Low power capacitive sensor button

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10558313-B2
Application number	US-201816159418-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 12, 2018
Priority date	Oct 22, 2014
Publication date	Feb 11, 2020
Grant date	Feb 11, 2020

Abstract

Systems and methods receive multiple of trigger signals and responsive to each trigger signal transition a sensing block from operating in a first mode to operating in a second mode by turning on power to one or more portions of the sensing block. Operating in the second mode includes performing multiple sensor scans during multiple sensing periods of a monitoring period. Based on performing a first scan during a first sensing period, systems and methods transition from operating the sensing block in the second mode to operating the sensing block in the first mode by turning off the power to the one or more portions of the sensing block. Based on performing a second scan during a second sensing period, of the plurality of sensing periods, systems and methods transition a processing module from operating in a first processing mode to operating in a second processing mode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
operating a sensing block in a first mode and a second mode during a sensor monitoring period;
receiving a plurality of trigger signals;
responsive to each trigger signal, of the plurality of trigger signals, transitioning the sensing block from operating in the first mode to operating in the second mode, said transitioning comprising turning on power to one or more portions of the sensing block;
operating the sensing block in the second mode, said operating comprising performing a plurality of sensor scans during a plurality of sensing periods of the monitoring period;
based on performing a first scan during a first sensing period, of the plurality of sensing periods, transitioning from operating the sensing block in the second mode to operating the sensing block in the first mode, said transitioning comprising turning off the power to the one or more portions of the sensing block; and
based on performing a second scan during a second sensing period, of the plurality of sensing periods, transitioning a processing module from operating in a first processing mode to operating in a second processing mode.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the operating of the sensing block in the first mode comprises operating the sensing block in the first mode during a plurality of non-sensing periods of the sensor monitoring period.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the operating of the sensing block in the second mode comprises operating the sensing block in the second mode according to a duty cycle that is based on a frequency of the plurality of trigger signals.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the operating of the sensing block in the second mode comprises 1%40% of the sensor monitoring period.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the plurality of sensor scans during the plurality of sensing periods comprises generating at least one excitation signal for each sensor scan, wherein a frequency of the at least one excitation signal is greater than a frequency of the trigger signal.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the trigger signal and the at least one excitation signal are based on a same clock signal.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the turning on the power to the one or more portions of the sensing block comprises causing the power to be supplied to at least one of sensing circuitry and wake logic.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transitioning from operating the sensing block in the second mode to operating the sensing block in the first mode includes an absence of an object proximate to a sensor.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transitioning of the processing module from operating in the first processing mode to operating in the second processing mode is responsive to detecting a presence of an object proximate to a sensor, based on the performing of the second scan.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the plurality of sensor scans during the plurality of sensing periods comprises scanning one or more capacitive sensors to detect a presence of a conductive object.

11. A capacitive sensing module comprising:
sensing circuitry configured to couple to one or more capacitive sensors, the sensing circuitry configured to operate in a first mode and a second mode during a sensor monitoring period, wherein the operation of the sensing circuitry in the first mode comprises a plurality of non-sensing periods of the sensor monitoring period and the operation of the sensing circuitry in the second mode comprises a plurality of sensor scans during a plurality of sensing periods of the sensor monitoring period; and
first logic coupled to the sensing circuitry, the first logic configured to receive a plurality of trigger signals and responsive to each trigger signal transition the sensing circuitry from operation in the first mode to operation in the second mode, the transition comprising turning on power to the sensing circuitry, wherein responsive to a first sensor scan of a first sensing period, the first logic is configured to transition the sensing circuitry from operation in the second mode to operation in the first mode, the transition comprising turning off the power to the sensing circuitry; and
second logic coupled to the sensing circuitry, wherein responsive to a second scan during a second sensing period the second logic is configured to transition a processing module from operation in a first processing mode to operation in a second processing mode.

12. The capacitive sensing module of claim 11 , wherein the sensing circuitry is configured to operate in the second mode according to a duty cycle that is based on a frequency of the plurality of trigger signals.

13. The capacitive sensing module of claim 11 , wherein the sensing circuitry is configured to generate at least one excitation signal for each sensor scan, of the plurality of sensor scans, wherein a frequency of the at least one excitation signal is greater than a frequency of the plurality of trigger signals.

14. The capacitive sensing module of claim 13 , further comprising:
an oscillator configured to generate a clock signal, wherein the frequency of the at least one excitation signal for each sensor scan is based on the frequency of the clock signal; and
timer circuit configured to generate the plurality of trigger signals.

15. The capacitive sensing module of claim 14 , wherein the timer circuit is coupled to the oscillator, wherein the timer circuit is configured to generate the plurality of trigger signals based on the clock signal generated by the oscillator.

16. An integrated circuit, comprising:
a sensing block to couple with one or more capacitive sensors, the sensing block to operate in a first mode and a second mode during a sensor monitoring period, wherein the operation of the sensor block in the first mode comprises a plurality of non-sensing periods of the sensor monitoring period and the operation of the sensor block in the second mode comprises a plurality of sensor scans during a plurality of sensing periods of the sensor monitoring period, the sensing block configured to receive a plurality of trigger signals and responsive to each trigger signal transition from operation in the first mode to operation in the second mode, the transition comprising enabling sensing circuitry, wherein responsive to a first sensor scan of a first sensing period, the sensor block to transition from operation in the second mode to operation in the first mode, the transition comprising disabling the sensing circuitry; and
a processor, wherein responsive to a second scan during a second sensing period the processor to transition from operation in a first processing mode to operation in a second processing mode.

17. The integrated circuit of claim 16 , wherein the sensing block is disposed on a first integrated circuit chip and the processor is disposed on a second integrated circuit chip.

18. The integrated circuit of claim 16 , wherein the sensing block further comprises wake logic coupled to the sensing circuitry, the wake logic to cause the processor to transition to the operation in the second processing mode responsive to detection of a conductive object by the sensing circuitry.

19. The integrated circuit of claim 16 , further comprising:
an oscillator configured to generate a clock signal, wherein a frequency of at least one excitation signal for each sensor scan is based on a frequency of the clock signal; and
timer circuit configured to generate the plurality of trigger signals.

Assignees

• Cypress Semiconductor Corp

Inventors

• Maharyta Andriy
• Liepold Carl
• Klein Hans

Classifications

• H03K17/22

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• H03K2217/96075

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• H03K2217/960765

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• H03K2217/960745

  Capacitive differential; e.g. comparison with reference capacitance · CPC title

• H03K17/962 Primary

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