Switchable Sensor Configurations for Power-Constrained Input Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
The design of input devices for portable computing devices is constrained by the need to conserve limited power, as they evolve to be smaller and offer more features, requiring efficient power management without compromising functionality.
Innovation Solution
The input device employs switchable sensor configurations, enabling or disabling sensor elements based on detection modes to reduce power consumption, such as full detect, partial detect, and group detect modes, allowing it to adapt sensor configurations according to input patterns and device orientations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If all sensor elements are enabled to sense input, then input detection capability is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor configuration is made dynamic by switching between full detect mode (all sensor elements enabled) and partial detect mode (subset of sensor elements enabled) based on operational requirements. This allows the system to adapt sensor activation states to match actual input detection needs, reducing power consumption when full detection capability is not required.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameter of sensor elements from fully enabled to selectively enabled based on detection mode. By modifying the activation state parameter of sensor elements dynamically, the system achieves lower power consumption while maintaining adequate input detection capability for different operational contexts.
2Use of energy by moving object
If sensor elements are disabled to save power, then power consumption is reduced, but input detection capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of disabling all sensor elements, the system applies partial action by enabling only a subset of sensor elements in partial detect mode. This selective activation provides sufficient input detection capability for common operations while consuming less power than full detect mode, achieving an optimal balance between functionality and energy efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the number of active sensor elements based on operational mode. When full input detection capability is required, all sensor elements are enabled; when power savings are prioritized, only necessary sensor elements are enabled. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction by adapting detection capability to actual needs.
3Use of energy by moving object
If sensor elements are combined into groupings, then power consumption is reduced through single scan operation, but positional precision may be affected
Solution Approach 1:
Sensor elements are merged into groupings that can be scanned collectively as a single unit. This combining approach reduces the total number of scan operations required, thereby reducing power consumption. The groupings are configured to maintain adequate positional precision by strategically selecting which sensor elements are combined and how they are arranged in detection patterns.
Data Source
AI summary
An input device with switchable sensor configurations. In one embodiment, the input device can switch between a sensor configuration in which each of its sensor elements is enabled to sense input and a sensor configuration in which only a subset of its sensor elements are enabled to sense input. In another embodiment, the input device can switch between a sensor configuration in which each of its sensor elements is enabled to sense input and a sensor configuration in which one or more groupings of its sensor elements are enabled to collectively sense input. In a further embodiment, the input device can operate in a detection mode that switches between sensor configurations to determine a position of an input.