System and method for touch discrimination using changes in force and position

Abstract

The disclosure relates to systems and methods for touch discrimination using changes in force and position. Systems and methods for disambiguating input provided to an input interface for an electronic device that includes both a plurality of touch sensors for determining a position of a touch input along the input interface and one or more force sensors for determining a magnitude of force applied to the input interface are disclosed herein. In one or more examples, the one or more touch sensors and the one or more force sensors may be used, alone or in combination, to disambiguate touch gestures (such as swipes) performed on the input interface from force inputs (e.g., presses and / or taps) or other force applications to the input interface.

Description

Cross-references to related applications

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 692,138, filed September 8, 2024, and U.S. Patent Application No. 19 / 309,464, filed August 25, 2025, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes. Technical Field

[0002] This disclosure relates in its entirety to the operation of capacitive touch sensors and force sensors for use in electronic devices to detect touch signals and changes in force applied to an input interface associated with the electronic device. Background Technology

[0003] Many types of input devices are currently used to perform operations in computing systems, such as buttons or keys, mice, trackballs, joysticks, touch sensor panels, touchscreens, and so on. Specifically, touchscreens are popular due to their ease of operation, flexibility, and decreasing price. A touchscreen may include a touch sensor panel and a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), an LED display, or an OLED display. The touch sensor panel may be a transparent panel with a touch-sensitive surface, and the display device may be partially or completely positioned behind the panel such that the touch-sensitive surface covers at least a portion of the visible area of ​​the display device. Touchscreens allow users to perform various functions by touching the touch sensor panel at locations typically indicated by the user interface (UI) displayed on the display device using a finger, stylus, or other object. Generally, a touchscreen can recognize touches and their locations on the touch sensor panel, and the computing system can then interpret the touch based on the displayed content at the time of the touch, and then perform one or more actions based on the touch. For some touch sensing systems, detecting a touch does not require a physical touch on the display. For example, in some capacitive touch sensing systems, the edge electric field used to detect touch may extend beyond the surface of the display, and objects near the surface may be detected as being close to the surface without actually touching it. In some examples, touchscreens or touch sensor panels can detect the touch or proximity of multiple objects (e.g., one or more fingers or other touch objects), and such interactions can be used to perform various inputs using multiple objects. Such touchscreens or touch sensor panels may be referred to as "multi-touch" touchscreens or touch sensor panels and can accept "multi-touch gestures" as input.

[0004] Capacitive touch sensor panels can be formed from a matrix of transparent, translucent, or opaque conductive plates made of materials such as indium tin oxide (ITO). In some examples, the conductive plates can be formed from other materials, including conductive polymers, metal meshes, graphene, nanowires (e.g., silver nanowires), or nanotubes (e.g., carbon nanotubes). As described above, in some specific implementations, capacitive touch sensor panels can be superimposed on a display to form a touchscreen, partly due to their substantial transparency. Some touchscreens can be formed by partially integrating touch-sensing circuitry into the display pixel stack structure (i.e., the stacked material layers that form the display pixels).

[0005] In some applications, capacitive touch sensors can be implemented as self-capacitive touch sensors and can be used to detect the position of a finger or other applied input (e.g., a stylus) along the surface of an electronic device. In other applications, force sensors can be used on the surface of the electronic device to detect the force applied to the device. Summary of the Invention

[0006] Examples of this disclosure relate to an input interface for an electronic device, the input interface including both a plurality of touch sensors for determining the position of a touch input along the input interface and one or more force sensors for determining the magnitude of a force applied to the input interface. In one or more examples, the one or more touch sensors and the one or more force sensors may be used individually or in combination to disambiguate a touch gesture (such as a swipe) performed on the input interface with a force input or other force applied to the input interface.

[0007] In some examples of this disclosure, to eliminate the ambiguity between a swipe gesture performed on an input interface and an initial "press" on the input interface (e.g., when a user initially places their finger on the input interface), the electronic device employs a single-touch node heuristic to reject unintentional movements associated with a press that would otherwise be interpreted as a swipe gesture. In one or more examples, the single-touch node heuristic includes rejecting contact movement on the input interface until the electronic device detects that at least one of a plurality of touch sensors records an increase in the magnitude of a touch signal at the sensor, followed by a subsequent decrease in the magnitude of the touch signal, thereby indicating intentional movement of a finger at the input interface.

[0008] In one or more examples, once a user's finger has been detected on the input interface (e.g., via a touch sensor and / or force sensor), the electronic device eliminates ambiguity between pressure input and swipe gestures by determining the force rate and swipe rate based on the received touch sensor and force sensor data. For example, in one or more examples, the electronic device determines that a pressure input has been applied when an acceleration force is detected after a decelerating touch. In some examples, the electronic device determines that a swipe gesture is being performed when an acceleration touch is detected after a decelerating force is detected. In some examples, the electronic device determines that a pressure input is occurring when an acceleration touch is detected after an acceleration force has already occurred. In some examples, the electronic device determines that a swipe input is occurring when an acceleration force is detected after an acceleration touch. In one or more examples, the above disambiguation heuristic allows the electronic device to support any static pressure level while still suppressing unintentional scrolling during pressure operations.

[0009] In one or more examples, the electronic device eliminates the ambiguity between scroll input and a user lifting their finger from the input interface without intending to scroll by determining whether the touch sensor magnitude on either side of the detected input is decreasing. If decreasing is detected on both sides of the input, the electronic device determines that finger lifting is occurring and does not perform a scrolling operation. In some examples, the electronic device eliminates the ambiguity between lifting from the edge of the input interface and scroll input by determining when the movement of the user's finger accelerates with the rising magnitude of the touch detected at a single touch sensor among multiple touch sensors (e.g., thus indicating that a scrolling operation is being performed). Attached Figure Description

[0010] To better understand the various examples described herein, reference should be made to the following detailed embodiments and accompanying drawings. Throughout the drawings, similar reference numerals generally refer to corresponding parts.

[0011] Figure 1 A multi-touch sensing device, used as an input device for a computer system, is illustrated according to one or more examples of this disclosure.

[0012] Figure 2 Examples of one or more embodiments of the present invention are shown, which correspond to multiple contact imprint areas of an object that are close to multiple sensing points of a multi-touch surface.

[0013] Figure 3 A simplified schematic diagram of a mutual capacitance sensing circuit that can be used in one or more examples of this disclosure is illustrated.

[0014] Figure 4 An exemplary electronic device, according to an example of this disclosure, includes an input interface for receiving touch and / or force input.

[0015] Figure 5 An exemplary implementation of an input interface based on the examples of this disclosure is illustrated.

[0016] Figure 6 An exemplary press input is illustrated at an input interface according to an example of this disclosure.

[0017] Figure 7 An exemplary scrolling touch input is illustrated according to an example of this disclosure.

[0018] Figure 8 An exemplary process for eliminating ambiguity between scroll input and initial contact of the input interface, according to an example of this disclosure, is illustrated.

[0019] Figure 9 An exemplary process for eliminating ambiguity between continuous press input and scroll input at an input interface is illustrated according to an example of this disclosure.

[0020] Figure 10 Another exemplary process for eliminating ambiguity between continuous press input and scroll input at an input interface is illustrated according to an example of this disclosure.

[0021] Figure 11 Another exemplary process for eliminating ambiguity between continuous press input and scroll input at an input interface is illustrated according to an example of this disclosure.

[0022] Figure 12 Another exemplary process for eliminating ambiguity between continuous press input and scroll input at an input interface is illustrated according to an example of this disclosure.

[0023] Figure 13 An exemplary process for eliminating ambiguity between scroll input and the release of press input is illustrated according to an example of this disclosure.

[0024] Figure 14 An exemplary edge scrolling operation according to the examples of this disclosure is illustrated.

[0025] Figure 15 An exemplary edge lift-off is illustrated according to an example of this disclosure.

[0026] Figure 16 An exemplary flowchart illustrating an example of eliminating ambiguity between touch input and press input according to an example of this disclosure is shown.

[0027] Figure 17 An example of a computing system including a touchscreen according to the present disclosure is illustrated. Detailed Implementation

[0028] Examples of this disclosure relate to an input interface for an electronic device, the input interface including both a plurality of touch sensors for determining the position of a touch input along the input interface and one or more force sensors for determining the magnitude of a force applied to the input interface. In one or more examples, the one or more touch sensors and the one or more force sensors may be used individually or in combination to disambiguate a touch gesture (such as a swipe) performed on the input interface with a force input or other force applied to the input interface.

[0029] In some examples of this disclosure, to eliminate the ambiguity between a swipe gesture performed on an input interface and an initial "press" on the input interface (e.g., when a user initially places their finger on the input interface), the electronic device employs a single-touch node heuristic to reject unintentional movements associated with a press that would otherwise be interpreted as a swipe gesture. In one or more examples, the single-touch node heuristic includes rejecting contact movement on the input interface until the electronic device detects that at least one of a plurality of touch sensors records an increase in the magnitude of a touch signal at the sensor, followed by a subsequent decrease in the magnitude of the touch signal, thereby indicating intentional movement of a finger at the input interface.

[0030] In one or more examples, once a user's finger has been detected on the input interface (e.g., via a touch sensor and / or force sensor), the electronic device eliminates ambiguity between pressure input and swipe gestures by determining the force rate and swipe rate based on the received touch sensor and force sensor data. For example, in one or more examples, the electronic device determines that a pressure input has been applied when an acceleration force is detected after a decelerating touch. In some examples, the electronic device determines that a swipe gesture is being performed when an acceleration touch is detected after a decelerating force is detected. In some examples, the electronic device determines that a pressure input is occurring when an acceleration touch is detected after an acceleration force has already occurred. In some examples, the electronic device determines that a swipe input is occurring when an acceleration force is detected after an acceleration touch. In one or more examples, the above disambiguation heuristic allows the electronic device to support any static pressure level while still suppressing unintentional scrolling during pressure operations.

[0031] In one or more examples, the electronic device eliminates the ambiguity between scroll input and a user lifting their finger from the input interface without intending to scroll by determining whether the touch sensor magnitude on either side of the detected input is decreasing. If decreasing is detected on both sides of the input, the electronic device determines that finger lifting is occurring and does not perform a scrolling operation. In some examples, the electronic device eliminates the ambiguity between lifting from the edge of the input interface and scroll input by determining when the movement of the user's finger accelerates with the rising magnitude of the touch detected at a single touch sensor among multiple touch sensors (e.g., thus indicating that a scrolling operation is being performed).

[0032] Identifying multiple simultaneous or nearly simultaneous touch events can be achieved through methods such as... Figure 1 The multi-touch sensing arrangement illustrated herein is used to implement this. The multi-touch sensing arrangement 100 can detect and monitor multiple touch attributes (including, for example, identification, position, speed, size, shape, and magnitude) across the touch-sensitive surface 101 simultaneously, nearly simultaneously, at different times, or over a period of time. The touch-sensitive surface 101 can provide multiple sensor points, coordinates, or nodes 102, which operate substantially independently of each other and represent different points on the touch-sensitive surface. The sensing points 102 can be located in a grid or array, where each sensing point is capable of generating a signal simultaneously. The sensing points 102 can be viewed as mapping the touch-sensitive surface 101 to a coordinate system (e.g., a Cartesian coordinate system or a polar coordinate system).

[0033] The touch-sensitive surface can be, for example, in the form of a tablet or a touchscreen. To manufacture a touchscreen, capacitive sensing points and other associated electrical structures can be formed using a substantially transparent conductive medium, such as indium tin oxide (ITO). The number and configuration of the sensing points 102 can vary. The number of sensing points 102 typically depends on the desired resolution and sensitivity. In touchscreen applications, the number of sensing points 102 can also depend on the desired transparency of the touchscreen.

[0034] Using a multi-touch sensing arrangement, as described in more detail below, signals generated at nodes 102 of the touch-sensitive surface 101 can be used to generate an image of a touch at a specific point in time. For example, each object that comes into contact with or approaches the touch-sensitive surface 101 (e.g., a finger, stylus, etc.) can generate a contact imprint area 201, such as... Figure 2As illustrated in the diagram, each contact imprint region 201 may cover a number of nodes 102. The covered nodes 202 may detect objects, while the remaining nodes 102 may not. Thus, a pixelated image of the touch surface plane (which may be referred to as a touch image, multi-touch image, or proximity image) can be formed. Signals for each contact imprint region 201 may be grouped together. Each contact imprint region 201 may include high and low points based on the amount of touch at each point. The shape of the contact imprint regions 201 and the high and low points within the image can be used to distinguish contact imprint regions 201 that are adjacent to each other. Furthermore, the current image can be compared with a previous image to determine how the object may have moved over time and, as a result, what corresponding action should be performed in the host device.

[0035] Many different sensing technologies can be used in conjunction with these sensing arrangements, including resistive, capacitive, optical, etc. In a capacitive-based sensing arrangement, when an object approaches the touch-sensitive surface 101, a small capacitance is formed between the object and a sensing point (e.g., a node) 102 near the object. By detecting the change in capacitance at each sensing point 102 caused by this small capacitance, and by recording the position of the sensing points, the sensing circuit 103 (also called a sensing circuit) can detect and monitor multiple touches. Capacitive sensing nodes can be based on self-capacitance or mutual capacitance.

[0036] In a self-capacitance system, the “self” capacitance of a sensing point is measured relative to a reference (e.g., ground). Sensing point 102 can be spatially separated electrodes. These electrodes are coupled to driving circuit 104 and sensing circuit 103 via conductive traces 105a (drive line) and conductive trace 105b (sensing line). In some self-capacitance examples, a single conductive trace to each electrode can serve as both a drive line and a sensing line.

[0037] In a mutual capacitance system, the "mutual" capacitance between the first and second electrodes can be measured. In a mutual capacitance sensing arrangement, the sensing point can be formed by the intersection of patterned conductors that form spatially separated lines. For example, a drive line 105a can be formed on a first layer, and a sensing line 105b can be formed on a second layer, such that the drive line and the sensing line intersect or "intersect" each other at the sensing point 102. The different layers can be different substrates, different sides of the same substrate, or the same side of a substrate with some dielectric separation. Because the drive line and the sensing line are separate, a capacitive coupling node exists at each "intersection point".

[0038] The arrangement of the drive lines and sensing lines can vary. For example, in a Cartesian coordinate system (as illustrated), the drive lines can be arranged in horizontal rows, while the sensing lines can be arranged in vertical columns (or vice versa), thus forming multiple nodes that can be considered to have different x and y coordinates. Alternatively, in a polar coordinate system, the sensing lines can be multiple concentric circles, where the drive lines are radially extending lines (or vice versa), thus forming multiple nodes that can be considered to have different r and angular coordinates. In either case, drive line 105a can be connected to drive circuit 104, and sensing line 105b can be connected to sensing circuit 103.

[0039] During operation, a drive signal (e.g., a periodic voltage) is applied to each drive line 105a. When driven, the charge applied to the drive line 105a can be capacitively coupled to the intersecting sensing line 105b via node 102. This can induce a detectable, measurable current and / or voltage in the sensing line 105b. The relationship between the drive signal and the signal appearing on the sensing line 105b varies with the capacitance coupling the drive line and the sensing line, which, as noted above, can be affected by objects near node 102. A capacitance sensing circuit (e.g., one or more sensing circuits) 103 can sense the sensing line 105b and can determine the capacitance at each node, as described in more detail below.

[0040] As discussed above, some single excitation signals drive drive lines 105a one at a time, while other drive lines are grounded. This process is repeated for each drive line 105a until all drive lines have been driven, and a touch image (based on capacitance) is constructed based on the sensing results. Once all drive lines 105a have been driven, this sequence is repeated to construct a series of touch images. However, in some examples of this disclosure, multiple drive lines may be driven simultaneously or nearly simultaneously, for example, as described below. As used herein, “simultaneously” encompasses events that are precisely simultaneous as well as events that are nearly simultaneous. For example, simultaneous events may begin at approximately the same time, end at approximately the same time, and / or occur within at least partially overlapping time periods.

[0041] Figure 3 A simplified schematic diagram of a mutual capacitance circuit 300 corresponding to the arrangement described above is illustrated. The mutual capacitance circuit 300 may include a drive line 105a and a sensing line 105b, which are spatially separated to form capacitive coupling at node 102. The drive line 105a may be electrically (i.e., conductively) coupled to a drive circuit 104, represented by a voltage source 301. The sensing line 105b may be electrically coupled to a capacitive sensing circuit 103. In some cases, both the drive line 105a and the sensing line 105b may include some parasitic capacitance 302.

[0042] As noted above, in the absence of a conductive object approaching the intersection of drive line 105a and sensing line 105b, the capacitive coupling at node 102 remains relatively constant. However, if a conductive object (e.g., a user's finger, stylus, etc.) approaches node 102, the capacitive coupling (i.e., the capacitance of the local system) changes. This change in capacitive coupling alters the current (and / or voltage) carried by sensing line 105b. The capacitance sensing circuit 103 can record the capacitance change and the position of node 102, and report this information to processor 106 in some form. Figure 1 ).

[0043] refer to Figure 1 The sensing circuit 103 can acquire data from the touch surface 101 and supply the acquired data to the processor 106. In some examples, the sensing circuit 103 may be configured to transmit raw data (e.g., an array of capacitance values ​​corresponding to each sensing point 102) to the processor 106. In other examples, the sensing circuit 103 may be configured to process the raw data itself and deliver the processed touch data to the processor 106. In either case, the processor can then use the data it receives to control the operation of the computer system 107 and / or one or more applications running on that computer system. Various specific implementations along these lines are described in the applications referenced above and include various computer systems with touchpads and touchscreens.

[0044] In some examples, sensing circuitry 103 may include one or more microcontrollers, each of which can monitor one or more sensing points 102. The microcontrollers may be application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) that work with firmware to monitor signals from touch-sensitive surface 101, process the monitored signals, and report that information to processor 106. The microcontrollers may also be digital signal processors (DSPs). In some examples, sensing circuitry 103 may include one or more sensor ICs that measure the capacitance in each sensing line 105b and report the measured value to processor 106 or to a host controller (not shown) in computer system 107. Any number of sensor ICs can be used. For example, sensor ICs may be used for all lines, or multiple sensor ICs may be used for a single line or group of lines.

[0045] In some examples, touch sensor panels (such as those mentioned above) Figures 1 to 3While the described touch sensor panel can accurately detect touch input, in some cases, it may require the user to use both hands to apply the touch input. For example, the user's first hand may be used to hold the device, while the user's second hand may be used to apply touch input to the touch sensor panel. Therefore, in some examples, even for performing simple operations on the electronic device, such as scrolling through visual content displayed on the electronic device's screen, the user needs to use both hands. In some examples, the electronic device may include a capacitive touch sensor (in addition to the touch sensor panel) having a shape factor that does not require two hands to hold the device to apply touch input to the electronic device, and furthermore, this capacitive touch sensor is not part of the touch sensor panel integrated with the electronic device's display. In some examples, and as described below, the capacitive touch sensor may be part of an input interface that may include a force sensor, which is part of the input interface (but a separate sensor from the capacitive touch sensor).

[0046] Figure 4 Exemplary electronic devices according to examples of this disclosure include an input interface for receiving touch and / or force input. In some examples, electronic device 400 (which in Figure 4 (The examples are illustrated as mobile computing devices, but should not be construed as limiting this disclosure) including, as stated above regarding Figures 1 to 3 The described example implements a display / touch sensor panel 402 and one or more input buttons 404a-b. In some examples, the input buttons 404a-b are implemented as mechanical buttons configured to receive actuation input (e.g., pushing a button) and convert the mechanical input into an electrical signal, which is then interpreted by the electronic device 400 to perform one or more operations on the electronic device. For example, the input buttons 404a-b can be used to power on / off the electronic device 400 and / or increase / decrease the volume output by the electronic device 400. In one or more examples, the electronic device may include an input interface 406. As described in further detail below, the input interface 406 can be configured to receive touch input / gestures that can be used to perform various operations on the electronic device. For example, the input interface 406 can be used to perform one or more scrolling operations on the device in response to a touch input whose position changes over time, wherein the scrolling operation is proportional to the change in position of the touch input over time.

[0047] In one or more examples, input interface 406 may also be configured to receive and interpret push inputs and / or force inputs, which may then be interpreted as performing various operations on the electronic device, such as selection operations on the electronic device. For example, in one example, input interface 406 may be configured to accept touch input to perform a scrolling operation to scroll through an options menu on a user interface, and may also accept push / force inputs that can be interpreted as selecting an option from menu options based on the current scroll position of the options menu.

[0048] In one or more examples, the input interface 406 of the electronic device may be implemented as an integrated interface including multiple touch sensors that can collectively be used to determine the position and orientation of touch input along the input interface 406, and one or more force sensors that can detect forces applied to the input interface 406. In one or more examples, the touch sensors and force sensors are implemented as separate sensors that can be integrated onto the input interface 406.

[0049] Figure 5 Exemplary implementations of input interfaces according to examples of this disclosure are illustrated. In one or more examples, Figure 5 The 500 input interfaces illustrate the above example. Figure 4 The example electronic device 400 describes an exemplary specific implementation of the input interface 406. In one or more examples, the input interface includes a plurality of touch sensors 504a-f. Figure 4 In the examples, input interface 500 is illustrated as having six touch sensors 504a-f, but this disclosure should not be considered limiting, and input interface 500 may include more or fewer touch sensors. In one or more examples, each touch sensor 504a-f is implemented as a self-capacitance touch sensor configured not only to measure the presence of touch input at the sensor, but also to record a magnitude of the touch input proportional to the proximity of the touch input to the touch sensor. For example, in one or more examples, and as described further in detail below, when a touch is applied directly to the sensor (e.g., the entire sensor is touched by a user's finger), the touch sensor (such as...) Figure 5The touch sensor 504a in the example input interface 500 records a peak value of the touch signal, and the magnitude of the touch signal decreases as the finger moves away from the touch sensor 504a until it eventually returns to zero because the finger is no longer near the touch sensor 504a. As described in further detail below, the increasing and decreasing values ​​recorded at each of the touch sensors 504a-f can be detected by the electronic device 400 and used to determine the location and orientation of the touch input (which can then be used to determine whether the user is performing a scrolling operation or other operation involving moving the touch input across the user interface). In one or more examples, the length of the touch sensors 504a-f across the input interface 500 is configured such that a touch signal is generated whenever the user touches any part of the input interface 500.

[0050] In one or more examples, the input interface 500 includes a force sensor 502 configured to record a force signal in response to a force applied to the input interface 500. In one or more examples, the force sensor 502 may be implemented as follows: Figure 5 The single sensor illustrated causes force sensor 502 to record or generate a force signal in response to a force input (e.g., a user applying a force input to input interface 500), the force signal being proportional to the amount of force applied to input interface 500 regardless of where the force is applied on input interface 500. Alternatively, input interface 500 may include multiple force sensors disposed at various locations on input interface 500, and these multiple force sensors can be used to determine not only the amount of force applied to input interface 500, but also the location on input interface 500 where the force is applied.

[0051] In one or more examples, the electronic device may utilize force sensor 502 to determine when an input applied to input interface 500 is a press input applied by the user (e.g., by the user's finger), and in response, perform an operation associated with the press input on the electronic device. For example, and as described further in detail below, if the magnitude of the force recorded at force sensor 502 is higher than a force threshold, the electronic device performs an operation associated with the press input in response, as described below regarding... Figure 6 As described.

[0052] Figure 6 An exemplary press input is illustrated at an input interface according to an example of this disclosure. In one or more examples, Figure 6Example 600 illustrates a press input applied to input interface 618. In one or more examples, at time instance 602 (e.g., a first time instance), the user of the electronic device moves finger 606 toward input interface 618 without touching input interface 618 (e.g., without contacting input interface 618). In some examples, at time instance 602, because the finger does not touch input interface 618 or does not apply force to it, no signal is detected at any of the force sensors or touch sensors (because the finger is not close enough to any of the touch sensors). Therefore, as illustrated in Example 600, the force versus time graph 608 is zero at time instance 602, and the magnitude of the signal at touch sensors 614a-b (the two touch sensors closest to finger 606) is also zero.

[0053] In one or more examples, when finger 606 contacts input interface 618, as illustrated in time example 604, both the force sensor and touch sensor of input interface 618 generate force and touch signals. For example, in response to finger 606 contacting input interface 618 and in response to finger 606 continuing to push downward on input interface 618, the force sensor generates a force signal that increases over time and eventually stabilizes to a steady value, as shown in force curve 612 of force versus time graph 610 of example 600. In some examples, force curve 612 stabilizes to a steady-state value because the force sensor has been pushed beyond its maximum possible value and / or because the user has stopped increasing the force of the force sensor. In one or more examples, when the force curve rises above a threshold, the electronic device determines that a press input has been applied to the input interface and performs the operation associated with the press input.

[0054] As shown in Example 600, in response to a finger 606 approaching and / or touching the input interface 618, touch sensors 614a and 614b generate touch signals 616a and 616b, respectively, even if the user does not perform touch input (e.g., moves their finger along the surface of the input interface 618). As described in further detail below, an electronic device can use a force sensor and the change signals at one or more touch sensors to determine whether the input at the input interface is a touch input, a press input, and / or both.

[0055] In one or more examples, touch input can be obtained from (as mentioned above) Figure 5(As described) One or more touch sensors detect to determine whether a user is performing a swipe gesture (such as scroll input) at the input interface. In some examples, due to the length of the touch sensors across the input interface, the electronic device determines the movement of a finger across the input interface by not only determining the presence of a touch signal at the touch sensor, but also by analyzing the acceleration and deceleration of the touch signal across the input interface to determine the direction of the touch movement, as described below.

[0056] Figure 7 An exemplary swipe gesture is illustrated according to an example of this disclosure. Figure 7 Example 700 illustrates an exemplary swipe gesture that begins on a first side of the input interface and terminates on an opposite side of the input interface. In one or more examples, Example 700 begins at a first instance 716, where the user's finger 706 contacts the first side of the input interface 720. In one or more examples, because the finger 706 is on the first side of the input interface 720, touch sensors 702a and 702b generate touch signals that are read by the electronic device. Figure 7 As illustrated, because finger 706 is directly above (e.g., closer to) touch sensor 702a compared to touch sensor 702b, the magnitude 722a of the touch signal at touch sensor 702a is higher than the magnitude 722b of the touch signal at touch sensor 702b. As illustrated, the other touch sensors (e.g., touch sensors 702c and 702d) do not generate touch signals because finger 706 is too far from touch sensors 702c and 702d to respond to finger 706 to record / generate a touch signal.

[0057] In one or more examples, as finger 706 moves across input interface 720, finger 706 becomes closer to other touch sensors of input interface 720 while moving away from touch sensors 702a-b, as illustrated in time instance 718. In time instance 718, finger 706 has moved from a first side of input interface 720 to the opposite side. Therefore, as shown in time instance 718, touch sensors 702c and 702d generate touch signals with magnitudes 704a and 704b, respectively, because finger 706 approaches those touch sensors (e.g., touch sensors 702a and 702b exhibit accelerating / rising touch signals), while touch sensors 702a and 702b no longer generate touch signals because finger 706 has moved away from the touch sensors (e.g., touch sensors 702a and 702b exhibit decelerating touch signals until eventually the touch signal at each sensor becomes zero). As illustrated, since finger 706 is directly above (e.g., closer to) touch sensor 704c and adjacent to touch sensor 704d, the magnitude 708a of the touch signal at touch sensor 704c is greater than the magnitude 704b of the touch signal at touch sensor 704d.

[0058] In one or more examples, an electronic device can determine a swipe gesture (e.g., a user intends to move their finger across the input interface 720) by determining that the touch signal generated by touch sensors (e.g., touch sensors 702a and 702d) on one side of the input interface 720 is decelerating (e.g., decreasing in magnitude), while the touch signal on the opposite side of the input interface (e.g., touch sensors 702c and 702d) is accelerating (e.g., increasing in magnitude). In one or more examples, ideally, when a user intends to perform a swipe gesture on the input interface, the user applies uniform pressure with their finger 706 when performing a scrolling gesture. For example, in Figure 7 In Example 700, force versus time plots 708 and 710 of time instances 716 and 718 respectively show the constant pressure applied to input interface 720, as illustrated by force plots 712 and 714.

[0059] In one or more examples, even if the user of the electronic device intends to perform a press input at the input interface, the touch sensor of the input interface will record both an accelerating touch signal and a decelerating touch signal that can be interpreted as a swipe gesture. Therefore, in one or more examples, the electronic device uses one or more heuristics to resolve the ambiguity between scroll input and press input, and / or uses one or more heuristics to perform a scrolling operation in response to changes over time observed in one or more touch signals and force signals as the user interacts with the input interface, as described below. Figures 8 to 16 As described.

[0060] Figure 8 An exemplary process for eliminating ambiguity between a swipe gesture and the initial contact with an input interface, according to an example of this disclosure, is illustrated. In one or more examples, a user brings a finger 806 close to (but does not touch) the input interface 802 at a first time instance 810. In one or more examples, touch sensors 804a and 804b initially do not generate touch signals because the finger 806 is too far from these sensors to record a touch signal. However, in one or more examples, when the finger 806 initially contacts the input interface at a second time instance 812 (which arrives later than time instance 810), touch sensors 804a and 804b generate accelerated touch signals (e.g., rising touch signals) as the finger 806 gets closer to these sensors.

[0061] In some examples, where no heuristic is available to interpret the rising / accelerating touch signals at touch sensors 804a and 804b, the rising / accelerating touch signals can be interpreted as the start of a scrolling operation (e.g., as if finger 806 moves from left to right rather than from above). Therefore, in one or more examples, to eliminate the ambiguity between the scrolling operation and the initial contact with the input interface 802, the electronic device abandons the scrolling operation until a rising / accelerating touch signal is observed at the touch sensor, followed by a falling / decelerating touch signal at the same touch sensor. For example, as illustrated in Example 800, at time instance 814 (which occurs later than time instance 812), as finger 806 slides across the input interface from its initial position at time instance 812, the magnitude 808a of the touch signal at touch sensor 804a changes from acceleration at time instance 812 to deceleration at time instance 814 due to the movement of finger 806 away from touch sensor 804a. Therefore, in one or more examples, the electronic device can initiate a scrolling operation in response to observing an acceleration of the magnitude 808a of the touch signal at the touch sensor 804a, and then observing a deceleration of the magnitude 808a of the touch signal at the touch sensor 804a.

[0062] In one or more examples, the direction of the scrolling operation may depend on which touch sensor exhibits an accelerating touch signal when touch sensor 804a exhibits a decelerating touch signal. For example, as shown in timing example 814, when touch sensor 804a exhibits a decelerating touch signal (e.g., magnitude 808a decreases), touch sensor 804b exhibits an accelerating touch signal (e.g., magnitude 808b increases), thereby indicating that the swipe gesture moves from left to right. Thus, in one or more examples, the electronic device can perform a scrolling operation based on the direction of the detected swipe gesture.

[0063] In one or more examples, once a user's finger has engaged with the input interface (e.g., is actively contacting the input interface), the device can interpret data from the touch sensor and / or force sensor to determine whether a detected change in finger position should be interpreted as a swipe gesture. As described below, the electronic device employs a series of heuristics based on (as determined by force sensor data and touch sensor data) the rate of finger force and the rate of touch movement to determine whether to perform a scrolling operation in response to both a change in force sensor reading and a change in touch sensor reading.

[0064] Figure 9 An exemplary process for eliminating ambiguity between continuous press input and scroll input at an input interface, according to an example of this disclosure, is illustrated. Figure 9 In Example 900, finger 906 is contacting (e.g., touching) input interface 902. In one or more examples, finger 906 simultaneously applies a downward force 908, which causes an acceleration force input at the force sensor of the input interface, and also applies a lateral movement 910, which causes a moving touch signal to sweep across the touch sensors (including touch sensors 904a and 904b). In one or more examples, to eliminate ambiguity as to whether the lateral movement 910 of finger 906 is intentional (e.g., the user of the electronic device is performing a swipe gesture) or unintentional and the user is performing a press input, the electronic device determines the relationship between the acceleration of the force signal caused by the downward force 908 and the movement of the touch signal caused by the lateral movement 910, and based on the determined relationship, determines whether to perform a scrolling operation in response to the movement 910 of the finger.

[0065] exist Figure 9 In Example 900, using touch sensor signals generated at each of the touch sensors (such as touch sensors 904a and 904b), the computer system determines a change in the position of finger 906 across input interface 902, as illustrated by curve 918 in graph 914. In some examples, curve 918 represents the position of finger 906 as a function of time. Similarly, the electronics determine a change in the force applied to the force sensor, as illustrated by curve 916. Based on the relationship between the acceleration / deceleration of finger 906 movement (e.g., curve 918) and the acceleration / deceleration of the force applied by finger 906 to the force sensor (e.g., curve 916), the electronics determine whether to perform a scrolling operation or abandon the scrolling operation in response to finger movement 910 across input interface 902. Figure 9In Example 900, before the electronic device detects acceleration of force at point 922 on curve 916, finger 906 decelerates in position at point 920 on curve 918 (e.g., the rate of change of finger position slows down). Therefore, in response to detecting acceleration after a decelerating touch, the electronic device performs a press operation and / or abandons a scrolling operation. In one or more examples, the acceleration after a decelerating touch may indicate that the movement 910 of finger 906 may be unintentional and caused by a sudden press input rather than an intentional swipe gesture. Therefore, in Figure 9 In Example 900, even if the device detects a movement of finger 906 that corresponds to a swipe gesture, the electronic device may reject the swipe gesture (e.g., not perform a scrolling operation in response) because the movement of the finger decelerates before the force accelerates, as described above.

[0066] Figure 10 Another exemplary process for eliminating ambiguity between continuous press input and scroll input at an input interface, according to an example of this disclosure, is illustrated. Figure 10 In Example 1000, finger 1006 moves simultaneously in direction 1016 and is also lifted off the input interface 1002 (e.g., reducing the force of the input, as shown at 1014). In one or more examples, when the deceleration of the force (shown at point 1008 on the force curve 1004) occurs before the acceleration of the movement of the touch signal (shown at point 1010 on the position curve 1012), the electronic device determines that a swipe gesture is being performed and, in response, performs a scrolling operation. Therefore, when the electronic device determines that there is an accelerating touch after the decelerating force signal (e.g., the rate of touch movement is increasing), the electronic device determines that the user is performing a swipe gesture (e.g., intentionally moving finger 10006 across input interface 1002) and, in response, performs a scrolling operation. In some examples, the acceleration of the finger's movement after the decelerating force instructs the user to release the force to perform the swipe gesture.

[0067] Figure 11 Another exemplary process for eliminating ambiguity between continuous press input and scroll input at an input interface, according to an example of this disclosure, is illustrated. Figure 11 In the example, finger 1106 initially applies a downward force to input interface 1102, which causes acceleration in force sensor data, and then a finger swiping motion is performed (e.g., adjusting the placement of the finger on input interface 1102 without moving the position of finger 1106). This may result in a change in touch sensor data that could mimic a swipe (even if a swipe was not expected). For example, as... Figure 11As shown in Example 1100, when finger 1106 initially presses down at time instance 1118, the magnitude values ​​1108a and 1108b of touch sensors 1104a and 1108b record a first value. In one or more examples, when finger 1106 grinds, causing a smaller portion of finger 1106 to contact input interface 1102, the magnitude value 1108b of touch sensor 1104b decreases, as shown at time instance 1120. In some examples, the decrease in the magnitude value 1108b of touch sensor 1104 can be represented by movement of finger 1106. In some examples, to eliminate ambiguity between press input and finger grinding versus swipe gestures, the electronic device performs a press operation when an acceleration touch signal is detected after an acceleration force signal, indicating a press input followed by finger grinding or other finger adjustments (not swipe input).

[0068] Figure 12 This illustration illustrates another exemplary process for eliminating ambiguity between continuous press input and swipe gestures at an input interface, according to examples of this disclosure. In one or more examples, the change in force applied by the finger can be caused by the friction experienced by the finger when performing a swipe gesture. Figure 12 In Example 1200, finger 1206 performs a swipe gesture that begins at time instance 1216 and ends at time instance 1218. In one or more examples, finger 1206a begins moving across input interface 1202 at touch sensors 1204a and 1204b (e.g., causing the touch sensors to generate magnitude values ​​1208a and 1208b, respectively) and eventually moves to touch sensors 1204c and 1204d at time instance 1218 (causing the touch sensors to generate magnitude values ​​1208c and 1208d, respectively).

[0069] In some examples, as finger 1206 moves across input interface 1202, friction between finger 1106 and input interface 1202 can cause a force sensor to generate an acceleration force signal, which could be misinterpreted as a press input. Therefore, in one or more examples, to eliminate the ambiguity between a swipe gesture and a press input in cases where friction causes an increase in force input, the electronic device determines that a swipe gesture has been performed and rejects a press input when it detects an acceleration force occurring after the detection of an accelerated touch. For example, as... Figure 12 As shown in Example 1200, the touch sensor curve 1212 accelerates before the force sensor curve 1210 (at point 1222) accelerates (at point 1220). Therefore, in response to detecting the acceleration of the touch that occurred before the acceleration of the force (e.g., the location of the touch), the electronic device performs a scrolling operation and rejects the press input.

[0070] Figure 13An exemplary process for resolving ambiguity between scroll input and the release of press input, according to an example of this disclosure, is illustrated. Figure 13 In Example 1300, finger 1306 initiates a lift-off from input interface 1302 upon contact with it (e.g., begins to move the finger upwards and away from input interface 1302). In one or more examples, when the finger initiates lift-off at time instance 1310, the user's finger 1106 may move slightly during the lift-off process. For example, as shown at time instance 1312, the contact area between finger 1316 and input interface 1302 decreases because the finger grinds towards a point before lifting off input interface 1302.

[0071] In one or more examples, the movement of finger 1306 can mimic a swipe gesture. For example, as shown in time instance 1310, the magnitude values ​​1308a, 1308b, and 1308c of touch sensors 1304a, 1304b, and 1304c each have a first value. In one or more examples, the electronic device can determine, based on the magnitude values ​​1308a, 1308b, and 1308c, that touch sensor 1304b is the center of contact of finger 1306 at input interface 1302 (e.g., because magnitude value 1308b is the highest of the three magnitude values, the electronic device can determine that the center of contact is located at touch sensor 1304b).

[0072] In one or more examples, the electronic device can eliminate the ambiguity between lift-off and swipe gestures by determining that the touch sensor value on either side of the contact center is decreasing and rejecting the scrolling operation in response (e.g., abandoning the scrolling operation). For example, as illustrated in time instance 1312, the values ​​of magnitude 1308a associated with touch sensor 1304a and magnitude 1308c associated with touch sensor 1304c decrease (compared to time instance 1310) as finger 1306 lifts off the input interface. In one or more examples, the electronic device can determine that the change in magnitude on either side of the contact center (e.g., the touch sensor signal decreasing on either side of the contact center) is not part of the swipe gesture and therefore reject the scrolling operation (e.g., abandoning the scrolling operation).

[0073] In one or more examples, edge lift-off and swipe gestures performed outside the edge of the input interface can have motion characteristics similar to those detected by a touch sensor located at the input interface. Therefore, in one or more examples, and as described further in detail below, the electronic device uses the current state of the input at the input interface to eliminate ambiguity between edge swipes and edge lift-offs.

[0074] Figure 14 An exemplary edge swipe gesture according to an example of this disclosure is illustrated. Figure 14 In Example 1400, finger 1406 is performing a swipe gesture (described above) that moves toward and eventually reaches the edge of input interface 1402. For example, at time instance 1410, finger 1406 begins the swipe gesture at the location of touch sensor 1404a on input interface 1402, and thus touch sensor 1404a generates a touch signal with magnitude 1408a and touch sensor 1404b generates a touch signal with magnitude 1408b (because touch sensor 1404b is also close to finger 1406). In one or more examples, the electronic device detects that finger 1406 is moving and, in response, performs a scrolling operation similar to the example described above.

[0075] In one or more examples, and as illustrated in time instance 1412, as a finger approaches the edge of input interface 1402, the magnitude of the touch signal generated in response to finger 1406 begins to decrease. For example, as shown in time instance 1412, when finger 1406 is at the edge of input interface 1402, it generates touch signals with magnitudes 1408c and 1408d at touch sensors 1404c and 1404d, respectively. In one or more examples, as finger 1406 continues to move above the edge of input interface 1402, the touch signals at touch sensors 1404c and 1404d decrease further (without any additional touch sensors exhibiting an increase in touch signal). For example, as shown in time instance 1414, the touch signal at touch sensor 1408c has decreased to zero, while the touch signal at touch sensor 1408d has decreased to almost zero.

[0076] In one or more examples, edge lifting can exhibit characteristics similar to a swipe gesture performed at the edge of an input interface. Figure 15 An exemplary edge lift-off is illustrated according to an example of this disclosure. Figure 15 In Example 1500, finger 1506 is located at the edge of input interface 1502 without moving across the input interface (e.g., the finger stops at the edge and is not otherwise located in the middle of the swipe input). In one or more examples, at time instance 1510, finger 1506 is initiating a lift-off at the edge of the input interface but is still in contact with input interface 1502, and thus generates touch signals with magnitudes 1508a and 1508b at touch sensors 1504a and 1504b, respectively.

[0077] In one or more examples, and as illustrated in time instance 1512 (which is later in time than time instance 1510 during edge lift-off), the magnitudes 1508a and 1508b of the touch signals at touch sensors 1504a and 1504b decrease as finger 1506 (in the vertical direction) moves away from input interface 1502. In one or more examples, the electronic device eliminates the ambiguity between edge swipe and edge lift-off by propagating the state of the input before detecting a decrease in the magnitude of the edge touch sensor values. For example, returning to Figure 14 For example, because the electronic device has already engaged in a swipe gesture (e.g., performing a scrolling operation) when the magnitudes 1408c and 1408d of the touch sensors 1404c and 1404d are detected as decreasing, the electronic device can continue performing the scrolling operation under the assumption that the finger 1406 has scrolled away from the edge of the input interface 1402. However, in Figure 15 In Example 1500, since the electronic device has detected that the finger 1506 is not in motion, it will abandon the scrolling operation in response to the decrease in the magnitude of the touch signal 1508a and 1508b detected at touch sensors 1504a and 1504.

[0078] Figure 16 An exemplary flowchart illustrating an example of eliminating ambiguity between touch input and press input according to the present disclosure is provided. In one or more examples, at an electronic device including an input interface, wherein the input interface includes a plurality of touch sensors and a force sensor: in response to receiving a first input at the input interface, the electronic device obtains (1602) position information of the first input from the plurality of touch sensors. In some examples, in response to the first input, the electronic device obtains (1604) force sensor data based on the first input from the force sensor. In one or more examples, based on determining that the force sensor data and position information satisfy one or more first criteria, the electronic device performs (1606) a scrolling operation at the electronic device. In one or more examples, based on determining that the force sensor data and position information satisfy one or more second criteria different from the first criteria, the electronic device performs (1608) a press operation at the electronic device.

[0079] In some examples, the first input is the initial contact with the input interface, and one or more first criteria include criteria that are met when the electronic device detects an increase in the amount of touch at a first touch sensor among one or more touch sensors, and subsequently detects a decrease in the amount of touch at the first touch sensor.

[0080] In one or more examples, the electronic device also determines a touch acceleration state based on location information and a force acceleration state based on force sensor data.

[0081] In one or more examples, one or more second criteria include criteria satisfied based on determining that the touch acceleration state is in a deceleration state before determining that the force acceleration state is in an acceleration state.

[0082] In one or more examples, one or more second criteria include criteria satisfied based on determining that the force acceleration state is in an acceleration state before determining that the touch acceleration state is in an acceleration state.

[0083] In one or more examples, one or more first criteria include criteria satisfied based on determining that the force acceleration state is in a deceleration state before determining that the touch acceleration state is in an acceleration state.

[0084] In one or more examples, one or more first criteria include criteria satisfied based on determining that the touch acceleration state is in an accelerated state before determining that the force acceleration state is in an accelerated state.

[0085] In one or more examples, the electronic device determines the spatial center of the first input based on location information, and one or more first criteria include criteria that are not met based on determining that the magnitude of a first touch sensor on a first side of the spatial center of the first input is decreasing and the magnitude of a second touch sensor on a second side of the spatial center of the first input, different from the first side, is decreasing.

[0086] In one or more examples, when a scrolling operation is performed, the electronic device continues the scrolling operation based on the determination that one or more touch sensors associated with the edge portion of the input interface among a plurality of touch sensors have received a reduced touch signal.

[0087] In one or more examples, and when the electronic device is not performing a scrolling operation: the electronic device abandons the scrolling operation based on the determination that one or more touch sensors associated with the edge portion of the input interface among a plurality of touch sensors have received a reduced touch signal.

[0088] In one or more examples, multiple touch sensors are self-capacitive touch sensors.

[0089] Figure 17An example computing system including a touchscreen according to the present disclosure is illustrated, but it should be understood that the illustrated touchscreen 1720 (which includes a touch sensor panel) may be modified to be a touch sensor panel (e.g., without a screen). The computing system 1700 may be included in, for example, a mobile phone, tablet computer, touchpad, portable or desktop computer, portable media player, wearable device, or any mobile or non-mobile computing device including a touchscreen or touch sensor panel. The computing system 1700 may include a touch sensing system comprising one or more touch processors 1702, peripheral devices 1704, a touch controller 1706, and touch sensing circuitry (described in more detail below). The peripheral device 1704 may include, but is not limited to, random access memory (RAM) or other types of memory or storage devices, a watchdog timer, etc. The touch controller 1706 (e.g., corresponding to drive circuitry 104 and sensing circuitry 103) may include, but is not limited to, one or more sensing channels 1708, channel scanning logic unit 1710, and driver logic unit 1714. The channel scanning logic unit 1710 can access RAM 1712, autonomously read data from the sensing channel, and provide control for the sensing channel. Furthermore, the channel scanning logic unit 1710 can control the driver logic unit 1714 to generate excitation signals 1716 at various frequencies and / or phases, which can be selectively applied to the driving areas of the touch sensing circuitry of the touchscreen 1720, as described herein. In some instances, the touch controller 1706, touch processor 1702, and peripheral device 1704 can be integrated into a single application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and in some instances, can be integrated with the touchscreen 1720 itself. Figure 17 The example computing system 1700 can be configured to implement and perform any of the scans described herein.

[0090] It is obvious that Figure 17 The architecture shown is merely an example architecture of computing system 1700, and the system may have more or fewer components or components with different configurations than shown. In some examples, computing system 1700 may include energy storage devices (e.g., batteries) that provide power and / or communication circuitry that provides wired or wireless communication (e.g., cellular, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.). Figure 17 The various components shown can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof, including one or more signal processing and / or application-specific integrated circuits.

[0091] The computing system 1700 may include a host processor 1728 for receiving output from the touch processor 1702 and performing actions based on the output. For example, the host processor 1728 may be connected to a program storage device 1732 and a display controller / driver 1734 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) driver). It should be understood that although some examples of this disclosure may be described with reference to LCD displays, the scope of this disclosure is not limited thereto and can be extended to other types of displays, such as light-emitting diode (LED) displays, including organic LED (OLED), active-matrix organic LED (AMOLED), and passive-matrix organic LED (PMOLED) displays. The display driver 1734 may provide voltage to each pixel transistor on a select (e.g., gate) line and may provide data signals to these same transistors along data lines to control the pixels to display an image.

[0092] The host processor 1728 can generate display images (such as display images of user interfaces (UIs)) on the touchscreen 1720 using the display driver 1734, and can detect touches (such as touch inputs to the displayed UI) on or near the touchscreen 1720 using the touch processor 1702 and the touch controller 1706. Touch input can be used by a computer program stored in the program storage device 1732 to perform actions, including but not limited to: moving objects (such as cursors or pointers), scrolling or panning, adjusting control settings, opening files or documents, viewing menus, making selections, executing instructions, operating peripherals connected to the host device, answering telephone calls, making telephone calls, terminating telephone calls, changing volume or audio settings, storing information related to telephone communication (such as addresses, frequently dialed numbers, received calls, missed calls), logging onto a computer or computer network, allowing authorized individuals access to restricted areas of a computer or computer network, loading user profiles associated with the user's preferred computer desktop layout, allowing access to web page content, launching specific programs, encrypting or decrypting messages, etc. The host processor 1728 can also perform additional functions that may not be related to touch processing.

[0093] It should be noted that one or more of the functions described in this disclosure may be stored in memory (e.g., Figure 17The firmware is executed by the touch processor 1702 in one of the peripheral devices 1704, or by the host processor 1728 stored in the program storage device 1732. This firmware may also be stored and / or transmitted in any non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for use or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, a processor-containing system, or other system capable of fetching and executing instructions from and from an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. In the context of this document, "non-transitory computer-readable storage medium" can be any medium (excluding signals) that may contain or store a program for use or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. In some examples, RAM 1712 or program storage device 1732 (or both) may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. One or both of RAM 1712 and program storage device 1732 may have instructions stored therein that, when executed by touch processor 1702 or host processor 1728 or both, cause a device including computing system 1700 to perform one or more functions and methods of one or more examples of this disclosure. Computer-readable storage media may include, but are not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatuses, or devices; portable computer disks (magnetic); random access memory (RAM) (magnetic); read-only memory (ROM) (magnetic); erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) (magnetic); portable optical discs such as CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R, or DVD-RW; or flash memory such as compact flash memory cards, secure digital cards, USB storage devices, memory sticks, etc.

[0094] The firmware can also be propagated within any transmission medium for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, a processor-based system, or other system capable of retrieving and executing instructions from and from an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. In the context of this document, "transmission medium" can be any medium through which a program can be transmitted, propagated, or transported for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Transmission media can include, but are not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, or infrared wired or wireless propagation media.

[0095] Touchscreen 1720 can be used to derive touch information at multiple discrete locations on the touchscreen, referred to herein as touch nodes. Touchscreen 1720 may include touch sensing circuitry that may include a capacitive sensing medium having multiple drive lines 1722 and multiple sensing lines 1723 (e.g., corresponding to drive lines 105a and sensing lines 105b). It should be noted that the term “line” is sometimes used herein to mean a simple conductive path, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art, and is not limited to strictly linear elements, but includes paths that change direction and paths of different sizes, shapes, materials, etc. Drive lines 1722 can be driven via drive interface 1724 by excitation signals 1716 from driver logic unit 1714, and the resulting sensing signals 1717 generated in the sensing lines 1723 can be sent via sensing interface 1725 to sensing channel 1708 in touch controller 1706. In this way, drive lines and sensing lines can be part of touch sensing circuitry that can interact to form capacitive sensing nodes, which can be considered as touch image elements (touch nodes) and are referred to herein as touch nodes, such as touch nodes 1726 and 1727. This understanding may be particularly useful when the touchscreen 1720 is considered as an “image” (“touch image”) capturing a touch. In other words, after the touch controller 1706 determines whether a touch has been detected at each touch node in the touchscreen, the pattern of the touch nodes where the touch occurred can be considered as an “image” of the touch (e.g., the pattern of a finger touching the touchscreen). As used herein, electronic components “coupled to” or “connected to” another electronic component include direct or indirect connections that provide an electrical path for communication or operation between the coupled components. Thus, for example, drive line 1722 may be directly connected to driver logic unit 1714 or indirectly connected to driver logic unit 1714 via drive interface 1724, and sensing line 1723 may be directly connected to sensing channel 1708 or indirectly connected to sensing channel 1708 via sensing interface 1725. In either case, an electrical path can be provided for driving and / or sensing the touch node.

[0096] For purposes of explanation, the foregoing description has been presented with reference to specific examples. However, the illustrative discussion above is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit this disclosure to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible based on the teachings above. The examples were chosen and described to best elucidate the principles of this disclosure and its practical application, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to make optimal use of this disclosure with various modifications suitable for the particular intended purpose, as well as the various described examples.

Claims

1. A method comprising: at an electronic device that includes an input interface, wherein the input interface includes a force sensor and a plurality of touch sensors: in response to receiving a first input at the input interface: obtaining position information for the first input from the plurality of touch sensors; obtaining force sensor data based on the first input from the force sensor; in accordance with a determination that the force sensor data and the position information satisfy one or more first criteria, performing a scrolling operation at the electronic device; and in accordance with a determination that the force sensor data and the position information satisfy one or more second criteria that are different from the first criteria, performing a press operation at the electronic device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first input is an initial contact with the input interface, and wherein: the one or more first criteria include a criterion that is satisfied when the electronic device detects an increasing magnitude of touch at a first touch sensor of the one or more touch sensors and subsequently detects a decreasing magnitude of touch at the first touch sensor.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: determining a touch acceleration state in accordance with the position information; and determining a force acceleration state in accordance with the force sensor data.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein: the one or more second criteria include a criterion that is satisfied in accordance with a determination that the touch acceleration state is in a deceleration state prior to a determination that the force acceleration state is in an acceleration state.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more second criteria include a criterion that is satisfied in accordance with a determination that the force acceleration state is in an acceleration state prior to a determination that the touch acceleration state is in an acceleration state.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more first criteria include a criterion that is satisfied in accordance with a determination that the force acceleration state is in a deceleration state prior to a determination that the touch acceleration state is in an acceleration state.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more first criteria include a criterion that is satisfied in accordance with a determination that the touch acceleration state is in an acceleration state prior to a determination that the force acceleration state is in an acceleration state.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: determining a spatial center of the first input based on the position information; and wherein the one or more first criteria include a criterion that is not satisfied in accordance with a determination that a first touch sensor of the plurality of touch sensors on a first side of the spatial center of the first input is decreasing in magnitude and a second touch sensor of the plurality of touch sensors on a second side of the spatial center of the first input that is different from the first side is decreasing in magnitude.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: while performing the scrolling operation: in accordance with a determination that one or more touch sensors of the plurality of touch sensors associated with an edge portion of the input interface receive decreasing touch signals, continuing the scrolling operation. ​ 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises: when the electronic device does not perform a scrolling operation: in accordance with a determination that the one or more touch sensors of the plurality of touch sensors associated with the edge portion of the input interface receive a decreasing touch signal, forgoing performing a scrolling operation.

11. An electronic device, comprising: an input interface, wherein the input interface includes a force sensor and a plurality of touch sensors; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, including instructions for: in response to receiving a first input at an input interface: obtaining location information for the first input from the plurality of touch sensors; obtaining force sensor data based on the first input from the force sensor; in accordance with a determination that the force sensor data and the location information satisfy one or more first criteria, performing a scrolling operation at the electronic device; and in accordance with a determination that the force sensor data and the location information satisfy one or more second criteria that are different from the first criteria, performing a press operation at the electronic device.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the first input is an initial contact with the input interface, and wherein: the one or more first criteria include a criterion that is satisfied when the electronic device detects an increasing magnitude of touch at a first touch sensor of the one or more touch sensors and subsequently detects a decreasing magnitude of touch at the first touch sensor.

13. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for: determining a touch acceleration state from the location information; and determining a force acceleration state from the force sensor data.

14. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein: the one or more second criteria include a criterion that is satisfied in accordance with a determination that the touch acceleration state is in a deceleration state before determining that the force acceleration state is in an acceleration state.

15. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the one or more second criteria include a criterion that is satisfied in accordance with a determination that the force acceleration state is in an acceleration state before determining that the touch acceleration state is in an acceleration state.

16. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the one or more first criteria include a criterion that is satisfied in accordance with a determination that the force acceleration state is in a deceleration state before determining that the touch acceleration state is in an acceleration state.

17. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the one or more first criteria include a criterion that is satisfied in accordance with a determination that the touch acceleration state is in an acceleration state before determining that the force acceleration state is in an acceleration state.

18. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for: determining a spatial center of the first input based on the location information; and wherein the one or more first criteria include a criterion that is not satisfied based on a determination that a magnitude of a first touch sensor, of the plurality of touch sensors, on a first side of the spatial center of the first input is decreasing and a magnitude of a second touch sensor, of the plurality of touch sensors, on a second side of the spatial center of the first input that is different from the first side is decreasing.

19. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for: while performing the scrolling operation: in accordance with a determination that one or more touch sensors, of the plurality of touch sensors, associated with an edge portion of the input interface receive decreasing touch signals, continue the scrolling operation.

20. The electronic device of claim 19, wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for: when the electronic device is not performing a scrolling operation: in accordance with a determination that the one or more touch sensors, of the plurality of touch sensors, associated with the edge portion of the input interface receive decreasing touch signals, forgo performing a scrolling operation.

Images