Patents Assigned to Synaptics Incorporated
  • Patent number: 11531439
    Abstract: An input device includes transmitter electrodes disposed in a sensing region of the input device, a receiver electrode in the sensing region, and a processing system. The processing system includes demodulators, and is configured to simultaneously drive at least a subset of the transmitter electrodes using a multitude of transmitter signals with unique frequencies. The processing system is also configured to receive, on the receiver electrode, a resulting signal, and demodulate, using the plurality of demodulators, the resulting signal to generate a multitude, of sensing signals. Each of the of the demodulators operates on a different frequency of the unique frequencies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
    Inventors: Guozhong Shen, Chunbo Liu
  • Patent number: 11527094
    Abstract: Low power consumption baseline tracking systems and methods for automatically tracking a baseline input into a capacitive sensor having a plurality of transmitter electrodes and a plurality of receiver electrodes. A partial baseline scan is captured by driving all or a portion of the plurality of transmitter electrodes simultaneously and detecting receiver signals from a subset of the at least one receiver electrode simultaneously, and the partial baseline scan is compared with a stored baseline image. When a difference between the captured partial baseline scan and the stored baseline image exceeds a threshold value, a full baseline image scan is acquired, and the stored baseline image is updated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
    Inventor: Guozhong Shen
  • Publication number: 20220392385
    Abstract: A display driver comprises control circuitry configured to store a default gamma curve, determine a count of in-region pixels of a target pixel in a display panel and neighboring pixels of the target pixel, the in-region pixels being located in a predetermined region of the display panel, and determine a scale factor based on a ratio of the count of the in-region pixels to a total number of the target pixel and the neighboring pixels. The control circuitry also determines a modified gamma curve by scaling the default gamma curve with the scale factor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 11, 2022
    Publication date: December 8, 2022
    Applicant: Synaptics Incorporated
    Inventors: Hirobumi Furihata, Tomoo Minaki, Masao Orio, Takashi Nose
  • Patent number: 11522507
    Abstract: Various techniques are provided to reduce common mode disturbance associated with an amplifier, such as a class D amplifier. In one example, an amplifier includes a power stage configured to generate first and second PWM signals. The amplifier further includes an integration stage comprising input nodes configured to receive an input differential analog signal. The integration stage is configured to generate an output differential analog signal in response to the PWM signals and the input differential analog signal. The amplifier further includes an active compensation circuit configured to provide a compensation signal to the integration stage to reduce disturbances at the input nodes associated with the PWM signals switching between a common mode and a differential mode. Additional devices, systems, and methods are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: SYNAPTICS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Dan Shen, Jinbao Lan, Yunfu Zhang, Lorenzo Crespi
  • Patent number: 11520423
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein include an input device and associated processing system for sensing force applied by input objects. The input device comprises a display device comprising a plurality of layers formed as a display stack, the display stack including a top surface. The input device further comprises one or more strain gauges disposed within the display stack and configured to detect force applied to the top surface, and a processing system configured to perform display updating using the display device and to perform force sensing using the one or more strain gauges.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
    Inventors: Joseph Kurth Reynolds, Tom Vandermeijden, Tetsuo Tanemura
  • Patent number: 11519801
    Abstract: A silicon sensor device includes a plurality of metal layers and a plurality of dielectric layers. The plurality of metal layers include: a first metal layer comprising a plurality of transmitter electrodes and a plurality of receiver electrodes; a second metal layer disposed beneath the first metal layer, wherein the second metal layer comprises a plurality of routing traces for the plurality of transmitter electrodes; and one or more circuit layers disposed beneath the second metal layer. A respective routing trace for a respective transmitter electrode is configured to shield respective portions of the plurality of receiver electrodes which correspond to a width of the respective transmitter electrode from energy and/or noise originating from the one or more circuit layers. The plurality of metal layers and the plurality of dielectric layers are disposed on a same die.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
    Inventor: Guozhong Shen
  • Patent number: 11521526
    Abstract: A display driver comprises a decoder, a first source amplifier and a logic circuitry. The decoder is configured to output a grayscale voltage corresponding to an image data. The first source amplifier is configured to output a first source output voltage corresponding to the grayscale voltage to a first external output terminal. The logic circuitry is configured to generate fault detection data for fault detection of a test object connected to the first external output terminal. The fault detection data is based on a comparison output signal generated based on a comparison between a reference voltage and a voltage on the first external output terminal. The comparison is performed by the first source amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
    Inventors: Shinobu Nohtomi, Sosuke Tsuji
  • Publication number: 20220383797
    Abstract: A display driver that drives a display panel comprises storage circuitry, color addition processing circuitry, and drive circuitry. The storage circuitry stores F subpixel data acquired from color coordinate data indicating color coordinates of a displayed color in a predetermined color space displayed on the display panel when an R subpixel, a G subpixel, and a B subpixel in each of a plurality of pixels of the display panel are driven with drive signals corresponding to a minimum grayscale value and an F subpixel in each of the plurality of pixels which displays an additional color other than a primary color R, a primary color G, and a primary color B is driven with a drive signal corresponding to a maximum grayscale value. The color addition processing circuitry generates output FRGB data from input RGB data, in response to the F subpixel data stored in the storage circuitry.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 3, 2022
    Publication date: December 1, 2022
    Applicant: Synaptics Incorporated
    Inventors: Masao ORIO, Hirobumi FURIHATA, Kazutoshi AOGAKI, Takashi NOSE
  • Patent number: 11513633
    Abstract: An input device comprising a set of electrodes configured to detect a user input of a user and a processing system is provided. The processing system comprises a signal level monitor configured to detect burst noise or impulse noise and one or more processors configured to: perform a scan step of a plurality of scan steps by driving one or more first transmitter electrodes of the plurality of transmitter electrodes with one or more sensing signals; obtain one or more first resulting signals corresponding to the one or more sensing signals used to drive the one or more first transmitter electrodes; detect, based on the one or more first resulting signals, the burst noise or the impulse noise corresponding to the scan step; and in response to detecting the burst noise or the impulse noise, restart the scan step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
    Inventors: Guozhong Shen, Chunbo Liu
  • Patent number: 11516374
    Abstract: A device includes a display and a first light source configured to emit light, wherein the first light source is proximate to the display. The device further includes a first camera disposed behind the display, wherein the first camera is configured to detect reflections of the light emitted by the first light source. The first camera is further configured to capture a first image based at least in part on the reflections, wherein the reflections are partially occluded by the display. The device also includes a second camera proximate to the display, wherein the second camera is configured to capture a second image. In addition, the device includes a depth map generator configured to generate depth information about one or more objects in a field-of-view (FOV) of the first and second cameras based at least in part on the first and second images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: SYNAPTICS INCORPORATED
    Inventor: Robert J. Gove
  • Patent number: 11513635
    Abstract: A processing system for an input device comprises sensor circuitry. The sensor circuitry is configured to operate sensor electrodes for input sensing during a first sensing frame. During a first period of the first sensing frame the sensor circuitry is configured to drive a first portion of the sensor electrodes with a sensing signal, drive a second portion of the sensor electrodes with a guarding signal, and drive a third portion of the sensor electrodes with a reference signal. The guarding signal and the sensing signal have at least one characteristic in common selected from the group consisting of amplitude, phase and frequency. The third portion of the sensor electrodes overlaps a first gate line of a display panel selected for updating during the first period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
    Inventors: Daisuke Ito, Hiroshi Takeyama, Jonathan Losh
  • Patent number: 11508273
    Abstract: A display driver includes image processing circuitry, driver circuitry, and test circuitry. The image processing circuitry is configured to generate first output data during a first display update period and generate second output data during a second display update period. The driver circuitry is configured to update a display panel based on the first output data during the first display update period and update the display panel based on the second output data during the second display update period. The test circuitry is configured to test the image processing circuitry during a test period disposed between the first display update period and the second display update period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
    Inventors: Masao Orio, Takashi Nose, Hirobumi Furihata, Akio Sugiyama, Kota Kitamura, Chirinjeev Singh, Dipankar Talukdar, Guozhong Shen
  • Patent number: 11507236
    Abstract: A sensor pattern for capacitive sensing includes a first electrode and a multitude of second electrodes capacitively coupled to the first electrode. The first electrode includes a strip extending in a vertical direction across the sensor pattern. The multitude of second electrodes include a first subset and a second subset. The first subset of the multitude of second electrodes is arranged in a first column, the first column extending in a vertical direction. The second subset of the multitude of second electrodes is arranged in a second column, the second column extending in the vertical direction. The first subset and the second subset of the multitude of electrodes are disposed adjacent to the first electrode on opposing sides of the first electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
    Inventors: Tracy Scott Dattalo, David Hoch
  • Publication number: 20220357812
    Abstract: Low ground mass mitigation for pens includes sensing circuitry configured to transmit, during a first frame, a beacon signal on a first subset of sensing electrodes, the first subset being along a first axis of an input device, transmit, during a second frame, the beacon signal on a second subset of the sensing electrodes, the second subset being along the first axis and different from the first subset, and receive a pen signal transmitted responsive to the beacon signal. The processing circuitry is configured to detect a location of a capacitive pen using the pen signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 19, 2022
    Publication date: November 10, 2022
    Applicant: Synaptics Incorporated
    Inventors: Tom Vandermeijden, Kirk Hargreaves, Robert Bolender
  • Patent number: 11494023
    Abstract: A processing system includes sensor circuitry and processing circuitry. The sensor circuitry is configured to, using the sensor electrodes, obtain capacitive measurements of a sensing region, and obtain a resistance measurement of the sensing region. The processing circuitry is coupled to the sensor circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to determine a location of an input object using the capacitive measurements of the sensing region; and determine a force value based on the resistance measurement and the location of the input object. Determining the force value mitigates a temperature variation of the sensing region affecting the resistance measurement. The processing circuitry is further configured to report the force value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
    Inventor: Tom Vandermeijden
  • Patent number: 11488499
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for sensing strain in a flexible electronic display. In some implementations, a display controller may be coupled to an electronic display panel. The display controller is configured to receive sensor signals from one or more piezoresistive sensors disposed in the electronic display panel, determine an amount of strain in the electronic display panel based on the received sensor signals, determine a bend angle of the electronic display panel based on the determined amount of strain, and update a configuration of the electronic display panel based at least in part on the determined bend angle. In some implementations, the electronic display panel may be an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panel. In some implementations, the electronic display panel may include a polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) backplane disposed on a flexible substrate, where each of the piezoresistive sensors includes one or more strain gauges formed on the poly-Si backplane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: SYNAPTICS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Petr Shepelev, Takayuki Noto, Takashi Nose
  • Patent number: 11481076
    Abstract: A method and apparatus of global coarse baseline correction (GCBC) for capacitive scanning. An input device may include a number (N) of sensor electrodes, a GCBC circuit, and detection circuitry. Each sensor electrode is associated with a respective channel. The GCBC circuit produces sensing signals in each of the N channels and the detection circuitry may detect changes in the capacitances of one or more sensor electrodes based on the sensing signals. In some implementations, the GCBC circuit may include a current source which outputs a first current, a transimpedance amplifier (TIA) which converts the first current to a sensing voltage, and a number (N) of resistors that can be coupled between the output of the TIA and the N sensor electrodes, respectively. The coupling of each resistor between the TIA and a respective sensor electrode produces a sensing signal in the channel associated with the sensor electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: SYNAPTICS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Chunbo Liu, Selim Guncer, Osman Emir Erol, Jonathan Ku
  • Patent number: 11482175
    Abstract: A display driver comprises gamma processing circuitry, compensation circuitry, and driver circuitry. The gamma processing circuitry is configured to process the image data to generate gamma processed image data. The compensation circuitry is configured to process the gamma-processed image data, based on a ratio of a number of display elements that emit light to a total number of display elements of a display panel, to generate compensated image data. The driver circuitry is configured to drive the display panel based on the compensated image data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
    Inventors: Akio Sugiyama, Takashi Nose, Hirobumi Furihata, Masao Orio, Susumu Saito
  • Patent number: 11481068
    Abstract: An input-display device includes a display screen with display pixels, capacitive sensing electrodes for capacitive sensing in a sensing region of the display screen, and a gate driver circuit associated with the display screen. The gate driver circuit superimposes a critical time window on a full-duration gate control pulse of a gate control signal. The critical time window partially overlaps with the full-duration gate control pulse at least at an end of the full-duration gate control pulse. The gate driver circuit further determines that a transient in a sensing waveform of the capacitive sensing occurs in the critical time window superimposed on the full-duration gate control pulse, and based on the determination, shorten the full-duration gate control pulse to obtain a reduced-duration gate control pulse. The gate driver circuit provides the reduced-duration gate control pulse to a pixel circuit of one of the display pixels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
    Inventor: Guozhong Shen
  • Patent number: 11481074
    Abstract: A processing system for an input device includes an in-phase and quadrature (I/Q) receiver module including a first and second charge integrators, and first and second demodulator modules. The I/Q receiver module alternates integration of a resulting signal, received from a receiver electrode of the input device, between the first and the second charge integrators in four consecutive quarter cycles, to obtain four consecutive integration results. The four consecutive quarter cycles coincide with one cycle of a local oscillator signal for the first and second demodulator modules. The I/Q receiver module further alternates demodulation of the four consecutive integration results between the first and second demodulator modules. The first demodulator module performs an in-phase demodulation to produce an in-phase component of a sensing signal associated with the first resulting signal, and the second demodulator module performs a quadrature demodulation to produce a quadrature component of the sensing signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: Synaptics Incorporated
    Inventor: Robert J. Bolender