This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of a Korean patent application filed on Aug. 19, 2015 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office and assigned Serial number 10-2015-0116886, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present disclosure relates to an electronic device and a method of recognizing touches applied thereto. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method of detecting pressure by using a touch sensor included in a touch display panel of electronic devices.
Mobile terminals refer to electronic devices capable of providing users with various functions, such as wireless communication, network access, digital broadcast reception, and the like, so that the users can use the functions anywhere, anytime. With the development of electronic communication technology, mobile terminals allow users to use more various functions. Unlike existing mobile terminals configured to provide only preset functions, recent electronic devices, such as smartphones, tablet personal computers (PCs), and the like, have downloaded various applications from application markets, such as App Store, and the like, and installed them therein, thereby allowing user to functions via the applications.
Most mobile terminals have been equipped with a touch panel. Touch panels refer to an input device configured to detect a user's finger or an input tool, such as a stylus pen, and the like, touching or contacting a particular portion of a screen showing a command, thereby executing the command and providing the function. Touch panels may be configured together with displays, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), or a combination thereof, and the like. In this case, the touch panels serve to provide displaying and inputting functions, i.e., touch screen, so that users can input touches to the screen with the finger or a stylus pen, while viewing the screen.
Touch panels may be implemented as various types, e.g., surface acoustic wave type, infrared beam type, resistive type, capacitive type, and the like. Resistive type and capacitive type of touch panels have been commonly employed by mobile terminals.
In recent years, touch panels have been equipped with pressure sensors for measuring levels of pressure of a touch applied thereto. In general, pressure sensors are placed at outer edges of a touch panel to prevent the visibility of the touch panel from being reduced. Therefore, when a touch panels with pressure sensors is installed to electronic devices, it can more optimally control the electronic devices, using levels of touch inputs detected by the pressure sensors, as well as the touch inputs.
Touch panels with pressure sensors are advantageous in that they can easily detect a level of pressure from a contact region to which a touch is applied, in comparison with an existing capacitive type of touch panels. However, since touch panels with pressure sensors are configured in such a way to have a gap to measure a change in distance between two electrodes, this configuration makes it difficult for them to be applied to mobile terminals. In addition, since touch panels with pressure sensors are configured in such a way to have a center axis and a mobile axis, they are disadvantageous in that not all spots by a touch may be clicked against them. Additionally, since touch panels with pressure sensors need to include additional sensors for detecting change in capacitance according to pressure, they may increase the thickness of mobile terminals in the Z axis and also the manufacturing costs.
Therefore, a need exits for a method of detecting pressure by using a touch sensor included in a touch display panel of electronic devices.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.
Aspects of the present disclosure are to address at least the above-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a method of detecting pressure by using a touch sensor included in a touch display panel of electronic devices.
In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a display, a touch panel with a number of electrodes, placed on the display, a processor electrically connected to the display and the touch panel, and a memory electrically connected to the processor.
In the aspect of the present disclosure, the memory stores instructions which enable the processor to receive a user input applied to at least part of the touch panel, add changes in capacitance formed among at least part of the electrodes, in response to the user input, and determine a level of pressure of the user input against the touch panel, based on a sum of capacitance changes.
In various embodiments of the present disclosure, the instructions enable the processor to determine a rate of change in capacitance caused by the user input for a preset period of time, compare, when the determined rate of change is a first rate, a sum of capacitance changes with a first reference value to determine the level of pressure, and compare, when the determined rate of change is a second rate, the sum of capacitance changes with a second reference value to determine the level of pressure.
In various embodiments of the present disclosure, the references values that the processor uses to determine the level of pressure are determined in the process of designing the electronic device and stored in the memory.
In various embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor receives touch pressure of a user's individual fingers, transmits data corresponding to the received touch pressure to a server, receives a reference value matching the data from the server, and updates reference values stored in the memory, using the received reference value.
In various embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor sets a pattern of change in touch pressure of the user's fingers, based on the updated reference values, and stores the user identification information matching the pattern.
In various embodiments of the present disclosure, the sum of capacitance changes is produced by adding changes in capacitance formed between electrodes corresponding to areas of the touch panel to which touches are directly applied to. In addition, the sum of capacitance changes is corrected by further including a change in capacitance formed between electrodes of areas of the touch panel to which touches are not directly applied.
In various embodiments of the present disclosure, the instructions enable the processor to receive multi-touches applied to at least part of the touch panel, add changes in capacitance formed by the multi-touches, compare the sum of capacitance changes by the multi-touches with a reference value, and determine the level of pressure based on the comparison result.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a display, a touch panel placed on the display, a processor electrically connected to the display and the touch panel, and a memory electrically connected to the processor. The memory stores instructions which enable the processor to receive a first user input touching a contact region of a selected area on the touch panel, with a first level of pressure, for a selected period of time from a time point that the first user input is applied, execute a first function in response to the first user input, receive a second user input touching another contact region of the same selected area on the touch panel, with a second level of pressure, for the selected period of time from a time point that the second user input is applied, and execute a second function, which differs in type or in degree from the first unction, in response to the second user input.
In various embodiments of the present disclosure, the instructions enable the processor to execute the first function after the selected period of time has elapsed from the time point that the first user input is applied, and execute the second function after the selected period of time has elapsed from the time point that the second user input is applied.
In various embodiments of the present disclosure, the first and second user inputs are applied to individual contact regions of the selected area on the touch panel, with a third level of pressure, after the selected period of time has elapsed.
In various embodiments of the present disclosure, the touch panel includes first and second electrodes, and the instructions enable the processor to obtain plane coordinates of the first or second user input, based on a change in capacitance formed between the first and second electrodes.
Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses various embodiments of the present disclosure.
The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain embodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.
The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the various embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.
The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments of the present disclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
By the term “substantially” it is meant that the recited characteristic, parameter, or value need not be achieved exactly, but that deviations or variations, including for example, tolerances, measurement error, measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those of skill in the art, may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effect the characteristic was intended to provide.
The expressions, such as “include” and “may include” which may be used in the present disclosure denote the presence of the disclosed functions, operations, and constituent elements and do not limit one or more additional functions, operations, and constituent elements. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the terms, such as “include” and/or “have” may be construed to denote a certain characteristic, number, operation, constituent element, component or a combination thereof, but may not be construed to exclude the existence of or a possibility of addition of one or more other characteristics, numbers, operations, constituent elements, components or combinations thereof.
Furthermore, in the present disclosure, the expression “and/or” includes any and all combinations of the associated listed words. For example, the expression “A and/or B” may include A, may include B, or may include both A and B.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, expressions including ordinal numbers, such as “first” and “second,” and the like, may modify various elements. However, such elements are not limited by the above expressions. For example, the above expressions do not limit the sequence and/or importance of the elements. The above expressions are used merely for the purpose to distinguish an element from the other elements. For example, a first user device and a second user device indicate different user devices although both of them are user devices. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be also termed a first element without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
In the case where a component is referred to as being “connected” or “accessed” to other component, it should be understood that not only the component is directly connected or accessed to the other component, but also there may exist another component between them. Meanwhile, in the case where a component is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly accessed” to other component, it should be understood that there is no component therebetween. The terms used in the present disclosure are only used to describe specific various embodiments of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Singular forms are intended to include plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
An electronic device according to the present disclosure may be a device including a communication function. For example, the device corresponds to a combination of at least one of a smartphone, a tablet personal computer (PC), a mobile phone, a video phone, an e-book reader, a desktop PC, a laptop PC, a netbook computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), a digital audio player, a mobile medical device, an electronic bracelet, an electronic necklace, an electronic accessory, a camera, a wearable device, an electronic clock, a wrist watch, home appliances (for example, an air-conditioner, vacuum, an oven, a microwave, a washing machine, an air cleaner, and the like), an artificial intelligence robot, a television (TV), a digital versatile disc (DVD) player, an audio device, various medical devices (for example, magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), a scanning machine, a ultrasonic wave device, and the like), a navigation device, a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, an event data recorder (EDR), a flight data recorder (FDR), a set-top box, a TV box (for example, Samsung HomeSync™, Apple TV, or Google TV™), an electronic dictionary, vehicle infotainment device, an electronic equipment for a ship (for example, navigation equipment for a ship, gyrocompass, and the like), avionics, a security device, electronic clothes, an electronic key, a camcorder, game consoles, a head-mounted display (HMD), a flat panel display device, an electronic frame, an electronic album, furniture or a portion of a building/structure that includes a communication function, an electronic board, an electronic signature receiving device, a projector, and the like. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that the electronic device according to the present disclosure is not limited to the aforementioned devices.
Referring to
The bus 110 may be a circuit which interconnects the above-described elements and delivers a communication (e.g., a control message) between the above-described elements.
The processor 120 may receive commands from the above-described other elements (e.g., the memory 130, the user input module 150, the display module 160, the communication module 170, and the like) through the bus 110, may interpret the received commands, and may execute calculation or data processing according to the interpreted commands.
The memory 130 may store commands or data received from the processor 120 or other elements (e.g., the user input module 150, the display module 160, the communication module 170, and the like) or generated by the processor 120 or the other elements. The memory 130 may include programming modules, such as a kernel 141, middleware 143, an application programming interface (API) 145, an application 147, and the like. Each of the above-described programming modules may be implemented in software, firmware, hardware, or a combination of two or more thereof.
The kernel 141 may control or manage system resources (e.g., the bus 110, the processor 120, the memory 130, and the like) used to execute operations or functions implemented by other programming modules (e.g., the middleware 143, the API 145, and the application 147). In addition, the kernel 141 may provide an interface capable of accessing and controlling or managing the individual elements of the electronic device 100 by using the middleware 143, the API 145, or the application 147.
The middleware 143 may serve to go between the API 145 or the application 147 and the kernel 141 in such a manner that the API 145 or the application 147 communicates with the kernel 141 and exchanges data therewith. In addition, in relation to work requests received from one or more applications 140 and/or the middleware 143, for example, may perform load balancing of the work requests by using a method of assigning a priority, in which system resources (e.g., the bus 110, the processor 120, the memory 130, and the like) of the electronic device 100 can be used, to at least one of the one or more applications 140.
The API 145 is an interface through which the application 147 is capable of controlling a function provided by the kernel 141 or the middleware 143, and may include, for example, at least one interface or function for file control, window control, image processing, character control, and the like.
The user input module 150, for example, may receive a command or data as input from a user, and may deliver the received command or data to the processor 120 or the memory 130 through the bus 110. The display module 160 may display a video, an image, data, and the like, to the user.
The communication module 170 may connect communication between another electronic device 102 and the electronic device 100. The communication module 170 may support a short-range communication protocol 164 (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (BT), and near field communication (NFC)), or a network communication 162 (e.g., the Internet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a telecommunication network, a cellular network, a satellite network, a plain old telephone service (POTS), and the like). Each of the electronic devices 102 and 104 may be a device which is identical (e.g., of an identical type) to or different (e.g., of a different type) from the electronic device 100. Further, the communication module 170 may connect communication between a server 106 and the electronic device 100 via the network 162.
Referring to
Referring to
The processor 210 (e.g., the processor 120) may include one or more application processors (APs), or one or more communication processors (CPs). The processor 210 may be, for example, the processor 120 illustrated in
The AP may execute an operating system (OS) or an application program, and thereby may control multiple hardware or software elements connected to the AP and may perform processing of and arithmetic operations on various data including multimedia data. The AP may be implemented by, for example, a system on chip (SoC). According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor 210 may further include a graphical processing unit (GPU) (not illustrated).
The CP may manage a data line and may convert a communication protocol in the case of communication between the electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 100) including the electronic device 201 and different electronic devices connected to the electronic device through the network. The CP may be implemented by, for example, an SoC. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the CP may perform at least some of multimedia control functions. The CP, for example, may distinguish and authenticate a terminal in a communication network by using a SIM (e.g., the SIM card 224). In addition, the CP may provide the user with services, such as a voice telephony call, a video telephony call, a text message, packet data, and the like.
Further, the CP may control the transmission and reception of data by the communication module 220. In
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the AP or the CP may load, to a volatile memory, a command or data received from at least one of a non-volatile memory and other elements connected to each of the AP and the CP, and may process the loaded command or data. In addition, the AP or the CP may store, in a non-volatile memory, data received from or generated by at least one of the other elements.
The SIM card 224 may be a card implementing a SIM, and may be inserted into a slot formed in a particular portion of the electronic device 100. The SIM card 224 may include unique identification information (e.g., integrated circuit card identifier (ICCID)) or subscriber information (e.g., international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)).
The memory 230 may include an internal memory 232 and an external memory 234. The memory 230 may be, for example, the memory 130 illustrated in
The communication module 220 may include a wireless communication module 231 or a radio frequency (RF) module 229. The communication module 220 may be, for example, the communication module 160 illustrated in
The communication module 220 (e.g., the communication interface 170) may perform data communication with other electronic devices (e.g., the electronic device 104 and the server 106) through a network. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the communication module 220 may include a cellular module 221, a Wi-Fi module 223, a BT module 225, a GPS module 227, an NFC module 228, and a radio frequency (RF) module 229.
The RF module 229 may be used for transmission and reception of data, for example, transmission and reception of RF signals or called electronic signals. Although not illustrated, the RF unit 229 may include, for example, a transceiver, a power amplifier module (PAM), a frequency filter, a low noise amplifier (LNA), and the like. In addition, the RF module 229 may further include a component for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic waves in a free space in a wireless communication, for example, a conductor, a conductive wire, and the like.
The sensor module 240 may include, for example, at least one of a gesture sensor 240A, a gyro sensor 240B, an atmospheric pressure sensor 240C, a magnetic sensor 240D, an acceleration sensor 240E, a grip sensor 240F, a proximity sensor 240G; a red, green and blue (RGB) sensor 240H, a biometric sensor 240I, a temperature/humidity sensor 240J, an illuminance sensor 240K, and an ultra violet (UV) sensor 240M. The sensor module 240 may measure a physical quantity or may detect an operating state of the electronic device 100, and may convert the measured or detected information to an electrical signal. Additionally/alternatively, the sensor module 240 may include, for example, an Electronic nose (E-nose) sensor (not illustrated), an electromyography (EMG) sensor (not illustrated), an electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor (not illustrated), an electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor (not illustrated), a fingerprint sensor (not illustrated), and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the sensor module 240 may include, for example, an E-nose sensor (not illustrated), an EMG sensor (not illustrated), an EEG sensor (not illustrated), an ECG sensor (not illustrated), a fingerprint sensor, and the like. The sensor module 240 may further include a control circuit (not illustrated) for controlling one or more sensors included therein.
The user input module 250 may include a touch panel 252, a pen sensor 254 (e.g., a digital pen sensor), keys 256, and an ultrasonic input unit 258. The user input module 250 may be, for example, the user input module 140 illustrated in
The pen sensor 254 (e.g., a digital pen sensor), for example, may be implemented by using a method identical or similar to a method of receiving a touch input from the user, or by using a separate sheet for recognition. For example, a key pad or a touch key may be used as the keys 256. The ultrasonic input unit 258 enables the terminal to detect a sound wave by using a microphone (e.g., a microphone 288) of the terminal through a pen generating an ultrasonic signal, and to identify data. The ultrasonic input unit 258 is capable of wireless recognition. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device 201200 may receive a user input from an external device (e.g., a network, a computer, or a server), which is connected to the communication module 220, through the communication module 220.
The display module 260 may include a panel 262 or a hologram 264. The display module 260 may be, for example, the display module 150 illustrated in
The interface 270 may include, for example, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) 272, a universal serial bus (USB) 274, an optical interface 276, and a d-subminiature (D-sub) 278. Additionally or alternatively, the interface 270 may include, for example, SD/multi-media card (MMC) (not illustrated) or infrared data association (IrDA) (not illustrated).
The audio codec 280 may bidirectionally convert between a voice and an electrical signal. The audio codec 280 may convert voice information, which is input to or output from the audio codec 280, through, for example, a speaker 282, a receiver 284, an earphone 286, the microphone 288, and the like.
The camera module 291 may capture an image and a moving image. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the camera module 291 may include one or more image sensors (e.g., a front lens or a back lens), an image signal processor (ISP) (not illustrated), and a flash LED (not illustrated).
The power management module 295 may manage power of the electronic device 201. Although not illustrated, the power management module 295 may include, for example, a power management integrated circuit (PMIC), a charger integrated circuit (IC), or a battery fuel gauge.
The PMIC may be mounted to, for example, an IC or an SoC semiconductor. Charging methods may be classified into a wired charging method and a wireless charging method. The charger IC may charge a battery, and may prevent an overvoltage or an overcurrent from a charger to the battery. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the charger IC may include a charger IC for at least one of the wired charging method and the wireless charging method. Examples of the wireless charging method may include a magnetic resonance method, a magnetic induction method, an electromagnetic method, and the like. Additional circuits (e.g., a coil loop, a resonance circuit, a rectifier, and the like) for wireless charging may be added in order to perform the wireless charging.
The battery fuel gauge may measure, for example, a residual quantity of the battery 296, or a voltage, a current or a temperature during the charging. The battery 296 may supply power by generating electricity, and may be, for example, a rechargeable battery.
The indicator 297 may indicate particular states of the electronic device 201 or a part (e.g., the AP) of the electronic device 201200, for example, a booting state, a message state, a charging state and the like. The motor 298 may convert an electrical signal into a mechanical vibration. The processor 210 may control the sensor module 240.
Although not illustrated, the electronic device 201 may include a processing unit (e.g., a GPU) for supporting a module TV. The processing unit for supporting a module TV may process media data according to standards, such as, for example, digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB), digital video broadcasting (DVB), media flow, and the like. Each of the above-described elements of the electronic device 201 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include one or more components, and the name of the relevant element may change depending on the type of electronic device. The electronic device 201 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include at least one of the above-described elements. Some of the above-described elements may be omitted from the electronic device 201, or electronic device 201 may further include additional elements. In addition, some of the elements of the electronic device 201 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be combined into one entity, which may perform functions identical to those of the relevant elements before the combination.
The term “module” used in the present disclosure may refer to, for example, a unit including one or more combinations of hardware, software, and firmware. The “module” may be interchangeable with a term, such as “unit,” “logic,” “logical block,” “component,” “circuit,” and the like. The “module” may be a minimum unit of a component formed as one body or a part thereof. The “module” may be a minimum unit for performing one or more functions or a part thereof. The “module” may be implemented mechanically or electronically. For example, the “module” according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include at least one of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and a programmable-logic device for performing certain operations which have been known or are to be developed in the future.
Referring to
Referring to
The kernel 310 (e.g., the kernel 141) may include a system resource manager 311 and/or a device driver 312. The system resource manager 311 may include, for example, a process manager (not illustrated), a memory manager (not illustrated), and a file system manager (not illustrated). The system resource manager 311 may perform the control, allocation, recovery, and the like of system resources. The device driver 312 may include, for example, a display driver (not illustrated), a camera driver (not illustrated), a BT driver (not illustrated), a shared memory driver (not illustrated), a USB driver (not illustrated), a keypad driver (not illustrated), a Wi-Fi driver (not illustrated), and/or an audio driver (not illustrated). In addition, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the device driver 312 may include an inter-process communication (IPC) driver (not illustrated).
The middleware 330 may include multiple modules previously implemented so as to provide a function used in common by the applications 370. In addition, the middleware 330 may provide a function to the applications 370 through the API 360 in order to enable the applications 370 to efficiently use limited system resources within the electronic device. For example, as illustrated in
The runtime library 335 may include, for example, a library module used by a complier, in order to add a new function by using a programming language during the execution of the application 370. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the runtime library 335 may perform functions which are related to input and output, the management of a memory, an arithmetic function, and the like.
The application manager 341 may manage, for example, a life cycle of at least one of the applications 370. The window manager 342 may manage graphical user interface (GUI) resources used on the screen. The multimedia manager 343 may detect a format used to reproduce various media files and may encode or decode a media file through a codec appropriate for the relevant format. The resource manager 344 may manage resources, such as a source code, a memory, a storage space, and the like of at least one of the applications 370.
The power manager 345 may operate together with a basic input/output system (BIOS), may manage a battery or power, and may provide power information and the like used for an operation. The database manager 346 may manage a database in such a manner as to enable the generation, search and/or change of the database to be used by at least one of the applications 370. The package manager 347 may manage the installation and/or update of an application distributed in the form of a package file.
The connectivity manager 348 may manage a wireless connectivity, such as, for example, Wi-Fi and BT. The notification manager 349 may display or report, to the user, an event, such as an arrival message, an appointment, a proximity alarm, and the like in such a manner as not to disturb the user. The location manager 350 may manage location information of the electronic device. The graphic manager 351 may manage a graphic effect, which is to be provided to the user, and/or a user interface related to the graphic effect. The security manager 352 may provide various security functions used for system security, user authentication, and the like. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, when the electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 100) has a telephone function, the middleware 330 may further include a telephony manager (not illustrated) for managing a voice telephony call function and/or a video telephony call function of the electronic device.
The middleware 330 may generate and use a new middleware module through various functional combinations of the above-described internal element modules. The middleware 330 may provide modules specialized according to types of OSs in order to provide differentiated functions. In addition, the middleware 330 may dynamically delete some of the existing elements, or may add new elements. Accordingly, the middleware 330 may omit some of the elements described in the various embodiments of the present disclosure, may further include other elements, or may replace the some of the elements with elements, each of which performs a similar function and has a different name.
The API 360 (e.g., the API 145) is a set of API programming functions, and may be provided with a different configuration according to an OS. In the case of Android or iOS, for example, one API set may be provided to each platform. In the case of Tizen, for example, two or more API sets may be provided to each platform.
The applications 370 (e.g., the applications 147) may include, for example, a preloaded application and/or a third party application. The applications 370 (e.g., the applications 147) may include, for example, a home application 371, a dialer application 372, a short message service (SMS)/multimedia message service (MMS) application 373, an instant message (IM) application 374, a browser application 375, a camera application 376, an alarm application 377, a contact application 378, a voice dial application 379, an electronic mail (e-mail) application 380, a calendar application 381, a media player application 382, an album application 383, a clock application 384, and any other suitable and/or similar application.
At least a part of the programming module 300 may be implemented by instructions stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. When the instructions are executed by one or more processors (e.g., the one or more processors 210), the one or more processors may perform functions corresponding to the instructions. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, the memory 230. At least a part of the programming module 300 may be implemented (e.g., executed) by, for example, the one or more processors 210. At least a part of the programming module 300 may include, for example, a module, a program, a routine, a set of instructions, and/or a process for performing one or more functions.
Names of the elements of the programming module (e.g., the programming module 300) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may change depending on the type of OS. The programming module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include one or more of the above-described elements. Alternatively, some of the above-described elements may be omitted from the programming module. Alternatively, the programming module may further include additional elements. The operations performed by the programming module or other elements according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be processed in a sequential method, a parallel method, a repetitive method, or a heuristic method. In addition, some of the operations may be omitted, or other operations may be added to the operations.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, an electronic device is configured to include a display, a touch panel with a number of electrodes, placed on the display, a processor electrically connected to the display and the touch panel, and a memory electrically connected to the processor. The memory stores instructions which enable the processor to receive a user input applied to at least part of the touch panel, add changes in capacitance formed among at least part of the electrodes, in response to the user input, and determine a level of pressure of the user input against the touch panel, based on the sum of capacitance changes.
In an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the instructions enable the processor to determine a rate of change in capacitance caused by the user input for a preset period of time, compare, when the determined rate of change is a first rate, the sum of capacitance changes with a first reference value to determine the level of pressure, and compare, when the determined rate of change is a second rate, the sum of capacitance changes with a second reference value to determine the level of pressure.
In an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the references values that the processor uses to determine the level of pressure are determined in the process of designing the electronic device and are stored in the memory.
In an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor receives touch pressure of user's individual fingers, transmits data corresponding to the received touch pressure to a server, receives a reference value matching the data from the server, and updates reference values stored in the memory, using the received reference value.
In an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor sets a pattern of change in touch pressure of the user's fingers, based on the updated reference values, and stores the user identification information matching the pattern.
In an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the sum of capacitance changes is produced by adding changes in capacitance formed between electrodes corresponding to areas of the touch panel to which touches are directly applied to. In addition, the sum of capacitance changes is corrected by further including a change in capacitance formed between electrodes of areas of the touch panel to which touches are not directly applied.
In an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the instructions enable the processor to receive multi-touches applied to at least part of the touch panel, add changes in capacitance formed by the multi-touches, compare the sum of capacitance changes by the multi-touches with a reference value, and determine the level of pressure based on the comparison result.
In another embodiment of the present disclosure, an electronic device is configured to include a display, a touch panel placed on the display, a processor electrically connected to the display and the touch panel, and a memory electrically connected to the processor. The memory stores instructions which enable the processor to receive a first user input touching a contact region of a selected area on the touch panel, with a first level of pressure, for a selected period of time from a time point that the first user input is applied, execute a first function in response to the first user input, receive a second user input touching another contact region of the same selected area on the touch panel, with a second level of pressure, for the selected period of time from a time point that the second user input is applied, and execute a second function, which differs in type or in degree from the first unction, in response to the second user input.
In an electronic device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the instructions enable the processor to execute the first function after the selected period of time has elapsed from the time point that the first user input is applied, and execute the second function after the selected period of time has elapsed from the time point that the second user input is applied.
In an electronic device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the first and second user inputs are applied to individual contact regions of the selected area on the touch panel, with a third level of pressure, after the selected period of time has elapsed.
In an electronic device according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the touch panel includes first and second electrodes, and the instructions enable the processor to obtain plane coordinates of the first or second user input, based on a change in capacitance formed between the first and second electrodes.
Referring to
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, values at coordinates which are greater than or equal to (or less than) a preset value are used to obtain the variation of the ADC code values, and this reduces the effect of noise that may be created in the process of detecting a touch. For example, although touch sensors are not touched by a particular object, they continue to detect the surrounding environments, e.g., touches by air, moisture, and the like. The preset value refers to a value which may be set to reduce noise. The preset value may be set as a default value by device manufactures when electronic devices are designed. Alternatively, the present value may be set by the users of electronic devices. The embodiment sets the preset value to 20 but is not limited thereto. For example, the preset value may be adjusted to be a relatively low value in order to increase the sensitivity or a relatively high value in order to reduce the influence of noise. In order to determine whether the variation of the ADC code values is within a range of the preset value, the reference value, i.e., a RAW value, may be used. The RAW value may be the average of ADC code values measured in the entire touch panel or a value set according to the stings.
The electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a display, a touch panel with a number of electrodes, placed on the display, a processor electrically connected to the display and the touch panel, and a memory electrically connected to the processor. When the processor receives a user input applied to at least part of the touch panel, it adds changes in capacitance (e.g., a change to a RAW value of ADC code) formed among at least part of the electrodes, in response to the user input. The processor determines a level of pressure of the user input against the touch panel, based on the sum of capacitance changes.
Referring to
The change in capacitance at a non-contact region to which a touch is not directly applied may have the linearity with pressure as shown in
In order to obtain the calculation result, a contact region to which a touch is directly applied needs to be distinguished from a non-contact region to which a touch is not directly applied in operation 430. To this end, a variation of the ADC code values (or the change in capacitance) is measured, and the distinction between a contact region to which a touch is directly applied and a non-contact region to which a touch is not directly applied is performed based on a condition as to whether the measured variation is greater than (or greater than or equal to) a threshold.
After operation 430, the change in capacitance produced at a contact region to which a touch is directly applied is calculated in operation 440. The change in capacitance produced at a non-contact region to which a touch is not directly applied is calculated in operation 450. Thereafter, the capacitance change at a contact region and the capacitance change at a non-contact region are processed by a calculation method, e.g., addition, indexing, applying weights according to the magnitude of change, and the like, in operation 460. Thereafter, the calculated value is matched with reference values in the table shown in
After determining a level of pressure of the touch applied to the touch panel in operation 470, the electronic device determines whether the touch panel operates in a sleep mode, i.e., whether the touch panel receives an additional touch, in operation 480. When the electronic device ascertains that the touch panel receives an additional touch, i.e., the touch panel does not operate in a sleep mode, in operation 480, it returns to operation 410 and performs processed to determine a level of pressure of the additional touch. On the other hand, when the electronic device ascertains that the touch panel has not received an additional touch, i.e., the touch panel operates in a sleep mode, in operation 480, it ends the procedure.
In the following description, methods of calculating changes are described referring to
Referring to
The graph 530 shown in
Referring to
As described above, the process of adding changes in capacitance is performed, considering a contact region in the touch panel to which a particular object, e.g., fingers, is directly applied, and a non-contact region in the touch panel, to which a particular object is not directly applied.
Referring to
Referring to
Although the embodiment is described in such a way that the relationship between the value 696 obtained from a non-contact region and pressure 697 is linear (or inverse proportional, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the embodiment may be modified in such a way that the value 696 obtained from a non-contact region is proportional to pressure 697 according to the design of a touch panel. Therefore, the embodiment is capable of obtaining various correlations between the contact region to which a touch is directly applied and the values of change, based on the monitoring result of the entire area of a touch panel, thereby increasing the degree of precision of measurement using the correlations.
Referring to
In various embodiments for detecting pressure via touch sensors, the change in capacitance may vary depending on users or fingers of the same user. For example, the contact region against a touch panel may vary in area depending on man's fingers, woman's fingers, a velocity of a user's touch, intensity of touch, age of user, and the like. For even one person, the change in capacitance may vary depending on fingers, and this is because the touch panel may receive different pressure by fingers. Graph shown in
As shown in
Referring to
The processor determines a rate of change in capacitance caused by a user input for a selected period of time (e.g., less than 40 ms). When the processor ascertains that the determined rate of change in capacitance is a first rate, it compares the sum of changes in capacitance (a calculation value of ADC code changes) with a first reference value to determine a level of pressure.
Referring back to
This result may also be obtained in the same manner from a case where the index finger applies a touch to the touch panel. When the index finger applies a touch of pressure of 1,500 g-force to the touch panel, the slope of changes at the beginning has a steep rise and then the calculation value of approximately 7,000 is obtained. When the degree of pressing the touch panel is reduced, the calculation value is decreased to approximately 4,000. When the degree of pressing the touch panel is increased from the reduced point to 1,500 g-force, the calculation value is obtained as approximately 7,000 again.
These results are features which appear because the change in contact area of a finger touching the touch panel has a particular value. Although the embodiment is described based on finger touch, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited thereto. It should be understood that the present disclosure can also be applied to various types of tools touching touch panels, varying the contact area, e.g., stylus pens, and the like.
Referring to
In a slope table 810, the initial slope change is categorized by type 1 to type 10, however, it may be arranged according to users. Alternatively, the initial slope change may be calculated, based on a simple slope measured from the graph shown in
In a pressure table 820, the range of change in capacitance for individual cells is set to 500, but is not limited thereto. The range of change in capacitance may be adjusted by a user's input initial touch value. The pressure value measured by a method according to the present disclosure is used to compare relative sizes between input touches. The pressure value may also be used for a method of accumulating data, learning via the data, and measuring the absolute pressure or weight of a user's touch.
Referring to
As shown in
The processor of a mobile terminal receives a user's input touch pattern or measurements of a finger's touches at the beginning or a periodically.
In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor stores, as a personal profile, a pattern or data, calculated from a user's inputs, in the memory. The processor transmits the person profile to a cloud server or a server in the network via the communication unit of the electronic device, and receives reference values, optimized to the user's registered pattern or the change in measurements by the user's fingers, from the cloud server or the server. The processor updates the reference values in the memory with the received reference values, thereby providing more precise levels of pressure to the mobile terminal user. Examples of the update method are a method of updating data stored in the mobile terminal, a method of transmitting/receiving data in real-time via a data communication network, without storing data in the mobile terminal, and providing optimized values to the mobile terminal user, a method of updating a personal profile by backing-up data in a cloud server.
The following description provides a method of inputting a personal profile according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, referring to
Referring to the graphs shown in
Referring to
Although the multi-touch detecting method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is applied to user authentication, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the multi-touch detecting method may be applied to applications related to musical instruments, e.g., a piano, in such a way that a piano piece is played according to levels of touch pressure. The multi-touch detecting method may also be applied to game applications, e.g., a car racing game, in such a way that the accelerator or the brake of a car is controlled according to levels of touch pressure.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of detecting pressure by a touch sensor of an electronic device includes receiving a user input applied to at least part of a touch panel with a number of electrodes, adding changes in capacitance formed among at least part of the electrodes, in response to the user input, and determining a level of pressure of the user input against the touch panel, based on the sum of capacitance changes.
In the method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the determination of a level of pressure includes determining a rate of change in capacitance caused by the user input for a preset period of time, comparing, when the determined rate of change is a first rate, the sum of capacitance changes with a first reference value to determine the level of pressure, and comparing, when the determined rate of change is a second rate, the sum of capacitance changes with a second reference value to determine the level of pressure.
In the method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes storing the references values to be used to determine the level of pressure in a memory.
In the method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the storage of the references values includes receiving touch pressure of user's individual fingers, transmitting data corresponding to the received touch pressure to a server, receiving a reference value matching the data from the server, and updating reference values stored in the memory, using the received reference value.
In the method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes setting a pattern of change in touch pressure of the user's fingers, based on the updated reference values, and storing the user identification information matching the pattern.
In the method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the addition of changes in capacitance includes adding changes in capacitance formed between electrodes corresponding to areas of the touch panel to which touches are directly applied to.
In the method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the addition of changes in capacitance includes correcting the sum of capacitance changes by further including a change in capacitance formed between electrodes corresponding to areas of the touch panel to which touches are not directly applied.
In the method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the determination of a level of pressure of the user input includes receiving multi-touches applied to at least part of the touch panel, adding changes in capacitance formed by the multi-touches, and comparing the sum of capacitance changes by the multi-touches with a reference value to determine the level of pressure.
According to various embodiment of the present disclosure, the mobile terminal (electronic device) is capable of detecting change in pressure using the built-in touch sensors, without requiring a sensor for detecting change in capacitance according to pressure. Therefore, the mobile terminal removes manufacturing costs which may be caused by employing pressure sensors. The mobile terminal also reduces the thickness by removing a gap secured for the installation of pressure sensors between two electrodes.
The above-discussed method is described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations of user interfaces, methods, and computer program products according to embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which are executed via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer usable or computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer usable or computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operations to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions that are executed on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide operations for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.
And each block of the flowchart illustrations may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved.
Certain aspects of the present disclosure can also be embodied as computer readable code on a non-transitory computer readable recording medium. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium is any data storage device that can store data which can be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples of the non-transitory computer readable recording medium include a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random-Access Memory (RAM), Compact Disc-ROMs (CD-ROMs), magnetic tapes, floppy disks, and optical data storage devices. The non-transitory computer readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. In addition, functional programs, code, and code segments for accomplishing the present disclosure can be easily construed by programmers skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains.
At this point it should be noted that the various embodiments of the present disclosure as described above typically involve the processing of input data and the generation of output data to some extent. This input data processing and output data generation may be implemented in hardware or software in combination with hardware. For example, specific electronic components may be employed in a mobile device or similar or related circuitry for implementing the functions associated with the various embodiments of the present disclosure as described above. Alternatively, one or more processors operating in accordance with stored instructions may implement the functions associated with the various embodiments of the present disclosure as described above. If such is the case, it is within the scope of the present disclosure that such instructions may be stored on one or more non-transitory processor readable mediums. Examples of the processor readable mediums include a ROM, a RAM, CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, and optical data storage devices. The processor readable mediums can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the instructions are stored and executed in a distributed fashion. In addition, functional computer programs, instructions, and instruction segments for accomplishing the present disclosure can be easily construed by programmers skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains.
While the present disclosure has been shown and described with reference to various embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2015-0116886 | Aug 2015 | KR | national |