Lockable aerosol provision system

Abstract

A device component for an aerosol provision system comprises: a microphone operable to detect acoustic signals; and a controller configured to: receive an acoustic signal detected by the microphone; extract data from the acoustic signal; process the extracted data to determine if the extracted data corresponds with either a locking instruction or an unlocking instruction for the aerosol generating system; and change an operational state of the aerosol provision system from an operable state to an inoperable state if correspondence with the locking instruction is found, and from an inoperable state to an operable state if correspondence with the unlocking instruction is found.

1 . A device component for an aerosol provision system, the device component comprising:
 a microphone operable to detect acoustic signals; and   a controller configured to:
 receive an acoustic signal detected by the microphone; 
 extract data from the acoustic signal; 
   process the extracted data to determine if the extracted data corresponds with either a locking instruction or an unlocking instruction for the aerosol generating system; and   change an operational state of the aerosol provision system from an operable state to an inoperable state if correspondence with the locking instruction is found, and from an inoperable state to an operable state if correspondence with the unlocking instruction is found.   
     
     
         2 . A device component according to  claim 1 , further comprising data storage for storing data associated with the locking instruction and the unlocking instruction, the controller configured to carry out the determining using the data associated with the locking instruction and the unlocking instruction. 
     
     
         3 . A device component according to  claim 2 , wherein:
 the data associated with the locking instruction and the unlocking instruction comprise one or more rules for identifying the locking instruction and the unlocking instruction; and the controller is configured to process the extracted data by testing the extracted data for compliance with the one or more rules, and determine correspondence with the locking instruction if the extracted data complies with the one or more rules for identifying the locking instruction and determine correspondence with the unlocking instruction if the extracted data complies with the one or more rules for identifying the unlocking instruction.   
     
     
         4 . A device component according to  claim 2 , wherein:
 the data associated with the locking instruction and the unlocking instruction represents a locking code and an unlocking code for the aerosol generating system; and   the controller is configured to process the extracted data by comparing the extracted data with one or both of the locking code and the unlocking code, and determine correspondence with the locking instruction if the extracted data matches the locking code and determine correspondence with the unlocking instruction if the extracted data matches the unlocking code.   
     
     
         5 . A device component according to  claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 determine the operational state of the aerosol provision system when an acoustic signal is received; and   if the aerosol provision system is in an operable state, process the extracted data to determine correspondence with the locking instruction only, and if the aerosol provision system is in an inoperable state, process the extracted data to determine correspondence with the unlocking code only.   
     
     
         6 . A device component according to  claim 5 , wherein the controller is further configured to store in the data storage an operational state flag indicating the operational state of the aerosol provision system after changing the operational state in response to receipt of a previous acoustic signal, and determine the operational state of the aerosol provision system by checking the operational state flag in response to receipt of a next acoustic signal. 
     
     
         7 . A device component according to  claim 1 , wherein the locking instruction and the unlocking instruction comprise a single locking-and-unlocking instruction, and the controller is configured to change the operational state of the aerosol provision system from the operable state to the inoperable state or the inoperable state to the operable state if the extracted data is determined to correspond with the locking-and-unlocking code. 
     
     
         8 . A device component according to  claim 1 , wherein the locking instruction is different from the unlocking instruction. 
     
     
         9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . A device component according to  claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to extract data comprising the data associated with the locking instruction and the unlocking instruction from one or more initial acoustic signals detected by the microphone, and store the data associated with the locking instruction and the unlocking instruction in the data storage. 
     
     
         11 . A device component according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to extract initiating data from an initiating acoustic signal detected before first use of the aerosol provision system, and use the initiating data to switch the aerosol provision system from a non-operational state to the operational state. 
     
     
         12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . A device according to  claim 10 , wherein data associated with an initiating instruction is stored data storage in the device, and the controller uses the initiating data by determining correspondence of the initiating data with the initiating instruction, and if correspondence is found, switching the aerosol provision system from the non-operational state to the operational state. 
     
     
         14 . A device according to  claim 13 , wherein the initiating instruction is the same as the unlocking instruction. 
     
     
         15 . A device component according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to process the extracted data by passing the extracted data to a remote server configured to perform the determining and receiving a result of the determining from the remote server. 
     
     
         16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . A method of operating an aerosol provision system, comprising:
 storing data associated with a locking instruction and an unlocking instruction for the aerosol provision system in data storage of an electronic personal device comprising a speaker;   in response to a user input for locking to the electronic personal device, generating a locking drive signal for the speaker in which the locking instruction is carried, and supplying the locking drive signal to the speaker to cause the speaker to emit an acoustic locking signal for detection by a microphone of the aerosol provision system; and   in response to a user input for unlocking to the electronic personal device, generating an unlocking drive signal for the speaker in which the unlocking instruction is carried, and supplying the unlocking drive signal to the speaker to cause the speaker to emit an acoustic unlocking signal for detection by the microphone of the aerosol provision system.   
     
     
         19 . A method according to  claim 18 , wherein the locking instruction and the unlocking instruction comprise a single locking-and-unlocking instruction, the locking drive signal is the same as the unlocking drive signal, and the acoustic locking signal is the same as the acoustic unlocking signal. 
     
     
         20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method according to  claim 18 , further comprising, in response to a user input for aerosol provision system set-up to the electronic personal device, generating one or more initial drive signals for the speaker in which data associated with the locking instruction and the unlocking instruction are carried, and supplying the initial drive signals to the speaker to cause the speaker to emit one or more initial acoustic signals carrying the data associated with the locking instruction and the unlocking instruction for detection by the microphone of the aerosol provision system. 
     
     
         22 . A method according to  claim 18 , further comprising receiving the locking instruction and the unlocking instruction and optionally the data associated with the locking instruction and the unlocking instruction at the electronic personal device from a external server. 
     
     
         23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . A method according to  claim 18 , further comprising, in response to user input for aerosol provision system initiation prior to first use of the aerosol provision system to the electronic personal device, generating an initiating drive signal for the speaker in which initiating data to enable the aerosol provision system to switch from a non-operational state to an operational state is carried, and supplying the initiating drive signal to the speaker to cause the speaker to emit the initiating drive signal carrying the initiating data for detection by the microphone of the aerosol provision system. 
     
     
         26 . A method according to  claim 25 , further comprising, in response to the user input for aerosol provision system initiation, receiving the initiating data at the electronic personal device from a external server. 
     
     
         27 . A computer readable medium storing a computer program which when installed on an electronic personal device with a processor and a speaker, enables the electronic device to carry out a method according to  claim 18 .