Customizing operation of a touch screen

• US 9,292,116 B2
• Filed: 11/21/2012
• Issued: 03/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Mann, Eytan, Geller, Ilan
• Primary Examiner(s): Yodichkas, Aneeta
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wills-Burns, Chineyere
• Application Number:
  US13/682,779
• Publication Number:
  US 20130127757A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,217 Days
• Field of Search: 345/174, 345/173, 345/157
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3215 Monitoring of peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3262 Power saving in digitizer or tablet
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04101 2.5D-digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface and also measures the distance of the input means within a short range in the Z direction, possibly with a separate measurement setup
• 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 2203/04106 Multi-sensing digitiser, i.e. digitiser using at least two different sensing technologies simultaneously or alternatively, e.g. for detecting pen and finger, for saving power or for improving position detection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04166 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 3/0446 using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes

Abstract

A method for customizing operation of a digitizer system operated with an electronic device is described, the electronic device including software applications. The method includes operating the digitizer system in a first mode of operation, the first mode of operation defined by a plurality of operating parameters, receiving instructions for adjusting one or more operating parameters of the digitizer system, wherein the instructions are defined by a software application, the software application operative to receive input from the digitizer system, and updating operation of the digitizer system responsive to the instructions defined by the software applications.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

operating a digitizer system in a first mode of operation for detecting multi-touch fingertip and/or stylus, the first mode of operation associated with one or more processing routines performed by the digitizer system for processing data sampled from a digitizer sensor of the digitizer system, wherein the digitizer system is operated with an electronic device including software applications;

receiving instructions to suspend or activate one of the processing routines to detect multi-touch fingertip and/or stylus, wherein the instructions are defined by a software application, the software application configured to receive input from the digitizer system; and

updating operation of the digitizer system based on the instructions defined by the software application, wherein the updating includes suspending sampling the digitizer sensor for stylus detection or suspending scanning the digitizer sensor for fingertip detection and wherein the software application is configured to define the instructions based on accumulated data derived over an extended duration of time, the accumulated data characterizing how a user(s) typically operates the electronic device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the instructions defined by one software application configured to receive input from the digitizer system is different than the instructions defined by another software application configured to receive input from the digitizer system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the instructions defined by a software application change during an operating session of the software application and wherein operation of the digitizer system is updated based on the changes.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the software application is selected from a group consisting of:

word processing application, drawing application, gaming application, internet browsing application, e-mail application, spreadsheet application, navigation application, data processing application, social networks application, phone dialing application, messaging application, security and/or signature verification application, handwriting recognition application, translation application, data consuming or processing application, image processing or displaying application, audio processing or playing application, video processing or playing application, electronic books application, news application and price comparison application.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the software application is a power management application.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the digitizer system includes a digitizer sensor formed from a plurality of conductive lines spread over a sensing surface and wherein the digitizer system is configured to alter a routine for triggering the conductive lines of the digitizer sensor based on the instructions defined by the software application.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the digitizer system is configured to alter a refresh rate of the digitizer system based on the instructions defined by the software application.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing routine is selected from a group including:

gesture detection, smoothing algorithms and palm detection.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the digitizer system is configured to alter a predefined number of simultaneous fingertip touches that is supported for detection based on the instructions defined by the software application.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the digitizer system is configured to suspend hover detection of one or more of stylus or fingertip based on the instructions defined by the software application.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the digitizer system is configured to alter number of bits used for sampling analog output based on the instructions defined by the software application.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the digitizer system is configured to alter resolution of the digitizer system based on the instructions defined by the software application.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the digitizer system is operated with a mobile phone or a smart phone.

14. An electronic device comprising:

a controller associated with a host computer configured to receive instructions to suspend or activate one or more processing routines to process data sampled from a digitizer sensor of a digitizer system, the instructions defined by a software application, the software application running on the host computer;

a controller configured to operate the digitizer system to detect multi-touch fingertip and/or stylus, the controller configured to operate the digitizer system in a first mode of operation and to update operation of the digitizer system based on the instructions by suspending or activating the one or more processing routines to detect multi-touch fingertip and/or stylus based on the instructions defined by the software application; and

an interface configured to communicate instructions defined by the software application to the controller configured to operate the digitizer system.

15. An electronic device of claim 14 comprising memory having stored thereon at least two software applications, each defining one or more operating parameters of the digitizer system, wherein at least one of the operating parameters defined by one of the at least two software applications is different than that defined by the other of the at least two software applications.

16. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the software application is selected from a group consisting of:

word processing application, drawing application, gaming application, internet browsing application, e-mail application, spreadsheet application, navigation application, data processing application, social networks application, phone dialing application, messaging application, security and/or signature verification application, handwriting recognition application, translation application, data consuming or processing application, image processing or displaying application, audio processing or playing application, video processing or playing application, electronic books application, news applications and price comparison application.

17. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the software application is a power management application.

18. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the digitizer system includes a digitizer sensor formed from a plurality of conductive lines spread over a sensing surface and wherein the controller for operating the digitizer system is configured to alter a routine for triggering the conductive lines of the digitizer sensor based on the instructions defined by the software application.

19. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the controller configured to operate the digitizer system is configured to alter a refresh rate of the digitizer system based on the instructions defined by the software application.

20. The electronic device of claim 14 wherein the processing routine is selected from a group including:

gesture detection, smoothing algorithms and palm detection.

21. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the controller configured to operate the digitizer system is configured to suspend sampling the digitizer sensor for stylus detection or to suspend scanning the digitizer sensor for fingertip detection based on the instructions defined by the software application.

22. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the controller configured to operate the digitizer system is configured to alter a predefined number of simultaneous fingertip touches that is supported for detection based on the instructions defined by the software application.

23. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the controller configured to operate the digitizer system is configured to activate or suspend hover detection of one or more of stylus or fingertip based on the instructions defined by the software application.

24. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the controller configured to operate the digitizer system is configured to alter number of bits used for sampling analog output based on the instructions defined by the software application.

25. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the controller configured to operate the digitizer system is configured to alter resolution of the digitizer system based on the instructions defined by the software application.

26. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the electronic device is a mobile phone or a smart phone.

27. A method comprising:

operating a digitizer system in a first mode of operation for detecting multi-touch fingertip and/or stylus, the first mode of operation associated with one or more processing routines performed by the digitizer system for processing data sampled from a digitizer sensor of the digitizer system, wherein the digitizer system is operated with an electronic device including software applications;

receiving instructions to suspend or activate one of the processing routines to detect multi-touch fingertip and/or stylus, wherein the instructions are defined by a software application, the software application configured to receive input from the digitizer system and wherein the software application is configured to define the instructions based on accumulated data derived over an extended duration of time, the accumulated data characterizing how a user(s) typically operates the electronic device; and

updating operation of the digitizer system based on the instructions defined by the software application.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the digitizer system is configured to alter a refresh rate of the digitizer system based the instructions defined by the software application.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the processing routine is selected from a group including:

gesture detection, smoothing algorithms and palm detection.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein the digitizer system is configured to alter a predefined number of simultaneous fingertip touches that is supported for detection based on the instructions defined by the software application.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein the digitizer system is configured to suspend hover detection of one or more of stylus or fingertip responsive to the instructions defined by the software application.