Capacitance sensing circuits

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10627436-B2
Application number	US-201715655292-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 20, 2017
Priority date	Dec 21, 2016
Publication date	Apr 21, 2020
Grant date	Apr 21, 2020

Abstract

A capacitance sensing circuit includes a buffer circuit, a modulation circuit, and an integral circuit. The buffer circuit is coupled to an external capacitor through a touch-sensing pad, and includes a pull-up device and a pull-down device. The modulation circuit includes a first current mirror device having a current drivability corresponding to one N th (where “N” denotes a positive real number) a current drivability of the pull-up device and a second current mirror device having a current drivability corresponding to one N th a current drivability of the pull-down device. The integral circuit integrates voltage values at an output node of the modulation circuit to output the integrated voltage values. The pull-up device and the first current mirror device constitute a current mirror circuit, and the pull-down device and the second current mirror device constitute another current mirror circuit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A capacitance sensing circuit comprising:
a buffer circuit coupled to an external capacitor through a touch-sensing pad and including a pull-up device and a pull-down device;
a modulation circuit including a first current mirror device having a current drivability corresponding to one N th (where “N” denotes a positive real number) a current drivability of the pull-up device and a second current mirror device having a current drivability corresponding to one N th a current drivability of the pull-down device; and
an integral circuit configured to integrate voltage values at an output node of the modulation circuit to output the integrated voltage values,
wherein the pull-up device and the first current mirror device constitute a current mirror circuit, and the pull-down device and the second current mirror device constitute another current mirror circuit.

2. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 1 , wherein the buffer circuit includes a first operational amplifier having an inverting input terminal coupled to the touch-sensing pad, a non-inverting input terminal receiving a reference voltage, and an output terminal connected to the inverting input terminal, and the pull-up device and the pull-down device constitute an output circuit of the first operational amplifier.

3. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 2 , wherein the pull-up device includes a first PMOS transistor, and the pull-down device includes a first NMOS transistor.

4. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 3 , wherein a source and a drain of the first PMOS transistor are coupled to a power supply voltage terminal and an output node, respectively, and a source and a drain of the first NMOS transistor are coupled to a ground voltage terminal and the output node, respectively.

5. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 4 , wherein the first current mirror device includes a second PMOS transistor, and the second current mirror device includes a second NMOS transistor.

6. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 5 , wherein:
a source and a drain of the second PMOS transistor are coupled to the power supply voltage terminal and a first node, respectively;
a gate of the second PMOS transistor is coupled to a gate of the first PMOS transistor;
a drain and a source of the second NMOS transistor are coupled to the first node and the ground voltage terminal, respectively; and
a gate of the second NMOS transistor is coupled to a gate of the first NMOS transistor.

7. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 6 , wherein the integral circuit includes:
a second operational amplifier having an inverting input terminal coupled to the first node and a non-inverting input terminal receiving a common voltage; and
an internal capacitor coupled between an output terminal of the second operational amplifier and the inverting input terminal of the second operational amplifier.

8. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 1 , further comprising:
a first sampling device and a second sampling device coupled in parallel to an output terminal of the integral circuit; and
a differential analog-to-digital converter configured to receive output signals of the first and second sampling devices to generate a digital output signal.

9. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 8 , wherein a phase difference between the output signals of the first and second sampling devices is a half cycle of a clock signal.

10. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 8 , wherein the first sampling device includes:
a first sampling capacitor coupled to the output terminal of the integral circuit;
a third operational amplifier having an inverting input terminal coupled to the first sampling capacitor through a first switch and a non-inverting input terminal receiving a common voltage; and
a first feedback capacitor coupled between an output terminal of the third operation amplifier and the inverting input terminal of the third operation amplifier, and wherein the second sampling device includes:
a second sampling capacitor coupled to the output terminal of the integral circuit;
a fourth operational amplifier having an inverting input terminal coupled to the second sampling capacitor through a second switch and a non-inverting input terminal receiving the common voltage; and
a second feedback capacitor coupled between an output terminal of the fourth operation amplifier and the inverting input terminal of the fourth operation amplifier.

11. A capacitance sensing circuit comprising:
a buffer circuit coupled to an external capacitor through a touch-sensing pad and including a pull-up device and a pull-down device;
a first modulation circuit including a first current mirror device having a current drivability corresponding to one N th (where “N” denotes a positive real number) a current drivability of the pull-up device and a second current mirror device having a current drivability corresponding to one N th a current drivability of the pull-down device, the pull-up device and the first current mirror device constituting a current mirror circuit, the pull-down device and the second current mirror device constituting another current mirror circuit;
a second modulation circuit including a third current mirror device having a current drivability corresponding to one N th a current drivability of the pull-up device and a first diode-connected device coupled between the third current mirror device and a ground voltage terminal, the pull-up device and the third current mirror device constituting a current mirror circuit;
a third modulation circuit including a fourth current mirror device having a current drivability corresponding to one N th a current drivability of the pull-down device and a second diode-connected device coupled between a power supply voltage terminal and the fourth current mirror device, the pull-down device and the fourth current mirror device constituting a current mirror circuit;
a fourth modulation circuit including a fifth current mirror device and a sixth current mirror device, the second diode-connected device and the fifth current mirror device constituting one current mirror circuit, the first diode-connected device and the sixth current mirror device constituting another current mirror circuit;
an integral circuit configured to integrate voltage values at one of output nodes of the first and fourth modulation circuits to output the integrated voltage values; and
a switch configured to electrically connect one of the output nodes of the first and fourth modulation circuits to the integral circuit.

12. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 11 , wherein the buffer circuit includes a first operational amplifier having an inverting input terminal coupled to the touch-sensing pad, a non-inverting input terminal receiving a reference voltage, and an output terminal connected to the inverting input terminal, and the pull-up device and the pull-down device constitute an output circuit of the first operational amplifier.

13. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 11 , wherein the pull-up device includes a first PMOS transistor, and the pull-down device includes a first NMOS transistor, and wherein a source and a drain of the first PMOS transistor are coupled to the power supply voltage terminal and an output node, respectively, and a source and a drain of the first NMOS transistor are coupled to the ground voltage terminal and the output node, respectively.

14. The capacitance sensing circuit of claim 13 , wherein the first current mirror device includes a second PMOS transistor, and the second current mirror device includes a second NMOS transistor, a

Assignees

• Sk Hynix Inc

Inventors

• Chang Keunjin

Classifications

• G01R27/2605 Primary

  Measuring capacitance (capacitive sensors G01D5/24) · CPC title

• H03K2217/960735

  characterised by circuit details · CPC title

• G06F3/03547

  Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface · CPC title

• H03K17/962 Primary

  Capacitive touch switches · CPC title

• G06F3/044

  by capacitive means · CPC title