AEROSOL-GENERATING SYSTEM

Abstract

The disclosure relates to an aerosol-generating system comprising: an energy storage, a charging interface configured for connecting to a charging setup for charging the energy storage at a certain charging speed depending on a charging parameter of a power supply specification of the charging setup, and a control circuitry configured to determine data indicative of the charging parameter of the power supply specification of the charging setup connected to the charging interface, wherein the control circuitry is configured to cause the determined data to be indicated via a user interface, thus providing an indication of the charging speed via the user interface.

Description

[0001] AEROSOL-GENERATING SYSTEM

[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to the field of aerosol-generating systems for generating aerosol, for example nicotine-containing aerosol. In particular, the present disclosure relates to an electronic aerosol-generating system configured to generate aerosol, e.g., based on heating at least a part of an aerosol-generating article or substrate. The present disclosure further relates to a method for providing an indication of a charging speed of an energy storage of an aerosol-generating system for a charging setup connected to a charging interface of the aerosolgenerating system and to a corresponding computer program product, which may be a computer program or a computer-readable medium storing a computer program.

[0003] Aerosol-generating systems typically comprise aerosol-generating devices designed as handheld devices that can be used by a user for consuming or experiencing, for instance in one or more usage sessions, aerosol generated by heating an aerosol-generating substrate or at least a portion of an aerosol-generating article comprising such substrate. It will be appreciated that aerosol-generating devices can generate aerosol by other means, such as for example by vibrating, by spraying or other means.

[0004] Exemplary aerosol-generating substrates can comprise solid substrate material, such as tobacco material ortobacco cast leaves (“TCL”) material. The substrate material can, for example, be assembled, often with other elements or components, to form a substantially stick-shaped aerosol-generating article. Such a stick or aerosol-generating article can be configured in shape and size to be inserted at least partially into the aerosol-generating device, which, for example, can comprise a heating element for heating the aerosol-generating article and / or the aerosolgenerating substrate. Alternatively, or additionally, aerosol-generating substrates can comprise one or more liquids and / or solids, which can for example be supplied to the aerosol-generating device in the form of a cartridge or container. Exemplary aerosol-generating articles can comprise a cartridge or container that contains or is fillable with the liquid and / or solid substrate, which can be vaporized during aerosol consumption by the user based on heating the substrate. Usually, such cartridge can be coupled to, attached to and / or at least partially inserted into the aerosolgenerating device. Alternatively, the cartridge may be fixedly mounted to the aerosol-generating device and refilled by inserting liquid and / or solid substrate material into the cartridge.

[0005] For generating aerosol during use or consumption, a user typically actuates a user interface of the aerosol-generating system, thereby triggering supply of one or more aerosol-generating means or aerosol generators, such as one or more aerosol ization elements or sources, e.g., heating elements or heat sources, with electrical energy, for example to heat at least a portion of the aerosol-generating substrate or article. At least a part of the aerosol-generating means or aerosol generator, for example at least a part of the aerosolization element, can be arranged in the aerosol-generating device. Alternatively, or additionally, at least a part of the aerosol- generating means or aerosol generator, for example at least a part of the aerosolization element, can be arranged in the aerosol-generating article.

[0006] Exemplary aerosolization elements can be based on one or more of resistive heating, inductive heating and microwave heating using electrical energy supplied via, drawn from or stored in an energy storage of the aerosol-generating device. Exemplary energy storages can include one or more batteries, one or more capacitors, one or more accumulators or other types of energy storage.

[0007] Alternatively, or additionally, the aerosol-generating system may be configured to supply electrical energy to one or more other aerosol-generating means, aerosol engines or aerosol generators to generate aerosol. For example, the aerosol-generating device and / or aerosolgenerating article may comprise one or more vibrating elements, one or more vibrating meshes, one or more spraying devices, or other means for generating aerosol.

[0008] Generally, the aerosol-generating system may comprise a charging interface for charging an energy storage thereof. To reduce electronic waste, it may be desirable to use charging interfaces for standardized connectors such as, for example, LISB-C type connectors rather than proprietary charging interfaces requiring a cable with a proprietary connector. Thereby, charging cables having a standardized connector connectable to the charging interface in the aerosolgenerating system may be used for different devices and systems, such as mobile phones, cameras, or other electronic devices.

[0009] However, while charging interfaces may use the same standardized connector, the control circuitry and energy storage among systems or devices as well as the capabilities of the specific charging cable used may differ. For example, the control circuitry and energy storage of an aerosol-generating system may be capable of charging the energy storage at a higher charging speed via its charging interface than may be transferable by a charging setup used by a user for charging the energy storage of their aerosol-generating system. For example, the charging cable may not be capable to provide a maximum charging current that the aerosol-generating system may be capable of handling. Instead, it may only be capable to provide a lower charging current due to design limitations of the charging cable. Similarly, the source of electrical energy of the charging setup, e.g., a power adapter, may not provide sufficient power to charge the aerosolgenerating system due to design limitations thereof in comparison to the capability of the aerosolgenerating system.

[0010] Accordingly, providing aerosol-generating systems with charging interfaces having standardized receptacles for receiving standardized connectors being compatible among a variety of different electronic devices comes with the risk that users of aerosol-generating systems use charging setups that are limiting the charging speed of their aerosol-generating systems or, in other words, are not optimal with respect to the charging speed. Hence, users may not use their aerosol-generating systems to their full potential with respect to the speed with which they can charge the energy storage of their system. Users may even become frustrated by slow charging speeds and blame their aerosol-generating system while in fact their charging setup is the cause for the slow charging speeds and their aerosol-generating system could provide faster charging speeds with a proper charging setup.

[0011] WO2015165813A1 describes an example of an aerosol-generating system. When a rechargeable power supply of the charging device of the aerosol-generating system is being charged, it is indicated to the user which charging current is being provided to the power supply at the current time.

[0012] However, it has been recognized by the inventors that the user is be able to determine whether the used charging setup is optimal or not with current aerosol-generating systems. For example, the user may not be able to determine whether the charging setup is optimal or not based on the indication of the charging speed of the power supply at the current time. Whether the used charging setup is optimal or not as mentioned herein may be seen with respect to the charging speed that the charging setup is able to provide in view of the technical capabilities, specifically a maximum charging speed or fast-charging speed, of the energy storage.

[0013] Firstly, it has been found by the inventors that this is because the charging current at the current time or, in other words, currently supplied depends on factors influencing the charging current such that it may not correctly reflect the capability of the charging setup. Accordingly, the charging current at the current time may not be used as a reliable source to determine whether the charging setup is optimal or not. Such factor is, for example, the current state of charge (SOC) of the power supply, which may affect the charging current. For example, up to a certain SOC, for example of 80%, the charging current may be constant and / or at a maximum and substantially correspond to a charging current of a power supply specification of the charging setup. However, above this SOC, the charging current will typically gradually decrease. Another exemplary factor is the ambient temperature, which may also affect the charging current at the current time.

[0014] Secondly, the used charging setup may not be optimal in terms of charging speed. In this case, an indicated charging current, even when it is at maximum under ideal conditions (e.g., SOC below a certain level, such as 80%, and at room temperature), may not be used for determining whether the charging setup is optimal in terms of charging speed or not. This is because the charging current at the current time will be less than the aerosol-generating system may be able to receive. The user may not be able to recognize this and believe that the used charging setup provides the maximum charging speed as per the capability of his aerosolgenerating system.

[0015] Thirdly, even under ideal conditions, the user may need to know about a capability of the aerosol-generating system to which he would have to compare the indicated charging speed under ideal conditions in order to be able to judge whether his charging setup provides a charging speed corresponding to the (maximum) capability of the aerosol-generating system and thus, whether his charging setup is optimal or not. This would not only require technical knowledge but would also be inconvenient and cumbersome for the user.

[0016] At present there is no convenient and reliable solution for solving the issue of slow charging speeds of aerosol-generating systems with non-optimal charging setups. At present, to solve the issue, users need to recognize the issue of slow charging speeds and consequently perform troubleshooting. By chance, e.g., via a troubleshooting guide in a manual of the aerosolgenerating system, this may lead them to alter their charging setup. By chance, they may realize that their previous charging setup was not optimal due to a limited charging speed.

[0017] It may, therefore, be desirable to provide for an improved aerosol-generating system overcoming or at least mitigating one or more of the aforementioned drawbacks.

[0018] This is achieved by the subject-matter of the independent claims. Optional features are provided by the dependent claims and by the following description.

[0019] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to an aerosol-generating an aerosol-generating system configured to generate aerosol, for example nicotine-containing aerosol inhalable by the user, from at least a part of an aerosol-generating article or aerosol-generating substrate, for example based on supplying one or more aerosol generators with electrical energy. The present disclosure further relates to a method for providing an indication of a charging speed of an energy storage of an aerosol-generating system for a charging setup connected to a charging interface of the aerosol-generating system and to a corresponding computer program product, which may be a computer program or a computer-readable medium storing a computer program. Any disclosure presented herein (note that herein according to this disclosure includes hereinabove and hereinbelow) with reference to an aspect of the present disclosure, equally applies to any other aspect of the present disclosure.

[0020] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an aerosol-generating system comprising an energy storage, a charging interface configured for connecting to a charging setup for charging the energy storage at a certain charging speed depending on a charging parameter of a power supply specification of the charging setup, and a control circuitry configured to determine data indicative of the charging parameter of the power supply specification of the charging setup connected to the charging interface, wherein the control circuitry is configured to cause the determined data to be indicated via a user interface, thus providing an indication of the charging speed via the user interface.

[0021] Accordingly, the aerosol-generating system of this disclosure provides for the capability of indicating a charging speed via a user interface, wherein the indication of the charging speed depends on a charging parameter of a power supply specification of the charging setup rather than being the charging speed at the current time or currently experienced. However, it is noted that the indicated charging speed may incidentally be the charging speed at the current time, e.g., when the charging is done at ideal or near ideal conditions, e.g., at SOC below 80%, at room temperature, etc. Because the indication of the charging speed or, in other words, the indicated charging speed is based on the charging parameter of the power supply specification of the charging setup, the charging speed may reliably indicate whether the used charging setup, that is connected to the charging interface, is optimal or not in terms of its charging speed, i.e. , whether the charging setup is able to charge the energy storage as fast as the aerosol-generating system allows for based on its technical design.

[0022] The components of the aerosol-generating system such as but not limited to energy storage, charging interface, control circuitry, etc. may be provided in one or multiple devices of the aerosol-generating system. Specifically, the components may be distributed partially or fully on different devices of the aerosol-generating system. The devices of the aerosol-generating system may include an aerosol-generating device, a charger device and / or an external device, which may be a mobile device and / or a computing device, as exemplary further described herein.

[0023] The user interface may be of the aerosol-generating system or separate therefrom, for example. In particular, the user interface may be of the aerosol-generating device, the charger device and / or the external device.

[0024] The aerosol-generating system may comprise one or more energy storages. One energy storage may be provided in the aerosol-generating device, for example. Another energy storage may be provided in the charger device for charging the aerosol-generating device, for example. The energy storage of the aerosol-generating system being charged by the charging setup may be any one of an energy storage of the aerosol-generating device and the charger device or both. The one or more energy storages may be one or more batteries (e.g., a lithium-ion battery). When the energy storage(s) is / are a battery / batteries, the cathode material may comprise lithium-cobalt- oxide (LCO), lithium-manganese-oxide (LMO), lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt-oxide (NMC), lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP), and / or lithium-nickel-cobalt-aluminium-oxide (NCA), for example. The anode material may comprise carbon (e.g., graphite), silicon and / or lithium-titanate-oxide (LTO), for example.

[0025] The charging interface may be any suitable interface for charging the energy storage. The charging interface may be connected to the energy storage. The connection of the charging interface to the energy storage may be via the control circuitry. Accordingly, the control circuitry may be configured for controlling charging of the energy storage. For example, the control circuitry may comprise one or more units, one or more of which may be configured for controlling the charging of the energy storage. The charging interface may be configured for receiving a connector of a charging cable, for example, of an USB-type, such as but not limited to LISB-C. For this purpose, the charging interface may comprise a corresponding receptacle, e.g., of an USB-type, such as but not limited to LISB-C. Alternatively, or additionally, the charging interface may be a wireless charging interface for wirelessly connecting to the charging setup.

[0026] The charging setup may comprise one or more different components, such as, but not limited to, for example a source of electrical energy. Further, the charging setup may comprise a charging cable connected to or connectable to the source of electrical energy. The charging cable may comprise connectors at both ends, which may be connected to corresponding receptacles of the source of electrical energy and / or the charging interface. The charging setup may be configured such that it may charge the energy storage at the certain charging speed depending on a charging parameter of a power supply specification thereof. The certain charging speed, herein also simply referred to as charging speed, may also depend on more than one charging parameters of the power supply specification. The power supply specification may comprise one or more charging parameters as design specifications relating to the power supply providable by the charging setup. In other words, the power supply specification may relate to or define a design specification or technical specification of the charging setup, which may be expressed as the one or more charging parameters. Accordingly, the one or more charging parameters may be based on the (technical) design of the charging setup. The technical design may include, or, in other words, the power supply specification may depend on various factors such as but not limited to the conductive material in the charging setup being used, e.g., the amount of copper being used, the connection or charging technology, e.g., USB 2.0, USB 3.0, USB 3.1 , and or the type of connector and / or receptacle being used, e.g., USB-C or USB-A type. Thus, the power supply specifications and / or charging parameter(s) thereof can reflect the technical capability of the charging setup. Accordingly, the power supply specification may comprise the one or more charging parameters per the design of the charging setup rather than what the charging setup is able to provide as charging parameter at any given time, i.e., a charging parameter currently being applied or at a current time, depending on circumstances or factors different from the design specifications, e.g., the SOC of the energy storage or an ambient temperature, specifically of the energy storage. The one or more charging parameters may be, for example but not limited to, voltage output parameters, current output parameters, e.g., a maximum charging current or fastcharging current, input voltage type (AC or DC) and / or range, etc.

[0027] The power supply specifications of the charging setup may be determinable via a communication of the control circuitry with the charging setup as further explained herein. For this purpose, the control circuitry may be operatively coupled to the energy storage and / or the charging interface. Moreover, the control circuitry may be configured to communicate with the charging setup, specifically a control circuitry and / or a charging interface thereof, to determine the data as explained herein. In such communication process, one or more electrical signals may be transferred between the control circuitry and the charging setup. The determination and / or communication may comprise different steps, e.g., a trigger action, such as starting charging of the energy storage, a negotiation with the charging setup and / or testing of the charging setup, and / or an analysis of the information gained from the negotiation and / or testing of the charging setup. The configuration of the steps may depend on several factors such as but not limited to the type of charging or connection technology and the type of connector being used, for example. Also, the power supply specifications may be provided on a datasheet supplied alongside with the charging setup or provided thereon, e.g., printed thereon, or provided on a sticker adhered thereto.

[0028] The determined data may comprise or be the charging parameter or charging parameters of the power supply specification or be a full power supply specification, i.e., including all parameters relevant for the power supply and characterizing the charging setup, for example. For example, if the charging parameter is a charging current, the determined data may comprise a charging speed as indication of the charging current due to its dependency thereon. Alternatively, the determined data may comprise the charging current. However, the determined data is not limited to comprising the charging parameter and / or using it for indication of the charging speed. For example, the determined data may in addition or alternatively to the charging parameter or charging parameters comprise the indication, e.g., in the form of a charging parameter value, a picture, a text, an instruction, e.g., a computer instruction or code, or similar. Such indication may be directly used for indication by the user interface. For example, the indication may be displayed on the user interface, e.g., when configured as a display or comprising a display. For example, the determined data may comprise a text indicative of an optimal charging setup or fast-charging setup for indicating the charging speed via the user interface. In case of an instruction in the determined data, this instruction may be used by a device, e.g., the external device of the aerosolgenerating system, for execution and consequently providing an indication of the charging speed, e.g., in the form of a charging parameter, charging speed, value or text, on the device.

[0029] In an example, the charging parameter may be indicative of a charging speed of the energy storage for the connected charging setup. For example, the charging parameter or more than one charging parameter may determine or at least influence the charging speed.

[0030] In an example, the charging speed may be a fast-charging speed, or a maximum charging speed. In case of a fast-charging speed, the aerosol-generating system may comprise a fastcharging mode, for example. For example, the control circuitry and / or energy storage may enable a fast-charging mode. The fast-charging mode may have one or more fast charging parameters. For example, the fast-charging mode may have a fast-charging current as fast-charging parameter. When the determined data indicates the fast-charging speed as charging speed via the user interface, the user will know that the fast-charging mode is active. Accordingly, the user will know that the charging setup enables the fast-charging mode. Alternatively, when the charging speed is a maximum charging speed, the user will know that the energy storage is charged at maximum speed and that the charging setup is optimal in terms of charging speed, i.e. , achieving maximum charging speed. The maximum charging speed being dependent on the charging parameter of the power supply specification shows the user that the charging setup is optimal even if the charging speed is slower at some time, e.g., during an SOC above 80%, in the case of which the charging speed may be reduced. The fast-charging speed may be less or the same as the maximum charging speed depending on the configuration of the fast-charging mode.

[0031] In an example, the charging parameter may be independent from a state of charge of the energy storage. Instead, the charging parameter of the power supply specification may be dependent, in particular only, on the technical power supply capability of the charging setup as defined by the power supply specification of the charging setup. Contrary to this, a charging parameter at a current time is dependent on the SOC of the energy storage. For example, when the energy storage is fully discharged or at a high SOC of, e.g., 80% or more, the charging parameter and charging speed may be less than at an SOC of, e.g., 60%.

[0032] In an example, the data may be determined independent from a charging parameter at a current time, in particular a charging speed or charging current at a current time, of a charging process of the energy storage. Instead, the data may be determined based on the power supply specification, specifically based only thereon. The charging parameter at the current time or, in other words, that is currently being applied on the other hand may be determined based on a measurement of the charging parameter, e.g., the charging current that is being currently transferred from the source of electrical energy to the energy storage. Thereby, it is excluded that the charging at the current time is used for the indication of the charging speed, which would not reliably allow to indicate whether the charging setup is optimal or not with respect to the charging speed.

[0033] In an example, the charging parameter may be different from a charging parameter at a current time, in particular a charging speed or charging current at a current time, of a charging process of the energy storage. Specifically, the charging parameter at the current time or, in other words, that is currently being applied may be determined based on the power supply specification, specifically only thereon, and thereby be different from a charging parameter at a current time. For example, when the charging parameter is a maximum charging current, the determined data at any given time may be indicative of a maximum charging current of 2 A of the power supply specification. However, a charging parameter at a current time when charging the energy storage at any given time will depend on the SOC. For example, at 90% SOC, the charging current at the current time may be only 1 A or less. Thereby, it may be excluded that the charging at the current time is used for the indication of the charging speed, which would not reliably allow to indicate whether the charging setup is optimal or not at all times.

[0034] In an example, the charging parameter may be a charging current, in particular a fastcharging current, or a maximum charging current. Thereby, the indication of the charging speed may be easily provided. Specifically, the charging current may be in direct correlation to the charging speed and the main determinant or one of the main determinants for the charging speed. The fast-charging current may be of a fast-charging mode as described herein and indicate to the user that the fast-charging mode is active. The fast-charging current may be less or the same as the maximum charging current depending on the configuration of the fast-charging mode.

[0035] In an example, the control circuitry may be configured to determine the data in dependence of a charging capability of the energy storage. The charging capability may be based on a design specification of the energy storage. For example, the charging capability may specify the same type of charging parameter as of the power supply specification of the charging setup but for the energy storage. Accordingly, the charging parameter of the energy storage may be considered when determining the data. For example, when the charging setup according to its power supply specification can provide 5 A as charging parameter in the form of a maximum charging current or fast-charging current, the charging capability of the energy storage may only provide for 2 A as charging parameter of that same type. Hence, instead of determining the data indicative of 5 A as charging parameter, the data may be determined indicative of 2 A. Thereby, the charging speed may be accurately indicated by the determined data via the user interface. Specifically, it may be prevented that a charging speed based on the power supply specification of the charging setup is indicated via the user interface which is not available at the aerosol-generating system based on the charging capability of its energy storage, which in this regard may be technically limited compared to the charging setup.

[0036] In an example, the charging interface may be configured for connecting to a charging connector of the charging setup for connecting to a source of electrical energy of the charging setup.

[0037] In an example, the charging interface may be configured for connecting to a charging cable as charging connector. Accordingly, the charging process may be provided via the charging cable. The charging cable as charging connector may comprise two connectors, one at each end of the charging cable and as herein described.

[0038] In an example, the charging interface may be configured for wirelessly connecting to a wireless charging connector as charging connector. Accordingly, the charging process may be wireless. The charging interface may be configured for either wired charging or wireless charging or a combination thereof. For this purpose, the charging interface may comprise different units, e.g., a receptacle for connecting to the connector of the charging cable, thereby receiving electrical energy, and / or a wireless unit for wirelessly receiving electrical energy.

[0039] In an example, the control circuitry may be configured to determine the data comprising first data indicative of a first charging parameter of a power supply specification of the charging connector and second data indicative of a second charging parameter of a power supply specification of the source of electrical energy. The first charging parameter and the second charging parameter may be of the same type, e.g., a maximum charging current or fast-charging current, for example. Thereby, the same type of charging parameter may be distinguished for the charging connector and the source of electrical energy by means of the first data and the second data. This enables distinguished identification of non-optimal components of the charging setup.

[0040] In an example, the control circuitry may be configured to cause the first data and the second data to be indicated via a user interface, thus providing the indication of the charging speed via the user interface separately for the charging connector and / or the source of electrical energy. Thereby, when indicating the charging speed via the user interface, it is possible to indicate the charging speed separately for the charging connector and the source of electrical energy. For example, when the charging connector, e.g., the charging cable, is optimal but the source of electrical energy is not, e.g., providing too little power, then this may be indicated to the user via the user interface separately as an issue of the source of electrical energy rather than the charging cable. For example, the charging parameters or charging speeds may be indicated separately for the charging connector and the source of electrical energy. Alternatively, for example, a text or instruction as previously explained may be used to provide the indication based on the determined data. For example, text as indication provided via the user interface may indicate that the source of electrical energy, e.g., power adapter, and / or the charging connector prevents faster charging and / or that the user shall change the source of electrical energy and / or the charging connector to achieve faster charging.

[0041] In an example, the control circuitry may be configured to cause the determined data to be indicated via the user interface, thus providing an indication of the charging parameter via the user interface. The charging parameter may be indicated in addition or alternatively to the charging speed. The indication may be for both, the charging parameter and the charging speed. For example, only the charging parameter, such as a maximum charging current or fast-charging current, may be indicated via the user interface. Alternatively, the charging speed and the charging parameter may be indicated. For example, the charging parameter in form of a maximum charging current may be indicated by the indication, e.g., of 2 A. Alongside this, the charging speed may be indicated via an indication of a text indicating optimal speed or similar on the user interface. In an example, the aerosol-generating system, in particular the control circuitry and / or an external device, may be configured to determine the indication of the charging speed for the user interface. For example, the determined data may comprise the charging parameter but not the indication itself as, for example, text, instruction, picture or similar for indicating the charging parameter to the user in a comprehensible way. Now, based on the determined data, the indication of the charging speed, e.g., in the form of text as previously described, may be determined so as to make the indication comprehensible for the user rather than merely providing the determined data, which may be less comprehensible. The determination of the indication of the charging speed via the user interface may be comprised in the causing, by the control circuitry, of the determined data to be indicated or be separate therefrom, e.g., performed by another component or device, e.g., the external device of the aerosol-generating system. Accordingly, the determination may be performed on the control circuitry and / or the external device, for example.

[0042] In an example, the control circuitry may be configured to provide the determined data for the indication on the user interface. Specifically, the provision of the determined data for the indication on the user interface may be comprised in the causing, by the control circuitry, of the determined data to be indicated. The providing may be or comprise transmitting the determined data and / or determined indication of the charging speed to the user interface. The transmission may be cabled-based or wireless, e.g., when the user interface is on another device than the control circuitry is. For example, it is possible to provide the indication of the charging speed on a user interface of the aerosol-generating device or charger device of the aerosol-generating system having the control circuitry, in which case the transmission may be cable-based, or on a user interface of the external device of the aerosol-generating system, in which case the transmission may be wireless.

[0043] In an example, the user interface may be of the aerosol-generating system. The user interface may be configured to provide the indication of the charging speed thereon. Thereby, the indication may be provided on the aerosol-generating system itself.

[0044] In an example, the indication may correlate to a magnitude of the charging parameter. For example, when the indication is provided as a text, the text may be different dependent on the magnitude of the charging parameter and correlate thereto. For example, if the charging parameter is the charging current, the text as indication may indicate a slow charging speed correlating to a slow charging parameter and a fast-charging speed correlating to a comparatively faster charging parameter, in particular a fast-charging parameter or maximum charging parameter. Thereby, different indications may be easily distinguished by the user such that they may realize when a charging setup is good, in particular optimal, or not in terms of charging speed.

[0045] In an example, the user interface may comprise one or more light-emitting units. The one or more light-emitting units may be light-emitting diodes, for example. Such light-emitting units are inexpensive. They may also be used for indicating the SOC of the energy storage. They may be used for different purposes, i.e., indicating the SOC and the charging speed, as a particularly inexpensive solution of a user interface utilization.

[0046] In an example, the indication may be configured as a flashing of at least one of the one or more light-emitting units. Accordingly, an instruction based on the indication or the indication as instruction may be provided to the light-emitting unit or light-emitting units or a control unit thereof for flashing them. The specific light-emitting units to be flashing, the number of light-emitting units to be flashing, the duration of flashing and so on may be defined by the instruction or indication.

[0047] In an example, a frequency of the flashing may be set to correlate to a magnitude of the charging parameter. Specifically, the flashing may comprise a repetitive cycle of a duration, in which the light emitting unit or units are lighted or, in other words, illuminated, and a consecutive duration, in which the light emitting unit or units are not lighted. Both or any one of these durations may be set to correlate to the magnitude of the charging parameter. Thereby, a correlation of the indication in terms of the frequency of the flashing to the magnitude of the charging parameter may be provided, which is very comprehensible and intuitive for the user to understand the indication of the charging speed.

[0048] In an example, the user interface may comprise a plurality of light-emitting units, the plurality of light-emitting units being configured to indicate a state of charge of the energy storage. A number of lighted light-emitting units of the plurality of light-emitting units may be set to correlate to a magnitude or level of the state of charge of the energy storage. Accordingly, for example, the higher the SOC of the energy storage is, the more light-emitting units may be lighted. For example, each one of the number of light-emitting units may represent a certain level or range of SOC of the energy storage. For example, when there are four light-emitting units, the first lightemitting unit may represent 0 to 25% as level of SOC. The second light-emitting unit may represent more than 25% to 50% as level of SOC, a third light-emitting unit may represent more than 50% to 75% as level of SOC, and a fourth light-emitting unit may represent more than 75% to 100% as level of SOC. The number of light-emitting units may be arranged in a row, for example. In the correlation to the magnitude of SOC, the light-emitting units may be permanently lighted or lighted in a flashing manner during charging of the energy storage. Thereby, a comprehensible and cost-efficient way of indicating the SOC to the user may be provided, not requiring a display or other more expensive and / or energy consuming units for visually indicating the magnitude or level of SOC. The correlation of the number of particularly permanently lighted light-emitting units may be in addition to the above explained flashing of one or more light-emitting units in correlation to the charging parameter. A frequency of flashing of light-emitting units in correlation to the magnitude or level of SOC may be different from a frequency of flashing of the light-emitting unit or units in correlation to the magnitude of the charging parameter. In an example, the indication may be configured as a flashing of a light-emitting unit that is being lighted for indication of the state of charge of the energy storage. For example, the frequency of the flashing of that light-emitting unit may be according to the indication, e.g., the magnitude of the charging parameter, while the lighting provided thereby may be attributed to the ongoing charging process for the corresponding magnitude or level of SOC. Taking the above example of four light-emitting units and respective ranges of SOC of 25% represented by lighting of each one of these, for example, when the energy storage is being charged at e.g. 63% SOC, the first two light-emitting units may be permanently lighted or in a flashing manner, e.g., of low frequency, while the third light-emitting unit may be lighted in a flashing manner with a frequency correlating to the magnitude of the charging parameter, which may be greater than the low frequency of the other two-light emitting units, thereby indicating to the user that the energy storage is currently charging the energy storage somewhere between 50% and 75% SOC and at a charging speed corresponding to the frequency of the flashing of the third light-emitting unit.

[0049] In an example, the user interface may be configured as a display. This may be in addition or alternative to any other herein mentioned user interface configuration, e.g., in the form of one or multiple light-emitting units. The display compared to other user interfaces enables a greater variety of possibilities for indication of the charging speed.

[0050] In an example, the indication may be configured as at least one of a text, symbol, color and moving object for the display. For example, the moving object may be an LED object on the display, wherein the rate of moving may be based on the magnitude of the charging parameter. Similarly, the text as previously explained but also, or alternatively the symbol shown, or the color shown may correlate to the magnitude of the charging parameter.

[0051] In an example, the user interface may be configured as a haptic user interface. Accordingly, the indication may be provided as a haptic response to the user. Such indication may be provided permanently or only when the haptic user interface is triggered, e.g., by touching it or the aerosolgenerating device or charger, for example. Also, or alternatively, the indication on the haptic user interface may be only given at the time of connecting the charging connector to the charging interface. Accordingly, the haptic user interface may be provided on the aerosol-generating device and / or charger.

[0052] In an example, the indication of the charging speed may be configured as a vibrating of the haptic user interface. An intensity of the vibrating may be set to correlate to a magnitude of the charging parameter. The vibrating may be only at the haptic user interface or transfer over to other parts of its device, e.g., aerosol-generating device or charger, and / or the charging setup, e.g., the charging connector.

[0053] In an example, the control circuitry may be configured to determine second data indicative of a charging parameter at a current time, in particular of a charging speed at a current time. Such second data may be in addition to the other determined data as previously described. The control circuitry may be configured to cause the determined second data to be indicated via the user interface, thereby providing a second indication of the charging parameter at the current time, in particular the charging speed at the current time. This second indication may be provided together with or separate from the other indication based on the determined data as previously described. For example, both indications may be provided next to each other, e.g., on a display, or separate from one another, e.g., on different portions of the user interface or even on different user interfaces. For example, the indication of the charging speed may be provided via the user interface in form of the multiple light-emitting units as previously described and the second indication of the charging speed at the current time may be provided via a display as user interface, e.g., of the aerosol-generating device or the external device. Thereby, the aerosolgenerating system may provide both, an indication of the charging speed based on the power supply specification and a second indication of the charging speed at a current time.

[0054] In an example, the control circuitry may be configured to determine a relative charging parameter indicative of a relative charging speed, the relative charging parameter being based on the charging parameter at the current time indicated by the second data and the charging parameter indicated by the data, and wherein the indication is an indication of the determined relative charging parameter. For example, the relative charging parameter may be a ratio of the charging parameter at the current time to the charging parameter as indicated by the data, i.e. , based on the power supply specification. Thereby, it may be possible to provide a comprehensible indication to the user via the user interface, indicating both, the charging parameter at the current time and the charging parameter based on the power supply specification, e.g., a maximum charging parameter or fast-charging parameter.

[0055] In an example, the indication may be an indication of the charging speed relative to a power delivery specification of the aerosol-generating system, in particular of the control circuitry and / or energy storage. In particular, the indication may be an indication of the charging speed relative to a fast-charging speed or a maximum charging speed of the energy storage, e.g., as defined by the power delivery specification. Thus, the power delivery specification may define or comprise the fast-charging current and / or maximum charging current and / or indicate the fast-charging speed or maximum charging speed. To determine such indication of the charging speed based on the charging parameter of the power supply specification of the charging setup relative to, in particular the same, charging parameter of the power delivery specification of the aerosolgeneration system, the control circuitry and / or other units may be used, e.g., in the analysis step based on the communication with the charging setup as herein described. Thereby in particular, the indication may not only indicate whether the charging setup provides a relatively slow or fast charging speed but also whether the charging speed, e.g., based on the charging current, that the charging setup provides is the fast-charging speed or the maximum charging speed that the aerosol-generation system is able to experience, e.g., based on the receivable fast-charging current or maximum charging current according to the power delivery specification of the aerosolgeneration system. For example, when the maximum charging current or the fast-charging current based on the power supply specification of the charging setup is 2 A and the maximum charging current or the fast-charging current based on the power delivery specification of the aerosolgeneration system is 2 A as well, then it may be indicated that the charging setup is optimal, e.g., by a text or any other indication that may indicate that the maximum charging speed or fastcharging speed of the aerosol-generating system is being achievable by the charging setup. The power delivery specification may comprise one or more charging parameters as design specifications relating to the power supply deliverable to or receivable by the energy storage. In other words, the power delivery specification may relate to or define a design specification or technical specification of the aerosol-generating system, in particular the control circuitry and / or energy storage, which may be expressed as the one or more charging parameters. The power supply specification and the power delivery specification may be the same and / or with the difference that the power supply specification defines the supply of the power by the one or more charging parameters and the power delivery specification defines the delivery or receiving of power by the one or more charging parameters.

[0056] In an example, the indication may be configured as a notification for notifying the user whether a fast-charging speed or maximum charging speed of the energy storage may be made use of with the connected charging setup or not. Thereby, the indication may notify the user in a simple manner whether the charging setup is optimal or not. For example, such notification may be in the form of a haptic, acoustic and / or visual notification on the user interface or on several user interfaces. For example, the notification may be as a text displayed on a display as user interface on the external device and / or as an acoustic alarm on a user interface as a speaker of the aerosol-generating device.

[0057] In an example, the control circuitry may be configured to trigger a charging process of the energy storage with the connected charging setup to determine the data. Thereby, the control circuitry may start the previously explained communication process between the control circuitry and the charging setup to determine the charging parameter or parameters of the power supply specification.

[0058] In an example, the control circuitry may be configured to measure an electrical parameter of a charging process of the energy storage with the thereto connected charging setup to determine the data. Such measurement of the electrical parameter may be performed after triggering the charging process and be viewed as a part of the communication between the control circuitry and the charging setup as herein described. Specifically, the measured electrical parameter may be used to negotiate and / or test the charging setup and thus to determine the data relating to the charging parameter of the power supply specification or, in other words, being indicative of the charging parameter of the power supply specification.

[0059] In an example, the control circuitry may be configured to measure the electrical parameter at the location of at least one pin of the charging interface and / or a charging connector of the charging setup. Specifically, depending on the charging or connecting technology used, there may be one or more different pins at which the electrical parameter, e.g., voltage and / or current, may be measured and based on which the data relating to the charging parameter of the power supply specification may be determined by the control circuitry.

[0060] In an example, the control circuitry may be configured to compare the at least one measured electrical parameter with at least one electrical parameter value or parameter range and, based on the comparison, determine the data. Specifically, based on the charging or connecting technology used, one or more different electrical parameter values or parameter ranges may be predefined and / or stored in correlation to the power supply specification, in particular in correlation to different charging parameters, e.g., different charging currents. When comparing the measured electrical parameter value(s) or parameter range to the predefined value(s) or range, it may thus be easily identified which of the charging parameter or charging parameter, e.g., charging current, the charging setup is able to provide and thus be of its power supply specification.

[0061] In an example, the control circuitry may be configured to identify one of at least two charging interface-compatible input source types of the charging connector based on the comparison. Depending on the charging or connection technology, identification of such a charging interfacecompatible input source type may be alternatively or additionally used to the herein described measurement and / or comparison of electrical parameters for determination of the data. Specific examples of the herein exemplary explained ways of determining the data depending on the used charging or connection technology will be given further below in the description of the figures.

[0062] In an example, the energy storage may be configured for supplying electrical energy to a further energy storage and / or to an aerosolization element to generate aerosol from at least a portion of an aerosol-generating article. For example, this may be done by heating the aerosolgenerating article. In this case, the aerosolization element may be heating element, for example. The heating element may refer to or denote any one or more of an inductive heating element, a resistive heating element and a microwave heating element. In other words, the heating element can be configured to heat the aerosol-generating article based on one or more of inductive heating, microwave heating and resistive heating. For example, the heating element may be an inductive heating element, for example including an inductive coil, configured to inductively heat a susceptor or susceptor material arranged in the aerosol-generating article or substrate. Alternatively, or additionally, the heating element may comprise one or more heating blades or resistive heating elements which may at least partly be inserted into the aerosol-generating article or substrate and supplied with electrical energy for generating aerosol. Alternatively, or additionally, the heating element may include a microwave generator configured to heat the aerosol-generating article based on microwave heating. Other forms, such as loop gap resonators may be used in addition or as alternative. At least a part of or the entire at least one aerosolization element can be arranged in the aerosol-generating device. Alternatively, or additionally, at least a part of or the entire aerosolization element may be arranged in the aerosol-generating article. For example, the aerosol-generating device may comprise a heating arrangement or heating circuit including the at least one heating element. Optionally, a part of the heating element, circuit or heating arrangement may be arranged in the aerosol-generating device and a further part of the heating element, circuit or arrangement may be arranged in the aerosol-generating article. Further, it is noted that the aerosol-generating device and / or the aerosol-generating article can comprise a plurality of aerosolization elements. Accordingly, any reference to a single aerosolization element herein can include a plurality of aerosolization elements.

[0063] In an example, the energy storage may be arranged in an aerosol-generating device of the aerosol-generating system or in a charger device of the aerosol-generating system, the charger device being configured for charging an aerosol-generating device of the aerosol-generating system. In particular, both, the aerosol-generating device and the charger device may have on energy storage. One or both of these energy storages may be connectable to the charging setup via the charging interface.

[0064] In an example, the further energy storage may be arranged in the charger device or the aerosol-generating device.

[0065] In an example, the aerosolization element may be arranged in an aerosol-generating device of the aerosol-generating system.

[0066] In an example, the aerosol-generating system may comprise a charger device for an aerosol-generating device, the charger device comprising the energy storage, the charging interface and / or the control circuitry. Accordingly, the charger device may be providing the aerosol-generating device with electrical energy from its energy storage without requiring the aerosol-generating device to be charged directly via a charging cable or similar, although such variation may be provided additionally or alternatively.

[0067] In another example, the aerosol-generating system may comprise an aerosol-generating device, the aerosol-generating device comprising the energy storage, the charging interface and / or the control circuitry.

[0068] In an example, the charging interface may be of a LISB-C type. This in particular relates to a receptacle of the charging interface, which may be of an LISB-C type and thus connectable to charging cables having a corresponding connector. However, any other type of receptacles for the charging interface such as but not limited to LISB-A, LISB-B and similar may be used in addition or alternatively. Specifically, any other standards than USB or proprietary charging interfaces may be used.

[0069] In an example, the control circuitry may comprise a charging control unit and a main control unit, wherein the charging control unit may be connected to the charging interface and the energy storage, and wherein the main control unit may be connected to the charging control unit.

[0070] In an example, the user interface may be arranged on an aerosol-generating device of the aerosol-generating system, a charger device of the aerosol-generating system or an external device. It is also possible to provide several user interfaces across the aforementioned devices.

[0071] In an example, the user interface may be arranged on the external device, wherein the aerosol-generating system may be configured for communication with the external device for providing the indication on the user interface. For example, the external device may receive the indication and / or the determined data. For example, when the external device receives the determined data, it may determine an indication based on that for provision on its user interface.

[0072] In an example, the charging interface may be configured for communication with the external device, or the aerosol-generating system may comprise a communication interface configured for wireless communication with the external device. For example, the aerosolgenerating system, in particular the charger device, may comprise a communication interface or circuitry, for providing the determined data and / or the indication to the external device for providing the indication on the user interface.

[0073] In an example, the aerosol-generating system may comprise an aerosol-generating article couplable or coupled to an aerosol-generating device of the aerosol-generating system to generate aerosol based on aerosolization, in particular heating, of at least a portion of the aerosolgenerating article.

[0074] Another aspect of this disclosure relates to a method for providing an indication of a charging speed of an energy storage of an aerosol-generating system for a charging setup connected to a charging interface of the aerosol-generating system for charging the energy storage at a certain charging speed depending on a charging parameter of a power supply specification of the charging setup, the method comprising:

[0075] - determining data indicative of the charging parameter of the power supply specification of the charging setup connected to the charging interface, and

[0076] - causing the determined data to be indicated via a user interface, thus providing the indication of the charging speed via the user interface.

[0077] The method may be at least partially or fully computer implemented. This means that at least one, multiple or all steps of the method may be carried out by a computer. The computer may be a processor of the external device or the external device as such, for example. Another aspect of this disclosure relates to a computer program product, which when executed by an aerosol-generating system, instructs the aerosol-generating system to carry out the method of this disclosure.

[0078] The computer program product may be a computer program or a computer-readable medium, storing the computer program, which when executed by the computer, causes the computer to carry out any one of the methods according to the present disclosure, as described hereinabove and hereinbelow.

[0079] It is emphasized that any feature, step, function, element, technical effect and / or advantage described herein with reference to one aspect of the disclosure equally applies to any other aspect of the disclosure.

[0080] The invention is defined in the claims. However, below there is provided a non-exhaustive list of non-limiting examples. Any one or more of the features of these examples may be combined with any one or more features of another example, embodiment, or aspect described herein.

[0081] Example 1 : An aerosol-generating system comprising: an energy storage, a charging interface configured for connecting to a charging setup for charging the energy storage at a certain charging speed depending on a charging parameter of a power supply specification of the charging setup, and a control circuitry configured to determine data indicative of the charging parameter of the power supply specification of the charging setup connected to the charging interface, wherein the control circuitry is configured to cause the determined data to be indicated via a user interface, thus providing an indication of the charging speed via the user interface.

[0082] Example 2: The aerosol-generating system according to example 1 , wherein the charging parameter is indicative of a charging speed of the energy storage for the connected charging setup.

[0083] Example 3: The aerosol-generating system according to example 2, wherein the charging speed is a fast-charging speed, or a maximum charging speed.

[0084] Example 4: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the charging parameter is independent from a state of charge of the energy storage.

[0085] Example 5: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the data is determined independent from a charging parameter at a current time, in particular a charging speed or charging current at a current time, of a charging process of the energy storage. Example 6: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the charging parameter is different from a charging parameter at a current time, in particular a charging speed or charging current at a current time, of a charging process of the energy storage.

[0086] Example 7: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the charging parameter is a charging current, in particular a fast-charging current, or a maximum charging current.

[0087] Example 8: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine the data in dependence of a charging capability of the energy storage.

[0088] Example 9: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the charging interface is configured for connecting to a charging connector of the charging setup for connecting to the source of electrical energy.

[0089] Example 10: The aerosol-generating system according to example 9, wherein the charging interface is configured for connecting to a charging cable as charging connector.

[0090] Example 11 : The aerosol-generating system according to example 9 or 10, wherein the charging interface is configured for wirelessly connecting to a wireless charging connector as charging connector.

[0091] Example 12: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the examples 9 to 11, wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine the data comprising first data indicative of a first charging parameter of a power supply specification of the charging connector and second data indicative of a second charging parameter of a power supply specification of the source of electrical energy.

[0092] Example 13: The aerosol-generating system according to example 12, wherein the control circuitry is configured to cause the first data and the second data to be indicated via a user interface, thus providing the indication of the charging speed via the user interface separately for the charging connector and / or the source of electrical energy.

[0093] Example 14: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the control circuitry is configured to cause the determined data to be indicated via the user interface, thus providing an indication of the charging parameter via the user interface.

[0094] Example 15: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the aerosol-generating system, in particular the control circuitry and / or an external device, is configured to determine the indication of the charging speed for the user interface. Example 16: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the control circuitry is configured to provide the determined data for the indication on the user interface.

[0095] Example 17: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the user interface is of the aerosol-generating system, and wherein the user interface is configured to provide the indication of the charging speed thereon.

[0096] Example 18: The aerosol-generating system according to any of the previous examples, wherein the indication correlates to a magnitude of the charging parameter.

[0097] Example 19: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the user interface comprises one or more light-emitting units, in particular light-emitting diodes.

[0098] Example 20: The aerosol-generating system according to example 19, wherein the indication is configured as a flashing of at least one of the one or more light-emitting units.

[0099] Example 21 : The aerosol-generating system according to example 20, wherein a frequency of the flashing is set to correlate to a magnitude of the charging parameter.

[0100] Example 22: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of examples 19 to 21, wherein the user interface comprises a plurality of light-emitting units, the plurality of lightemitting units being configured to indicate a state of charge of the energy storage, and wherein a number of lighted light-emitting units of the plurality of light-emitting units is set to correlate to a magnitude of the state of charge of the energy storage.

[0101] Example 23: The aerosol-generating system according to example 20 or 21 and according to example 22, wherein the indication is configured as a flashing of a light-emitting unit that is being lighted for indication of the state of charge of the energy storage.

[0102] Example 24: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the user interface is configured as a display.

[0103] Example 25: The aerosol-generating system according to example 24, wherein the indication is configured as at least one of a text, symbol, color and moving object for the display.

[0104] Example 26: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the user interface is configured as a haptic user interface.

[0105] Example 27: The aerosol-generating system according to example 26, wherein the indication of the charging speed is configured as a vibrating of the haptic user interface, wherein an intensity of vibration is set to correlate to a magnitude of the charging parameter.

[0106] Example 28: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine second data indicative of a charging parameter at a current time, in particular of a current charging speed at a current time. Example 29: The aerosol-generating system according to example 28, wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine a relative charging parameter indicative of a relative charging speed, the relative charging parameter being based on the charging parameter at the current time indicated by the second data and the charging parameter indicated by the data, and wherein the indication is an indication of the determined relative charging parameter.

[0107] Example 30: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the indication is an indication of the charging speed relative to a power delivery specification of the aerosol-generating system.

[0108] Example 31 : The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the indication is configured as a notification for notifying the user whether a fast-charging speed or maximum charging speed of the energy storage may be made use of with the connected charging setup or not.

[0109] Example 32: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the control circuitry is configured to trigger a charging process of the energy storage with the connected charging setup to determine the data.

[0110] Example 33: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the control circuitry is configured to measure an electrical parameter of a charging process of the energy storage with the thereto connected charging setup to determine the data.

[0111] Example 34: The aerosol-generating system according to example 33, wherein the control circuitry is configured to measure the electrical parameter at the location of at least one pin of the charging interface and / or a charging connector of the charging setup.

[0112] Example 35: The aerosol-generating system according to example 34, wherein the control circuitry is configured to compare the at least one measured electrical parameter with at least one electrical parameter value or parameter range and, based on the comparison, determine the data.

[0113] Example 36: The aerosol-generating system according to example 35, wherein the control circuitry is configured to identify one of at least two charging interface-compatible input source types of the charging connector based on the comparison.

[0114] Example 37: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the energy storage is configured for supplying electrical energy to a further energy storage and / or to an aerosolization element to generate aerosol from at least a portion of an aerosol-generating article.

[0115] Example 38: The aerosol-generating system according to example 37, wherein the energy storage is arranged in an aerosol-generating device of the aerosol-generating system or in a charger device of the aerosol-generating system, the charger device being configured for charging an aerosol-generating device of the aerosol-generating system.

[0116] Example 39: The aerosol-generating system according to example 38, wherein the further energy storage is arranged in the charger device or the aerosol-generating device.

[0117] Example 40: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the examples 37 to 39, wherein the aerosolization element is arranged in an aerosol-generating device of the aerosol-generating system.

[0118] Example 41 : The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the aerosol-generating system comprises a charger device for an aerosolgenerating device, the charger device comprising the energy storage, the charging interface and / or the control circuitry.

[0119] Example 42: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the examples 1 to 40, wherein the aerosol-generating system comprises an aerosol-generating device, the aerosol-generating device comprising the energy storage, the charging interface and / or the control circuitry.

[0120] Example 43: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the charging interface is of a LISB-C type.

[0121] Example 44: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the control circuitry comprises a charging control unit and a main control unit, wherein the charging control unit is connected to the charging interface and the energy storage, and wherein the main control unit is connected to the charging control unit.

[0122] Example 45: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the user interface is arranged on an aerosol-generating device of the aerosol-generating system, a charger device of the aerosol-generating system or an external device.

[0123] Example 46: The aerosol-generating system according to example 45, wherein the user interface is arranged on the external device, and wherein the aerosol-generating system is configured for communication with the external device for providing the indication on the user interface.

[0124] Example 47: The aerosol-generating system according to example 46, wherein the charging interface is configured for communication with the external device, or wherein the aerosol-generating system comprises a communication interface configured for wireless communication with the external device.

[0125] Example 48: The aerosol-generating system according to any one of the previous examples, wherein the aerosol-generating system comprises an aerosol-generating article couplable or coupled to an aerosol-generating device of the aerosol-generating system to generate aerosol based on aerosolization of at least a portion of the aerosol-generating article.

[0126] Example 49: A method for providing an indication of a charging speed of an energy storage of an aerosol-generating system for a charging setup connected to a charging interface of the aerosol-generating system for charging the energy storage at a certain charging speed depending on a charging parameter of a power supply specification of the charging setup, the method comprising:

[0127] - determining data indicative of the charging parameter of the power supply specification of the charging setup connected to the charging interface, and

[0128] - causing the determined data to be indicated via a user interface, thus providing the indication of the charging speed via the user interface.

[0129] Example 50: A computer program product, which when executed by an aerosolgenerating system, instructs the aerosol-generating system to carry out the method according to example 49.

[0130] Examples will now be further described with reference to the Figures in which:

[0131] Figure 1 shows an aerosol-generating system;

[0132] Figure 2 shows the aerosol-generating device and charger device of the aerosol-generating system of Fig. 1 in more detail;

[0133] Figure 3 shows a diagram of the charging current currently applied and the SOC over time in a charging process for charging any one of the energy storages of the aerosol-generating device and the charger device of Fig. 2;

[0134] Figure 4 shows a flow chart of a method for providing an indication of a charging speed of an energy storage of an aerosol-generating system for a charging setup connected to a charging interface of the aerosol-generating system of Fig. 1 ;

[0135] Figure 5 shows a flow chart of sub-steps of one of the steps of the method of Fig. 5; and

[0136] Figure 6 shows one example of a user interface of the aerosol-generating device or the charger device of Fig. 2.

[0137] The Figures are schematic only and not true to scale. In principle, identical or like parts, elements and / or steps are provided with identical or like reference numerals in the Figures.

[0138] Figure 1 shows an exemplary aerosol-generating device 100. The aerosol-generating device 100 of Figure 1 is exemplary shown as part of an aerosol-generating system 1000, which includes optional components, such as an aerosol-generating article 200, and one or more devices, such as a charger device 300 and / or an external device, e.g., in the form of a mobile device 400 and / or a computing device 500, for example. It is noted that the aerosol-generating device 100 may be operable as a standalone device 100 without any of the optional components 200, 300, 400, 500 of the system 1000. The aerosol-generating device 100 includes one or more energy storages 102 for storing electrical energy and / or for providing electrical energy to generate aerosol. The aerosolgenerating device 100 may further comprise a charging interface 103 that may be configured for connecting the aerosol-generating device 100 to the charger device 300 for charging the energy storage 102 and / or for connecting the aerosol-generating device 100 to a charging setup 600 (see Fig. 2) for charging the energy storage 102 at a certain charging speed depending on a charging parameter of a power supply specification of the charging setup 600.

[0139] The exemplary aerosol-generating device 100 shown in Figure 1 includes at least a part of an aerosolization circuit 104 with at least one aerosolization element 106. The aerosolization circuit 104 may be a heating circuit with at least one heating element as aerosolization element 106 for heating at least a part of an aerosol-generating article 200 couplable or coupled to the aerosol-generating device 100. It should be noted that the aerosolization circuit 104 and aerosolization element 106 are optional only. Alternatively, or additionally, at least a part of or the entire aerosolization circuit 104 and / or aerosolization element 106 may be integrated or arranged in the aerosol-generating article 200. Alternatively, or additionally, at least a part of the aerosolization circuit 104 may be integrated into a control circuitry 110 of the aerosol-generating device 100.

[0140] It should be noted that the aerosolization element 106 is merely for illustrative purposes shown in Figure 1 as inductive coil configured to inductively heat at least a part of the aerosolgenerating article 200, for example a susceptor material (e.g. one or more susceptors) arranged in an aerosol-generating substrate 202 of the aerosol-generating article 200. Alternatively, or additionally, the at least one aerosolization element 106 may be configured for one or more of resistive heating and microwave heating.

[0141] Further, it should be noted that the aerosol-generating article 200 is only exemplary shown in Figure 1 as having a stick-like or tubular shape and as being at least partially insertable through an opening 105 of a housing 107 of the aerosol-generating device 100, for example into a heating chamber 109 of the aerosol-generating device 100. In other exemplary designs, the aerosolgenerating article 200 may be shaped as container or cartridge that may be fixedly integrated in the aerosol-generating device 100 or that may be couplable to the aerosol-generating device 100.

[0142] The aerosol-generating device 100 further comprises control circuitry 110 or device control circuitry 110 operatively coupled to the energy storage 102. The control circuitry 110 may optionally include one or more processors 112, e.g., in the form of one or more controllers and / or microcontrollers, for data processing. The control circuitry 110 may comprise a microcontroller comprising a processor, memory and input / output means. Further optionally, the aerosol-generating device 100 and / or the control circuitry 110 includes a data storage 114 for storing data, such as for example the data determined by the control circuitry 110 as described herein.

[0143] Alternatively, or additionally, software instructions may be stored in the data storage 114, which when executed by the control circuitry 110 instruct the aerosol-generating device 100 to carry out any one of the methods described herein.

[0144] The aerosol-generating device 100 optionally includes a user interface 120. The user interface 120 may be alternatively or additionally provided on any one of the other components 300, 400, 500 of the aerosol-generating system 1000, such as the charger device 300 or any one of the external devices, i.e., the mobile device 400 and / or computing device 500. The user interface 120 may be configured for providing an indication as herein described. The provision or form of the indication may be in different forms, e.g., visually, acoustically, tactile and / or any other way that may provide the indication to a user of the aerosol-generating system 1000. The provision or form of the indication may depend on the configuration of the user interface 120. The user interface 120 may have any configuration such as but not limited to, for example, a display, one or more light-emitting units and / or a haptic user interface. Optionally, the user interface 120 may also be configured for receiving one or more user inputs from a user, for example to operate the aerosol-generating device 100 to generate aerosol. The user interface 120 is exemplary shown as a button in Figure 1. However, as explained, any other type of user interface 120, such as an acoustic interface, a haptic interface, a touch interface, a display, a tactile interface, an arrangement of one or more light emitting units, such as LEDs, or other means can be optionally included in the aerosol-generating device 100 and / or any other one of the components 300, 400, 500 of the aerosol-generating system 1000 in the alternative or in addition.

[0145] Further optionally, the aerosol-generating device 100 includes a communication interface or circuitry 130 for communicatively coupling the aerosol-generating device 100 to one or more optional components of the aerosol-generating system 1000, in particular to one or more of the charger device 300, the mobile device 400, and the computing device 500.

[0146] One or more communication interface types or communication protocols may be implemented in the aerosol-generating device 100 and its communication interface or circuitry 130. In particular, the communication interface or circuitry 130 may be configured for one or both of wired and wireless communication with one or more of the computing device 500, the mobile device 400 and the charger device 300. For example, the communication interface 130 may be based on one or more of a BUS communication, a cable communication, a Bluetooth communication, a Wireless Local Area Network communication, an infrared communication, a nearfield communication, an internet communication or any other suitable type of communication or communication protocol. The aerosol-generating device 100 may optionally be coupled to, for example physically coupled and / or at least partly inserted into, the charger device 300 for charging the energy storage 102 and / or for storing the aerosol-generating device 100. Charging may, for example, be based on inductive charging or via electrical connections via the charging interface 103.

[0147] The aerosol-generating device 100 and / or the control circuitry 110 may be configured to supply electrical energy to the at least one aerosolization element 106 to heat at least a portion of the aerosol-generating article 200 to or above the predetermined heating temperature to generate aerosol, as described herein.

[0148] Figure 2 illustrates an example in which the aerosol-generating device 100 and the charger device 300 are physically coupled with one another as previously explained. Herein, the control circuitry 110 of the aerosol-generating device 100 and the control circuitry of the charger device 300 responsible for charging the aerosol-generating device 100 are exemplary shown in more detail.

[0149] In this example of the aerosol-generating device 100, the control circuitry 110 comprises a main control unit 116 and a charging control unit 118. The charging control unit 118 may be connected to the energy storage 102 and the main control unit 116. The main control unit 116 may be connected indirectly to the energy storage 102 via the charging control unit 118. The charging control unit 118 may be configured for controlling the charging of the energy storage 102. The main control unit 118 may be configured to perform other functionalities of the aerosolgenerating device 100 such as but not limited to for example control of aerosol generation, control of communication via the communication interface or circuitry 130, and causing determined data as described herein to be indicated via the user interface 120 of the aerosol-generating device 100.

[0150] For example, the main control unit 116 and the charging control unit 118 may be provided in addition to the processor 112 of the control circuitry 110 of Fig. 1 or one or both of these may be provided as part of the processor 112. For example, the main control unit 116 may be the processor 112 of Fig. 1 and the charging control unit 118 may be provided in addition. Alternatively, the two control units 116, 118 may be combined into one. In any case, they may be connected to each other.

[0151] Further, the aerosol-generating device 100, e.g., its control circuitry 110, may comprise a fuel gauge control unit 111. The fuel gauge control unit 111 may be configured to determine a charging parameter, e.g., a charging speed, a charging current and / or similar, at a current time during a charging process of the energy storage 102. For this purpose, a resistor as shown in Fig. 2 may be provided in the connection between the charging control unit 118 and the energy storage 102 and connected in parallel to the fuel gauge control unit 111 to measure the charging parameter. Additionally, or alternatively, the fuel gauge control unit 111 may be configured to determine an amount of energy stored in the energy storage 102 during a charging process thereof and / or the state of charge (SOC) of the energy storage 102.

[0152] Any one of the control units 111 , 116, 118 may be in the form of one or more controllers, microcontrollers and / or circuits, for data and / or signal processing. For example, the fuel gauge control unit 111 and / or the charging control unit 118 may be configured as one or separate integrated circuits. For example, one or both of these may be configured as a chip or a microchip and / or comprise a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece or chip of semiconductor material, e.g., silicon. Thereby, one or both of these may be kept separate from the main control unit 116.

[0153] As may be seen from Fig. 2, the fuel gauge control unit 111 , the main control unit 116 and / or the charging control unit 118 may be connected with one another. For example, such connection may be established via buses on each one of the control units 111 , 116, 118 supporting I2C (Inter- Integrated Circuit) as on-board communication protocol. The I2C bus may be described as a two- wire serial interface. It may be used as a bi-directional multi-drop bus, with an arrangement that allows for a controller device, e.g., the main control unit 116, to assert control and indicate that it is controlling the I2C bus (clock signal and data), whereby all other devices, e.g., the fuel gauge control unit 111 and the charging control unit 118, on the I2C bus then operate as a peripheral receive device until the data transaction is complete. Accordingly, the main control unit 116 may be configured for controlling the charging control unit 118 and / or the fuel gauge control unit 111.

[0154] Like the aerosol-generating device 100, the charger device 300 may comprise a control circuitry 110 having a fuel gauge control unit 311 , a main control unit 316, a charging control unit 318 and / or an energy storage 302. The control units 311 , 316, 318 and / or the energy storage 302 may be configured as described above with reference to the aerosol-generating device 100, e.g., including their connection to each other and configuration as described herein.

[0155] Additionally, the charger device 300 may comprise a charging interface 303, which may be any type for a wired or wireless connection to the charging setup 600. The charging interface 303 may be different from the charging interface 103 of the aerosol-generating device 100. In this example, the charging interface 303 provides for a wired connection to the charging setup 600, e.g., in the form of an LISB-C charging interface 303. In this exemplary case, a charging cable 604 is shown. The charging cable 604 may have connectors of a LISB-C type. The charging interface 303 may accordingly be configured to receive such a connector, e.g., by having a receptacle of an LISB-C type. The charging setup 600 may further comprise a source of electrical energy 602, e.g., a power adapter plugged into a power socket, a mobile or stationary device, such as a notebook or computer, or any other electronic device. The source of electrical energy 602 may provide the electrical energy for charging any one of the energy storages 102, 302. For example, the energy storage 102 of the aerosol-generating device 100 may be charged by the charging setup 600 when it is connected to the charger device 300 as shown in Fig. 2. Such connection may be established via the charging interface 103, which is not explicitly shown in Fig. 2 but indicated through the connection between the charging control units 118, 318. Further, there is the connection between the main control units 116, 316 which may serve further purposes than charging, e.g., controlling a data communication between the two devices 100, 300. The connection of the main control units 116, 316 may be provided separate from the charging interface 103, e.g., via another interface, or together with the charging interface 103. Additionally, or alternatively, the energy storage 302 of the charger device 300 may be charged, for example when the energy storage 102 is fully charged or charged to a predefined SOC level. For example, the energy storage 102 of the aerosol-generating device 100 may be charged by means of the energy storage 302 of the charger device 300 when the charger device 300 and / or the aerosol-generating device 100 are not connected to the charging setup 600 but the charger device 300 is connected to the aerosol-generating device 100 via the charging interface 103.

[0156] As further shown in Fig. 2, the charger device 300 may optionally comprise a power switch 319. Such power switch 319 may be arranged between the charging control unit 318 and after an optional boost unit 317 and / or before a further charging interface (not shown) for connection to the charging interface 103 of the aerosol-generating device 100. Accordingly, by means of switching on and off the charger device 100 by the user via the power switch 319, the user may activate or deactivate charging of the energy storage 102 by means of the charger device 100. The boost unit 318 may be a DC / DC unit and configured for providing a constant voltage to the aerosol-generating device 100.

[0157] Figure 3 illustrates a diagram of a charging current at the current time and an SOC at the current time and over time in a charging process for charging any one of the energy storages 102, 302. The charging current shown is merely one exemplary charging parameter and can alternatively be another charging parameter such as a charging speed, for example. The charging parameter may be determined by any one of the fuel gauge control units 111 , 311. For example, when the energy storage 302 is charged by the electrical energy supplied from the charging setup 600, the fuel gauge control unit 311 may determine the charging parameter at the current time or currently applied over time. In another example, when the energy storage 102 is charged by the electrical energy supplied from the charging setup 600, any of the fuel gauge control units 111 , 311 may determine the charging parameter at the current time or currently applied over time.

[0158] Besides the currently applied charge current, Fig. 3 illustrates the SOC at the current time of the respective energy storage 102, 302 being charged over time. As may be seen from both curves, the charging current currently applied, herein referred to as 1.1 , and the current SOC, the charging current 1.1 can be kept at a high level, e.g., corresponding to a maximum charging current (indicated as max in Fig. 3) or fast-charging current, up to a certain level of SOC, which may be, for example, 80%. Once the respective energy storage 102, 302 is charged up to that level of SOC, the charging current currently applied 1.1 drops. The charging current or any other charging parameter currently applied 1.1 may be indicated as an indication via the user interface 120 or any other user interface of the aerosol-generating system 1000. However, such indication of a charging parameter due to its dependence on the SOC of the respective energy storage 102, 302 and other factors, e.g., ambient temperature, may not enable the user to conveniently and reliably identify whether his charging setup 600 is optimal or not in terms of the charging speed, e.g., whether the charging setup 600 allows him to charge at maximum charging speed or a fastcharging speed according to the capability of the charger device 300 and / or the aerosolgenerating device 100 or not. For example, when the charging current currently applied 1.1 at the time after reaching the 80% level of SOC is indicated, the user may assume that the charging setup 600 is slow and potentially falsely judge that the charging setup 600 is too slow whereas the charging setup 600 may in fact be optimal, e.g., provide a charging current at ideal conditions, e.g., below 80% SOC, matching the charging current at which any one of the energy storages 302, 102 may be maximally charged or fast-charged.

[0159] The method as exemplary shown in Fig. 4 may prevent or at least alleviate the abovedescribed problem. By means of the method of Fig. 4 and as exemplary shown in Fig. 3, a charging current 1.2 may be indicated, which is dependent on a power supply specification of the charging setup 600 rather than a measurement of the currently applied charging current 1.1. Hence, as seen in Fig. 4, the charging current 1.2 is independent from the charging current currently applied 1.1 and the SOC of the respective energy storage 102, 302. Thereby, the charging current 1.2 based on the power supply specification at any given time allows to indicate whether the charging setup 600 is optimal or not, specifically in relation to the charging speed, in particular fast-charging speed or maximum charging speed, with which any one of the respective energy storages 102, 302 may be charged. In particular the control circuitry 110 of the aerosolgenerating device 100 or the control circuitry of the charger device 300 may be configured to determine the charging parameter, e.g., the charging current 1.2, of the power supply specification of the charger setup 600.

[0160] The method of Fig. 4 is configured for providing an indication of a charging speed of any one of the energy storages 102, 302 of the aerosol-generating system 1000 for the charging setup 600 connected to the charging interface 303 (or a corresponding charging interface of the aerosolgenerating device 100) for charging the respective energy storage 102, 302 at a certain charging speed depending on a charging parameter of the power supply specification of the charging setup 600. For example, it may thereby indicate via an indication on the user interface 120 the charging current 1.2 or a charging speed derived therefrom, which relates to the power supply specification of the charging setup 600.

[0161] In a first step S1 , the method comprises determining data indicative of the charging parameter of the power supply specification of the charging setup 600 connected to the charging interface 303 (or a corresponding charging interface of the aerosol-generating device 100). For the sake of brevity, the following description in part explains the method with respect to the charger device 300. However, the method may alternatively be executable by the aerosolgenerating device 100.

[0162] In a second step S2, the method comprises causing the determined data to be indicated via the user interface 120 and / or any other user interface of the aerosol-generating system 1000, thus providing the indication of the charging speed via the respective user interface(s).

[0163] The first step S1 may comprise several sub-steps S1.1 , S1.2, S1.3 as exemplary illustrated in Fig. 5. The details of the sub-steps S1.1 , S1.2, S1.3 may depend on the exact configuration of the charging or connection technology and / or the connector types used. Specifically, it may relate on established standards or protocols of the respective charging or connection technology. Thus, the detailed description of the sub-steps is merely exemplary and non-limiting.

[0164] Generally, a first sub-step S1.1 of step S1 may be a trigger action. The trigger action may be a charging of any one of the energy storages 102, 302. For this purpose, the charger device 300 and / or the aerosol-generating device 100 may detect that, in the example of a wired charging setup 600, the charging cable 604 is plugged into the charging interface 303 based on at least one voltage level determined by any one of the control circuitries of the devices 100, 300, e.g., the main control units 116, 316. For example, a power delivery controller IC, e.g., of the charging control unit 318 and / or the main control unit 316, may be used to determine an attach event of a charging cable 602 in the form of an USB charging cable and then enable a VBUS path from the connector of that charging cable 604, e.g., USB-C type connector, to the charging control unit 318. For the example of USB-C, a VBUS_VS_DISCH of input pin may be used to sense VBUS presence and monitor VBUS voltage from the charging interface 303. When VBUS is detected and is within a valid voltage range (e.g., between 3.3V and VBUS+5% to VBUS +20%, which may be user configurable via the IC’s register settings), an ATTACH pin of the power delivery controller IC may be asserted high to indicate that a valid source-to-sink connection is established. Following this, a VBUS_EN_SINK pin of the power delivery controller IC may be asserted low to enable the VBUS power path through an external protection IC switch to flow to the charging control unit 318. The main control unit 318 may look for a specific voltage level on D+ and D- data lines between the charging interface 303 and the charging control unit 318. When the charger device 300 is connected to a USB 3.0 port that is capable of providing power, a voltage level on the data lines may be detected. Generally, the sub-step S1.2 of step S1 may be performed at the beginning of the charging process. In this case, the charger device 300 and / or the aerosol-generating device 100 may be negotiating and / or testing the charging setup 600 to determine the data indicative of the one or more charging parameters, in particular maximum charging parameter(s), of the power supply specification of the charging setup 600.

[0165] For USB, the control circuitry of the device 100 or device 300, may follow any current USB Battery Charging Specification, e.g., USB Battery Charging Specification 1.2, to detect the input source (e.g., either standard downstream port (SDP), charging downstream port (CDP) or dedicated charging port (DCP)) through, e.g., USB D+ / D- lines connecting the charging interface 303 to the charging control unit 318. For example, the charging control unit 318 may enable a 7pA to 13pA current source (referenced to +3.3V) on D+ and monitor the D+ voltage. If D+ is open, the voltage will be logic high. If closed, D+ will read logic low regardless of the port type. If no data pin contact is sensed after, e.g., a 0.9-second timeout period, the charging control unit 318 assumes that an SDP is present. After disabling the current source, the charging control unit 318 may then enable a 0.5V to 0.7V voltage source on D+ and a 25pA to 175pA current sink on D-. If a DCP or CDP is present, the 0.5V to 0.7V level will appear on D-. If an SDP is present, the voltage on D- will drop to zero. It then may switch in a comparator that compares D- to 0.25V to 0.4V. If the D- voltage is above 0.4V but less than the logic-low threshold of 0.8V, then the charging control unit 318 may conclude that a charging port is present. After turning off the voltage source and current sink from the previous step, the charger IC needs to discern a CDP from DCP. To accomplish this, it may perform the previous test in reverse. Thus a 0.5V to 0.7V voltage source is enabled on D-, and a 50pA current sink is enabled on D+. If a DCP is present, the 0.5V to 0.7V test voltage will appear on D+. If a CDP is present, the voltage on D+ will be zero. After input source type detection, a pulse may be asserted to the host microcontroller from the charging control unit 318 I NT pin and its VBUS_STAT registers may be updated ready for interrogation via the I2C bus to notify the main control unit 318 of its input source type. An I NT pin may be used for notification of the main control unit 318 any of the following status updates: USB / adapter source identified, good input source detected, VBUS above battery, VBUS below minimum threshold, VBUS above maximum threshold, Input removed, Charge Complete or any fault event. Once the main control unit 318 has retrieved the information from the charging control unit 318 registers, it can analyze this data and update the user interface 120 as required.

[0166] The process in step S1.2 may also be that the battery charging IC uses the D+ / D- USB connections to determine source capabilities for USB-C. However, step S1.2 may also be different for USB-C. For example, CC1 and CC2 may be the configuration channel pins on a USB-C connector of the charging cable 604 that may be used for connection, attachment detection, and plug orientation determination. The power delivery controller CC line interface may be used to set a 5.1 k pull-down termination mode on the CC pins to establish the source to-sink connection. A sink must assert pull-down resistors on both CC pins to signal to the source that this is a valid sink connection. Further, it may be used for identification of the source, e.g., the charging device 300. Further, it may be used to determine cable orientation to allow external routing of the USB data. Moreover, it may monitor the CC pin voltage values related to the attachment detection thresholds. The pullups on the source and the pulldowns on the sink device are connected on the CC pins. The values of resistors on the source determine the current-carrying capability. USB-C can currently natively support either 1.5A or 3A. A DFP can advertise its current-carrying capability with a specific value pullup resistor. A UFP has a fixed value pulldown resistor such that when connected, it forms a voltage divider with the value pullup resistor. By sensing the voltage at a centre tap of the voltage divider, a UFP can detect the DFP’s advertised current. The power delivery controller within a PCC may have two pins that indicate to the main control unit 318 the current capability of the USB power source. CC pins and the corresponding lines may be used to detect electrical sources and / or loads or sinks by detecting different voltages at the connected devices caused by different pull up and pull down resistor combinations. The described pull-up / pull-down CC model is part of the USB type C standard. Accordingly, the charging current, in particular maximum charging current, based on the power supply specification may be determined by the charging control unit 318 based on the below table, for example.

[0167] Generally, the sub-step S1.3 of step S1 may comprise receiving the information determined in sub-step S1.2 and analyzing it. For example, based on the determined maximum charging current it may be determined whether the maximum charging current may be classified as fast charging or a charging current that allows to charge any one of the energy storages 102, 302 as fast as possible per their capability. In this process, the main control unit 316 may interrogate the registers of the charging control unit 318 as registers that are the output of the sub-step 1.2. Such registers may relate to or comprise the power supply specification of the charging setup 600. A threshold may be included for the information in the registers when determined whether the maximum charging current may be classified as fast charging or a charging current that allows to charge any one of the energy storages 102, 302 as fast as possible per their capability, i.e., whether the charging setup 600 is optimal or not. The capability of the energy storages 102, 302 may be defined per power delivery specification, as may be known per the data storage 114 or any other data storage or the control circuitry. Hence, the control circuitry may be configured to compare a charging parameter, being indicative of the fast-charging speed or maximum charging speed, of a power delivery specification of the aerosol-generating system 1000 to the charging parameter of the power supply specification of the charging setup 600. Thereby the indication on the user interface 120 per step S.2 may be configured as a notification for notifying the user whether a fast-charging speed or maximum charging speed of the respective energy storage 102, 302 may be made use of with the connected charging setup 600 or not, i.e., whether it is optimal or not.

[0168] Figure 6 illustrates an exemplary user interface 120 in the form of a series of exemplary four light emitting units 121.1 , 121.2, 121.3, 121.4, e.g., LEDs, for providing the indication of the charging speed thereon based on the data determined by the control circuitry and as caused in step S2 of the method. The indication is herein exemplary configured as a flashing of one of the light-emitting units 121.1 , 121.2, 121.3, 121.4. Specifically, in this example, the flashing lightemitting unit 121.3 is the third light-emitting unit 121.3 when counted from left to right. The frequency of flashing of the third light-emitting unit 121.3 may correspond to a magnitude of the charging parameter as indicated by the determined data. Hence, when the charging parameter is high, e.g., a maximum charging current, the frequency of flashing will be high, indicating to the user of the aerosol-generating system 1000 that the charging setup 600 is optimal and charges at maximum charging speed. The first two light-emitting units 121.1 , 12.2 from the left are permanently lighted in this example, thereby indicating that the first two quarters of the energy storage 302 are fully charged, i.e., the energy storage 302 is charged above 50 % SOC. The last light-emitting unit 121.4 from the left is unlighted, thus indicating that the SOC level of the energy storage 302 is below 75% SOC.

[0169] For the purpose of the present description and of the appended claims, except where otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing amounts, quantities, percentages, and so forth, are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term "about" or “substantially”. Also, all ranges include the maximum and minimum points disclosed and include any intermediate ranges therein, which may or may not be specifically enumerated herein. In this context, therefore, a number A is understood as A ± 20% of A. Within this context, a number A may be considered to include numerical values that are within general standard error for the measurement of the property that the number A modifies. The number A, in some instances as used in the appended claims, may deviate by the percentages enumerated above provided that the amount by which A deviates does not materially affect the basic and novel characteristic(s) of the claimed invention. Also, all ranges include the maximum and minimum points disclosed and include any intermediate ranges therein, which may or may not be specifically enumerated herein.

[0170] While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive; the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art and practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims.

[0171] In the claims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.

Claims

1. An aerosol generating system containing energy storage device, a charging interface configured to be connected to a charging unit for charging the energy storage device at a specific charging rate depending on a charging parameter according to the power supply specification of the charging unit, and a control circuit configured to determine data characterizing a charging parameter according to the power supply specification of a charging installation connected to the charging interface, wherein the control circuit is configured to provide display of the determined data via the user interface, thereby providing display of the charging speed via the user interface.

2. The aerosol generating system of claim 1, wherein the charging rate is a fast charging rate or a maximum charging rate.

3. An aerosol generating system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the charging parameter is independent of the state of charge of the energy storage device.

4. An aerosol generating system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the data is determined independently of the charging parameter at the current time of the energy storage device charging process.

5. An aerosol generating system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the charging parameter is a charging current.

6. An aerosol generating system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the charging interface is configured to be connected to a charging connector of a charging unit for connection to a source of electrical energy, and the control circuit is configured to determine data including first data reflecting a first charging parameter according to a power supply specification of the charging connector, and second data reflecting a second charging parameter according to a power supply specification of the source of electrical energy.

7. An aerosol generating system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said display correlates with the magnitude of the charging parameter.

8. An aerosol generating system according to any of the previous examples, wherein the user interface comprises one or more light-emitting elements, wherein the display is implemented in the form of flashing of at least one of said one or more light-emitting elements.

9. The aerosol generating system of claim 8, wherein the blinking frequency is set such that it correlates with the value of the charging parameter.

10. An aerosol generating system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the display is a display of a charging rate relative to a power supply specification of the aerosol generating system.

11. An aerosol generating system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the display is implemented as a notification for notifying the user whether or not the fast charging rate or the maximum charging rate of the energy storage device can be used with the charging device connected.

12. An aerosol generating system according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a charging device for the aerosol generating device, wherein the charging device comprises an energy storage device, a charging interface, and a control circuit.

13. An aerosol generating system according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising an aerosol generating article and configured to be connected or coupled to an aerosol generating device of the aerosol generating system for generating an aerosol based on aerosolization of at least a portion of the aerosol generating article.

14. A method for providing a display of the charging rate of an energy storage device of an aerosol generating system for a charging unit connected to a charging interface of the aerosol generating system for charging the energy storage device at a certain charging rate depending on a charging parameter according to a power supply specification of the charging unit, wherein the method includes determining the data characterizing the charging parameter according to the power supply specification of the charging installation connected to the charging interface, and providing for display of the determined data via a user interface, thereby providing for display of the charging speed via the user interface.

15. A computer software product that, when executed by an aerosol generating system, controls the aerosol generating system to implement the method of claim 14.