Method for controlling stylus and stylus control circuit thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a method for controlling a plurality of stylus types and a stylus control circuit thereof, the method comprising the following steps: outputting a first uplink signal corresponding to a first stylus type in the plurality of stylus types to detect the first stylus type; and outputting a second uplink signal corresponding to a second stylus type in the plurality of stylus types to detect the second stylus type. The second stylus type is different from the first stylus type.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for controlling a stylus pen, and in particular to a method for controlling different types of stylus pens and a related stylus pen control circuit. Background Art

[0002] An active stylus is a common peripheral device that can be used in electronic devices with touch screens, such as mobile phones or laptops. Currently, touch screens with stylus sensing functions on the market include various protocols, such as the Wacom Generic Protocol (WGP) proposed by Wacom, the Universal Stylus Initiative (USI) protocol proposed by Google, and the Microsoft Pen Protocol (MPP) proposed by Microsoft.

[0003] In the prior art, a touch screen supports stylus sensing based on only one specific protocol, that is, the touch screen can only detect active styluses of the same protocol. For example, a touch screen using the Heguan system can only detect active styluses of the WGP protocol, and a touch screen using the Google system can only detect active styluses of the USI protocol. Summary of the invention

[0004] Therefore, the main purpose of the present invention is to propose a new method for controlling different types of styluses and a related stylus control circuit, which can support multiple stylus protocols and simultaneously support the reception of downlink signals output by a unidirectional stylus.

[0005] An embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for controlling multiple stylus types, the method comprising the following steps: outputting a first uplink signal corresponding to a first stylus type among the multiple stylus types to detect the first stylus type; and outputting a second uplink signal corresponding to a second stylus type among the multiple stylus types to detect the second stylus type. The second stylus type is different from the first stylus type.

[0006] Another embodiment of the present invention discloses a stylus control circuit for controlling multiple stylus types. The stylus control circuit is used to: output a first uplink signal corresponding to a first stylus type among the multiple stylus types to detect the first stylus type; and output a second uplink signal corresponding to a second stylus type among the multiple stylus types to detect the second stylus type. The second stylus type is different from the first stylus type.

[0007] Another embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for controlling multiple stylus types, the method comprising the following steps: outputting a first uplink signal corresponding to a first stylus type among the multiple stylus types; detecting the first stylus type by detecting a first downlink signal in response to the first uplink signal; and detecting a second stylus type by detecting a second downlink signal corresponding to a second stylus type among the multiple stylus types. The second stylus type is different from the first stylus type.

[0008] Another embodiment of the present invention discloses a stylus control circuit for controlling multiple stylus types. The stylus control circuit is used to: output a first uplink signal corresponding to a first stylus type among the multiple stylus types; detect the first stylus type by detecting a first downlink signal in response to the first uplink signal; and detect a second stylus type by detecting a second downlink signal corresponding to a second stylus type among the multiple stylus types. The second stylus type is different from the first stylus type.

[0009] Another embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for controlling multiple stylus types, the method comprising the following steps: detecting a first stylus type by detecting a first downlink signal corresponding to a first stylus type among the multiple stylus types; and detecting a second stylus type by detecting a second downlink signal corresponding to a second stylus type among the multiple stylus types. The second stylus type is different from the first stylus type.

[0010] Another embodiment of the present invention discloses a stylus control circuit for controlling multiple stylus types. The stylus control circuit is used to: detect a first stylus type among the multiple stylus types by detecting a first downlink signal corresponding to the first stylus type; and detect a second stylus type among the multiple stylus types by detecting a second downlink signal corresponding to the second stylus type. The second stylus type is different from the first stylus type. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 It is a timing diagram of a touch control system implemented as a touch display driver integration system.

[0012] Figure 2 It is a timing diagram of a touch control system implemented by external touch sensing technology.

[0013] Figure 3 It is a timing diagram of a touch control system supporting multiple types of active pens and unidirectional pens according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] Figure 4The figure is a flow chart of a process of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] Figure 5 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a touch pen control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] Figure 6 FIG. 4 is a timing diagram of controlling multiple styluses according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 7 Another timing diagram of controlling multiple styluses according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 8 This is another timing diagram for controlling multiple styluses according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Fig. 9 The timing diagram is for controlling multiple stylus pens according to a setting signal.

[0020] Fig.10 The timing diagram of controlling multiple stylus pens according to a set signal with a fool-proof function is shown.

[0021] Fig.11 A timing diagram of controlling different types of stylus pens to operate simultaneously on a touch screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] Fig.12 It is shown that simple pen detection can be performed in any downlink time slot.

[0023] Fig.13 The figure is a flow chart of a process of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Fig.14 It is a timing diagram of controlling the active pen and the simple pen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Fig.15 A timing diagram of controlling multiple styluses operating simultaneously on a touch screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Figures 16 to 18 A timing diagram of controlling an active pen and one or more simple pens operating simultaneously on a touch screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] Fig.19 The figure is a flow chart of a process of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] Fig. 20 and Fig.21 FIG. 4 is a timing diagram of controlling multiple simple pens according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] Figure 22 to Figure 24 FIG. 4 is a timing diagram of performing simple pen detection in a time slot for touch sensing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] The reference numerals are described as follows:

[0031] FP frame period

[0032] UL0 Uplink timeslot

[0033] TS0~TS19 Downlink time slot

[0034] C0~C7、DET、D0~D7、FND、PND、PD、PX、PY time slot

[0036] 40, 130, 190 Process

[0037] Steps 402-410, 1302-1310, 1902-1906 50 Stylus control system

[0038] 500 Touch Sensor

[0039] 510 stylus control circuit

[0040] 512 front-end circuit

[0041] 514 processors

[0042] 516 Receiver

[0043] UL_WGP, UL_USI, UL_MPP uplink signals

[0044] DL_WGP, DL_USI, DL_MPP, DL_EZP, DL_EZP1~DL_EZP3 Downlink signal

[0046] SET1 Setting signal DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] Figure 1 It is a timing diagram of a touch control system implemented as a touch and display driver integration (TDDI) system. The touch display driver integration system may include a touch screen, which is controlled by a touch display driver integrated integrated circuit (TDDI Integrated Circuit, TDDI IC). The touch screen is provided with a screen having a display function, and touch sensing electrodes are provided on the screen to perform touch sensing and stylus sensing. The touch sensing function can be used to detect finger or hand touch on the screen, which can use capacitive touch sensing or any other touch sensing technology to implement the touch sensing operation. The stylus sensing function can be used to detect an active stylus (hereinafter referred to as an active stylus) that is in contact with the screen or suspended on the screen. The active pen can communicate with the touch control system using a specific protocol.

[0048] Therefore, the control timing of the touch control system can be divided into display time and touch time, wherein the display time is used to perform display operations, and the touch time is used to perform touch sensing and stylus sensing operations. Since the touch display driver integration system integrates touch and display functions, the touch / stylus sensing operation and the display operation can be performed in different time slots. Figure 1 As shown, a frame period FP can be divided into multiple time slots, which are alternately allocated to display and touch operations. There are 21 time slots for touch / stylus sensing (considered as touch time slots) in the frame period FP, which include 1 uplink time slot UL0 and 20 downlink time slots TS0-TS19. The other time slots between these touch time slots are display time slots used to perform display operations.

[0049] First, when the active pen has not been detected, the touch control system can be preset to a pure hand mode (touch mode). In the pure hand mode, most of the downlink time slots are allocated for touch sensing, wherein the touch drive signals can be output row by row to the touch sensing electrodes (such as time slots C0 to C7) to receive the corresponding touch sensing signals. A downlink time slot TS1 is allocated for stylus detection (labeled as DET), wherein the touch display driver integrated circuit can detect whether there is a stylus in contact with or close to the touch screen. In the uplink time slot UL0, the touch display driver integrated circuit can output an uplink signal. If a nearby stylus receives an uplink signal, it can return a downlink signal in the designated time slot TS1, so that the touch display driver integrated circuit receives the downlink signal. In other words, the touch display driver integrated circuit can detect the stylus by detecting the downlink signal in the downlink time slot TS1.

[0050] If a stylus is detected, the touch control system can enter a touch and stylus mode. In the touch and stylus mode, the touch display driver integrated circuit starts to receive downstream data (such as time slots D0 to D7) from the stylus, thereby allocating more downstream time slots within the frame period FP to perform stylus sensing and receive downstream data. It should be noted that in the pure hand mode, the touch sensing operation scans the entire touch screen (from C0 to C7) twice within one frame period. However, in the touch and stylus mode, since the number of time slots allocated to touch sensing is reduced, the touch screen is only scanned once within the frame period FP, which reduces the reporting rate of the touch sensing operation.

[0051] Generally speaking, in the touch and stylus sensing process, the touch control system is required to perform noise detection (labeled as FND or PND) in some time slots. FND can be used to obtain environmental noise that may interfere with finger touch sensing. PND can be used to obtain noise on different candidate frequencies of the stylus, so that the stylus can select a noise-free frequency. The noise detection operation is necessary in the touch and stylus sensing operation to improve the anti-noise ability of the touch control system. It should be noted that the noise detection operation can be performed in any appropriate time slot and is not limited to the implementation described in this specification.

[0052] Figure 2 The timing diagram of a touch control system implemented by external touch sensing technology. The touch control system may include a touch screen controlled by independent touch control circuits and display control circuits. Therefore, the touch and stylus sensing control timings can be allocated without retaining the display timings. Figure 2 As shown, the beginning of a frame period FP has an uplink period or uplink time slot UL0, followed by a stylus sensing period (such as time slots D0-D7) for receiving downlink data of the stylus, followed by a touch sensing period (such as time slots C0-C7) for performing touch sensing and noise detection row by row. Figure 2 Alternatively, the stylus downlink data and touch signal can be received alternately, such as Figure 2 The control timing is shown in the lower half.

[0053] The existing touch control system only supports a single specific protocol, so the touch control system can only detect active pens with this protocol to interact with the touch screen. For example, if the touch control system supports the Wacom Generic Protocol (WGP), the corresponding stylus must be exclusive to the Wacom Generic Protocol; or if the touch control system supports the Universal Stylus Initiative (USI) protocol, the corresponding stylus must be exclusive to the Universal Stylus Initiative protocol.

[0054] Different from the existing touch control system, the touch control system of the present invention can support a variety of stylus types (i.e., active pens) with different protocols, and / or simultaneously support one or more unidirectional stylus pens that can output downlink signals at a predetermined frequency. The control timing of the touch control system can be pre-set in any appropriate manner to be allocated to the time slots of the frame period FP. For example, if Figure 3As shown, a touch display driver integrated circuit in a touch control system operating in pen hand mode may first output an uplink signal (in time slot UL0), which may be received by various types of styluses. Subsequent downlink time slots TS0 to TS19 are allocated in an appropriate manner to receive downlink signals / data from the stylus to obtain stylus information (such as time slots D0 to D7), or to receive touch signals to perform hand / finger touch sensing (such as time slots C0 to C7). The control timing may be pre-set for each protocol, and the corresponding touch display driver integrated circuit may obtain the downlink data of the stylus in some time slots to calculate and obtain various sensing information of the stylus, such as the coordinates, power level, or any other information of the stylus. In other time slots used for touch sensing, the touch display driver integrated circuit may receive touch signals to calculate finger touch coordinates, touch strength, or any other information. The touch control system can support various types of protocols, which may include the Universal Protocol, the Universal Stylus Alliance, the Microsoft Pen Protocol (MPP), the Lenovo Pen Protocol (LPP), the Huawei Pen Protocol (HPP), low-cost active pens, and easy pens (easypen), such as third-party Apple Pen (third-party Apple Pen), but are not limited to these.

[0055] Since the touch control system can support different types of styluses, the touch display driver integrated circuit can perform corresponding operations to detect these styluses and communicate with any type of stylus after detecting the stylus. Figure 4 FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a process 40 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The process 40 illustrates the operation of a stylus control circuit included in a touch display driver integrated circuit, which is used to control multiple stylus types. Figure 4 As shown, process 40 includes the following steps:

[0056] Step 402: Output multiple uplink signals corresponding to multiple stylus types to detect the stylus. Step 404: Determine whether a downlink signal of a specific stylus type is detected. If yes, execute step 406; if no, execute step 402.

[0057] Step 406: Only output the uplink signal corresponding to the specific stylus type.

[0058] Step 408: Determine whether a downlink signal from the stylus is detected. If yes, execute step 406;

[0059] If not, execute step 410.

[0060] Step 410: Determine whether a timeout has occurred. If yes, execute step 402; if no, execute step 406.

[0061] According to process 40, the stylus control circuit may output a plurality of uplink signals of different protocols for different types of styluses (step 402), wherein the uplink signal may include a first uplink signal corresponding to a first stylus type (e.g., having a first protocol) and a second uplink signal corresponding to a second stylus type (e.g., having a second protocol). Based on the corresponding uplink signals, the stylus control circuit may determine whether a downlink signal is detected to detect the stylus (step 404). The stylus control circuit may continue to alternately output these uplink signals until a downlink signal of a stylus is successfully detected and received.

[0062] After detecting a specific type of stylus, the stylus control circuit only outputs the corresponding uplink signal (step 406). Using the uplink signal, the stylus control circuit can start communicating with the stylus through the corresponding protocol. In response to a specific uplink signal corresponding to a protocol, if the stylus control circuit receives a downlink signal, it can be determined that there is a stylus of this protocol that needs to communicate. For example, the stylus control circuit can output an uplink signal in accordance with the WGP specification, and if a downlink signal is received in response to the uplink signal, the stylus control circuit can determine that there is a WGP stylus approaching or touching the touch screen. Since the detected stylus is a WGP stylus, the stylus control circuit can start communicating with the WGP stylus according to the signal format and control timing of the WGP protocol. In another case, the stylus control circuit can receive a downlink signal in response to an uplink signal, and this uplink signal is output in accordance with the USI specification, so it is determined that there is a USI stylus approaching or touching the touch screen. Since the detected stylus is a USI stylus, the stylus control circuit can start communicating with the USI stylus according to the signal format and control timing of the USI protocol. Therefore, based on the determined protocol, the stylus control circuit can receive downlink data from the stylus to obtain various sensing information of the stylus, such as coordinates.

[0063] It is worth noting that the first stylus type with the first protocol and the second stylus type with the second protocol can use the same timing configuration, such as Figure 3 As long as different types of styluses can be detected by a stylus control circuit in any way to perform subsequent communication, the relevant implementations should fall within the scope of the present invention.

[0064] During the communication with the detected stylus, the stylus control circuit can still determine whether the downlink signal or data of the stylus is detected or received (step 408). If the stylus control circuit does not receive the downlink signal or data for too long, it can be determined that a timeout has occurred (step 410), and the control process returns to the step of alternately outputting multiple uplink signals for different stylus types. In other words, after a specific period of time without receiving the downlink signal, the stylus control circuit can restart outputting the uplink signal corresponding to the other stylus types. The length of this specific period of time can be preset.

[0065] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of a stylus control system 50 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The stylus control system 50 may be integrated with a touch control system, and includes a touch sensor 500 and a stylus control circuit 510. The touch sensor 500 may be a touch sensing device implemented on a touch screen. The touch sensor 500 may include a plurality of touch sensing electrodes disposed on a touch surface of the touch screen, wherein the touch sensing electrodes may transmit signals back and forth with the stylus, so that the stylus control system 50 and the stylus may communicate.

[0066] The stylus control circuit 510 is a circuit device responsible for controlling the stylus sensing operation of the touch sensor 500 and processing stylus-related signals. The stylus control circuit 510 includes a front-end circuit 512 and a processor 514. The front-end circuit 512 may be an analog front-end (AFE) circuit, which may be used as an interface for signal transmission and reception with the touch sensor 500. In various embodiments, the front-end circuit 512 may output an uplink signal to the touch sensing electrode of the touch sensor 500, so that the touch sensing electrode further transmits the uplink signal to the stylus. In various embodiments, the front-end circuit 512 may include a receiver 516, and the downlink signal from the stylus received by the touch sensing electrode may be transmitted to the stylus control circuit 510 through the receiver 516.

[0067] The processor 514 may be used to control the operation of the stylus control circuit 510. For example, based on the operation mode, the processor 514 may allocate time slots for uplink transmission or downlink transmission. In one embodiment, the stylus control circuit 510 may be integrated with a touch sensing circuit, so the processor 514 also has a touch sensing function, or may be integrated with a touch controller to allocate time slots for touch sensing operations and stylus sensing operations in an appropriate manner. In one embodiment, the processor 514 may be a core processor or controller for processing various operations of the stylus control circuit 510. Examples of the processor 514 include, but are not limited to, digital signal processing (DSP) circuits and microcontroller units (MCU).

[0068] Figure 6 The timing diagram for controlling multiple styluses according to an embodiment of the present invention. The touch control system can support various types of styluses. In this example, it is assumed that the touch control system supports WGP and USI styluses. Therefore, the stylus control circuit 510 can alternately output the uplink signal UL_WGP for the WGP protocol and the uplink signal UL_USI for the USI protocol in a series of time slots. Correspondingly, in the subsequent downlink time slots, the receiver 516 can detect the downlink signal DL_WGP of the WGP protocol in response to the uplink signal UL_WGP, or detect the downlink signal DL_USI of the USI protocol in response to the uplink signal UL_USI. As described above, regardless of whether the stylus control circuit 510 operates in pure hand mode or pen hand mode, touch sensing can be performed in some time slots. In this case, the receiver 516 can still receive touch data, and the processor 514 can still execute the touch sensing algorithm to obtain relevant touch information.

[0069] Therefore, the stylus control circuit 510 may alternately output different uplink signals UL_WGP and UL_USI until a downlink signal from any active pen is detected. In this example, the downlink signal DL_USI of the USI protocol is received after the second transmission of the uplink signal UL_USI. When the downlink signal DL_USI is detected, the receiver 516 may begin to receive downlink data from the USI stylus in the time slot allocated to stylus detection. Correspondingly, the processor 514 may execute an algorithm corresponding to the USI specification to obtain various sensing information of the USI stylus, including the coordinates and power of the stylus, but not limited to this. It should be noted that the receiver 516 may still perform touch sensing in other time slots allocated to touch detection to receive touch sensing signals and / or data, and the processor 514 may also execute relevant algorithms for touch sensing, such as Figure 6 shown.

[0070] At this time, the stylus control circuit 510 knows that a stylus is operating on the touch screen, and communicates with the stylus through the corresponding protocol. At the same time, the stylus control circuit 510 stops outputting uplink signals for other protocols to reserve resources for the stylus. In this example, after the stylus control circuit 510 detects the USI stylus, it can stop outputting the uplink signal UL_WGP.

[0071] exist Figure 6 In the embodiment, each uplink transmission block and each downlink transmission block may represent a transmission period including one or more time slots. In one embodiment, an uplink transmission block and a subsequent downlink transmission block may be implemented in an uplink time slot and a downlink time slot in a frame period, respectively, but the embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. For example, in another embodiment, two or more uplink transmission blocks and their subsequent downlink transmission blocks may correspond to multiple time slots in the same frame period.

[0072] It is worth noting that Figure 6 The embodiment of FIG. 1 is only one of many implementations of the timing configuration of the stylus control. In other embodiments, the timing can be allocated in different ways. Figure 7 Another timing diagram for controlling multiple styluses according to an embodiment of the present invention. Before any active stylus is detected, uplink signals for different protocols may be output alternately in any appropriate manner. For example, stylus control circuit 510 may output uplink signals corresponding to a first stylus type more times than uplink signals corresponding to a second stylus type. In an exemplary embodiment, stylus control circuit 510 may determine that a user uses a stylus of a first stylus type more frequently, thereby allocating more time slots to the first stylus type in a stylus detection operation.

[0073] like Figure 7 As shown, the stylus control circuit 510 alternately outputs the uplink signal UL_WGP once and outputs the uplink signal UL_USI twice until a downlink signal of any active pen is detected. In this example, the downlink signal DL_WGP is detected in response to the transmission of the uplink signal UL_WGP of the WGP protocol. When the downlink signal DL_WGP is detected, the receiver 516 can start to receive the downlink data of the WGP stylus in the time slot allocated to the stylus detection. Correspondingly, the processor 514 can execute the algorithm corresponding to the WGP to obtain various sensing information of the WGP stylus. The operation of touch sensing is similar to the description in the previous paragraph and will not be described in detail here. At this time, the stylus control circuit 510 can stop outputting the uplink signal UL_USI corresponding to the USI protocol.

[0074] In another embodiment, the touch control system can support more than two protocols. For example, Figure 8Another timing diagram for controlling multiple styluses according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the touch control system and the related stylus control circuit 510 support three protocols: WGP, USI and MPP. Therefore, before any active pen is detected, the uplink signal UL_WGP for the WGP protocol, the uplink signal UL_USI for the USI protocol, and the uplink signal UL_MPP for the MPP protocol can be output alternately. Then, the receiver 516 performs corresponding detection of the downlink signals DL_WGP, DL_USI and DL_MPP in the corresponding downlink time slots respectively. After detecting the downlink signal UL_WGP of the WGP protocol, the receiver 516 can start to receive the downlink data of the WGP stylus in the time slot allocated to the stylus detection. Correspondingly, the processor 514 can execute the algorithm corresponding to the WGP to obtain various sensing information of the WGP stylus. The operation of touch sensing is similar to the description in the previous paragraph and will not be described in detail here. At this time, the stylus control circuit 510 may stop outputting the uplink signals UL_USI and UL_MPP.

[0075] In another embodiment, the stylus control circuit 510 may receive a setting signal and perform uplink transmission for stylus detection according to the setting signal. For example, the setting signal may indicate that a specific type of stylus with a specific protocol is to be used. Therefore, after the stylus control circuit 510 receives the setting signal, it only outputs an uplink signal corresponding to this specific stylus type. For example, the uplink transmission of the stylus control circuit 510 may be determined by the user, that is, the user knows that he is using a specific type of stylus to operate on the touch screen and selects the corresponding protocol accordingly. In this case, the relevant instructions set by the user can be provided to the stylus control circuit 510, so that the stylus control circuit 510 can output an uplink signal for the protocol selected by the user. Through the user-defined setting signal, the user can quickly control the stylus control circuit 510 to switch to the operation mode corresponding to the selected protocol, thereby reducing the entry delay. For example, when the stylus control circuit 510 supports a large number of protocols, it may need to output different uplink signals during a series of frames, thus taking a long time to try to communicate with different types of styluses. If a setting signal is used, the stylus control circuit 510 can quickly determine the protocol and start communicating with the stylus.

[0076] Fig. 9 This is a timing diagram for controlling multiple styluses according to a setting signal. Fig. 9Only the uplink signal output by the stylus control circuit 510 is shown, and the corresponding downlink signal is omitted. In this example, the stylus control circuit 510 first continuously outputs the uplink signal UL_WGP for the WGP protocol. When the stylus control circuit 510 receives a setting signal SET1 indicating that the user wants to use the USI stylus, it can change to output the uplink signal UL_USI for the USI protocol.

[0077] In one embodiment, the stylus control circuit 510 may further provide a foolproof function. For example, if the setting signal indicates the use of a first stylus type with a protocol, the stylus control circuit 510 may continue to output only an uplink signal corresponding to the first stylus type. Then, when the stylus control circuit 510 does not receive a downlink signal corresponding to the first stylus type for a certain period of time, it may instead output an uplink signal corresponding to a second stylus type with another protocol.

[0078] Fig.10 The timing diagram of controlling multiple stylus pens according to the setting signal with the foolproof function is shown in FIG. Fig.10 Only the uplink signal output by the stylus pen control circuit 510 is shown. Based on the foolproof function, the stylus pen control circuit 510 can determine whether the setting signal is correctly provided and output a suitable uplink signal.

[0079] In this example, the stylus control circuit 510 first continuously outputs the uplink signal UL_WGP for the WGP protocol. After the stylus control circuit 510 receives a setting signal SET1 indicating that the user wants to use the USI stylus, it can change to output the uplink signal UL_USI for the USI protocol. Then, since the downlink signal DL_USI of the USI protocol is not detected for a predetermined period of time, the stylus control circuit 510 changes back to outputting the uplink signal UL_WGP. At this time, since the stylus control circuit 510 does not detect the downlink signal DL_WGP, it can change again to output the uplink signal UL_USI indicated by the setting signal SET1. Then, the stylus control circuit 510 still does not detect the downlink signal DL_USI within a predetermined period of time, and changes back to outputting the uplink signal UL_WGP. At this time, receiving a downlink signal DL_WGP in response to the uplink signal UL_WGP indicates that a WGP stylus is detected. The touch control system thus changes the protocol selected by the user to WGP, and the stylus control circuit 510 only continues to output the uplink signal UL_WGP and receives the corresponding downlink signal DL_WGP.

[0080] In one embodiment, the touch screen can be operated by multiple styluses at the same time. Therefore, the stylus control circuit 510 can detect multiple styluses with different protocols at the same time. In this case, the stylus control circuit 510 can still alternately output multiple uplink signals corresponding to the detected styluses.

[0081] Related implementations such as Fig.11 As shown, the stylus control circuit 510 simultaneously detects a WGP stylus and a USI stylus. Therefore, the stylus control circuit 510 can alternately output an uplink signal UL_WGP for the WGP protocol and an uplink signal UL_USI for the USI protocol. In response to the uplink signal UL_WGP, the receiver 516 can receive the downlink signal DL_WGP of the WGP protocol and related stylus data, and the processor 514 can execute the algorithm corresponding to the WGP protocol to obtain various sensing information of the WGP stylus. In response to the uplink signal UL_USI, the receiver 516 can receive the downlink signal DL_USI of the USI protocol and related stylus data, and the processor 514 can execute the algorithm corresponding to the USI protocol to obtain various sensing information of the USI stylus. At this time, the receiver 516 can also perform touch sensing in other time slots allocated to touch detection to receive touch sensing signals and / or data, and the processor 514 can also execute the touch sensing algorithm to obtain related touch information.

[0082] As described above, the touch control system of the present invention can support a unidirectional stylus that can output a downlink signal at a predetermined frequency. The unidirectional stylus (hereinafter referred to as the unidirectional stylus) does not need to receive any uplink signal from the touch control system, but continuously outputs a downlink signal at one or more frequencies. For example, a unidirectional stylus can continuously output a downlink signal at a frequency (such as 485kHz). The stylus control circuit can receive the downlink signal at a frequency of 485kHz to obtain information about the unidirectional stylus without passing through the uplink signal, such as detecting the energy appearing at 485kHz. The simple pen is a common unidirectional pen that can output a downlink signal (such as a single-frequency signal) at a predetermined frequency. The following paragraphs use the simple pen as an example to illustrate the operation of the unidirectional pen, and those skilled in the art should understand that the simple pen described below can represent any type of unidirectional pen.

[0083] In one embodiment, the stylus control circuit 510 is originally in the pure hand mode, which has a plurality of downlink time slots for performing touch sensing or stylus sensing or noise detection, such as Figure 1The downlink time slots TS0-TS19 are shown. For a touch control system that supports a simple pen, simple pen detection can be performed in any of these downlink time slots. In other words, at least one downlink time slot can be used to detect a simple pen at one or more specified frequencies, which may be possible frequencies used by the simple pen to output downlink signals. In various embodiments, one or more frequencies or frequency bands may be predetermined so that the stylus control circuit 510 can perform simple pen detection at these frequencies or frequency bands.

[0084] Therefore, the stylus control circuit 510 does not need to output any uplink signal for the simple pen detection. If the stylus control circuit 510 detects a signal at a specific frequency (or the signal strength detected at a specific frequency is greater than a predetermined critical value), it can be determined that there may be a simple pen approaching or touching the touch screen. At this time, the touch control system can switch to the pen hand mode to allocate more time slots for receiving downlink signals from the simple pen. According to the downlink signal from the simple pen (for example, from which touch sensing electrode it is received), the stylus control circuit 510 can determine various sensing information of the simple pen, such as the simple pen coordinates.

[0085] Fig.12 It shows that simple pen detection can be performed in any downlink time slot. Fig.12 As shown, the touch control system is originally operated in the pure hand mode, wherein the time slots for touch and stylus sensing may include an uplink time slot UL0 and multiple downlink time slots PND, PD, FND and C0-C7 for different applications. PND represents noise detection for the stylus; PD represents detection of the presence of the stylus; FND represents noise detection for finger touch; C0-C7 represents touch sensing performed by scanning each row of touch sensing electrodes. Fig.12 The configuration of the downlink time slots shown follows the USI specification, according to which the stylus control circuit 510 can detect the downlink signal of the USI stylus in time slot PD. Since the simple pen continuously outputs the downlink signal without considering the uplink signal, the downlink signal can appear in any time slot. In this case, the stylus control circuit 510 can detect the downlink signal of the simple pen in any downlink time slot.

[0086] In one embodiment, it is assumed that the hardware of the stylus control circuit 510 can simultaneously detect signals of four different frequencies. Therefore, when the simple pen detection is performed in the downlink time slot PND or FND originally used for noise detection, the detected object is not only the noise at a specific frequency, but also the simple pen signal at the same or different frequency.

[0087] When the simple pen detection is performed in the downlink time slot PD for stylus detection, the detection operation is not only used to search for an active pen with a specific protocol (such as based on the information provided by the uplink signal), but also to search for a simple pen (such as located at a plurality of predetermined frequencies). For example, if the touch control system supports USI stylus and simple pen, which correspond to different frequencies respectively, the stylus control circuit 510 can use a first frequency to perform demodulation to receive the confirmation signal and / or downlink data of the USI stylus, and use a second frequency to perform demodulation to receive the downlink signal of the simple pen.

[0088] When the stylus pen detection is performed in the downlink time slots C0-C7 for touch sensing, in addition to the frequency of the finger touch signal, the stylus pen control circuit 510 can also perform demodulation on one or more frequencies where the stylus pen is expected to be located. As described above, the stylus pen control circuit 510 has the ability to detect 4 frequencies, which means that it can use 4 different frequencies to perform demodulation at the same time. Therefore, one of the 4 frequencies can be used to detect the finger touch signal, and the other 3 frequencies can be used to detect the stylus pen.

[0089] like Fig.12 As shown, after detecting a USI stylus or a simple pen, the touch control system can enter the pen hand mode, which is configured with multiple downlink time slots, including PND, PD, FND, PX, PY and C0~C7. The operation of the time slots PND, PD, FND and C0~C7 is the same as that of the pure hand mode. In the pen hand mode, the additional time slots PX and PY can be used for the coordinate detection and calculation of the detected USI stylus or simple pen.

[0090] Fig.13 FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a process 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The process 130 illustrates a stylus control circuit (such as Figure 5 The operation of the stylus control circuit 510 in the embodiment is used to control multiple stylus types, including one or more types of active pens (i.e., active pens with various protocols) and a simple pen (which can be regarded as another type of stylus). Fig.13 As shown, process 130 includes the following steps:

[0091] Step 1302: Output one or more uplink signals corresponding to one or more stylus types.

[0092] Step 1304: Detect the downlink signal of the one or more stylus pen types, and detect the frequency corresponding to the simple pen.

[0093] Step 1306: Determine whether a signal is detected at the frequency of the simple pen. If yes, execute step 1308; if no, execute step 1310.

[0094] Step 1308: Switch to the pen mode to obtain sensing information of the simple pen.

[0095] Step 1310: Determine whether a downlink signal of a specific stylus type is detected, and continue to execute the active stylus detection process.

[0096] According to process 130, the stylus control circuit 510 may continuously output one or more uplink signals corresponding to one or more stylus types (step 1302). Based on the corresponding uplink signals, the stylus control circuit 510 may detect downlink signals in the time slots indicated by the corresponding protocol to detect the stylus. For example, if the touch control system supports the USI protocol, the stylus control circuit 510 may output an uplink signal of the USI protocol and detect the corresponding downlink signal in the downlink time slot PD, such as Fig.12 shown.

[0097] In addition, the stylus control circuit 510 may detect the frequency corresponding to the simple pen (step 1304). More specifically, the stylus control circuit 510 may detect a downstream signal corresponding to the simple pen at one or more designated frequencies to detect the simple pen. As described above, the stylus control circuit 510 may support detection of multiple frequencies at the same time, and thus may simultaneously detect one or more frequencies for the simple pen and one or more frequencies for the active pen, wherein the frequency of the simple pen may be different from the frequency of the active pen.

[0098] If a signal is received at a frequency of the simple pen (or the signal strength detected at a frequency of the simple pen is greater than a predetermined threshold), the touch control system can enter the pen hand mode to further obtain various sensing information of the simple pen (step 1306). In this case, the stylus control circuit 510 can start communicating with the simple pen according to the detected simple pen frequency. For example, in the pen hand mode, the stylus control circuit 510 can start communicating with the simple pen in the time slot allocated to the stylus sensing (such as Fig.12 PX, PY and PD) shown in the figure, and continuously demodulate the received signal using the frequency of the simple pen.

[0099] In process 130, the stylus control circuit 510 may also determine whether a downlink signal of an active pen with a specific protocol is detected to enter the process of active pen detection, such as Figure 4 In other words, processes 130 and 40 may be combined in an appropriate manner to simultaneously implement simple pen detection and active pen detection. For example, in active pen detection, the stylus control circuit 510 may alternately output uplink signals for different stylus types. When the stylus control circuit 510 detects a downlink signal corresponding to the first stylus type, it may start communicating with the detected stylus through the protocol corresponding to the first stylus type.

[0100] In process 130, step 1306 is used to perform the determination of the simple pen signal, and step 1310 is used to perform the determination of the active pen down signal. In one embodiment, step 1306 may be performed before step 1310, but those skilled in the art should understand that the implementation is not limited to this. In another embodiment, the detection or determination of the simple pen may be integrated with the detection or determination of the active pen, that is, these detections may be performed simultaneously.

[0101] In addition, the timeout scheme of process 40 may be further combined. For example, in the process of communicating with a simple pen using a first frequency, if the stylus control circuit 510 does not receive a downlink signal at the first frequency for a certain period of time, it may restart the detection of another simple pen and / or active pen at other frequencies.

[0102] Fig.14 The timing diagram for controlling the active pen and the simple pen according to an embodiment of the present invention. Assuming that the touch control system supports various types of styluses, including WGP styluses and simple pens, the stylus control circuit 510 can output an uplink signal UL_WGP for the WGP protocol in each uplink time slot, and detect the downlink signal DL_WGP of the WGP protocol in the subsequent downlink time slot. More specifically, the receiver 516 can detect the downlink signal DL_WGP in response to the uplink signal UL_WGP. As described above, regardless of whether the stylus control circuit 510 operates in pure hand mode or pen hand mode, it can also perform touch sensing in some time slots. In this case, the receiver 516 can still receive touch data, and the processor 514 can still execute the touch sensing algorithm to obtain relevant touch information.

[0103] In this example, the touch control system may also support a simple pen; therefore, the receiver 516 may also detect a downlink signal DL_EZP of the simple pen, for example, detecting a specific frequency at which the downlink signal DL_EZP of the simple pen may exist. Therefore, in addition to detecting the downlink signal DL_WGP, the receiver 516 may also detect the downlink signal DL_EZP output by the simple pen. In one embodiment, the downlink signals DL_WGP and DL_EZP may be detected in the same time slot, wherein one or more time slots may be allocated for active pen detection and also for simple pen detection; or the downlink signals DL_WGP and DL_EZP may be detected in different time slots, that is, the downlink signal DL_EZP of the simple pen may be detected in the downlink time slot used for noise detection or touch sensing, such as Fig.12 The embodiment shown.

[0104] Therefore, the stylus control circuit 510 can output an uplink signal UL_WGP and perform detection of the WGP stylus and the simple pen until any downlink signal is received. In this example, the downlink signal DL_EZP of the simple pen is received after the third transmission of the uplink signal UL_WGP. After the stylus control circuit 510 detects the downlink signal DL_EZP, it can start communicating with the simple pen according to its frequency. More specifically, the receiver 516 focuses on receiving the downlink signal DL_EZP at the frequency of the simple pen. Correspondingly, the processor 514 can execute the algorithm corresponding to the simple pen to obtain various sensing information of the simple pen, which may include the coordinates and power of the simple pen, but is not limited to this. In this case, the stylus control circuit 510 can stop outputting the uplink signal UL_WGP for the WGP protocol. Similarly, the receiver 516 can still perform touch sensing in the time slot allocated to touch detection to receive touch sensing signals and / or data, and the processor 514 can also execute relevant algorithms for touch sensing, such as Fig.14 shown.

[0105] It is worth noting that the touch control system of the present invention can also support the simultaneous operation of an active pen and a simple pen. Fig.15 The timing diagram for controlling multiple styluses operating simultaneously on the touch screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, it is assumed that the stylus of the touch control system that supports WGP and USI also supports a simple pen. Therefore, the stylus control circuit 510 can alternately output the uplink signal UL_WGP for the WGP protocol and the uplink signal UL_USI for the USI protocol in the pure hand mode. Correspondingly, the receiver 516 can detect the downlink signal DL_WGP in response to the uplink signal UL_WGP to detect the WGP stylus, and detect the downlink signal DL_USI in response to the uplink signal UL_USI to detect the USI stylus. In addition, the receiver 516 can also detect the downlink signal DL_EZP of the simple pen. The receiver 516 and the processor 514 can also perform touch sensing operations similar to those described in the above embodiments, which are not described in detail here for the sake of simplicity.

[0106] In this example, the stylus control circuit 510 may detect that there is a WGP stylus and a simple pen operating on the touch screen at the same time. In this case, the stylus control circuit 510 may alternately detect and receive the downlink signals DL_WGP and DL_EZP in subsequent time slots. For example, in response to the transmission of the uplink signal UL_WGP, the receiver 516 may start to receive the downlink data of the WGP stylus, and the processor 514 may execute the algorithm corresponding to the WGP protocol to obtain various sensing information of the WGP stylus. In addition, in the downlink time slot after the uplink time slot originally allocated to the USI stylus detection, the receiver 516 may receive the downlink signal DL_EZP at the frequency of the simple pen to communicate with the simple pen. And the processor 514 may perform the corresponding operation of the simple pen to obtain various sensing information of the simple pen, such as using the frequency of the simple pen to perform demodulation to obtain relevant data and / or information.

[0107] In the above embodiment, the stylus control circuit 510 can communicate with the WGP stylus and the simple stylus during different frame periods with different uplink time slots. In another embodiment including an active stylus and a simple stylus operating simultaneously, the downlink signals of the two styluses can also be received during the same frame period. For example, Fig.16 As shown, there is a USI stylus and a simple pen operating simultaneously on the touch screen. In this case, the stylus control circuit 510 can output an uplink signal UL_USI to the USI stylus. The receiver 516 can receive the downlink signal DL_USI in a subsequent downlink time slot, and receive the downlink signal DL_EZP of the simple pen in the same or different time slot. Correspondingly, the processor 514 can execute a corresponding algorithm to obtain various sensing information of the USI stylus and the simple pen. Similarly, the receiver 516 can also receive touch data, and the processor 514 can execute a touch sensing algorithm accordingly. These operations can be performed in the time slot allocated to touch detection, and are omitted for simplicity. Fig.16 middle.

[0108] In this example, the downlink time slots PX, PY, and PD used for stylus detection can be used to receive downlink signals of various styluses. For example, if the stylus control circuit 510 is capable of performing detection and receiving related downlink signals on 4 frequencies, one of the 4 frequencies can be used for the USI stylus and the other for the simple pen. Each downlink signal DL_USI and DL_EZP can be detected in any downlink time slot PX, PY, and PD, and the two downlink signals can be detected and received in the same or different time slots.

[0109] In a similar manner, if the stylus control circuit 510 has the ability to detect 4 different frequencies, the associated touch control system can support up to 4 different types of styluses, which may include more than 2 different types of simple pens operating at different frequencies. Fig.17 As shown, in addition to the USI stylus and the first simple pen (which can output a downlink signal DL_EZP1 at a first frequency (e.g., 485kHz), the stylus control circuit 510 can also detect a second simple pen by detecting another downlink signal DL_EZP2 at a second frequency (e.g., 285kHz), and the second frequency can be different from the first frequency. Similarly, each downlink signal DL_USI, DL_EZP1, and DL_EZP2 can be detected and received in the same or different time slots among the downlink time slots PX, PY, and PD.

[0110] Since the touch control system can support the operation of different types of styluses at up to 4 different frequencies, in another embodiment, the stylus control circuit 510 can detect and receive downlink signals from 1 active stylus and 3 different simple pens. Fig.18 As shown, the stylus control circuit 510 is capable of detecting the downlink signal DL_USI output by a USI stylus and the downlink signals DL_EZP1, DL_EZP2 and DL_EZP3 output by three different styluses, which can be detected and received in the same or different time slots among the downlink time slots PX, PY and PD.

[0111] It should be noted that the above touch control system having the ability to support 4 frequencies is only an example. In another embodiment, the touch control system may also support more different frequencies, and the frequency support capability and related settings are not limited to the case described in this specification.

[0112] In another embodiment, the touch control system may also support more simple pens without considering the active pen. In this case, the stylus control circuit 510 may perform simple pen detection without outputting any uplink signal.

[0113] Fig.19 FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a process 190 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Process 190 illustrates a stylus control circuit (such as Figure 5 The operation of the stylus control circuit 510 in the embodiment of the present invention is used to control multiple stylus types, including multiple types of simple pens operating at different frequencies. Fig.19 As shown, process 190 includes the following steps:

[0114] Step 1902: Detect downlink signals of multiple types of simple pens at different frequencies.

[0115] Step 1904: Determine whether a signal is detected at any frequency corresponding to any simple pen. If yes, execute step 1906; if no, execute step 1902.

[0116] Step 1906: Switch to the pen mode to obtain the sensing information of the detected simple pen.

[0117] According to process 190, the stylus control circuit 510 may detect the simple pen by detecting downlink signals at different frequencies (step 1902). For example, assume that the touch control system supports two types of simple pens, including a first type and a second type. The stylus control circuit 510 may detect a first downlink signal corresponding to the simple pen of the first type to detect the simple pen of the first type, and detect a second downlink signal corresponding to the simple pen of the second type to detect the simple pen of the second type.

[0118] Therefore, the stylus control circuit 510 can determine whether a signal is detected at any frequency of the simple pen (step 1904). If a signal is received at any frequency of the simple pen (or the signal strength detected at any frequency of the simple pen is greater than a predetermined threshold value), the touch control system can enter the pen hand mode to obtain various sensing information of the detected simple pen (step 1906). In this case, the stylus control circuit 510 can start to communicate with the detected simple pen. For example, if the stylus control circuit 510 receives a first downlink signal corresponding to a first type of simple pen, it can start to communicate with the first type of simple pen, and / or if the stylus control circuit 510 receives a second downlink signal corresponding to a second type of simple pen, it can start to communicate with the second type of simple pen.

[0119] Fig. 20 The timing diagram of controlling multiple simple pens according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, it is assumed that the touch control system supports two different types of simple pens that can operate at different frequencies, and the stylus control circuit 510 detects that two simple pens are operating on the touch screen at the same time. In this case, the receiver 516 of the stylus control circuit 510 can detect and receive downlink signals DL_EZP1 and DL_EZP2 respectively from the two simple pens. Correspondingly, the processor 514 can execute the corresponding algorithm of the detected simple pen to obtain various sensing information of the simple pen. Similarly, the receiver 516 and the processor 514 can also perform touch sensing operations similar to those described in the above embodiments, which are not described in detail here for simplicity.

[0120] Downlink signals DL_EZP1 and DL_EZP2 for different styluses may be located at different frequencies. In this example, the downlink time slots PX, PY, and PD for stylus detection may be used to receive downlink signals DL_EZP1 and DL_EZP2 at different frequencies. As described above, the stylus control circuit 510 may perform detection and receive related downlink signals at, for example, 4 frequencies, so that one of the 4 frequencies may be used to detect and receive the downlink signal DL_EZP1, and another may be used to detect and receive the downlink signal DL_EZP2. Each downlink signal DL_EZP1 and DL_EZP2 may be detected in any of the downlink time slots PX, PY, and PD, and the two downlink signals DL_EZP1 and DL_EZP2 may be detected and received in the same or different time slots.

[0121] In a similar manner, if the stylus control circuit 510 has the ability to detect four different frequencies, the associated touch control system can support up to four different types of styluses. Fig.21 As shown, the stylus control circuit 510 can detect downlink signals DL_EZP1 , DL_EZP2 , and DL_EZP3 outputted by three different styluses, which can be detected and received in the same or different time slots.

[0122] It is worth noting that the purpose of the present invention is to propose a new method for controlling different types of styluses (including active pens and simple pens), and to provide relevant stylus control circuits to implement the control method. Those skilled in the art can make modifications or changes accordingly, but are not limited to this. For example, in the above embodiments, the timing configuration is related to the touch display driver integration system, wherein the display operation, touch sensing operation and stylus sensing operation are integrated in the same touch display driver integration circuit and executed in time sharing. In another embodiment, the implementation method of controlling multiple stylus types can also be applied to an external touch screen, or to any other touch sensing technology other than touch display driver integration control. Based on the application of touch sensing technology, the time slot configuration method can be modified accordingly. For example, in one embodiment, the time slots for touch sensing and stylus sensing can be allocated without retaining the display time, and the related implementation methods should all belong to the scope of the present invention. In addition, the timing configurations in the pure hand mode and pen hand mode described in the above embodiments are only examples for illustration. In fact, the time slots can be allocated in any appropriate manner, which should not be used to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0123] In addition, in each embodiment of the present invention, the simple pen detection can be performed in any downlink time slot, and is not limited to the above Figures 16 to 18 and Figures 20-21 The downlink time slots PX, PY and PD in the embodiment.

[0124] Fig. 22 The timing diagram of the simple pen detection in the time slot for touch sensing according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the downlink signal DL_EZP of the simple pen can be detected in the downlink time slot C0, and then received in the downlink time slots C0-C7 for finger touch sensing. In other words, the finger touch signal and the downlink signal DL_EZP can be detected and received in the same downlink time slots C0-C7. Since the stylus control circuit 510 can detect 4 frequencies at the same time, one of the 4 frequencies can be used to detect and receive the finger touch signal, and the other can be used to receive the downlink signal DL_EZP to detect the simple pen.

[0125] In the case where the stylus control circuit 510 can detect four different frequencies, if the simple stylus is detected in the time slot used for finger touch detection, when one of the four frequencies is used to detect and receive finger touch signals, the other three frequencies can be used to detect the simple stylus. In this case, the touch control system can support up to three different types of simple pens. For example, Fig.23 As shown, in addition to the first stylus (which can output a downlink signal DL_EZP1 at a first frequency (e.g., 485kHz), the stylus control circuit 510 can also detect a second stylus by detecting another downlink signal DL_EZP2 at a second frequency (e.g., 285kHz), and the second frequency can be different from the first frequency. The downlink signals DL_EZP1 and DL_EZP2 can be detected and received in the same or different time slots among the downlink time slots C0-C7.

[0126] In another embodiment, the stylus control circuit 510 can also detect and receive downlink signals from three different styluses. Fig.24 As shown, the stylus control circuit 510 can detect downlink signals DL_EZP1 , DL_EZP2 , and DL_EZP3 outputted by three different styluses, which can be detected and received in the same or different time slots among the downlink time slots C0 - C7 .

[0127] It is worth noting that in Figures 22-24 In the embodiment shown, the time slot configuration is for the pure hand mode. In other words, the simple pen detection can be performed in the pure hand mode. Therefore, even after the simple pen is detected, the touch control system can still stay in the pure hand mode instead of entering the pen hand mode, and can continue to receive the downlink signal of the simple pen.

[0128] In various embodiments, the simple pen detection performed in the downstream time slots C0-C7 for touch sensing can also be integrated with active pen detection. For example, a USI stylus and / or a WGP stylus can be detected in the downstream time slots PX, PY and PD, while finger touch sensing and simple pen detection can be performed in the downstream time slots C0-C7.

[0129] In another embodiment, in order to support more types of styluses, the relevant detection can be appropriately allocated in multiple time slots. For example, the touch control system is required to support 5 or more stylus types (including active pens and / or simple pens) with different frequencies, but the stylus control circuit 510 can detect up to 4 frequencies at the same time. In this case, 3 stylus types can be detected and related downlink signals can be received in the downlink time slots PX, PY and PD, and the other 2 stylus types can be detected and related downlink signals can be received in the downlink time slots C0 to C7.

[0130] In summary, the present invention proposes a method for controlling multiple types of styluses, including at least one active stylus and at least one unidirectional stylus. The active stylus may be a stylus with a protocol, including a USI stylus and a WGP stylus, but not limited thereto. The unidirectional stylus may be a stylus that outputs a downlink signal at one or more predetermined frequencies without receiving any uplink signal, such as a simple stylus. The stylus control circuit may utilize the stylus specification to output an uplink signal to detect the active stylus, and detect the downlink signal in response to the uplink signal, or it may detect the simple stylus by detecting the downlink signal at a predetermined frequency (such as by performing demodulation at this frequency).

[0131] In various embodiments, the touch control system can support more than two active pens, so the stylus control circuit can alternately output uplink signals for these active pens. After the stylus control circuit detects a specific active pen, it can change to only output its corresponding uplink signal and continue to perform related detection. In various embodiments, the touch control system can support more than two simple pens, which can detect in any time slot, such as the same time slot or different time slots, by simultaneously detecting different frequencies. In various embodiments, the stylus control circuit can communicate with multiple styluses operating on the touch screen at the same time. The above embodiments can be combined in an appropriate manner so that the stylus control circuit can detect active pens and simple pens. Through the embodiments of the present invention, the touch control system can effectively and flexibly control various types of styluses.

[0132] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. For those skilled in the art, the present invention may have various modifications and variations. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for controlling multiple stylus types, characterized in that: include: Outputting a first uplink signal corresponding to a first stylus type among the plurality of stylus types to detect the first stylus type; as well as Outputting a second uplink signal corresponding to a second stylus type among the plurality of stylus types to detect the second stylus type; The second stylus pen type is different from the first stylus pen type.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first uplink signal and the second uplink signal are output alternately in a series of time slots.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Also includes: After detecting a first stylus of the first stylus type, only outputting the first uplink signal; or After a second stylus of the second stylus type is detected, only the second uplink signal is output.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that Also includes: After detecting the first stylus, starting to communicate with the first stylus according to a first protocol of the type of the first stylus; or After the second stylus is detected, communication with the second stylus is started according to a second protocol of the type of the second stylus.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Also includes: When a second stylus of the second stylus type is detected, outputting the first uplink signal is stopped.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that Also includes: When no downlink signal from the second touch pen is received for a specific period of time, the first uplink signal is restarted.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Also includes: Outputting a third uplink signal corresponding to a third stylus type among the plurality of stylus types to detect the third stylus type; The third stylus type is different from the first stylus type and the second stylus type.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Also includes: receiving a setting signal; as well as After receiving the setting signal, only an uplink signal corresponding to a stylus type among the plurality of stylus types is output according to the setting signal.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The setting signal indicates the first stylus type, and the method further includes: After receiving the setting signal, only outputting the first uplink signal corresponding to the first stylus type; and When a downlink signal corresponding to the first stylus type is not received for a specific period of time, the second uplink signal corresponding to the second stylus type is output.

10. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Also includes: When a first stylus of the first stylus type and a second stylus of the second stylus type are detected, the first uplink signal and the second uplink signal are output alternately.

11. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first stylus type includes a first active stylus having a first protocol, and the second stylus type includes a second active stylus having a second protocol, wherein the second protocol is different from the first protocol.

12. A stylus control circuit, characterized in that: Used to control multiple stylus types, the stylus control circuit is used to: Outputting a first uplink signal corresponding to a first stylus type among the plurality of stylus types to detect the first stylus type; as well as Outputting a second uplink signal corresponding to a second stylus type among the plurality of stylus types to detect the second stylus type; The second stylus pen type is different from the first stylus pen type.

13. A method for controlling multiple stylus types, characterized in that: include: Outputting a first uplink signal corresponding to a first stylus type among the plurality of stylus types; In response to the first uplink signal, detecting the first stylus type by detecting a first downlink signal; as well as Detecting a second stylus type among the plurality of stylus types by detecting a second downlink signal corresponding to the second stylus type; The second stylus pen type is different from the first stylus pen type.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The steps of detecting the first stylus type and detecting the second stylus type include: The first downlink signal and the second downlink signal are detected in a same time slot.

15. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The steps of detecting the first stylus type and detecting the second stylus type include: The first downlink signal and the second downlink signal are alternately detected in a series of time slots.

16. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that Also includes: After receiving the first downlink signal, communication with a first stylus of the first stylus type is started according to a protocol of the first stylus type.

17. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that Also includes: After receiving the second downlink signal, communication with a second stylus of the second stylus type begins according to a frequency of the second stylus type.

18. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that Also includes: When a second stylus of the second stylus type is detected, outputting the first uplink signal is stopped.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that Also includes: When the second downlink signal is not received for a specific period of time, the first uplink signal is restarted.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein: Also includes: Outputting a third uplink signal corresponding to a third stylus type among the plurality of stylus types; as well as In response to the third uplink signal, detecting the third stylus type by detecting a third downlink signal; The third stylus type is different from the first stylus type and the second stylus type.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein: Also includes: Detecting a fourth stylus type among the plurality of stylus types by detecting a fourth downlink signal corresponding to the fourth stylus type; The fourth stylus type is different from the first stylus type and the second stylus type.

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that The steps of detecting the first stylus type, detecting the second stylus type, and detecting the fourth stylus type include: The first downlink signal, the second downlink signal and the fourth downlink signal are detected in a same time slot or in different time slots.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein: The second downlink signal is at a first frequency, and the fourth downlink signal is at a second frequency, which is different from the first frequency.

24. The method of claim 13, wherein: Also includes: A touch signal and the second downlink signal are detected in a same time slot.

25. The method of claim 13, wherein: The first stylus type includes an active stylus having a first protocol, and the second stylus type includes a unidirectional stylus.

26. A touch pen control circuit, characterized in that: Used to control multiple stylus types, the stylus control circuit is used to: Outputting a first uplink signal corresponding to a first stylus type among the plurality of stylus types; detecting the first stylus type by detecting a first downlink signal in response to the first uplink signal; as well as Detecting a second stylus type among the plurality of stylus types by detecting a second downlink signal corresponding to the second stylus type; The second stylus pen type is different from the first stylus pen type.

27. A method for controlling multiple stylus types, characterized in that: include: Detecting a first stylus type among the plurality of stylus types by detecting a first downlink signal corresponding to the first stylus type; as well as Detecting a second stylus type among the plurality of stylus types by detecting a second downlink signal corresponding to the second stylus type; The second stylus pen type is different from the first stylus pen type.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein: The steps of detecting the first stylus type and detecting the second stylus type include: The first downlink signal and the second downlink signal are detected in a same time slot or in different time slots.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein: Also includes: After receiving the first downlink signal, start communicating with a first stylus of the first stylus type according to a first frequency of the first stylus type; or After receiving the second downlink signal, communication with a second stylus of the second stylus type is started according to a second frequency of the second stylus type.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein: Also includes: Outputting an uplink signal corresponding to a third stylus type among the plurality of stylus types; as well as In response to the uplink signal, the third stylus type is detected by detecting a third downlink signal; wherein the third stylus type is different from the first stylus type and the second stylus type.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein: The steps of detecting the first stylus type, detecting the second stylus type, and detecting the third stylus type include: The first downlink signal, the second downlink signal and the third downlink signal are detected in a same time slot or in different time slots.

32. The method of claim 27, wherein: Also includes: A touch signal and at least one of the first downlink signal and the second downlink signal are detected in a same time slot.

33. The method of claim 27, wherein: The first downlink signal is at a first frequency, and the second downlink signal is at a second frequency, which is different from the first frequency.

34. The method of claim 27, wherein: The first stylus type includes a first unidirectional stylus, and the second stylus type includes a second unidirectional stylus.

35. A touch pen control circuit, characterized in that: Used to control multiple stylus types, the stylus control circuit is used to: Detecting a first stylus type among the plurality of stylus types by detecting a first downlink signal corresponding to the first stylus type; as well as Detecting a second stylus type among the plurality of stylus types by detecting a second downlink signal corresponding to the second stylus type; The second stylus pen type is different from the first stylus pen type.

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