Adapative sensing component resolution based on touch location authentication

• US 9,176,614 B2
• Filed: 06/27/2013
• Issued: 11/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Alameh, Rachid M., Love, Robert T., Slaby, Jiri
• Primary Examiner(s): SHERMAN, STEPHEN G
• Application Number:
  US13/928,470
• Publication Number:
  US 20140354556A1
• Time in Patent Office: 859 Days
• Field of Search: 345173-179, 178 1801- 1809, 178/18.11, 178 1901- 1907
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041661 using detection at multiple resolutions, e.g. coarse and fine scanning; using detection within a limited area, e.g. object tracking window
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/13 Sensors therefor

Abstract

A display component (108) displays multiple icons that a user can touch. A sensing component (104) supports multiple resolution modes, including at least a high resolution mode and a low resolution mode. In one embodiment, in response to detecting an object touching one of the multiple icons while in the low resolution mode, at least a portion of the sensing component over the touched icon changes to operating in a high resolution mode. While in the high resolution mode, the user'"'"'s fingerprint is sensed, and then the sensing component is returned to the low resolution mode. In another embodiment, icons are displayed in different regions of a display, and those different regions are associated with different sensing component resolutions. When an icon is touched, the touch is detected by the sensing component using the sensing component resolution associated with the region that includes the icon.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

displaying, by a display of a device, multiple icons;

activating, by the device, in a low resolution mode, a sensing component of the device for detecting touches at the display;

while the sensing component operates in the low resolution mode, detecting, by the device, an object touching a location of the display at which a particular icon from the multiple icons is displayed;

determining, by the device, that the particular icon is associated with a higher resolution mode of the sensing component, the higher resolution mode being of greater resolution than the low resolution mode; and

responsive to detecting the object touching the location of the display at which the particular icon is displayed, activating, by the device, in the higher resolution mode, at least one area of the sensing component that corresponds to the location of the display at which the particular icon is displayed.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein activating, in the higher resolution mode, the at least one area of the sensing component that corresponds to the location of the display at which the particular icon is displayed comprises activating substantially all of the sensing component in the higher resolution mode.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein activating, in the higher resolution mode, the at least one area of the sensing component that corresponds to the location of the display at which the particular icon is displayed comprises activating, by the device, a portion of the sensing component that is at least within a threshold distance of the location of the display at which the particular icon is displayed.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein activating, in the higher resolution mode, the at least one area of the sensing component that corresponds to the location of the display at which the particular icon is displayed comprises activating, by the device, drive lines and sense lines of a sensing grid of the sensing component that are at least within a threshold distance of the location of the display at which the particular icon is displayed.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the higher resolution mode is one of multiple higher resolution modes that each have a greater resolution than the low resolution mode and identifying the higher resolution mode comprises identifying, by the device, based on a security setting of the particular icon and from the multiple higher resolution modes, the higher resolution mode that is associated with the particular icon.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

while the sensing component is in the high resolution mode, sensing, by the device, a fingerprint at the at least one area of the sensing component;

authenticating, by the device, the fingerprint; and

responsive to authenticating the fingerprint, returning, by the device, the at least one area of the sensing component to the low resolution mode.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the object is a first object and the particular icon is a first icon, the method further comprising:

returning, by the device, the at least one area of the sensing component to the low resolution mode;

while the sensing component operates in the low resolution mode, detecting, by the device, a second object touching an additional icon from the multiple icons; and

while the device detects the second object touching the additional icon, keeping, by the device, the sensing component in the low resolution mode.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

while operating the at least one area in the higher resolution mode, operating, by the device, in the low resolution mode, remaining areas of the sensing component other than the at least one area.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the particular icon is associated with the higher resolution mode of the sensing component comprises:

receiving, by the device, information specifying the higher resolution mode from at least one of an application associated with the one icon, a remote service associated with the one icon, a user associated with the device, or an administrator associated with the device; and

determining, by the device, based on the information, the higher resolution mode.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the location comprises a first location and the at least one area comprises a first area, the method further comprising:

displaying, by the display, the particular icon at a second location of the display that is different than the first location;

while the sensing component, including the at least one area, operates in the low resolution mode, detecting, by the device, the object touching the second location of the display at which the particular icon is displayed; and

responsive to detecting the object touching the second location of the display at which the particular icon is displayed, activating, by the device, in the higher resolution mode, a second area of the sensing component that corresponds to the second location of the display, wherein the second area is different than the first area.

11. A device comprising:

a display control module configured to display multiple icons at a display;

a sensing component operable in multiple resolution modes including a low resolution mode and a higher resolution mode, the higher resolution mode being of greater resolution than the low resolution mode; and

a sensing component control module configured to;

while the sensing component operates in a low resolution mode, detect an object touching a location of the display at which a particular icon from the multiple icons is displayed;

determine that the particular icon is associated with the higher resolution mode of the sensing component; and

responsive to detecting the object touching the location of the display at which the particular icon is displayed, activate, in the higher resolution mode, at least one area of the sensing component that corresponds to the location of the display at which the particular icon is displayed.

12. The device as recited in claim 11, further comprising a driver component and a multiplexer component configured to activate different portions of the sensing component in the higher resolution mode at different times.

13. The device as recited in claim 11, wherein the sensing component control module is further configured to activate, in the higher resolution mode, the at least one area of the sensing component that corresponds to the location of the display at which the particular icon is displayed by activating substantially all of the sensing component in the higher resolution mode.

14. The device as recited in claim 11, wherein the sensing component control module is further configured to activate, in the higher resolution mode, the at least one area of the sensing component that corresponds to the location of the display at which the particular icon is displayed by activating a portion of the sensing component that is at least within a threshold distance of the location of the display at which the particular icon is displayed.

15. The device as recited in claim 11, wherein the sensing component comprises a sensing grid, and the sensing component control module is further configured to activate, in the higher resolution mode, the at least one area of the sensing component by activating drive lines and sense lines of the sensing grid that are at least within a threshold distance of the location of the display at which the particular icon is displayed.

16. The device as recited in claim 11, wherein the higher resolution mode is one of multiple higher resolution modes from the multiple resolution modes that each have a greater resolution than the low resolution mode and the sensing component control module is further configured to identify the higher resolution mode by identifying, based on a security setting of the one icon and from the multiple resolution modes, the higher resolution mode that is associated with the particular icon.

17. The device as recited in claim 11, wherein the sensing component control module is further configured to:

while the sensing component is in the high resolution mode, sense a fingerprint at the at least one area;

authenticate the fingerprint; and

responsive to authenticating the fingerprint, return the sensing component to the low resolution mode.

18. The device as recited in claim 11, wherein the sensing component control module is further configured to:

while operating the at least one area in the higher resolution mode, operate, in the low resolution mode, remaining areas of the sensing component other than the at least one area.

19. The device as recited in claim 11, wherein the sensing component control module is further configured to determine that the particular icon is associated with the higher resolution mode of the sensing component by at least:

receiving information specifying the higher resolution mode from at least one of an application associated with the particular icon, a remote service associated with the particular icon, a user associated with the device, or an administrator associated with the device; and

determining, based on the information, the higher resolution mode.

20. The device as recited in claim 11, wherein the location comprises a first location, the at least one area comprises a first area, and the sensing component control module is further configured to:

while the sensing component, including the at least one area, operates in the low resolution mode, detect, the object touching a second location of the display at which the one particular is displayed, wherein the second location of the display is different than the first location; and

responsive to detecting the object touching the second location of the display at which the particular icon is displayed, activate, in the higher resolution mode, a second area of the sensing component that corresponds to the second location of the display, wherein the second area is different than the first area.