TOUCH PROCESSOR AND METHOD

• US 20160209963A1
• Filed: 03/30/2016
• Published: 07/21/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: eGalax_eMPIA Technology Inc.
• Original Assignee: eGalax_eMPIA Technology Inc.
• Inventors: LEE, KUN-YU, CHANG, CHIN-FU, YEH, SHANG-TAI
• Application Number:
  US15/085,357
• Publication Number:
  US 20160209963A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04104 Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger
• 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 3/0445 using two or more layers of sensing electrodes, e.g. using two layers of electrodes separated by a dielectric layer
• 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

The invention discloses a touch processor and method, applied to a touch screen including M drive electrodes and N sense electrodes, wherein the touch processor executes the following steps: determining at least one first drive electrode and at least one first sense electrode touched or approached by a first external object; and performing a first mutual capacitive detection of X of the M drive electrodes and Y of the N sense electrodes, wherein the X drive electrodes comprises the at least one first drive electrode, and the Y sense electrodes comprises the at least one first sense electrode, wherein X is less than M, and Y is less than or equal to N.

Claims

1. A touch processor, electrically coupled with a touch screen including M drive electrodes and N sense electrodes, wherein the touch processor executes the following steps:

determining at least one first drive electrode and at least one first sense electrode touched or approached by a first external object; and

performing a first mutual capacitive detection of X of the M drive electrodes and Y of the N sense electrodes, wherein the X drive electrodes comprises the at least one first drive electrode, and the Y sense electrodes comprises the at least one first sense electrode, wherein X is less than M, and Y is less than or equal to N.

2. The touch processor of claim 1, wherein the touch processor determines the at least one first drive electrode and the at least one first sense electrode during a first period, and the touch processor performs the first mutual capacitive detection during a second period, wherein the second period is less than the first period.

3. The touch processor of claim 2, wherein a full screen mutual capacitive detection of the M drive electrodes and the N sense electrodes to obtain M×

N first electrical signals is performed during the first period; and

the at least one first drive electrodes and the at least one first sense electrode are determined based on the M×

N first electrical signals so as to determine a first touch position of the first external object during the first period.

4. The touch processor of claim 3, wherein the full screen mutual capacitive detection comprises the following steps:

driving each drive electrode sequentially;

determining the first electrical signals of N sensing points of N sense electrodes corresponding to the driven drive electrode by mutual capacitive detection, wherein the N first electrical signals are determined during D sub periods, and N/D first electrical signals are sequentially determined during each sub period, wherein Y is less than or equal to N/D; and

obtaining the M×

N first electrical signals based on the N first electrical signals of each drive electrode.

5. The touch processor of claim 2, further executing the following steps:

determining a second touch position of the first external object during the second period based on X×

Y second electrical signals determined by the first mutual capacitive detection.

6. The touch processor of claim 2, further executing the following steps:

determining at least one second drive electrode and at least one second sense electrode touched or approached by a second external object during the first period; and

performing a second mutual capacitive detection of J of the M drive electrodes and K of the N sense electrodes during the second period, wherein the J drive electrodes comprise the at least one second drive electrode, and K sense electrodes comprise the at least one second sense electrode, wherein J is less than M, and K is less than or equal to N.

7. The touch processor of claim 6, wherein a full screen mutual capacitive detection of the M drive electrodes and the N sense electrodes is performed to obtain the M×

N first electrical signals during the first period; and

the at least one second drive electrode and the at least one second sense electrode are determined based on the M×

N first electrical signals so as to determine a third touch position of the second external object during the first period.

8. The touch processor of claim 2, further executing the following steps:

determining a fourth touch position of the second external object during the second period based on J×

K second electrical signals determined by the second mutual capacitive detection.

9. A touch method, applied to a touch screen including M drive electrodes and N sense electrodes, wherein the touch method comprises the following steps:

determining at least one first drive electrode and at least one first sense electrode touched or approached by a first external object; and

performing a first mutual capacitive detection of X of the M drive electrodes and Y of the N sense electrodes, wherein the X drive electrodes comprises the at least one first drive electrode, and the at least one Y sense electrodes comprises the first sense electrode, wherein X is less than M, and Y is less than or equal to N.

10. The touch method of claim 9, wherein the at least one first drive electrode and the at least one first sense electrode are determined during a first period, and the first mutual capacitive detection is performed during a second period, wherein the second period is less than the first period.

11. The touch method of claim 10, wherein a full screen mutual capacitive detection of the M drive electrodes and the N sense electrodes to obtain M×

N first electrical signals is performed during the first period; and

the at least one first drive electrodes and the at least one first sense electrode are determined based on the M×

N first electrical signals so as to determine a first touch position of the first external object during the first period.

12. The touch method of claim 10, wherein the full screen mutual capacitive detection comprises the following steps:

driving each drive electrode sequentially;

determining the first electrical signals of N sensing points of N sense electrodes corresponding to the driven drive electrode by mutual capacitive detection, wherein the N first electrical signals are determined during D sub periods, and N/D first electrical signals are sequentially determined during each sub period, wherein Y is less than or equal to N/D; and

obtaining the M×

N first electrical signals based on the N first electrical signals of each drive electrode.

13. The touch method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining a second touch position of the first external object during the second period based on X×

Y second electrical signals determined by the first mutual capacitive detection.

14. The touch method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining at least one second drive electrode and at least one second sense electrode touched or approached by a second external object during the first period; and

performing a second mutual capacitive detection of J of the M drive electrodes and K of the N sense electrodes during the second period, wherein the J drive electrodes comprise the at least one second drive electrode, and K sense electrodes comprise the at least one second sense electrode, wherein J is less than M, and K is less than or equal to N.

15. The touch method of claim 14, wherein the full screen mutual capacitive detection of the M drive electrodes and the N sense electrodes is performed to obtain the M×

N first electrical signals during the first period; and

the at least one second drive electrode and the at least one second sense electrode are determined based on the M×

N first electrical signals so as to determine a third touch position of the second external object during the first period.

16. The touch method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining a fourth touch position of the second external object during the second period based on J×

K second electrical signals determined by the second mutual capacitive detection.

17. A touch processor, electrically coupled with a touch screen including M drive electrodes and N sense electrodes, wherein the touch processor executes the following steps:

sequentially providing driving signals to all of the first conductive strips;

while one first conductive strip is provided with a driving signal, detecting signals of the second conductive strips to obtain a first one-dimensional (1D) sensing information corresponding to the first conductive strip;

generating a first two-dimensional (2D) sensing information based on all the first 1D sensing information;

determining whether at least one external object is touching or approaching the touch screen based on the 2D sensing information;

when determining at least one external object is touching or approaching the touch screen based on the 1D sensing information, the touch processor further executes the following steps;

determining at least one first 1D coordinate and at least one second 1D coordinate of the touch screen touched or approached by at least one external object based on the first 2D sensing information;

determining at least one mutual capacitive detection range based on the at least one first 1D coordinate and the at least one second 1D coordinate, and performing a mutual capacitive detection in the at least one mutual capacitive detection range to generate a second 2D sensing information corresponding to the at least one mutual capacitive detection range; and

determining at least one third 1D coordinate and at least one fourth 1D coordinate based on the second 2D sensing information.

18. The touch processor of claim 17, wherein the at least one external object comprises a first external object, and the touch processor further executes the following steps:

determining the first 1D coordinate and the second 1D coordinate corresponding to the first external object based on the first 2D sensing information so as to determine a first mutual capacitive detection range;

performing a mutual capacitive detection in the first mutual capacitive detection range to generate the second 2D sensing information corresponding to the first mutual capacitive detection range; and

determining the third 1D coordinate and the fourth 1D coordinate corresponding to the first external object based on the second 2D sensing information.

19. The touch processor of claim 18, wherein the at least one external object further comprises a second external object, and the touch processor further executes the following steps:

determining the first 1D coordinate and the second 1D coordinate corresponding to the second external object based on the first 2D sensing information so as to determine a second mutual capacitive detection range;

simultaneously performing a mutual capacitive detection in the first and second mutual capacitive detection ranges to generate the second 2D sensing information corresponding to the first and second mutual capacitive detection ranges; and

determining the third 1D coordinates and the fourth 1D coordinates corresponding to the first and second external objects based on the second 2D sensing information.

20. The touch processor of claim 19, wherein the first and second mutual capacitive detection ranges overlap or are separated.