Ranging method and apparatus thereof, storage medium, and terminal device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11914813-B2
Application number	US-202017757221-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 21, 2020
Priority date	Dec 12, 2019
Publication date	Feb 27, 2024
Grant date	Feb 27, 2024

Abstract

A ranging method and an apparatus thereof, a storage medium, and a terminal device. By adding a processing unit into a hardware abstraction layer of the terminal device, a software method is thus used to replace a physical proximity sensor (Psensor); in addition, costs are effectively reduced.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A ranging method, which is applicable to a terminal device, wherein the method comprises following steps:
enabling a capacitive touch panel of the terminal device through a capacitive touch panel driving module in a kernel system of the terminal device, wherein the capacitive touch panel driving module is controlled by a capacitive touch panel driving program;
receiving a ranging request;
sending an enabling instruction to a proximity sensor driving module provided in a digital signal processor of the terminal device, wherein the proximity sensor driving module is controlled by a proximity sensor driving program;
receiving a distance event sent by the proximity sensor driving module; and
acquiring distance information of an object and the capacitive touch panel through the capacitive touch panel driving module.

2. The ranging method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein after the step of sending the enabling instruction to the proximity sensor driving module provided in the digital signal processor of the terminal device and before the step of receiving the distance event sent by the proximity sensor driving module, the method further comprises steps of: detecting the distance event by the capacitive touch panel; and sending an interrupt signal to the capacitive touch panel driving module by the capacitive touch panel.

3. The ranging method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein after the step of sending the interrupt signal to the capacitive touch panel driving module by the capacitive touch panel, the method further comprises: sending a pulse signal having a preset duration to the proximity sensor driving module by the capacitive touch panel driving module.

4. The ranging method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the preset duration is 1 ms-20 ms.

5. The ranging method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein after the step of acquiring the distance information of the object and the capacitive touch panel through the capacitive touch panel driving module, the method further comprises: reporting a determination result to the terminal device according to the distance information.

6. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, wherein a plurality of instructions are stored in the storage medium, and the instructions are adapted to be loaded by a processor to execute a ranging method; the ranging method comprises:
enabling a capacitive touch panel of a terminal device through a capacitive touch panel driving module in a kernel system of the terminal device, wherein the capacitive touch panel driving module is controlled by a capacitive touch panel driving program;
receiving a ranging request;
sending an enabling instruction to a proximity sensor driving module provided in a digital signal processor of the terminal device, wherein the proximity sensor driving module is controlled by a proximity sensor driving program;
receiving a distance event sent by the proximity sensor driving module; and
acquiring distance information of an object and the capacitive touch panel through the capacitive touch panel driving module.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as claimed in claim 6 , wherein after the step of sending the enabling instruction to the proximity sensor driving module provided in the digital signal processor of the terminal device and before the step of receiving the distance event sent by the proximity sensor driving module, the method further comprises steps of: detecting the distance event by the capacitive touch panel; and sending an interrupt signal to the capacitive touch panel driving module by the capacitive touch panel.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as claimed in claim 6 , wherein after the step of sending the interrupt signal to the capacitive touch panel driving module by the capacitive touch panel, the method further comprises: sending a pulse signal having a preset duration to the proximity sensor driving module by the capacitive touch panel driving module.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the preset duration is 1 ms-20 ms.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as claimed in claim 9 , wherein after the step of acquiring the distance information of the object and the capacitive touch panel through the capacitive touch panel driving module, the method further comprises: reporting a determination result to the terminal device according to the distance information.

11. A terminal device, comprising a processor and a memory, the processor is electrically connected to the memory, the memory is configured to store instructions and data, and the processor is configured to implement steps in a ranging method, and the ranging method comprises following steps:
enabling a capacitive touch panel of the terminal device through a capacitive touch panel driving module in a kernel system of the terminal device, wherein the capacitive touch panel driving module is controlled by a capacitive touch panel driving program;
receiving a ranging request;
sending an enabling instruction to a proximity sensor driving module provided in a digital signal processor of the terminal device, wherein the proximity sensor driving module is controlled by a proximity sensor driving program;
receiving a distance event sent by the proximity sensor driving module; and
acquiring distance information of an object and the capacitive touch panel through the capacitive touch panel driving module.

12. The terminal device as claimed in claim 11 , wherein after the step of sending the enabling instruction to the proximity sensor driving module provided in the digital signal processor of the terminal device and before the step of receiving the distance event sent by the proximity sensor driving module, the method further comprises steps of: detecting the distance event by the capacitive touch panel; and sending an interrupt signal to the capacitive touch panel driving module by the capacitive touch panel.

13. The terminal device as claimed in claim 11 , wherein after the step of sending the interrupt signal to the capacitive touch panel driving module by the capacitive touch panel, the method further comprises: sending a pulse signal having a preset duration to the proximity sensor driving module by the capacitive touch panel driving module.

14. The terminal device as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the preset duration is 1 ms-20 ms.

15. The terminal device as claimed in claim 14 , wherein after the step of acquiring the distance information of the object and the capacitive touch panel through the capacitive touch panel driving module, the method further comprises: reporting a determination result to the terminal device according to the distance information.

Assignees

• Huizhou Tcl Mobile Communication Co Ltd

Inventors

• Song Bin
• Chen Hailong
• Liu Junting
• Gong Yan

Classifications

• G06F3/04166 Primary

  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 title

• G06F3/044 Primary

  by capacitive means · CPC title

• G06F2203/04101

  2.5D-digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface and also measures the distance of the input means within a short range in the Z direction, possibly with a separate measurement setup · CPC title

• G06F9/545

  where tasks reside in different layers, e.g. user- and kernel-space · CPC title