Apparatus and method for battery status monitoring in a network-enabled smoking substitute device
AssigneeImperial Tobacco Limited
InventorsDaniel Fard, Oliver Talbot
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The disclosure relates to a technique that enables a status of a battery in a smoking substitute device to be monitored through a portable communication terminal (e.g. mobile phone). The smoking substitute device is configured to communicate wirelessly with the portable communication terminal, e.g. via a wireless personal area network, to transmit status information concerning the battery. The status information is processed either locally or in the cloud to provide feedback or other notifications to a user of the device. Usage data may also be transmitted, whereby the battery status can be expressed in terms of a predicted remaining usage, e.g. predicted number of remaining activation events.
Claims20
A computer-implemented method for monitoring battery status in a smoking substitute device, the method comprising:
- transmitting, via a wireless communication channel between the smoking substitute device and a portable communication terminal, a battery data log from the smoking substitute device to the portable communication terminal;
- calculating, by the portable communication terminal, battery-related information based on the received battery data log;
- issuing, by the portable communication terminal, a battery event notification if the battery-related information satisfies a predetermined criterion;
- and
- renewing the battery data log after transmission to the portable communication terminal,
- such that the battery data log from a certain time period is only transmitted once to the portable communication terminal.
A smoking substitute device comprising:
- a battery;
- a control unit;
- a memory storing computer readable instructions for execution by the control unit;
- a heater arranged to draw power from the battery during an activation event;
- and
- a wireless interface configured to:
- establish a wireless communication channel with a portable communication terminal,
- transmit a battery data log over the wireless communication channel, and
- renew the battery data log after transmission to the portable communication terminal, such that the battery data log from a certain time period is only transmitted once to the portable communication terminal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.