Initiating fingerprint capture with a touch screen

• US 10,282,579 B2
• Filed: 01/24/2017
• Issued: 05/07/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fingerprint Cards AB
• Original Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
• Inventors: Thompson, Erik Jonathon, Schwartz, Adam L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Allison, Andrae S
• Application Number:
  US15/414,364
• Publication Number:
  US 20170220842A1
• Time in Patent Office: 833 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1643 the display being associated to a digitizer, e.g. laptops that can be used as penpads details related to the relative motion of the display enclosure with respect to the body enclosure, e.g. to move between laptop and tablet PC configuration G06F1/1615
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1696 the I/O peripheral being a printing or scanning device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3215 Monitoring of peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3231 Monitoring the presence, absence or movement of users
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/81 by operating on the power supply, e.g. enabling or disabling power-on, sleep or resume operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/13 Sensors therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/1365 Matching; Classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/50 Maintenance of biometric data or enrolment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/67 by interactive indications to the user
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/651 for reducing power consumption by affecting camera operations, e.g. sleep mode, hibernation mode or power off of selective parts of the camera
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A method for initiating fingerprint capture in an electronic device is described. The device includes a touch screen with a sensing region, a touch controller, a fingerprint controller, and a host. The device is placed in a low power doze mode where the fingerprint controller is in a low power state and the device scans for an object proximate to the sensing region. When an object is proximate to the sensing region, the device executes a validation mode to determine whether the object is a fingerprint. When a fingerprint is detected, the device sends a wake up signal to the fingerprint controller and places the fingerprint controller in a high power mode. One or more fingerprint images are then captured.

Claims

1. A method for initiating fingerprint capture in an electronic device having a touch screen with a sensing region, a touch controller, and a fingerprint controller, the method comprising:

placing the electronic device in a first power mode, the first power mode being a doze mode, wherein the fingerprint controller is in a low power mode;

scanning for an object proximate to the sensing region;

executing a validation mode to determine whether the object is a fingerprint;

sending a wake up signal directly from the touch controller to the fingerprint controller and placing the fingerprint controller in a second power mode, the second power mode being a higher power mode than the first power mode; and

capturing an image of the fingerprint.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic device comprises a host and the host is placed in the first power mode during the doze mode and the validation mode.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the scanning for the object proximate to the sensing region occurs at predetermined time intervals.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein following executing the validation mode, waiting a predetermined time interval before reentering the doze mode.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the validation mode comprises analyzing a size of a touch in the sensing region.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the validation mode comprises analyzing a number of touches in the sensing region.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the validation mode comprises analyzing a location of a touch in the sensing region.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

illuminating a portion of the sensing region as a finger placement guide in response to detecting the object is proximate to the sensing region.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

illuminating a portion of the sensing region as a finger placement guide in response to detecting motion of the electronic device.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

illuminating an illumination element disposed under a portion of the sensing region.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the validation mode comprises analyzing a low power wake up gesture (LPWG).

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting a hovering object and, in response, illuminating a portion of the sensing region.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a signal directly from the touch controller to a display controller to illuminate the sensing region for optical fingerprint sensing.

14. An electronic device, comprising:

a fingerprint controller configured to be in a first power mode and to enter a second power mode upon receipt of a wake up signal, the second power mode being a higher power mode than the first power mode; and

a touch controller in direct communication with the fingerprint controller and configured to send the wake up signal to the fingerprint controller.

15. The electronic device of claim 14, further comprising a display controller for controlling a display and in direct communication with the touch controller and configured to illuminate a fingerprint sensing area of the display.

16. The electronic device of claim 15, further comprising a motion sensor, wherein the display controller illuminates the fingerprint sensing area upon detection of motion.

17. The electronic device of claim 15, further comprising an illumination element mounted underneath the fingerprint sensing area.

18. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the touch controller and the fingerprint controller are combined in a single die.

19. The electronic device of claim 18, wherein the touch controller and the fingerprint controller have a common processor.

20. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the electronic device is configured to:

enter the first power mode and scan for an object proximate to a sensing region of the electronic device;

execute a validation mode to determine whether the object is a fingerprint;

send the wake up signal directly from the touch controller to the fingerprint controller and place the fingerprint controller in the second power mode; and

capture an image of the fingerprint.

21. The electronic device of claim 14, further comprising a display controller in direct communication with the touch controller, wherein the touch controller sends a signal directly to the display controller to illuminate a sensing region for optical fingerprint sensing.

22. An electronic device, comprising:

a touch controller configured to scan for an object proximate to a sensing region during a first power mode, and execute a validation mode to determine whether the object is a fingerprint,

wherein the touch controller is configured to be in direct communication with a fingerprint controller and to send a wake up signal to the fingerprint controller based on results of the validation mode.

23. The electronic device of claim 22, wherein the touch controller is further configured to send a signal directly to a display controller to illuminate the sensing region for optical sensing.

24. The electronic device of claim 23, wherein the touch controller is further configured to send a signal to the display controller to turn off illumination of the sensing region for optical fingerprint sensing.

25. A method for initiating a fingerprint capture in an electronic device having a touch screen with a sensing region, a host, a touch controller, and a fingerprint controller, the method comprising:

placing the electronic device in a first power mode, the first power mode being a doze mode, wherein the fingerprint controller is in a low power mode;

scanning for an object proximate to the sensing region;

executing a validation mode to determine whether the object is a fingerprint;

sending a first signal from the touch controller to the host, the first signal being a first wake up signal; and

sending a second signal from the host to the fingerprint controller to initiate the fingerprint capture.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the second signal is a second wake up signal.

27. The method of claim 25, further comprising sending a third signal from the host to a display controller to initiate illumination of the sensing region during the fingerprint capture.

28. An electronic device including a touch screen with a sensing region, comprising:

a fingerprint controller configured to be in a first power mode, the first power mode being a doze mode;

a host configured to be in the first mode; and

a touch controller configured to send a first signal to the host upon detection of a valid touch during a validation mode, the first signal being a first wake up signal,

wherein the host is in communication with the fingerprint controller and the touch controller, the host being configured to send a second signal to the fingerprint controller to initiate fingerprint capture in response to detection of the valid touch.

29. The electronic device of claim 28, wherein the second signal is a second wake up signal.

30. The electronic device of claim 28, further comprising a display controller wherein the host is further configured to send a third signal to the display controller to initiate illumination of the sensing region during the fingerprint capture.