ACTIVE PEN IC WITH A REDUCED AMOUNT OF PADS AND A METHOD THEREOF
An active pen IC includes a plurality of pads coupled to receive a plurality of receive (RX) signals induced from a mobile device, the received RX signals constituting an original group of RX signals. The active pen IC also includes a permuting unit configured to permute the pads such that the received RX signals corresponding to the permuted pads constitute a generated group of RX signals.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an active pen, and more particularly to an active pen IC with a reduced amount of pads.
2. Description of Related Art
An active pen (or pen or stylus) is often used with a mobile device, such as a smart phone, to interact with what is displayed. An active pen adopts an integrated circuit (IC) to process receive (RX) signals induced, for example, from a printed circuit board (PCB). As a resolution or a size of the mobile device is increased, the pads of the active pen IC for receiving the induced signals need be increased accordingly. Therefore, the increased amount of pads substantively occupies precious circuit area.
For the foregoing reasons, a need has arisen to propose a novel scheme to effectively reduce an amount of pads without sacrificing the resolution of the active pen.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn view of the foregoing, it is an object of the embodiment of the present invention to provide an active pen IC having an amount of pads being substantially less than an amount of pads required in a conventional active pen IC with the same resolution.
According to one embodiment, an active pen IC with a reduced amount of pads includes a plurality of pads and a permuting unit. The pads are coupled to receive a plurality of receive (RX) signals induced from a mobile device, the received RX signals constituting an original group of RX signals. The permuting unit is configured to permute the pads such that the received RX signals corresponding to the permuted pads constitute a generated group of RX signals.
Specifically speaking, the active pen IC 11 has a plurality of pads 111 coupled to receive a plurality of receive (RX) signals, induced from the mobile device 12. An amount of the RX signals is substantially the same as an amount of the pads 111. In the embodiment, the active pen IC 11 includes a permuting unit 112 that is capable of permuting (i.e., changing an order or arrangement of) the pads 111. The permuting unit 112 may be implemented by a combination of software and hardware (e.g., circuitry), such as a processor. Owing to the use of the permuting unit 112 in the embodiment, an amount of the pads 111 (of the active pen IC) may be substantially less than an amount of pads required in a conventional active pen IC with substantially the same resolution or size. Therefore, a substantive circuit area may be saved or a resolution or a size may be increased.
In one simplified example, the active pen IC 11 has seven pads P1 to P7 that are coupled to receive seven RX signals X1 to X7. The received RX signals X1-X7 constitute an original first group of RX signals, and correspond to the pads P1-P7, respectively. The pads P1-P7 are then permuted by the permuting unit 112, for example, resulting in an order of P2, P4, P6, P1, P3, P5 and P7, which correspond to RX signals X8-X14 respectively. The RX signals X8-X14 constitute a generated second group of RX signals.
It is observed in
According to one aspect of the embodiment, as exemplified in
According to one aspect of the embodiment, as exemplified in
Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention, which is intended to be limited solely by the appended claims.
Claims
1. An active pen IC with a reduced amount of pads, comprising:
- a plurality of pads coupled to receive a plurality of receive (RX) signals induced from a mobile device, the received RX signals constituting an original group of RX signals; and
- a permuting unit configured to permute the pads such that the received RX signals corresponding to the permuted pads constitute a generated group of RX signals.
2. The active pen IC of claim 1, wherein the pads are permuted such that a combination of any given pad with its adjacent pads is different in each group of RX signals.
3. The active pen IC of claim 1, wherein the pads are permuted such that a distance between two adjacent pads in a group of RX signals is different from a distance in another group of RX signals.
4. The active pen IC of claim 3, wherein any given pad with its adjacent two pads in a group of RX signals has a combination different from a combination in another group of RX signals.
5. The active pen IC of claim 3, wherein any given pad with its adjacent four pads in a group of RX signals has a combination different from a combination in another group of RX signals.
6. A method of reducing an amount of pads of an active pen IC, comprising:
- receiving a plurality of receive (RX) signals induced from a mobile device by a plurality of pads, the received RX signals constituting an original group of RX signals; and
- permuting the pads such that the received RX signals corresponding to the permuted pads constitute a generated group of RX signals.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the pads are permuted such that a combination of any given pad with its adjacent pads is different in each group of RX signals.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein the pads are permuted such that a distance between two adjacent pads in a group of RX signals is different from a distance in another group of RX signals.
9. The method of claim. 8, wherein any given pad with its adjacent two pads in a group of RX signals has a combination different from a combination in another group of RX signals.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein any given pad with its adjacent four pads in a group of RX signals has a combination different from a combination in another group of RX signals.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 5, 2013
Publication Date: Jan 8, 2015
Inventors: Guan-Ying Huang (Tainan City), YAW-GUANG CHANG (Tainan City)
Application Number: 13/936,049
International Classification: H01L 27/02 (20060101);