Method and electronic device for correcting measurement value of sensor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11429234-B2
Application number	US-201816759121-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 19, 2018
Priority date	Nov 3, 2017
Publication date	Aug 30, 2022
Grant date	Aug 30, 2022

Abstract

An electronic device according to various embodiments of the present invention may comprise: at least one electrode having conductivity; a capacitance sensor, at least one switch electrically connected between the at least one electrode and the capacitance sensor, and capable of selectively connecting the at least one electrode and the capacitance sensor; and a control circuit, wherein the control circuit measures a first capacitance value by using the capacitance sensor in a state where the at least one switch is open, measures a second capacitance value corresponding to an external object contacting the at least one electrode, by using the capacitance sensor in a state where the at least one switch is connected, corrects the second capacitance value by using the first capacitance value, and determines the corrected second capacitance value as a capacitance value for the external object. Various other embodiments are possible.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electronic device, comprising:
at least one electrode having conductivity;
a capacitance sensor;
at least one switch configured to be electrically connected between the at least one electrode and the capacitance sensor, the at least one switch being configured to selectively connect the at least one electrode to the capacitance sensor;
a proximity sensor; and
a control circuit, wherein the control circuit is configured to:
initialize a touch system related to determining whether the at least one electrode and an external object are in contact using the capacitance sensor,
measure a first capacitance value using the capacitance sensor in a state in which the at least one switch is open,
determine whether the external object close to the electronic device exists, using the proximity sensor,
based on determining that the external object exists close to the electronic device, determine a threshold value for determining whether the at least one electrode is in contact with the external object, based on the first capacitance value,
electrically connect the at least one electrode and the capacitance sensor by controlling the at least one switch,
measure a second capacitance value corresponding to the external object which is in contact with the at least one electrode, using the capacitance sensor, in a state in which the at least one switch is connected,
correct the second capacitance value using the first capacitance value and the threshold value,
determine the corrected second capacitance value to be a capacitance value for the external object, and
determine whether the at least one electrode is in contact with the external object, based on the corrected second capacitance value and the threshold value.

2. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is configured to determine the threshold value, based at least on a predetermined capacitance value corresponding to the at least one electrode.

3. The electronic device as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the control circuit is configured to determine that the external object is in contact with the at least one electrode, based on the second capacitance value being greater than or equal to the determined threshold value.

4. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is configured to:
measure a third capacitance value using the capacitance sensor in a state in which the at least one switch is connected, based on contact with the external object not being detected using the proximity sensor, and
determine a fourth capacitance value corresponding to the at least one electrode, based at least on the first capacitance value and the third capacitance value.

5. The electronic device as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the control circuit is configured to determine the threshold value for determining whether contact with the external object exists, based at least on the first capacitance value and the fourth capacitance value.

6. The electronic device as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the control circuit is configured to determine the threshold value for determining whether contact with the external object exists, based at least on a predetermined capacitance value corresponding to the at least one electrode, based on contact with the external object being detected using the proximity sensor.

7. The electronic device as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the control circuit is configured to determine a value obtained by subtracting the first capacitance value from the third capacitance value, to be the fourth capacitance value.

8. The electronic device as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the control circuit is configured to determine a value obtained by adding the first capacitance value, the predetermined capacitance value corresponding to the at least one electrode, and a predetermined fifth capacitance value, to be the threshold value.

9. A method of correcting a measurement value of a sensor of an electronic device, the method comprising:
initializing a touch system related to determining whether at least one electrode and an external object are in contact using a capacitance sensor;
measuring a first capacitance value using the capacitance sensor, in a state in which at least one switch is open, the at least one switch being capable of selectively connecting the at least one electrode and the capacitance sensor;
determining that the external object close to the electronic device exists, using a proximity sensor;
based on determining that the external object exists close to the electronic device, determining a threshold value for determining whether the at least one electrode is in contact with the external object, based on the first capacitance value;
electrically connecting the at least one electrode and the capacitance sensor by controlling the at least one switch;
measuring a second capacitance value corresponding to the external object that is in contact with the at least one electrode, using the capacitance sensor, in a state in which the at least one switch is connected;
correcting the second capacitance value using the first capacitance value and the threshold value;
determining the corrected second capacitance value to be a capacitance value for the external object; and
determining whether the at least one electrode is in contact with the external object, based on the corrected second capacitance value and the threshold value.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the determining the threshold value comprises:
determining the threshold value, based at least on a predetermined capacitance value corresponding to the at least one electrode; and
determining that the external object is in contact with the at least one electrode, based on the second capacitance value being greater than or equal to the determined threshold value.

11. The method as claimed in claim 9 , further comprising:
measuring a third capacitance value using the capacitance sensor in a state in which the at least one switch is connected, based on contact with the external object not being detected using the proximity sensor of the electronic device; and
determining a fourth capacitance value corresponding to the at least one electrode, based at least on the first capacitance value and the third capacitance value,
wherein the determining the threshold value comprises:
determining the threshold value based at least on the first capacitance value and the fourth capacitance value;
determining the threshold value based at least on a predetermined capacitance value corresponding to the at least one electrode, based on contact with the external object being detected using the proximity sensor; or
determining the threshold value by adding the first capacitance value, the predetermined capacitance value corresponding to the at least one electrode, and a predetermined fifth capacitance value.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the determining the fourth capacitance value further comprises:
determining a value obtained by subtracting the first capacitance value from the third capacitance value to be the fourth capacitance value.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions, wherein the instructions are configured to enable at least one processor of an electronic device to perform at least one operation when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the at least one operation comprising:
initializing a touch system related to determining whether at least one electrode and an external object are in contact using a capacitance sensor;
measuring a first capacitance value usin

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Lee Jeehoon
• Min Eungi
• Lee Yongjin
• Lee Suho
• Lim Sukwang
• Lim Hyungjoon
• Lee Seungeun

Classifications

• H03K2017/9606

  using one electrode only per touch switch · CPC title

• H03K2217/960705

  Safety of capacitive touch and proximity switches, e.g. increasing reliability, fail-safe · CPC title

• H03K17/962 Primary

  Capacitive touch switches · CPC title

• H03K2217/960745

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

• G06F3/0443 Primary

  using a single layer of sensing electrodes · CPC title