Concurrent signal detection for touch and hover sensing

• US 10,198,108 B2
• Filed: 08/03/2015
• Issued: 02/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: King, Brian Michael, Leung, Omar S., Puskarich, Paul G., Bernstein, Jeffrey Traer, Mucignat, Andrea, Cieplinski, Avi E., Choudry, Muhammad U., Subramani, Praveen R., Piche, Marc J., Amm, David, Kerr, Duncan Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang, Kent
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fernandez, Benjamin Morales
• Application Number:
  US14/817,160
• Publication Number:
  US 20150338964A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,282 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04101 2.5D-digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface and also measures the distance of the input means within a short range in the Z direction, possibly with a separate measurement setup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04106 Multi-sensing digitiser, i.e. digitiser using at least two different sensing technologies simultaneously or alternatively, e.g. for detecting pen and finger, for saving power or for improving position detection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04108 Touchless 2D- digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface without distance measurement in the Z direction
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04111 Cross over in capacitive digitiser, i.e. details of structures for connecting electrodes of the sensing pattern where the connections cross each other, e.g. bridge structures comprising an insulating layer, or vias through substrate
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04166 Details of scanning methods, e.g. sampling time, grouping of sub areas or time sharing with display driving Synchronisation with the driving of the display or the backlighting unit to avoid interferences generated internally G06F3/04184
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041662 using alternate mutual and self-capacitive scanning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0446 using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes

Abstract

Detecting a signal from a touch and hover sensing device, in which the signal can be indicative of concurrent touch events and/or hover events, is disclosed. A touch event can indicate an object touching the device. A hover event can indicate an object hovering over the device. The touch and hover sensing device can ensure that a desired hover event is not masked by an incidental touch event, e.g., a hand holding the device, by compensating for the touch event in the detected signal that represents both events. Conversely, when both a hover event and a touch event are desired, the touch and hover sensing device can ensure that both events are detected by adjusting the device sensors and/or the detected signal. The touch and hover sensing device can also detect concurrent hover events by identifying multiple peaks in the detected signal, each peak corresponding to a position of a hovering object.

Claims

1. A touch and hover sensing device comprising:

a touch sensor panel comprising a plurality of sensor partitions configured to detect objects touching the device and objects hovering over the device, each sensor partition comprising at least one sensor; and

a touch and hover control system configured to;

measure a first capacitance at a first sensor partition of the plurality of sensor partitions;

determine whether the first capacitance exceeds a predetermined threshold value;

in accordance with a determination that the first capacitance exceeds the predetermined threshold value, operate the first sensor partition in a mutual capacitance sensing mode;

measure a second capacitance at a second sensor partition of the plurality of sensor partitions;

determine whether the second capacitance exceeds the predetermined threshold value; and

in accordance with a determination that the second capacitance does not exceed the predetermined threshold value, operate the second sensor partition in a self-capacitance sensing mode.

2. The touch and hover sensing device of claim 1, wherein operating the second partition in the self-capacitance sensing mode comprises configuring at least one sensor of the second partition to perform measurements at an increased sensitivity level relative to the mutual capacitance sensing mode.

3. The touch and hover sensing device of claim 2, wherein the touch and hover control system is further configured to:

apply a first drive signal having a first amplitude to one or more drive lines of the first sensor partition; and

apply a second drive signal having a second amplitude to one or more drive lines of the second sensor partition, wherein the second amplitude is greater than the first amplitude.

4. The touch and hover sensing device of claim 2, wherein the touch and hover control system is further configured to:

apply a first gain factor to a sensing signal of the first sensor partition; and

apply a second gain factor to a sensing signal of the second partition, wherein the second gain factor is greater than the first gain factor.

5. The touch and hover sensing device of claim 1, wherein the first capacitance is independent of the second capacitance.

6. A method comprising:

measuring a first capacitance at a first sensor partition of a plurality of sensor partitions of a touch sensor panel;

determining whether the first capacitance exceeds a predetermined threshold value;

in accordance with a determination that the first capacitance exceeds the predetermined threshold value, operating the first sensor partition in a mutual capacitance sensing mode;

measuring a second capacitance at a second sensor partition of the plurality of sensor partitions of the touch sensor panel;

determining whether the second capacitance exceeds the predetermined threshold value; and

in accordance with a determination that the second capacitance does not exceed the predetermined threshold value, operating the second partition in a self-capacitance sensing mode.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein operating the second partition in the self-capacitance sensing mode comprises configuring at least one sensor of the second partition to perform measurements at an increased sensitivity level relative to the mutual capacitance sensing mode.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising applying a first drive signal having a first amplitude to one or more drive lines of the first sensor partition, and applying a second drive signal having a second amplitude to one or more drive lines of the second sensor partition, wherein the second amplitude is greater than the first amplitude.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising applying a first gain factor to a sensing signal of the first sensor partition, and applying a second gain factor to a sensing signal of the second partition, wherein the second gain factor is greater than the first gain factor.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the first capacitance is independent of the second capacitance.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instructions, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

measuring a first capacitance at a first sensor partition of a plurality of sensor partitions;

determining whether the first capacitance exceeds a predetermined threshold value;

in accordance with a determination that the first capacitance exceeds the predetermined threshold value, operating the first sensor partition in a mutual capacitance sensing mode;

measuring a second capacitance at a second sensor partition of the plurality of sensor partitions;

determining whether the second capacitance exceeds the predetermined threshold value; and

in accordance with a determination that the second capacitance does not exceed the predetermined threshold value, operating the second partition in a self-capacitance sensing mode.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein operating the second partition in the self-capacitance sensing mode comprises configuring at least one sensor of the second partition to perform measurements at an increased sensitivity level relative to the mutual capacitance sensing mode.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises applying a first drive signal having a first amplitude to one or more drive lines of the first sensor partition, and applying a second drive signal having a second amplitude to one or more drive lines of the second sensor partition, wherein the second amplitude is greater than the first amplitude.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises applying a first gain factor to a sensing signal of the first sensor partition, and applying a second gain factor to a sensing signal of the second partition, wherein the second gain factor is greater than the first gain factor.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the first capacitance is independent of the second capacitance.