventory available at the physical location.

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