Capacitance sensing circuits

• US 10,627,436 B2
• Filed: 07/20/2017
• Issued: 04/21/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SK Hynix Inc.
• Original Assignee: SK Hynix Inc.
• Inventors: Chang, Keunjin
• Primary Examiner(s): McAndrew, Christopher P
• Application Number:
  US15/655,292
• Publication Number:
  US 20180172744A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,006 Days
• Field of Search: 324658
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 27/2605 Measuring capacitance capacitive sensors G01D5/24
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/962 Capacitive touch switches
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/960735 characterised by circuit details

Abstract

A capacitance sensing circuit includes a buffer circuit, a modulation circuit, and an integral circuit. The buffer circuit is coupled to an external capacitor through a touch-sensing pad, and includes a pull-up device and a pull-down device. The modulation circuit includes a first current mirror device having a current drivability corresponding to one N^th (where “N” denotes a positive real number) a current drivability of the pull-up device and a second current mirror device having a current drivability corresponding to one N^th a current drivability of the pull-down device. The integral circuit integrates voltage values at an output node of the modulation circuit to output the integrated voltage values. The pull-up device and the first current mirror device constitute a current mirror circuit, and the pull-down device and the second current mirror device constitute another current mirror circuit.

Claims

1. A capacitance sensing circuit comprising:

a buffer circuit coupled to an external capacitor through a touch-sensing pad and including a pull-up device and a pull-down device;

a modulation circuit including a first current mirror device having a current drivability corresponding to one N^th (where “

N”

denotes a positive real number) a current drivability of the pull-up device and a second current mirror device having a current drivability corresponding to one N^th a current drivability of the pull-down device; and

an integral circuit configured to integrate voltage values at an output node of the modulation circuit to output the integrated voltage values,

wherein the pull-up device and the first current mirror device constitute a current mirror circuit, and the pull-down device and the second current mirror device constitute another current mirror circuit.

2. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 1, wherein the buffer circuit includes a first operational amplifier having an inverting input terminal coupled to the touch-sensing pad, a non-inverting input terminal receiving a reference voltage, and an output terminal connected to the inverting input terminal, and the pull-up device and the pull-down device constitute an output circuit of the first operational amplifier.

3. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 2, wherein the pull-up device includes a first PMOS transistor, and the pull-down device includes a first NMOS transistor.

4. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 3, wherein a source and a drain of the first PMOS transistor are coupled to a power supply voltage terminal and an output node, respectively, and a source and a drain of the first NMOS transistor are coupled to a ground voltage terminal and the output node, respectively.

5. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 4, wherein the first current mirror device includes a second PMOS transistor, and the second current mirror device includes a second NMOS transistor.

6. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 5, wherein:

a source and a drain of the second PMOS transistor are coupled to the power supply voltage terminal and a first node, respectively;

a gate of the second PMOS transistor is coupled to a gate of the first PMOS transistor;

a drain and a source of the second NMOS transistor are coupled to the first node and the ground voltage terminal, respectively; and

a gate of the second NMOS transistor is coupled to a gate of the first NMOS transistor.

7. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 6, wherein the integral circuit includes:

a second operational amplifier having an inverting input terminal coupled to the first node and a non-inverting input terminal receiving a common voltage; and

an internal capacitor coupled between an output terminal of the second operational amplifier and the inverting input terminal of the second operational amplifier.

8. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 1, further comprising:

a first sampling device and a second sampling device coupled in parallel to an output terminal of the integral circuit; and

a differential analog-to-digital converter configured to receive output signals of the first and second sampling devices to generate a digital output signal.

9. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 8, wherein a phase difference between the output signals of the first and second sampling devices is a half cycle of a clock signal.

10. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 8, wherein the first sampling device includes:

a first sampling capacitor coupled to the output terminal of the integral circuit;

a third operational amplifier having an inverting input terminal coupled to the first sampling capacitor through a first switch and a non-inverting input terminal receiving a common voltage; and

a first feedback capacitor coupled between an output terminal of the third operation amplifier and the inverting input terminal of the third operation amplifier, and wherein the second sampling device includes;

a second sampling capacitor coupled to the output terminal of the integral circuit;

a fourth operational amplifier having an inverting input terminal coupled to the second sampling capacitor through a second switch and a non-inverting input terminal receiving the common voltage; and

a second feedback capacitor coupled between an output terminal of the fourth operation amplifier and the inverting input terminal of the fourth operation amplifier.

11. A capacitance sensing circuit comprising:

a buffer circuit coupled to an external capacitor through a touch-sensing pad and including a pull-up device and a pull-down device;

a first modulation circuit including a first current mirror device having a current drivability corresponding to one N^th (where “

N”

denotes a positive real number) a current drivability of the pull-up device and a second current mirror device having a current drivability corresponding to one N^th a current drivability of the pull-down device, the pull-up device and the first current mirror device constituting a current mirror circuit, the pull-down device and the second current mirror device constituting another current mirror circuit;

a second modulation circuit including a third current mirror device having a current drivability corresponding to one N^th a current drivability of the pull-up device and a first diode-connected device coupled between the third current mirror device and a ground voltage terminal, the pull-up device and the third current mirror device constituting a current mirror circuit;

a third modulation circuit including a fourth current mirror device having a current drivability corresponding to one N^th a current drivability of the pull-down device and a second diode-connected device coupled between a power supply voltage terminal and the fourth current mirror device, the pull-down device and the fourth current mirror device constituting a current mirror circuit;

a fourth modulation circuit including a fifth current mirror device and a sixth current mirror device, the second diode-connected device and the fifth current mirror device constituting one current mirror circuit, the first diode-connected device and the sixth current mirror device constituting another current mirror circuit;

an integral circuit configured to integrate voltage values at one of output nodes of the first and fourth modulation circuits to output the integrated voltage values; and

a switch configured to electrically connect one of the output nodes of the first and fourth modulation circuits to the integral circuit.

12. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 11, wherein the buffer circuit includes a first operational amplifier having an inverting input terminal coupled to the touch-sensing pad, a non-inverting input terminal receiving a reference voltage, and an output terminal connected to the inverting input terminal, and the pull-up device and the pull-down device constitute an output circuit of the first operational amplifier.

13. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 11, wherein the pull-up device includes a first PMOS transistor, and the pull-down device includes a first NMOS transistor, and wherein a source and a drain of the first PMOS transistor are coupled to the power supply voltage terminal and an output node, respectively, and a source and a drain of the first NMOS transistor are coupled to the ground voltage terminal and the output node, respectively.

14. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 13, wherein the first current mirror device includes a second PMOS transistor, and the second current mirror device includes a second NMOS transistor, and wherein:

a source and a drain of the second PMOS transistor are coupled to the power supply voltage terminal and an output node of the first modulation circuit, respectively;

a gate of the second PMOS transistor is coupled to a gate of the first PMOS transistor;

a drain and a source of the second NMOS transistor are coupled to the output node of the first modulation circuit and the ground voltage terminal, respectively; and

a gate of the second NMOS transistor is coupled to a gate of the first NMOS transistor.

15. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 14, wherein the third current mirror device includes a third PMOS transistor, and the first diode-connected device includes a third NMOS transistor having a gate and a drain, which are connected to each other, and wherein:

a source and a drain of the third PMOS transistor are coupled to the power supply voltage terminal and a drain of the third NMOS transistor, respectively;

a gate of the third PMOS transistor is coupled to a gate of the first PMOS transistor; and

a source of the third NMOS transistor is coupled to the ground voltage terminal.

16. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 15, wherein the fourth current mirror device includes a fourth NMOS transistor, and the second diode-connected device includes a fourth PMOS transistor having a gate and a drain connected to each other, and wherein:

a drain and a source of the fourth NMOS transistor are coupled to a drain of the fourth PMOS transistor and the ground voltage terminal, respectively;

a gate of the fourth NMOS transistor is coupled to a gate of the first NMOS transistor; and

a source of the fourth PMOS transistor is coupled to the power supply voltage terminal.

17. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 16, wherein the fifth current mirror device includes a fifth PMOS transistor, and the sixth current mirror device includes a fifth NMOS transistor, and wherein:

a source and a drain of the fifth PMOS transistor are coupled to the power supply voltage terminal and an output node of the fourth modulation circuit, respectively;

a gate of the fifth PMOS transistor is coupled to a gate of the fourth PMOS transistor; and

a drain and a source of the fifth NMOS transistor are coupled to the output node of the fourth modulation circuit and the ground voltage terminal, respectively; and

a gate of the fifth NMOS transistor is coupled to a gate of the third NMOS transistor.

18. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 17, wherein the fourth and fifth PMOS transistors have a current drivability substantially equal to a current drivability of the fourth NMOS transistor, and the third and fifth NMOS transistors have a current drivability substantially equal to a current drivability of the third PMOS transistor.

19. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 18, wherein the switch electrically connects the output node of the first modulation circuit to the inverting input terminal of the second operational amplifier while the reference voltage has a high level, and the switch electrically connects the output node of the fourth modulation circuit to the inverting input terminal of the second operational amplifier while the reference voltage has a low level.

20. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 19, wherein the integral circuit includes:

a second operational amplifier having an inverting input terminal coupled to the switch and a non-inverting input terminal receiving a common voltage; and

an internal capacitor coupled between an output terminal of the second operational amplifier and the inverting input terminal of the second operational amplifier.

21. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 11, further comprising:

a first sampling device and a second sampling device coupled in parallel to an output terminal of the integral circuit; and

a differential analog-to-digital converter configured to receive output signals of the first and second sampling devices to generate a digital output signal.

22. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 21, wherein a phase difference between the output signals of the first and second sampling devices may correspond to a half cycle of a clock signal.

23. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 21, wherein the first sampling device includes:

a first sampling capacitor coupled to the output terminal of the integral circuit;

a third operational amplifier having an inverting input terminal coupled to the first sampling capacitor through a first switch and a non-inverting input terminal receiving a common voltage; and

a first feedback capacitor coupled between an output terminal of the third operation amplifier and the inverting input terminal of the third operation amplifier, and wherein the second sampling device includes;

a second sampling capacitor coupled to the output terminal of the integral circuit;

a fourth operational amplifier having an inverting input terminal coupled to the second sampling capacitor through a second switch and a non-inverting input terminal receiving the common voltage; and

a second feedback capacitor coupled between an output terminal of the fourth operation amplifier and the inverting input terminal of the fourth operation amplifier.