Touchscreen Controller Threshold Switching for Grip Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing touch screen technologies lack the ability to accurately determine the relationship between a user's hand and the housing of an electronic device, limiting the development of new user interface paradigms and providing information about how the user is interacting with the device.
Innovation Solution
A touch screen controller that operates in high and low detection threshold modes to differentiate between a user's hand being in contact with or adjacent to the touch screen, and determines whether the hand is in contact with the portable housing by analyzing strength values from sense lines, allowing for detection of gripping, tapping, and gesture recognition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the touch screen controller operates in high detection threshold mode to determine contact with the touch sensitive display, then contact detection accuracy is improved, but the ability to detect adjacent hand positions and gestures is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The touch screen controller dynamically switches between high detection threshold mode (for contact detection) and low detection threshold mode (for gesture detection), allowing the system to adapt its detection sensitivity based on the current operational requirement, thereby resolving the contradiction between contact detection accuracy and gesture detection capability
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the detection threshold parameter between two distinct modes: a high threshold for accurate contact detection and a low threshold for sensitive gesture detection. This parameter switching enables the controller to perform both functions effectively without compromising either capability
2Measurement precision
If the touch screen controller drives all force lines to detect contact, then detection coverage is improved, but power consumption and processing load increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of driving all force lines in both modes, the system applies partial action by driving only a subset of force lines in low detection threshold mode for gesture detection, while reserving full force line activation for high detection threshold mode when actual contact is detected. This reduces unnecessary power consumption and processing load during gesture detection phases
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables accurate detection of user interactions beyond traditional touch inputs, such as gripping and gestures, enhancing user interface capabilities and providing additional interaction information to processing circuitry.
Implementation Method 1
the capacitive coupling between that drive line and the sense lines results in capacitive coupling of the drive signal to the sense lines to thereby generate sense signals on the sense lines responsive to the drive signal
Implementation Method 2
A typical sensing layer of a touch screen is a capacitive sensor array including a number of force or drive lines and orthogonally arranged sense lines
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device includes a touch screen for a touch sensitive display carried by a portable housing. The electronic device is configured to operate in a high detection threshold mode to determine whether an object is in contact with the touch sensitive display, and operate in a low detection threshold mode to determine whether the object is adjacent to the touch sensitive display, based on lack of detection of the object being in contact with the touch sensitive display. The electronic device is further configured to determine whether the object s in contact with a peripheral edge of the portable housing by determining whether the object is adjacent opposite sides of the touch sensitive display, based on detection of the object being adjacent to the touch sensitive display.