Adaptive scanning using capacitive sensors

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025208729-A1
Application number	US-202418984069-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 17, 2024
Priority date	Dec 20, 2023
Publication date	Jun 26, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method for performing a scanning process using adaptive scanning, comprising: driving, by a processing system of an input device, one or more of a first set of electrodes to generate first sensing signals that are detectable by a second set of electrodes; obtaining first resulting signals associated with the first sensing signals via the second set of electrodes; determining, based on the first resulting signals, a first subset of the second set of electrodes that detected an input object on a display device; driving one or more of the first subset of the second set of electrodes that detected the input object to generate second sensing signals that are detectable by the first set of electrodes; and obtaining second resulting signals associated with the second sensing signals via the first set of electrodes.

First claim

1 . A method for performing a scanning process using adaptive scanning, comprising:
driving, by a processing system of an input device, one or more of a first set of electrodes to generate first sensing signals that are detectable by a second set of electrodes, wherein the first set of electrodes are bar electrodes that are positioned across a first axis and the second set of electrodes are bar electrodes that are positioned across a second axis that is different from the first axis; obtaining, by the processing system, first resulting signals associated with the first sensing signals via the second set of electrodes; determining, by the processing system and based on the first resulting signals, a first subset of the second set of electrodes that detected an input object; driving, by the processing system, one or more of the first subset of the second set of electrodes that detected the input object to generate second sensing signals that are detectable by the first set of electrodes; and obtaining, by the processing system, second resulting signals associated with the second sensing signals via the first set of electrodes.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein driving the one or more of the first subset of the second set of electrodes that detected the input object is based on using a code division multiplexing (CDM) coding scheme that uses a plurality of scans, wherein the plurality of scans comprises one or more initial scans and a final scan, and wherein obtaining the second resulting signals comprises obtaining a profile for the first set of electrodes that is based on the one or more initial scans and the final scan.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein driving the one or more of the first subset of the second set of electrodes using the CDM coding scheme comprises:
during a first initial scan of the one or more initial scans, providing a first type of signal to a first electrode from the first subset of the second set of electrodes and a second type of signal to a second electrode from the first subset of the second set of electrodes; and during the final scan, providing the first type of signal to a third electrode from the first subset of the second set of electrodes and the second type of signal to a reference electrode of the second set of electrodes, wherein the reference electrode is not an electrode within the first subset of the second set of electrodes.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein driving the one or more of the first subset of the second set of electrodes using the CDM coding scheme further comprises:
during a second initial scan of the one or more initial scans, providing the first type of signal to the second electrode from the first subset of the second set of electrodes and the second type of signal to the third electrode from the first subset of the second set of electrodes.

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein at each scan of the plurality of scans, a single electrode of the first subset of electrodes is driven to generate a first type of sensing signal and other electrodes from the first subset of electrodes are driven to generate a second type of sensing signal that is different from the first type.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
determining one or more additional subsets of electrodes from the second set of electrodes; and while driving the first subset using the CDM coding scheme, statically driving the one or more additional subsets of electrodes to consistently generate the first type of sensing signal or the second type of sensing signal.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the one or more additional subsets of electrodes from the second set of electrodes comprises determining a second subset of electrodes and a third subset of electrodes, and wherein statically driving the one or more additional subsets of electrodes comprises:
statically driving the second subset of electrodes to consistently generate the first type of sensing signal while driving the first subset using the CDM coding scheme; and statically driving the third subset of electrodes to consistently generate the second type of sensing signal while driving the first subset using the CDM coding scheme.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the second resulting signals indicate detection of the input object and one or more additional input objects.

9 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
based on the second resulting signals, driving, by the processing system, the first set of electrodes to generate third sensing signals that are detectable by the second set of electrodes; and obtaining, by the processing system, third resulting signals associated with the third sensing signals via the second set of electrodes.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein driving the first set of electrodes to generate the third sensing signals comprises:
driving a first subset of the first set of electrodes using the CDM coding scheme; statically driving a second subset of the first set of electrodes to consistently generate the first type of sensing signal while driving the first subset of the first set of electrodes using the CDM coding scheme; and statically driving the third subset of the first set of electrodes to consistently generate the second type of sensing signal while driving the first subset of the first set of electrodes using the CDM coding scheme.

11 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
based on the second resulting signals, determining that one or more electrodes from the first subset of the second set of electrodes no longer detect the input object; removing the one or more electrodes from the first subset to generate an updated first subset of the second set of electrodes; driving the updated first subset of the second set of electrodes to generate third sensing signals; and obtaining third resulting signals associated with the third sensing signals via the first set of electrodes.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
driving, by the processing system, a second subset of the first set of electrodes based on the second resulting signals to generate third sensing signals that are detectable by the second set of electrodes; obtaining, by the processing system, third resulting signals associated with the third sensing signals via the second set of electrodes; determining, by the processing system and based on the third resulting signals, a third subset of the second set of electrodes that detected the input object; and driving, by the processing system, one or more of the third subset of the second set of electrodes that detected the input object.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein determining the third subset of the second set of electrodes that detected the input object comprises:
comparing the first resulting signals and the third resulting signals to generate delta signals; and determining the third subset of the second set of electrodes based on the delta signals.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein determining the third subset of the second set of electrodes comprises determining the third subset of the second set of electrodes based on applying one or more high-pass filters to the delta signals.

15 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
incorporating, by the processing system, a modulation reference electrode from the second set of electrodes into the first subset, wherein the modulation reference electrode did not detect the input object, and wherein driving the one or more of the first subset of the second set of electrodes comprises driving the first subset of the second set of electrodes that includes th

Assignees

• Synaptics Inc

Inventors

• Dattalo Tracy Scott

Classifications

• G06F3/0445

  using two or more layers of sensing electrodes, e.g. using two layers of electrodes separated by a dielectric layer · 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

• G06F3/04166 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

• G01D5/24

  by varying capacitance · CPC title