Touch detection using multiple simultaneous frequencies

• US 8,754,867 B2
• Filed: 06/12/2013
• Issued: 06/17/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Krah, Christoph Horst, Hotelling, Steve Porter, O'Connor, Sean Erik, Westerman, Wayne Carl
• Primary Examiner(s): Eisen, Alexander
• Assistant Examiner(s): MARINELLI, PATRICK
• Application Number:
  US13/916,357
• Publication Number:
  US 20130271410A1
• Time in Patent Office: 370 Days
• Field of Search: 345156-184, 178 1801- 2004
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• 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 3/0418 for error correction or compensation, e.g. based on parallax, calibration or alignment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0445 using two or more layers of sensing electrodes, e.g. using two layers of electrodes separated by a dielectric layer
• 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

The use of multiple stimulation frequencies and phases to generate an image of touch on a touch sensor panel is disclosed. Each of a plurality of sense channels can be coupled to a column in a touch sensor panel and can have multiple mixers. Each mixer in the sense channel can utilize a circuit capable generating a demodulation frequency of a particular frequency. At each of multiple steps, various phases of selected frequencies can be used to simultaneously stimulate the rows of the touch sensor panel, and the multiple mixers in each sense channel can be configured to demodulate the signal received from the column connected to each sense channel using the selected frequencies. After all steps have been completed, the demodulated signals from the multiple mixers can be used in calculations to determine an image of touch for the touch sensor panel at each frequency.

Claims

1. A method for obtaining a plurality of values used to generate an image of touch from touch sensor circuitry, comprising:

simultaneously applying a plurality of stimulation signals including positive and negative phases of a plurality of different stimulation frequencies to a plurality of drive lines of the touch sensor circuitry in a particular distribution, wherein one stimulation signal is applied to each of the drive lines;

receiving a sense signal from each of a plurality of sense lines of the touch sensor circuitry into a different sense channel;

demodulating the sense signal received into each sense channel with demodulation signals at a plurality of different demodulation frequencies, each demodulation frequency being the same frequency as one of the stimulation frequencies, the demodulation signals at each demodulation frequency being in-phase with either the positive or negative phase of the corresponding stimulation signal;

accumulating the sense signals demodulated with the plurality of demodulation frequencies in each sense channel to generate a plurality of values representing the accumulated demodulated sense signals for each sense channel; and

storing the plurality of values for all sense channels.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting and simultaneously applying multiple unique distributions of the pluralities of stimulation signals to the plurality of drive lines and storing multiple pluralities of values after applying each of the multiple unique distributions.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising, for each of the plurality of sense lines, computing and storing a drive line result for each drive line and each of the plurality of frequencies using the stored multiple pluralities of values.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of demodulation frequencies are selected low noise frequencies.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining the plurality of values during the vertical blanking phase of a liquid crystal display (LCD) adjacent to the touch sensor circuitry.

6. In a system including sensor circuitry having a plurality of drive lines being simultaneously driven with a plurality of stimulation signals including positive and negative phases of a plurality of different stimulation frequencies in a particular distribution, wherein one stimulation signal is applied to each of the drive lines, a method for obtaining a plurality of values used to generate an image of touch, the method comprising:

demodulating a sense signal received on each sense line of the sensor circuitry with demodulation signals at a plurality of different demodulation frequencies, each demodulation frequency being the same frequency as one of the stimulation frequencies, the demodulation signals at each demodulation frequency being in-phase with either the positive or negative phase of the corresponding stimulation signal; and

accumulating each of the plurality of demodulated sense signals for each sense line to generate the plurality of values representing the accumulated demodulated sense signals.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

selecting and simultaneously applying multiple unique distributions of the pluralities of stimulation signals to the plurality of drive lines; and

storing multiple pluralities of values after applying each of the multiple unique distributions.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising, for each of the plurality of sense lines, computing and storing a drive line result for each drive line and each of the plurality of frequencies using the stored multiple pluralities of values.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the plurality of demodulation frequencies are selected low noise frequencies.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising obtaining the plurality of values during the vertical blanking phase of a liquid crystal display (LCD) adjacent to the sensor circuitry.

11. An apparatus for obtaining a plurality of values used to generate an image of touch from touch sensor circuitry, comprising:

a plurality of sense channels, each sense channel including

a charge amplifier configured for receiving a signal from a different sense line of the touch sensor circuitry, an output of the charge amplifier coupled to an input of a multiplexer,

a plurality of mixers coupled to an output of the multiplexer,

one frequency generator circuit coupled to each of the plurality of mixers for generating a demodulation frequency, and

one accumulator coupled to each of the plurality of mixers for generating a value representing an accumulated mixer output;

wherein each frequency generator circuit in each sense channel generates a demodulation signal at one of a plurality of different demodulation frequencies, the different demodulation frequencies corresponding to different stimulation frequencies of a plurality of stimulation signals simultaneously applied with different phases to drive lines of the touch sensor circuitry, wherein one stimulation signal is applied to each of the drive lines.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, one or more of the frequency generator circuits comprising a numerically controlled oscillator (NCO).

13. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising memory for storing the plurality of values generated by each sense channel.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a processor for computing and storing, for each of the plurality of sense lines, a drive line result for each drive line and each of the plurality of demodulation frequencies using the stored plurality of values.

15. A computing system comprising the apparatus of claim 11.

16. A mobile telephone comprising the computing system of claim 15.

17. A digital audio player comprising the computing system of claim 15.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing program code for obtaining a plurality of values used to generate an image of touch from touch sensor circuitry, the program code for performing a method comprising:

simultaneously applying a plurality of stimulation signals including positive and negative phases of a plurality of different stimulation frequencies to a plurality of drive lines of the touch sensor circuitry in a particular distribution, wherein one stimulation signal is applied to each of the drive lines;

receiving a sense signal from each of a plurality of sense lines of the touch sensor circuitry into a different sense channel;

demodulating the sense signal received into each sense channel with demodulation signals at a plurality of different demodulation frequencies, each demodulation frequency being the same frequency as one of the stimulation frequencies, the demodulation signals at each demodulation frequency being in-phase with either the positive or negative phase of the corresponding stimulation signal;

accumulating the sense signals demodulated with the plurality of demodulation frequencies in each sense channel to generate a plurality of values representing the accumulated demodulated sense signals for each sense channel; and

storing the plurality of values for all sense channels.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, the program code for performing the method further comprising selecting and simultaneously applying multiple unique distributions of the pluralities of stimulation signals to the plurality of drive lines and storing multiple pluralities of values after applying each of the multiple unique distributions.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19, the program code for performing the method further comprising, for each of the plurality of sense lines, computing and storing a drive line result for each drive line and each of the plurality of frequencies using the stored multiple pluralities of values.

21. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the plurality of demodulation frequencies are selected low noise frequencies.

22. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, the program code for performing the method further comprising obtaining the plurality of values during the vertical blanking phase of a liquid crystal display (LCD) adjacent to the touch sensor circuitry.