(12) United States Patent
`Grivna et al.
`
`(10) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 9,069.405 B2
`Jun. 30, 2015
`
`USOO9069405B2
`
`(54)
`
`(75)
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`(73)
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`(*)
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`(21)
`(22)
`(65)
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`(60)
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`(51)
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`(52)
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`(58)
`
`DYNAMIC MODE SWITCHING FOR FAST
`TOUCH RESPONSE
`
`Inventors: Edward Grivna, Brooklyn Park, MN
`(US); Jason Baumbach, Campell, CA
`(US); David Bordui, Lake Mary, FL
`(US); Weibiao Zhang, Shanghai (CN);
`MingChan Chen, Taiwan (TW); Tao
`Peng, Shanghai (CN)
`
`Assignee: CYPRESS SEMICONDUCTOR
`CORPORATION, San Jose, CA (US)
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 174 days.
`
`Notice:
`
`Appl. No.: 12/844,798
`
`Filed:
`
`Jul. 27, 2010
`
`Prior Publication Data
`US 2011 FOO25629 A1
`Feb. 3, 2011
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`Provisional application No. 61/229.236, filed on Jul.
`28, 2009.
`
`(2006.01)
`(2006.01)
`(2006.01)
`
`Int. C.
`G06F 3/045
`G06F 3/04
`G06F 3/044
`U.S. C.
`CPC .............. G06F 3/0416 (2013.01); G06F 3/044
`(2013.01); G06F 2203/04808 (2013.01)
`Field of Classification Search
`USPC .......................................... 345/156, 173-174
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`(56)
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`(Continued)
`Primary Examiner – Christopher E Leiby
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Lowenstein Sandler LLP
`(57)
`ABSTRACT
`A method of operating a touch-sensing Surface may include
`determining a presence of at least one conductive object at the
`touch-sensing Surface by performing a search measurement
`of a first set of sensor elements of the touch-sensing Surface,
`and in response to determining the presence of the at least one
`conductive object, determining a location of the at least one
`conductive object by performing a tracking measurement of a
`second set of sensor elements of the touch-sensing Surface.
`29 Claims, 8 Drawing Sheets
`
`eiectronic system
`(0.
`
`analog bits
`15
`
`:
`
`touch-sensing
`surface
`6
`
`sensor array
`12l
`
`were G
`
`121(1) - 121(N)
`
`processing device. 10
`
`w
`
`eapacitanee
`Seis
`
`M
`N-13(1) - 113(N)
`
`processing
`logic
`102
`
`
`
`non-sensing
`actions
`103
`
`
`
`lost S ()
`
`decision logic
`51
`
`applications
`
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`US 9,069.405 B2
`Page 2
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`US 9,069.405 B2
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`* cited by examiner
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jun. 30, 2015
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`Sheet 3 of 8
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`US 9,069.405 B2
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`Sheet 4 of 8
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`US 9,069.405 B2
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`Sheet 5 of 8
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`Jun. 30, 2015
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`Sheet 6 of 8
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`US 9,069.405 B2
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`contact detection and
`location process
`5OO
`
`1.
`
`perform a search scan of a first subset of sensor
`elements of a touch-sensing surface to determine a
`presence of at least one contact at the touch-sensing
`surface (search mode - self capacitance).
`502
`
`
`
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`presence of N
`contact detected? --
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`-
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`
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`
`perform a tracking scan of a second subset of sensor
`elements of the touch-sensing surface
`(track mode - mutual capacitance).
`506
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`
`^ -
`
`FIGURE 5
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`Jun. 30, 2015
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`Sheet 7 of 8
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`US 9,069.405 B2
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`contact detection and
`location process
`600
`
`1.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`O
`
`
`
`
`
`O
`
`perform a search scan on the next zone to determine
`a presence of at least one contact at the touch
`sensing surface (search mode).
`6O2
`
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`
`
`perform a tracking scan of a second subset of sensor
`elements of the touch-sensing surface (track mode).
`606
`
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`608
`.
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`FIGURE 6
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jun. 30, 2015
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`Sheet 8 of 8
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`US 9,069.405 B2
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`COntact
`detection and
`location process
`- 700
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`perform a search scan of alternate rows to determine a presence of at
`least one contact at the touch-sensing surface (search mode).
`702
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`s
`-
`- presence of 's
`S contact detected? - -
`s is 704 -
`*
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`yes
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`x.
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`perform a scan of alternate columns to
`identify an active column element.
`7O6
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`identify an active subset of row sensor elements based on the row at
`which the contact was last detected.
`708
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`identify an active subset of column sensor elements based on the
`column at which the contact was last detected.
`710
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`scan the sensor elements in the active row and column subsets to
`determine an updated location of the at least one contact.
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`R
`u-
`S
`- contact lost? is
`o-
`a-ye
`is
`716 -
`y
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`FIGURE 7
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`1.
`DYNAMIC MODE SWITCHING FOR FAST
`TOUCH RESPONSE
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`US 9,069,405 B2
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`RELATED APPLICATIONS
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`This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
`Application No. 61/229.236, filed on Jul. 28, 2009.
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`TECHNICAL FIELD
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`This disclosure relates to the field of touchscreen control
`lers and, in particular, to decreasing response time by using
`different sensing modes of a touchscreen controller.
`
`BACKGROUND
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`Computing devices, such as notebook computers, personal
`data assistants (PDAs), kiosks, and mobile handsets, have
`user interface devices, which are also known as human inter
`face devices (HID). One user interface device that has
`become more common is a touch-sensorpad (also commonly
`referred to as a touchpad). A basic notebook computer touch
`sensorpad emulates the function of a personal computer (PC)
`mouse. A touch-sensor pad is typically embedded into a PC
`notebook for built-in portability. A touch-sensor pad repli
`cates mouse X/Y movement by using two defined axes which
`containa collection of sensorelements that detect the position
`of one or more conductive objects, such as a finger. Mouse
`right/left button clicks can be replicated by two mechanical
`buttons, located in the vicinity of the touchpad, or by tapping
`commands on the touch-sensor pad itself. The touch-sensor
`pad provides a user interface device for performing such
`functions as positioning a pointer, or selecting an item on a
`display. These touch-sensor pads may include multi-dimen
`sional sensor arrays for detecting movement in multiple axes.
`The sensor array may includea one-dimensional sensor array,
`detecting movement in one axis. The sensor array may also be
`two dimensional, detecting movements in two axes.
`Another user interface device that has become more com
`mon is a touch screen. Touch screens, also known as touch
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`screens, touch windows, touch panels, or touchscreen panels,
`are transparent display overlays which are typically either
`pressure-sensitive (resistive or piezoelectric), electrically
`sensitive (capacitive), acoustically-sensitive (Surface acous
`tic wave (SAW)) or photo-sensitive (infra-red). The effect of
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`Such overlays allows a display to be used as an input device,
`removing the keyboard and/or the mouse as the primary input
`device for interacting with the display's content. Such dis
`plays can be attached to computers or, as terminals, to net
`works. Touch screens have become familiar in retail settings,
`on point-of-sale systems, on ATMs, on mobile handsets, on
`kiosks, on game consoles, and on PDAS where a stylus is
`Sometimes used to manipulate the graphical user interface
`(GUI) and to enter data. A user can touch a touch screen or a
`touch-sensor pad to manipulate data. For example, a user can
`apply a single touch, by using a finger to touch the Surface of
`a touch screen, to select an item from a menu.
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`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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`The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example,
`and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompa
`nying drawings.
`FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an
`electronic system that processes touch sensor data.
`FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an
`electronic system that processes touch sensor data.
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`FIG. 3A illustrates a touchscreen controller and sensor
`array, according to an embodiment.
`FIG. 3B illustrates a touchscreen controller and sensor
`array, according to an embodiment.
`FIG. 4 illustrates a touchscreen controller and sensor array,
`according to an embodiment.
`FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for detecting
`and locating a conductive object at a touch-sensing Surface,
`according to an embodiment.
`FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for detecting
`and locating a conductive object at a touch-sensing Surface,
`according to an embodiment.
`FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for detecting
`and locating a conductive object at a touch-sensing Surface,
`according to an embodiment.
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`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`The following description sets forth numerous specific
`details such as examples of specific systems, components,
`methods, and so forth, in order to provide a good understand
`ing of several embodiments of the present invention. It will be
`apparent to one skilled in the art, however, that at least some
`embodiments of the present invention may be practiced with
`out these specific details. In other instances, well-known
`components or methods are not described in detail or are
`presented in a simple block diagram format in order to avoid
`unnecessarily obscuring the present invention. Thus, the spe
`cific details set forth are merely exemplary. Particular imple
`mentations may vary from these exemplary details and still be
`contemplated to be within the spirit and scope of the present
`invention.
`Described herein is a method and apparatus for determin
`ing a presence and location of one or more conductive objects
`in contact with or proximate to a touch-sensing Surface. As
`described herein, a contact may be detected when a conduc
`tive object (e.g., a finger) physically touches the touch-sens
`ing Surface, or may be caused by a conductive object in
`proximity to the touch-sensing Surface.
`One method for Scanning a touch-sensing Surface Such as a
`touchpad or touchscreen involves scanning or measuring
`changes in self capacitance associated with each row or col
`umn sensor element in the touch-sensing Surface. Thus, per
`forming a scan of the entire touch-sensing Surface may
`include taking a number of measurements equal to the Sum of
`the number of row elements plus the number of column
`elements.
`All-points sensing of the touch-sensing Surface, in which
`the locations of multiple contacts at the touch-sensing Surface
`are determined, may be performed using mutual capacitance
`measurements. Since mutual capacitance measurements are
`taken between a pair of sensor elements, such as a row sensor
`element and a column sensor element, the number of mea
`Surements for scanning the entire touch-sensing Surface may
`be equal to the number of row elements multiplied by the
`number of column elements. As compared to the method for
`determining a contact location using self capacitance mea
`Surements, the mutual capacitance method for all-points
`detection uses more measurements and may have slower
`touch response. Since fewer measurements are performed
`when using self capacitance to determine a touch presence, it
`may also consume less power than using only mutual capaci
`tance measurements, and thus provide benefits in hand-held
`or similar devices operating from battery-powered Supplies.
`One key measure or benchmark for user experience is the
`first-touch response time. The first-touch response time is the
`time between when a user initiates a contact with the touch
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`3
`sensing Surface, for example, by placing a finger or other
`object on the surface, and the time when a resolved location of
`the contact is reported to the system. For a touch-sensing
`Surface using all-point Scanning, the first-touch response time
`can extend to as much as twice the duration of time for
`performing a full scan of the touch-sensing Surface. The rea
`son for this extended delay is that a contact occurring just
`after the full-panel scan has started may be missed by the
`measurements taken during the remaining portion of that first
`scan period. Such a contact would not be reported following
`the first scan, but would be detected by a second scan of the
`entire touch-sensing Surface and reported to the system fol
`lowing the second Scan.
`One embodimentofa touch-sensing system can reduce this
`first-touch response time to the duration of a full scan and
`processing of the touch-sensing Surface plus some Small addi
`tional duration. In one embodiment, the touch sensing Surface
`may operate in two different modes: a search mode and a
`tracking mode. When operating in the search mode, the pres
`ence of at least one contact at the touch-sensing Surface may
`be detected. In response to detecting the presence of the at
`least one contact, the mode of operation Switches to the track
`ing mode, where the presence and location of the at least one
`contact, as well as the presences and locations of any other
`contacts at the touch-sensing Surface, may be detected and
`reported to the system. In one embodiment, the system may
`perform self-capacitance measurements while in search
`mode and mutual capacitance measurements while in track
`ing mode.
`FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of an
`electronic system 100 including a processing device 110 that
`may be configured to operate using a search mode and a
`tracking mode. The electronic device 100 includes a touch
`sensing Surface 116 (e.g., a touchscreen, or a touch pad)
`coupled to a processing device 110 and a host 150. In one
`embodiment, the touch-sensing Surface 116 is a two-dimen
`sional user interface that uses a sensor array 121 to detect
`touches on the surface 116.
`In one embodiment, the sensor array 121 includes sensor
`elements 121(1)-121(N) (where N is a positive integer) that
`are disposed as a two-dimensional matrix (also referred to as
`an XY matrix). The sensor array 121 is coupled to pins 113
`(1)-113(N) of the processing device 110 via one or more
`analog buses 115 transporting multiple signals. In this
`embodiment, each sensor element 121(1)-121(N) is repre
`sented as a capacitor. The self capacitance of each sensor in
`the sensor array 121 is measured by a capacitance sensor 101
`in the processing device 110.
`In one embodiment, the capacitance sensor 101 may
`include a relaxation oscillator or other means to convert a
`capacitance into a measured value. The capacitance sensor
`101 may also include a counter or timer to measure the oscil
`lator output. The capacitance sensor 101 may further include
`Software components to convert the count value (e.g., capaci
`tance value) into a sensor element detection decision (also
`referred to as Switch detection decision) or relative magni
`tude. It should be noted that there are various known methods
`for measuring capacitance, such as current versus Voltage
`phase shift measurement, resistor-capacitor charge timing,
`capacitive bridge divider, charge transfer, Successive approxi
`mation, Sigma-delta modulators, charge-accumulation cir
`cuits, field effect, mutual capacitance, frequency shift, or
`other capacitance measurement algorithms. It should be
`noted however, instead of evaluating the raw counts relative to
`a threshold, the capacitance sensor 101 may be evaluating
`other measurements to determine the user interaction. For
`example, in the capacitance sensor 101 having a sigma-delta
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`modulator, the capacitance sensor 101 is evaluating the ratio
`of pulse widths of the output, instead of the raw counts being
`over or under a certain threshold.
`In one embodiment, the processing device 110 further
`includes processing logic 102. Operations of the processing
`logic 102 may be implemented in firmware; alternatively, it
`may be implemented inhardware or Software. The processing
`logic 102 may receive signals from the capacitance sensor
`101, and determine the state of the sensor array 121, such as
`whetheran object (e.g., a finger) is detected on or in proximity
`to the sensor array 121 (e.g., determining the presence of the
`object), where the object is detected on the sensor array (e.g.,
`determining the location of the object), tracking the motion of
`the object, or other information related to an object detected at
`the touch sensor.
`In another embodiment, instead of performing the opera
`tions of the processing logic 102 in the processing device 110.
`the processing device 110 may send the raw data or partially
`processed data to the host 150. The host 150, as illustrated in
`FIG.1, may include decision logic 151 that performs some or
`all of the operations of the processing logic 102. Operations
`of the decision logic 151 may be implemented in firmware,
`hardware, software, or a combination thereof. The host 150
`may include a high-level Application Programming Interface
`(API) in applications 152 that perform routines on the
`received data, Such as compensating for sensitivity differ
`ences, other compensation algorithms, baseline update rou
`tines, start-up and/or initialization routines, interpolation
`operations, or scaling operations. The operations described
`with respect to the processing logic 102 may be implemented
`in the decision logic 151, the applications 152, or in other
`hardware, software, and/or firmware external to the process
`ing device 110. In some other embodiments, the processing
`device 110 is the host 150.
`In another embodiment, the processing device 110 may
`also include a non-sensing actions block 103. This block 103
`may be used to process and/or receive/transmit data to and
`from the host 150. For example, additional components may
`be implemented to operate with the processing device 110
`along with the sensor array 121 (e.g., keyboard, keypad,
`mouse, trackball, LEDs, displays, or other peripheral
`devices).
`The processing device 110 may reside on a common carrier
`Substrate Such as, for example, an integrated circuit (IC) die
`substrate, or a multi-chip module substrate. Alternatively, the
`components of the processing device 110 may be one or more
`separate integrated circuits and/or discrete components. In
`one embodiment, the processing device 110 may be the Pro
`grammable System on a Chip (PSOCTM) processing device,
`developed by Cypress Semiconductor Corporation, San Jose,
`Calif. Alternatively, the processing device 110 may be one or
`more other processing devices known by those of ordinary
`skill in the art, such as a microprocessor or central processing
`unit, a controller, special-purpose processor, digital signal
`processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit
`(ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other
`programmable device. In an alternative embodiment, for
`example, the processing device 110 may be a network pro
`cessor having multiple processors including a core unit and
`multiple micro-engines. Additionally, the processing device
`110 may include any combination of general-purpose pro
`cessing device(s) and special-purpose processing device(s).
`In one embodiment, the electronic system 100 is imple
`mented in a device that includes the touch-sensing Surface
`116 as the user interface. Such as handheld electronics, por
`table telephones, cellular telephones, notebook computers;
`personal computers, personal data assistants (PDAs), kiosks,
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`5
`keyboards, televisions, remote controls, monitors, handheld
`multi-media devices, handheld video players, gaming
`devices, control panels of a household or industrial appli
`ances, or other computer peripheral or input devices. Alter
`natively, the electronic system 100 may be used in other types
`of devices. It should be noted that the components of elec
`tronic system 100 may include all the components described
`above. Alternatively, electronic system 100 may include only
`Some of the components described above, or include addi
`tional components not listed herein.
`FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a
`capacitive touch sensor array 121 and a capacitance sensor
`101 that may be configured to operate using a search mode
`and a tracking mode. In one embodiment, sensor array 220
`and capacitance sensor 201 are implemented in a system Such
`as electronic system 100. Sensor array 220 includes a matrix
`225 of NXM electrodes (N receive electrodes and M transmit
`electrodes), which further includes transmit (TX) electrode
`222 and receive (RX) electrode 223. Each of the electrodes in
`matrix 225 is connected with capacitance sensor circuit 201
`through demultiplexer 212 and multiplexer 213.
`Capacitance sensor 201 includes multiplexer control 211,
`demultiplexer 212, multiplexer 213, clock generator 214, sig
`nal generator 215, demodulation circuit 216, and analog to
`digital converter (ADC) 217. ADC 217 is further coupled
`with touch coordinate converter 218. Touch coordinate con
`Verter 218 outputs a signal that may be received by processing
`logic, such as processing logic 102.
`Signal generator 215 is further coupled to multiplexers 232
`and 233. Multiplexer 232 is configured to selectively connect
`signal generator 215 with either V or V, while multi
`plexer 233 is configured to connect signal