Aerosol-generating device

Abstract

The disclosure relates to an aerosol-generating device having a wireless communication interface and processing circuitry, the aerosol-generating device being configured to: obtain, by the wireless communication interface, data broadcasted by a wireless network without establishing a connection to the wireless network, the data comprising information in a broadcast format; and transforming, by the processing circuitry, the information in the broadcast format into a usage format for use by the aerosol-generating device.

Description

[0001] AEROSOL-GENERATING DEVICE

[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 device 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 server, a network device, an aerosol generating system comprising the aerosolgenerating device, the server and / or the network device, a method for operating an aerosolgenerating device and to corresponding one or more computer program products, which may be one or more computer programs or a computer-readable mediums storing computer programs.

[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] Generally, aerosol-generating devices may comprise a communication interface as wireless connection means. When this communication interface is wireless coupled with a network device, the network device may provide the aerosol-generating device with useful or necessary data relating, e.g., to a security-related update of the firmware of the aerosol-generating device. However, it has been found that not all users of aerosol-generating devices make use of the communication interface. Specifically, to wireless connect the aerosol-generating device with a network device, some sort of connection or coupling process may be required, in which it may be necessary to at least select the network device or the wireless network it set ups for connection. Further requirements in the connection or coupling process, such as entering a password or other information, may increase the number of tasks required to be performed by the user to connect the aerosol-generating device. As a result, it may occur that aerosol-generating devices do not receive the useful or necessary data. For example, security-related updates of the firmware of the aerosol-generating device may not be carried out, potentially leading to issues.

[0005] It may, therefore, be desirable to provide for an improved aerosol-generating device overcoming or at least mitigating one or more of the aforementioned drawbacks.

[0006] This is achieved by the subject-matter of the independent claims. Optional features are provided by the dependent claims and by the following description.

[0007] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to an aerosol-generating device, which may be 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 an aerosol-generating system comprising the aerosol-generating device and one or both of a sever and a network device, in particular in the form of a user computing device, in particular a user electronic device such as but not limited to a smartphone, a tablet computer, a mobile or notebook computer, a stationary computer or similar. The present disclosure further relates to a method for operating an aerosol-generating device and to corresponding one or more computer program products, which may be computer programs or computer-readable mediums 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.

[0008] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided aerosol-generating device having a wireless communication interface and processing circuitry, the aerosolgenerating device being configured to: obtain, by the wireless communication interface, data broadcasted by a wireless network without establishing a connection to the wireless network, the data comprising information in a broadcast format; and transforming, by the processing circuitry, the information in the broadcast format into a usage format for use by the aerosol-generating device.

[0009] Accordingly, the aerosol-generating device of this disclosure provides for the capability of obtaining data that may be used by the aerosol-generating device as exemplary specified herein further below, e.g., relating to a security-related update, without establishing a connection to a wireless network. Thus, even users who do not use the capabilities provided by the wireless communication interface of their aerosol-generating devices may be supplied with relevant information, in particular from a server, where that data may be generated and consequently provided, in particular by a network device, which sets up or uses the wireless network.

[0010] The data broadcasted by the wireless network is obtained by the aerosol-generating device without establishing a connection to the wireless network. In other words, no coupling or connection process is carried out between the aerosol-generating device and the wireless network. Instead, the aerosol-generating device is configured to obtain the broadcasted data without connective association of the aerosol-generating device with the wireless network. This enables the aerosol-generating device to receive the data without requiring the user to actively trigger or participate in a connection or coupling process between the aerosol-generating device and the wireless network.

[0011] However, because the information in the data is broadcasted by the wireless network and may thus be accessed by different devices, to which the information is potentially not meant to be provided, the information is provided in a broadcast format. Such broadcast format may be specifically used for the broadcasting of the data. For example, it may be desirable that only the aerosol-generating device or generally aerosol-generating devices may be provided with the capability to read and / or use the information in the data. For this purpose, the aerosol-generating device is configured such that it can transform the information in the broadcast format into a usage format, which the aerosol-generating device may consequently process for using the information. The transforming of the information in the broadcast format into the usage format is to be broadly interpreted and may envision one or more different types of how the information in the broadcast format is processed, which included but are not limited to reading the broadcast format, converting the broadcast format into the usage format, and decoding the broadcast format into the usage format. For example, the broadcast format may be a format, where only the aerosol-generating device receiving the data and / or generally aerosol-generating devices, e.g., of the same or different manufacturers, may be able to read the broadcast format, thereby transforming it into the usage format and enabling to use the thereby read information for a certain purpose of the aerosol-generating device, e.g., when the information contains information relating to an update of the firmware of the aerosol-generating device.

[0012] The wireless network may be of or from a network device, which may mean that the network device sets up the wireless network, to which one or more devices, such as but not limited to the aerosol-generating device may be able to connect. However, to receive the data via the wireless network, a connection or, in other words, association between the aerosol-generating device and the wireless network is not necessary. For example, the wireless network or network device may be any from a public, home, workplace or other network or router, for example. Also, the network device may be any user or user computing device such as but not limited to a smartphone, tablet computer, notebook or mobile computer, stationary computer, or similar, for example. Specifically, the network device may be any electronic device that may be configured to set up a wireless network, to which one or more electronic devices with a communication interface, such as the aerosol-generating device, may connect to. In particular, the network device may be wirelessly and / or via wire connected to the Internet. For example, the network router may have one or more cellular antennas for cellular connection, antennas for satellite connection and / or modules for receiving a cable for establishing a wired Internet-based connection, e.g., based on Digital Subscriber Line, cable internet and similar.

[0013] The data broadcasted by the wireless network via the network device may generally be from a server. Such server, e.g., of a manufacturer of aerosol-generating devices, may generate the data comprising the information. In particular, such server may be providing the information in the broadcast format such that it may only be accessed by or needs to be transformed by an accordingly configured aerosol-generating device. The server may provide the data, e.g., via the Internet, to the wireless network or network device for broadcasting the data. For example, in case a security-related update for aerosol-generating devices is required, the server may generate corresponding data comprising a notification and / or instruction relating to the security- related update and / or the security-related update data itself to be broadcasted by one or more wireless networks, e.g., of network devices located in stores selling aerosol-generating devices and / or equipment for aerosol-generating devices, thereby facilitating the update process even for aerosol-generating devices, which are typically not or never connected to wireless networks and hence cannot receive such data via the Internet.

[0014] Generally, one or more communication interface types or communication protocols may be implemented in the aerosol-generating device and its communication interface or, in other words, circuitry. In particular, the communication interface or circuitry may be configured for both of wired and wireless communication, in particular at least with one or more of a network device, e.g., network router and / or user computing device, and charger device as herein explained. For example, the communication interface may be based on one or more of a BUS communication, a cable communication, a wireless communication, a Bluetooth communication, a Wi-Fi or WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) communication, a cellular communication, an infrared communication, a nearfield communication or any other suitable type of communication or communication protocol.

[0015] Optionally, a charger device and / or aerosol-generating article may form part of the aerosolgenerating device. The charger device itself may, in one alternative, comprise the communication interface. In another alternative, the aerosol-generating device without the charger device may comprise the communication interface. The charger device may be couplable and decouplable from a remainder of the aerosol-generating device for generating the aerosol, which may accordingly comprise an aerosolization circuit, for charging an energy storage of the remainder of the aerosol-generating device. In particular, the aerosol-generating device or part of the aerosol-generating device for generating the aerosol may comprise an energy storage and the charger device may comprise an energy storage. 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 (LOO), 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.

[0016] Generally, the aerosol-generating device may, via its communication interface, interact, in particular communicate with and / or connect to or with, the wireless network without connecting thereto. The server may be from a manufacturer of the aerosol-generating device, for example. The server may be configured to manage different aerosol-generating devices, e.g., by generating data and / or providing data as described herein, e.g., for updating a firmware of aerosol-generating devices. The server may be at a distant location from the aerosol-generating device, in particular such that an Internet-based communication may be required or advantageous for the network device to communicate with the server and consequently obtain the data in the broadcast format. For example, in the case of the network device being a user device, it may be configured to, e.g., via its communication interface, such as based on Wi-Fi and / or any cellular standard, communicate with the server over the Internet.

[0017] The server may host a web service, in particular a dedicated web service, to which the network device may have access over the Internet, in particular independent of one another. Such server may also be referred to as a web server. The network device may comprise or execute a piece of software for communicating with the web service on the server. The network device may also have or execute a piece of software for communicating with the web service on the server. For example, the piece of software on the network device may be an installed app or application (i.e., software piece or package), or it may be a web app or web application, in particular a progressive web application. A progressive web application (PWA), or progressive web app, is a type of application software delivered through the web. It may, for example, be built using common web technologies including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and WebAssembly, or similar. The PWA is intended to work on any platform with a standards-compliant browser, including desktop and mobile devices. The web application or progressive web application may be hosted, e.g., by the server. The PWA may be accessed, e.g., displayed and / or at least partially executed, by or on the network device, e.g., by means of a web browser thereof. For example, the hosted code, e.g., HTML or any other web technology as mentioned herein, of the progressive web application, which may be a type of webpage or website, may be at least partially executed by the web browser to display the PWA via the web browser on the user device. In particular, via the web browser of the network device, such as a user computing device, an operator of the network device may access the web application or progressive web application and provide user input thereto and / or receive the data with the information in the broadcast form therefrom. Hence, there may be no need to install an additional software on the network device to communicate with the server but rather, already existing software, such as a web browser, may be used for this purpose, where the server may host the web application accessed by the web browser of the network device.

[0018] Exemplary aerosol-generating substrates to be used in aerosol-generating articles for the aerosol-generating device can comprise solid substrate material, such as tobacco material or tobacco 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 aerosol-generating 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.

[0019] For generating aerosol during use or consumption, the aerosol-generating device may comprise a user interface, which may be actuated by the user, thereby triggering supply of one or more aerosol-generating means or aerosol generators, such as one or more aerosolization 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.

[0020] 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.

[0021] Alternatively, or additionally, the aerosol-generating device 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.

[0022] Although the invention is described and illustrated with an aerosol-generating device, the invention can be applied equally to other electric or electronic devices or consumer systems having a wireless communication interface and processing circuitry as described herein. Specifically, the aerosol-generating device and aerosol-generating system described herein may be any electronic device, in particular consumer device, and any electronic system, in particular consumer system.

[0023] In an example, the wireless communication interface may be a Wi-Fi communication interface and / or a Bluetooth communication interface. In other words, the aerosol-generating device may be configured to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN) connection, a Bluetooth connection or both with the wireless network depending on its type, i.e., WLAN or Bluetooth. Both connection types provide the capability for data to be transmitted without association or, in other words, connection of the aerosol-generating device to the wireless network.

[0024] The Wi-Fi communication interface may in particular be configured according to IEEE 802.11 , which is a set of technology standards for wireless network devices. These standards are determined by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers), who govern how different wireless devices are designed and how they communicate with each other. IEEE 802.11 is part of the IEEE 802 set of local area network (LAN) technical standards and specifies the set of medium access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) protocols for implementing wireless local area network (WLAN) computer communication. The standard and amendments provide the basis for wireless network products using Wi-Fi. IEEE 802.11 standard (WiFi or Wi-Fi) lays down the architecture and specifications of wireless LANs (WLANs). Wi-Fi or WLAN uses high- frequency radio waves instead of cables for connecting the devices in LAN. Users connected by WLANs can move around within the area of network coverage. Several wireless topologies may be employed in the wireless network such as but not limited to BSS (Basic Service Set), ESS (Extended Service Set), I BSS (Independent Basic Service Set or ad hoc network). BSS is a group of wireless devices served by a single Access Point (AP), which may be provided by the network device. Every BSS has a string logical name that may be advertised by the AP, and this identifier may be called Service Set Identifier (SSID) (i.e. , network name of BBS). The ESS is created by combining multiple AP in a switched network. In ESS, all SSIDs may be defined on each AP for seamless and continuous connection. For I BSS operation, one device works as leader and another becomes a client, so that the leader device advertises the network, in the present case the network device, and the other want to join in this network, in the present case the aerosolgenerating device or generally aerosol-generating devices.

[0025] Typically, to establish a Wi-Fi connection, one needs to select the SSID and to enter the according WPA (Wi-Fi protected Access, i.e., the secret password) of the Wi-Fi network. Therefore, to establish a wireless connection, such as Wi-Fi connection, the user of an aerosolgenerating device must perform several operations such as selecting the SSID and providing WPA. Similarly, to establish a Bluetooth connection, e.g., based on BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), the user of the aerosol-generating device may need to perform several operations such as at least selecting the name of a Bluetooth wireless network or device. In either of these cases, these are steps that not every user will undertake, and thus a Wi-Fi connection and / or Bluetooth connection won’t be always established. This will remove the possibility of communication with the aerosol-generating device through an established connection with a wireless network. Still, by obtaining and transforming the data with the information in the broadcast format as described herein, the aerosol-generating device may nevertheless wirelessly receive and process or use the information.

[0026] Specifically, it may be provided, as discussed further below, that the user may establish the Wi-Fi connection and / or Bluetooth connection automatically by using the information in the usage format and without requiring any user input or action on the aerosol-generating device or any other device. Also, or alternatively, it may be possible that at least some information may be transmitted to the aerosol-generating device and / or at least some operation may be triggered on the aerosol-generating device without establishing a connection with the wireless network. Advantageously, even large pieces of information or data may be transferrable as further described below.

[0027] In an example, the data may be obtained in the form of one or more Wi-Fi data packets and / or Bluetooth data packets. Specifically, the wireless network may be broadcasting one or more data packets, which are Wi-Fi data packets in case of a Wi-Fi wireless network and / or Bluetooth data packets in case of a Bluetooth wireless network. The data packets may also be chunks of data, e.g., Bluetooth data chunks, into which the data has been separated. In particular, multiple data packets may be obtained by the aerosol-generating device, which together form the overall data that may be obtained. The aerosol-generating device may be configured to put together or merge the multiple data packets into the overall data with the information in the broadcast format. By obtaining several data packets, it may be possible to receive even very large information, such as for example entire firmware update data, without establishing a connection to the wireless network because the obtained information is not limited in size to a maximum or limited size of each one of the data packets such as, for example, 1650 bytes useful payload in BLE 5.x “Chained” Extended Advertising, 255 bytes useful payload in BLE 5.x Extended Advertising, 31 bytes useful payload in BLE 4.x Legacy Advertising or a 32 character limitation in an ASCII 0x20 space of the SSID as possible data packet of a Wi-Fi network.

[0028] In case of Bluetooth, specifically BLE, the data packets may be sent in a process of advertising of the wireless network or, in other words, its Bluetooth capable network device. In such advertising process or state, small packets of data may be broadcasted to announce the presence of the wireless network or, in other words, network device and / or their capabilities. These data packets may also be referred to as advertisement frames. For example, such data packets may be sent out periodically at fixed intervals, which may also be referred to as an advertising interval. Similarly, a Wi-Fi wireless network or, in other words, Wi-Fi capable network device may use an advertising process to announce its presence and / or capabilities. In this case, the small packets of data may be referred to as MAC frames, management frames, or beacon frames. Generally, the frames or, in other words, advertisement frames (advertisement in the sense that the networks or network devices “advertise” their presence and / or capability) may be including at least a name of the wireless network or, in other words, the network device setting up the wireless network. Optionally, these frames or generally the data packets and thereby the overall data or information in the broadcast format may be including a unique identifier of the wireless network or network device, such as service universal unique identifier, UUID, and other relevant information. The data packets may be modifiable on the server and / or the network device, making it an easy way to transmit certain information to be used by the aerosol-generating device without establishing a connection between the aerosol-generating device and the wireless network first or at all. In an example, the aerosol-generating device may be further configured to periodically scan, within a wireless range of its wireless communication interface, for broadcasted Wi-Fi data packets and / or Bluetooth data packets. Thereby, it may be ensured that the aerosol-generating device is capable of receiving any data packet or packets that are periodically sent to consequently use them.

[0029] In an example, the broadcast format may be an encoded format of the information. In other words, the obtained data may comprise encoded information. Further, the usage format may be a decoded format of the information. In other words, the information may be encoded by transforming it. Hence, it may be required that by transforming, the encoded format of the information is decoded into information, which can consequently be used by the aerosolgenerating device. Specifically, the encoded information may as such may be not directly usable by the aerosol-generating device or any other device. The encoded information may for example be in the form of cryptic text. However, when decoding the information, e.g., the cryptic text, that information may become, for example, an instruction to be performed by the aerosol-generating device or generally any information understandable information to the aerosol-generating device, enabling it to be used. Hence, when the data is broadcasted with the information in the encoded format, it may be prevented that the information may be directly read or understood by any other device but rather it may be read or understood only by a specific aerosol-generating device able to transform the encoded format or generally any aerosol-generating device, at least from the same type, on the same firmware, from the same manufacturer and / or similar.

[0030] In an example, the data may comprise a name of the wireless network. Specifically, the name of the wireless network may be the minimum information contained in one or more data packages that are broadcast. However, the name may be sufficient to provide usable information to the aerosol-generating device by including the information in the name. Hence, instead of using the conventional name of the wireless network, as would typically be the case, the name, specifically its characters in the data, may be configured such that it contains the information. Hence, the name may be in the broadcast format, in particular containing cryptic or encoded text, which needs to be transformed by the aerosol-generating device to understand the information contained in the name, i.e. , to transform it into the usage format, in which it may consequently be used.

[0031] In an example, the wireless network may be a Wi-Fi network, and the name of the wireless network may be a Service Set Identifier, SSID, of the Wi-Fi network. Specifically, the data may be obtained in the form of one or more SSID frames broadcasted by the wireless network. Hence, in the case of a Wi-Fi network, but similarly for a Bluetooth network, it is possible to use the name to include therein information to be used by the aerosol-generating device. The name, e.g., SSID may be broadcasted in clear but without the information being directly derivable from it due to the broadcast format, which is to be transformed into the usage format first. In an example, the aerosol-generating device may comprise a data storage, the data storage storing a key for transforming the information in the broadcast format into the usage format. The key may generally be understood as an instruction on how to transform, e.g., read or decode, the information in the broadcast format in a usage format for consequently using it. Specifically, the key may be a secret device key which may be known in secret to the aerosolgenerating device only or, alternatively, it may be a public device key which may be generally known or known to several aerosol-generating devices, e.g., of the same type and / or from the same manufacturer.

[0032] In an example, the key may be a unique key of the aerosol-generating device storing the key. Specifically, the unique key may be a secret device key which may be known in secret to the aerosol-generating device only. Thereby, it is possible to process information which is uniquely to be processed or used by a specific aerosol-generating device. This information may be generated by the server such that the broadcast format may only be transformed using the unique key of the aerosol-generating device or using some unique keys of several aerosol-generating devices, in case several aerosol-generating devices are to use the broadcasted information. For example, in case several aerosol-generating devices are running on an old firmware with a security issue, the server may generate the information to be broadcast in a broadcast format, which may be transformed into a usage format only by the aerosol-generating devices known by the server to run on this old firmware and based on their known unique keys. In such a case, for example, the information may be in the form of a recommendation to the user to update their aerosol-generating device. Hence, when other devices, such as aerosol-generating devices, receive the data, they may not be able to transform the information in the broadcast format to a usage format and consequently will not use the information, e.g., not display the recommendation to update the aerosol-generating device.

[0033] In an example, the unique key may be associated with a unique device identifier of the aerosol-generating device. Thereby, the server may identify which unique key an aerosolgenerating device is equipped with based on its unique device identifier. Accordingly, the server is always able to generate information specific for one or more aerosol-generating devices based on their unique device identifiers based on which the server is able to identify these and potential properties thereto, e.g., model type, firmware version, and / or similar.

[0034] In an example, the unique device identifier may be a serial number of the aerosol-generating device. Accordingly, the server may always uniquely identify the aerosol-generating device without conflict because each aerosol-generating device typically has its own serial number.

[0035] In an example, the unique device identifier of the aerosol-generating device may be provided as machine-readable code on the aerosol-generating device. Thereby, the unique device identifier may be easily read out by a user computing device, e.g., by using a camera thereof, and consequently shared with other devices or the server. In an alternative or additional example, the aerosol-generating device may be further configured to transmit or broadcast, via its wireless communication interface, the unique device identifier of the aerosol-generating device. Thereby, additionally or alternatively, the unique device identifier may be shared with other devices or the server.

[0036] In an example, the aerosol-generating device may comprise a data storage, the data storage storing authentication information for authenticating the information. In an additional or alternative example, the key or an additional key stored on the data storage may be public key, the public key matching a private key used, in particular by the server, to generate the information in the broadcast format. The authentication information may in particular comprise the public key and the public key may accordingly be used to authenticate the information as being trustworthy, in particular as originating from the server. This may be in particular advantageous when the information that is contained in the data is a generic message for several aerosol-generating device and not a device specific message tailored to or, in other words, require a unique key of the aerosol-generating device for transforming it into the usage format. Hence, while the confidentiality of device specific messages may be ensured by using a broadcast format requiring a unique key of an aerosol-generating device for transforming it into the usage format, generic messages may be susceptible to malicious actors replicating the generic messages and cyberattacking aerosol-generating devices. By authenticating the generic messages, however, the risk of successful cyber-attacks may be reduced. Specifically, digital signatures may be used, where the information in the data in the broadcast format may be signed when securely generated it on the server and using the, in particular single, securely stored private key on the server. The matching public key may be stored on each aerosol-generating device and used to authenticate or, in other words, validate the signature of the information in the data in the broadcast format before using the information, e.g., displaying it to a user or configuring the aerosol-generating device based on it.

[0037] In an example, the aerosol-generating device is further configured to transmit or broadcast, via its wireless communication interface, confirmation data indicative of the obtaining of the data broadcasted by the wireless network and / or the transforming of the information in the broadcast format into the usage format. The confirmation data and generally any data from the aerosolgenerating device that is wireless transmitted may be transmitted or broadcast in the same way as described herein with respect to the obtaining of the data comprising the information in the broadcast format, namely using one or more data packets, specifically in an advertising process or state of the aerosol-generating device. Specifically, the aerosol-generating device may set up its own wireless network without establishing a connection to any other device, such as the network device. Still, other devices, such as the network device, may be receiving the confirmation data by transmitting or broadcasting the confirmation data via the wireless network without establishing a connection to any device. Thereby, it is possible to conform the obtaining of the broadcasted data and / or usage of the therein contained information to the network device and / or the server. This allows the server to adapt its generation of respective data based on the confirmation data.

[0038] In an example, the aerosol-generating device is further configured to use the information in the usage format for establishing a connection to the wireless network. Specifically, the information in the usage format may contain access data for establishing the connection to the wireless network. The aerosol-generating device may be configured to consequently use this access data for establishing the connection to the wireless network. For example, the access data may be comprising at least a password, such as WPA in case of a Wi-Fi network, enabling to establish the connection. Additionally, or alternatively, the information in the usage format may contain control data for controlling the aerosol-generating device to establish the connection to the wireless network, in particular in an automatic manner, i.e. , without requiring any user action. Consequently, the connection may be established even without the user’s action and be used for purposes such as firmware updates, if needed or beneficial.

[0039] In an example, the aerosol-generating device may be further configured to use the information in the usage format for unlocking the aerosol-generating device. Unlocking the aerosol-generating device may encompass different cases including but not limited to initial unlocking the aerosol-generating device for use or unlocking functions or features of the aerosolgenerating device. In particular, the unlocking may be a one-time unlocking associated with youth access prevention of the aerosol-generating device. Specifically, aerosol-generating devices may generally be equipped with one or more youth access prevention measures requiring authenticating that the owner or user of the aerosol-generating devices is of legally required age to use the device, e.g., in case of nicotine containing aerosol being generated. Advantageously, the unlocking may irrespective of the particular case be conveniently done using the broadcasted data. In particular, the information in the usage format may be containing an unlocking identifier for unlocking the aerosol-generating device, the unlocking identifier being matched with an unlocking identifier stored on a data storage of the aerosol-generating device for unlocking the aerosol-generating device. For example, the unlocking identifier in the information that is broadcasted by the server may be broadcasted after the user or owner of the aerosol-generating device authenticates their age or fulfils any other criterium for unlocking in any other case, which may be recorded or determined by the network device or any other device and submitted to the server.

[0040] In an example, the aerosol-generating device may be further configured to use the information in the usage format for changing one or more settings of the aerosol-generating device and / or updating a firmware or, in other words, software, in particular operating software, of the aerosol-generating device. Hence, for example, one or more settings in a current configuration of the aerosol-generating device may be updated. Alternatively, or additionally, an operating software of the aerosol-generating device may be updated, e.g., to provide further settings, capabilities, security updates and / or similar. The one or more settings may for example but not only relate to one or more of: selection of one or more heating profiles; customization or adaptation of a user interface of the aerosol-generating device (e.g., a display and which information to be displayed or in what style the information is to be displayed, or an LED and which colour the light emitted from the light should have, or similar); a battery management setting (e.g., a number of consecutive puffs allowed, an amount of energy usable to generate aerosol, a number of usage sessions the aerosol-generating device is operable to generate aerosol, or a number of aerosol-generating articles usable with the aerosol-generating device); a feedback device (e.g., a customization or adaptation of a haptic feedback to be provided based on a setting).

[0041] In an example, the aerosol-generating device may be further configured to use the information in the usage format for providing a notification for a user of the aerosol-generating device. Hence, instead of or in addition to triggering an action, such as a connection establishment, a configuration of a setting or a firmware update, the aerosol-generating device may be provided with the capability of notifying the user of the aerosol-generating device based on the information in the usage format. For example, the notification may relate to a change of one or more settings of the aerosol-generating device, a software update of the aerosolgenerating device, access data for connecting to a wireless network, or an availability of aerosolgenerating articles for the aerosol-generating device. The availability of aerosol-generating articles may generally be relating to an available quantity of aerosol-generating articles at one or more stores, e.g., offline and / or online stores, to available promotions of aerosol-generating articles for that particular aerosol-generating device, and similar. Moreover, the aerosolgenerating device may comprise a display, which may be configured to display the notification, in particular in the form of text, image and / or video.

[0042] In an example, the aerosol-generating device may be further configured to: store, by a data storage of the aerosol-generating device, the obtained data; and broadcast, by the wireless communication interface, the stored data without establishing a connection to another device.

[0043] The storing of the data may include temporarily or permanently storing the data. Thereby, the aerosol-generating device may itself broadcast the obtained and stored data to another device, specifically to other aerosol-generating devices. Hence, other aerosol-generating devices do not need to be within the range of the wireless network where the aerosol-generating devices obtained the data, e.g., in a store for aerosol-generating devices, and still may obtain the data by getting into the range of a wireless network of the aerosol-generating device elsewhere, e.g., outside the store. In an example, the aerosol-generating device may be further configured to determine, by the processing circuitry, whether the transforming of the information in the broadcast format into the usage format in the obtained data requires a unique key, wherein the obtained data is broadcasted in case no unique key is required. Accordingly, it may be prevented that obtained data is broadcasted, which requires a unique key associated with the particular aerosolgenerating device, because other aerosol-generating devices may not have that unique key, or the data is generally a specific device message for that particular aerosol-generating device.

[0044] In an example, the aerosol-generating device may be configured to obtain, by the wireless communication interface, several data of wireless networks without establishing a connection to the wireless network at different times, each one of the several data comprising different information in the broadcast format; and to transform, by the processing circuitry, the different information in the broadcast format into the usage format for use by the aerosolgenerating device. In particular, this different information may be relating to different uses by the aerosol-generating devices as described above, e.g., one information for updating a firmware and one information for amending one or more settings of the aerosol-generating device. Also, the several data may be in the form of several data packets as explained above.

[0045] Another aspect of this disclosure relates to a server having a processing circuitry, the server being configured to: generate, by the processing circuitry, data comprising information for use by an aerosolgenerating device, the information being in a broadcast format.

[0046] Specifically, the server may be a cloud server or on-premise server, e.g., in a store or at any other location. The store or location may be associated with a manufacturer of the aerosolgenerating device. Using the server, it is possible to generate the data containing the information to be used by the aerosol-generating device in the broadcast format such that it may consequently be broadcasted by the network device and obtained by the aerosol-generating device. The server may comprise one or more databases, in which the aerosol-generating devices with unique device identifiers, e.g., serial numbers, may be recorded. The unique device identifiers may be associated with or linked to one or more current settings of the aerosol-generating devices, firmware versions of the aerosol-generating devices, unlocking identifiers, or any other information about or relevant to the aerosol-generating device. Also, the server may be storing access data of the wireless network and / or control data for establishing, in particular in an automated manner, a wireless connection between the aerosol-generating device and the wireless network. Moreover, the server may be storing any one or more keys, in particular one or more secret and / or unique key, with which it may generate the information in the broadcast format, in particular encode it.

[0047] In an example, the server may be further being configured to obtain a unique device identifier of the aerosol-generating device, wherein the data is generated such that the information in the broadcast format may be transformed by the aerosol-generating device using a key stored on a data storage of the aerosol-generating device. In particular, the database may be associating the unique device identifier to the key being stored on the data storage of the aerosol-generating device. Consequently, the server knows how to generate the information in terms of the broadcast format such that only or specifically the aerosol-generating device with that unique device identifier may use the information, e.g., for unlocking that particular device for use after it has been ensured that the user or owner of that device is of legal age to use the device.

[0048] In an example, the unique device identifier may be obtained from a computer device based on a scan of a machine-readable code indicative of the unique device identifier and / or a manual entry of the unique device identifier on the computer device, or the unique device identifier is obtained based on the unique device identifier being transmitted or broadcasted by the aerosol-generating device. The computer device may be different from or the same as the network device, for example. The computer device may for example be located in a store for aerosol-generating devices or elsewhere, where an authorized person or the user of the aerosol-generating device may scan the machine-readable code, or the computer device may receive the unique device identifier being transmitted or broadcasted. This may occur in conjunction with a user age authentication by using an identification document of the user or similar, the result of which may also be transmitted to the server. The server obtaining both, a positive result that the user or owner of the aerosol-generating device is of legal age to use the aerosol-generating device and the unique device identifier may consequently generate the data with the unlocking identifier as described herein.

[0049] Another aspect of this disclosure relates to a network device having a wireless communication interface, the network device being configured to: obtain data comprising information for use by an aerosol-generating device, the information being in a broadcast format; set up, by the wireless communication interface, a wireless network; and broadcast, by the wireless communication interface, the obtained data via the wireless network.

[0050] In particular, the data may be obtained from a server, e.g., via the Internet, a local network, or any other communication path. Hence, the network device, in particular several network devices, act as means for the server to transmit the data from the server to locations, where the aerosol-generating devices may be located, e.g., in stores of the manufacturer of the aerosolgenerating devices. Thereby, it can be ensured that as many aerosol-generating devices as possible can obtain the data. Specifically, those users which do typically not make use of their wireless communication interface by connecting it to a wireless network, may be also the users, which more frequently visit particular locations such as stores of the manufacturer of the aerosol-generating devices for trouble-shooting or other reasons. Hence, when these users with their aerosol-generating devices are in such locations, the trouble-shooting may for example be automatically performed by updating a firmware or reconfiguring one or more settings of the aerosol-generating device, such that they may not even require assistance from an operator. Also, the aerosol-generating devices may themselves be network devices in the sense that they store obtained data and broadcast it to other aerosol-generating devices within the range of their wireless network as previously explained. Thus, any aerosol-generating device which previously visited a particular location such as a store may, because the users will be moving around with it, advantageously be providing the data to other aerosol-generating devices even outside of the locations of the particular network devices of a manufacturer of the aerosolgenerating devices.

[0051] In an example, the network device may be configured to transmit a device identifier and / or a location of the aerosol-generating device to a server, and the data is obtained from the sever based on the transmitted device identifier and / or location. The device identifier may be a unique device identifier, in particular as exemplary described herein, e.g. a serial number. The location may be a location received from the aerosol-generating device or a location of the network device, which may be indicative for the aerosol-generating device due to the wireless communication therewith, in particular within the range of the wireless network. Hence, the location may not be precise but approximately reflecting the position of the aerosol-generating device within the wireless network range of the network device. Thereby, the data may be generated by the server specifically for that device (based on its device identifier) and / or its location. Accordingly, the data may be specific, e.g., in its content, for the aerosol-generating device or its identifier and / or its location. Specifically, data such as messages may be generated only for some specific aerosol-generating devices as identified based on their identifier and / or location, e.g., such as any of the herein mentioned examples of unlocking identifier for unlocking the aerosol-generating device, notifications, settings, software updates, access data and availabilities of articles.

[0052] In an example, the network device may be configured to partition the obtained data into data chunks and broadcast the data chunks. In particular, the one or more data packets, specifically Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth data packets may be the data chunks. In other words, there may be several data packets for the data. Specifically, the data chunks may be smaller in size than the entire obtained data to be broadcasted. The data chunks may be several in number, e.g., any number of two or more, e.g., two to twenty or two to ten, or higher. The partitioning may alternatively be referred to as cutting or dividing the obtained data. Specifically, an application layer protocol may be used to cut the comparatively larger obtained data into the data chucks. In particular, the data chunks may be partitioned such that they fit into advertisement frames. Specifically, the data chunks may be partitioned or cut or divided from the obtained data to have a size to fit into advertisement frames, in particular of a predetermined or predefined size of the communication or transmission protocol or technique or interface being used, e.g., Bluetooth and / or Wi-Fi. For example, the obtained data may be cut into data chunks that fit into Bluetooth or BLE advertisement frames. Also, it may be provided that the network device is configured to continuously transmit or rotated which data chunk or, in other words, data packet is advertised on the network device. The receiving aerosol-generating device may obtain and collect the different data chunks over a time period from the advertisement frames and assemble it back to the obtained or original data before processing it. Accordingly, the aerosol-generating device may be configured for obtaining the data by collecting data chunks, in particular within obtained advertisement frames, and assemble them to obtain the data.

[0053] In an example, the network device may be configured to periodically broadcast the obtained data via the wireless network. Thereby, it may be ensured that the data may be reliably obtained by aerosol-generating devices.

[0054] In an example, the obtained data may comprise a network name for the wireless network that is set up by the wireless communication interface, and wherein the wireless network is set up using the network name. In other words, the obtained data from the server may be specifying a network name as information of the obtained data in the broadcast format. Accordingly, the purpose of that network name, e.g., an SSID in the case of a Wi-Fi network, is not or at least not primarily to have a connection from an aerosol-generating device established thereto. Instead, the purpose of that network name is to have the information from the server transmitted to the aerosol-generating device without requiring it to establish a wireless connection to the wireless network having that network name.

[0055] The network device may for example be a network router. Alternatively, the device may be a computing device, in particular a user computing device or user device, such as but not limited to a smartphone, tablet computer, notebook, and other computing devices.

[0056] Another aspect of this disclosure relates to an aerosol-generating system comprising the aerosol-generating device, wherein the system further comprises the server, and / or the network device, in particular multiple network devices. The server may generally be in the form of one or more computers, which may also be distributed in a cloud.

[0057] A further aspect of this disclosure relates to a method for operating an aerosolgenerating device having a wireless communication interface and processing circuitry, the method comprising: obtaining, by the wireless communication interface, data broadcasted by a wireless network without establishing a connection to the wireless network, the data comprising information in a broadcast format; and transforming, by the processing circuitry, the information in the broadcast format into a usage format for use by the aerosol-generating device.

[0058] In an example, the method may be further comprising: obtaining, by a server, a unique identifier of the aerosol-generating device and / or a location of the aerosol-generating device; and generating, by the server, the data of the wireless network, the data comprising the information in the broadcast format, wherein the data is generated such that the information in the broadcast format may be transformed by the aerosol-generating device using a key stored on a data storage of the aerosol-generating device.

[0059] In an example, the data may be generated based on the obtained device identifier and / or location.

[0060] In an example, the method may further comprise: obtaining, by a network device, the data generated by the server; and / or broadcasting, by a wireless communication interface of the network device, the obtained data.

[0061] In an example, the network device partitions the obtained data into data chunks and broadcasts the data chunks (as the obtained data).

[0062] In an example, the network device may be a network router and the obtained data may be comprising a name for the wireless network to be set up.

[0063] In an example, the method may be further comprising: using, by the aerosol-generating device, the information in the usage format for establishing a connection to the wireless network.

[0064] In an example, the method may be further comprising: using, by the aerosol-generating device, the information in the usage format for unlocking the aerosol-generating device.

[0065] In an example, the method may be further comprising: using, by the aerosol-generating device, the information in the usage format for changing one or more settings of the aerosol-generating device and / or updating a software of the aerosolgenerating device.

[0066] In an example, the method may be further comprising: using, by the aerosol-generating device, the information in the usage format for providing a notification for a user of the aerosol-generating device.

[0067] In an example, the notification may be displayed on a display of the aerosol-generating device.

[0068] In an example, the method may be further comprising: storing, by a data storage of the aerosol-generating device, the obtained data; and broadcasting, by the wireless communication interface of the aerosol-generating device, the stored data without establishing a connection to another device.

[0069] The method may be at least partially or fully computer implemented. This means that at least one, multiple or all steps of any one of the methods may be carried out by a computer. The computer may be a processor of the aerosol-generating device and / or any other entities of this disclosure, e.g., the network router, server and / or user device, for example.

[0070] Another aspect of this disclosure relates to one or more computer program products or computer programs, which when executed by an aerosol-generating device, instructs the aerosolgenerating device to carry out any of the methods of this disclosure. The computer program product(s) may be product(s), e.g., having stored thereon the computer program, e.g., a non- transitory computer-readable medium or, alternatively, the computer program(s) (as such), for example.

[0071] 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.

[0072] 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 or aspects may be combined with any one or more features of another example, embodiment, or aspect described herein.

[0073] 1 . An aerosol-generating device having a wireless communication interface and processing circuitry, the aerosol-generating device being configured to: obtain, by the wireless communication interface, data broadcasted by a wireless network without establishing a connection to the wireless network, the data comprising information in a broadcast format; and transforming, by the processing circuitry, the information in the broadcast format into a usage format for use by the aerosol-generating device.

[0074] 2. The aerosol-generating device of example 1 , wherein the wireless communication interface is a Wi-Fi communication interface and / or a Bluetooth communication interface.

[0075] 3. The aerosol-generating device of example 2, wherein the data is obtained in the form of one or more Wi-Fi data packets and / or Bluetooth data packets.

[0076] 4. The aerosol-generating device of example 3, wherein the aerosol-generating device is further configured to: periodically scan, within a wireless range of its wireless communication interface, for broadcasted Wi-Fi data packets and / or Bluetooth data packets. 5. The aerosol-generating device of any one of the previous examples, wherein the broadcast format is an encoded format of the information, and the usage format is a decoded format of the information.

[0077] 6. The aerosol-generating device of any one of the previous examples, wherein the data comprises a name of the wireless network.

[0078] 7. The aerosol-generating device of example 6, wherein the wireless network is a Wi-Fi network, and wherein the name of the wireless network is a Service Set Identifier, SSID, of the Wi-Fi network.

[0079] 8. The aerosol-generating device of any one of the previous examples, wherein the aerosol-generating device comprises a data storage, the data storage storing a key for transforming the information in the broadcast format into the usage format.

[0080] 9. The aerosol-generating device of example 8, wherein the key is a unique key of the aerosol-generating device storing the key.

[0081] 10. The aerosol-generating device of example 9, wherein the unique key is associated with a unique device identifier of the aerosol-generating device.

[0082] 11. The aerosol-generating device of example 10, wherein the unique device identifier is a serial number of the aerosol-generating device.

[0083] 12. The aerosol-generating device of example 10 or 11 , wherein the unique device identifier of the aerosol-generating device is provided as machine-readable code on the aerosol-generating device and / or the aerosol-generating device is further configured to: transmit or broadcast, via its wireless communication interface, the unique device identifier of the aerosol-generating device.

[0084] 13. The aerosol-generating device of any one of the previous examples, wherein the aerosol-generating device comprises a data storage, the data storage storing authentication information for authenticating the information.

[0085] 14. The aerosol-generating device of example 8, wherein the key is a public key, the public key matching a private key used to generate the information in the broadcast format.

[0086] 15. The aerosol-generating device of any one of the previous examples, wherein the aerosol-generating device is further configured to: transmit or broadcast, via its wireless communication interface, confirmation data indicative of the obtaining of the data broadcasted by the wireless network and / or the transforming of the information in the broadcast format into the usage format.

[0087] 16. The aerosol-generating device of any one of the previous examples, wherein the aerosol-generating device is further configured to: use the information in the usage format for establishing a connection to the wireless network. 17. The aerosol-generating device of example 16, wherein the information in the usage format contains access data for establishing the connection to the wireless network.

[0088] 18. The aerosol-generating device of any one of the previous examples, wherein the aerosol-generating device is further configured to: use the information in the usage format for unlocking the aerosol-generating device.

[0089] 19. The aerosol-generating device of example 18, wherein the unlocking is a onetime unlocking associated with youth access prevention of the aerosol-generating device.

[0090] 20. The aerosol-generating device of example 18 or 19, the information in the usage format containing an unlocking identifier for unlocking the aerosol-generating device, the unlocking identifier being matched with an unlocking identifier stored on a data storage of the aerosol-generating device for unlocking the aerosol-generating device.

[0091] 21. The aerosol-generating device of any one of the previous examples, wherein the aerosol-generating device is further configured to: use the information in the usage format for changing one or more settings of the aerosolgenerating device and / or updating a firmware of the aerosol-generating device.

[0092] 22. The aerosol-generating device of any one of the previous examples, wherein the aerosol-generating device is further configured to: use the information in the usage format for providing a notification for a user of the aerosol-generating device.

[0093] 23. The aerosol-generating device of example 24, wherein the notification relates to a change of one or more settings of the aerosol-generating device, a software update of the aerosol-generating device, access data for connecting to a wireless network, or an availability of aerosol-generating articles for the aerosol-generating device.

[0094] 24. The aerosol-generating device of example 24 or 25, wherein the aerosolgenerating device comprises a display configured to display the notification.

[0095] 25. The aerosol-generating device of any one of the previous examples, wherein the aerosol-generating device is further configured to: store, by a data storage of the aerosol-generating device, the obtained data; and broadcast, by the wireless communication interface, the stored data without establishing a connection to another device.

[0096] 26. The aerosol-generating device of example 25, wherein the aerosol-generating device is further configured to: determine, by the processing circuitry, whether the transforming of the information in the broadcast format into the usage format in the obtained data requires a unique key, wherein the obtained data is broadcasted in case no unique key is required.

[0097] 27. The aerosol-generating device of any one of the previous examples, wherein the aerosol-generating device is configured to obtain, by the wireless communication interface, several data of wireless networks without establishing a connection to the wireless network at different times, each one of the several data comprising different information in the broadcast format; and to transform, by the processing circuitry, the different information in the broadcast format into the usage format for use by the aerosol-generating device.

[0098] 28. A server having a processing circuitry, the server being configured to: generate, by the processing circuitry, data comprising information for use by an aerosolgenerating device, the information being in a broadcast format.

[0099] 29. The server of example 30, the server further being configured to: obtain a unique device identifier of the aerosol-generating device; wherein the data is generated such that the information in the broadcast format may be transformed by the aerosol-generating device using a key stored on a data storage of the aerosol-generating device.

[0100] 30. The server of example 31, wherein the unique device identifier is obtained from a computer device based on a scan of a machine-readable code indicative of the unique device identifier and / or a manual entry of the unique device identifier on the computer device, or the unique device identifier is obtained based on the unique device identifier being transmitted or broadcasted by the aerosol-generating device.

[0101] 31. A network device having a wireless communication interface, the network device being configured to: obtain data comprising information for use by an aerosol-generating device, the information being in a broadcast format; set up, by the wireless communication interface, a wireless network; and broadcast, by the wireless communication interface, the obtained data via the wireless network.

[0102] 31a. The network device of example 31 , wherein the network device is configured to transmit a device identifier and / or a location of the aerosol-generating device to a server, and wherein the data is obtained from the sever based on the transmitted device identifier and / or location.

[0103] 31b. The network device of example 31 or 31a, wherein the network device is configured to partition the obtained data into data chunks and broadcast the data chunks.

[0104] 32. The network device of example 31, 31a or 31b, wherein the network device is configured to periodically broadcast the obtained data via the wireless network.

[0105] 33. The network device of example 31 , 31a, 31 b or 32, wherein the obtained data comprises a network name for the wireless network that is set up by the wireless communication interface, and wherein the wireless network is set up using the network name.

[0106] 34. The network device of any one of examples 31 to 33, wherein the network device is a network router. 35. The network device of any one of examples 31 to 33, wherein the device is a computing device, in particular a user computing device.

[0107] 36. An aerosol-generating system comprising the aerosol-generating device of any one of examples 1 to 27, wherein the system further comprises the server of any one of examples 28 to 30, and / or the network device of any one of examples 31 to 35.

[0108] 37. A method for operating an aerosol-generating device having a wireless communication interface and processing circuitry, the method comprising: obtaining, by the wireless communication interface, data broadcasted by a wireless network without establishing a connection to the wireless network, the data comprising information in a broadcast format; and transforming, by the processing circuitry, the information in the broadcast format into a usage format for use by the aerosol-generating device.

[0109] 38. The method of example 37, the method further comprising: obtaining, by a server, a unique identifier and / or a location of the aerosol-generating device; and generating, by the server, the data of the wireless network, the data comprising the information in the broadcast format, wherein the data is generated such that the information in the broadcast format may be transformed by the aerosol-generating device using a key stored on a data storage of the aerosol-generating device.

[0110] 38a. The method of example 38, wherein the data is generated based on the obtained device identifier and / or location.

[0111] 39. The method of example 38 or 38a, the method further comprising: obtaining, by a network device, the data generated by the server; and broadcasting, by a wireless communication interface of the network device, the obtained data.

[0112] 39a. The method of example 39, wherein the network device partitions the obtained data into data chunks and broadcasts the data chunks as obtained data.

[0113] 40. The method of example 39 or 39a, wherein the network device is a network router and the obtained data comprises a name for the wireless network to be set up.

[0114] 41. The method of any one of the examples 37 to 40, the method further comprising: using, by the aerosol-generating device, the information in the usage format for establishing a connection to the wireless network.

[0115] 42. The method of any one of the examples 37 to 41 , the method further comprising: using, by the aerosol-generating device, the information in the usage format for unlocking the aerosol-generating device.

[0116] 43. The method of any one of the examples 37 to 42, the method further comprising: using, by the aerosol-generating device, the information in the usage format for changing one or more settings of the aerosol-generating device and / or updating a software of the aerosolgenerating device.

[0117] 44. The method of any one of the examples 37 to 43, the method further comprising: using, by the aerosol-generating device, the information in the usage format for providing a notification for a user of the aerosol-generating device.

[0118] 45. The method of example 44, wherein the notification is displayed on a display of the aerosol-generating device.

[0119] 46. The method of any one of the examples 37 to 45, the method further comprising: storing, by a data storage of the aerosol-generating device, the obtained data; and

[0120] 47. broadcasting, by the wireless communication interface of the aerosol-generating device, the stored data without establishing a connection to another device. One or more computer program products comprising instructions, which when executed by an aerosolgenerating device or an aerosol-generating system, instruct the aerosol-generating device or the aerosol-generating system to carry out the method according to any one of examples 37 to 46.

[0121] Examples will now be further described with reference to the Figures in which:

[0122] Figure 1 shows an aerosol-generating system;

[0123] Figure 2 shows a flow chart of a method involving an aerosol-generating device, a network device and a server of the aerosol-generating system of Fig. 1 ; and

[0124] Figure 3 shows another flow chart of a method involving the aerosol-generating system of Fig. 1.

[0125] 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.

[0126] Figure 1 shows an exemplary aerosol-generating device 100. The aerosol-generating device 100 of Figure 1 is exemplary shown as part of a system 1000 or 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 140 and / or a network device 300, which may be external of the aerosol-generating device 100, e.g., in the form of a mobile device and / or a computing device, such as but not limited to a smartphone, notebook or mobile computer, tablet computer, stationary computer and so on, for example. The network device 300 may also be a stationary computer or server. Generally, the network device 300 may be located at a place where many aerosol-generating devices 100 are typically located, such as but not only a store for aerosol-generating devices 100. The system 1000 may further comprise a server 500. It is noted that the aerosol-generating device 100 may be operable as a standalone device 100 without any of the optional components 200, 140, 300, 400 of the system 1000. Also, the charging device 140 and / or the aerosol-generating article 200 may optionally be part of the aerosol-generating device 100, which may be couplable thereto and decouplable therefrom.

[0127] 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 140 for charging the energy storage 102 or a charging cable, for example.

[0128] 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 is 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.

[0129] It is further 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.

[0130] Further, it is 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.

[0131] The aerosol-generating device 100 further optionally 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.

[0132] Further optionally, the aerosol-generating device 100 and / or the control circuitry 110 includes a data storage 114 for storing data, such as but not limited to the herein mentioned network data. 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.

[0133] 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 140, 300 of the aerosol-generating system 1000, such as the charger device 140 or the network device 300. 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 140, 300 of the aerosol-generating system 1000 in the alternative or in addition.

[0134] The user interface 120 may not be configured for obtaining the name of a wireless network and / or a password for connecting to a wireless network 301 set up by the network device 300 based on user input on the aerosol-generating device 100 (see Fig. 2). Hence, the aerosolgenerating device 100 may be a so-called headless device. However, the user interface 120 may be configured to establish a connection based on Wi-Fi Protected Setup or any other means after obtaining user input for establishing a connection. Still, the user may not make use of this possibility and not connect to a wireless network 301 and thus, the aerosol-generating device 100 may not be easily configured, updated or provided with relevant information to the user.

[0135] Further, 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 140, the network device 300 or, as shown in Fig. 2, to the wireless network 301 , which may be set up or provided by a network device 300. Also, the communication interface 130 may be part of the charger device 140, in case it is part of the aerosol-generating device 100.

[0136] 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 wireless communication with the network device 300 or, in other words, its wireless network 301. For example, the communication interface 130 may be based on any wireless communication including but not limited to a Bluetooth communication and a Wi-Fi communication.

[0137] The aerosol-generating device 100 may optionally be coupled to, for example physically coupled and / or at least partly inserted into, the charger device 140 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.

[0138] 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.

[0139] Figure 2 shows an exemplary flow chart of a method for operating the aerosol-generating device 100 of Fig. 1.

[0140] In one example, the network device 300 may be a network device 300 of a store of a manufacturer of aerosol-generating devices 100. Further, exemplary, the aerosol-generating device 100 may be newly obtained by a user. To use the aerosol-generating device 100, it may be necessary to unlock the aerosol-generating device 100 using a one-time unlocking identifier. This process may be employed for youth access prevention of the aerosol-generating device 100.

[0141] To enable the unlocking of the aerosol-generating device 100, the aerosol-generating device 100 may comprise a unique device identifier 101 , e.g., in the form of a serial number. The unique device identifier 101 may for example be in the form of a machine-readable code indicative of the unique device identifier 101 as illustrated in Fig. 2. Alternatively, or additionally, for example, the unique device identifier 101 may be stored on the aerosol-generating device 100, specifically on the data storage 114 thereof. In any case, the unique device identifier 101 may be required in order to unlock the aerosol-generating device 100 for which the user authenticates as being of legal age to use the aerosol-generating device 100, e.g., by showing their identification document in the store to an operator or responsible person in the store. In the example of the machine- readable code, the unique device identifier 101 may for example be scanned by the network device 300 or any other computing device to therefrom obtain the unique device identifier 101. It may also be possible that the operator responsible person manually enters the unique device identifier 101 into the network device 300 or any other computing device. Also, it is possible that the aerosol-generating device 100 broadcasts or transmits the unique device identifier 101 wirelessly, via its wireless communication interface 130, in particular without establishing a wireless connection with the network device 300 or the other computing device. Instead, the aerosol-generating device 100 may be broadcasting data packets in an advertisement state or mode of Wi-Fi or Bluetooth technology or legacy being used by the wireless communication interface 130. In any case, the thereby received or obtained unique device identifier 101 is consequently transmitted to the server 400, e.g., over the Internet or any network.

[0142] The server 400 may comprise a database, in which the unique device identifier 101 is associated with the required unlocking identifier for unlocking the aerosol-generating device 100. However, when the aerosol-generating device 100 is not connected to the Internet or any network accessible to the server 400 for transmitting the unlocking identifier to the aerosol-generating device 100, it may not be possible to unlock the aerosol-generating device 100. In this case, it would be required to establish a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth communication with the network device 300 inside the store first.

[0143] However, to omit this additional step, the server 400 may generate data comprising information in a broadcast format 401 , in particular an encoded format, and have this data broadcasted by the network device 300 via its wireless network 301 without requiring a connection between the network device 300 and the aerosol-generating device 100. The information may be comprising the unlocking identifier in this example.

[0144] Specifically, the data with the information in the broadcast format 401 may be in the form of one or more Wi-Fi data packets and / or Bluetooth data packets depending on the communication technology being used and periodically broadcasted by the network device 300 to have the aerosol-generating device 100 obtain the data with the information in the broadcast format 401 by periodically scanning for data packets within a wireless range of its wireless communication interface 130.

[0145] The broadcast format 401 may be configured to only formattable, in particular decodable, by the aerosol-generating device 100 to a usage format 402, in particular decoded format, such that it may read and use the unlocking identifier for unlocking of the aerosol-generating device 100. Specifically, the data storage 114 may have stored a key, in particular a unique key, for transforming the information in the broadcast format 401 into the usage format 402 as shown in Fig. 2 after obtaining the data comprising the information in the broadcast format 401 from the wireless network 301 without connecting thereto. The server 400 may also store that key of the aerosol-generating device 100, which may be associated with the unique device identifier 101 , such that it may format the data with the information into the broadcast format 401 to be formattable into the usage format 402 only by an aerosol-generating device 100 having that key.

[0146] Consequently, when the aerosol-generating device 100 has formatted the data and the information is available in the readable or understandable, in particular decoded, usage format 402, the aerosol-generating device 100 may, in this example, use the information comprising the unlocking identifier for unlocking the aerosol-generating device 100. For example, the unlocking identifier in the obtained information may need to be matched with an unlocking identifier stored on the data storage 114 of the aerosol-generating device 100 for unlocking the aerosol-generating device 100. Specifically, the unlocking identifier may only be known to the server 400 and the aerosol-generating device 100. Hence, when the aerosol-generating device 100 obtains an unlocking identifier as described via the network device 300 without connecting thereto and by formatting the data using its unique key, it is ensured or at least very likely that the unlocking of the aerosol-generating device 100 is carried out according to the requirements for the youth access prevention, e.g., by having the user show their identification document or otherwise verify their age and consequently have the server 400 generate the data and have the network device 400 broadcast that data with the information in the broadcast data 401.

[0147] It is to be appreciated that the aforesaid explanation of the illustrated flow chart of Fig. 2 with respect to the described method is merely for illustrative purposes. Specifically, the data may also contain other information in addition or alternatively to an unlocking identifier. For example, the information may be such that the aerosol-generating device 100, upon receiving and formatting it into the usage format 402 by using its unique key, may for example update a firmware of the aerosol-generating device 100 or configure one or more settings of the aerosol-generating device 100. For example, the database of the server 400 may store information relating to the current firmware and / or the settings of the aerosol-generating device 100 and consequently, by generating the data for a specific aerosol-generating device 100 in knowledge of its unique device identifier 101 , force an automatic and more or less seamless update and / or reconfiguration of the aerosol-generating device 100.

[0148] Also, it may be provided that, based on a unique device identifier 101 obtained at the server 400, the server 400 generates custom or specific information or messages for the aerosolgenerating device 100 according to its database, e.g., because the database entries indicate that the firmware is old or the aerosol-generating device 100 has not yet been unlocked. Generally, the unique device identifier 101 of the aerosol-generating device 100 may be periodically broadcasted, independent of or in response to obtaining the data, for example, such that the aerosol-generating device 100 may be receiving specific information or messages after receiving generic information in broadcasted data.

[0149] Specifically, while there may be cases as the aforesaid, where a specific information or message is to be generated by the server 400 for one or multiple aerosol-generating devices 100 under consideration of their unique device identifier 101 and an associated unique key, there may be cases in which the information shall not be exclusive or device specific for a particular aerosolgenerating device 100. For example, such information may relate to notifications for users of the aerosol-generating devices 100, which may apply to multiple or many aerosol-generating devices 100. Similarly, it may be desirable to establish a wireless connection with the network device 300 or any other network device 300 without requiring any user action. In this case, as shown in the alternative flow chart of Fig. 3, a unique device identifier 101 may not be required. Instead, the server 400 may generate generic information or, in other words, a generic message for providing the notification and / or establishing a wireless connection.

[0150] Moreover, the broadcast format 401 may not merely be a format that is encoded based on the unique key of an aerosol-generating device 100, but a key may be required to generally format the broadcast format 401 into the usage format 402, e.g., because the information in the broadcast format 401 is cryptic and a formatting or translation into an instruction or notification usable by the aerosol-generating device 100 may be necessary. For example, the data may be comprising a name of the wireless network 301. In this case, the name of the wireless network 301 forms the information. The number of characters transmitted by this name may be limited and hence, it may be advantageous to encrypt or encode the information in the name in the broadcast format 401 and, when it is obtained by the aerosol-generating device 100, decrypt or decode the information in the name. Also, or alternatively, it may be advantageous to authenticate the data comprising the information in the broadcast format 401. For this purpose, the same or another key as mentioned may be used, specifically a public key, which may need to be matched to a private key used by the server 400 to generate the information in the broadcast format 401 . Thereby, the data may be authenticated at the aerosol-generating device 100 as originating from the server 400.

[0151] In Fig. 3, it is exemplary shown that two aerosol-generating devices 100, e.g., in a store, are obtaining the same data comprising information in the broadcast format 401 and formatting it into the same usage format 402 for consequently using it without associating or connecting to the wireless network 301 at this point.

[0152] Consequently, it may also be possible that the aerosol-generating devices 100 themselves set up a wireless network and broadcast the obtained data comprising the information in the broadcast format 401 , thereby enabling to reach aerosol-generating devices 100 outside of the range of the wireless network 301 in the store when the aerosol-generating devices 100 is being carried around by a user. Specifically, the information contained in the data, in particular in the form of a generic message, can thereby be quickly propagated.

[0153] When the wireless network 301 is a Wi-Fi network, an SSID thereof may be used as the means or data packet to broadcast the data comprising the information in the broadcast format 401. Specifically, the broadcast format 401 may be or comprise SSID or a coding thereof, e.g., ASCII. The length of an SSID can be up to 32 characters (32 octets), and normally ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) letters and digits (alphanumeric), though the standard itself doesn't exclude values. The octet is a unit of digital information that consists of eight bits, which are case-sensitive, so that "My Network" is a different SSID from "mynetwork". Some special characters like spaces, the underscore, periods, and dashes are also allowed. The network device 300 may broadcast its SSID, allowing nearby devices to display a list of available networks with human-readable names. The SSID may be encoded by using for example an encoding method such as base64.

[0154] For example, when using ASCII encoding method base 64, the network device 300 may broadcast (using the 32 characters of SSID) information that the aerosol-generating device 100 could format or read easily using ASCII encoding method base64. The SSID may be readable by a 802.11 chip in the wireless communication interfaces 130 without the need to associate or connect it with the wireless network 301 . Therefore, information can be transmitted through it without any further process. In this example, however one could alternatively or in addition to e.g., ASCII encoding method, format or encode information using the size of the SSID. For example, in SSID "A" may equal to 0, "AA" may equal to 1 , "AAA" may equal to 2 and so on, which may accordingly be transformed or decoded on the side of the aerosol-generating device 100.

[0155] Similarly, when the wireless network 301 is a Bluetooth network, advertisement frames thereof may be used as the means or data packet to broadcast the data comprising the information in the broadcast format 401 without association of the aerosol-generating device 100 with the wireless network 301.

[0156] 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.

[0157] As used herein, the phrase “being indicative of” may for example mean “reflecting” and / or “comprising”. Accordingly, an entity, element and / or step referred to herein as “being indicative of [...]” can be synonymously or interchangeably used herein with one, two or all of said entity, element and / or step “comprising [...]” and said entity, element and / or step “reflecting [...]”.

[0158] Further, as used herein, phrases such as “based on”, “related” or “relating”, “associated” and similar are not to be seen exclusively in terms of the entities, elements and / or steps to which they are referring, unless otherwise stated. Instead, these phrases are to be understood inclusively, unless otherwise stated, in that, for example, an entity, element or step referring by any of these phrases or similar, e.g., being “based on”, an or another entity, element or step, does not exclude that the respective entity, element or step may be further or also “based on” any other entity, element or step than the one to which it refers.

[0159] 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. 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

CLAIMS1. An aerosol-generating device having a wireless communication interface and processing circuitry, the aerosol-generating device being configured to: obtain, by the wireless communication interface, data broadcasted by a wireless network without establishing a connection to the wireless network, the data comprising information in a broadcast format; and transform, by the processing circuitry, the information in the broadcast format into a usage format for use by the aerosol-generating device.

2. The aerosol-generating device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication interface is a Wi-Fi communication interface and / or a Bluetooth communication interface, and wherein the data is broadcasted in the form of one or more Wi-Fi data packets and / or Bluetooth data packets.

3. The aerosol-generating device of claim 2, wherein the aerosol-generating device is further configured to: periodically scan a wireless environment for broadcasted Wi-Fi data packets and / or Bluetooth data packets.

4. The aerosol-generating device of any one of the previous claims, wherein the data comprises a name of the wireless network.

5. The aerosol-generating device of claim 4, wherein the wireless network is a Wi-Fi network, and wherein the name of the wireless network is a Service Set Identifier, SSID, of the Wi-Fi network.

6. The aerosol-generating device of any one of the previous claims, wherein the aerosol-generating device comprises a data storage, the data storage storing a key for transforming the information in the broadcast format into the usage format.

7. The aerosol-generating device of claim 6, wherein the key is a unique key of the aerosol-generating device storing the key, and wherein the unique key is associated with a unique device identifier of the aerosol-generating device.

8. The aerosol-generating device of any one of the previous claims, wherein the aerosol-generating device is further configured to: transmit or broadcast, via its wireless communication interface, confirmation data indicative of the transforming of the information in the broadcast format into the usage format.

9. The aerosol-generating device of any one of the previous claims, wherein the aerosol-generating device is further configured to one or more of: use the information in the usage format for establishing a connection to the wireless network; use the information in the usage format for changing one or more settings of the aerosolgenerating device and / or updating a software of the aerosol-generating device; or use the information in the usage format for providing a notification for a user of the aerosol-generating device.

10. The aerosol-generating device of claim 9, wherein the one or more settings relate to one or more of: selection of one or more heating profiles, customization or adaptation of a user interface of the aerosol-generating device, a battery management setting, and a feedback device.

11. The aerosol-generating device of claim 9 or 10, wherein the notification relates to a change of one or more settings of the aerosol-generating device, a software update of the aerosol-generating device, access data for connecting to a wireless network, or an availability of aerosol-generating articles for the aerosol-generating device.

12. The aerosol-generating device of any one of the previous claims, wherein the aerosol-generating device is further configured to: store, by a data storage of the aerosol-generating device, the obtained data; and broadcast, by the wireless communication interface, the stored data without establishing a connection to another device.

13. A network device having a wireless communication interface, the network device being configured to: obtain data comprising information for use by an aerosol-generating device, the information being in a broadcast format; set up, by the wireless communication interface, a wireless network; and broadcast, by the wireless communication interface, the obtained data via the wireless network.

14. The network device of claim 13, wherein the network device is configured to transmit a device identifier and / or a location of the aerosol-generating device to a server, and wherein the data is obtained from the sever based on the transmitted device identifier and / or location; and / or wherein the network device is configured to partition the obtained data into data chunks and broadcast the data chunks.

15. A method for operating an aerosol-generating device having a wireless communication interface and processing circuitry, the method comprising: obtaining, by the wireless communication interface, data broadcasted by a wireless network without establishing a connection to the wireless network, the data comprising information in a broadcast format; and transforming, by the processing circuitry, the information in the broadcast format into a usage format for use by the aerosol-generating device.

16. The method of claim 15, the method further comprising: obtaining, by a server, a unique identifier of the aerosol-generating device; generating, by the server, the data of the wireless network, the data comprising the information in the broadcast format, wherein the data is generated such that the information in the broadcast format may be transformed by the aerosol-generating device using a key stored on a data storage of the aerosol-generating device; obtaining, by a network device, the data generated by the server; and broadcasting, by a wireless communication interface of the network device, the obtained data.

17. One or more computer program products comprising instructions, which when executed by an aerosol-generating device or an aerosol-generating system, instruct the aerosol-generating device or the aerosol-generating system to carry out the method according to claim 15 or 16.

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