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Capacitive touch sensor system and method

  • US 9,459,746 B2
  • Filed: 09/27/2014
  • Issued: 10/04/2016
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2013
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A capacitive touch sensor system comprising:

  • (a) touch sensor array (TSA);

    (b) array column driver (ACD);

    (c) column switching register (CSR);

    (d) column driving source (CDS);

    (e) array row sensor (ARS);

    (f) row switching register (RSR);

    (g) analog to digital converter (ADC); and

    (h) computing control device (CCD);

    wherein;

    said TSA comprises a variable impedance array (VIA) comprising VIA columns and VIA rows;

    said VIA comprises capacitance elements interlinking said VIA columns and said VIA rows;

    said VIA is configured to electrically couple a plurality of interlinked impedance columns (IIC) within said TSA with a plurality of interlinked impedance rows (IIR) within said TSA;

    said IIC further comprises a plurality of individual column impedance elements (ICIE) electrically connected in series between said VIA columns;

    said IIR further comprises a plurality of individual row impedance elements (IRIE) electrically connected in series between said VIA rows;

    said ACD is configured to select said IIC within said TSA based on said CSR;

    said ACD is configured to electrically drive said selected IIC using said CDS;

    said ARS is configured to select said IIR within said TSA based on said RSR;

    said ADC is configured to sense the electrical state of said selected IIR and convert said electrical state to a sensed digital value (SDV);

    said electrical state is determined by the sum of current contributions of variable impedance elements within said VIA, where the current contribution of each of said variable impedance elements is determined by a voltage divider formed between the columns of said VIA, a current divider formed between the rows of said VIA, and the state of said each of said variable impedance elements, to produce a sensed current for a given row-column intersection with said VIA; and

    said CCD is configured to sample said SDV from said ADC at a plurality of positions within said TSA to form a touch sensor matrix (TSM) data structure.

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