RF PULSE SYNCHRONIZATION FOR DATA ACQUISITION OPERATIONS
Data acquisition from a touch-surface input unit may be disrupted during the generation of radio frequency (“RF”) pulses. To mitigate this problem, touch-surface data acquisition is temporarily halted during RF pulse generation. Data collected prior to temporarily halting is retained, with subsequently acquired data being added to prior collected data.
This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/620,466, filed Jan. 5, 2007, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The subject matter claimed herein is related to the subject matter described in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/840,862 entitled “Multipoint Touchscreen” by Steve Hotelling and Brian Huppi (filed 6 May 2004), 11/278,080 entitled “Force Imaging Input Device and System” by Steve Hotelling and Brian Huppi (filed 30 Mar. 2006) and 11/382,402 entitled “Force and Location Sensitive Display” by Steve Hotelling (filed 9 May 2006), all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe invention relates generally to power consumption and noise mitigation techniques for electronic devices. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, the invention relates to reducing or avoiding operational problems caused by power droops and electrical interference during touch-surface data acquisition operations in portable electronic devices that generate radio frequency (“RF”) pulses.
The use of touch pads and touch screens (collectively “touch-surfaces”) has become increasingly popular in electronic systems because of their ease of use and versatility of operation. In general, these systems employ a two dimensional grid or array of sensing elements. Each sensing element (aka “pixel”) generates an output signal indicative of the electric field disturbance (for capacitance sensors), force (for pressure sensors) or optical coupling (for optical sensors) at the sensor element. The ensemble of pixel values represents an “image.”
In portable electronic devices such as mobile telephones and personal digital assistants (“PDA”) that use a touch-surface for user input and that also generate radio frequency (“RF’) pulses for communication, there is a problem in that touch-surface data acquisition cannot reliably or accurately occur during RF pulse transmission. This is primarily due to two factors. First, the power required to generate a RF pulse can cause a voltage drop large enough to interfere with the normal operation of a touch-surface's data acquisition circuitry. Second, the resulting RF pulse can generate sufficient electrical noise to interfere with the acquisition of touch-surface data.
Another complicating factor in devices of this type is the need to generate RF pulses at a rate that is more frequent than the time it takes to capture a complete image from the touch-surface. By way of example, mobile telephones conforming to the Global System for Mobile Communications specification (e.g., GSM 05.01, version 8.4.0) transmit RF pulses approximately every 4.6 milliseconds, with each pulse lasting 577 microseconds for voice transmission or 1,154 microseconds for data transmission. Touch-surface image acquisition operations, however, may take more the inter-pulse duration allowed by such specifications. Thus, it would be beneficial to provide a means to mitigate the operational interference to touch-surface data acquisition operations in portable electronic devices that generate RF pulses.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn one embodiment, the invention provides a method to acquire touch-surface sensor data from a portable radio frequency (“RF”) capable electronic device. The method includes acquiring data from a first set of sensors associated with the touch-surface (e.g., a first row of pixel data), recording the data if a RF pulse is not detected during the act of acquiring and otherwise discarding the data and repeating the act of acquiring after the RF pulse terminates, and the acts of acquiring and recording for a second set of sensors associated with the touch-surface. In one embodiment, the acts of acquiring and recording are initiated for successive sets of touch-surface sensors at regular intervals. In another embodiment, the acts of acquiring and recording are initiated a specified time period after the act of recording is completed. Methods in accordance with the invention may be stored in any media that is readable and executable by a computer system. In addition, the described method may be incorporated in any portable electronic device capable of providing RF-based communication (e.g., voice and/or data communication).
The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention as claimed and is provided in the context of the particular examples discussed below (e.g., a mobile telephone conforming to the Global System for Mobile Communications specifications), variations of which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the claims appended hereto are not intended to be limited by the disclosed embodiments, but are to be accorded their widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.
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In capacitive touch-surfaces such as that shown in
It has been found that in some RF generating portable electronic devices, operational voltage from power source 210 (e.g., a battery) to a touch-surface component 205 can drop sufficiently low during RF pulse transmission to interfere with the reliable acquisition of frame data (e.g., the accurate reading of pixel data). It has further been found that electrical noise attributable to the transmission of an RF signal can cause frame acquisition errors due to the increased electrical current required for RF transmission. Thus, it would be beneficial to avoid acquiring touch-surface frame data during RF signal transmission.
For proper operation and to ensure a responsive user interface however, a frame should be obtained frequently (e.g., every 5 to 20 milliseconds). In many RF-capable electronic devices, however, it may be necessary to transmit RF signals too frequently to permit a frame from being acquired all at once without colliding with RF pulse transmission. For example, the Global System for Mobile Communications standard 05.01, version 8.4.0, requires that an RF pulse be transmitted approximately every 4.6 milliseconds, with voice being encoded in 577 microsecond bursts and data being encoded in 1,154 microsecond bursts (leaving between approximately 3.4 to 4.0 milliseconds between successive RF pulses). To mitigate against these operational requirements, a method in accordance with the invention holds off acquiring touch-surface frame data during RF signal transmission.
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Various changes in the materials, components, circuit elements, as well as in the details of the illustrated operational method are possible without departing from the scope of the following claims. For instance, it will be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art, that the inventive concept described herein is not limited to the device configuration illustrated in
Claims
1. A method to acquire sensor data from a touch-surface, the touch-surface being used for user-input in an electronic device that provides radio frequency (“RF”) communications capability, comprising:
- acquiring first data from a first set of sensors associated with the touch-surface;
- initiating acquisition of second data from a second set of sensors associated with the touch-surface if a RF pulse is not currently being generated by the electronic device, and, if a RF pulse is currently being generated by the electronic device, initiating acquisition of the second data from the second set of sensors after the RF pulse has terminated.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- if the electronic device generates a RF pulse during the act of acquiring the second data, discarding the second data and repeating the act of acquiring the second data after the RF pulse terminates.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising acquiring additional data from each of one or more additional sets of sensors associated with the touch-surface, wherein the combination of the first, second and additional data comprise a first frame of data.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising initiating acquisition of a second frame of data a specified time period after the first frame of data is acquired.
5. The method of claim 3, further comprising initiating acquisition of a second frame of data a specified time period after the act of acquiring the first data was initiated.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic device comprises a portable electronic device.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the touch-surface comprises a two-dimensional array of sensors and each of the first and second sets of sensors comprise at least one row of sensors.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein each sensor associated with the touch-surface is in a single set of sensors.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein the act of acquiring data from the second set of sensors comprises acquiring data from two or more rows of sensors.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the RF communications capability includes RF transmission of digital data.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein each act of acquiring comprises acquiring data at two or more sampling frequencies.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of recording comprises storing acquired data in a memory.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the RF communications capability includes telephone functionality.
14. A program storage device, readable by a programmable control device, comprising instructions stored on the program storage device for causing the programmable control device to perform acts in accordance with claim 1.
15. An electronic device for providing radio frequency (“RF”) communication capability, comprising:
- a touch-surface having a plurality of sets of sensors;
- a RF generation circuit for generating RF pulses;
- a RF detection circuit for detecting when a RF pulse is being generating by the RF generation circuit;
- a sense circuit, operatively coupled to sensors in the touch-surface sensor array, for acquiring data from the sensors in the touch-surface sensor array; and
- a control circuit that initiates acquisition of first data from a first set of sensors associated with the touch-surface, initiates, if a RF pulse is not currently being generated by the electronic device, acquisition of second data from a second set of sensors associated with the touch-surface, and initiates, if a RF pulse is currently being generated by the electronic device, acquisition of the second data from the second set of sensors after the RF pulse has terminated.
16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein if the electronic device generates a RF pulse during the act of acquiring the second data, the control circuit further operates to discard the second data and repeat the initiating acquisition of the second data after the RF pulse terminates.
17. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the control circuit further operates to acquire additional data from each of one or more additional sets of sensors associated with the touch-surface, wherein the combination of the first, second and additional data comprise a first frame of data.
18. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein acquisition of a second frame of data is initiated a specified time period after the first frame of data is acquired.
19. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein acquisition of a second frame of data is initiated a specified time period after the act of acquiring the first data was initiated.
20. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the electronic device comprises a portable electronic device.
21. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the touch-surface comprises a two-dimensional array of sensors and each of the first and second sets of sensors comprise at least one row of sensors.
22. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein each sensor associated with the touch-surface is in a single set of sensors.
23. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the act of acquiring data from the second set of sensors comprises acquiring data from two or more rows of sensors.
24. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the RF communications circuit includes a digital RF transmission circuit.
25. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein each act of acquiring comprises acquiring data at two or more sampling frequencies.
26. The electronic device of claim 15, further comprising:
- a memory, wherein the act of recording comprises storing acquired data in the memory.
27. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the RF communications circuit includes a circuitry that transmits telephone communications.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 24, 2010
Publication Date: Mar 24, 2011
Inventors: Jack I-Chieh FU (San Mateo, CA), Christopher Tenzin Mullens (San Francisco, CA)
Application Number: 12/954,557