Aerosol Device Sleep-Wake Firmware Reset for Memory Integrity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aerosol generating devices are prone to firmware bugs due to corrupted data on volatile memory, leading to operational issues or complete failure.
Innovation Solution
Incorporation of non-volatile memory to store firmware with entry point instructions, allowing the microcontroller to initialize volatile memory and hardware components before transitioning to the operational state, thereby avoiding reliance on potentially corrupted historical data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the device uses volatile memory to store runtime data during operation, then operational efficiency is improved, but data corruption occurs over time leading to firmware bugs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by initializing volatile memory to a known state each time the device transitions from sleep to operational mode. The microcontroller executes initialization code that resets volatile memory before use, preventing corruption from previous sessions. This proactive reset mechanism ensures data integrity without impacting operational efficiency.
2Use of energy by moving object
If the device transitions to sleep state to conserve energy, then energy consumption is reduced, but volatile memory data becomes corrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts critical data from volatile memory to non-volatile storage before the device enters sleep mode. By separating temporary runtime data from persistent storage, the system can safely power down without risking data corruption, while maintaining energy efficiency through reduced power consumption during idle periods.
3Loss of time
If the microcontroller continues running firmware from the last execution point after wake-up, then operational continuity is improved, but corrupted data from previous sessions causes firmware bugs
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary validation and initialization of volatile memory upon wake-up before resuming firmware execution. This includes checking data integrity markers and resetting memory structures to known good states, ensuring that resuming from the last execution point does not propagate corruption from previous sessions.
Data Source
AI summary
An aerosol generating device, comprising a non-volatile memory, a volatile memory, firmware stored on the non-volatile memory, the firmware comprising firmware instructions including entry point instructions and operational instructions, a microcontroller configured to run the firmware instructions and a hardware component configured to be controlled by the microcontroller running the firmware instructions, the device is configured to implement an operational state and a sleep state. The microcontroller is configured to run the entry point instructions when the device transitions from the sleep state to the operational state. The entry point instructions include volatile memory initialisation instructions, the volatile memory initialisation instructions causing the micro-controller to initialise the volatile memory.