111111
`
`1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
`US008004497B2
`
`(12) United States Patent
`XiaoPing
`
`(10) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 8,004,497 B2
`Aug. 23, 2011
`
`(54) TWO-PIN BUTTONS
`
`(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 1012 days.
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 11/437,517
`
`(22) Filed:
`
`May 18, 2006
`
`(65)
`
`Prior Publication Data
`
`US 2007/0268265 Al
`
`Nov. 22, 2007
`
`(51)
`
`Int. Cl.
`G06F 3/041
`(2006.01)
`G06F 3/045
`(2006.01)
`G06F 3/033
`(2006.01)
`(52) U.S. Cl. ..... 345/173; 3451174; 3451179; 178118.01;
`178118.06
`(58) Field of Classification Search . ... ... ... ..... .... 3451173
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
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`
`(Continued)
`
`Primary Examiner - Bipin Shalwala
`Assistant Examiner - Benyam Ketema
`
`ABSTRACT
`(57)
`An apparatus and method for detecting a presence of a con(cid:173)
`ductive 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 sensing
`device may include first, second, and third sensor elements.
`The third sensor element may include two electrically iso(cid:173)
`lated portions coupled to the first and second sensor elements.
`
`20 Claims, 10 Drawing Sheets
`
`1 ,I Portion 2nd Portion
`
`613,\
`
`~614
`
`Capacitance
`Sensor
`201(1)
`
`610
`
`Capacitance
`Sensor
`201(2)
`
`Processing Device 210
`
`BLACKBERRY EX. 1001, Pg. 1
`
`

`

`US 8,004,497 B2
`Page 2
`
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`
`BLACKBERRY EX. 1001, Pg. 2
`
`

`

`US 8,004,497 B2
`Page 3
`
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`* cited by examiner
`
`BLACKBERRY EX. 1001, Pg. 3
`
`

`

`u.s. Patent
`
`Aug. 23, 2011
`
`Sheet 1 of 10
`
`US 8,004,497 B2
`
`100 ~
`
`101
`
`102
`
`103
`
`FIG.IA
`
`101
`
`102
`
`103
`
`Capacitance
`Sensor
`104
`
`Capacitance
`ensor
`106
`
`Processing Device 110
`
`Capacitance
`Sensor
`105
`
`- .L
`
`FIG. IB
`
`BLACKBERRY EX. 1001, Pg. 4
`
`

`

`Electronic System 200
`~
`
`Processing Device 210
`
`~
`~
`
`Internal
`Oscillator/
`Clocks 2QQ.
`
`Program Flash 204
`
`[RAMw.1
`
`Analogi
`Digital
`GPIO
`207
`
`Processing
`Core 202
`
`Capacitance Sensor
`201
`
`Embedded
`
`I Controller 260 I ~ [£]
`
`Host 250
`
`_
`
`~.
`
`' - -___ ....J
`
`Host IIF 251
`
`_
`
`COM
`208
`
`271
`
`.......... (~.~I Non-Cap Sense Elements
`270 (e.g., Buttons, LEOs)
`
`241
`
`,':' ·1 0 0 0 ~ouch-sensor
`13333331
`
`Buttons 240
`
`Touch-Sensor
`Slider 230
`
`231
`
`Touch(cid:173)
`Sensor Pad
`220
`
`FIG. 2
`
`~
`7Jl
`•
`~
`~
`~
`
`~ = ~
`
`~
`~
`N
`(.H
`
`~
`
`N o ....
`....
`
`('D
`('D
`
`rFJ =(cid:173)
`.....
`N
`o ....
`.... o
`
`d
`rJl
`
`~
`\C
`
`QO -= = ~
`-....l = N
`
`BLACKBERRY EX. 1001, Pg. 5
`
`

`

`u.s. Patent
`
`300 ,
`
`Aug. 23, 2011
`
`Sheet 3 of 10
`
`US 8,004,497 B2
`
`Varying Switch Capacitance
`
`303
`
`2*C
`2*C
`Fr I~
`302 ~ C1r- ' - 301
`p
`Adjacent Plate
`Capacitor with Shunt
`
`FIG.3A
`
`Relaxation Oscillator
`
`350
`
`/
`
`356
`~
`Four
`
`CAP) .... I ..... ~354
`
`351
`
`FIG.3B
`
`BLACKBERRY EX. 1001, Pg. 6
`
`

`

`Relaxation Oscillator
`350
`
`Voo
`
`System Clock
`425
`
`Digital Counter 420
`
`423
`
`24 MHz
`
`PWM
`(Gate'
`421
`
`Timef16
`ICAPTURE 422
`
`I I
`
`Per.fFreq
`
`~27
`
`lL3M
`
`Multiplexer Array
`430
`
`426
`
`~
`\J).
`•
`~
`~
`~
`
`~ = ~
`
`> = ~
`
`N
`~tH
`N
`c:>
`
`....
`....
`
`~
`~
`.&;;..
`
`rJJ =(cid:173)~
`o .., ....
`
`c:>
`
`FIG. 4
`
`d
`r.r.;
`00
`b
`~
`~
`~~
`'0
`-...l
`Cd
`N
`
`1
`1
`
`1
`1
`
`• • •
`
`:
`: I
`:
`:
`
`LI
`
`1
`1
`1
`1
`1
`
`1
`I
`1
`I
`
`:
`
`1 :~
`J -- --
`
`
`CAP
`~51 (1)
`
`Analog MUX Bus
`401
`
`Capacitance Sensor 201
`
`Sensor Array +
`r--L ------i 401 (1)
`
`410
`
`355(1 )
`
`J l;-355(N)
`
`~! i ~CAP
`
`: 1351(N)
`••••••••
`I
`1- ___________ .I
`
`BLACKBERRY EX. 1001, Pg. 7
`
`

`

`u.s. Patent
`
`Aug. 23, 2011
`
`Sheet 5 of 10
`
`US 8,004,497 B2
`
`Sensor
`Element
`503(1)
`
`Row 1
`504(1)
`
`RowN
`504(N)
`
`Column 1
`505(1)
`
`Sensor
`Element
`501(L)
`
`j
`Conductive
`Traces
`502
`
`Processing
`Device
`210
`
`Conductive
`Object
`303
`
`ColumnM
`505(M)
`
`Conductive L
`
`Traces
`502
`
`y
`
`X
`
`FIG. SA
`
`BLACKBERRY EX. 1001, Pg. 8
`
`

`

`u.s. Patent
`
`Aug. 23, 2011
`
`Sheet 6 of 10
`
`US 8,004,497 B2
`
`Sensor
`Element
`501(1)
`
`Sensor
`Element
`501(L)
`
`Column 1
`505(1)
`
`Conductive
`Object
`303
`
`Processing
`Device
`210
`
`ColumnM
`505(M)
`
`x
`
`FIG.5B
`
`BLACKBERRY EX. 1001, Pg. 9
`
`

`

`u.s. Patent
`
`Aug. 23, 2011
`
`Sheet 7 of 10
`
`US 8,004,497 B2
`
`TOP-VIEW of2-Layer Touch-Sensor Pad 220
`
`~Row1
`504(1)
`
`~Row2
`504(2)
`
`~Row3
`504(3)
`
`~Row4
`504(4)
`
`Column 1
`505(1)
`
`Bottom Conductive Layer 576
`
`505(2)
`
`FIG.5C
`
`CROSS-SECTIONAL VIEW of2-Layer Touch-Sensor Pad 220
`Top Conductive Layer 575
`Vias
`577
`
`Coating Layer 580
`
`Bottom Conductive Layer 576 Dielectric Layer
`578
`FIG.5D
`
`BLACKBERRY EX. 1001, Pg. 10
`
`

`

`u.s. Patent
`
`Aug. 23, 2011
`
`Sheet 8 of 10
`
`US 8,004,497 B2
`
`240 "
`
`601
`
`602
`
`603
`
`FIG.6A
`
`15t Portion 2nd Portion
`604
`605
`
`~614
`
`613
`
`~
`
`Capacitance
`Sensor
`201(1)
`
`610
`
`Capacitance
`Sensor
`201 (2)
`
`Processing Device 210
`
`FIG.6B
`
`BLACKBERRY EX. 1001, Pg. 11
`
`

`

`u.s. Patent
`
`Aug. 23, 2011
`
`Sheet 9 of 10
`
`US 8,004,497 B2
`
`600,
`
`1st Portion
`604
`
`2nd Portion
`605
`
`603
`
`/
`
`601
`
`602
`
`Pin 1
`609
`
`650,
`
`604
`
`605
`
`Pin 2
`610
`FIG.6C
`
`I 601
`
`606 I
`
`602
`
`Pin 1
`609
`
`Pin 2
`610
`
`FIG.6D
`
`BLACKBERRY EX. 1001, Pg. 12
`
`

`

`u.s. Patent
`
`Aug. 23, 2011
`
`Sheet 10 of 10
`
`US 8,004,497 B2
`
`700"
`
`\ Portion
`1S
`"704,,
`
`I 701
`
`708(1) ~porti! 708(7)
`
`i 705 i
`
`702
`
`703
`
`704
`
`610
`
`FIG.7A
`
`750"
`
`706
`
`709(1)
`
`1S
`
`\ Portion
`
`704 •
`
`I 701
`
`~
`
`705
`
`'-- 2"" ption
`i 703
`
`i 702
`
`i 704
`
`705
`
`FIG.7B
`
`BLACKBERRY EX. 1001, Pg. 13
`
`

`

`1
`TWO-PIN BUTTONS
`
`TECHNICAL FIELD
`
`US 8,004,497 B2
`
`2
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`This invention relates to the field of user interface devices
`and, in particular, to touch-sensing devices.
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`Computing devices, such as notebook computers, personal 10
`data assistants (PDAs), and mobile handsets, have user inter(cid:173)
`face devices, which are also known as human interface device
`(HID). One user interface device that is common is a touch(cid:173)
`sensor button. A basis touch-sensor button emulates the func(cid:173)
`tion of a mechanical button. Touch-sensor buttons may be
`embedded into different types of operational panels of elec(cid:173)
`tronic devices. For example, touch-sensor buttons may be
`used on operational or control panels of household appli(cid:173)
`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(cid:173)
`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(cid:173)
`tons are conventional touch-sensor buttons. These three but(cid:173)
`tons may be used for user input using a conductive object,
`such as a finger.
`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(cid:173)
`ductive object is present on either, or none, of the touch(cid:173)
`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(cid:173)
`cessing device are coupled to the touch-sensor buttons in a
`one-to-one configuration. Accordingly, the processing device 40
`11 0 scans the touch -sensor buttons 101-103 using the capaci(cid:173)
`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 45
`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- 50
`tected by an insulating layer, offer resistance to severe envi(cid:173)
`ronments.
`It should be noted that the conventional configuration of
`FIG. 1B includes a one-to-one configuration of touch-sensor
`buttons to capacitance sensors. There are other conventional 55
`configurations that may use less capacitance sensors to mea(cid:173)
`sure the capacitance on the three touch-sensor buttons. These
`conventional configurations, however, still require a one-to(cid:173)
`one configuration of pins to touch-sensor buttons. Accord(cid:173)
`ingly, by adding more buttons, the processing device needs to 60
`have more pins to correspond to the one-to-one configuration
`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 65
`measurement data, differential counts, baseline measurement
`data, and the like), increases by increasing the pin count.
`
`The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and
`not by way oflimitation, in the figures 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-
`15 lator.
`FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of a
`capacitance sensor including a relaxation oscillator and digi(cid:173)
`tal counter.
`FIG. SA illustrates a top-side view of one embodiment of a
`20 sensor array having a plurality of sensor elements for detect(cid:173)
`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-
`25 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
`30 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.
`FI G. 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.
`FI G. 7B illustrates another embodiment of a sensing device
`having five touch-sensor buttons.
`
`35
`
`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(cid:173)
`cific details such as examples of specific systems, compo(cid:173)
`nents, methods, and so forth, in order to provide a good
`understanding of several embodiments of the present inven(cid:173)
`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 specific details. In other instances,
`well-known components or methods are not described in
`detail or are presented in simple block diagram format in
`order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention.
`Thus, the specific 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-
`
`BLACKBERRY EX. 1001, Pg. 14
`
`

`

`US 8,004,497 B2
`
`3
`ment, the apparatus may include a sensing device (e.g., touch(cid:173)
`sensor button) that has first, second, and third sensor ele(cid:173)
`ments. The third sensor element has a first portion coupled to
`the first 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 configuration has 10
`implemented a one-to-one configuration of sensor elements
`to pins of the processing device, each button added requires
`an additional pin on the processing device. Vsing only two
`pins, the scan time does not increase by adding additional
`buttons to implement three or more buttons on the sensing 15
`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(cid:173)
`modate additional program data and/or temporary data (e.g.,
`raw measurement data, differential counts, baseline measure(cid:173)
`ment data, and the like) for the additional buttons.
`The sensing device may use two capacitive switch relax(cid:173)
`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
`other pin. 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 35
`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 first sensing 40
`area, the second sensor element has 50% of the first 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(cid:173)
`tive object, the processing device can distinguish between the
`presence of the conductive object on the first, second, and
`third sensor elements. For example, if the capacitance varia(cid:173)
`tion 01 , measured on the first pin, is greater than zero, and the 50
`capacitance variation O2 , measured on the second pin is equal
`to approximately zero, then the first button has been pressed.
`Similarly, if the capacitance variation 01 , measured on the
`first pin, is equal to the capacitance variation O2 , measured on
`the second pin, then the second button has been pressed. If the 55
`capacitance variation 0 l' measured on the first pin, is equal to
`approximately zero, and the capacitance variation O2 , mea(cid:173)
`sured on the second pin is greater than zero, then the third
`button has been pressed.
`The embodiments herein may be beneficial to help reduce 60
`the pin connt 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 fnnctional(cid:173)
`ity, slider fnnctionality, or the like. Furthennore, the embodi- 65
`ments may be beneficial to help reduce the scan time of the
`sensing device. V sing two pins of the processing device to
`
`4
`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(cid:173)
`figuration (e.g., one-to-one configuration). In addition, using
`two pins reduces the RAM/FLASH space needed in the sens(cid:173)
`ing device, as compared to the conventional configuration.
`The embodiments described herein may be used in differ(cid:173)
`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(cid:173)
`ics, 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 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(cid:173)
`sensor slider 230, touch-sensor buttons 240, host processor
`20 250, 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 Progrannnable Interconnect and Logic
`25 ("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 configured to
`implement a variety of digital logic circuits (e.g., DAC, digi(cid:173)
`tal filters, digital control systems, etc.) using, in one embodi-
`30 ment, configurable user modules ("VMs"). 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 flash 204. RAM 205 may be static
`RAM (SRAM), and program flash 204 may be a non-volatile
`storage, which may be used to store finnware (e.g., control
`algorithms executable by processing core 202 to implement
`operations described herein). Processing device 210 may also
`include a memory controller unit (MCV) 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
`configured to implement a variety of analog circuits (e.g.,
`ADC, analog filters, etc.) using, in one embodiment, config-
`45 urable VMs. 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-sensor pad 220, touch-sensor slider 230, touch(cid:173)
`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(cid:173)
`tations, but can be used in other capacitive sensing implemen(cid:173)
`tations, for example, the sensing device may be a touch(cid:173)
`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(cid:173)
`tions, but can include other operations, such as lighting con(cid:173)
`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(cid:173)
`junction with non-capacitive sensing elements, including but
`not limited to pick buttons, sliders (ex. display brightness and
`
`BLACKBERRY EX. 1001, Pg. 15
`
`

`

`US 8,004,497 B2
`
`5
`contrast), scroll-wheels, multi-media control (ex. volume,
`track advance, etc) handwriting recognition and numeric key(cid:173)
`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(cid:173)
`dimension sensor array. The multi-dimension sensor array
`comprises a plurality of sensor elements, organized as rows
`and colunms. In another embodiment, the electronic system
`200 includes a touch-sensor slider 230 coupled to the pro(cid:173)
`cessing device 210 via bus 231. Touch-sensor slider 230 may
`include a single-dimension sensor array. The single-dimen(cid:173)
`sion sensor array comprises a plurality of sensor elements,
`organized as rows, or alternatively, as colunms. In another
`embodiment, the electronic system 200 includes a touch(cid:173)
`sensor button 240 coupled to the processing device 210 via
`bus 241. Touch-sensor button 240 may include a single-di(ci