Sensor device and method with at surface object sensing and away from surface object sensing
First Claim
1. A sensor device comprising:
- a first array of sensing electrodes under a surface and configured to capacitively sense objects in a sensing region;
a processing system coupled to the first array of sensing electrodes, the processing system configured to;
determine positional information for an object at the surface and in a first portion of the sensing region; and
determine positional information for an object away from the surface and in a second portion of the sensing region, wherein the first portion of the sensing region is between the surface and the second portion, by;
determining measured values, the measured values comprising a measured value for each electrode in the first array of sensing electrodes;
determining first combined values using the measured values for a first subset of electrodes in the first array of sensing electrodes, where the first subset of electrodes includes at least two electrodes in the first array of sensing electrodes;
determining second combined values using the measured values for a second subset of electrodes in the first array of sensing electrodes, where the second subset of electrodes includes at least two electrodes in the first array of sensing electrodes;
determining difference values using the first combined values and the second combined values, each of the difference values based at least in part on a difference between at least one of the first combined values and at least one of the second combined values; and
generating positional information for the object away from surface using the difference values.
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Abstract
Methods, systems and devices are described for determining positional information for objects using a sensing device. The various embodiments provide improved user interface functionality by facilitating user input with both objects that are at the surfaced and objects that are away from the surface. The sensor device includes a processing system and a sensor array of sensing electrodes adapted to capacitively sense objects in a sensing region. First, the processing system is configured to determine positional information for objects at the surface in a first portion of the sensing region. Secondly, the processing system is configured to determine positional information for objects that are away from the surface and in a second portion of the sensing region, where the first portion of the sensing region is between the surface and the second portion of the sensing region.
44 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A sensor device comprising:
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a first array of sensing electrodes under a surface and configured to capacitively sense objects in a sensing region; a processing system coupled to the first array of sensing electrodes, the processing system configured to; determine positional information for an object at the surface and in a first portion of the sensing region; and determine positional information for an object away from the surface and in a second portion of the sensing region, wherein the first portion of the sensing region is between the surface and the second portion, by; determining measured values, the measured values comprising a measured value for each electrode in the first array of sensing electrodes; determining first combined values using the measured values for a first subset of electrodes in the first array of sensing electrodes, where the first subset of electrodes includes at least two electrodes in the first array of sensing electrodes; determining second combined values using the measured values for a second subset of electrodes in the first array of sensing electrodes, where the second subset of electrodes includes at least two electrodes in the first array of sensing electrodes; determining difference values using the first combined values and the second combined values, each of the difference values based at least in part on a difference between at least one of the first combined values and at least one of the second combined values; and generating positional information for the object away from surface using the difference values. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of determining positional information for objects with a first array of sensing electrodes under a surface, the first array the method comprising:
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determining positional information for an object at the surface and in a first portion of the sensing region with a first process; and determining positional information for an object away from the surface and in a second portion of the sensing region with a second process, wherein the first portion of the sensing region is between the surface and the second portion, and wherein the second process comprises; determining measured values, the measured values comprising a measured value for each electrode in the first array of sensing electrodes; determining first combined values using the measured values for a first subset of electrodes in the first array of sensing electrodes, where the first subset of electrodes includes at least two electrodes in the first array of sensing electrodes; determining second combined values using the measured values for a second subset of electrodes in the first array of sensing electrodes, where the second subset of electrodes includes at least two electrodes in the second array of sensing electrodes; determining difference values using the first combined values and the second combined values, each of the difference values based at least in part on a difference between at least one of the first combined values and at least one of the second combined values; and generating positional information for the object away from surface using the difference values. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A program product, comprising:
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A) a proximity sensor program, the proximity sensor program configured to; determine positional information for an object at a surface and in a first portion of a sensing region, the surface above a first array of sensing electrodes; and determine positional information for an object away from the surface and in a second portion of the sensing region, wherein the first portion of the sensing region is between the surface and the second portion, by; determining measured values, the measured values comprising a measured value for each electrode in the first array of sensing electrodes; determining first combined values using the measured values for a first subset of electrodes in the first array of sensing electrodes, where the first subset of electrodes includes at least two electrodes in the first array of sensing electrodes; determining second combined values using the measured values for a second subset of electrodes in the first array of sensing electrodes, where the second subset of electrodes includes at least two electrodes in the first array of sensing electrodes; determining difference values using the first combined values and the second combined values, each of the difference values based at least in part on a difference between at least one of the first combined values and at least one of the second combined values; and generating positional information for the object away from surface using the difference values; and B) non-transitory computer-readable media bearing the proximity sensor program.
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26. An sensor device comprising:
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an array of sensing electrodes under a surface and configured to capacitively sense objects in a sensing region; and a processing system coupled to the array of sensing electrodes, the processing system configured to; determine positional information for an object at the surface and in a first portion of the sensing region by; determining a first set of measurement offsets, the first set of measurement offsets comprising a plurality of measurement offsets, each of the first set of measurement offsets corresponding to an electrode in the array of sensing electrodes; and determining positional information for the object at the surface using the first set of measurement offsets; determine positional information for an object away from the surface and in a second portion of the sensing region, wherein the first portion of the sensing region is between the surface and the second portion, by; determining a second set of measurement offsets, the second set of measurement offsets comprising a plurality of measurement offsets, each of the second set of measurement offsets corresponding to an electrode in the array of sensing electrodes; determining a measured value for each electrode in the array of sensing electrodes using a corresponding measurement offset in the second set of measurement offsets; determining first combined values from measured values for a first subset of electrodes in the array of sensing electrodes, where the first subset of electrodes includes at least two electrodes in the array of sensing electrodes; determining second combined values from measured values for a second subset of electrodes in the array of sensing electrodes, where the second subset of electrodes includes at least two electrodes in the array of sensing electrodes; determining difference values using the first combined values and the second combined values, each of the difference values based at least in part on a difference between at least one of the first combined values and at least one of the second combined values; and generating the positional information for the object away from surface using the difference values. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification