Active stylus synchronization

• US 9,830,000 B2
• Filed: 12/12/2014
• Issued: 11/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Westhues, Jonathan, Qiao, Tianzhu
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang, Kent
• Assistant Examiner(s): BRITTINGHAM, NATHANIEL P
• Application Number:
  US14/569,544
• Publication Number:
  US 20160170506A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,082 Days
• Field of Search: None
• 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 3/03545 Pens or stylus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04162 for exchanging data with external devices, e.g. smart pens, via the digitiser sensing hardware
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0441 using active external devices, e.g. active pens, for receiving changes in electrical potential transmitted by the digitiser, e.g. tablet driving signals
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0442 using active external devices, e.g. active pens, for transmitting changes in electrical potential to be received by the digitiser
• 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 touch-sensing system comprises an active stylus including a probe electrode and associated sensory logic. The sensory logic is configured to receive a synchronization pulse sequence via the probe electrode between consecutive touch-sensing frames of a capacitive touch screen, to use the synchronization pulse sequence to synchronize a local row counter of the sensory logic to a remote row counter of the capacitive touch screen, to receive an excitation pulse via the probe electrode within a given touch-sensing frame, and to use the excitation pulse to maintain synchronization between the local row counter and the remote row counter.

Claims

1. A touch-sensing system comprising:

an active stylus including a probe electrode and associated sensory logic;

the sensory logic configured to;

receive a synchronization pulse sequence via the probe electrode between consecutive touch-sensing frames of a capacitive touch screen;

use the synchronization pulse sequence to synchronize a local row counter of the sensory logic to a remote row counter of the capacitive touch screen;

receive an excitation pulse via the probe electrode within a given touch-sensing frame; and

use the excitation pulse to maintain synchronization between the local row counter and the remote row counter, including computing a correlation between a strongest excitation pulse received and a facsimile of the excitation pulse.

2. The touch-sensing system of claim 1, wherein the sensory logic is further configured to estimate a timing offset between the local row counter and the remote row counter.

3. The touch-sensing system of claim 2, wherein the sensory logic is configured to apply an interpolation algorithm to estimate the timing offset.

4. The touch-sensing system of claim 3, wherein the interpolation algorithm is antisymmetric on interchange of early and late correlations equidistant from a contemporaneous correlation.

5. The touch-sensing system of claim 3, wherein the interpolation algorithm is insensitive to signal strength of the excitation pulse received.

6. The touch-sensing system of claim 5, wherein the timing offset is estimated based on a sign of the computed correlation.

7. The touch-sensing system of claim 5, wherein the sensory logic includes a proportional-integral (PI) controller, and wherein the estimated timing offset is provided as input to the PI controller.

8. The touch-sensing system of claim 1, wherein the synchronization pulse sequence is received from a plurality of row electrodes distributed along a sensory surface of the touch screen and energized concurrently.

9. The touch-sensing system of claim 1, wherein the excitation pulse is received from a row electrode arranged on a sensory surface of the touch screen and energized individually, according to a row excitation sequence.

10. The touch-sensing system of claim 1, wherein the active stylus includes injection logic configured to control charge injection from the probe electrode to a column electrode of the touch screen arranged directly adjacent the probe electrode.

11. The touch-sensing system of claim 1, wherein the sensory logic is further configured to compute a row coordinate adjacent the probe electrode, and wherein the active stylus includes communication componentry configured to wirelessly communicate the computed row coordinate to the touch screen.

12. The touch-sensing system of claim 11, wherein the communication component is configured to communicate the computed row coordinate electrostatically, via injection logic of the active stylus.

13. The touch-sensing system of claim 11, wherein the communication component includes a radio transmitter configured to transmit the computed row coordinate, and wherein the touch screen includes a radio receiver configured to receive the computed row coordinate.

14. The touch-sensing system of claim 1, wherein the remote row counter is arranged in row-driver logic of the touch screen, wherein the row-driver logic is configured to energize each row electrode of the touch screen in sequence.

15. A touch-sensing system comprising:

an active stylus including a probe electrode and associated sensory logic;

the sensory logic configured to;

receive a synchronization pulse sequence via the probe electrode between consecutive touch-sensing frames of a capacitive touch screen;

compute a synchronization-pulse correlation between the synchronization pulse sequence received and a facsimile of the synchronization pulse sequence;

synchronize a local row counter of the sensory logic with a remote row counter of the capacitive touch screen based on the synchronization pulse-sequence correlation, including locating a position corresponding to a maximum value of the synchronization-pulse correlation and/or identifying a first occurrence of an above-threshold position in the synchronization-pulse correlation;

receive an excitation pulse via the probe electrode within a given touch-sensing frame;

compute an excitation-pulse correlation between the excitation pulse received and a facsimile of the excitation pulse; and

maintain synchronization between the local row counter and the remote row counter based on the excitation-pulse correlation.

16. The touch-sensing system of claim 15, wherein the sensory logic is configured to locate a position corresponding to a maximum value of the synchronization-pulse correlation.

17. The touch-sensing system of claim 15, wherein the sensory logic is configured to identify a first occurrence of an above-threshold position in the synchronization-pulse correlation.

18. The touch-sensing system of claim 15, wherein the sensory logic is further configured to compute early and late correlations between the synchronization pulse sequence received and the facsimile to maintain synchronization between the local row counter and the remote row counter.

19. A touch-sensing system comprising:

an active stylus including a probe electrode and associated sensory logic;

the sensory logic configured to;

receive a synchronization pulse sequence via the probe electrode between consecutive touch-sensing frames of a capacitive touch screen;

compute a synchronization pulse-sequence correlation between the synchronization pulse sequence received and a facsimile of the synchronization pulse sequence;

synchronize a local row counter of the sensory logic to a remote row counter of the capacitive touch screen based on the synchronization pulse-sequence correlation;

receive an excitation pulse via the probe electrode within a given touch-sensing frame;

compute an excitation-pulse correlation between the excitation pulse received and a facsimile of the excitation pulse; and

maintain synchronization between the local row counter and the remote row counter based on the excitation-pulse correlation.