111111
`
`1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
`US008519973Bl
`
`c12) United States Patent
`XiaoPing
`
`(10) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 8,519,973 Bl
`*Aug. 27, 2013
`
`(54) APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR
`DETECTING A CONDUCTIVE OBJECT AT A
`LOCATION
`
`(75)
`
`Inventor:
`
`Jiang XiaoPing, Shanghai (CN)
`
`(73) Assignee: Cypress Semiconductor Corporation,
`San Jose, CA (US)
`
`( *) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
`
`This patent is subject to a terminal dis(cid:173)
`claimer.
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 13/442,716
`
`(22) Filed:
`
`Apr. 9, 2012
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`
`(63) Continuation of application No. 13/204,543, filed on
`Aug. 5, 2011, now Pat. No. 8,174,507, which is a
`continuation of application No. 11/437,517, filed on
`May 18, 2006, now Pat. No. 8,004,497.
`
`(51)
`
`Int. Cl.
`G06F 31041
`G06F 31045
`G06F 31033
`(52) U.S. Cl.
`USPC ........ 345/173; 345/174; 3451179; 178/18.01;
`178/18.06
`
`(2006.01)
`(2006.01)
`(2006.01)
`
`(58) Field of Classification Search
`USPC .................................................. 345/173, 174
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
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`USPTO Non-Final Rejection for Application No. 111437,517 dated
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`
`(Continued)
`
`Primary Examiner- Bipin Shalwala
`Assistant Examiner- Benyam Ketema
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A method and apparatus to determine capacitance variations
`of a first number of two or more sense elements of a touch
`screen device. A processing device is configured to detect a
`presence of a conductive object on any one of a second num(cid:173)
`ber of three or more button areas of the touch screen device.
`The first number of sense elements is less than the second
`number of button areas. The processing device is further
`configured to recognize an activation of one of the three or
`more button areas using the determined capacitance varia(cid:173)
`tions of the first number of two or more sense elements.
`
`20 Claims, 10 Drawing Sheets
`
`1" Portion 2nd Portion
`604
`605
`
`:·-····~_.1
`609
`l_ ; e?e
`1
`
`610
`
`··-c:···--,
`sfi7 lJ:
`· i \ Capacitance
`
`Sensor
`
`Processing Devioe 210
`
`EXHIBIT 1001
`IPR Petition for U.S. Patent No. 8,519,973
`
`'"" 6~~ /"
`n j
`'""" ' u l '""''
`
`. 1
`
`
`
`Capacitance
`Sensor,..
`
`

`
`US 8,519,973 B1
`Page 2
`
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`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
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`board Available Now!” the Vlrtual Laser Keyboard (VKB) Onllne
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`30, 2007; 3 pages.
`USPTOAdvisoryAction forApplicationNo. 11/395,417 dated Jul. 6,
`2007; 3 pages.
`
`

`
`US 8,519,973 B1
`Page 3
`
`USPTO Advisory Action for Application No. 1 1/437,517 dated Apr.
`7, 2010; 3 pages.
`USPTO Advisory Action for Application No. 11/477,179 dated Jun.
`7, 2010; 3 pages.
`USPTO Advisory Action for Application No. 12/367,279 dated Jun.
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`USPTO Final Rejection forApplication No. 11/230,719 dated Sep. 7,
`2007; 9 pages.
`USPTO Final Rejection for Application No. 11/273,708 dated Jul. 5,
`2007; 8 pages.
`USPTO Final Rejection for Application No. 11/395,417 dated Apr.
`24, 2007; 9 pages.
`USPTO Final Rejection for Application No. 11/437,517 dated Jan.
`26, 2010; 11 pages.
`USPTO Final Rejection for Application No. 11/477,179 datedApr. 1,
`2010; 10 pages.
`USPTO Final Rejection for Application No. 11/477,179 dated Nov.
`24,2010; 10 pages.
`USPTO Final Rejection for Application No. 11/484,085 dated Mar.
`16, 2010; 7 pages.
`USPTO Final Rejection for Application No. 1 1/ 502,267 dated Feb. 3,
`2009; 10 pages.
`USPTO Final Rejection for Application No. 11/600,896 dated Sep.
`30,2010; 19 pages.
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`2010; 6 pages.
`USPTO Non-Final Rejection for Application No. 11/230,719 dated
`Jan. 16, 2007; 8 pages.
`USPTO Non-Final Rejection for Application No. 11/230,719 dated
`May 11,2006; 5 pages.
`Uspto Non-Final Rejection for Application No.
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`USPTO Non-Final Rejection for Application No.
`Aug. 28, 2006; 7 pages.
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`. 11/273,708 dated
`Mar. 19,2007; 16 pages.
`USPTO Non-Final Rejection for Application No
`. 11/395,417 dated
`Apr. 25, 2008; 7 pages.
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`Oct. 26, 2006; 13 pages.
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`Aug. 3,2010; 10 pages.
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`Feb. 25, 2011; 13 pages.
`
`11/230,719 dated
`
`11/230,719 dated
`
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`
`11/395,417 dated
`
`11/437,517 dated
`
`11/442,212 dated
`
`USPTO Non-Final Rejection for Application No.
`11/477,179 dated
`Jun. 9, 2009; 13 pages.
`USPTO Non-Final Rejection for Application No
`. 11/477,179 dated
`Jul. 20, 2010; 10 pages.
`USPTO Non-Final Rejection for Application No.
`11/477,179 dated
`Nov. 18, 2009; 10 pages.
`USPTO Non-Final Rejection for Application No.
`11/484,085 dated
`Sep. 17,2009; 8 pages.
`USPTO Non-Final Rejection for Application No
`. 11/493,350 dated
`Jun. 16, 2010; 8 pages.
`USPTO Non-Final Rejection for Application No.
`11/493,350 dated
`Nov. 9, 2010; 9 pages.
`USPTO Non-Final Rejection for Application No.
`11/502,267 dated
`Aug. 11, 2008; 10 pages.
`USPTO Non-Final Rejection for Application No
`. 11/600,255 dated
`Mar. 29, 2010; 10 pages.
`USPTO Non-Final Rejection for Application No.
`11/600,896 dated
`Jan 26,2011; 12 pages.
`USPTO Non-Final Rejection for Application No.
`11/600,896 dated
`May 14, 2010; 15 pages.
`USPTO Non-Final Rejection for Application No
`. 11/600,896 dated
`Dec. 16, 2009; 13 pages.
`USPTO Non-Final Rejection for Application No
`. 11/700,314 dated
`Mar. 26, 2010; 7 pages.
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`12/367,279 dated
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`11/230,719 dated
`Jan. 16, 2008; 4 pages.
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`. 11/273,708 dated
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`11/395,417 dated
`Nov. 6, 2008; 7 pages.
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`. 11/437,517 dated
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`11/437,517 dated
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`. 11/437,517 dated
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`. 11/489,944 dated
`Apr. 9, 2007; 7 pages.
`
`* cited by examiner
`
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`Aug. 27, 2013
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`US 8,519,973 B1
`
`1
`APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR
`DETECTING A CONDUCTIVE OBJECT AT A
`LOCATION
`
`RELATED APPLICATIONS
`
`This application is a continuation of US. patent applica
`tion Ser. No. 13/204,543, ?led Aug. 5, 2011, now US. Pat.
`No. 8,174,507, issued May 8, 2012, Which is a continuation of
`US. patent application Ser. No. 11/437,517, ?led May 18,
`2006, now US. Pat. No. 8,004,497, issued Aug. 23, 2011.
`
`TECHNICAL FIELD
`
`This invention relates to the ?eld of user interface devices
`and, in particular, to touch-sensing devices.
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`Computing devices, such as notebook computers, personal
`data assistants (PDAs), and mobile handsets, have user inter
`face devices, Which are also knoWn as human interface device
`(HID). One user interface device that is common is a touch
`sensor button. A basis touch-sensor button emulates the func
`tion of a mechanical button. Touch-sensor buttons may be
`embedded into different types of operational panels of elec
`tronic devices. For example, touch-sensor buttons may be
`used on operational or control panels of household appli
`ances, consumer electronics, mechanical devices, and the
`like. Touch-sensor buttons may also be used in conjunction
`With, or in place of, other user input devices, such as key
`boards, mice, trackballs, or the like.
`FIG. 1A illustrates a conventional sensing device having
`three touch-sensor buttons. Conventional sensing device 100
`includes button 101, button 102, and button 103. These but
`tons are conventional touch-sensor buttons. These three but
`tons may be used for user input using a conductive object,
`such as a ?nger.
`FIG. 1B illustrates a conventional sensing device of three
`touch-sensor buttons 101-103 coupled to a processing device
`110. Processing device 110 is used to detect Whether a con
`ductive object is present on either, or none, of the touch
`sensor buttons 101-103. To detect the presence of the conduc
`tive object, the processing device 110 may include
`capacitance sensors 104-106, Which are coupled to buttons
`101-103, respectively. The capacitance sensors of the pro
`cessing device are coupled to the touch-sensor buttons in a
`one-to-one con?guration. Accordingly, the processing device
`110 scans the touch-sensor buttons 101-103 using the capaci
`tance sensors 104-106, and measures the capacitance on the
`touch-sensor buttons 101-103.
`Each of the conventional touch-sensor buttons 101-103
`may be made of a sensor element of conductive material, such
`as copper-clad. The conductive material may be form shaped
`in a circular shape (illustrated in FIG. 1A), or even in a
`rectangular shape (illustrated in FIG. 1B). The touch-sensor
`buttons may be capacitance sensor buttons, Which may be
`used as non-contact sWitches. These sWitches, When pro
`tected by an insulating layer, offer resistance to severe envi
`ronments.
`It should be noted that the conventional con?guration of
`FIG. 1B includes a one-to-one con?guration of touch-sensor
`buttons to capacitance sensors. There are other conventional
`con?gurations that may use less capacitance sensors to mea
`sure the capacitance on the three touch-sensor buttons. These
`conventional con?gurations, hoWever, still require a one-to
`one con?guration of pins to touch-sensor buttons. Accord
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
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`ingly, by adding more buttons, the processing device needs to
`have more pins to correspond to the one-to-one con?guration
`of pins to touch-sensor buttons. Similarly, by increasing the
`pin count, the scan time to scan the sensor elements increases.
`In addition, the memory of the processing device, Which may
`be used to store program data and/or temporary data (e.g., raW
`measurement data, differential counts, baseline measurement
`data, and the like), increases by increasing the pin count.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`The present invention is illustrated by Way of example, and
`not by Way of limitation, in the ?gures of the accompanying
`draWings.
`FIG. 1A illustrates a conventional sensing device having
`three touch-sensor buttons.
`FIG. 1B illustrates a conventional sensing device of three
`touch-sensor buttons coupled to a processing device.
`FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of an
`electronic system having a processing device for detecting a
`presence of a conductive object.
`FIG. 3A illustrates a varying sWitch capacitance.
`FIG. 3B illustrates one embodiment of a relaxation oscil
`lator.
`FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of a
`capacitance sensor including a relaxation oscillator and digi
`tal counter.
`FIG. 5A illustrates a top-side vieW of one embodiment of a
`sensor array having a plurality of sensor elements for detect
`ing a presence of a conductive object on the sensor array of a
`touch-sensor pad.
`FIG. 5B illustrates a top-side vieW of one embodiment of a
`sensor array having a plurality of sensor elements for detect
`ing a presence of a conductive object on the sensor array of a
`touch-sensor slider
`FIG. 5C illustrates a top-side vieW of one embodiment of a
`tWo-layer touch-sensor pad.
`FIG. 5D illustrates a side vieW of one embodiment of the
`tWo-layer touch-sensor pad of FIG. 5C.
`FIG. 6A illustrates one embodiment of a sensing device
`having three touch-sensor buttons.
`FIG. 6B illustrates one embodiment of the sensing device
`of FIG. 6A coupled to a processing device.
`FIG. 6C illustrates another embodiment of a sensing device
`having three touch-sensor buttons.
`FIG. 6D illustrates another embodiment of a sensing
`device having three touch-sensor buttons.
`FIG. 7A illustrates another embodiment of a sensing
`device having four touch-sensor buttons.
`FIG. 7B illustrates another embodiment of a sensing device
`having ?ve touch-sensor buttons.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`Described herein is an apparatus and method for detecting
`a presence of a conductive object on a sensing device, and
`recognizing three or more button operations performed by the
`conductive object using tWo sensing areas of the sensing
`device. The folloWing description sets forth numerous spe
`ci?c details such as examples of speci?c systems, compo
`nents, methods, and so forth, in order to provide a good
`understanding of several embodiments of the present inven
`tion. It Will be apparent to one skilled in the art, hoWever, that
`at least some embodiments of the present invention may be
`practiced Without these speci?c details. In other instances,
`Well-knoWn components or methods are not described in
`detail or are presented in simple block diagram format in
`
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`US 8,5 19,973 B1
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`3
`order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention.
`Thus, the speci?c details set forth are merely exemplary.
`Particular implementations may vary from these exemplary
`details and still be contemplated to be Within the spirit and
`scope of the present invention.
`Embodiments of a method and apparatus are described to
`recognize three or more button operations performed by the
`conductive object on three or more sensor elements that are
`coupled to tWo pins of a processing device. In one embodi
`ment, the apparatus may include a sensing device (e.g., touch
`sensor button) that has ?rst, second, and third sensor ele
`ments. The third sensor element has a ?rst portion coupled to
`the ?rst sensor element, and a second portion coupled to the
`second sensor element. These portions of the third sensor
`element are electrically isolated from one another.
`The embodiments describe herein permit the expansion of
`additional buttons (e.g., three or more total buttons) to the
`sensing device, While using only tWo pins on the processing
`device. Conversely, since the conventional con?guration has
`implemented a one-to-one con?guration of sensor elements
`to pins of the processing device, each button added requires
`an additional pin on the processing device. Using only tWo
`pins, the scan time does not increase by adding additional
`buttons to implement three or more buttons on the sensing
`device. By maintaining tWo pins for three or more buttons, the
`scan time to scan the sensor elements is not increased. In other
`Words, more buttons may be implemented Without increasing
`the total scan time of the sensing device. Similarly, the
`memory of the processing device is not increased to accom
`modate additional program data and/ or temporary data (e.g.,
`raW measurement data, differential counts, baseline measure
`ment data, and the like) for the additional buttons.
`The sensing device may use tWo capacitive sWitch relax
`ation oscillator (CSR) pins of a processing device to realiZe
`more than tWo buttons on the sensing device. For example, the
`three or more buttons may be realiZed by using tWo sensing
`areas. Each sensing area may include a bar of conductive
`material and several interconnected sub-bars. The sub -bars of
`the tWo sensing areas are interleaved and are electrically
`isolated. In other Words, one set of interconnected sub-bars
`are connected to one pin, While the other set is coupled to the
`otherpin. The tWo sensing areas make up three or more sensor
`elements that are used to form the touch-sensor buttons. The
`different buttons contain different percentages of surface area
`of the sensing areas. Alternatively, each sensing area may
`include tWo or more bars of conductive material With or
`Without several interconnected sub-bars.
`For example, a three-button scheme using tWo pins
`includes one sensor element that has 100% of the ?rst sensing
`area, the second sensor element has 50% of the ?rst sensing
`area and 50% of the second sensing area, and the third sensor
`element has 100% of the second sensing area. Accordingly,
`by scanning and measuring the capacitance (e. g., capacitance
`variation of the capacitance minus the baseline, as described
`beloW) on the tWo pins to detect the presence of the conduc
`tive object, the processing device can distinguish betWeen the
`presence of the conductive object on the ?rst, second, and
`third sensor elements. For example, if the capacitance varia
`tion 61, measured on the ?rst pin, is greater than Zero, and the
`capacitance variation 62, measured on the second pin is equal
`to approximately Zero, then the ?rst button has been pressed.
`Similarly, if the capacitance variation 61, measured on the
`?rst pin, is equal to the capacitance variation 62, measured on
`the second pin, then the second button has been pressed. If the
`capacitance variation 61, measured on the ?rst pin, is equal to
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`approximately Zero, and the capacitance variation 62, mea
`sured on the second pin is greater than Zero, then the third
`button has been pressed.
`The embodiments herein may be bene?cial to help reduce
`the pin count of the processing device. This may decrease the
`complexity of the processing device, or alloW the processing
`device to support additional functionality, such as cursor
`positioning and selecting functionality, keyboard functional
`ity, slider functionality, or the like. Furthermore, the embodi
`ments may be bene?cial to help reduce the scan time of the
`sensing device. Using tWo pins of the processing device to
`measure the capacitance on tWo sensing areas to realiZe three
`or more buttons is faster than measuring the capacitance on
`three or more touch-sensor buttons of the conventional con
`?guration (e.g., one-to-one con?guration). In addition, using
`tWo pins reduces the RAM/FLASH space needed in the sens
`ing device, as compared to the conventional con?guration.
`The embodiments described herein may be used in differ
`ent types of operational panels of electronic devices. For
`example, touch-sensor buttons may be used on operational or
`control panels of household appliances, consumer electron
`ics, mechanical devices, and the like. Touch-sensor buttons
`may also be used in conjunction With, or inplace of, other user
`input devices, such as keyboards, mice, trackballs, or the like.
`FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of an
`electronic system having a processing device for detecting a
`presence of a conductive object. Electronic system 200
`includes processing device 210, touch-sensor pad 220, touch
`sensor slider 230, touch-sensor buttons 240, host processor
`250, embedded controller 260, and non-capacitance sensor
`elements 270. The processing device 210 may include analog
`and/or digital general purpose input/output (“GPIO”) ports
`207. GPIO ports 207 may be programmable. GPIO ports 207
`may be coupled to a Programmable Interconnect and Logic
`(“PIL”), Which acts as an interconnect betWeen GPIO ports
`207 and a digital block array of the processing device 210 (not
`illustrated). The digital block array may be con?gured to
`implement a variety of digital logic circuits (e.g., DAC, digi
`tal ?lters, digital control systems, etc.) using, in one embodi
`ment, con?gurable user modules (“UMs”). The digital block
`array may be coupled to a system bus. Processing device 210
`may also include memory, such as random access memory
`(RAM) 205 and program ?ash 204. RAM 205 may be static
`RAM (SRAM), and program ?ash 204 may be a non-volatile
`storage, Which may be used to store ?rmware (e.g., control
`algorithms executable by processing core 202 to implement
`operations described herein). Processing device 210 may also
`include a memory controller unit (MCU) 203 coupled to
`memory and the processing core 202.
`The processing device 210 may also include an analog
`block array (not illustrated). The analog block array is also
`coupled to the system bus. Analog block array also may be
`con?gured to implement a variety of analog circuits (e.g.,
`ADC, analog ?lters, etc.) using, in one embodiment, con?g
`urable UMs. The analog block array may also be coupled to
`the GPIO 207.
`As illustrated, capacitance sensor 201 may be integrated
`into processing device 210. Capacitance sensor 201 may
`include analog I/O for coupling to an external component,
`such as touch-sensorpad 220, touch-sensor slider 230, touch
`sensor buttons 240, and/or other devices. Capacitance sensor
`201 and processing device 202 are described in more detail
`beloW.
`It should be noted that the embodiments described herein
`are not limited to touch-sensor pads for notebook implemen
`tations, but can be used in other capacitive sensing implemen
`tations, for example, the sensing device may be a touch
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`US 8,519,973 B1
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`5
`sensor slider 230, or a touch-sensor button 240 (e.g.,
`capacitance sensing button). Similarly, the operations
`described herein are not limited to notebook cursor opera
`tions, but can include other operations, such as lighting con
`trol (dimmer), volume control, graphic equalizer control,
`speed control, or other control operations requiring gradual
`adjustments. It should also be noted that these embodiments
`of capacitive sensing implementations may be used in con
`junction With non-capacitive sensing elements, including but
`not limited to pick buttons, sliders (ex. display brightness and
`contrast), scroll-Wheels, multi-media control (ex. volume,
`track advance, etc) handWriting recognition and numeric key
`pad operation.
`In one embodiment, the electronic system 200 includes a
`touch-sensor pad 220 coupled to the processing device 210
`via bus 221. Touch-sensor pad 220 may include a multi
`dimension sensor array. The multi-dimension sensor array
`comprises a plurality of sensor elements, organiZed as roWs
`and columns. In another embodiment, the electronic system
`200 includes a touch-sensor slider 230 coupled to the pro
`cessing device 210 via bus 231. Touch-sensor slider 230 may
`include a single-dimension sensor array. The single-dimen
`sion sensor array comprises a plurality of sensor elements,
`organiZed as roWs, or alternatively, as columns. In another
`embodiment, the electronic system 200 includes a touch
`sensor button 240 coupled to the processing device 210 via
`bus 241. Touch-sensor button 240 may include a single-di
`mension or multi-dimension sensor array. The single- or
`multi-dimension sensor array comprises a plurality of sensor
`elements. For a touch-sensor button, the plurality of sensor
`elements may be coupled together to detect a presence of a
`conductive object over the entire surface of the sensing
`device. Alternatively, the touch-sensor button 240 has a single
`sensor element to detect the presence of the conductive
`object. In one embodiment, the touch-sensor button 240 may
`be a capacitance sensor element. Capacitance sensor ele
`ments may be used as non-contact sWitches. These sWitches,
`When protected by an insulating layer, offer resistance to
`severe environments.
`The electronic system 200 may include any combination of
`one or more of the touch-sensor pad 220, touch-sensor slider
`23 0, and/ or touch- sensor button 240. In another embodiment,
`the electronic system 200 may also include non-capacitance
`sensor elements 270 coupled to the processing device 210 via
`bus 271. The non-capacitance sensor elements 270 may
`include buttons, light emitting diodes (LEDs), and other user
`interface devices, such as a mouse, a keyboard, or other
`functional keys that do not require capacitance sensing. In
`one embodiment, buses 271, 241, 231, and 221 may be a
`single bus. Alternatively, these buses may be con?gured into
`any combination of one or more separate buses.
`The processing device may also provide value-added func
`tionality such as keyboard control integration, LEDs, battery
`charger and general purpose I/O, as illustrated as non-capaci
`tance sensor elements 270. Non-capacitance sensor elements
`270 are coupled to the GPIO 207.
`Processing device 210 may include internal oscillator/
`clocks 206 and communication block 208. The oscillator/
`clocks block 206 provides clock signals to one or more of the
`components of processing device 210. Communication block
`208 may be used to communicate With an external compo
`nent, such as a host processor 250, via host interface (I/F) line
`251. Alternatively, processing block 210 may also be coupled
`to embedded controller 260 to communicate With the external
`components, such as host 250. Interfacing to the host 250 can
`be through various methods. In one exemplary embodiment,
`interfacing With the host 250 may be done using a standard
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`PS/2 interface to connect to an embedded controller 260,
`Which in turn sends data to the host 250 via