Active Stylus Signal Encoding for Touch Screen Reporting Rate

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing capacitive active stylus technologies have a low contact reporting rate, which degrades the writing and touch experience due to the time required to code coordinates and pressures, resulting in a slower response to user input.

Innovation Solution

A method that generates and transmits coded signals based on pressure information using different frequencies or prohibited transmission for each code bit, allowing the touch screen to identify code values and detect tip positions more efficiently, thereby increasing the contact reporting rate.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If traditional coding methods are used to code coordinates and pressures, then the system can detect tip positions, but the detection time is long and the contact reporting rate is low

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecontact reporting rateVSAvoiddetection time
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The pressure information is segmented into multiple code bits (n code bits) that can be independently encoded and transmitted. Each code bit represents a specific aspect of the pressure data, allowing parallel processing and faster detection. The segmentation enables the system to transmit pressure information more efficiently by breaking it down into manageable units that can be detected independently.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The invention changes the transmission parameter by using different frequencies (first frequency, second frequency) to represent different code values. This frequency-based encoding allows the touch screen to quickly identify code values by detecting the frequency of received signals, significantly reducing detection time compared to traditional amplitude or time-based coding methods.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Measurement precision

If more code bits are used to represent pressure information accurately, then the precision of pressure detection improves, but the time required to transmit and detect the information increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepressure detection precisionVSAvoidtransmission time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The invention uses periodic frequency changes to encode multiple bits of pressure information. By assigning different frequencies to different code values, the system can transmit multiple bits of precision pressure data in a single periodic transmission cycle, avoiding the need for sequential transmission of each bit and thus reducing total transmission time while maintaining high precision.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #19Periodic action

3Loss of information

If the system transmits both coordinate and pressure information separately, then complete tip position data is obtained, but the detection time increases and contact reporting rate decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinformation completenessVSAvoidcontact reporting rate
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The invention merges coordinate and pressure information transmission by using the same n coded signals for both purposes. The frequency-based encoding allows the touch screen to extract both position coordinates and pressure values from the same signal set, eliminating the need for separate transmission channels and significantly improving the contact reporting rate while maintaining complete information.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentEP3822747B1Signal emission and receiving methods, processor chip, active pen and touch screen
Publication Date: 2022.05.11 SHENZHEN GOODIX TECH CO LTD
  • EP3822747B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3822747B1 patent drawingFigure 2~4
  • EP3822747B1 patent drawingFigure 5~9

AI summary

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for transmitting and receiving a signal, a processor chip, an active stylus, and a touch screen. The method for transmitting a signal includes: acquiring, based on detected pressure information, codes representing pressure information and used to detect tip positions, where the code includes n code bits, n being an integer greater than 1 (101); generating n coded signals respectively corresponding to the n code bits(102); and transmitting each coded signal in the coded signals at the preset first or second frequency or prohibiting transmission of each coded signal in the coded signals, where the first frequency, the second frequency and prohibited transmission of the n coded signals relate to the pressure information (103). With the above method, the active stylus can output more coordinates of tip positions at a unit of time, and the touch screen can detect more coordinates of tip positions at a unit of time, thus improving the contact reporting rate.