Information Handling System Capacitive Touch Totem Management

• US 20180129347A1
• Filed: 11/09/2016
• Published: 05/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Files, Jace W., Stone, Larry A., Sears, Mark S., Yildiz, Yagiz C., Das, Sujata
• Granted Patent: US 10,139,930 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0362 with detection of 1D translations or rotations of an operating part of the device, e.g. scroll wheels, sliders, knobs, rollers or belts
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0393 Accessories for touch pads or touch screens, e.g. mechanical guides added to touch screens for drawing straight lines, hard keys overlaying touch screens or touch pads
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04162 for exchanging data with external devices, e.g. smart pens, via the digitiser sensing hardware
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0441 using active external devices, e.g. active pens, for receiving changes in electrical potential transmitted by the digitiser, e.g. tablet driving signals
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0442 using active external devices, e.g. active pens, for transmitting changes in electrical potential to be received by the digitiser
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

An information handling system touchscreen display interacts with totem devices by recognizing and tracking spectral signatures of the totem devices so that totem positions are reported as a single length, width and rotational orientation message to a host operating system. Ignore zones and hysteresis time periods are defined from the position message based upon totem context so that the host operating system processes touchscreen inputs with minimal latency and improved accuracy. Communication and battery charging are provided to the totem by the touchscreen display will illumination directed to the totem position.

Claims

1. An information handling system comprising:

a processor operable to execute instructions to process information;

a memory interfaced with the processor, the memory operable to store the information;

a display interfaced with the processor and memory, the display operable to present the information as visual images, the display having touchscreen operable to detect touch inputs made at the display;

a touch controller interfaced with the touchscreen and the processor, the touch controller operable to analyze touches detected at the touchscreen and to provide inputs determined from the analyzing to the processor;

a totem resting on the touchscreen, the totem having plural feet extending from a bottom surface, the plural feet defining parallel pairs of touchpoints in a predetermined geometric pattern; and

a totem analyzer associated with the touch controller, the totem analyzer recognizing the geometric pattern to communicate totem position to the processor as length, width and rotation values.

2. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the totem analyzer comprises a spectral analysis engine tuned to detect the predetermined geometric patterns.

3. The information handling system of claim 1 further comprising an ignore zone disposed proximate the totem, the totem analyzer ignoring touches in the ignore zone.

4. The information handling system of claim 3 wherein the ignore zone comprises an area on the display extending from an outer periphery of the totem for a predetermined distance.

5. The information handling system of claim 4 wherein the predetermined distance is defined based at least in part upon a rotational orientation of the totem.

6. The information handling system of claim 3 further comprising an inner ignore zone of an area on the display under the totem.

7. The portable information handling system of claim 1 further comprising a totem touch characteristic table having plural totem identifiers, each totem identifier having an ignore zone definition and a hysteresis definition, the totem analyzer determining a totem identifier and applying the ignore zone definition and hysteresis definition from the totem touch characteristic table.

8. The portable information handling system of claim 7 wherein the totem characteristic table hysteresis definition further comprises a buffer timeout that expires before changed totem position information is analyzed.

9. A method for interfacing an information handling system with a totem device, the method comprising:

detecting plural feet of the totem on a touchscreen display surface;

identifying the totem from a geometric pattern defined by parallel pairs of the plural feet; and

in response to identifying, communicating a totem position to a processor of the information handling system having length, width and rotational orientation coordinates.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

identifying the geometric pattern from a spectral analysis of touch patterns at the touchscreen display analyzed with a digital signal processor integrated in the touchscreen display; and

communicating the length, width and rotational orientation coordinates to an operating system executing on the processor.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

retrieving from storage of the information handling system ignore zones associated with the totem; and

applying the ignore zones to ignore touches proximate the totem in predetermined areas of the touchscreen.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the retrieving further comprises referencing an identifier of the totem to retrieve ignore zones from a totem touch characteristic table.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the totem touch characteristic further comprises a hysteresis definition associated with the totem identifier and specifying a buffer timeout that expires before totem position information is analyzed.

14. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

applying the rotational orientation of the totem with an operating system of the processor to determine ignore zones associated with the totem; and

ignoring touch inputs received at the operating system based at least in part on the ignore zones.

15. An information handling system input device comprising:

a touchscreen display having a touch controller that detects touch positions at the touchscreen display;

a totem having plural feet resting on the touchscreen display, the touch controller detecting the plural feet;

a totem analyzer interfaced with the touch controller, the totem analyzer applying the totem plural feet positions to determine the totem length, width and rotation positions on the touchscreen; and

an ignore zone associated with the totem, touches within the ignore zone being ignored as unintended inputs.

16. The information handling system input device of claim 15 wherein the ignore zone extends out from a periphery of the totem by a predetermined distance based upon one or more predetermined factors.

17. The information handling system input device of claim 16 wherein the predetermined distance is based upon at least the rotational position of the totem.

18. The information handling system of claim 16 wherein the predetermined distance is based at least upon an identity of an end user interacting with the totem.

19. The information handling system of claim 16 wherein the predetermined distance depends at least in part upon the availability of camera images captured of the totem.

20. The information handling system of claim 16 further comprising a hysteresis associated with the ignore zone and varying based upon the distance within the ignore zone of a touch relative to the totem.