Touch driving device, relay device and method for implementing touch function in multi-vision

Abstract

The present invention relates to a touch driving apparatus, a relay apparatus, and a method of implementing a touch function in a multi-vision. In particular, the present invention relates to a method, a relay apparatus, and a touch driving apparatus for implementing a touch function in a multi-vision without a problem using a state signal indicating a transmittable state of touch data from each display apparatus of the multi-vision.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments relate to a relay device, a touch driving device, and a method for implementing touch functionality in multi-vision. Background Technology

[0002] Multi-view is a display system achieved by combining multiple display devices for displaying a single image, and is also known as a "video wall system".

[0003] In other words, by using a method that divides the entire screen of an image source into multiple screens for multiple display devices and displays the divided screens on the multiple display devices respectively, multiple vision can display an image source as if it were displayed on a single display device.

[0004] As described above, multi-view can use multiple display devices to segment and output the entire screen of an image source, thus enabling multi-view to magnify and display small images. Here, the image source can be provided by a host connected to the multi-view.

[0005] The host can be implemented as an external device separate from multiple displays, such as a media player, desktop computer, etc., or it can be implemented as a system-on-a-chip (SoC) and embedded in any of the multiple display devices.

[0006] In addition, in recent years, televisions or monitors equipped with touch functionality have been introduced to provide convenience for users. However, multi-view devices, which are configured as multiple display devices rather than a single display device such as a television or monitor, have not yet been equipped with touch functionality. Summary of the Invention

[0007] In this context, one aspect of the embodiments is to provide a technique for implementing touch functionality in multiple perspectives.

[0008] Therefore, in one aspect, the present invention provides a relay device, comprising: a first communication interface configured to receive first status signals to Nth status signals from first touch driving devices to Nth touch driving devices included in a first to Nth display device constituting a multi-view, and to receive first display device touch data to Nth display device touch data from the first touch driving devices to the Nth touch driving devices, wherein N is a natural number; a controller configured to use the first display device touch data to the Nth display device touch data received by the first communication interface to calculate multi-view touch coordinates as touch coordinates for the multi-view; and a second communication interface configured to send the multi-view touch coordinates to the controller of a host, wherein the time for receiving each display device touch data in the first display device touch data to the Nth display device touch data varies according to the first status signal to the Nth status signal.

[0009] One of the state signals from the first state signal to the Nth state signal can be a signal that alternates between a disable signal and an enable signal. The disable signal is output from the touch driver device during the touch driving time of the touch driver device, and the enable signal is output from the touch driver device at times other than the touch driving time.

[0010] The first communication interface can receive touch data from a display device from a touch driver when it receives the enable signal of the status signal.

[0011] The controller can send a touch data request signal to the touch driver through the first communication interface, and then receive touch data from the display device, wherein the touch data request signal is sent to the touch driver at the time when the disabled signal of the status signal switches to the enabled signal.

[0012] The first communication interface may include: multiple external input / output terminals for receiving the first status signal to the Nth status signal; and multiple serial peripheral interface terminals, i.e., SPI terminals, for receiving the first display device touch data to the Nth display device touch data.

[0013] The first communication interface may include multiple SPI terminals, which are used to receive the first status signal to the Nth status signal and to receive the first display device touch data to the Nth display device touch data.

[0014] In another aspect, the present invention provides a touch driving device, comprising: a touch driving unit configured to supply a driving signal to sensor electrodes of a touch panel included in a display device as a multi-vision element, to receive a response signal to the driving signal from the sensor electrodes and generate raw data; and a microcontroller configured to use the raw data to calculate display device touch data as touch data for the display device, to send the display device touch data to a relay device, to alternately output a disable signal and an enable signal, and to send the disable signal and the enable signal to the relay device, wherein the relay device is configured to use the display device touch data to calculate multi-vision touch coordinates as touch coordinates for the multi-vision, the disable signal being output during a touch driving time including the time for calculating the touch data, and the enable signal being output at a time other than the touch driving time.

[0015] The microcontroller can send the display device touch data to the relay device when it sends the enable signal to the relay device.

[0016] The microcontroller may include: an external input / output terminal for alternately sending the disable signal and the enable signal to the relay device; and a serial peripheral interface terminal, i.e., an SPI terminal, for sending the display device touch data to the relay device when sending the enable signal to the relay device.

[0017] The microcontroller may include an SPI terminal, which is used to alternately send the disable signal and the enable signal to the relay device, and to send the display device touch data to the relay device when the enable signal is sent.

[0018] The microcontroller can output the disable signal and the enable signal in each frame of the display device.

[0019] The touch driving time may also include the time used by the touch driving unit to generate the raw data.

[0020] The display device touch data may include touch coordinate information related to the one display device. In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for implementing touch functionality in multiple visions, the method comprising: a status signal transmission step for transmitting first to Nth status signals from first to Nth touch driving devices included in the first to Nth display devices constituting the multiple visions to a relay device, where N is a natural number; a status identification step for using the first to Nth status signals to identify an enabled or disabled state of each touch driving device among the first to Nth touch driving devices; a data transmission step for transmitting first to Nth display device touch data from the first to Nth touch driving devices to the relay device, wherein each touch driving device among the first to Nth touch driving devices transmits touch data when the touch driving device is in the enabled state; a step for calculating multi-vision touch coordinates as touch coordinates for the multiple visions using the first to Nth display device touch data via the relay device; and a step for transmitting the multi-vision touch coordinates to a host using the relay device.

[0021] In the data transmission step, the touch driver device in the enabled state among the first to the Nth touch driver devices can send display device touch data to the relay device when the touch driver device receives a touch data request signal from the relay device. As described above, according to this embodiment, since each display device in the multi-view outputs a status signal indicating the transmittable state of touch data and sends it to the relay device of the host, the relay device can wait until it receives touch data from each display device in the multi-view, thereby easily implementing touch functionality in the multi-view. Attached Figure Description

[0022] The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a multi-vision system according to an embodiment;

[0024] Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a multi-vision system according to an embodiment;

[0025] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the touch driving device included in a multi-view display device according to an embodiment;

[0026] Figure 4This is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the relay device 210 according to an embodiment;

[0027] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating a driving method for forming multiple display devices with multiple views according to an embodiment;

[0028] Figure 6 and Figure 7 This is a diagram illustrating a method for generating a status signal in a touch driving device according to an embodiment;

[0029] Figure 8 This is a diagram showing time points when multiple visual touch coordinates are generated in the relay device according to an embodiment;

[0030] Figure 9 It is a diagram showing the time points when the relay device according to the embodiment requests touch data from multiple display devices; and

[0031] Figure 10 This is a flowchart illustrating the process of implementing touch functionality in a multi-vision system according to an embodiment. Detailed Implementation

[0032] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a multi-vision system according to an embodiment.

[0033] Reference Figure 1 The multi-vision system 1 may include a multi-vision system 10 and a host system 20.

[0034] Here, the multi-view 10 may include multiple display devices, namely, the first to the Nth display devices (N is a natural number of 2 or greater), which can receive an image source from the host 20 and can segment the entire screen of the image source to display it on the first to the Nth display devices, such as... Figure 1 As shown. Here, host 20 can be implemented as a media player, desktop computer, etc.

[0035] Multi-view 10 and host 20 may include Figure 2 The components shown.

[0036] Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a multi-vision system according to an embodiment.

[0037] Reference Figure 2 The multi-view 10 may include a first display device 100a to an Nth display device 100b, and the host 20 may include a relay device 210 and a host controller 220.

[0038] In an embodiment, the first display device 100a to the Nth display device 100b may include the first touch driving device 110a to the Nth touch driving device 110b, and may also include the first touch panel (not shown) to the Nth touch panel (not shown). In other words, each display device constituting the multi-view 10 may include a touch driving device, and may also include a touch panel.

[0039] Here, the first touch driving device 110a to the Nth touch driving device 110b can generate touch data from the first display device to the Nth display device and can send it to the relay device 210. In an embodiment, as... Figure 5 As shown, the first display device 100a to the Nth display device 100b can perform touch driving and image output through a time division method.

[0040] Here, even if the first display device 100a to the Nth display device 100b are the same product, the processing speed between the display devices may be different depending on the internal components, etc., and therefore the touch driving time of the first display device 100a to the Nth display device 100b may be different from each other.

[0041] For example, if such Figure 5 The Nth display device 100b shown has the highest processing speed. Based on the processing speed of the display device, the first display device 100a can start touch driving after a first time t1 from the touch driving time of the Nth display device 100b, and the second display device can start touch driving after a second time t2 from the touch driving time of the Nth display device 100b.

[0042] As described above, when the processing speeds of the various display devices in the multi-view 10 are different, the touch driving time of the touch driving device included in the display device may be different between the various display devices, and the time when the touch driving device sends touch data to the relay device 210 may be different between the various display devices.

[0043] If, in a state where the relay device 210 is configured to calculate touch coordinates within a predetermined time after receiving touch data from the first display device to the Nth display device, the second display device may send touch data to the relay device 210 after that predetermined time. In this case, the relay device 210 cannot perform the normal calculation of touch coordinates, thus incorrectly determining that there is a problem with the touch function of the multi-view device 10.

[0044] In an embodiment, to address the aforementioned issues, a touch driver and a relay device with the following configuration are provided.

[0045] First, a detailed description of the touch driving device included in each of the plurality of display devices in the embodiments is as follows.

[0046] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a touch driving device included in a multi-view display device according to an embodiment.

[0047] The touch driving device 110 according to the embodiment may include a touch driving unit 112 and a microcontroller 114. The touch driving unit 112 can supply driving signals to the sensor electrodes of the touch panel 120 included in the display device, receive response signals to the driving signals from the sensor electrodes, and generate raw data on the touch panel 120, that is, generate raw data on the display device.

[0048] Here, if an object is approaching or touching a point on the touch panel 120, the touch driving unit 112 can receive a response signal with high intensity from the sensor electrode arranged at that point on the touch panel 120. Based on this, raw data related to the object approaching or touching a point on the touch panel 120 can be generated.

[0049] Alternatively, the touch panel 120 can be bonded to the upper polarizing plate of the display panel (not shown) constituting the display device, or it can be formed between the upper polarizing plate and the upper substrate. Furthermore, when the touch panel 120 is formed in an In-Cell type, the touch panel can be formed together with the pixel array in the display panel (not shown) on the lower substrate.

[0050] Touch panel 120 may include sensor electrodes, which include driving electrodes and receiving electrodes. Microcontroller 114 can use the raw data generated by touch driving unit 112 to calculate touch data on touch panel 120, i.e., display device touch data as touch data of a display device, and can send it to relay device 210. Here, display device touch data may include touch coordinates for a display device.

[0051] In one embodiment, the microcontroller 114 may alternately output a disable signal and an enable signal and may send them to a relay device 210, wherein the disable signal is output during a touch drive time that includes the time for calculating touch data of the display device, and the enable signal is output at a time other than the touch drive time.

[0052] In other words, the microcontroller 114 can output a status signal generated by alternately outputting a disable signal during the touch-driven time and an enable signal during other times, and can send it to the relay device 210.

[0053] For example, if the touch driver 110 is a first touch driver 110a included in the first display device 100a, the microcontroller 114 can configure the touch driving time as the time for outputting the disable signal DA, and can configure time other than the touch driving time (i.e., the image output time) as the time for outputting the enable signal EA, such as... Figure 6 As shown. Here, since the touch driving time may include the time it takes for the microcontroller 114 to calculate touch data for the display device, the touch driving time can exceed the time period during which the touch driving unit 112 of the first display device 100a is driven (the "touch" time period), such as... Figure 6 As shown.

[0054] Additionally, the touch driving time may also include the time for the touch driving unit 112 to generate raw data. Furthermore, the microcontroller 114 may output a disable signal and an enable signal in each frame of the display device. Figure 6 (The "touch" time period and the "display" time period).

[0055] like Figure 7 As shown, the microcontroller 114 can output a disable signal as a low-level signal and an enable signal as a high-level signal.

[0056] In this embodiment, a disabled signal indicates that the microcontroller 114 cannot send display device touch data to the relay device 210, and an enabled signal indicates that the microcontroller 114 can send display device touch data to the relay device 210.

[0057] Here, since the microcontroller 114 receives raw data from the touch driving unit 112 and calculates the touch data of the display device during the touch driving time, the microcontroller 114 cannot send the touch data of the display device to the relay device 210.

[0058] Furthermore, since the microcontroller 114 calculates the touch data of the display device at a time other than the touch driving time, the microcontroller 114 can send the touch data of the display device to the relay device 210. As described above, when the microcontroller 114 sends a status signal to the relay device 210, the relay device 210 can wait until the display device switches to the enabled state.

[0059] Additionally, when an enable signal is sent to the relay device 210, if the status signal is an enable signal, the microcontroller 114 can send display device touch data to the relay device 210.

[0060] For this purpose, the microcontroller 114 may include: an external input / output terminal (not shown) for alternately sending disable and enable signals to the relay device 210; and a serial peripheral interface (SPI) terminal (not shown) for sending touch data of the touch display device to the relay device 210 when an enable signal is sent to the relay device 210.

[0061] Furthermore, the microcontroller 114 may include only an SPI terminal (not shown), and may send display device touch data to the relay device 210 when sending an enable signal, provided that a disable signal and an enable signal are alternately sent to the relay device 210 via the SPI terminal.

[0062] The relay device 210, which is a component of the host 20, will be described below.

[0063] Figure 4 This is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the relay device 210 according to an embodiment.

[0064] Reference Figure 4 The relay device 210 may include a first communication interface 212, a controller 214, and a second communication interface 216.

[0065] The first communication interface 212 can receive first status signals to Nth status signals from the first touch driving devices 110a to Nth touch driving devices 110b included in the first display device 100a to Nth display device 100b constituting the multi-view 10.

[0066] In addition, the first communication interface 212 can receive touch data from the first display device to the Nth display device from the first touch driver 110a to the Nth touch driver 110b.

[0067] Here, the reception time from the first display device touch data to the Nth display device touch data can vary according to the first state signal to the Nth state signal.

[0068] For example, in Figure 8 In the process, since the Nth state signal switches to the enable signal at the first time T1, the first communication interface 212 receives the Nth display device touch data from the Nth touch driver 110b at the first time T1. And since the first state signal switches to the enable signal at the second time T2 after the first time T1, the first communication interface 212 receives the first display device touch data from the first touch driver 110a at the second time T2.

[0069] When an enable signal is received as described above, the first communication interface 212 can receive touch data from the display device from the touch driver.

[0070] The first communication interface 212 may include: a plurality of external input / output terminals (not shown) for receiving a first status signal to an Nth status signal; and a plurality of serial peripheral interface (SPI) terminals (not shown) for receiving touch data from a first display device to an Nth display device.

[0071] In addition, the first communication interface 212 may include only a plurality of SPI terminals (not shown), which can receive a first status signal to an Nth status signal through the plurality of SPI terminals, and can receive a first display device touch data to an Nth display device touch data.

[0072] The controller 214 can use the touch data from the first display device to the Nth display device received from the first communication interface 212 to calculate the multi-view touch coordinates as the touch coordinates of the multi-view 10. For example, the controller 214 can store a multi-view touch coordinate map as a touch coordinate map of the entire screen for the multi-view 10, and touch coordinate maps of each display device that match the multi-view touch coordinate map.

[0073] Therefore, the controller 214 can extract touch coordinate information related to each display device from the touch data of the first display device to the touch data of the Nth display device, and can use the multi-view touch coordinate map to calculate the touch coordinate information related to each display device into multi-view touch coordinates.

[0074] As described above, the controller 214, which calculates the multi-view touch coordinates, can send the multi-view touch coordinates to the host controller 220 via the second communication interface 216. Here, the second communication interface 216 may include a Universal Serial Bus (USB) terminal.

[0075] Additionally, in this embodiment, the controller 214 can identify the first state signal to the Nth state signal, and can wait until the last touch driver among the first touch driver 110a to the Nth touch driver 110b to enter the enabled state receives touch data from the display device.

[0076] For example, such as Figure 8As shown, the controller 214 can wait from the activation time of the Nth display device (which is the earliest time) until the activation time of the second display device (which is the latest time), and can receive touch data from the first display device to the Nth display device to calculate multi-view touch coordinates. In other words, even if there is an activation time of a touch driver device with a large interval relative to the activation times of other touch driver devices due to the difference in processing speed among the first touch driver devices 110a to the Nth touch driver device 110b, the controller 214 can wait until the activation time of that touch driver device. Therefore, touch functionality can be easily implemented in multi-view 10.

[0077] Additionally, the controller 214 can send touch data request signals to the touch driver via the first communication interface 212, and can also receive touch data from the display device. Here, as... Figure 9 As shown, the controller 214 can send a touch data request signal to the touch driver at the times p1, p2, and pN when the status signal is switched from a disabled signal to an enabled signal.

[0078] As described above, in the embodiment, since each display device of the multi-view 10 outputs a status signal indicating the transmittable state of touch data of the display device and sends it to the relay device 210 of the host 20, the relay device 210 can wait until it receives touch data from each display device of the multi-view 10, thereby easily implementing touch functionality in the multi-view 10.

[0079] The following section describes the process of implementing touch functionality in the multi-vision system 1.

[0080] Figure 10 This is a flowchart illustrating the process of implementing touch functionality in a multi-vision system according to an embodiment. (Refer to...) Figure 10 The first touch driver 110a to the Nth touch driver 110b send the first status signal to the Nth status signal to the relay device 210 (S1010).

[0081] The relay device 210 can use the first state signal to the Nth state signal to identify whether the first touch driver 110a to the Nth touch driver 110b is in an enabled state or a disabled state (S1020). In addition, the first touch driver 110a to the Nth touch driver 110b can send the first display device touch data to the Nth display device touch data to the relay device 210, and can send display device touch data to the relay device 210 when the touch driver is in an enabled state (S1030).

[0082] Accordingly, the relay device 210 can receive touch data from the first display device to the Nth display device at different times based on the first state signal to the Nth state signal, and can calculate the multi-view touch coordinates (S1040 and S1050) after receiving the touch data from the first display device to the Nth display device.

[0083] Subsequently, the relay device 210 can send the multi-view touch coordinates to the host controller 220 (S1060). Here, the host controller 220 can display the event for the multi-view touch coordinates on the screen of the multi-view 10.

[0084] The multi-vision system 1 can repeat steps S1010 to S1060 until the power supply to the multi-vision system is turned off.

[0085] Cross-references to related applications

[0086] This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0171823, filed on December 20, 2019, which, as set forth in its entirety herein, is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

Claims

1. A relay device comprising: a first communication interface configured to receive first to Nth state signals from first to Nth touch driver devices included in first to Nth display devices constituting a multi-vision, respectively, and to receive first display device touch data to Nth display device touch data from the first to Nth touch driver devices, where N is a natural number; a controller configured to calculate multi-vision touch coordinates that are touch coordinates for the multi-vision using the first to Nth display device touch data received by the first communication interface; and a second communication interface configured to transmit the multi-vision touch coordinates to a controller of a host, wherein a time at which each of the first to Nth display device touch data is received varies according to the first to Nth state signals, wherein one of the first to Nth state signals is a signal in which a disable signal and an enable signal are alternated, the disable signal being output from one touch driver device in a touch driving time of the one touch driver device, and the enable signal being output from the one touch driver device in a time other than the touch driving time, wherein the controller is configured to transmit a touch data request signal to the one touch driver device through the first communication interface, and then receive one display device touch data, and wherein the touch data request signal is transmitted to the one touch driver device at a time at which the disable signal of the one state signal switches to the enable signal, and wherein the one display device touch data includes touch coordinate information related to one display device.

2. The relay device according to claim 1, wherein The first communication interface includes a plurality of external input / output terminals for receiving the first to Nth state signals, and a plurality of serial peripheral interface (SPI) terminals for receiving the first to Nth display device touch data.

3. The relay device of claim 1, wherein, The first communication interface includes a plurality of SPI terminals for receiving the first to Nth state signals, and for receiving the first to Nth display device touch data. 4.A touch driver device comprising: a touch driving unit configured to supply a driving signal to a sensor electrode of a touch panel included in one display device that is an element of a multi-vision, to receive a response signal to the driving signal from the sensor electrode, and to generate raw data; and a communication interface configured to transmit the raw data to a relay device. a microcontroller configured to calculate display device touch data as touch data for the one display device using the raw data, transmit the display device touch data to a relay device, alternately output a disable signal and an enable signal, and transmit the disable signal and the enable signal to the relay device, wherein the relay device is configured to calculate multi-vision touch coordinates as touch coordinates for the multi-vision using the display device touch data, the disable signal is output in a touch driving time including a time for calculating the touch data, the enable signal is output in a time other than the touch driving time, wherein the microcontroller is configured to transmit the display device touch data in accordance with a touch data request signal received after a time at which the disable signal has switched to the enable signal, and wherein the display device touch data includes touch coordinate information related to the one display device.

5. The touch driving apparatus of claim 4, wherein, The microcontroller transmits the display device touch data to the relay device when transmitting the enable signal to the relay device.

6. The touch driving apparatus of claim 4, wherein, The microcontroller includes an external input / output terminal for alternately transmitting the disable signal and the enable signal to the relay device, and a serial peripheral interface (SPI) terminal for transmitting the display device touch data to the relay device when transmitting the enable signal to the relay device.

7. The touch driving apparatus of claim 4, wherein, The microcontroller includes an SPI terminal for alternately transmitting the disable signal and the enable signal to the relay device, and for transmitting the display device touch data to the relay device when transmitting the enable signal.

8. The touch driving apparatus of claim 4, wherein, The microcontroller outputs the disable signal and the enable signal in each frame of the display device.

9. The touch driving apparatus of claim 4, wherein, The touch driving time further includes a time for the touch driving unit to generate the raw data.

10. A method for implementing a touch function in a multi-vision, the method comprising: a state signal transmission step for transmitting first to Nth state signals from first to Nth touch driving devices included in first to Nth display devices constituting a multi-vision to a relay device, where N is a natural number; a state recognition step for recognizing an enabled state or a disabled state of each of the first to Nth touch driving devices using the first to Nth state signals; a data transmission step for transmitting first to Nth display device touch data from the first to Nth touch driving devices to the relay device, where each of the first to Nth touch driving devices transmits touch data when the touch driving device is in the enabled state; a step for calculating multi-vision touch coordinates as touch coordinates for the multi-vision using the first to Nth display device touch data by the relay device; and a step for calculating multi-vision touch coordinates as touch coordinates for the multi-vision using the first to Nth display device touch data by the relay device; and a step of sending the multi-vision touch coordinates to a host by using the relay device, wherein, in the data sending step, the touch drive devices in the enabled state among the first touch drive device to the Nth touch drive device are configured to send display device touch data to the relay device upon receiving a touch data request signal from the relay device, and wherein each display device touch data includes touch coordinate information related to a respective display device.

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