(19) United States
`(12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2011/0148801 A1
`(43) Pub. Date:
`Jun. 23, 2011
`Bateman et al.
`
`US 201101488O1A1
`
`(54)
`
`TOUCH PANEL REGION OF INTEREST
`REPORTING SCHEME
`
`(76)
`
`Inventors:
`
`Steven S. Bateman, Portland, OR
`(US); David L. Graumann,
`Portland, OR (US); John J. Valavi,
`Beaverton, OR (US)
`
`(21)
`
`Appl. No.:
`
`12/641,796
`
`(22)
`
`Filed:
`
`Dec. 18, 2009
`
`Publication Classification
`
`(51) Int. Cl.
`(2006.01)
`G06F 3/045
`(52) U.S. Cl. ........................................................ 345/174
`(57)
`ABSTRACT
`A system and method provide for receiving touch panel raw
`data and identifying data of interest in the raw data. One or
`more events may be detected based on the data of interest and
`a touch processing policy. In one example, the receiving and
`the identifying are conducted by a touch panel controller, and
`the detecting is conducted by a host processor. Other tech
`niques, such as Subsurface scanning and hybrid Scanning may
`also be used.
`
`Touch Controller Firmware
`
`Host Processor Software
`
`38 2
`
`Generate raw data for touch
`panel and apply physical
`layer signal conditioning
`
`Evaluate data against low
`threshold
`
`Generate compressed report
`of conditioned data where
`threshold exceeded
`
`46
`
`data to report to
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`36 -
`Apply application-specific
`and usage specific
`processing to data report
`
`Send final touch data event
`to OS and/or applications
`
`50
`
`DELL EXHIBIT 1044 PAGE 1
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication
`
`Jun. 23, 2011 Sheet 1 of 4
`
`US 2011/O148801 A1
`
`Computing System
`10
`
`Touch Panel
`
`24
`
`
`
`Sensor
`
`Firmware
`
`Host
`Processor
`
`is
`
`storage
`
`FIG. 1
`
`Touch Controller Firmware
`40
`38
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Host Processor Software
`36
`
`
`
`48
`
`Generate raw data for touch
`panel and apply physical --
`layer signal conditioning
`
`Apply application-specific
`and usage specific
`processing to data report
`
`
`
`
`
`Evaluate data against low
`threshold
`
`Generate compressed report
`of conditioned data where
`threshold cxcecdcd
`
`Send final touch data event
`to OS and/or applications
`
`50
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`DELL EXHIBIT 1044 PAGE 2
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication
`
`Jun. 23, 2011 Sheet 2 of 4
`
`US 2011/O148801 A1
`
`- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
`Touch Controller Firmware
`54
`66
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Update Scan region
`
`Scan panel only inside the
`current allowed region(s).
`Generate touch data report
`
`data to report to
`
`
`
`HOSt Processor
`Software
`
`ro-D-
`
`Process data touch report,
`and Send events to
`applications and/or OS
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Determine if Scan region
`hould be updated based
`SOUIC OC OCCC OSCO O.
`current processor usage,
`current and historical active
`touch report, application
`centric logic, and Surface
`scan results
`
`
`
`62
`
`
`
`Scan region(s)
`
`Send new scan region to
`touch controller firmware
`
`DELL EXHIBIT 1044 PAGE 3
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication
`
`Jun. 23, 2011 Sheet 3 of 4
`
`US 2011/O148801 A1
`
`
`
`74
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Scan all rows and columns
`using Surface capacitance
`
`Apply low threshold to a
`data
`
`76
`
`
`
`
`
`Any
`rows/columns above
`threshold?
`
`s
`
`Generate union region of
`interest map of touch panel
`using all rows/columns
`above threshold
`
`Expand region of interest to
`include adjacent areas
`
`84
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Scan row/column
`combinations for all
`intersections contained in
`region of interest using
`projected capacitance
`
`86
`
`Send data report to host
`
`FIG. 4
`
`DELL EXHIBIT 1044 PAGE 4
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`

`

`Patent Application Publication
`
`Jun. 23, 2011 Sheet 4 of 4
`
`US 2011/O148801 A1
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`1.
`1.
`: Na N.1. Ne
`Na Na N1 N1
`“a N- N1 a
`N N1 Na Na
`N. Na Na Na
`N-N-N-
`
`
`
`FIG.S
`
`DELL EXHIBIT 1044 PAGE 5
`
`

`

`US 2011/0148801 A1
`
`Jun. 23, 2011
`
`TOUCH PANEL REGION OF INTEREST
`REPORTING SCHEME
`
`BACKGROUND
`1. Technical Field
`0001
`0002 Embodiments generally relate to touch panels.
`More particularly, embodiments relate to improved tech
`niques of processing raw data from touch panels.
`0003 2. Discussion
`0004 Touch panels can be deployed as user interfaces
`(UIs) in a wide variety of situations. Typically, a touch panel
`includes internal controller firmware that processes raw data
`and detects finger touches. These finger touches may be
`reported by the firmware as events to other system compo
`nents for application specific processing. Such an approach
`may have limitations due to the implementation of finger
`touch event detection in firmware, which may be difficult to
`upgrade and/or modify, and could have processing capability
`limitations.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`0005. The various advantages of the embodiments of the
`present invention will become apparent to one skilled in the
`art by reading the following specification and appended
`claims, and by referencing the following drawings, in which:
`0006 FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example of a com
`puting system according to an embodiment;
`0007 FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example of a method of
`identifying regions of interest according to an embodiment;
`0008 FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example of a method
`Subsurface Scanning according to an embodiment;
`0009 FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example of a method of
`hybrid scanning according to an embodiment;
`0010 FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example of a computing
`system having a touch panel and a housing with a notebook
`form factor according to an embodiment.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`0011 Embodiments may provide for a method in which
`touch panel raw data is received. Data of interest may be
`identified in the raw data, and an event can be detected based
`on the data of interest and a touch processing policy. The
`receiving and the identifying can be conducted by a touch
`panel controller, and the detecting may be conducted by a host
`processor.
`0012 Embodiments can also provide an apparatus includ
`ing a touch panel controller, firmware, a host processor and a
`machine readable medium. The firmware can have a stored
`set of controller instruction which, if executed by the touch
`panel controller, cause the touch panel controller to receive
`touch panel raw data and identify data of interest in the raw
`data. The machine readable medium may include a stored set
`of processor instructions which, if executed by the host pro
`cessor, cause the host processor to detect an event based on
`the data of interest and a touch processing policy.
`0013. In addition, embodiments may include a computing
`system having a housing with a notebook form factor, and a
`touch panel. The touch panel can have a touch sensor, a touch
`panel controller and firmware with a stored set of controller
`instructions which, if executed by the touch panel controller,
`cause the touch panel controller to receive touch panel raw
`data from the touch sensor. The controller instructions may
`also cause the touch panel controller to identify data of inter
`
`est in the raw data. In addition, the computing system can
`have a host processor and a machine readable medium with a
`stored set of processor instructions which, if executed by the
`host processor, cause the host processor to detect an event
`based on the data of interest and a touch processing policy.
`The touch processing policy might include a debounce com
`ponent, a finger detection component, a hand rest detection
`component, a blob detection component, a specific hand
`shape detection component, and/or a sub-hand shape detec
`tion component. The processor instructions may also cause
`the processor to forward the event to another process such as
`an operation system (OS) navigation process and/or an on
`screen keyboard application process.
`0014 Turning now to FIG. 1, a computing system 10 is
`shown, wherein the system 10 may be part of a mobile plat
`form Such as a laptop, personal digital assistant (PDA), wire
`less Smartphone, media player, imaging device, etc., or any
`combination thereof. The system 10 may also be part of a
`fixed platform Such as a personal computer (PC), server,
`workstation, etc. The illustrated system 10 includes a host
`processor 12 that might include an integrated memory con
`troller (not shown) that provides access to system memory 14,
`which could include dual data rate (DDR) synchronous
`dynamic random access memory (SDRAM, e.g., DDR3
`SDRAMJEDEC Standard JESD79-3C, April 2008) mod
`ules. The modules of the system memory 14 may be incor
`porated into a single inline memory module (SIMM), dual
`inline memory module (DIMM), small outline DIMM
`(SODIMM), and so on. The processor 12 may also have one
`or more processor cores (not shown), where each core may be
`fully functional with instruction fetch units, instruction
`decoders, level one (L1) cache, execution units, and so on. In
`one example, the internal cache?s) of the processor 12 could
`be implemented in static RAM (SRAM). The processor 12
`may also execute an operating system (OS) such as a
`Microsoft Windows, Linux, or Mac (Macintosh) OS, and
`various other Software applications.
`0015 The illustrated processor 12 communicates with a
`platform controller hub (PCH) 16, also known as a South
`bridge in certain systems. The PCH 16 may have internal
`controllers (not shown) such as USB (Universal Serial Bus,
`e.g., USB Specification 2.0, USB Implementers Forum),
`Serial ATA (SATA, e.g., SATA Rev. 3.0 Specification, May
`27, 2009, SATA International Organization/SATA-IO), High
`Definition Audio, and other controllers. The illustrated PCH
`16 is also coupled to one or more mass storage devices 18,
`which may include a hard drive, read only memory (ROM),
`optical disk, flash memory, etc. The PCH 16 could provide
`Support for user interface devices Such as a microphone,
`display, keypad, mouse, speakers, etc., in order to allow a user
`to interact with and perceive information from the system 10.
`0016. In particular, the PCH 16 may communicate with a
`touch panel 20 that has a touch sensor 22, a touch panel
`controller 24 and firmware 26. The controller 24 might be an
`embedded controller implemented in fixed-functionality
`hardware logic using circuit technology Such as application
`specific integrated circuit (ASIC), complementary metal
`oxide semiconductor (CMOS) or transistor-transistor logic
`(TTL) technology, or any combination thereof. In the illus
`trated example, the firmware 26, which might be imple
`mented as logic in programmable ROM (PROM) or flash
`memory, includes a set of controller instructions which, if
`executed by the controller 24, cause the controller 24 to
`receive touchpanel raw data 28 from the touch sensor 22, and
`
`DELL EXHIBIT 1044 PAGE 6
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`

`

`US 2011/0148801 A1
`
`Jun. 23, 2011
`
`identify data of interest 30 in the raw data 28. The data of
`interest 30 may be passed to the host processor 12 via the PCH
`16 for further processing.
`0017. In particular, machine readable media such as the
`mass storage device 18, System memory 14 or internal caches
`of the processor 12 may include a stored set of processor
`instructions which, if executed by the processor 12, cause the
`processor 12 to detect one or more events 32 based on the data
`of interest 30 and a touch processing policy. The touch pro
`cessing policy, which may be readily modified via a software
`upgrade, might include, for example, a debounce algorithm
`component, a finger detection component, a hand rest detec
`tion component, a non-finger (e.g., blob) detection compo
`nent, a specific hand shape detection component, and/or a
`Sub-hand shape detection component. The processor instruc
`tions may also cause the processor 12 to forward the events 32
`to other software components such as an OS navigation pro
`cess or an on-screen keyboard application process.
`0018 Thus, the illustrated approach enables the system 10
`to apply varying touch processing policies to the data of
`interest 30 without changing the firmware 26 or adding to the
`gate count within the controller 24. When appropriate, the
`much greater processing capability of the host processor 12
`can be applied to extract the most value from the touch panel
`raw data 28. The touch processing policy can be changed
`on-demand at run time, or via an upgrade, which may be
`easier to accomplish on the machine readable media used by
`the host processor 12 than in the firmware 26. For example,
`when supporting an on-screen keyboard usage, different data
`tracking and filtering rules may be appropriate compared with
`the tracking and filtering rules applied when navigating the
`OS. Also, in an expanding/non-mature usage area like human
`computer interaction using touch, the ability to quickly
`upgrade functionality may be critical to realizing market
`value for the computing system 10.
`0019 Moreover, a key concept may be allowing the host
`processor 12 to idle when no data of interest 30 is present,
`which can be advantageous for mobile computers and hand
`held devices that are battery powered. In addition, sending the
`data of interest rather than the entire touch panel raw data 28
`may help to minimize the amount of host processing and
`bandwidth required.
`0020 FIG. 2 shows a method 34 of identifying regions of
`interest in touch panel raw data in greater detail. The method
`34 may be implemented in executable software as a set of
`logic instructions stored in a machine- or computer-readable
`medium of a memory Such as random access memory
`(RAM), read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM
`(PROM), flash memory, etc., in fixed-functionality hardware
`using circuit technology Such as application specific inte
`grated circuit (ASIC), complementary metal oxide semicon
`ductor (CMOS) or transistor-transistor logic (TTL) technol
`ogy, or any combination thereof. For example, computer
`program code to carry out operations shown in a Software
`process 36 of the method 34 may be written in any combina
`tion of one or more programming languages, including an
`object oriented programming language Such as Java, Small
`talk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural program
`ming languages, such as the 'C' programming language or
`similar programming languages. On the other hand, fixed
`functionality hardware or lower-level instructions such as
`assembly language programming or machine code might be
`used to carry out operations shown in a firmware process 38
`of the method 34.
`
`0021. As already noted, the touch controller firmware pro
`cess 38 and host processor Software process 36 can coopera
`tively operate using a predefined software interface and an
`established division of responsibility for the data processing.
`The illustrated touch controller firmware process 38 is
`responsible for managing the physical sensing of the touch
`panel and applying low-level corrections to the raw data to
`assure data linearity and other correction factors to compen
`sate for variations due to environmental factors such as tem
`perature and unit to unit variation, and a calibrated Zero oper
`ating point/baseline. Thus, processing block 40 may provide
`for generating raw data for the touch panel and applying
`physical layer signal conditioning to the raw data. The touch
`controller firmware process 38 can also have the responsibil
`ity for detecting data of interest by applying a relatively low
`threshold to the raw data or other means. Thus, illustrated
`block 42 provides for evaluating the raw data against the
`threshold. The touch controller developer may select this
`threshold based on knowledge of expected noise levels and
`the physical nature of the touch sensor. Only areas and areas
`two-dimensionally adjacent to where data exceeds the thresh
`old might be categorized as “interesting. No other policy or
`action need be applied to the data by the firmware process 38.
`0022. Block 44 provides for generating a compressed
`report of conditioned data where the threshold is exceeded.
`Block 46 may provide for detecting data of interest for every
`fixed touch panel scan interval, and if any exists, forwarding
`the data of interest to the host processor for further process
`ing. The host software process 36 may remain idle until it
`receives a data report from the firmware process 38. The host
`Software process 36 can then analyze and process the data.
`For example, application-specific and usage specific process
`ing can be applied to the data report at block 48. In particular,
`the current touch processing policy may be applied to the
`data, wherein the touch processing policy could include any
`one or any combination of the following depending on the
`current system usage model: specific and different debounce
`algorithms, finger detection, hand rest detection, non-finger
`(blob) detection, specific hand shape or Sub-hand shape
`detection. The host processing algorithm can then forward the
`detected events to the operating system or directly to appli
`cations as appropriate at block 50.
`0023. Simply put, the illustrated method 34 can help to
`minimize data traffic and host processing while preserving
`the ability to perform usage-model specific data processing.
`In addition, these techniques may enable host processing of
`touch panel data while preserving host battery life. Host
`processing of touch panel data could enable advanced and
`usage-specific touch capabilities on a standard set of touch
`sensing hardware/firmware.
`0024 Turning now to FIG. 3, a method 52 of “subsurface
`scanning is shown. Generally, Subsurface scanning can be
`utilized in conjunction with the above techniques or sepa
`rately. In many projected capacitive touch systems, each X/y
`data point that is scanned can cost the system a unit of time by
`consuming analog to digital converter time and data commu
`nication and processing time. In many systems there may be
`a direct trade off between time to scan the panel and the
`number of data points being scanned. This tradeoff may be
`“non-linear, however, depending on the specific design of
`the panel and the specific data points in question, due to
`hardware parallelization or other design choices. Rather than
`attempting to Scan the entire Surface of the touch sensor in a
`
`DELL EXHIBIT 1044 PAGE 7
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`

`

`US 2011/0148801 A1
`
`Jun. 23, 2011
`
`minimum unit of time, illustrated Subsurface scanning
`approach can reduce the Scanning of areas that are known
`a-priori to be not of interest.
`0025. For example, a static region of interest around an
`active area Such as a keyboard could be defined, or a dynamic,
`discontiguous region around touches from the last scan could
`be defined. Reducing scanning outside of the region of inter
`est may free up time that can be used in a number of ways: (1)
`the touch controller can idle, reducing power consumption,
`and (2) the touch controller firmware can utilize the time by
`repeating data measurements in a region of interest, for
`example in X/y locations where touch is currently occurring.
`By generating extra data points in these areas, the effective
`scan rate of areas where touch is currently occurring may be
`increased. An increase in Scan rate can be very beneficial to
`noise mitigation, averaging for position determination, and
`tracking processing algorithms.
`0026. Thus, the illustrated method 52 includes a touch
`controller firmware process 54 and a host software process
`56, in which processing block 58 provides for processing a
`data touch report containing data of interest, and sending one
`or more events to other applications and/or the OS. Block 60
`provides for determining if the scan region used by the firm
`ware process 54 should be updated based on one or more
`factors such as, current processor usage, the current active
`touch report, an historical active touch report, application
`centric logic and a surface capacitance scan result. If it is
`determined at block 62 that based on these factors a new scan
`region is needed, illustrated block 64 provides for sending the
`new scan region to the touch controller firmware process 54.
`where the scan region may be updated at block 66.
`0027 Block 68 provides for scanning only the portion of
`the touchpanel that is within the scan region to obtain the raw
`data and generating a touch data report as already described
`with regard to blocks 42 and 44 (FIG. 2). If it is determined at
`block 46 that there is any data to report to the host software
`process 56, a report containing Such data may be transmitted
`by the controller firmware process 54.
`0028. Thus, the method 52 may enable a capacitive touch
`Solution to control, in Software, the area that is being scanned.
`In particular, the capacitive touch solution can overscan an
`area of the touch panel while ignoring other areas of the panel.
`Since areas of a touch screen being touched are generally
`more interesting to the system, this aspect can increase the
`performance of a touch sensing Solution and/or decrease
`touch sensing cost as less hardware is required for the average
`human-computer touch scenario.
`0029 FIG. 4 shows a method 70 of “hybrid scanning” in
`conjunction with a visual example 72. Generally, the illus
`trated method 70 may be implemented in touch controller
`firmware to perform both surface capacitance and projected
`capacitance. In particular, the touch controller can use Surface
`capacitance as a pre-measurement to determine areas of the
`touch panel where touches are occurring. Thus, block 74 may
`provide for conducting a Surface capacitance Scan of the
`touch panel, and illustrated block 76 applies a relatively low
`threshold to the resulting raw data to obtain a region of inter
`est in the touch panel. If it is determined at block 78 that any
`of the scanned rows/columns exceed the threshold, the touch
`controller may then use projected capacitance to scan only the
`row/column intercepts of rows and columns that were deter
`mined to contain touches during the previous Surface capaci
`tance measurement. Thus, block 80 can provide for generat
`ing a union region of interest map of the touch panel using the
`
`rows/columns that are above the threshold. In addition, the
`region of interest can be expanded at block 82 to include one
`or more areas adjacent to the original region of interest. Block
`84 provides for conducting a projected capacitance scan of
`the expanded region of interest to identify the data of interest.
`The resulting data report can be sent to the host software
`process at block 86.
`0030 The result may be that all areas of the panel where
`touches are occurring can be scanned using projected capaci
`tance, and areas that do not contain touches can be skipped.
`Accordingly, there may be an average increase in panel scan
`rate, particularly in Systems where average occurring touches
`are a small percentage of the total touch panel (e.g., single or
`multiple finger touches). The faster average scan rate can
`allow less costly hardware to Support a given touch sensor
`glass size. This technique may be particularly useful with
`larger touch panels still designed for a single user (e.g., note
`book form factors).
`0031 Moreover, in a surface capacitance measurement, an
`entire row or column can be measured at once resulting in a
`single scalar measurement. Typically, every row and column
`is scanned providing 2 single-dimensional arrays of data. The
`scan time for Such a measurement, for a non-parallelized
`hardware system, is equal to Surface capacitance scan time
`(number of rows--number of columns). In a projected capaci
`tance measurement, on the other hand, each row/column
`intersection might be scanned individually (or in some paral
`lel fashion depending on touch controller/touch sensor
`design), resulting in a two-dimensional bitmap of scalar data.
`Thus, the scan time for Such a measurement, for a non-paral
`lelized touch sensing system, is equal to projected capaci
`tance scantime (number of rows number of columns). Thus,
`the illustrated reduction in the number of rows and columns to
`scan using projected capacitance can be particularly advan
`tageous.
`0032 Simply put, hybrid Scanning may optimize scanning
`rates by enabling the touch solution to quickly identify areas
`where touches are present and only performing the full pro
`jected capacitance scan on those areas. Elevating scan rates
`can help to enable larger touch panels with the same hardware
`or raise the average scan rate of a given touch panel.
`0033 FIG. 5 shows a mobile computing system 86 having
`a housing with a notebook form factor, and a touch panel 88.
`As already noted, the touch panel 88 may include a touch
`sensor, a touch panel controller and firmware configured to
`identify data of interest in raw data obtained from the touch
`sensor. In addition, the system 86 may include a host proces
`Sor configured to Support region of interest processing, Sub
`Surface Scanning, and hybrid Scanning, as already discussed.
`In the illustrated example, host processor of the system 86 is
`configured to run an on-screen keyboard application process.
`Other processes might include OS navigation processes (e.g.,
`touch computing to refresh the computing system), etc.
`0034 Embodiments of the present invention are appli
`cable for use with all types of semiconductor integrated cir
`cuit (“IC) chips. Examples of these IC chips include but are
`not limited to processors, controllers, chipset components,
`programmable logic arrays (PLA), memory chips, network
`chips, and the like. In addition, in some of the drawings,
`signal conductor lines are represented with lines. Some may
`be thicker, to indicate more constituent signal paths, have a
`number label, to indicate a number of constituent signal
`paths, and/or have arrows at one or more ends, to indicate
`primary information flow direction. This, however, should
`
`DELL EXHIBIT 1044 PAGE 8
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`US 2011/0148801 A1
`
`Jun. 23, 2011
`
`not be construed in a limiting manner. Rather, such added
`detail may be used in connection with one or more exemplary
`embodiments to facilitate easier understanding of a circuit.
`Any represented signal lines, whether or not having addi
`tional information, may actually comprise one or more sig
`nals that may travel in multiple directions and may be imple
`mented with any suitable type of signal Scheme, e.g., digital
`or analog lines implemented with differential pairs, optical
`fiber lines, and/or single-ended lines.
`0035 Example sizes/models/values/ranges may have
`been given, although embodiments of the present invention
`are not limited to the same. As manufacturing techniques
`(e.g., photolithography) mature over time, it is expected that
`devices of smaller size could be manufactured. In addition,
`well known power/ground connections to IC chips and other
`components may or may not be shown within the figures, for
`simplicity of illustration and discussion, and so as not to
`obscure certain aspects of the embodiments of the invention.
`Further, arrangements may be shown in block diagram form
`in order to avoid obscuring embodiments of the invention, and
`also in view of the fact that specifics with respect to imple
`mentation of Such block diagram arrangements are highly
`dependent upon the platform within which the embodiment is
`to be implemented, i.e., such specifics should be well within
`purview of one skilled in the art. Where specific details (e.g.,
`circuits) are set forth in order to describe example embodi
`ments of the invention, it should be apparent to one skilled in
`the art that embodiments of the invention can be practiced
`without, or with variation of these specific details. The
`description is thus to be regarded as illustrative instead of
`limiting.
`0036 Some embodiments may be implemented, for
`example, using a machine or tangible computer-readable
`medium or article which may store an instruction or a set of
`instructions that, if executed by a machine, may cause the
`machine to perform a method and/or operations in accor
`dance with the embodiments. Such a machine may include,
`for example, any suitable processing platform, computing
`platform, computing device, processing device, computing
`system, processing system, computer, processor, or the like,
`and may be implemented using any Suitable combination of
`hardware and/or software. The machine-readable medium or
`article may include, for example, any Suitable type of memory
`unit, memory device, memory article, memory medium, Stor
`age device, storage article, storage medium and/or storage
`unit, for example, memory, removable or non-removable
`media, erasable or non-erasable media, writeable or re-write
`able media, digital or analog media, hard disk, floppy disk,
`Compact Disk Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), Compact
`Disk Recordable (CD-R), Compact Disk Rewriteable (CD
`RW), optical disk, magnetic media, magneto-optical media,
`removable memory cards or disks, various types of Digital
`Versatile Disk (DVD), a tape, a cassette, or the like. The
`instructions may include any Suitable type of code, such as
`Source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable
`code, static code, dynamic code, encrypted code, and the like,
`implemented using any suitable high-level, low-level, object
`oriented, visual, compiled and/or interpreted programming
`language.
`0037 Unless specifically stated otherwise, it may be
`appreciated that terms such as “processing.” “computing.”
`"calculating.” “determining,” or the like, refer to the action
`and/or processes of a computer or computing system, or
`similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and/or
`
`transforms data represented as physical quantities (e.g., elec
`tronic) within the computing system's registers and/or memo
`ries into other data similarly represented as physical quanti
`ties within the computing system's memories, registers or
`other Such information storage, transmission or display
`devices. The embodiments are not limited in this context.
`0038. The term “coupled” is used herein to refer to any
`type of relationship, direct or indirect, between the compo
`nents in question, and may apply to electrical, mechanical,
`fluid, optical, electromagnetic, electromechanical or other
`connections. In addition, the terms “first', 'second, etc. are
`used herein only to facilitate discussion, and carry no particu
`lar temporal or chronological significance unless otherwise
`indicated.
`0039 Those skilled in the art will appreciate from the
`foregoing description that the broad techniques of the
`embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in
`a variety of forms. Therefore, while the embodiments of this
`invention have been described in connection with particular
`examples thereof, the true scope of the embodiments of the
`invention should not be so limited since other modifications
`will become apparent to the skilled practitioner upon a study
`of the drawings, specification, and following claims.
`We claim:
`1. A computing system comprising:
`a housing having a notebook form factor,
`a touch panel having a touch sensor, a touch panel control
`ler and firmware with a stored set of controller instruc
`tions which, if executed by the touch panel controller,
`cause the touch panel controller to,
`receive touch panel raw data from the touch sensor, and
`identify data of interest in the raw data;
`a host processor, and
`a machine readable medium comprising a stored set of
`processor instructions which, if executed by the host
`processor, cause the host processor to,
`detect an event based on the data of interest and a touch
`processing policy, wherein the touch processing
`policy includes at least one of a debounce component,
`a finger detection component, a hand rest detection
`component, a blob detection component, a specific
`hand shape detection component and a Sub-hand
`shape detection component, and
`forward the event to at least one of an operating system
`navigation process and an on-screen keyboard appli
`cation process.
`2. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the stored set
`of processor instructions are to cause the processor to,
`generate a scan region based on at least one of a current
`processor usage, a currentactive touch report, an histori
`cal active touch report, application-centric logic, and a
`Surface capacitance scan result, and
`transmit the scan region to the touch panel controller, and
`the stored set of controller instructions are to cause the
`touch panel controller to,
`scan only a portion of the touch panel that is within the scan
`region to obtain the raw data.
`3. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the stored set
`of controller instructions are to cause the touch panel control
`ler to,
`conduct a surface capacitance scan of the touch panel to