Single receiver superdoze mode

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9645633-B2
Application number	US-201514675627-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 31, 2015
Priority date	Mar 31, 2015
Publication date	May 9, 2017
Grant date	May 9, 2017

Abstract

An input device, including: a plurality of sensor electrodes configured to receive a first plurality of capacitive signals and a second plurality of capacitive signals; and a processing system operatively connected to the plurality of sensor electrodes and configured to: operate in a superdoze mode by receiving the first plurality of capacitive signals from a single receive channel connected to the plurality of sensor electrodes; execute an analysis of the first plurality of capacitive signals; and operate, based on the analysis, in an active mode by: driving a plurality of transmitter electrodes with a first drive pattern of a sensing signal; and receiving the second plurality of capacitive signals associated with the first drive pattern from a plurality of receive channels connected to the plurality of sensor electrodes. The superdoze mode requires less power than the active mode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An input device, comprising:
a plurality of sensor electrodes configured to receive a first plurality of capacitive signals and a second plurality of capacitive signals;
a connecting unit comprising circuitry configured to:
generate a sum based on the first plurality of capacitive signals; and
connect the plurality of sensor electrodes with a plurality of receive channels; and

a processing system operatively connected to the plurality of sensor electrodes and configured to:
operate in a superdoze mode by receiving the sum associated with the first plurality of capacitive signals from a single receive channel of the plurality of receive channels, wherein the other receive channels are powered down during the superdoze mode;
execute an analysis of the sum associated with the first plurality of capacitive signals; and
operate, based on the analysis, in an active mode by:
driving a plurality of transmitter electrodes with a first drive pattern of a sensing signal; and
receiving the second plurality of capacitive signals associated with the first drive pattern from the plurality of receive channels connected to the plurality of sensor electrodes by the connecting unit,

wherein the superdoze mode requires less power than the active mode.

2. The input device of claim 1 , wherein executing the analysis comprises determining an input object is present within a sensing region of the plurality of sensor electrodes.

3. The input device of claim 1 , wherein the processing system is further configured to:
determine a lack of an input object in a sensing region of the plurality of sensor electrodes; and
enter, based on the lack of the input object, the superdoze mode.

4. The input device of claim 1 , wherein the processing system is further configured to:
execute a correlated interference assessment based on a third plurality of signals from the plurality of receive channels connected to the plurality of sensor electrodes.

5. The input device of claim 4 , wherein the processing system is further configured to:
determine a lack of an input object in a sensing region of the plurality of sensor electrodes; and
operate, based on the lack of the input object, in a normal doze mode by:
driving the plurality of transmitter electrodes with a second drive pattern, the second drive pattern resulting in reduced spatial information in comparison to the first drive pattern; and
receiving the third plurality of capacitive signals from the plurality of receive channels connected to the plurality of sensor electrodes;

enter, in response to the correlated interference assessment not detecting correlated interference, the superdoze mode,
wherein the normal doze mode requires less power than the active mode, and
wherein the superdoze mode requires less power than the normal doze mode.

6. The input device of claim 4 , wherein the processing system is further configured to:
determine a lack of an input object in a sensing region of the plurality of sensor electrodes; and
operate, based on the lack of the input object, in a normal doze mode by:
driving a plurality of transmitter electrodes with a second drive pattern, the second drive pattern resulting in reduced spatial information in comparison to the first drive pattern; and
receiving the third plurality of capacitive signals from the plurality of receive channels connected to the plurality of sensor electrodes; and

remain, in response to the correlated interference assessment detecting correlated interference, in the normal doze mode,
wherein the normal doze mode requires less power than the active mode, and
wherein the superdoze mode requires less power than the normal doze mode.

7. The input device of claim 4 , wherein executing the correlated interference assessment comprises:
obtaining a plurality of noise values from the third plurality of capacitive signals;
calculating an estimate of noise correlation based on the plurality of noise values from the third plurality of capacitive signals; and
comparing the estimate of noise correlation with at least one threshold.

8. The input device of claim 1 , wherein the processing system is connected to a host system, and wherein the host system is in a low-power mode during the analysis of the first plurality of capacitive signals.

9. The input device of claim 5 , wherein driving the plurality of transmitter electrodes with the second drive pattern comprises:
driving a first set of the plurality of transmitter electrodes with a positive-polarity waveform; and
driving a second set of the plurality of transmitter electrodes with a negative-polarity waveform.

10. A method for operating an input device comprising a plurality of sensor electrodes, comprising:
receiving, by a plurality of electrodes, a first plurality of capacitive signals
generating a sum based on the first plurality of capacitive signals;
operating in a superdoze mode by receiving the sum associated with the first plurality of capacitive signals from a single receive channel of a plurality of receive channels connected to the plurality of sensor electrodes, wherein the other receive channels are powered down during the superdoze mode;
executing an analysis of the sum associated with the first plurality of capacitive signals; and
operating, based on the analysis, in an active mode by:
driving a plurality of transmitter electrodes with a first drive pattern of a sensing signal; and
receiving a second plurality of capacitive signals associated with the first drive pattern from the plurality of receive channels connected to the plurality of sensor electrodes,

wherein the superdoze mode requires less power than the active mode.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein executing the analysis comprises determining an input object is present within a sensing region of the plurality of sensor electrodes.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
determining a lack of an input object in a sensing region of the plurality of sensor electrodes; and
entering, based on the lack of the input object, the superdoze mode.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
executing a correlated interference assessment based on a third plurality of signals from the plurality of receive channels connected to the plurality of sensor electrodes.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
determining a lack of an input object in a sensing region of the plurality of sensor electrodes; and
operating, based on the lack of the input object, in a normal doze mode by:
driving the plurality of transmitter electrodes with a second drive pattern, the second drive pattern resulting in reduced spatial information in comparison to the first drive pattern; and
receiving the third plurality of capacitive signals from the plurality of receive channels connected to the plurality of sensor electrodes;

entering, in response to the correlated interference assessment not detecting correlated interference, the superdoze mode,
wherein the normal doze mode requires less power than the active mode, and
wherein the superdoze mode requires less power than the normal doze mode.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
determining a lack of an input object in a sensing region of the plurality of sensor electrodes; and
operating, based on the lack of the input object, in a normal doze mode by:
driving the plurality of transmitter electrodes with a second drive pattern, the second drive pattern resulting in reduced spatial information in comparison to the first drive pattern; and
receiving the third plurality of ca

Assignees

• Synaptics Inc

Inventors

• Jordan Joel
• Weinerth John

Classifications

• G06F1/3287

  by switching off individual functional units in the computer system · CPC title

• G06F1/3231

  Monitoring the presence, absence or movement of users · CPC title

• G06F2203/04108

  Touchless 2D- 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 without distance measurement in the Z direction · CPC title

• G06F3/044 Primary

  by capacitive means · CPC title

• G06F3/0416

  Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers · CPC title