Touch detection on an ungrounded pen enabled device

• US 10,678,348 B2
• Filed: 03/12/2018
• Issued: 06/09/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Barel, Eliyahu, Orlovsky, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Azari, Sepehr
• Application Number:
  US15/917,865
• Publication Number:
  US 20190278388A1
• Time in Patent Office: 820 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 2203/04108 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 3/03545 Pens or stylus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• 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 3/04186 Touch location disambiguation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• 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

Abstract

A method for touch detection on an ungrounded pen enabled device includes sampling output in a frequency range of a signal emitted from a stylus over a stylus sampling window, detecting touch input from a finger or hand based on detecting a gain between a touch threshold and a stylus threshold, wherein the touch threshold is below the stylus threshold over at least two consecutive columns and two consecutive rows of the sensor and reporting coordinates of the touch input based on detecting the touch input. Stylus input is detected based on detecting a gain above a stylus threshold in at least one column and one row of the sensor and coordinates of the stylus are reported based on stylus input being detected. Sampling is performed simultaneously from both columns and rows of a grid based capacitive sensor.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

sampling output in a frequency range of a signal emitted from a stylus over a stylus sampling window, wherein the sampling is performed simultaneously from both columns and rows of a grid based capacitive sensor;

determining that a device including the grid based capacitive sensor is either grounded or ungrounded; and

detecting the touch input from a finger or hand based on the output in the stylus frequency range only when the device is ungrounded;

detecting stylus input based on detecting a gain above a stylus threshold in at least one column and one row of the sensor;

reporting coordinates of the stylus based on stylus input being detected;

detecting touch input from the finger or hand based on detecting a gain between a touch threshold and a stylus threshold, wherein the touch threshold is below the stylus threshold over at least two consecutive columns and two consecutive rows of the sensor; and

reporting coordinates of the touch input based on detecting the touch input.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising:

performing mutual capacitive detection;

determining gains of selected touch areas detected over the mutual capacitive detection; and

determining that the device either grounded or ungrounded based on the gains.

3. The method according to claim 1 comprising:

detecting a heatmap on the grid based capacitive sensor based on mutual capacitive detection;

identifying a plurality of blobs on the heatmap;

comparing an area of the touch input detected over the stylus sampling window with the plurality of blobs identified in the heatmap; and

reporting the coordinates of the touch input based on the comparing.

4. The method according to claim 3 comprising performing palm rejection based on the comparing and refraining from reporting coordinates of the palm input.

5. The method according to claim 1, comprising:

determining size of the touch input; and

identifying the touch input as palm input based on the size.

6. The method according to claim 1, comprising:

identifying a single area of the touch input over the stylus sampling window; and

reducing a refresh rate for mutual capacitive detection of the sensor based on identifying the single area of the touch input.

7. The method according to claim 1, comprising:

identifying a single area of the touch input over the stylus sampling window; and

temporarily suspending mutual capacitive detection of the sensor based on identifying the single area of the touch input.

8. The method according to claim 1, comprising:

identifying a plurality of touch inputs over a defined area over the stylus sampling window;

and

performing mutual capacitive detection of the sensor only over the defined area.

9. A method comprising:

determining that a device that includes a grid based capacitive sensor is either grounded or ungrounded; and

sampling output of the grid based capacitive sensor over a plurality of sampling windows;

performing mutual capacitive detection over a first sampling window from the plurality;

sampling output from both columns and rows of the grid based sensor over a second sampling window from the plurality, wherein the output is sampled without driving the column or rows with a driving signal emitted by a controller configured to operate the grid based capacitive sensor;

identifying a heatmap based on the mutual capacitive detection over the first sampling window;

identifying areas of touch input from the output sampled over the second sampling window based on determining that the device is ungrounded;

comparing the heatmap to the areas of touch input identified based on determining that the device is ungrounded; and

reporting coordinates of touch based on the comparing.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the second sampling window is a sampling window configured for tracking a stylus, wherein the stylus is configured to transmit a signal.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the second sampling window is a sampling window configured for sampling a noise environment of the grid based capacitive sensor.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the output sampled over the second sampling window is in a frequency range of noise from a power supply that is not grounded or in a frequency range of noise based on fluorescent lights.

13. The method of claim 9, comprising performing palm rejection based on identifying the areas of touch input from the output sampled over the second sampling window.

14. The method according to claim 13 comprising:

determining a size of the areas of the touch input from the output sampled over the second sampling window;

determining a shape characteristic of a spread over the sensor of the areas of the touch input from the output sampled; and

identifying at least one of the areas as palm input based on the shape.

15. The method of claim 9 comprising:

identifying a plurality of blobs on the heatmap;

comparing the areas of the touch input detected over the second sampling window with the plurality of blobs identified in the heatmap; and

reporting the coordinates of the touch input based on the comparing.

16. The method according to claim 15 comprising identifying at least a portion of the plurality of blobs as palm input based on the comparing and refraining from reporting coordinates of the palm input.

17. The method according to claim 9 comprising:

identifying a single area of the touch input over the second sampling window; and

reducing a number of sampling windows in which mutual capacitive detection is performed over subsequent refresh periods based on identifying the single area of the touch input.

18. The method according to claim 9 comprising:

identifying a single area of the touch input over the second sampling window; and

temporarily suspending mutual capacitive detection of the sensor over subsequent refresh periods of the sensor based on identifying the single area of the touch input.

19. A device comprising:

a processing unit; and

a memory coupled to the processing unit and storing instructions for execution by the processing unit, the instructions, upon execution by the processing unit, causing the device to perform acts comprising;

determining that a device that includes a grid based capacitive sensor is either grounded or ungrounded; and

sampling output of the grid based capacitive sensor over a plurality of sampling windows;

performing mutual capacitive detection over a first sampling window from the plurality;

sampling output from both columns and rows of the grid based sensor over a second sampling window from the plurality, wherein the output is sampled without driving the column or rows with a driving signal emitted by a controller configured to operate the grid based capacitive sensor;

identifying a heatmap based on the mutual capacitive detection over the first sampling window;

identifying areas of touch input from the output sampled over the second sampling window based on determining that the device is ungrounded;

comparing the heatmap to the areas of touch input identified based on determining that the device is ungrounded; and

reporting coordinates of touch based on the comparing.