System and method for bidirectional communication between stylus and stylus sensor controller

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016306445-A1
Application number	US-201615134215-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 20, 2016
Priority date	Apr 20, 2015
Publication date	Oct 20, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method is provided for communication between a sensor controller and a host processor, wherein the sensor controller is coupled to a sensor configured to interact with an active stylus. The sensor controller supportive of a default descriptor of a defined set of stylus attributes transmits the default descriptor to the host processor. The sensor controller, when coupled with a first stylus capable of reporting on a first subset of the defined set of stylus attributes, transmits to the host processor a first stylus report that has fields of the first subset of stylus attributes filled with values reported from the first stylus. The sensor controller, when coupled with a second stylus capable of reporting on a second subset of the defined set of stylus attributes, transmits to the host processor a second stylus report that has fields of the second subset of stylus attributes filled with values reported from the second stylus.

First claim

1 . A method of communication between a sensor controller and a host processor, the sensor controller coupled to a sensor configured to interact with an active stylus, the method comprising:
the sensor controller supportive of a default descriptor of a defined set of stylus attributes transmitting the default descriptor to the host processor when connection between the sensor controller and the host processor is established; the sensor controller, when coupled with a first active stylus capable of reporting on a first subset of the defined set of stylus attributes, transmitting to the host processor a first stylus report that is defined by the default descriptor and that has fields of the first subset of stylus attributes filled with values reported from the first active stylus; and the sensor controller, when coupled with a second active stylus capable of reporting on a second subset of the defined set of stylus attributes different from the first subset, transmitting to the host processor a second stylus report that is defined by the default descriptor and that has fields of the second subset of stylus attributes filled with values reported from the second active stylus.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor controller and the host processor are configured to be connected via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor controller and the host processor are configured to be connected via an Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) bus or a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) bus.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
the sensor controller filling fields in the first or second stylus report for stylus attributes not reported from the first or second active stylus with default values.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
the sensor controller applying a smoothing algorithm to the first subset of stylus attributes reported from the first active stylus or to the second subset of stylus attributes reported from the second active stylus to fill fields in the first or second stylus report.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the smoothing algorithm includes one or more of sub-sampling, super-sampling, interpolation, or extrapolation of the stylus attributes reported from the first or second active stylus.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second subsets of stylus attributes differ in terms of the types of stylus attributes included in the first and second subsets, respectively, and/or the number of stylus attributes included in the first and second subsets, respectively.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first or second subset of stylus attributes equals the defined set of stylus attributes in the default descriptor.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
the sensor controller receiving, from the first or second active stylus, stylus capability information that indicates attributes supported by the first or second active stylus.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the defined set of stylus attributes includes: i) stylus coordinate values; ii) stylus pressure values including at least one of a tip pressure value and a barrel pressure value; iii) stylus switch values including at least one of a tip switch value, a first barrel switch value, and a second switch value; iv) a stylus inversion indicator value; (v) a stylus eraser indicator; (vi) stylus orientation values including at least one of an X tilt value, a Y tilt value, a twist value, an altitude value, an azimuth value, an accelerometer value, a gyroscope value, and a magnetometer value; (vii) a stylus battery status value; (viii) a stylus ID; (ix) a stylus preferred color value; (x) a stylus preferred line width value; and (xi) a stylus preferred line style value.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the defined set of stylus attributes includes: i) stylus coordinate values; ii) a stylus pressure value; iii) a stylus switch value; iv) a stylus orientation value; (v) a stylus preferred color value; (vi) a stylus preferred line width value; and (vii) a stylus preferred line style value.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
the sensor controller, after receiving the stylus preferred color value in a first format from the first or second active stylus, converting the stylus preferred color value in the first format to a second format and including the stylus preferred color value in the second format in the first or second stylus report.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the stylus preferred color value indicates an original color set in a volatile memory of the first or second active stylus.

14 . A method of communication between a sensor controller and a host processor, the sensor controller coupled to a sensor configured to interact with an active stylus, the method comprising:
the sensor controller, which supports a default descriptor including a first description of a defined set of stylus attributes and a second description of a subset of the defined set of stylus attributes, transmitting the default descriptor to the host processor when connection between the sensor controller and the host processor is established; the sensor controller, when coupled with a first active stylus capable of reporting on substantially the defined set of stylus attributes, transmitting to the host processor a first stylus report that is defined by the first description and that has fields of substantially the defined set of stylus attributes filled with values reported from the first active stylus; and the sensor controller, when coupled with a second active stylus capable of reporting on substantially the subset of stylus attributes, transmitting to the host processor a second stylus report that is defined by the second description and that has fields of substantially the subset of stylus attributes filled with values reported from the second active stylus, wherein the second stylus report has a smaller data size than the first stylus report.

15 . The method of claim 14 further comprising:
the sensor controller filling fields in the first or second stylus report for stylus attributes not reported from the first or second active stylus with default values.

16 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
the sensor controller applying a smoothing algorithm to the stylus attributes reported from the first or second active stylus to fill fields in the first or second stylus report.

17 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
the sensor controller receiving, from the first or second active stylus, stylus capability information that indicates attributes supported by the first or second active stylus; and the sensor controller determining which of the first or second stylus report to transmit based on the stylus capability information.

18 . A sensor controller to be coupled to a sensor, which is to interact with an active stylus, the sensor controller comprising:
processing circuitry which, in operation, supports a default descriptor of a defined set of stylus attributes; and transmission circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry, wherein the transmission circuitry, in operation, transmits the default descriptor to a host processor when connection between the sensor controller and the host processor is established; wherein, the transmission circuitry transmits to the host processor, when the sensor controller is coupled with a first active stylus capable of reporting on a first subset of the defined set of stylus attributes, a first stylus report that is defined by the default

Assignees

• Wacom Co Ltd

Inventors

• Fleck David Charles

Classifications

• G06F3/0442

  using active external devices, e.g. active pens, for transmitting changes in electrical potential to be received by the digitiser · CPC title

• G06F3/04162 Primary

  for exchanging data with external devices, e.g. smart pens, via the digitiser sensing hardware · CPC title

• G06F3/0446

  using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes · CPC title

• G06F3/03545

  Pens or stylus · CPC title

• G06F3/0383 Primary

  Signal control means within the pointing device · CPC title