Electronic apparatus with touch panel and method for updating touch panel

• US 10,082,899 B2
• Filed: 10/12/2010
• Issued: 09/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Novatek Microelectronics Corporation (Novatek Microelectronics Corp Limited)
• Original Assignee: Novatek Microelectronics Corporation (Novatek Microelectronics Corp Limited)
• Inventors: Chang, Hui-Hung, Wu, Meng-Hsiu
• Primary Examiner(s): ABDIN, SHAHEDA A
• Application Number:
  US12/902,156
• Publication Number:
  US 20120044158A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,905 Days
• Field of Search: 345173, 345174, 345214, 345204, 178 1801, 178 1806
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management

Abstract

An electronic apparatus with a touch panel including a host controller, an interface unit, and a touch panel control unit is provided. The host controller is used to control an electronic apparatus implemented with the host controller. The touch panel control unit is coupled to the host controller through the interface unit. The host controller transmits an updating information to the touch panel control unit with a format of the interface unit, in which the updating data is used to update the touch panel control unit. The touch panel control unit decodes the updating data to accordingly update.

Claims

1. An electronic apparatus capable of updating operation information for a touch panel in an abnormal condition, comprising:

a host controller, comprising a bus command control unit;

a touch panel control unit, comprising a first memory unit for storing the operation information of the touch panel control unit;

an interface unit, coupled between the bus command control unit of the host controller and the touch panel control unit; and

a data decision control unit, implemented in the host controller or the touch panel control unit,

wherein the host controller is configured to be able to receive an updating data and transmit the updating data to the touch panel control unit, wherein the updating data has also passed through the data decision control unit to be encoded into a format required by the touch panel control unit, and the touch panel control unit decodes the updating data and transmit the updating data to update the operation information stored in the first memory unit so as to update an internal operation of the touch panel control unit, wherein the updating data carries operation information of the touch panel control unit.

2. The electronic apparatus with the touch panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the touch panel control unit further transmits a touch testing data to the host controller through the interface unit for outputting.

3. The electronic apparatus with the touch panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the host controller comprises:

the data decision control unit; and

the bus command control unit,

wherein the data decision control unit receives and decides an input data, and transmits a decided data to the touch panel control unit through the buss command control unit,

and the data decision control unit reads a sensing data from the touch panel control unit through the bus command control unit for outputting.

4. The electronic apparatus with the touch panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the host controller comprises:

the data decision control unit;

a second memory unit; and

a bus command control unit,

wherein the data decision control unit receives and decides an input data, and stores a decided data into the second memory unit,

the bus command control unit read the decided data from the second memory unit, and transmits it to the touch panel control unit,

and the data decision control unit reads a sensing data from the touch panel control unit through the bus command control unit for outputting.

5. The electronic apparatus with the touch panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the touch panel control unit comprises:

a bus command control unit, coupled to the host controller through the interface unit;

the first memory unit, coupled to the bus command control unit, for storing operation information, wherein the operation information comprises touch related data; and

a touch sensor control unit, coupled to the bus command control unit and the first memory unit, wherein the first memory unit obtains at least a part of the operation information, and outputs a touch sensing data to the bus command control unit.

6. The electronic apparatus with the touch panel as claimed in claim 5, wherein the bus command control unit comprises an interface decoder, and performs updating if received data comprises the updating data.

7. The electronic apparatus with the touch panel as claimed in claim 6, wherein the updating data is inputted through setting addresses of the interface unit, and the interface decoder performs decoding through a data protocol.

8. The electronic apparatus with the touch panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bus command control unit for receiving the updating data and transmitting the updating data to the touch panel control unit, the data decision control unit is implemented in the touch panel control unit,

wherein the touch panel control unit further comprises:

the bus command control unit, coupled to the host controller through the interface unit, wherein the bus command control unit receives the updating data and decides the updating data by the data decision control unit to obtain operation information;

the first memory unit, coupled to the bus command control unit, for storing the operation information, wherein the operation information comprises touch related data; and

a touch sensor control unit, coupled to the bus command control unit and the first memory unit, wherein the first memory unit obtains at least a part of the operation information, and outputs a touch sensing data to the bus command control unit.

9. The electronic apparatus with the touch panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interface unit is further configured to receive data transmitted from the bus command control unit and send the data to the touch panel control unit, and configured to receive data transmitted from the touch panel control unit and send the data to the touch panel control unit.

10. The electronic apparatus with the touch panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the host controller comprises a second memory unit to store the updating data.

11. The electronic apparatus with the touch panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interface unit has at least a first range of device addresses and a second range of device address, wherein when the first range of device addresses is for driving the touch panel control unit to transmit coordinate data of a touch point to the host controller, and the second range of device address is for driving the touch sensor sensing control unit to use the updating data provided by the host controller to update data stored in the first memory unit.

12. The electronic apparatus with the touch panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interface unit is a serial interface.

13. The electronic apparatus with the touch panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interface unit is an inter-integrated circuit (I2C), a serial peripheral interface (SPI), or a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART).

14. The electronic apparatus with the touch panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interface unit is a parallel interface.

15. A method for updating operation information of a touch panel in an abnormal condition, applicable to an electronic apparatus with the touch panel, wherein the touch panel comprises a touch panel control unit coupled to a host controller through an interface unit, and the touch panel control unit further has a memory unit for storing operation information of the touch panel and the host controller is used to control the electronic apparatus, and the method for updating operation information of the touch panel comprising:

decoding out a touch panel updating data by a data decision control unit of the host controller, wherein the host controller loads the touch panel updating data from a data input device external to the host controller and the touch panel and the data decision control unit encodes the touch panel updating data into an inputting format required by the touch panel control unit, and the touch panel control unit decodes the touch panel updating data into a content required by the touch panel control unit and transmits the decoded touch panel updating data to update the operation information store in the memory unit so as to update an internal operation of the touch panel control unit, wherein the touch panel updating data carries the internal operation information of the touch panel control unit;

transmitting the touch panel updating data from a bus command control unit of the host controller to the touch panel control unit through the interface unit; and

updating the operation information of the touch panel control unit according to the decoded touch panel updating data.

16. The method for updating operation information of the touch panel as claimed in claim 15, wherein the touch panel control unit identifies the touch panel updating data through setting addresses.

17. The method for updating operation information of the touch panel as claimed in claim 15, wherein the touch panel control unit decodes the touch panel updating data according to a data protocol.

18. An electronic apparatus with a touch panel, capable of updating operation information for the touch panel in an abnormal condition, comprising:

a host controller, comprising a bus command control unit;

a touch panel control unit, comprising a memory unit for storing operation information of the touch panel control unit;

an interface unit, coupled between the bus command control unit of the host controller and the touch panel control unit; and

a data decision control unit, implemented in the host controller or the touch panel control unit,

wherein the host controller loads an updating data from a data input device external to the host controller and the touch panel and transmits the updating data to the touch panel control unit through the interface unit, wherein the updating data includes operation information of the touch panel control unit, the data decision control unit is configured to receive the updating data and encodes the updating data into an inputting format required by the touch panel control unit, and the touch panel control unit decodes the updating data and transmits the decoded updating data to update the operation information of the touch panel control unit stored in the memory unit, so as to update an internal operation of the touch panel control unit, wherein the touch panel is allowed not to be detached from the electronic device when updating.