METHOD AND APPARATUS OF SIGNAL PROCESSING AND AN INERTIAL POINT DEVICE USING THE SAME

• US 20080111790A1
• Filed: 05/31/2007
• Published: 05/15/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Inventors: Liou, Shun-Nan, Tsai, Ming-Jye, Chiu, Chih-Kai, Lian, Zhi-Wei
• Granted Patent: US 7,839,386 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/159
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03543 Mice or pucks G06F3/03541 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0383 Signal control means within the pointing device

Abstract

A method of signal processing for a sensitive signal generated from a pointing device, which comprises the steps of acquiring an accelerating signal; forming a filtering signal by a first filtering process to filter the accelerating signal; and processing a second filtering process to form a processed signal. By means of the aforesaid method, an inertia pointing device is disclosed in the present invention, which is capable of processing an accelerating signal generated from the movement of the pointing device operated by the user, and transmitting the processed signal to an electrical device. The electrical device is capable of generating a corresponding displacement for moving a cursor on the display or action for controlling an object according to the processed signal.

Claims

1. A signal processing method, adapted for processing signals generated by a pointing device, comprising steps of:

acquiring an accelerating signal from the pointing device;

forming a filtering signal by filtering the accelerating signal with a first filtering process;

converting the filtering signal into a digital signal; and

processing the digital signal with a second filtering process to form a processed signal

2. The signal processing method of claim 1, wherein the second filtering process further comprises steps of:

oversampling the digital signal for acquiring a plurality of sampled signals; and

averaging the plural sampled signals for acquiring the processed signal.

3. The signal processing method of claim 1, wherein the second filtering process further comprises steps of:

oversampling the digital signal for acquiring a plurality of sampled signals;

performing Fourier transform upon the plural sampled signals for forming a plurality of spectrum signals accordingly; and

filtering the plural spectrum signals while converting the plural filtered spectrum signals into the processed signal by reverse Fourier transform.

4. The signal processing method of claim 1, further comprising steps of:

converting the processed signal into a displacement signal; and

transmitting the displacement signal to an electrical device.

5. The signal processing method of claim 4, wherein the electrical device is a device selected from the group consisting of a game console and a computer.

6. The signal processing method of claim 1, wherein the converting of the filtering signal further comprises steps of:

fetching and amplifying a specific portion of the filtering signal for forming a differential amplifying signal; and

performing a digital conversion upon the differential amplifying signal for forming the digital signal.

7. A signal processing apparatus, for receiving and processing an accelerating signal from an inertial sensing module, comprising:

a filter, for performing a first noise filtering process upon the received accelerating signal so as to form a filtering signal;

an analog-to-digital converter, coupled to the filter for enabling the same to receive and convert the filtering signal into a digital signal; and

a post-processor, coupled to the analog-to-digital converter for enabling the same to receive and perform a second noise filtering process upon the digital signal so as to form a processed signal.

8. The signal processing apparatus of claim 7, wherein the filter is a multi-level active low-pass filter.

9. The signal processing apparatus of claim 7, wherein the post-processor further comprises:

an oversample unit, capable of oversampling the digital signal so as to form a plurality of sampled signals; and

an arithmetic logic unit, capable of receiving and averaging the plural sampled signals for forming the processed signal accordingly.

10. The signal processing apparatus of claim 7, wherein the post-processor further comprises:

an oversample unit, capable of oversampling the digital signal so as to form a plurality of sampled signals; and

an arithmetic logic unit, capable of receiving and Fourier-transforming the plural sampled signals for forming a plurality of spectrum signals and then filtering and converting the plural spectrum signals into the processed signal by reverse Fourier transform.

11. The signal processing apparatus of claim 7, further comprising:

a differential amplifier, coupled to the filter and the analog-to-digital converter.

12. An inertial pointing device, comprising:

an inertial sensing module, capable of sensing a motion of the inertial pointing device and thus generating at least an accelerating signal accordingly;

a signal processing apparatus, coupled to the inertial sensing module;

an interface module, coupled to the signal processing apparatus for enabling the same to receive and convert the processed signal into a displacement signal; and

a transmission module, coupled to the interface module for enabling the same to receive and transmit the displacement signal to an electrical device.

wherein the signal processing apparatus further comprises;

a filter, for filtering the at least one accelerating signal so as to form a filtering signal;

an analog-to-digital converter, coupled to the filter for enabling the same to receive and convert the filtering signal into a digital signal; and

a post-processor, coupled to the analog-to-digital converter for enabling the same to receive and perform a noise filtering process upon the digital signal so as to form a processed signal.

13. The inertial pointing device of claim 12, wherein the filter is a multi-level active low-pass filter.

14. The inertial pointing device of claim 12, wherein the post-processor further comprises:

an oversample unit, capable of oversampling the digital signal so as to form a plurality of sampled signals; and

an arithmetic logic unit, capable of receiving and averaging the plural sampled signals for forming the processed signal accordingly.

15. The inertial pointing device of claim 12, wherein the post-processor further comprises:

an oversample unit, capable of oversampling the digital signal so as to form a plurality of sampled signals; and

an arithmetic logic unit, capable of receiving and Fourier-transforming the plural sampled signals for forming a plurality of spectrum signals and then filtering and converting the plural spectrum signals into the processed signal by reverse Fourier transform.

16. The inertial pointing device of claim 12, further comprising:

a differential amplifier, coupled to the filter and the analog-to-digital converter.

17. The inertial pointing device of claim 12, wherein the inertial sensing module further comprises at least an accelerometer.

18. The inertial pointing device of claim 12, wherein the inertial sensing module further comprises at least a gyroscope.

19. The inertial pointing device of claim 12, wherein the transmission module is a component selected from the group consisting of a wired transmission module and a wireless transmission module.

20. The inertial pointing device of claim 12, wherein the electrical device is a device selected from the group consisting of a game console and a computer.