Abstract: Touch screens with more compact border regions can include an active area that includes touch sensing circuitry including drive lines, and a border region around the active area. The border region can include an area of sealant deposited on conductive lines, and transistor circuitry, such as gate drivers, between the active area and the sealant. The conductive lines can extend from the sealant to the active area without electrically connecting to the transistor circuitry. The conductive lines can have equal impedances and can connect the drive lines to a touch controller off of the touch screen. A set of drive signal characteristics for the drive lines can be obtained by determining a transfer function associated with each drive line, obtaining an inverse of each transfer function, and applying a set of individual sense signal characteristics to the inverse transfer functions to obtain the corresponding set of drive signal characteristics.

Abstract: A multi-touch capacitive touch sensor panel can be created using a substrate with column and row traces formed on either side of the substrate. To shield the column (sense) traces from the effects of capacitive coupling from a modulated Vcom layer in an adjacent liquid crystal display (LCD) or any source of capacitive coupling, the row traces can be widened to shield the column traces, and the row traces can be placed closer to the LCD. In particular, the rows can be widened so that there is spacing of about 30 microns between adjacent row traces. In this manner, the row traces can serve the dual functions of driving the touch sensor panel, and also the function of shielding the more sensitive column (sense) traces from the effects of capacitive coupling.

Abstract: An input/output device for a computing device including one or more touch sensors and one or more force sensors. The touch sensors sense data including one or more locations at which a contact or near-contact occurs. The force sensor sense data including a measure of an amount of force presented at the one or more locations at which a contact occurs. The touch sensors and the force sensors responsive to signals occurring in response to whether the signals are in response to contact or in response to an amount of force. The input/output device also includes one or more circuits coupled to the touch sensors and to the force sensors, and capable of combining information from both sensors.

Abstract: The use of one or more proximity sensors in combination with one or more touch sensors in a multi-touch panel to detect the presence of a finger, body part or other object and control or trigger one or more functions in accordance with an “image” of touch provided by the sensor outputs is disclosed. In some embodiments, one or more infrared (IR) proximity sensors can be driven with a specific stimulation frequency and emit IR light from one or more areas, which can in some embodiments correspond to one or more multi-touch sensor “pixel” locations. The reflected IR signal, if any, can be demodulated using synchronous demodulation. In some embodiments, both physical interfaces (touch and proximity sensors) can be connected to analog channels in the same electrical core.

Abstract: A computing device is disclosed. The computing device includes a housing having an illuminable portion. The computing device also includes a light device disposed inside the housing. The light device is configured to illuminate the illuminable portion.

Abstract: Rotary encoders suitable for inclusion within small form factor devices (e.g., as input devices to small form factor electronic devices) are disclosed. In one aspect, a light source can illuminate a pattern on a rotatable shaft in order to reflect the pattern onto an array of optical sensors. Each optical sensor from the array of optical sensors can be polled at the same time to yield a snapshot vector. The snapshot vector can be projected onto a subspace spanned by two vectors selected in part on the pattern of the rotatable shaft and the distance separating the shaft and array. The resulting projection can be used to determine error and phase of the reflected pattern across the array of optical sensors. The phase of the reflected pattern can correlate to rotation of the shaft.

Abstract: An electronic device may have a housing in which components such as a display are mounted. A strain gauge may be mounted on a layer of the display such as a cover layer or may be mounted on a portion of the housing or other support structure. The layer of material on which the strain gauge is mounted may be configured to flex in response to pressure applied by a finger of a user. The strain gauge may serve as a button for the electronic device or may form part of other input circuitry. A differential amplifier and analog-to-digital converter circuit may be used to gather and process strain gauge signals. The strain gauge may be formed form variable resistor structures that make up part of a bridge circuit that is coupled to the differential amplifier. The bridge circuit may be configured to reduce the impact of capacitively coupled noise.

Abstract: An input/output device for a computing device including one or more touch sensors and one or more force sensors. The touch sensors sense data including one or more locations at which a contact or near-contact occurs. The force sensor sense data including a measure of an amount of force presented at the one or more locations at which a contact occurs. The touch sensors and the force sensors responsive to signals occurring in response to whether the signals are in response to contact or in response to an amount of force. The input/output device also includes one or more circuits coupled to the touch sensors and to the force sensors, and capable of combining information from both sensors.

Abstract: A capacitive fingerprint sensor that may be formed of an array of sensing elements. Each capacitive sensing element of the array may register a voltage that varies with the capacitance of a capacitive coupling. A finger may capacitively couple to the individual capacitive sensing elements of the sensor, such that the sensor may sense a capacitance between each capacitive sensing element and the flesh of the fingerprint. The capacitance signal may be detected by sensing the change in voltage on the capacitive sensing element as the relative voltage between the finger and the sensing chip is changed. Alternately, the capacitance signal may be detected by sensing the change in charge received by the capacitive sensing elements as the relative voltage between the finger and the sensing chip is changed.

Abstract: Input members with capacitive sensors are disclosed. In one embodiment of an electronic button, a first circuit is configured to capture a fingerprint of a user's finger placed on the electronic button, and a second circuit is configured to sense a force applied to the electronic button by the user's finger. The first circuit is further configured to provide temperature information to compensate for temperature sensitivities of the second circuit, and the second circuit is further configured to provide force information to the first circuit.

Abstract: This relates to adding multi-touch functionality to a display without the need of a separate multi-touch panel or layer overlaying the display. Instead, embodiments of the invention can advantageously utilize existing display circuitry to provide multi-touch functionality while adding relatively little circuitry that is specific to the multi-touch functionality. Thus, by sharing circuitry for the display and the multi-touch functionalities, embodiments of the invention can be implemented at a lower cost than the alternative of superimposing additional multi-touch related layers onto an existing display panel. Furthermore, since the display and multi-touch functionality can be implemented on the same circuit, they can be synchronized so that noise resulting from the display functionality does not detrimentally affect the multi-touch functionality and vice versa.

Abstract: Input members with capacitive sensors are disclosed. In one embodiment of an electronic button, a first circuit is configured to capture a fingerprint of a user's finger placed on the electronic button, and a second circuit is configured to sense a force applied to the electronic button by the user's finger. The first circuit is further configured to provide temperature information to compensate for temperature sensitivities of the second circuit, and the second circuit is further configured to provide force information to the first circuit.

Abstract: A space-efficient substantially transparent mutual capacitance touch sensor panel can be created by forming columns made of a substantially transparent conductive material on one side of a first substantially transparent substrate, forming rows made of the substantially transparent conductive material on one side of a second substantially transparent substrate and bringing column connections down to the second substrate. The columns can be routed off-panel at an edge of the second substrate. In some examples, the first and second transparent substrates formed from polyethylene terephthalate (PET). In some examples, the substantially transparent conductive material formed from Indium Tin Oxide (ITO).

Abstract: A polarizer includes a polarizer component having a top surface and an opposite bottom surface. The bottom surface is configured to couple to a color filter layer for a liquid crystal display. The polarizer also includes a transparent conducting layer disposed over the top surface. The transparent conducting layer being configured to electrically shield the LCD from a touch panel. The polarizer further includes a coating layer disposed over the transparent conducting layer.

Abstract: Flexible circuits for routing signals of a device, such as a touch sensor panel of a touch sensitive device, are provided. The flexible circuit can include a first set of traces for routing a first set of lines and a second set of traces for routing a second set of lines. The first set of traces can couple together the ends of at least a portion of the first set of lines. Additionally, the first set of traces can be non-intersecting or non-overlapping with the second set of traces. The flexible circuit can have a T-shape configuration and can be incorporated within a touch sensitive device, display device, printed circuit board, or the like. The flexible circuit can be placed over another flexible circuit, and can extend onto the device.

Abstract: A method for receiving data from an input device to a computing device through a touch interface. The method includes detecting an input device, synchronizing with the input device by receiving a position signal and activating an input device scan of the touch interface, receiving a data signal from the input device through at least one of a sense line or a drive line of the touch interface, and scanning the touch interface for a touch input by applying a stimulation signal to the at least one drive line and analyzing the at least one sense line.

Abstract: An electronic device may have a housing in which components such as a display are mounted. A strain gauge may be mounted on a layer of the display such as a cover layer or may be mounted on a portion of the housing or other support structure. The layer of material on which the strain gauge is mounted may be configured to flex in response to pressure applied by a finger of a user. The strain gauge may serve as a button for the electronic device or may form part of other input circuitry. A differential amplifier and analog-to-digital converter circuit may be used to gather and process strain gauge signals. The strain gauge may be formed form variable resistor structures that make up part of a bridge circuit that is coupled to the differential amplifier. The bridge circuit may be configured to reduce the impact of capacitively coupled noise.

Abstract: A touch sensor panel configured to detect objects touching the panel as well as objects that are at a varying proximity to the touch sensor panel. The touch sensor panel includes circuitry that can configure the panel in a mutual capacitance (near field) architecture or a self-capacitance (far field and super far field) architecture. The touch sensor panel can also include circuitry that works to minimize an effect that a parasitic capacitance can have on the ability of the touch sensor panel to reliably detect touch and proximity events.

Abstract: Multi-touch touch-sensing devices and methods are described herein. The touch sensing devices can include multiple sense points, each located at a crossing of a drive line and a sense line. In some embodiments, multiple drive lines may be simultaneously or nearly simultaneously stimulated with drive signals having unique characteristics, such as phase or frequency. A sense signal can occur on each sense line that can be related to the drive signals by an amount of touch present at sense points corresponding to the stimulated drive lines and the sense line. By using processing techniques based on the unique drive signals, an amount of touch corresponding to each sense point can be extracted from the sense signal. The touch sensing methods and devices can be incorporated into interfaces for a variety of electronic devices such as a desktop, tablet, notebook, and handheld computers, personal digital assistants, media players, and mobile telephones.

Abstract: In one exemplary embodiment, a portable computer having a display assembly coupled to a base assembly to alternate between a closed position and an open position. Palm rest areas are formed by a touchpad disposed on the surface of the base assembly. In an alternative embodiment, a touchpad disposed on the base assembly has a width that extends substantially into the palm rests areas of the base assembly.