Semiconductor device, portable terminal device, and operation detecting method

• US 10,699,665 B2
• Filed: 11/11/2015
• Issued: 06/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LAPIS Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (ROHM Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: LAPIS Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (ROHM Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Yasuda, Kosuke
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Nitin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Stone, Robert M
• Application Number:
  US14/938,537
• Publication Number:
  US 20160139169A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,693 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 15/0891 with indication of predetermined acceleration values G01P15/135 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/006 Details of the interface to the display terminal specific for a display terminal using a CRT G09G1/167; using a flat panel G09G3/2096; circuits for interfacing with colour displays G09G5/04

Abstract

A semiconductor device including an input unit to which an acceleration signal representing acceleration is input from an acceleration detecting unit installed in a portable terminal device, and a detection unit which detects that a tap operation is performed on the portable terminal device, in a case in which the acceleration signal input to the input unit reaches both of a first threshold value set on the positive side and a second threshold value set on the negative side and a period until the acceleration signal exceeds any one of the first threshold value and the second threshold value and then exceeds the other threshold value is equal to or more than a predetermined first period and is equal to or less than a second period larger than the first period.

Claims

1. A semiconductor device comprising:

an input unit to which an acceleration signal is input from an acceleration detecting unit installed in a portable terminal device, the acceleration signal indicating a value of acceleration of the portable terminal device as (velocity/time); and

a detection unit which detects that a tap operation is performed on the portable terminal device, in a case in which the acceleration signal input to the input unit reaches both of a first threshold value set on a positive side and a second threshold value set on a negative side, and a period until an absolute value of the acceleration signal exceeds any one of the first threshold value and the second threshold value and then exceeds an other of the first threshold value and the second threshold value is equal to or more than a predetermined first period and is equal to or less than a second period larger than the predetermined first period,

wherein the acceleration signal generated by the acceleration detecting unit based on the tap operation includes a first pulse having a first peak on a side of the one of the first threshold value and the second threshold value, and a second pulse having a second peak on a side of the other of the first threshold value and the second threshold value subsequent to the first pulse, and

a time width of the first pulse is larger than a time width of the second pulse.

2. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the first threshold value is less than a peak value on the negative side of the acceleration signal generated by the acceleration detecting unit by vibration caused in a case in which a user walks with the portable terminal device, and the second threshold value is larger than a peak value on the positive side of the acceleration signal generated by the acceleration detecting unit by vibration caused in the case in which the user walks with the portable terminal device.

3. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined first period is larger than a period of the acceleration signal generated by the acceleration detecting unit by vibration with a period less than that of vibration based on the tap operation.

4. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the second period is less than a period of the acceleration signal generated by the acceleration detecting unit by vibration caused in a case in which a user walks with the portable terminal device.

5. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the first predetermined period is equal to or less than the time width of the first pulse.

6. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit detects that a next tap operation is performed in a case in which a plurality of tap operations are detected, and the next tap operation is performed again before a predetermined period elapses after the tap operation is performed.

7. The semiconductor device according to claim 6, wherein after the detection unit detects that the tap operation is performed, the detection unit does not perform the detection on the next tap operation performed during the predetermined period.

8. A portable terminal device comprising:

the semiconductor device according to claim 1;

the acceleration detecting unit which inputs the acceleration signal to the input unit; and

a control unit which performs a process corresponding to the tap operation based on a detection result of the detection unit.

9. An operation detecting method comprising:

inputting an acceleration signal from an acceleration detecting unit installed in a portable terminal device, the acceleration signal indicating a value of acceleration of the portable terminal device as (velocity/time); and

detecting that a tap operation is performed on the portable terminal device, in a case in which the acceleration signal reaches both of a first threshold value set on a positive side and a second threshold value set on a negative side, and a period until an absolute value of the acceleration signal exceeds any one of the first threshold value and the second threshold value and then exceeds an other of the first threshold value and the second threshold value is equal to or more than a predetermined first period and is equal to or less than a second period larger than the predetermined first period,

wherein the acceleration signal generated by the acceleration detecting unit based on the tap operation includes a first pulse having a first peak on a side of the one of the first threshold value and the second threshold value, and a second pulse having a second peak on a side of the other of the first threshold value and the second threshold value subsequent to the first pulse, and

a time width of the first pulse is larger than a time width of the second pulse.