Touch sensitive processing apparatus, method and electronic system

• US 10,437,401 B2
• Filed: 11/03/2017
• Issued: 10/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eGalax_eMPIA Technology Inc.
• Original Assignee: eGalax_eMPIA Technology Inc.
• Inventors: Yeh, Shang-Tai, Lee, Cheng-Han
• Primary Examiner(s): Eurice, Michael J
• Application Number:
  US15/802,707
• Publication Number:
  US 20180121016A1
• Time in Patent Office: 704 Days
• 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 2203/04111 Cross over in capacitive digitiser, i.e. details of structures for connecting electrodes of the sensing pattern where the connections cross each other, e.g. bridge structures comprising an insulating layer, or vias through substrate
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04166 Details of scanning methods, e.g. sampling time, grouping of sub areas or time sharing with display driving Synchronisation with the driving of the display or the backlighting unit to avoid interferences generated internally G06F3/04184
• 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 sensitive processing apparatus includes: a driving circuit for connecting to multiple first electrodes, respectively; a sensing circuit for connecting to multiple second electrodes, respectively; and a processor configured for executing multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps. Each set of the first round mutual capacitive detecting step further includes: having the driving circuit sending a driving signal to neighboring N first electrodes, where N is a positive integer larger than 1; and having the sensing circuit simultaneously detecting the driving signal via the second electrodes for generating multiple first round sensing information with respective to the set of first round mutual capacitive detecting step. Each of the first round sensing information corresponds to an intersection of central line of the N first electrodes and the second electrode.

Claims

1. A touch sensitive processing apparatus configured to connect to a touch screen and used to detect at least one external conductive object approaching or touching the touch screen, wherein the touch screen comprises a plurality of first electrodes being parallel to each other and a plurality of second electrodes being parallel to each other, each of the first electrodes intersects with the second electrodes to form a plurality of intersection areas, the touch sensitive processing apparatus comprising:

a driving circuit, connecting to the first electrodes, respectively;

a sensing circuit, connecting to the second electrodes, respectively; and

a processor, configured to connect to the driving circuit and the sensing circuit, the processor used for;

executing multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps, wherein each set of the first round mutual capacitive detecting step further comprises;

having the driving circuit sending a driving signal to neighboring N first electrodes, where N is a positive integer larger than 1; and

having the sensing circuit simultaneously detecting the driving signal via the second electrodes for generating multiple first round sensing information with respective to the set of first round mutual capacitive detecting step, wherein each of the first round sensing information is corresponding to an intersection of a figurative central line of the N first electrodes and the second electrode.

2. The touch sensitive processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further used for:

calculating at least one position of the at least one external conductive object on the touch screen according to the multiple first round sensing information generated from the multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps; and

reporting the position to a host.

3. The touch sensitive processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first electrodes are parallel to the pixel axis of the touch screen.

4. The touch sensitive processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the touch screen is an in-cell touch LCD screen, a common electrode of the touch screen comprises at least one first electrode.

5. The touch sensitive processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further used for:

executing a whole-screen-driving detecting step before executing the multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps, wherein the whole-screen-driving detecting step further comprises;

having the driving circuit simultaneously sending the driving signal to all the first electrodes;

having the sensing circuit simultaneously detecting the driving signal via the second electrodes for generating one-dimensional sensing information with respective to and formed by multiple sensing information; and

determining if at least one external conductive object approaching or touching the touch screen according to the one-dimensional sensing information; and

executing the multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps when the at least one external conductive object is detected by the whole-screen-driving detecting step.

6. The touch sensitive processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further used for:

executing a sequential driving detecting step before executing the multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps, wherein the sequential driving detecting step further comprises;

having the driving circuit alternatively sending the driving signal to all the first electrodes in time division;

having the sensing circuit simultaneously detecting the driving signal via the second electrodes when each of the first electrodes sends the driving signal for generating two-dimensional sensing information with respective to and formed by multiple sensing information; and

determining a number of and a position of the external conductive object approaching or touching the touch screen according to the two-dimensional sensing information; and

executing the multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps when the number of the external conductive object detected by the sequential driving detecting step is bigger than a threshold.

7. The touch sensitive processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further used for:

executing iteratively the following steps for N−

1 times;

executing multiple X-th round mutual capacitive detecting steps, where X is a positive integer from 2 to N, wherein each of the X-th round mutual capacitive detecting steps comprises;

having the driving circuit simultaneously sending the driving signal to neighboring N first electrodes, where N is a positive integer larger than 1; and

having the sensing circuit simultaneously detecting the driving signal via the second electrodes for generating multiple X-th round sensing information with respective to the set of X-th round mutual capacitive detecting step, wherein each of the X-th round sensing information is corresponding to an intersection of a figurative central line of the N first electrodes and the second electrode; and

executing one X-th round special mutual capacitive detecting step, comprising;

having the driving circuit sending the driving signal to neighboring M_x first electrodes, where M_x is a positive integer smaller than N, the neighboring M_x first electrodes do not include the first electrodes having been sent the driving signal in the multiple sets of X-th round mutual capacitive detecting steps; and

having the sensing circuit simultaneously detecting the driving signal via the second electrodes for generating multiple X-th round special sensing information with respective to the set of X-th round special mutual capacitive detecting step, wherein each of the X-th round special sensing information is corresponding to an intersection of a figurative central line of the M_x first electrodes and the second electrode,

wherein the processor directs to and adjusts one of or any combination of parameters to make detecting strengths of the second electrode with respective to the M_x first electrodes and the N first electrodes are equivalent, wherein the parameters comprises;

waveform, voltage, strength of the driving signal, driving duration, timing of driving, detecting duration, timing of detecting, time difference between the sensing timing and driving timing, resistance value of variable resistor of the sensing circuit, and gain value of amplifier of the sensing circuit.

8. The touch sensitive processing apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor is further used for:

executing iteratively the following steps for N times to get N p-th round position of the at least one external conductive object on the touch screen;

calculating at least one p-th round position of the at least one external conductive object on the touch screen according to the multiple p-th round sensing information and the multiple p-th round special sensing information;

averaging N p-th round positions to get an average position; and

reporting the average position to a host.

9. The touch sensitive processing apparatus of claim 7, wherein the neighboring M₁ first electrodes are the M₁ first electrodes near one edge of the touch screen, the neighboring M_N first electrodes are the M_N first electrodes near the other edge of the touch screen.

10. The touch sensitive processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further used for:

executing at least one first round special mutual capacitive detecting step, comprising;

having the driving circuit sending the driving signal to neighboring M₁ first electrodes, where M₁ is a positive integer smaller than N, the neighboring M₁ first electrodes do not include the first electrodes having been sent the driving signal in the multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps; and

having the sensing circuit simultaneously detecting the driving signal via the second electrodes for generating multiple first round special sensing information with respective to the set of first round special mutual capacitive detecting step, wherein each of the first round special sensing information is corresponding to an intersection of a figurative central line of the M₁ first electrodes and the second electrode,

wherein the processor directs to and adjusts one of or any combination of parameters to make detecting strengths of the second electrode with respective to the M₁ first electrodes and the N first electrodes are equivalent, wherein the parameters comprises;

waveform, voltage, strength of the driving signal, driving duration, timing of driving, detecting duration, timing of detecting, time difference between the sensing timing and driving timing, resistance value of variable resistor of the sensing circuit, and gain value of amplifier of the sensing circuit.

11. The touch sensitive processing apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor is further used for:

calculating at least one first round position of the at least one external conductive object on the touch screen according to the multiple first round sensing information generated from the multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps and the multiple first round special sensing information generated from all of the first round special mutual capacitive detecting steps; and

reporting the first round position to a host.

12. The touch sensitive processing apparatus of claim 10, wherein the neighboring M_p first electrodes are selected in random, where p is a positive integer from 1 to N.

13. The touch sensitive processing apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor is further used for:

executing another first round special mutual capacitive detecting step, comprising;

having the driving circuit sending the driving signal to neighboring M₂ first electrodes, where M₂ is a positive integer smaller than N and is not equal to M₁, the neighboring M₂ first electrodes do not include the first electrodes and the M₁ first electrodes having been sent the driving signal in the multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps; and

having the sensing circuit simultaneously detecting the driving signal via the second electrodes for generating multiple first round special sensing information with respective to the set of first round special mutual capacitive detecting step, wherein each of the first round special sensing information is corresponding to an intersection of a figurative central line of the M₂ first electrodes and the second electrode,

wherein the processor directs to and adjusts one of or any combination of parameters to make detecting strengths of the second electrode with respective to the M₂ first electrodes and the N first electrodes are equivalent, wherein the parameters comprises;

waveform, voltage, strength of the driving signal, driving duration, timing of driving, detecting duration, timing of detecting, time difference between the sensing timing and driving timing, resistance value of variable resistor of the sensing circuit, and gain value of amplifier of the sensing circuit.

14. The touch sensitive processing apparatus of claim 13, wherein the neighboring M_p first electrodes and the neighboring M_q first electrodes comprise different first electrodes, where p and q are different positive integers ranging from 1 to N.

15. A touch sensitive processing method adaptive to a touch sensitive processing apparatus configured to connect to a touch screen and used to detect at least one external conductive object approaching or touching the touch screen, wherein the touch screen comprises a plurality of first electrodes being parallel to each other and a plurality of second electrodes being parallel to each other, each of the first electrodes intersects with the second electrodes to form a plurality of intersection areas, the touch sensitive processing method comprising:

executing multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps, wherein each set of the first round mutual capacitive detecting step further comprises;

having a driving circuit sending a driving signal to neighboring N first electrodes, where N is a positive integer larger than 1; and

having a sensing circuit simultaneously detecting the driving signal via the second electrodes for generating multiple first round sensing information with respective to the set of first round mutual capacitive detecting step, wherein each of the first round sensing information is corresponding to an intersection of a figurative central line of the N first electrodes and the second electrode.

16. The touch sensitive processing method of claim 15, further comprising:

calculating at least one position of the at least one external conductive object on the touch screen according to the multiple first round sensing information generated from the multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps; and

reporting the position to a host.

17. The touch sensitive processing method of claim 15, wherein the first electrodes are parallel to the pixel axis of the touch screen.

18. The touch sensitive processing method of claim 15, wherein the touch screen is an in-cell touch LCD screen, a common electrode of the touch screen comprises at least one first electrode.

19. The touch sensitive processing method of claim 15, further comprising:

executing a whole-screen-driving detecting step before executing the multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps, wherein the whole-screen-driving detecting step further comprises;

having the driving circuit simultaneously sending the driving signal to all the first electrodes;

having the sensing circuit simultaneously detecting the driving signal via the second electrodes for generating one-dimensional sensing information with respective to and formed by multiple sensing information; and

determining if at least one external conductive object approaching or touching the touch screen according to the one-dimensional sensing information; and

executing the multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps when the at least one external conductive object is detected by the whole-screen-driving detecting step.

20. The touch sensitive processing method of claim 15, further comprising:

executing a sequential driving detecting step before executing the multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps, wherein the sequential driving detecting step further comprises;

having the driving circuit alternatively sending the driving signal to all the first electrodes in time division;

having the sensing circuit simultaneously detecting the driving signal via the second electrodes when each of the first electrodes sends the driving signal for generating two-dimensional sensing information with respective to and formed by multiple sensing information; and

determining a number of and a position of the external conductive object approaching or touching the touch screen according to the two-dimensional sensing information; and

executing the multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps when the number of the external conductive object detected by the sequential driving detecting step is bigger than a threshold.

21. The touch sensitive processing method of claim 15, further comprising:

executing multiple X-th round mutual capacitive detecting steps, where X is a positive integer from 2 to N, wherein each of the X-th round mutual capacitive detecting steps comprises;

having the driving circuit simultaneously sending the driving signal to neighboring N first electrodes, where N is a positive integer larger than 1; and

having the sensing circuit simultaneously detecting the driving signal via the second electrodes for generating multiple X-th round sensing information with respective to the set of X-th round mutual capacitive detecting step, wherein each of the X-th round sensing information is corresponding to an intersection of a figurative central line of the N first electrodes and the second electrode; and

executing one X-th round special mutual capacitive detecting step, comprising;

having the driving circuit sending the driving signal to neighboring M_x first electrodes, where M_x is a positive integer smaller than N, the neighboring M_x first electrodes do not include the first electrodes having been sent the driving signal in the multiple sets of X-th round mutual capacitive detecting steps; and

having the sensing circuit simultaneously detecting the driving signal via the second electrodes for generating multiple X-th round special sensing information with respective to the set of X-th round special mutual capacitive detecting step, wherein each of the X-th round special sensing information is corresponding to an intersection of a figurative central line of the M_x first electrodes and the second electrode,

wherein the touch sensitive processing method directs to and adjusts one of or any combination of parameters to make detecting strengths of the second electrode with respective to the M_x first electrodes and the N first electrodes are equivalent, wherein the parameters comprises;

waveform, voltage, strength of the driving signal, driving duration, timing of driving, detecting duration, timing of detecting, time difference between the sensing timing and driving timing, resistance value of variable resistor of the sensing circuit, and gain value of amplifier of the sensing circuit.

22. The touch sensitive processing method of claim 21, further comprising:

executing iteratively the following steps for N times to get N p-th round position of the at least one external conductive object on the touch screen;

calculating at least one p-th round position of the at least one external conductive object on the touch screen according to the multiple p-th round sensing information and the multiple p-th round special sensing information;

averaging N p-th round positions to get an average position; and

reporting the average position to a host.

23. The touch sensitive processing method of claim 21, wherein the neighboring M₁ first electrodes are the M₁ first electrodes near one edge of the touch screen, the neighboring M_x first electrodes are the M_x first electrodes near the other edge of the touch screen.

24. The touch sensitive processing method of claim 15, further comprising:

executing at least one first round special mutual capacitive detecting step, comprising;

having the driving circuit sending the driving signal to neighboring M₁ first electrodes, where M₁ is a positive integer smaller than N, the neighboring M₁ first electrodes do not include the first electrodes having been sent the driving signal in the multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps; and

having the sensing circuit simultaneously detecting the driving signal via the second electrodes for generating multiple first round special sensing information with respective to the set of first round special mutual capacitive detecting step, wherein each of the first round special sensing information is corresponding to an intersection of a figurative central line of the M₁ first electrodes and the second electrode,

wherein the touch sensitive processing method directs to and adjusts one of or any combination of parameters to make detecting strengths of the second electrode with respective to the M₁ first electrodes and the N first electrodes are equivalent, wherein the parameters comprises;

waveform, voltage, strength of the driving signal, driving duration, timing of driving, detecting duration, timing of detecting, time difference between the sensing timing and driving timing, resistance value of variable resistor of the sensing circuit, and gain value of amplifier of the sensing circuit.

25. The touch sensitive processing method of claim 24, further comprising:

calculating at least one first round position of the at least one external conductive object on the touch screen according to the multiple first round sensing information generated from the multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps and the multiple first round special sensing information generated from all of the first round special mutual capacitive detecting steps; and

reporting the first round position to a host.

26. The touch sensitive processing method of claim 24, wherein the neighboring M_p first electrodes are selected in random, where p is a positive integer from 1 to N.

27. The touch sensitive processing method of claim 24, further comprising:

executing another first round special mutual capacitive detecting step, comprising;

having the driving circuit sending the driving signal to neighboring M₂ first electrodes, where M₂ is a positive integer smaller than N and is not equal to M₁, the neighboring M₂ first electrodes do not include the first electrodes and the M₁ first electrodes having been sent the driving signal in the multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps; and

having the sensing circuit simultaneously detecting the driving signal via the second electrodes for generating multiple first round special sensing information with respective to the set of first round special mutual capacitive detecting step, wherein each of the first round special sensing information is corresponding to an intersection of a figurative central line of the M₂ first electrodes and the second electrode,

wherein the touch sensitive processing method directs to and adjusts one of or any combination of parameters to make detecting strengths of the second electrode with respective to the M₂ first electrodes and the N first electrodes are equivalent, wherein the parameters comprises;

waveform, voltage, strength of the driving signal, driving duration, timing of driving, detecting duration, timing of detecting, time difference between the sensing timing and driving timing, resistance value of variable resistor of the sensing circuit, and gain value of amplifier of the sensing circuit.

28. The touch sensitive processing method of claim 27, wherein the neighboring M_p first electrodes and the neighboring M_q first electrodes comprise different first electrodes, where p and q are different positive integers ranging from 1 to N.

29. An electronic system used to detect at least one external conductive object approaching or touching a touch screen, comprising:

the touch screen, comprising a plurality of first electrodes being parallel to each other and a plurality of second electrodes being parallel to each other, each of the first electrodes intersects with the second electrodes to form a plurality of intersection areas; and

a touch sensitive processing apparatus connecting to the touch screen, the touch sensitive processing apparatus comprising;

a driving circuit, connecting to the first electrodes, respectively;

a sensing circuit, connecting to the second electrodes, respectively; and

a processor, configured to connect to the driving circuit and the sensing circuit, the processor used for;

executing multiple sets of first round mutual capacitive detecting steps, wherein each set of the first round mutual capacitive detecting step further comprises;

having the driving circuit sending a driving signal to neighboring N first electrodes, where N is a positive integer larger than 1; and

having the sensing circuit simultaneously detecting the driving signal via the second electrodes for generating multiple first round sensing information with respective to the set of first round mutual capacitive detecting step, wherein each of the first round sensing information is corresponding to an intersection of a figurative central line of the N first electrodes and the second electrode.