Reducing sleep current in a capacitance sensing system

• US 9,575,606 B1
• Filed: 01/27/2015
• Issued: 02/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (Infineon Technologies AG)
• Original Assignee: Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (Infineon Technologies AG)
• Inventors: Wright, David G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ghebretinsae, Temesghen
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jansen, II, Michael J
• Application Number:
  US14/606,767
• Time in Patent Office: 756 Days
• Field of Search: 345/173
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3262 Power saving in digitizer or tablet
• 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 2203/04108 Touchless 2D- 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 without distance measurement in the Z direction
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03548 Sliders, in which the moving part moves in a plane
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/042 by opto-electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/022 in absence of operation, e.g. no data being entered during a predetermined time
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/20 for presentation of an assembly of a number of characters, e.g. a page, by composing the assembly by combination of individual elements arranged in a matrix no fixed position being assigned to or needed to be assigned to the individual characters or partial characters
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/9622 using a plurality of detectors, e.g. keyboard

Abstract

An apparatus and method of measuring a collective capacitance on a group of capacitive sense elements from at least one of rows or columns of a capacitance sense array when in a first mode, and individually measuring capacitances on each of the rows and columns when in a second mode.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing a two-dimensional capacitance sense array comprising rows of capacitive sense elements and columns of capacitive sense elements;

when in a first mode, coupling a first group of capacitive sense elements from at least one of the rows or the columns together and coupling the first group to a first capacitance sensor;

when in the first mode, coupling a second group of the capacitive sense elements together and coupling the second group to a second capacitance sensor;

simultaneously measuring, by the first capacitance sensor and the second capacitance sensor, a collective capacitance on the first group and the second group when in the first mode to detect a presence of a conductive object proximate to at least one of the first group and second group;

individually coupling at least one of the first capacitance sensor and the second capacitance sensor to each of the rows or columns when in a second mode; and

individually measuring, by at least one of the first capacitance sensor and the second capacitance sensor, capacitances on each of the rows and the columns when in the second mode.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first group or the second group comprises all of the rows or all of the columns.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first group or the second group comprises more than half of the rows or more than half of the columns.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first group or the second group comprises half of the rows or half of the columns.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first group or the second group comprises alternating ones of the rows or alternating ones of the columns.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

upon detection of the presence of the conductive object in the first mode, switching to the second mode; and

individually coupling the first capacitance sensor to each of the other one of the rows or columns when in the second mode.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

upon detection of the presence of the conductive object in the first mode, switching to the second mode.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a presence of the conductive object proximate to the first group and the second group when in the first mode based on the measuring the collective capacitance; and

upon detecting the presence of the conductive object, transitioning from the first mode to the second mode.

9. A method comprising:

operating a sensing device in a first mode, wherein the sensing device is coupled to rows and columns of a capacitance sense array, wherein the sensing device comprises a first capacitance sensor and a second capacitance sensor;

when in the first mode, simultaneously measuring, by the first capacitance sensor and the second capacitance sensor, a collective capacitance on a first group of capacitive sense elements from at least one of the rows or the columns coupled with the first capacitance sensor and a second group of the capacitive sense elements coupled with the second capacitance sensor to detect a presence of a conductive object proximate to the at least one of the first group or the second group of capacitive sense elements based on the measuring the collective capacitance; and

transitioning the sensing device from operating in the first mode to a second mode, wherein the first mode is a lower power mode than the second mode, wherein at least one of the first capacitance sensor and the second capacitance sensor is individually coupled to each of the rows or columns for measuring capacitances when in the second mode.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising individually measuring capacitances on each of the rows and on each of the columns when in the second mode.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the first group or the second group comprises all of the rows or all of the columns.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the first group or the second group comprises more than half of the rows or more than half of the columns.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the first group or the second group comprises half of the rows and half of the columns.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the first group or the second group comprises alternating ones of the rows and alternating ones of the columns.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising individually coupling the first capacitance sensor to each of the rows when in the second mode.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising individually coupling the second capacitance sensor to each of the columns when in the second mode.

17. An apparatus comprising:

a capacitance sense array comprising rows of capacitive sense elements and columns of capacitive sense elements; and

a sensing device configured to be coupled to the capacitance sense array in different configurations in two modes, wherein the sensing device is configured to operate in a first mode, wherein the sensing device is configured to measure a collective capacitance on a first group and a second group of capacitive sense elements from at least one of the rows or the columns when in the first mode to detect a presence of a conductive object proximate to the capacitance sense array based on the collective capacitance, wherein the sensing device comprises;

a first capacitance sensor and a second capacitance sensor; and

a selection circuit configured to couple the first capacitance sensor to the first group and the second capacitance sensor to the second group to simultaneously measure the collective capacitance in the first mode, and wherein the selection circuit is configured to couple the at least one of the first capacitance sensor and the second capacitance sensor to individual ones of the rows and to individual ones of the columns to individually measure the capacitances in a second mode, and wherein the first mode is a lower power mode than the second mode.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the selection circuit is configured to individually couple the first capacitance sensor to each of the rows when in the second mode and to individually couple the second capacitance sensor to each of the columns when in the second mode.