Circuit and control of aerosol generating device with sleep mode

Abstract

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.

1 . 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,   
       wherein the device is configured to implement an operational state and a sleep state; and, 
       wherein the microcontroller is configured to run the entry point instructions when the device transitions from the sleep state to the operational state, and 
       wherein the entry point instructions include volatile memory initialisation instructions, the volatile memory initialisation instructions causing the microcontroller to initialise the volatile memory. 
     
     
         2 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1  wherein the entry point instructions further include hardware initialisation instructions, the hardware initialisation instructions causing the microcontroller to initialise the hardware component. 
     
     
         3 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1  wherein the hardware component is external to the microcontroller. 
     
     
         4 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein the hardware component is internal to the microcontroller. 
     
     
         5 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein the microcontroller initialising the volatile memory includes clearing a portion of the data stored on the volatile memory. 
     
     
         6 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein the microcontroller initialising the volatile memory includes writing pre-defined data values to the volatile memory, the pre-defined data values being stored on the non-volatile memory. 
     
     
         7 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein in the operational state the microcontroller runs the operational instructions in a closed loop, and wherein the entry point instructions are outside the closed loop of the operational instructions. 
     
     
         8 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein in the operational state the device is operable to carry out an aerosol generation function. 
     
     
         9 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein the sleep state is a state in which the power consumption of the device is non-zero and is reduced compared to the power consumption of the device in the operational state. 
     
     
         10 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 9  wherein in the sleep state power is supplied to the microcontroller. 
     
     
         11 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein the entry point instructions are run from a reset entry point of the non-volatile memory. 
     
     
         12 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein the device is configured to enter into the operational state from the sleep state in response to a user input to a user interface, the device including the user interface. 
     
     
         13 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 1 , wherein the device is configured to enter into the sleep state from the operational state upon detection by the microcontroller of a predetermined period of inactivity of the device by the user. 
     
     
         14 . The aerosol generating device of  claim 13  wherein the predetermined period of inactivity is a period in which no aerosol generation session is started by the user. 
     
     
         15 . The aerosol generating device of  13 , wherein the period of inactivity is between 1 second and 10 seconds.