Method for Providing Notification in an Aerosol Generating Device

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method that includes establishing communication between an aerosol generating device and a personal computing device, detecting an incoming call notification addressed to a user by the personal computing device, providing a display of the incoming call notification to the user on the aerosol generating device, and suppressing the display of the incoming call notification on the personal computing device.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to aerosol generating devices with enhanced user functionality, and more particularly to aerosol generating devices, such as electronic cigarettes and heat-not-burn devices, that are capable of providing notifications to the user. [Background technology]

[0002] Inhalers or aerosol-generating devices, such as electronic cigarettes or vaping devices, are becoming increasingly popular. They generally heat or warm an aerosolizable material to generate an aerosol for inhalation, as opposed to burning tobacco as in traditional tobacco products. The generated aerosol may contain flavors and / or stimulants (e.g., nicotine or other active ingredients). It may be desirable for such devices to provide additional features that enhance the user experience.

[0003] Most aerosol generating devices incorporate some form of electronic control circuitry, typically including a simple computer processor, allowing a user to control the operation of the aerosol generating device. Some vaping devices also allow the device to wirelessly connect to a personal computing device to exchange data regarding the function of certain components of the device. However, there is no seamless integration between the aerosol generating device and the personal computing device to enhance the user experience. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Therefore, there is a need for a device that can provide additional functionality and that can be used effectively in conjunction with a personal computing device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] According to an aspect of the present invention, a method is provided that includes establishing communication between an aerosol generating device and a personal computing device, detecting an incoming call notification addressed to a user by the personal computing device, providing a display of the incoming call notification to the user on the aerosol generating device, and suppressing the display of the incoming call notification on the personal computing device.

[0006] Advantageously, the method can be used to notify a user of an aerosol generating device, such as an e-cig, of important notifications received on a personal computing device, such as a smartphone, using the e-cig. In this way, the user is assured that important notifications will not be missed, while being relieved from unnecessarily checking their smartphone.

[0007] Preferably, the method includes receiving an acknowledgement from the aerosol generating device at the personal computing device before suppressing notification of the incoming call notification at the personal computing device.

[0008] Preferably, the method includes identifying a first gesture pattern drawn by a user on a surface of the aerosol generating device to initiate establishment of communication between the aerosol generating device and the personal computing device.

[0009] Preferably, the method includes detecting whether the aerosol generating device is in proximity to a user at predetermined time intervals.

[0010] Preferably, the method includes providing a display of an incoming call notification to a user on the personal computing device, and suppressing the display on the aerosol generating device when the aerosol generating device is not in close proximity to the user.

[0011] Preferably, the method includes identifying a second gesture pattern drawn by the user on the surface of the aerosol generating device to disable communication between the aerosol generating device and the personal computing device.

[0012] According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for receiving a notification at an aerosol generating device is provided, the method including establishing communication with a personal computing device in the vicinity of the aerosol generating device, receiving a command for an incoming notification from the personal computing device, providing a display of the incoming notification to a user at the aerosol generating device, and sending an acknowledgement message to the personal computing device to suppress the display of the incoming notification at the personal computing device.

[0013] Preferably, the acknowledgement message is sent in response to detecting that the aerosol generating device is being held by a user or receiving user input confirming receipt of an incoming notification.

[0014] According to another aspect of the present invention, an aerosol generating device is provided, comprising: an aerosol generating device, the aerosol generating device comprising a body having an inlet and an outlet, the body defining an air channel between the inlet and the outlet; and a controller configured to establish communication with a personal computing device in the vicinity of the aerosol generating device, receive a command from the personal computing device regarding an incoming call notification, provide a display of the incoming call notification to a user at the aerosol generating device, and send an acknowledgement message to the personal computing device to suppress the display of the incoming call notification at the personal computing device.

[0015] Preferably, the aerosol generating device further comprises an indicator configured to display an incoming call notification to a user.

[0016] Preferably, the aerosol generating device further includes a motion sensor configured to detect the user's movements when carrying the device, and a touch-sensitive surface for receiving input from the user to initiate the establishment or disabling of communication with the personal computing device.

[0017] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system comprising an aerosol generating device as defined above and a personal computing device including a user application for interacting with the aerosol generating device.

[0018] Preferably, the user application is configured to allow the user to define an association between a type of incoming notification and a type of display on the aerosol generating device.

[0019] Preferably, the personal computing device is configured to notify the aerosol generating device of an incoming notification only if there is a predefined association between the type of incoming notification and the type of display at the aerosol generating device.

[0020] According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium containing instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method described above.

[0021] According to another aspect, a method is provided that includes establishing communication between an aerosol generating device and a personal computing device, detecting, by the personal computing device, an incoming call notification addressed to a user from at least one application running on the personal computing device, providing a display of the incoming call notification to the user on the aerosol generating device, and suppressing the display of the incoming call notification on the personal computing device.

[0022] According to another aspect, a method for receiving a notification at an aerosol generating device is provided, the method including: establishing communication with a personal computing device in the vicinity of the aerosol generating device; receiving a command from the personal computing device regarding an incoming notification, the incoming notification being from at least one application running on the personal computing device; providing a display of the incoming notification to a user at the aerosol generating device; and sending an acknowledgement message to the personal computing device to suppress the display of the incoming notification at the personal computing device.

[0023] According to another aspect, an aerosol generating device is provided, comprising: an aerosol generating device, the aerosol generating device comprising a body having an inlet and an outlet, the body defining an air channel between the inlet and the outlet; and a controller configured to establish communication with a personal computing device in the vicinity of the aerosol generating device, receive a command from the personal computing device regarding an incoming notification, the command being from at least one application running on the personal computing device, provide a display of the incoming notification to a user at the aerosol generating device, and send an acknowledgement message to the personal computing device to suppress the display of the incoming notification at the personal computing device.

[0024] Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which: [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0025] [Figure 1] 1 shows an aerosol generating device according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 2 illustrates a system including the device of FIG. 1 and other entities in a connected network. [Figure 3A] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of various components of the device of FIG. 1. [Figure 3B]3 shows a block diagram of various components of a personal computing device present in the system of FIG. 2. [Figure 4] 1 is a flow chart that generally illustrates a method according to an aspect of the present invention. [Figure 5] 5 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary implementation of the method of FIG. 4. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0026] Next, various aspects of the present invention will be described. In the following description of the drawings, it should be noted that the same or similar parts are designated by the same or similar reference numerals. It should be noted that the drawings are schematic and the scale ratios of the respective parts are different from the actual scales. Therefore, the specific scales and the like should be judged in consideration of the following description.

[0027] FIG. 1 illustrates a non-combustion aerosol generating device 100, which is a device for inhaling aerosols by heating or vaporizing them without combustion. The device 100 has a rod-like shape with a body 101 extending from a non-mouthpiece end 102 to a mouthpiece end 103. An air channel or pathway is defined within the body 100 between the opposing ends 102, 103. The aerosol generating device 100 in this example is an electronic cigarette or vaping device, hereinafter referred to as an e-cig 100. The e-cig 100 functions by vaporizing or heating an aerosol source inserted into the e-cig 100 to release flavors and / or stimulants for inhalation by a user through the mouthpiece end 103. The construction and operation of such devices for generating aerosols are well known in the art, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the invention disclosed herein may be applicable to aerosol generating devices of any shape and configured using any aerosol generation technique, without limitation.

[0028] The e-cig 100 may include an activation switch 104 that may be configured to power the e-cig 100 on and / or off. The activation switch 104 may be a push button or a touch button located in any convenient location on the surface of the body 101 of the e-cig 100. Alternatively, rather than relying on a switch button to activate power to a heater, the e-cig 100 relies on a puff sensor to detect airflow and trigger the device to begin generating aerosol.

[0029] 2 illustrates a system 200 including an e-cig 100 and other related entities. In this example, the e-cig 100 is configured to communicate with a personal computing device 201 owned by a user 202. The personal computing device 201 may be a smartphone, tablet, or laptop. For simplicity, the personal computing device 201 will be referred to hereinafter as a smartphone 201. Preferably, the e-cig 100 is configured with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or other similar technologies. (registered trademark) , or other wireless communication standards. Smartphone 201 preferably runs a mobile application (commonly referred to as an app) that allows a user to interact with e-cig 100 through an easy-to-use interface. The app may be hosted by the manufacturer of e-cig 100 and may be compatible with different mobile platforms, such as iOS™ and Android™.

[0030] The e-cig 100 and / or smartphone 201 may also be configured to connect to a network 202. The network 203 may be a public network, such as the Internet, that allows the e-cig 100 and smartphone 201 to connect to other entities in the system 200. It will be appreciated that the e-cig 100 and apps in the smartphone 201 preferably have built-in security protocols to prevent unauthorized access by any malicious entities connected via the network 203.

[0031] The e-cig 100 and / or smartphone 201 may also be connected to a server 204 via a network 203. The server 204 is preferably a central controller managed or certified by the manufacturer of the e-cig 100 and is preferably configured to remotely manage the e-cig 100. The server 204 manages and monitors the operation of the e-cig 100 and may also learn from the user's habits by running machine learning algorithms or artificial intelligence programs. An app on the smartphone 201 preferably interfaces with the server 204 to share the status of the e-cig 100 and receive any updates and suggestions for the user from the server 204. The user may also be able to order refills and other flavors for the e-cig 100 from the server 204 using the app.

[0032] It should be understood that system 200 is implemented using known communication technologies and standards. System 200 may include several other entities known to those skilled in the art that are not shown or described for the sake of brevity.

[0033] 3A is a block diagram illustrating various components or modules of the e-cig 100. In one example, the e-cig 100 includes a consumable module 301a and a heating element 302 that vaporizes a consumable 301b received by the consumable module 301a to release an aerosol containing flavors and / or stimulants for inhalation by a user. In this example, the consumable 301b is a nicotine-containing substance. The presence of the consumable 301b in the consumable module 301a may be detected by a detector 301c. The consumable 301b may be in solid or liquid form and is heated by the heating element 302 to release the aerosol without combustion. If the consumable 301b is a liquid reservoir, more than one consumable may be received in the consumable module 301a. The heating element 302 may be powered by a power source 303.

[0034] The power supply 303 may be, for example, a lithium-ion battery. The power supply 303 provides the power necessary to operate the e-cig 100. For example, the power supply 303 may power all other components or modules included in the e-cig 100.

[0035] For purposes of this description, it should be understood that the terms vapor and aerosol are interchangeable. In some instances, the heating element is located within the capsule or cigarette-like aerosol-generating material and can be connected to the aerosol-generating device, rather than being a component of the aerosol-generating device itself.

[0036] In one embodiment, flavoring is present in consumable 301b. Flavoring may include ethyl vanillin (vanilla), menthol, isoamyl acetate (banana oil), or the like. In another embodiment, consumable 301b may include an additional flavor source (not shown) located beyond consumable module 301a of consumable 301b toward mouthpiece end 103 to produce a flavor that is inhaled by the user along with the aerosol produced from consumable 301b. In yet another embodiment, e-cig 100 includes two or more consumables, each containing flavoring and / or a level of active ingredient (nicotine). In this case, each consumable can be heated separately to produce aerosol.

[0037] The e-cig 100 also includes a controller 304 configured to control various components within the e-cig. For example, the controller 304 may control a timing unit 305, a communication unit 306, a memory 307, and sensors 308 included in the e-cig 100. The timing unit 305 is configured to provide time information (e.g., time of day) and generate timestamps for puff data or event data that aid in analyzing a user's vaping preferences. The timing unit 305 is further configured to schedule a customized aerosol delivery profile (also referred to as a vaping profile) for the user and provide the customized vaping profile to the controller 304 to monitor and limit the user's use of the e-cig 100.

[0038] The communication unit 306 is configured to manage communication with the smartphone 201, the server 204, and the network 203. The memory 307 is configured to store different vaping profiles and information such as user settings and preferences.

[0039] The e-cig 100 may also include various sensors 308 (e.g., puff sensors, motion sensors, biometric sensors, etc.) for recording usage data regarding each inhale or puff a user takes with the e-cig 100. The recorded usage data may include puff duration (i.e., the length of the puff), puff interval (i.e., the time between successive puffs), and fluid and / or nicotine consumption. In one example, the puff detector may identify the number of puffs taken to inhale the aerosol. The puff detector may also detect the time required for one puff to inhale the aerosol.

[0040] The e-cig 100 may also include an input / output (I / O) or user interface 309 configured to provide an indication to a user and receive input from the user. The I / O interface 309 preferably includes a display device and an input device. The display device may comprise a visible light emitter, including one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs), a screen display, or an acoustic emitter, or other suitable means for providing an indication to the user. A visible light emitter, such as an LED, may be located at the tip of the non-mouthpiece end 102 or on the side of the e-cig 100. Such an LED may indicate various lighting modes to provide to the user, ranging from a puff state where aerosol is being inhaled, a no-puff state where aerosol is not being inhaled, a preheat state where the heater is heating, a ready-to-vape state where the heater is operating at a target temperature to generate aerosol, an exhaust state where the LED bar indicates the exhaustion level of the aerosol source, and any other indication of information regarding the operational status of the e-cig.

[0041] A user 202 may provide input to e-cig 100 via a touch-sensitive panel disposed on the surface of e-cig 100. The touch-sensitive panel responds to various actions or gestures, such as tapping, shaking, toggling, pinching, drawing patterns, etc., performed by user 202. For example, user 202 may activate e-cig 100 by swiping the touch-sensitive surface of e-cig 100.

[0042] All of the above-described elements send and / or receive commands and / or data via a communication bus 310 .

[0043] 3B is a block diagram of various components in a personal computing device or smartphone 201. The smartphone 201 includes a processor 311 for controlling various operations of the smartphone, a memory 312 for storing system and user data, an operating system 313 such as Android™ or iOS™, and a power source 314, such as a lithium-ion battery, for powering the device. The smartphone 201 also includes a communication unit 315, including modules such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and NFC, for connecting with various entities present in the system 200. Additionally, the smartphone 201 includes an I / O interface 316 for interacting with a user. The I / O interface 316 preferably includes a touchscreen capable of receiving input from a user via touch actions and displaying content to the user on the screen. However, it should be understood that the I / O interface may instead include keys for receiving input and a non-touchscreen for displaying content.

[0044] Additionally, the smartphone 201 has an e-cig control app 317 running on the smartphone 201 that may be downloaded to the smartphone 201 by a user. The e-cig control app 317 preferably allows the user to set the user's vaping preferences on the e-cig 100. The e-cig control app 317 may also allow the user to view vaping history and other useful statistics.

[0045] All of the above-described elements send and / or receive commands and / or data via a communication bus 320 .

[0046] 4 shows a flow diagram 400 of a method for managing notifications for a user using a smartphone 201 and an e-cig 100. Note that the steps in the process 400 do not necessarily have to be performed in the same order, and some of the steps may be optional and can be omitted.

[0047] In step 401, communication is established between the aerosol generating device and the personal computing device. In this example, the e-cig 100 and smartphone 201 are wirelessly connected or paired via Bluetooth. During initial setup, the user 202 may configure such pairing by turning on the Bluetooth channel on both devices and setting both devices as trusted devices for each other. After initial setup is complete, the e-cig 100 and smartphone 201 automatically connect to each other when Bluetooth is enabled on both devices and the devices are within communication range.

[0048] In one embodiment, user 202 activates the Bluetooth connection of e-cig 100 by drawing a gesture pattern (e.g., swiping a finger from one side to the other on the touch-sensitive surface of e-cig 100 or shaking the e-cig). This allows e-cig 100 to connect to smartphone 201, which is in the vicinity of e-cig 100. Successful establishment of a connection between e-cig 100 and smartphone 201 may be indicated to user 202 in many ways, using any type of indicator, such as an LED on e-cig 100, an audio signal, or a vibration pattern. User 202 may also view the status of the connection via an app on smartphone 201.

[0049] In step 402, an incoming notification for the user is detected by the personal computing device. In this example, the smartphone 201 monitors all incoming notifications from various apps installed on the smartphone 201, such as a messaging app, email app 318, calendar app 319, reminder app, etc. The smartphone 201 may constantly or periodically check such apps to detect incoming notifications for the user. The user 202 preferably has the option to enable or disable notifications for various events in these apps. Enabling or disabling notifications may be configured by the user using the e-cig control app 317. For example, if the user wants to disable notifications from the calendar app 319, they can simply turn off the calendar app notifications via the e-cig control app 317 to disable the notifications. Some of these may be triggered when an external communication is received via the communication unit 315, such as receiving a text message from another entity. Other notifications, such as reminders for tasks to be done, are retrieved from the memory 312. When smartphone 201 is connected to e-cig 100 and detects an incoming call notification, smartphone 201 may or may not indicate the incoming call notification to user 202 on I / O interface 316 of smartphone 201 .

[0050] In step 403, an indication of the incoming call notification is provided to the user at the aerosol generating device. In this example, upon detecting the incoming call notification and determining that the smartphone 201 is connected to the e-cig 100, it is determined whether the e-cig 100 is suitable to provide an indication to the user 202. This may be determined at predetermined intervals by a sensor 308, such as a motion sensor included in the e-cig 100. If the e-cig 100 is detected to be moving, it is determined to be in active use or at least in close proximity to the user 202. Alternatively, this may be determined by a signal from the touch-sensitive screen when the user 202 is holding the e-cig 100 in their hand and is likely to activate the touch-sensitive screen. In that case, the smartphone 201 signals the e-cig 100 of the incoming call notification and instructs the e-cig 100 to provide an indication to the user 202. The e-cig 100 then uses the I / O interface 309 to display the incoming call notification to the user on the e-cig 100.

[0051] The indication can be done in many ways. In one example, an LED on the I / O interface 309 may flash twice in one color when a message is received on the smartphone 201, or flash once in another color when a calendar notification is received on the smartphone 201. Alternatively, the LED may flash six times in blue to indicate an important notification. In another example, the e-cig 100 may vibrate vigorously for several seconds when a message is received and vibrate more slowly when a calendar notification is received. Alternatively, the device may vibrate six short times to indicate an important notification.

[0052] Such associations between notification types and display patterns may be pre-set or defined by the user 202 according to the user's preferences. These associations may be configured using an app on the smartphone 201. In one embodiment, the smartphone 201 signals an incoming notification to the e-cig 100 only if there is a pre-defined association between the notification type and the display pattern. For example, the user may not define an association for incoming calls because the user must check the smartphone 201 anyway to be aware of the incoming call. In another embodiment, the smartphone 201 signals all incoming notifications for notification-enabled apps, such as the calendar app 319, configured by the user 202, regardless of the pre-defined association. In this case, a default display of incoming notifications is provided to the user 202 in the calendar app 319 so that the user 202 can quickly check the smartphone 202.

[0053] In step 404, the display of the incoming notification on the personal computing device is suppressed. In this example, the e-cig 100 may notify the smartphone 201 by sending an acknowledgment message upon successful display of the incoming notification on the e-cig 100. Such acknowledgment may be triggered by the user providing input to confirm receipt of the incoming notification on the e-cig 100. The user input may be, for example, tapping the e-cig 100 to confirm receipt. Upon receiving such acknowledgment, the smartphone 201 turns off the display to the user 202 on the smartphone 201. In another embodiment, the display of the incoming notification on the personal computing device 201 is automatically suppressed after successfully sending the incoming event notification to the e-cig 100. The user 202 may define in the e-cig control app 317 whether user confirmation is required to suppress the display on the smartphone 201. For example, the user may require confirmation for calendar notifications but not email notifications.

[0054] Smartphone 201 does not notify user 202 of the incoming call notification through I / O interface 316 of smartphone 201 because the user has already been notified on e-cig 100. This avoids the unnecessary burden on the user to check smartphone 201. The notification is received by smartphone 201 as usual, and user 202 checks the notification at his or her convenience, but no perceptible indication is provided on smartphone 201. App icons and a notification center on smartphone 201 may indicate a pending notification when the user checks smartphone 201. In this way, the user does not need to check smartphone 201 if the notification is deemed less important (as recognized by its display pattern on e-cig 100). This not only saves the user time but also limits unnecessary contact with the display screen of smartphone 201.

[0055] On the other hand, if an acknowledgment is not received from the e-cig 100 for some reason, such as the user 202 not being in close proximity to the e-cig 100 (for example, the e-cig 100 is not moving while resting on a table, and there is no movement detectable by a motion sensor, or the e-cig 100 is not being held in the user's hand, i.e., there is no signal detectable by a touch-sensitive screen), the smartphone 201 displays the incoming call notification to the user 202 on the smartphone 201 in the usual manner. This prevents the user from missing important notifications. However, in this case, the display of the incoming call notification on the e-cig 100 is suppressed.

[0056] The user 202 may also manually configure the e-cig 100 not to receive display of incoming call notifications. This may be done by simply disabling communication between the e-cig 100 and the smartphone 201. The user 202 may also opt out by drawing a different gesture pattern (e.g., swiping the surface of the e-cig 100 from one side to another to turn off the Bluetooth connection or shaking the e-cig).

[0057] FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram 500 illustrating an exemplary implementation of the above method. Assume that the user 202 has defined, using the e-cig control app 317, to receive notifications from the calendar app 319 on the e-cig 100. Thus, the smartphone 201 provides a signal to the e-cig 100 about the incoming notification and prevents the display of the incoming notification on the smartphone 201. The e-cig 100 then provides an indication of the incoming notification to the user 202 on the e-cig 100. Depending on the predefined association, the controller 304 in the e-cig 100 provides an indication using the I / O interface 309. In this embodiment, six short blue LED flashes are used to provide a visual indication, or six short vibrations are used to provide a tactile indication to the user 202. In this manner, the user is notified of important events using the e-cig 100.

[0058] The method described above advantageously provides the user with a display of the incoming call notification on the e-cig 100 rather than the smartphone 201 for convenience. However, if the user is not in close proximity to the e-cig 100, the display is provided on the smartphone 201 as usual. In either case, unnecessary displays on both devices are avoided while ensuring that the user does not miss the notification.

[0059] The processing steps described herein performed by the main control unit, i.e., the controller, may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, or storage, associated with the main control unit. Computer-readable media may include non-volatile media and volatile media. Volatile media may include, among other things, semiconductor memory and dynamic memory. Non-volatile media may include, among other things, optical disks and magnetic disks.

[0060] The foregoing description of illustrative embodiments has been presented for purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the precise form disclosed, as modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the disclosed embodiments.

[0061] As used herein, the term "non-transitory computer-readable medium" is intended to refer to any tangible computer-based device implemented in any method or technology for short-term and long-term storage of information, such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules and sub-modules, or other data in any device. Accordingly, the methods described herein may be encoded as executable instructions embodied in tangible non-transitory computer-readable media, including, but not limited to, storage and / or memory devices. Such instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform at least a portion of the methods described herein. Moreover, as used herein, the term "non-transitory computer-readable medium" includes all tangible computer-readable media, including, but not limited to, non-transitory computer storage devices, firmware, physical and virtual storage, removable and non-removable media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, and any other digital source, such as a network or the Internet, as well as yet undeveloped digital means, with the sole exception of transitory propagating signals.

[0062] As will be recognized based on the foregoing specification, the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented using computer programming or engineering techniques, including computer software, firmware, hardware, or any combination or subset thereof. Any such resulting program having computer-readable code means may be embodied or provided in one or more computer-readable mediums, thereby creating a computer program product, i.e., an article of manufacture, according to the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure. An article of manufacture including computer code may be created and / or used by executing the code directly from one medium, by copying the code from one medium to another, or by transmitting the code over a network.

Claims

1. establishing communication between the aerosol generating device and a personal computing device; detecting, by the personal computing device, an incoming call notification for a user from at least one application running on the personal computing device; providing an indication of the incoming call notification to the user at the aerosol generating device; and suppressing display of the incoming call notification on the personal computing device in response to an acknowledgement from the aerosol generating device; wherein the method further comprises: receiving an acknowledgment message from the aerosol generating device at the personal computing device in response to detecting that the aerosol generating device is being held by the user or receiving a user input confirming receipt of the incoming call notification before suppressing the display of the incoming call notification at the personal computing device; A method comprising:

2. 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying a first gesture pattern drawn by the user on a surface of the aerosol generating device to initiate establishment of communication between the aerosol generating device and the personal computing device.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising detecting whether the aerosol generating device is in proximity to the user at predetermined time intervals.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising providing the display of the incoming call notification to the user on the personal computing device, and suppressing the display on the aerosol generating device when the aerosol generating device is not in close proximity to the user.

5. The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising identifying a second gesture pattern drawn by the user on the surface of the aerosol generating device and disabling the communication between the aerosol generating device and the personal computing device.

6. 1. A method for receiving notifications on an aerosol generating device, comprising: establishing communication with a personal computing device in proximity to the aerosol generating device; receiving a command for an incoming call notification from the personal computing device, the command being from at least one application running on the personal computing device; providing an indication of the incoming call notification to a user at the aerosol generating device; sending an acknowledgment message to the personal computing device to suppress display of the incoming call notification on the personal computing device; wherein the acknowledgment message is sent in response to detecting that the aerosol generating device is being held by the user or receiving user input confirming receipt of the incoming notification.

7. An aerosol generating device, comprising: a body having an inlet and an outlet, the body defining an air channel between the inlet and the outlet; a controller, establishing communication with a personal computing device in proximity to the aerosol generating device; receiving a command for an incoming call notification from the personal computing device, the command being from at least one application running on the personal computing device; providing an indication of the incoming call notification to a user at the aerosol generating device; Sending an acknowledgment message to the personal computing device to suppress display of the incoming call notification on the personal computing device. With a controller configured as wherein the acknowledgment message is sent in response to detecting that the aerosol generating device is being held by the user or receiving user input confirming receipt of the incoming notification.

8. The aerosol generating device of claim 7 , further comprising an indicator configured to display the incoming call notification to the user.

9. a motion sensor configured to detect the user's motion when carrying the aerosol generating device; a touch-sensitive surface for receiving input from the user to initiate the establishment or disabling of communication with the personal computing device. The aerosol generating device according to claim 7 or 8, further comprising:

10. The aerosol generating device according to any one of claims 7 to 9, a personal computing device including a user application for interacting with the aerosol generating device; A system including:

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the user application is configured to allow a user to define an association between a type of incoming notification and a type of display on the aerosol generating device.

12. The system described in claim 10 or 11, wherein the personal computing device is configured to notify the aerosol generating device of the incoming notification only if there is a predefined association between the type of incoming notification and the type of display on the aerosol generating device.

13. A computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 7.

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