Combination touch and transducer input system and method
First Claim
1. A sensor controller comprising:
- a communication processor configured to;
cause a sensor to establish a wireless link with a pen-shaped transducer, wherein the sensor is comprised of an array of electrodes including first electrodes disposed along a first direction and second electrodes disposed along a second direction different from the first direction, and the pen-shaped transducer is operable to generate an electric field and to generate a pressure signal indicative of a pen pressure applied to a tip of the pen-shaped transducer,control the sensor to transmit, over the wireless link to the pen-shaped transducer, information that configures the pen-shaped transducer to transmit the pressure signal at a frequency channel determined from the information, andcontrol the sensor to capacitively detect the electric field generated by the pen-shaped transducer and to receive the pressure signal transmitted from the pen-shaped transducer at the determined frequency channel; and
a calculation processor configured to;
calculate a position indicated by the pen-shaped transducer on the sensor based on the electric field generated by the pen-shaped transducer and capacitively detected by the sensor, anddetermine a pen pressure value based on the received pressure signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A combination touch and transducer input system is provided, which facilitates user input into an electronic system with a finger and/or a transducer (e.g., a stylus). The system includes a transducer configured to generate an electric field, and a sensor including an array of electrodes and a controller. The transducer is configured to transmit digital data, such as pen pressure data and switch status data, to the sensor. For example, the transducer comprises electronic circuitry configured to encode the digital data in a signal for transmission to the sensor. The sensor controller is configured to operate both in a touch sensing mode and in a transducer sensing mode. During the touch sensing mode, the controller determines a position of a proximate object (e.g., a finger) by capacitively sensing the object with the array of electrodes. During the transducer sensing mode, the controller determines a position of the transducer based on a signal received by the array of electrodes from the transducer, and also receives and decodes the digital data encoded in the received signal. Digital data can be encoded in a signal using any suitable digital modulation techniques, such as a Frequency-Shift Keying (FSK) technique.
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Citations
42 Claims
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1. A sensor controller comprising:
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a communication processor configured to; cause a sensor to establish a wireless link with a pen-shaped transducer, wherein the sensor is comprised of an array of electrodes including first electrodes disposed along a first direction and second electrodes disposed along a second direction different from the first direction, and the pen-shaped transducer is operable to generate an electric field and to generate a pressure signal indicative of a pen pressure applied to a tip of the pen-shaped transducer, control the sensor to transmit, over the wireless link to the pen-shaped transducer, information that configures the pen-shaped transducer to transmit the pressure signal at a frequency channel determined from the information, and control the sensor to capacitively detect the electric field generated by the pen-shaped transducer and to receive the pressure signal transmitted from the pen-shaped transducer at the determined frequency channel; and a calculation processor configured to; calculate a position indicated by the pen-shaped transducer on the sensor based on the electric field generated by the pen-shaped transducer and capacitively detected by the sensor, and determine a pen pressure value based on the received pressure signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of bi-directional communication between a sensor and a pen-shaped transducer, the method comprising:
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establishing a wireless link between the sensor and the pen-shaped transducer, wherein the sensor is comprised of an array of electrodes including first electrodes disposed along a first direction and second electrodes disposed along a second direction different from the first direction, and the pen-shaped transducer is operable to generate an electric field and to generate a pressure signal indicative of a pen pressure applied to a tip of the pen-shaped transducer, controlling the sensor to transmit, over the wireless link to the pen-shaped transducer, information that configures the pen-shaped transducer to transmit the pressure signal at a frequency channel determined from the information, controlling the sensor to capacitively detect the electric field generated by the pen-shaped transducer, calculating a position indicated by the pen-shaped transducer on the sensor based on the electric field generated by the pen-shaped transducer and capacitively detected by the sensor, controlling the sensor to receive the pressure signal transmitted from the pen-shaped transducer at the determined frequency channel, and determining a pen pressure value based on the received pressure signal. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A pen-shaped transducer, comprising:
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signal generation circuity configured to generate a driving signal; an antenna configured to emit an electric field based on the driving signal; a pressure sensor configured to generate a pressure signal indicative of a pen pressure applied to a tip of the pen-shaped transducer; a transmitter/receiver configured to transmit the pressure signal generated by the pressure sensor; and a controller, which, in operation, establishes a wireless link between the transmitter/receiver and a sensor, wherein the sensor is comprised of an array of electrodes including first electrodes disposed along a first direction and second electrodes disposed along a second direction different from the first direction, establishes a capacitive coupling link between the antenna and the sensor based on the electric field emitted from the antenna, wherein the capacitive coupling link is used to indicate a position of the pen-shaped transducer on the sensor, controls the transmitter/receiver to receive information from the sensor over the wireless link, determines a frequency channel based on the received information, and controls the transmitter/receiver to transmit the pressure signal at the determined frequency channel to the sensor. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method of bi-directional communication between a pen-shaped transducer and a sensor, the method comprising:
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emitting an electric field from an antenna of the pen-shaped transducer to establish a capacitive coupling link between the antenna and the sensor, wherein the sensor is comprised of an array of electrodes including first electrodes disposed along a first direction and second electrodes disposed along a second direction different from the first direction and the capacitive coupling link is used to indicate a position of the pen-shaped transducer on the sensor; generating a pressure signal indicative of a pen pressure applied to a tip of the pen-shaped transducer; establishing a wireless link between the pen-shaped transducer and the sensor; receiving, over the wireless link from the sensor, information; determining a frequency channel based on the received information; and transmitting the pressure signal, over the wireless link to the sensor, at the determined frequency channel. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification