Determining touch applied to an ultrasonic sensor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11048358-B2
Application number	US-202016791699-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 14, 2020
Priority date	Mar 3, 2016
Publication date	Jun 29, 2021
Grant date	Jun 29, 2021

Abstract

In a method for determining touch applied to an electronic device, ultrasonic signals are emitted from an ultrasonic sensor. A plurality of reflected ultrasonic signals from a finger interacting with the ultrasonic sensor is captured. A first data based at least in part on a first reflected ultrasonic signal of the plurality of reflected ultrasonic signals is compared with a second data based at least in part on a second reflected ultrasonic signal of the plurality of reflected ultrasonic signals. A signal change due to a deformation of the finger during a touch interaction with the ultrasonic sensor is determined based on differences between the first data and the second data. A touch applied by the finger to the electronic device is determined based at least in part on the signal change due to the deformation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for determining touch applied to an electronic device comprising an ultrasonic sensor, the method comprising:
emitting ultrasonic signals from an ultrasonic sensor;
capturing a plurality of reflected ultrasonic signals from a finger interacting with the ultrasonic sensor;
comparing a first data based at least in part on a first reflected ultrasonic signal of the plurality of reflected ultrasonic signals with a second data based at least in part on a second reflected ultrasonic signal of the plurality of reflected ultrasonic signals;
determining a signal change due to a deformation of the finger during a touch interaction with the ultrasonic sensor based on differences between the first data based at least in part on the first reflected ultrasonic signal and the second data based at least in part on the second reflected ultrasonic signal; and
determining a touch applied by the finger to the electronic device based at least in part on the signal change due to the deformation.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first data comprises at least one characteristic of the first reflected ultrasonic signal along a predefined axis, and the second data comprises the at least one characteristic of the second reflected ultrasonic signal along the predefined axis.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the at least one characteristic represents a feature of the finger derived from at least one of the first reflected ultrasonic signal and the second reflected ultrasonic signal.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the predefined axis is perpendicular to a surface of the ultrasonic sensor, and wherein the first data and the second data represent the at least one characteristic as a function of depth.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the determining a signal change due to a deformation of the finger during the touch interaction with the ultrasonic sensor is based at least in part on a difference between the at least one characteristic of the first data and the at least one characteristic of the second data.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining a signal change due to a deformation of the finger during the touch interaction with the ultrasonic sensor is based on at least one of a deformation of a feature of the finger, and a displacement of a feature of the finger.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first data comprises at least one image and the second data comprises at least one image.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining a signal change due to a deformation of the finger during the touch interaction with the ultrasonic sensor comprises:
determining a signal change due to a change of curvature of a feature of the finger.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
using the touch to provide navigation functionality on a display of an electronic device communicatively coupled to the ultrasonic sensor.

10. An electronic device comprising:
an ultrasonic sensor for emitting ultrasonic signals and capturing reflected ultrasonic signals from a finger interacting with the ultrasonic sensor;
a processor capable of determining touch applied to the electronic device by the finger, wherein the processor is operable to:
compare a first data based at least in part on a first reflected ultrasonic signal of the reflected ultrasonic signals with a second data based at least in part on a second reflected ultrasonic signal of the reflected ultrasonic signals;
determine a signal change due to a deformation of the finger during a touch interaction with the ultrasonic sensor based on differences between the first data based at least in part on the first reflected ultrasonic signal and the second data at least in part based on the second reflected ultrasonic signal; and
determine a touch applied by the finger to the electronic device based at least in part on the signal change due to the deformation.

11. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further operable to detect a fingerprint of the finger based at least in part on one of the first data and the second data.

12. The electronic device of claim 10 , further comprising:
a display device, wherein the processor is further operable to provide navigation functionality on the display device based at least in part on the touch.

13. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the first data comprises at least one characteristic of the first reflected ultrasonic signal along a predefined axis, and the second data comprises the at least one characteristic of the second reflected ultrasonic signal along the predefined axis.

14. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further operable to determine a signal change due to a deformation of the finger during the touch interaction with the ultrasonic sensor is based on at least one of a deformation of a feature of the finger, and a displacement of a feature of the finger.

15. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the first data comprises at least one image and the second data comprises at least one image.

16. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further operable to determine a signal change due to a change of curvature of a feature of the finger.

17. A sensor processing unit comprising:
an ultrasonic sensor for emitting ultrasonic signals and capturing reflected ultrasonic signals from a finger interacting with the ultrasonic sensor;
a sensor processor capable of determining touch applied to an electronic device comprising the ultrasonic sensor by the finger, wherein the sensor processor is operable to:
compare a first data based at least in part on a first reflected ultrasonic signal of the reflected ultrasonic signals with a second data based at least in part on a second reflected ultrasonic signal of the reflected ultrasonic signals;
determine a signal change due to a deformation of the finger during a touch interaction with the ultrasonic sensor based on differences between the first data based at least in part on the first reflected ultrasonic signal and the second data at least in part based on the second reflected ultrasonic signal; and
determine a touch applied by the finger to the electronic device based at least in part on the signal change due to the deformation.

18. The sensor processing unit of claim 17 , further comprising:
an interface, wherein the sensor processor is further operable to output navigation data to components of an electronic device over the interface.

19. The sensor processing unit of claim 17 , wherein the sensor processor is further operable to determine a signal change due to a deformation of the finger during the touch interaction with the ultrasonic sensor is based on at least one of a deformation of a feature of the finger, and a displacement of a feature of the finger.

20. The sensor processing unit of claim 17 , wherein the sensor processor is further operable to determine a signal change due to a change of curvature of a feature of the finger.

Assignees

• Invensense Inc

Inventors

• Medina Eitan
• Abdi Behrooz
• Massih Sam
• Fayolle Romain
• Tang Hao-Yen

Classifications

• G06V20/653

  by matching three-dimensional models, e.g. conformal mapping of Riemann surfaces · CPC title

• G06V40/1306

  non-optical, e.g. ultrasonic or capacitive sensing · CPC title

• G01L1/16

  using properties of piezoelectric devices · CPC title

• G06F3/043

  using propagating acoustic waves · CPC title

• G06F3/0416 Primary

  Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers · CPC title