Mobile terminal and method for controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9958983-B2
Application number	US-201514952695-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 25, 2015
Priority date	Nov 25, 2014
Publication date	May 1, 2018
Grant date	May 1, 2018

Abstract

A mobile terminal includes a display; a touch sensor coupled to the display, the touch sensor including a first sensor and a second sensor; a driving unit configured to supply power to drive the display; and a touch controller configured to: cause the driving unit to enter an inactive state when a lighting of the display is turned off; recognize a touch input applied to the display by sensing, via the first or second sensor, the touch input applied while the lighting of the display is off; cause the driving unit to enter an active state in response to the touch input, the active state maintained while the lighting of the display is on; and obtain touch coordinates of the touch input using input from both the first sensor and the second sensor together when the driving unit enters the active state.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A mobile terminal comprising:
a display including a touch sensor having a first sensor and a second sensor, wherein the display is configured as an in-cell touch type touch screen;
a touch controller configured to detect a touch input received at the display in a state that a lighting of the display is turned off;
a driving unit including a driving integrated circuit (IC) and a one time programmable (OTP) memory and capable of supplying power to drive the display, wherein the OTP memory stores setting information associated with an initialization operation of the driving unit;
a converter unit capable of supplying an output voltage to the driving unit;
an input/output port directly connecting the touch controller and the converter unit; and
a controller configured to control the mobile terminal in combination with at least one of the display, the touch controller, or the driving unit,
wherein the driving unit, the converter unit, and the controller are in an inactive state when the lighting of the display is turned off,
wherein the touch controller is capable of:
sensing the touch input received at the display using the first sensor in the state that the lighting of the display is turned off and the controller is in the inactive state;
generating a signal for activating the converter unit when the touch input is sensed;
transmitting the generated signal to the converter unit via the input/output port;
causing the converter unit to enter an active state from the inactive state such that the converter unit performs the initialization operation using the setting information stored in the OTP memory;
applying the output voltage to the driving unit via the converter unit;
causing the driving unit to be in an active state in response to the applied output voltage; and
detecting touch coordinates of the touch input using the first and second sensors together, and

wherein the controller remains in the inactive state when the converter unit and the driving unit are activated in response to the touch input.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1 , wherein a pulse voltage is applied to only the first sensor when the driving unit is in the inactive state.

3. The mobile terminal of claim 2 , wherein a pulse voltage is applied to both the first and second sensors when the driving unit enters the active state from the inactive state.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 3 , wherein a pulse voltage of the first sensor is applied by the touch controller, and a pulse voltage of the second sensor is applied by the driving unit, which enters the active state, based on sensing of the touch input using the first sensor.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 1 , wherein:
the display is turned on in response to a user gesture including at least the touch input; and
the touch controller is further configured to determine whether the user gesture is applied based on coordinate information of the touch input and coordinate information of at least one second touch input that is applied while the display is off.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 5 , wherein:
each of the touch input and the at least one second touch input is a tapping applied to the display; and
the user gesture is specified based on at least one of a region of the display where the tapping is applied, a time interval between each of a plurality of tapping, or a number of the plurality of tapping.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 5 , wherein the controller is further configured to be operated in a sleep mode when the lighting of the display is turned off, and to enter an active mode in response to the user gesture.

8. The mobile terminal of claim 7 , wherein the controller is further configured to turn on the lighting of the display upon entering the active mode.

9. The mobile terminal of claim 7 , wherein:
the user gesture includes a plurality of user gestures which are specified by a position where the touch input and the at least one second touch input are applied; and
the controller is further configured to:
execute a first application when a first user gesture among the plurality of user gestures is applied; and
execute a second application when a second user gesture among the plurality of user gestures is applied.

10. The mobile terminal of claim 1 , wherein:
the driving unit includes a memory in which initialization setting information associated with an initialization operation of the driving unit is stored; and
the driving unit is further configured to perform the initialization operation using the initialization setting information stored in the memory upon entering the active state when the touch input is recognized by the touch controller.

11. A method for controlling a mobile terminal including a display configured as an in-cell touch type touch screen having a first touch sensor, a second touch sensor, a touch controller, and a driving unit,
wherein the mobile terminal further includes:
a controller configured to control the mobile terminal in combination with at least one of the display, the touch controller, or the driving unit;
a converter unit capable of supplying an output voltage to the driving unit; and
an input/output port directly connecting the touch controller and the converter unit, and

wherein the driving unit, the converter unit, and the controller are in an inactive state when a lighting of the display is turned off,
wherein the driving unit includes a driving integrated circuit (IC) and a one time programmable (OTP) memory storing setting information associated with an initialization operation of the driving unit,
the method comprising:
sensing, by the touch controller, a touch input received at the display in a state that the lighting of the display is turned off and the controller is in the inactive state, using the first touch sensor;
generating a signal for activating the converter unit when the touch input is sensed;
transmitting the generated signal to the converter unit;
causing the converter unit to enter an active state from the inactive state such that the converter unit performs the initialization operation using the setting information stored in the OTP memory;
applying the output voltage to the driving unit via the converter unit;
causing, by the touch controller, the driving unit to be in an active state in response to the applied output voltage; and
detecting coordinates of the touch input using the first and second touch sensors together,
wherein the controller remains in the inactive state when the converter unit and the driving unit are activated in response to the touch input.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining whether a user gesture is applied based on coordinate information of the touch input and coordinate information of at least one second touch input that is applied to the display while the display is off; and
turning on the lighting of the display in response to the user gesture.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
operating the controller in a sleep mode when the driving unit enters an inactive mode; and
causing the controller in the sleep mode to enter an active mode in response to the user gesture.

14. The mobile terminal of claim 1 , wherein the controller operably coupled to the touch controller is directly coupled to the converter unit that is directly coupled to the driving unit.

15. The mobile terminal of claim 14 , wherein the touch controller transmits the generated signal directly to the converter unit without activating the controller.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Jin Dongchul
• Kwak Haengchul
• Lee Youngsok
• Ahn Yehan

Classifications

• G06F3/0412

  Digitisers structurally integrated in a display · CPC title

• G06F3/04883

  for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text · CPC title

• G06F3/0416 Primary

  Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers · CPC title

• G06F1/3265 Primary

  Power saving in display device · CPC title

• Y02B60/1242

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic