Proximity based gesturing devices, systems and methods
First Claim
1. A device comprising:
- a plurality of sensors substantially coplanar with one another in a sensor plane, each sensor generating a sense value, which varies according to a physical distance between that sensor and an object, without physically contacting the object; and
control circuits configured to generate a first position value, a second position value, and a third value using the sense values, the first position value and second position value identifying a two-dimensional position of the object in the sensor plane and the third value varies in response to movement of the object in an axis substantially perpendicular to the sensor plane, wherein the control circuits comprise a programmable integrated circuit comprising;
an analog portion configured to acquire the sense value at each sensor and convert the sense value to a numerical sensor count value; and
a digital portion comprising arithmetic logic circuits configured to calculate the first, second, and third values from the numerical sensor count values.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A device includes sensor substantially coplanar with one another in a sensor plane, each sensor generating a sense value that varies according to a physical distance between the sensor and an object without physically contacting the object. The device also includes control circuits configured to generate a first position value, a second position value, and a third value using the sense values. The first position value and the second position values identify a two-dimensional position of the object in the sensor plane and the third value varies in response to movement of the object in a Z-direction substantially perpendicular to the sensor plane. The control circuits include a programmable integrated circuit including an analog portion and a digital portion.
60 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A device comprising:
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a plurality of sensors substantially coplanar with one another in a sensor plane, each sensor generating a sense value, which varies according to a physical distance between that sensor and an object, without physically contacting the object; and control circuits configured to generate a first position value, a second position value, and a third value using the sense values, the first position value and second position value identifying a two-dimensional position of the object in the sensor plane and the third value varies in response to movement of the object in an axis substantially perpendicular to the sensor plane, wherein the control circuits comprise a programmable integrated circuit comprising; an analog portion configured to acquire the sense value at each sensor and convert the sense value to a numerical sensor count value; and a digital portion comprising arithmetic logic circuits configured to calculate the first, second, and third values from the numerical sensor count values. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method comprising:
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acquiring, by an analog portion of a programmable integrated circuit, sensor data from sensors aligned in a sensor plane; detecting, by a digital portion of the programmable integrated circuit, a presence of an object, in a detection space extending from the sensor plane, without contact between the object and the sensor plane; detecting, by the digital portion, differences between a plurality of object positions in a dimension extending from the sensor plane using the sensor data; and detecting, by the digital portion, object position in another plane that is substantially parallel with the sensor plane using the sensor data, wherein the sensors comprise a first sensor and a second sensor aligned along a first axis, and a third sensor and a fourth sensor aligned along a second axis different than the first axis, and the detecting the object position in the other plane comprises generating a first position value from sensor data from the first and second sensors, and generating a second position value from sensor data from the third and fourth sensors. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A device, comprising:
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a first sensor configured to generate first proximity data for an object in a detection space adjacent to a device body; a second sensor configured to generate second proximity data for the object in the detection space; a third sensor configured to generate third proximity data for the object in the detection space; a fourth sensor configured to generate fourth proximity data for the object in the detection space; and processing circuits configured to determine a two-dimensional position of the object in a first plane of the detection space using at least two of the first proximity data, the second proximity data, the third proximity data, or the fourth proximity data and to determine movement of the object in a first direction substantially perpendicular to the first plane using at least two of the first proximity data, the second proximity data, the third proximity data, or the fourth proximity data, wherein the first sensor is configured to sense a different physical quality to generate the first proximity data than the second sensor senses to generate the second proximity data. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification