SIGNAL PROCESSING FOR TOUCH AND HOVER SENSING DISPLAY DEVICE

• US 20120050181A1
• Filed: 09/30/2010
• Published: 03/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: KING, Brian Michael, Leung, Omar, Bernstein, Jeffrey Traer, Mucignat, Andrea, Cieplinski, Avi E., Amm, David T., Kerr, Duncan Robert, Puskarich, Paul G., Choudry, Muhammad U., Subramani, Praveen R., Piche, Marc J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,851,829 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• 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

Signal processing for a touch and hover sensing display device is disclosed. A touch and hover sensing display device can include a sensing panel for sensing a touch or hover event, a display for displaying graphical information to select based on the touch or hover event, and a control system for processing a signal indicative of the touch or hover event. The control system can process the signal to determine to which display location a hovering object is pointing according to a profile of the object'"'"'s shape. In addition or alternatively, the control system can process the signal to differentiate between a close small object and a distant large object so as to subsequently perform intended actions of the device based, at least in part, on the object distance and/or area (or size). The display can be positioned at a desirable distance from the panel so as to reduce interference from the display to the panel and avoid adverse effects on the signal.

Claims

1. A method for signal processing in a touch and hover sensing display device, the method comprising:

determining at least one characteristic of an object hovering over the device;

calculating a centroid of the hovering object based on the determined characteristic;

setting a pointer at the calculated centroid as an initial estimate of the pointing direction of the hovering object;

shifting the pointer from the calculated centroid to another portion of the hovering object based on the determined characteristic; and

estimating the pointing direction of the hovering object based on the shifted pointer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the characteristic comprises determining an orientation of the hovering object.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the orientation comprises receiving a user input indicating the orientation.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the characteristic comprises determining a shape of the hovering object.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the shape comprises determining an extended portion of the shape.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the characteristic comprises determining a direction of motion of the hovering object.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining the direction of motion comprises:

detecting a first location of the hovering object relative to the sensing device at a first time;

detecting a second location of the hovering object relative to the sensing device at a second time; and

comparing the first and second locations to determine the direction of motion.

8. A touch and hover sensing display device comprising:

a sensing panel configured to detect a hover position of an object proximate to the panel;

a display configured to display a user interface of selectable graphical elements, the elements being selected based the detected hover position of the object; and

a control system configured to estimate a pointing direction of the object based on the detected hover position so as to select an intended one of the elements in the user interface.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the control system is configured to profile at least one characteristic of the object based on the detected hover position to estimate the pointing direction.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the characteristic is a shape of the object.

11. A touch and hover sensing display device comprising:

a sensing panel configured to sense an object proximate to the panel and generate a signal indicative of the object; and

a touch and hover control system configured to differentiate between multiple objects that have similar generated signals, the control system configured to determine areas of the objects and distances of the objects from the panel based on the generated signals and to differentiate between the objects according to at least one of the determined areas and distances.

12. The device of claim 11, further comprising a capture device configured to capture a representation an object proximate to the panel.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the control system is configured to receive captured representations of the multiple objects and to determine the areas and the distances of the multiple objects based on the received captured representations.

14. The device of claim 11, further comprising a detector configured to detect an object proximate to the panel.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the control system is configured to receive detection signals from the detector for the multiple objects and to determine the areas and the distances of the multiple objects based on the received detection signals.

16. A method for signal processing in a touch and hover sensing display device, the method comprising:

measuring capacitance associated with an object proximate to the device at a first time and at a second time;

calculating the object area at the first time and the object area at the second time based on the respective capacitance measurements;

comparing the calculated object areas to determine a change in the object area between the first time and the second time; and

estimating the object distance based on the determined change.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising assigning to the object the object area calculated at the second time.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising using at least one of the object area or the object distance to differentiate between the object and a second object having a similar capacitance measurement, but at least one of a different object area or a different object distance.

19. A touch and hover sensing display device comprising:

a sensing panel configured to generate a signal indicative of an object proximate to the panel; and

a display configured to display graphical elements selectable according to the generated signal, the display being positioned at a distance from the panel so as to reduce interference from the display to the panel and to eliminate a grounding shield between the display and the panel.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein the distance is about 1 mm.

21. The device of claim 19, wherein the distance exceeds an effective reach of display signals causing the interference.

22. A touch and hover sensing display device comprising:

a touch and hover sensing panel having multiple sensors configured to detect one or more objects proximate to the panel, wherein the objects touch the panel to cause a touch event, hover over the panel to cause a hover event, or touch and hover concurrently to cause touch and hover events; and

a touch and hover control system configured to process signals indicative of the touch and hover events so as to at least one of (a) differentiate between areas of the proximate objects or distances from the panel of the proximate objects or (b) determine pointing directions of the proximate objects.

23. The device of claim 22, further comprising a display configured to display graphical information to select in response to the touch and hover events, the display being positioned at a distance from the panel so as to reduce interference from the display to the panel and to eliminate a grounding shield between the display and the panel.

24. The device of claim 23, wherein the pointing directions of the proximate objects are toward the graphical information on the display.

25. The device of claim 23, wherein at least one of an object area or an object distance from the panel is usable for selecting the graphical information on the display.

26. The device of claim 22 incorporated into at least one of a mobile phone, a digital media player, or a computer.