Patent Grant
8686957
This disclosure relates to user interfaces incorporating a visual display and/or a touch-sensitive control.
Part of enjoying the playing of an audio/visual program (e.g., a piece of music, a recorded lecture, a recorded live performance, a movie, a slideshow, family pictures, an episode of a television program, etc.) is the task of selecting the desired audio/visual program to be played. Unfortunately, the increasing variety of choices of sources of audio/visual programs and the increasing variety of mechanisms by which audio/visual programs are able to be stored and played has greatly complicated what was once the relatively simple act of watching or listening to the playing of an audio/visual program to enjoy it.
For example, those wishing to “tune in” an audio/visual program being broadcast must now select a channel on which to view an audio/visual program from as many as 500 channels available through typical cable and/or satellite connections for television and/or radio. Further, it has become commonplace to employ audio/visual devices that are able to be programmed to autonomously tune in and record an audio/visual program for playing at a later time. Still further, it is now becoming increasingly commonplace to obtain audio/visual programs from websites accessible through the Internet, either by receiving those audio/visual programs as streaming data while they are played, or downloading those audio/visual programs as a storable digital file on an audio/visual device for playing at a later time. Yet further, some of these possible sources of audio/visual programs require paid subscriptions for which key cards and/or decryption keys are required to gain access to at least some audio/visual programs.
Those seeking to avail themselves of even a modest subset of such a wide array of options for playing an audio/visual program have often found themselves having to obtain multiple audio/visual devices (e.g., tuners, descramblers, disc media players, video recorders, web access devices, digital file players, televisions, visual displays without tuners, etc.). Each such audio/visual device often has a unique user interface, and more often than not, is accompanied by a separate handheld wireless remote control by which it is operated. Attempts have been made to grapple with the resulting plethora of remote controls that often accompany a multitude of audio/visual devices by providing so-called “universal remotes” enabling multiple audio/visual devices to be operated using a single remote control. However, a universal remote tends to go only so far in satisfying the desire of many users to simplify the coordination required in the operation of multiple audio/visual devices to perform the task of playing an audio/visual program.
Efforts have recently been made through cooperation among multiple purveyors of audio/visual devices to further ease the coordinated operation of multiple audio/visual devices through the adoption of standardized command codes and various approaches to coupling multiple audio/visual devices to enable the exchange of those standardized command codes among multiple audio/visual devices. An example of this effort is the CEC standardized command set created as part of the HDMI interface specification promulgated by HDMI Licensing, LLC of Sunnyvale, Calif. However, these efforts, even in conjunction with a universal remote, still only go so far in making the playing of an audio/visual program into a truly simple undertaking.
A user interface for an audio/visual device incorporates one or both of a touch sensor having a touch surface on which is defined a racetrack surface having a ring shape and a display element on which is displayed a racetrack menu also having a ring shape, and where the user interface incorporates both, the ring shapes of the racetrack surface and the racetrack menu are structured to generally correspond such that the position of a marker on the racetrack menu is caused to correspond to the position at which a digit of a user's hand touches the racetrack surface.
In one aspect, an apparatus includes a display element capable of visually displaying a visual portion of an audio/visual program and a racetrack menu having a ring shape; a processing device; and a storage accessible to the processing device and storing a sequence of instructions. When the sequence of instructions is executed by the processing device, the processing device is caused to: cause the racetrack menu to be visually displayed on the display element such that the racetrack menu surrounds a first display area in which the visual portion of the audio/visual program may be visually displayed; cause a plurality of menu items to be visually displayed in the racetrack menu; cause a first marker to be visually displayed in the racetrack menu; receive an indication that a first manually-operable control is being operated to move the first marker; in response to the indication of the first manually-operable control being operated to move the first marker, move the first marker about the racetrack menu and constrain movement of the first marker to remain within the racetrack menu; receive an indication of the first manually-operable control being operated to select a menu item of the plurality of menu items that is in the vicinity of the first marker at a time subsequent to the first manually-operable control being operated to move the first marker about the racetrack; and in response to the indication of the first manually-operable control being operated to select the menu item that is in the vicinity of the first marker, cause the menu item to be selected, wherein causing the menu item to be selected comprises taking an action to cause the audio/visual program to be selected for playing.
Implementations may include, and are not limited to, one or more of the following features. The touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor may have a ring shape that defines the ring shape of the racetrack surface such that the racetrack surface encompasses substantially all of the touch-sensitive surface. The apparatus may further include a manually operable control, and a casing wherein the touch sensor is disposed on the casing relative to the manually operable control such that the touch-sensitive surface surrounds the manually operable control.
Alternatively, the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor may be a continuous surface having no hole interrupting the touch-sensitive surface formed therethrough, where the ring shape of the racetrack surface is defined on the touch-sensitive surface to encompass a first portion of the touch-sensitive surface and is defined to be positioned about the periphery of the touch-sensitive surface so as to surround a second portion of the touch-sensitive surface, and a navigation surface is defined on the touch-sensitive surface to encompass the second portion. At least one ridge may be formed in the touch-sensitive surface, wherein the at least one ridge also at least partly defines the ring shape of the racetrack surface. The processing device may be caused by the sequence of instructions to define the first and second portions of the touch-sensitive surface by: monitoring activity on the touch-sensitive surface; treating the receipt of an indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface at a location within the first portion as the indication of the digit touching the racetrack surface at the position; treating the receipt of an indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface at a location within the second portion as an indication of the digit operating a navigation control; and in response to the indication of the digit touching the navigation control, causing a command to be transmitted to a source of the audio/visual program to operate a function of another menu associated with the source.
The apparatus may further include a source interface operable to transmit commands to a source of the audio/visual program; wherein execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device further causes the processing device to receive an indication of the manually-operable control being operated; and in response to the indication of the manually-operable control being operated, operate the source interface to transmit a command to the source to cause the source to visually display a navigation menu of the source on the display element. The menu may have a ring shape that substantially corresponds to the ring shape of the racetrack surface. The ring shape of both the racetrack surface and the menu may be a rectangular ring shape such that the racetrack surface comprises four sides and the menu comprises four sides that correspond to the four sides of the racetrack surface. The ring shape of the menu may surround a display area in which a visual portion of the audio/visual program is displayed at a time when the audio/visual program is played.
Execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device may further causes the processing device to cause the menu to be visually displayed in response to the indication of the digit touching the racetrack surface at the position at a time when the menu is not being visually displayed. Execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device may further cause the processing device to cause the menu to be visually displayed in response to the indication of the digit touching the racetrack surface followed by an indication of the digit moving about the racetrack surface in a wiping motion starting at the position at a time when the menu is not being visually displayed; and cause a command concerning playing the audio/visual program to be transmitted to a source of the audio/visual program in response to the indication of the digit touching the racetrack surface followed by an indication of the digit ceasing to touch the racetrack surface at a time when the menu is not being visually displayed. Execution of the sequence of instructions by the processing device may further cause the processing device to cause the menu to be visually displayed in response to the indication of the digit touching the racetrack surface followed by an indication of the digit remaining in contact with the racetrack surface for at least a predetermined period of time at a time when the menu is not being visually displayed; and cause a command concerning playing the audio/visual program to be transmitted to a source of the audio/visual program in response to the indication of the digit touching the racetrack surface followed by an indication of the digit ceasing to touch the racetrack surface at a time when the menu is not being visually displayed.
In one aspect, a method includes receiving an indication of a digit of a hand of a user touching a racetrack surface at a position on the racetrack surface, wherein the racetrack surface is defined on a touch-sensitive surface of a touch sensor to encompass at least a portion of the touch-sensitive surface and is operable by the digit; in response to the indication of the digit touching the racetrack surface at the position, causing a marker to be visually displayed at a location that corresponds to the position on the racetrack surface on a menu that is visually displayed on a display element; receiving an indication of the position at which the digit touches the racetrack surface being moved about the racetrack surface; in response to the indication of the position being moved about the racetrack surface, causing the marker to be moved about the menu in a manner that corresponds to the manner in which the position is being moved about the racetrack; receiving an indication of the user increasing the pressure with which the user's digit touches the racetrack surface at the position at a time subsequent to receiving the indication of the position being moved about the racetrack; and in response to the indication of the user increasing pressure with which the user's digit touches the racetrack surface at the position, causing a menu item displayed in the vicinity of the marker to be selected, wherein causing the menu item to be selected comprises taking an action to cause an audio/visual program to be selected for playing.
Implementations may include, and are not limited to, one or more of the following features. The method may further include defining the racetrack surface on a first portion of the touch-sensitive surface and defining a navigation surface on a second portion of the touch-sensitive surface such that the ring shape of the racetrack surface surrounds the navigation surface by: monitoring activity on the touch-sensitive surface; treating the receipt of an indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface at a location within the first portion as the receiving of the indication of the digit touching the racetrack surface at the position; treating the receipt of an indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface at a location within the second portion as receiving an indication of the digit operating a navigation control; and in response to the indication of the digit touching the navigation control, causing a command to be transmitted to a source of the audio/visual program to operate a function of another menu associated with the source. Alternatively and/or additionally, the method may further include displaying the menu on the display element with a ring shape that substantially corresponds to the ring shape of the racetrack surface; and perhaps further include surrounding a display area on the display element with the menu, wherein a visual portion of the audio/visual program is displayed in the display area at a time when the audio/visual program is played. The ring shape of both the racetrack surface and the menu may be a rectangular ring shape such that the racetrack surface comprises four sides and the menu comprises four sides that correspond to the four sides of the racetrack surface.
The method may further include displaying the menu on the display element in response to the indication of the digit touching the racetrack surface at the position at a time when the menu is not being visually displayed. The method may further include displaying the menu on the display element in response to the indication of the digit touching the racetrack surface followed by receiving an indication of the digit moving about the racetrack surface in a wiping motion starting at the position at a time when the menu is not being visually displayed; and transmitting a command concerning playing the audio/visual program to a source of the audio/visual program in response to the indication of the digit touching the racetrack surface followed by receiving an indication of the digit ceasing to touch the racetrack surface at a time when the menu is not being visually displayed. The method may further include displaying the menu on the display element in response to the indication of the digit touching the racetrack surface followed by receiving an indication of the digit remaining in contact with the racetrack surface for at least a predetermined period of time at a time when the menu is not being visually displayed; and transmitting a command concerning playing the audio/visual program to a source of the audio/visual program in response to the indication of the digit touching the racetrack surface followed by receiving an indication of the digit ceasing to touch the racetrack surface at a time when the menu is not being visually displayed.
A user interface for an audio/visual device incorporates a touch sensor having multiple adjacently positioned control surfaces defined thereon by a processing device in which adjacent ones of the control surfaces share boundaries by which a user may move a tip of a digit from one of the control surfaces directly to an adjacent one of the control surfaces by moving that tip across a boundary shared between them, and in which the surface area of whichever one of the control surfaces a user's finger overlies at a given moment is expanded in size to increase the distance by which the user must move that tip to reposition that tip from overlying that one of the control surfaces to overlying an adjacent one, and is reduced in size to a size corresponding to an absolute mapping when a person does so move that tip.
In one aspect, an apparatus includes a touch sensor having a touch-sensitive surface that is manually operable with a digit of a hand of a user, a processing device, and a storage accessible to the processing device and storing a sequence of instructions. When executed by the processing device, the sequence of instructions causes the processing device to: define a plurality of control surfaces on the touch-sensitive surface at adjacent positions that form a geometric shape, that enable a user to move a tip of the digit across the touch-sensitive surface in a manner that moves from one of the control surfaces of the plurality of control surfaces to another of the control surfaces of the plurality of control surfaces, and that enables the user to so move the tip to cross a boundary shared by the one of the control surfaces and the other of the control surfaces; and receive an indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor at a position overlying a surface area of a first control surface of the plurality of control surfaces. In response to the indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface at the position the processing device is further caused to: cause a marker to be visually displayed at a first location on a menu in the vicinity of a first menu item, wherein the menu is visually displayed on a display element; and shift a first boundary shared by the first control surface with a second control surface of the plurality of control surfaces into a surface area of the second control surface to expand the surface area of the first control surface to increase a distance by which the user must move the tip to cause the tip to cease to overlie the first control surface and cause the tip to overlie the second control surface. The processing device is further caused to receive an indication of the position at which the digit touches the touch-sensitive surface being moved from overlying the surface area of the first control surface to overlying the surface area of the second control surface; and in response to the indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface at the position: cause the marker to be visually displayed at a second location on the menu in the vicinity of a second menu item; and shift the first boundary shared by the first control surface with the second control surface into the surface area of the first control surface to expand the surface area of the second control surface to increase a distance by which the user must move the tip to cause the tip to cease to overlie the second control surface and cause the tip to overlie the first control surface.
Implementations may include, and are not limited to, one or more of the following features. The geometric shape formed by the plurality of control surfaces may be a ring shape such that the plurality of control surfaces form a racetrack surface, and the menu may have a geometric shape that mirrors the ring shape formed by the plurality of control surfaces such that the menu is a racetrack menu. The sequence of instructions may further cause the processing device to, in response to the indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface at the position, shift a second boundary shared by the second control surface with a third control surface of the plurality of control surfaces into a surface area of the third control surface to at least partially maintain the surface area of the second control surface as the first boundary is shifted into the surface area of the second control surface to increase a distance by which the user must move the tip to cause the tip to cease to overlie the first control surface, cause the tip to pass over the second control surface and cause the tip to overlie the third control surface.
In another aspect, a method includes defining a plurality of control surfaces on a touch-sensitive surface of a manually-operable touch sensor at adjacent positions that form a geometric shape, that enable a user to move a tip of the digit across the touch-sensitive surface in a manner that moves from one of the control surfaces of the plurality of control surfaces to another of the control surfaces of the plurality of control surfaces, and that enables the user to so move the tip to cross a boundary shared by the one of the control surfaces and the other of the control surfaces; and receiving an indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor at a position overlying a surface area of a first control surface of the plurality of control surfaces. The method further includes in response to the indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface at the position: visually displaying a marker at a first location on a menu in the vicinity of a first menu item, wherein the menu is visually displayed on a display element; and shifting a first boundary shared by the first control surface with a second control surface of the plurality of control surfaces into a surface area of the second control surface to expand the surface area of the first control surface to increase a distance by which the user must move the tip to cause the tip to cease to overlie the first control surface and cause the tip to overlie the second control surface. The method further includes receiving an indication of the position at which the digit touches the touch-sensitive surface being moved from overlying the surface area of the first control surface to overlying the surface area of the second control surface; and in response to the indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface at the position: visually displaying the marker at a second location on the menu in the vicinity of a second menu item; and shifting the first boundary shared by the first control surface with the second control surface into the surface area of the first control surface to expand the surface area of the second control surface to increase a distance by which the user must move the tip to cause the tip to cease to overlie the second control surface and cause the tip to overlie the first control surface.
Implementations may include, and are not limited to, one or more of the following features. The geometric shape formed by the plurality of control surfaces may be a ring shape such that the plurality of control surfaces form a racetrack surface, and the menu may have a geometric shape that mirrors the ring shape formed by the plurality of control surfaces such that the menu is a racetrack menu. The method may further include in response to the indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface at the position, shifting a second boundary shared by the second control surface with a third control surface of the plurality of control surfaces into a surface area of the third control surface to at least partially maintain the surface area of the second control surface as the first boundary is shifted into the surface area of the second control surface to increase a distance by which the user must move the tip to cause the tip to cease to overlie the first control surface, cause the tip to pass over the second control surface and cause the tip to overlie the third control surface.
A user interface for an audio/visual device incorporates the ability to allow a user to interact with two different menus that are displayed simultaneously on a single display element, perhaps one a racetrack menu and the other an on-screen menu of a source device, and incorporates a visual indication of user error that is displayed where the user has operated a first manually-operable control associated with a first one of the menus to move its marker about and has then operated a second manually-operable control associated with the second one of the menus in an apparent errant attempt to select a menu item of the first one of the menus within a predetermined period of time or at a time when it is known that operation of the second manually-operable control to select something is not associated with a valid function, perhaps as a result of the selection of a particular source of audio/visual programs.
In one aspect, an apparatus includes a first manually-operable control operable to move a first marker displayed on a first menu about menu items of a first plurality of menu items that are displayed on the first menu, the first menu being displayed within a first portion of a display element; a second manually operable control operable with a second menu displayed within a second portion of the display element simultaneously with the first menu; a processing device; and a storage accessible to the processing device and storing a sequence of instructions. When executed by the processing device, the sequence of instructions causes the processing device to: in response to receiving a first indication of the first manually-operable control being operated to move the first marker about menu items of the first plurality of menu items, cause the first marker to move about menu items of the first plurality of menu items; and in response to receiving a second indication of the second manually-operable control being operated to make a selection within a predetermined period of time of receiving the first indication, cause an error message indicating a user error to be displayed on the display element.
In another aspect, an apparatus includes a display element; a processing device; and a storage accessible to the processing device and storing a sequence of instructions. When executed by the processing device, the sequence of instructions causes the processing device to: cause a first menu comprising a first plurality of menu items to be displayed within a first portion of the display element; cause a first marker to be displayed on the first menu among the first plurality of menu items; cause a second menu to be displayed within a second portion of the display element; in response to receiving a first indication of a first manually-operable control associated with the first menu being operated to move the first marker about menu items of the first plurality of menu items, cause the first marker to move about menu items of the first plurality of menu items; and in response to receiving a second indication of a second manually-operable control associated with the second menu being operated to make a selection at a time that is not appropriate for a user to be operating the second manually-operable control to make a selection.
In yet another aspect a method includes displaying a first menu comprising a first plurality of menu items within a first portion of the display element; displaying a first marker on the first menu among the first plurality of menu items; enabling a second menu provided by a source coupled to an audio/visual device incorporating the display element to be displayed within a second portion of the display element simultaneously with the display of the first menu; in response to receiving a first indication of the first manually-operable control being operated to move the first marker about menu items of the first plurality of menu items, moving the first marker to move about menu items of the first plurality of menu items; and in response to receiving a second indication of the second manually-operable control being operated to make a selection within a predetermined period of time of receiving the first indication, displaying an error message indicating a user error on the display element.
Implementations of the apparatuses and/or the method may include, and are not limited to, one or more of the following features. The first manually-operable control may include a touch sensor having a touch-sensitive surface on which a racetrack surface is able to be defined; the first portion may surround the second portion; the first menu may be a racetrack menu that surrounds the second menu; and the second manually-operable control may include a selection switch operable to select a menu item of a second plurality of menu items displayed on the second menu. The second menu may be an on-screen menu of a source device coupled to an audio/visual device incorporating the display element to provide an audio/visual program to be displayed on the display element.
A user interface for an audio/visual device takes measurements of a touch sensor that are indicative of the current position of a tip of a finger of a user against a touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor on a recurring basis, maintains a predetermined quantity of those measurements in a storage accessible to a processing device implementing at least a portion of the user interface, and employs measurements taken of the touch sensor at a predetermined amount of time into the past in response to an indication of the user having exerted increased pressure against the touch-sensitive surface via the tip to determine the position of that tip at a time relatively shortly before the user began to exert the increase in pressure.
In one aspect, an apparatus includes a touch sensor providing a touch-sensitive surface enabling the position of a tip of a digit of a user to be recurringly determined as the user moves the tip across the touch-sensitive surface while keeping the tip in contact with the touch-sensitive surface, and able to detect an increase in pressure exerted against the touch-sensitive surface through the tip to make a selection; a processing device; and a storage accessible to the processing device and storing a sequence of instructions. When executed by the processing device, the sequence of instructions causes the processing device to: take a set of measurements from the touch sensor indicative of the position of the tip on a recurring basis; maintain a predetermined quantity of the most recently taken sets of measurements indicative of the position of the tip in the storage; and in response to receiving an indication of an increase in pressure exerted against the touch-sensitive surface through the tip being detected: access one of the sets of measurements indicative of the position of the tip taken at a predetermined amount of time into the past; and employ the one of the sets of measurements to determine a position of the tip at a time prior to the increase in pressure being exerted against the touch-sensitive surface.
Implementations of the apparatuses and/or the method may include, and are not limited to, one or more of the following features. The touch sensor may employ capacitive sensing technology that includes a plurality of conductive pads underneath the touch-sensitive surface and formed on a substrate to enable the position of a tip of a digit of a user to be recurringly determined; the substrate may be disposed on a casing of a device in a manner that is inwardly movable to permit the touch-sensitive surface to be pressed inward into the casing in response to the increase in pressure exerted by the user through the tip; and the touch sensor may include a switch to detect inward movement of the substrate as the indication of the increase in pressure exerted against the touch-sensitive surface through the tip.
In further response to receiving an indication of an increase in pressure exerted against the touch-sensitive surface through the tip being detected, the processing device may be further caused to employ what is determined to be the position of the tip at the time prior to the increase in pressure being exerted against the touch-sensitive surface to determine what menu item of a plurality of menu items was intended to be selected by the user through the exerting of the increase in pressure against the touch-sensitive surface. Further, the processing device may be caused to display the plurality of menu items on a display element.
In another aspect, a method includes recurringly taking a set of measurements from a touch sensor indicative of the position of the tip on a touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor as a user moves the tip across the touch-sensitive surface while keeping the tip in contact with the touch-sensitive surface; maintaining a predetermined quantity of the most recently taken sets of measurements indicative of the position of the tip in the storage; and in response to receiving an indication of an increase in pressure exerted against the touch-sensitive surface through the tip being detected, employing the one of the sets of measurements to determine a position of the tip at a time prior to the increase in pressure being exerted against the touch-sensitive surface.
Implementations of the apparatuses and/or the method may include, and are not limited to, one or more of the following features. The method may further include displaying a menu on a display element in which the menu comprises a plurality of menu items selectable by a user through operation of the touch sensor via the tip; and further response to receiving an indication of an increase in pressure exerted against the touch-sensitive surface through the tip being detected, employing what is determined to be the position of the tip at the time prior to the increase in pressure being exerted against the touch-sensitive surface to determine what menu item of a plurality of menu items was intended to be selected by the user through the exerting of the increase in pressure against the touch-sensitive surface.
An apparatus having a touch sensor able to detect the touch of a tip of a digit of a user, having a conductive ring able to detect the approach of the tip towards the touch sensor, having a motion sensor to sense movement of a casing the apparatus, and having components of a controller to place the apparatus in one of a lower power mode after a predetermined period of inactivity has elapsed, a partial power mode in response to an indication of the approach of a tip of a digit, and a higher power state to detect touching of the touch sensor by a tip of a digit. Other forms of proximity detectors may be employed in place of the conductive ring, or the conductive ring may be replaced by one or more elongate conductors positioned about one or more sides of the periphery of a touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor.
In one aspect, an apparatus includes a casing; a power source of limited capacity to provide electric power to the apparatus; a motion sensor to sense movement of the casing; a touch sensor disposed on the casing and providing a touch-sensitive surface enabling a touch of a tip of a digit of a user to the touch-sensitive surface to be detected; a conductive ring disposed about the periphery of the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor enabling an approach of the tip towards the touch-sensitive surface to be detected; a sensor interface coupled to the touch sensor to monitor the touch-sensitive surface for an indication of a touch of the touch-sensitive by the tip and to monitor the conductive ring for an indication of an approach of the tip towards the touch-sensitive surface; a processing device able to access the sensor interface and the motion sensor; and a storage accessible to the processing device and storing a sequence of instructions. When executed by the processing device, the sequence of instructions causes the processing device to: place the apparatus in a lower power mode in response to an elapsing of a first predetermined time period without receiving an indication of the casing having been moved, without receiving an indication of the conductive ring detecting an approach of the tip, and without receiving an indication of a touch of the touch-sensitive surface by the tip, wherein the processing device disables monitoring of the touch-sensitive surface and the conductive ring, and awaits an indication from the motion sensor that the casing has been moved; place the apparatus in a partial power mode in response to receiving an indication from the motion sensor of the casing being moved following the apparatus being in the lower power mode, wherein the processing device disables monitoring of the touch-sensitive surface, and enables monitoring of the conductive ring for an indication of an approach of the tip towards the touch-sensitive surface; and place the apparatus in a higher power mode in response to receiving an indication from the conductive ring of the approach of the tip following the apparatus being in the partial power mode, wherein the processing device enables monitoring of the touch-sensitive surface for an indication of a touch by the tip.
Implementations of the apparatuses and/or the method may include, and are not limited to, one or more of the following features. The processing device may be further caused by the sequence of instructions to: maintain the apparatus in the higher power mode for no longer than a second predetermined time period after the most recent instance of a touch of a tip to the touch-sensitive surface being detected, wherein the second predetermined time period is shorter than the first predetermined time period; and place the apparatus in the partial power mode in response to an elapsing of the second predetermined time period without receiving an indication of the tip touching the touch-sensitive surface following the apparatus being in the higher power mode.
In another aspect, an apparatus includes a casing; a motion sensor to sense movement of the casing; a touch sensor disposed on the casing and providing a touch-sensitive surface enabling a touch of a tip of a digit of a user to the touch-sensitive surface to be detected; a conductive ring disposed about the periphery of the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor enabling an approach of the tip towards the touch-sensitive surface to be detected; a sensor interface coupled to the touch sensor to monitor the touch-sensitive surface for an indication of a touch of the touch-sensitive by the tip and to monitor the conductive ring for an indication of an approach of the tip towards the touch-sensitive surface; and a controller. The controller includes a main portion that comprises a first processing device and a second portion that comprises the sensor interface and a second processing device; the controller places the apparatus in a lower power mode in response to an elapsing of a first predetermined time period without the first processing device receiving an indication of the casing having been moved, without the second processing device receiving an indication of the conductive ring detecting an approach of the tip, and without the second processing device receiving an indication of a touch of the touch-sensitive surface by the tip, wherein the second processing device disables monitoring of the touch-sensitive surface and the conductive ring, and the first processing device awaits an indication from the motion sensor that the casing has been moved; the controller places the apparatus in a partial power mode in response to the first processing device receiving an indication from the motion sensor of the casing being moved following the apparatus being in the lower power mode, wherein the second processing device disables monitoring of the touch-sensitive surface and the second processing device enables monitoring of the conductive ring for an indication of an approach of the tip towards the touch-sensitive surface; and the controller places the apparatus in a higher power mode in response to the second processing device receiving an indication from the conductive ring of the approach of the tip following the apparatus being in the partial power mode, wherein the second processing device enables monitoring of the touch-sensitive surface for an indication of a touch by the tip.
In still another aspect, a method includes placing an apparatus incorporated into a user interface of an audio/visual device in a lower power mode in response to an elapsing of a first predetermined time period without receiving an indication of the casing of the apparatus having been moved, without receiving an indication of a conductive ring of the apparatus detecting an approach of a tip of a digit of a user of the apparatus, and without receiving an indication of a touch of a touch-sensitive surface of a touch sensor of the apparatus by the tip, wherein monitoring of the touch-sensitive surface and the conductive ring are disabled, and an indication that the casing has been moved is awaited; placing the apparatus in a partial power mode in response to receiving an indication of the casing being moved following the apparatus being in the lower power mode, wherein monitoring of the touch-sensitive surface is disabled, and monitoring of the conductive ring for an indication of an approach of the tip towards the touch-sensitive surface is enabled; and placing the apparatus in a higher power mode in response to receiving an indication from the conductive ring of the approach of the tip following the apparatus being in the partial power mode, wherein monitoring of the touch-sensitive surface for an indication of a touch by the tip is enabled.
Implementations of the apparatuses and/or the method may include, and are not limited to, one or more of the following features. The method may further include maintaining the apparatus in the higher power mode for no longer than a second predetermined time period after the most recent instance of a touch of a tip to the touch-sensitive surface being detected, wherein the second predetermined time period is shorter than the first predetermined time period, and placing the apparatus in the partial power mode in response to an elapsing of the second predetermined time period without receiving an indication of the tip touching the touch-sensitive surface following the apparatus being in the higher power mode.
An apparatus in which a conductive ring surrounds the periphery of a touch-sensitive surface of a touch sensor serving as a manually-operable control, wherein a portion of the conductive ring is also between the touch-sensitive surface and another manually-operable control that lacks the ability to sense the mere touch of a tip of a digit of a user. A processing device causes the level of capacitance of the conductive ring to be measured on a recurring basis for instances of an amount of additional capacitance above a minimum capacitance threshold, and employs such amounts of additional capacitance in a comparison to distinguish between the user interacting with a control surface defined on the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor or the other manually-operable control.
In one aspect, an apparatus includes a casing; a touch sensor disposed on the casing as a first manually-operable control and providing a touch-sensitive surface to enable operation of a user interface by a user of the apparatus with a tip of a digit of the user; a second manually-operable lacking ability to sense a mere touch of the second manually-operable control by the tip, and disposed on the casing at a location in close proximity to a portion the periphery of the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor; an outer conductive ring disposed about the periphery of the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor enabling an approach of the tip towards at least portions of the touch-sensitive surface adjacent the periphery of the touch-sensitive surface to be detected; a processing device able to access the touch sensor and the second manually-operable control; and a storage accessible to the processing device and storing a sequence of instructions. When executed by the processing device, the sequence of instructions causes the processing device to monitor a level of capacitance of the outer conductive ring on a recurring basis for an instance of the level of capacitance of the outer conductive ring rising above a minimum capacitance threshold; and in response to an instance of the level of capacitance of the outer conductive ring rising above the minimum capacitance threshold, employ the level of capacitance in distinguishing between an instance of the user interacting with the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor and an instance of the user operating the second manually-operable control.
Implementations of the apparatuses and/or the method may include, and are not limited to, one or more of the following features. The touch sensor may include a conductive pad adjacent the periphery of the touch-sensitive surface at the portion of the periphery that is in close proximity to the second manually-operable control; and to employ the level of capacitance of the outer conductive ring in distinguishing between an instance of the user interacting with the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor and an instance of the user operating the second manually-operable control, the processing device may be further caused to compare the level of capacitance of the outer conductive ring rising above the minimum capacitance threshold to a level of capacitance of the conductive pad. The touch sensor may include a conductive pad adjacent the periphery of the touch-sensitive surface at the portion of the periphery that is in close proximity to the second manually-operable control; the apparatus may further include an inner conductive ring positioned within the area enclosed by the outer conductive ring such that a portion of the inner conductive ring is positioned adjacent the conductive pad in a manner in which the conductive pad is between the inner and outer conductive rings; and to employ the level of capacitance of the outer conductive ring in distinguishing between an instance of the user interacting with the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor and an instance of the user operating the second manually-operable control, the processing device may be further caused to employ the level of capacitance of the outer conductive ring rising above the minimum capacitance threshold together with a level of capacitance of the inner conductive ring.
In another aspect, a method may include monitoring a level of capacitance of an outer conductive ring surrounding the periphery of a touch-sensitive surface of a touch sensor serving as a first manually-operable control and separating the touch-sensitive surface from a second manually-operable control on a recurring basis for an instance of the level of capacitance of the outer conductive ring rising above a minimum capacitance threshold; and in response to an instance of the level of capacitance of the outer conductive ring rising above the minimum capacitance threshold, employing the level of capacitance in distinguishing between an instance of a user interacting with the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor and an instance of the user operating the second manually-operable control.
Implementations of the apparatuses and/or the method may include, and are not limited to, one or more of the following features. The touch sensor may include a conductive pad adjacent the periphery of the touch-sensitive surface at the portion of the periphery that is in close proximity to the second manually-operable control; and employing the level of capacitance of the outer conductive ring in distinguishing between an instance of the user interacting with the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor and an instance of the user operating the second manually-operable control may include comparing the level of capacitance of the outer conductive ring rising above the minimum capacitance threshold to a level of capacitance of the conductive pad. The touch sensor may include a conductive pad adjacent the periphery of the touch-sensitive surface at the portion of the periphery that is in close proximity to the second manually-operable control; the apparatus may further include an inner conductive ring positioned within the area enclosed by the outer conductive ring such that a portion of the inner conductive ring is positioned adjacent the conductive pad in a manner in which the conductive pad is between the inner and outer conductive rings; and employing the level of capacitance of the outer conductive ring in distinguishing between an instance of the user interacting with the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor and an instance of the user operating the second manually-operable control may include employing the level of capacitance of the outer conductive ring rising above the minimum capacitance threshold together with a level of capacitance of the inner conductive ring.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and claims that follow.
a, 3b, 3c and 3d, together, depict possible variants of the user interface of
a and 7b, together, depict additional possible details of the user interface of
a and 10b, together, depict possible variants of the touch sensor employed in the user interface of
a and 11b, together, depict possible variants of the user interface of
a, 13b and 13c, together, depict aspects of a capacitive sensing variant of the touch sensor employed in the user interface of
a, 15b and 15c, together, depict aspects of an alternate form of the capacitive sensing variant of the touch sensor of
a depicts an alternate form of the conductive rings of the alternate form of the capacitive sensing variant of the touch sensor of
b depicts aspects of a resistance sensing variant of the touch sensor employed in the user interface of
What is disclosed and what is claimed herein is intended to be applicable to a wide variety of audio/visual devices, i.e., devices that are structured to be employed by a user to play an audio/visual program. It should be noted that although various specific embodiments of audio/visual devices (e.g., televisions, set-top boxes and hand-held remotes) are presented with some degree of detail, such presentations of specific embodiments are intended to facilitate understanding through the use of examples, and should not be taken as limiting either the scope of disclosure or the scope of claim coverage.
It is intended that what is disclosed and what is claimed herein is applicable to audio/visual devices that employ a tuner and/or a network interface to receive an audio/visual program. It is intended that what is disclosed and what is claimed herein is applicable to audio/visual devices structured to cooperate with other devices to play an audio/visual program and/or to cause an audio/visual program to be played. It is intended that what is disclosed and what is claimed herein is applicable to audio/visual devices that are wirelessly connected to other devices, that are connected to other devices through electrically and/or optically conductive cabling, or that are not connected to any other device, at all. It is intended that what is disclosed and what is claimed herein is applicable to audio/visual devices having physical configurations structured to be either portable or not. Still other configurations of audio/visual devices to which what is disclosed and what is claimed herein are applicable will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
The racetrack menu 150 is visually displayed on a display element 120 disposed on a casing 110 of the audio/visual device 100, and as depicted, the audio/visual device 100 is a flat panel display device such as a television, employing a flat panel form of the display element 120 such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) element or a plasma display element. Further, the audio/visual device 100 may further incorporate acoustic drivers 130 to acoustically output sound. However, as those skilled in the art will readily recognize, the racetrack menu 150 may be displayed by any of a variety of types, configurations and sizes of audio/visual device, whether portable or stationary, including and not limited to, a projector or a handheld device.
The racetrack surface 250 is defined on a touch-sensitive surface 225 of a touch sensor 220 disposed on a casing 210 of the handheld remote control 200, and as depicted, the touch-sensitive surface 225 has a rectangular ring shape that physically defines the shape and position of the racetrack surface 250 such that the racetrack surface 250 encompasses substantially all of the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor 220. However, as those skilled in the art will readily recognize, the touch sensor 220 may be incorporated into any of a wide variety of devices, whether portable or stationary, including and not limited to, a wall-mounted control panel or a keyboard. Further, it is also envisioned that the touch sensor 220 may have a variant of the touch-sensitive surface 225 (see
As depicted, both the racetrack menu 150 and the racetrack surface 250 have a ring shape that is a generally rectangular ring shape with corresponding sets of four sides. More specifically, the four sides 150a, 150b, 150c and 150d of the racetrack menu 150 are arranged to correspond to the four sides 250a, 250b, 250c and 250d of the racetrack surface 250. This four-sided nature of both of the racetrack menu 150 and the racetrack surface 250 are meant to accommodate the rectilinear nature of the vast majority of display elements currently found in audio/visual devices and the rectilinear nature of the visual portion of the vast majority of currently existing audio/visual programs that have a visual portion. However, it is important to note that although the racetrack menu 150 and the racetrack surface 250 are depicted and discussed herein as having a rectangular ring shape, other embodiments are possible in which the ring shape adopted by the racetrack surface 250 has a circular ring shape, an oval ring shape, a hexagonal ring shape or still other geometric variants of a ring shape. Further, where the racetrack menu 150 and/or the racetrack surface 250 have a ring shape that is other than a rectangular ring shape, one or both of the display element 120 and the touch sensor 220 may have a shape other than the rectangular shapes depicted herein.
As will be explained in greater detail, the four sides 150a-d of the racetrack menu 150 surround or overlie the edges of a display area 950 in which the visual portion of an audio/visual program selected via the user interface 1000 may be played. It is this positioning of the racetrack menu 150 about the periphery of the display element 120 and the display area 950 (whether surrounding or overlying the periphery of the display area 950) that supplies the impetus for both the racetrack menu 150 and the racetrack surface 250 having a ring shape that is generally a rectangular ring shape, rather than a ring shape of some other geometry. Where a selected audio/visual program does not have a visual portion (e.g., the audio/visual program is an audio recording having only an audio portion), the display area 950 may remain blank (e.g., display only a black or blue background color) or display status information concerning the playing of the selected audio/visual program as the selected audio/visual program is played, perhaps with the audio portion being acoustically output by the acoustic drivers 130. As depicted, the four sides 150a-d of the racetrack menu 150 are displayed by the display element 120 at the edges of the display element 120. However, it is also envisioned that the four sides 150a-d of the racetrack menu 150 may be positioned about the edges of a “window” of a graphical user interface of the type commonly employed in the operation of typical computer systems, perhaps where the audio/visual device 100 is a computer system on which audio/visual programs are selected and played through the user interface 1000.
As shown in
To operate the user interface 1000, a user places the tip of a digit of one of their hands (i.e., the tip of a thumb or finger) on a portion of the racetrack surface 250 defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220, and a marker 160 is displayed on a portion of the racetrack menu 150 that has a position on the racetrack menu 150 that corresponds to the position 260 on the racetrack surface 250 at which the tip of their digit is in contact with the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220.
When the marker 160 is positioned over a menu item 155 that the user wishes to select, the user selects that menu item 155 by pressing whichever one of their digits that is already in contact with the racetrack surface 250 with greater pressure than was used in simply placing that digit in contact with the racetrack surface 250. In some embodiments, the touch sensor 220, itself, is capable of distinguishing different degrees of pressure with which the digit is put into contact with the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220 on which the racetrack surface 250 is defined in order to distinguish an instance in which the user is pressing harder with that digit to select one of the menu items 155. In other embodiments, the touch sensor 220 is able to function in a manner not unlike a mechanically depressible button in which the additional pressure applied through that digit by the user causes the touch sensor 220 to be pressed inward towards the casing 210 as part of selecting a menu item. This may be accomplished by overlying one or more buttons disposed within the casing 210 with the touch sensor 220 so that such buttons are depressed by the touch sensor 220 as the touch sensor 220 is itself depressed towards the casing 210. Where the touch sensor 220 is able to be pressed inward towards the casing 210, such inward movement may be accompanied by a “click” sound that may be heard by the user and/or a tactile “snap” sensation that can be sensed by the user through their digit to give the user some degree of positive feedback that they've successfully selected one of the menu items 155. Regardless of whether the touch sensor 220 is able to be pressed inward towards the casing 210, or not, a “click” or other sound accompanying the user's use of increased pressure on the racetrack surface 250 to select one of the menu items 155 may be acoustically output through an acoustic driver (not shown) incorporated into the remote control 200 and/or through the acoustic drivers 130 of the audio/visual device 100.
a, 3b, 3c and 3d depict other variations of forms of marker and combinations of markers. As will be made clear, different forms of marker and combinations of multiple markers may be used to enhance the rapidity with which the eyes of a user of the user interface 1000 is drawn to a specific location on the racetrack menu 150, and to aid the hand-eye coordination of that user.
Although the marker 160 was depicted in
a also depicts an optional additional marker 165 that follows the location of the marker 160 and provides a visual “highlight” of which one of the four sides 150a-d the marker 160 is currently positioned within as a visual aid to enable a user's eyes to be more quickly directed to that one of the four sides 150a-d when looking at the racetrack menu 150. Though not specifically depicted, in other embodiments, the additional marker 165 may be implemented as a highlighting, change in color, change in background color, change in font, enlargement or other visual alteration made to all of the menu items 155 that are positioned in that one of the four sides 150a-d.
b depicts the manner in which the marker 160 may be dynamically resized as it is moved about the racetrack menu 150, especially in embodiments where the marker 160 is of a form that in some way overlaps or surrounds one of the menu items 155 at a time in order to take into account the different sizes of different ones of the menu items 155. More specifically, and as depicted in
c also depicts an optional additional marker 162 that follows the location of the marker 160 and provides a more precise visual indication than does the marker 160 of the position 260 of the tip of a user's digit along a corresponding portion of the racetrack surface 250. As depicted, the marker 162 takes the form of what might be called a “dash” positioned along one of the edges of the box form of the marker 160. However, it should be noted that the marker 162 may take any of a variety of forms (e.g., a dot, a circle, an arrow, etc.). The provision of the marker 162 may be deemed desirable in embodiments where the marker 160 moves in the manner previously described in which the marker 160 “snaps” between adjacent ones of the menu items 155 such that the marker 160 does not, itself, provide as precise an indication of the position 260 of the tip of the user's digit. More specifically,
d depicts yet another alternate variation of the marker 160 in a variant of the user interface 1000 in which the racetrack menu 150 is divided into multiple segments, with each such segment serving as a background to one of the menu items 155. As depicted, the marker 160 is implemented as both a change in the color and/or brightness of one of those segments of the racetrack menu 150 and an enlarging of the graphical element representing the one of the menu items 155 (specifically, the numeral “3”) positioned within that segment. As so depicted, the marker 160 might be said to have a form that is a variant of the earlier-depicted box, but a box that is made visible by having a color and/or brightness that differs from the rest of the racetrack menu 150, rather than a box that is made visible by a border or outline.
d also depicts how this variant of the marker 160 is resized to accommodate the different sizes of the different ones of the menu items 155, although this resizing now corresponds to the differing dimensions of different ones of the segments into which the racetrack menu 150 is divided. In some variants, each of the segments may be individually sized to fit the visual size and shape of its corresponding one of the menu items 155, as depicted in
Still other embodiments may incorporate the touch sensor 220 directly on a user accessible portion of one or both of the audio/visual devices 100 and 900, either in addition to or as an alternative to providing the touch sensor 220 on the remote control 200. Indeed,
Returning to
In embodiments where one of the sources 901-904 is not incorporated into the same audio/visual device as the controller 500, and where that one of the sources 901-904 is coupled to the controller 500 via an interface of the controller 500 employing a connector, any of a variety of types of electrical and/or optical signaling conveyed via electrically and/or optically conductive cabling may be employed. Preferably, a single cable is employed both in relaying commands from the controller 500 to that one of the sources 901-904 and in relaying audio/visual programs to the controller 500. However, combinations of cabling in which different cables separately perform these functions are also possible. Some of the possible forms of cabling able to relay both commands and audio/visual programs may conform to one or more industry standards, including and not limited to, Syndicat des Constructeurs d'Appareils Radiorecepteurs et Televiseurs (SCART) promulgated in the U.S. by the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) of Arlington, Va.; Ethernet (IEEE-802.3) or IEEE-1394 promulgated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) of Washington, D.C.; Universal Serial Bus (USB) promulgated by the USB Implementers Forum, Inc. of Portland, Oreg.; Digital Visual Interface (DVI) promulgated by the Digital Display Working Group (DDWG) of Vancouver, Wash.; High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) promulgated by HDMI Licensing, LLC of Sunnyvale, Calif.; or DisplayPort promulgated by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) of Milpitas, Calif. Other possible forms of cabling able to relay only one or the other of commands and audio/visual programs may conform to one or more industry standards, including and not limited to, RS-422 or RS-232-C promulgated by the EIA; Video Graphics Array (VGA) maintained by VESA; RC-5720C (more commonly called “Toslink”) maintained by the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) of Tokyo, Japan; the widely known and used Separate Video (S-Video); or S-Link maintained by Sony Corporation of Tokyo, Japan.
In other embodiments where one of the sources 901-904 is not incorporated into the same audio/visual device as the controller 500, and where that one of the sources 901-904 is coupled to the controller 500 via a wireless transceiver, any of a variety of types of infrared, radio frequency or other wireless signaling may be employed. Preferably, a single wireless point-to-point coupling is employed both in relaying commands from the controller 500 to that one of the sources 901-904 and in relaying audio/visual programs to the controller 500. However, combinations of separate wireless couplings in which these functions are separately performed are also possible. Some of the possible forms of wireless signaling able to relay both commands and audio/visual programs may conform to one or more industry standards, including and not limited to, IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b or 802.11g promulgated by the IEEE; Bluetooth promulgated by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group of Bellevue, Wash.; or ZigBee promulgated by the ZigBee Alliance of San Ramon, Calif.
In still other embodiments where one of the sources 901-904 is not incorporated into the same audio/visual device as the controller 500, a combination of cabling-based and wireless couplings may be used. An example of such a combination may be the use of a cabling-based coupling to enable the controller 500 to receive an audio/visual program from that one of the sources 901-904, while an infrared transmitter coupled to the controller 500 may be positioned at or near the one of the sources 901-904 to wirelessly transmit commands via infrared to that one of the sources 901-904. Still further, although
Some of the above-listed industry standards include specifications of commands that may be transmitted between audio/visual devices to control access to and/or control the playing of audio/visual programs, including most notably, SCART, IEEE-1394, USB, HDMI, and Bluetooth. Where such an industry standard for coupling the controller 500 to one or more of the sources 901-904 is employed, the controller 500 may limit the commands transmitted to one or more of the sources 901-904 to the commands specified by that industry standard and map one or more of those commands to corresponding ones of the menu items 155 such that a user is able to cause the controller 500 to send those commands to one or more of the sources 901-904 by selecting those corresponding ones of the menu items 155. However, where the benefit of such a standardized command set is unavailable, the controller 500 may employ any of a wide variety of approaches to identify one or more of the sources 901-904 to an extent necessary to “learn” what commands are appropriate to transmit and the manner in which they must be transmitted.
A user of the user interface 1000 may select one of the sources 901-904 as part of selecting an audio/visual program for being played by employing the racetrack surface 250 and the marker 160 to select one or more of the menu items 155 shown on the racetrack menu 150, such as the “I” through “IV” menu items 155 depicted as displayed by the controller 500 on the side 150c of the racetrack menu 150. Those menu items 155 depicted on the side 150c correspond to the sources 901 through 904, which are depicted as bearing the labels “source I” through “source IV” in
The selection of one of the sources 901-904 may further cause the controller 500 to alter the quantity and types of menu items 155 displayed on one or more of the sides 150a-d of the racetrack menu 150 such that the displayed menu items 155 more closely correspond to the functions supported by whichever one of the sources 901-904 that has been selected. This changing display of at least a subset of the menu items 155 enables the user to operate at least some functions of a selected one of the sources 901-904 by selecting one or more of the menu items 155 to thereby cause the controller 500 to transmit one or more commands corresponding to those menu items to the selected one of the sources 901-904. By way of example, where the one of the sources 901-904 with the ability to record an audio/visual program was previously selected, the racetrack menu 150 may include one or more menu items 155 that could be selected to cause the controller 500 to transmit a command to that previously selected one of the sources 901-904 to cause it to start recording an audio/visual program. However, if the user then selects another one of the sources 901-904 that does not have the ability to record an audio/visual program, then the controller 500 would alter the menu items 155 displayed on the racetrack menu 150 to remove one or more menu items associated with recording an audio/visual program. In this way, at least a subset of the menu items 155 displayed on the racetrack menu 150 are “modal” in nature, insofar as at least that subset changes with the selection of different ones of the sources 901-904.
The coupling and/or uncoupling of one or more of the sources 901-904 to and/or from whatever audio/visual device into which the controller 500 is incorporated may also cause the controller 500 to alter the quantity and/or types of menu items 155 that are displayed in another example of at least a subset of the menu items 155 being modal in nature. By way of example, the uncoupling of one of the sources 901-904 where that one of the sources 901-904 had been coupled through cabling may cause the controller 500 to remove the one of the menu items 155 by which that now uncoupled one of the sources 901-904 could be selected. Alternatively and/or additionally, where that uncoupled one of the sources 901-904 was already selected at the time of such uncoupling such that a subset of the menu items 155 is displayed that is meant to correspond to the functions able to be performed by that now uncoupled one of the sources 901-904, the controller 500 may respond to such an uncoupling by autonomously selecting one of the other of the sources 901-904 and altering the subset of the menu items 155 to correspond to the functions able to be performed by that newly selected one of the sources 901-904. In contrast, and by way of another example, the uncoupling of one of the sources 901-904 where that one of the sources 901-904 had been wirelessly coupled may or may not cause the controller 500 to remove the one of the menu items 155 by which that now uncoupled one of the sources 901-904 could be selected. If there is a mechanism provided in the chosen form of wireless communications used in the coupling that indicates that the uncoupling is due simply to that one of the sources 901-904 entering into a low-power or “sleep” mode, then it may be that no change is made by the controller 500 to the menu items 155 that are displayed, especially if the form of wireless communications used allows the controller 500 to signal that one of the sources 901-904 to “wake up” in response to the user selecting one of the menu items 155 that is associated with it. However, if no such mechanism to indicate the circumstances of an uncoupling are available, then the uncoupling may well result in an alteration or removal of at least some of the menu items 155 displayed on the racetrack menu 150. Where a previously uncoupled one of the sources 901-904 is subsequently coupled, once again, regardless of the type of coupling, the controller 500 may be caused to automatically select that now coupled one of the sources 901-904. This may be done based on an assumption that the user has coupled that source to whatever audio/visual device into which the controller 500 is incorporated with the intention of immediately playing an audio/visual program from it.
While at least some of the menu items 155 may be modal in nature such that they are apt to change depending on the selection and/or condition of one or more of the sources 901-904, others of the menu items 155 may not be modal in nature such that they are always displayed whenever the racetrack menu 150 is displayed. More specifically, where one or more of the sources 901-904 are incorporated into the same audio/visual device as the controller 500, the ones of the menu items 155 associated with those sources may remain displayed in the racetrack menu 150, regardless of the occurrences of many possible events that may cause other menu items 155 having a modal nature to be displayed, to not be displayed, or to be displayed in some altered form. By way of example, where a radio frequency tuner is incorporated into the same audio/visual device into which the controller 500 is incorporated, then a subset of the menu items 155 associated with selecting a radio frequency channel (e.g., the decimal point and numerals “0” through “9” depicted as displayed within the side 150a) may be a subset of the menu items 155 that is always displayed in the racetrack menu 150. It may be that the selection of any menu item of such a subset of the menu items 155 may cause the controller 500 to automatically switch the selection of a source of audio/visual programs to the source associated with those menu items 155. Thus, in the example where an audio/visual device incorporates a radio frequency tuner and menu items 155 associated with selecting a radio frequency channel are always displayed, the selection of any one of those menu items would cause the controller 500 to automatically switch to that radio frequency tuner as the source from which to receive an audio/visual program if that tuner were not already selected as the source. By way of another example, one or more of the menu items 155 associated with selecting a source of audio/visual programs (e.g., the roman numerals “I” through “IV” depicted as displayed within the side 150c) may be menu items that are always displayed in the racetrack menu 150.
Regardless of what source is selected or how the source is selected, if an audio/visual program received by the controller 500 from that source has a visual portion, then the controller 500 causes that visual portion to be displayed in the display area 950. As has so far been depicted and described, the racetrack menu 150 has a rectilinear configuration with the four sides 150a-d that are configured to surround or overlie edges of the display area 950. However, in some embodiments, it may be that the racetrack menu 150 is not always displayed such that what is shown on the display element 120 of the audio/visual device 100 could be either the display area 950 surrounded by the racetrack menu 150, or the display area 950 expanded to fill the area otherwise occupied by the racetrack menu 150.
As depicted in
In some embodiments, at a time when both the display area 950 and the racetrack menu 150 are displayed, the controller 500 reduces the size of the display area 950 to make room around the edges of the display area 950 for the display of the racetrack menu 150 on the display element 120, and in so doing, may rescale the visual portion (if there is one) of whatever audio/visual program may be playing at that time. In other embodiments, the display area 950 is not resized, and instead, the racetrack menu 150 is displayed in a manner in which the racetrack menu 150 overlies edge portions of the display area 950 such that edge portions of any visual portion of an audio/visual program are no longer visible. However, in those embodiments in which the racetrack menu overlies edge portions of the display area 950, the racetrack menu 150 may be displayed in a manner in which at least some portions of the racetrack menu have a somewhat “transparent” quality in which the overlain edge portions of any visual portion of an audio/visual program can still be seen by the user “looking through” the racetrack menu 150. As will be familiar to those skilled in the art, this “transparent” quality may be achieved through any of a number of possible approaches to combining the pixels of the image of the racetrack menu 150 with pixels of the overlain portion of any visual portion of an audio/visual program (e.g., by averaging pixel color values, alternately interspersing pixels, or bit-wise binary combining of pixels with a pixel mask).
Along with combining the visual display of the display area 950 and the racetrack menu 150, the controller 500 may also combine audio associated with operation of the user interface 1000 with an audio portion (if present) of an audio/visual program being played. More specifically, “click” sounds associated with the user pressing the racetrack surface 250 defined on a surface of the touch sensor 220 with greater pressure and/or with the “snapping” of the marker 160 between adjacent ones of the menu items 155 may be combined with whatever audio portion is acoustically output as part of the playing of an audio/visual program.
In some embodiments, at a time when the racetrack menu 150 is not displayed (e.g., at a time when only the display area 950 is displayed), the controller 500 may do more than simply cause the racetrack menu 150 to be displayed in response to a user touching a portion of the racetrack sensor 250. More specifically, in addition to causing the racetrack menu 150 to be displayed, the controller 500 may take particular actions in response to particular ones of the sides 250a-d of the racetrack surface 250 being touched by a user at a time when the racetrack menu 150 is not being displayed. By way of example, at a time when the racetrack menu 150 is not being displayed, the detection of a touch to the side 250d may cause a command to be sent to one of the sources 901-904 to provide an on-screen guide concerning audio/visual programs able to be provided by that source, where such a guide would be displayed in the display area 950, with edges of the display area 950 being either surrounded or overlain by the racetrack menu 150 as has been previously described.
In a variation of such embodiments, it may be that causing the racetrack menu 150 to be displayed requires both a touch and some minimum degree of movement of the tip of a user's digit on the racetrack surface 250 (i.e., a kind of “touch-and-drag” or “wiping” motion across a portion of the racetrack surface 250), while other particular actions are taken in response to where there is only a touch of a tip of a user's digit on particular ones of the sides 250a-d of the racetrack sensor 250. By way of example, while the racetrack menu 150 is not displayed, touching the side 250a may cause a command to be sent to a source to turn that source on or off, and touching the side 250b may cause an audio portion of an audio/visual program to be muted, while both touching and moving a digit across a portion of the racetrack surface 250 in a “wiping” motion is required to enable the display and use of the racetrack menu 150.
a and 7b, taken together, depict additional features that may be incorporated into the user interface 1000. Where a selected one of the sources 901-904 displays its own on-screen menu 170 (e.g., a guide concerning audio/visual programs available from that source), either in place of a visual portion of an audio/visual program or overlying a visual portion of an audio/visual program, some embodiments of the user interface 1000 may be augmented to support at least partly integrating the manner in which a user would navigate such an on-screen menu 170 into the user interface 1000. In such embodiments, the touch sensor 220, with its ring shape (whether that ring shape is a rectangular ring shape, or a ring shape of a different geometry), may be configured to surround a set of controls for use in navigating the on-screen menu 170 just as the racetrack menu 150 surrounds the on-screen menu 170, itself.
In particular,
b also depicts additional controls 222, 224, 226 and 228 that may be employed to perform particular functions where it may be deemed desirable to provide at least some degree of functionality in a manner that does not require the selection of menu items to operate. In one possible variant, the controls 222, 224, 226 and 228 are operable as a power button, a mute button, volume rocker switch and a channel increment/decrement rocker switch, respectively.
The processing device 550 may be any of a variety of types of processing device based on any of a variety of technologies, including and not limited to, a general purpose central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller, or a sequencer. The storage 540 may be based on any of a variety of data storage technologies, including and not limited to, any of a wide variety of types of volatile and nonvolatile solid-state memory, magnetic media storage, and/or optical media storage. It should be noted that although the storage 540 is depicted in a manner that is suggestive of it being a single storage device, the storage 540 may be made up of multiple storage devices, each of which may be based on different technologies.
Each of the output interface 510, the sensor interface 520 and the source interface 590 may employ any of a variety of technologies to enable the controller 500 to communicate with other devices and/or other components of whatever audio/visual device into which the controller 500 is incorporated. More specifically, where the controller 500 is incorporated into an audio/visual device that also incorporates one or both of a display element (such as the display element 120) and at least one acoustic driver (such as the acoustic drivers 130), the output interface 510 may be of a type able to directly drive a display element with signals causing the display of the racetrack menu 150 and the display area 950 to display visual portions of audio/visual programs, and/or able to directly drive one or more acoustic drivers to acoustically output audio portions of audio/visual programs. Alternatively, where one or both of a display element and acoustic drivers are not incorporated into the same audio/visual device into which the controller 500 is incorporated, the output interface 510 may be of a type employing cabling-based and/or a wireless signaling (perhaps signaling conforming to one of the previously listed industry standards) to transmit a signal to another audio/visual device into which a display element and/or acoustic drivers are incorporated (e.g., the audio/visual device 100).
Similarly, where the controller 500 is incorporated into an audio/visual device into which the touch sensor 220 is also incorporated, the sensor interface 520 may be of a type able to directly receive electrical signals emanating from the touch sensor 220. With such a more direct coupling, the sensor interface 520 may directly monitor a two-dimensional array of touch-sensitive points of the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220 for indications of which touch-sensitive points are being touched by a tip of a user's digit, and thereby enable the processing device 550 to employ those indications to directly determine where the touch-sensitive surface 225 is being touched. Thus, a determination of whether or not the tip of the digit is touching a portion of the racetrack surface 250 and/or the position 260 by the processing device 550 may be enabled. However, where the controller 500 is incorporated into a device into which the touch sensor 220 is not also incorporated (e.g., the controller 500 is incorporated into the audio/visual device 100 and the touch sensor is incorporated into the remote control 200), the sensor interface 520 may be of a type able to receive cabling-based and/or wireless signaling transmitted by that other device (e.g., infrared signals emitted by the remote control 200). With such a more remote coupling, circuitry (not shown) that is co-located with the touch sensor 220 may perform the task of directly monitoring a two-dimensional array of touch-sensitive points of the touch-sensitive surface 225, and then transmit indications of which touch-sensitive points are being touched by the tip of a user's digit to the sensor interface 520.
Although it is possible that the audio/visual device into which the controller 500 is incorporated may not incorporate any sources (such as the sources 901-904) from which the controller 500 receives audio/visual programs, it is deemed more likely that the audio/visual device into which the controller 500 is incorporated will incorporate one or more of such sources in addition to being capable of receiving audio/visual programs from sources not incorporated into the same audio/visual device. By way of example, it is envisioned that the controller 500 may be incorporated into an audio/visual device into which a radio frequency tuner and/or an Internet access device is also incorporated to enable access to audio/visual programs for selection and playing without the attachment of another audio/visual device, while also having the capability of being coupled to another audio/visual device to receive still other audio/visual programs. In other words, it is envisioned that the controller 500 may well be incorporated into an audio/visual device that is at least akin to a television, whether portable (e.g., as depicted in
Thus, the source interface 590 incorporates one or more of an electrical interface 595, an optical interface 596, a radio frequency transceiver 598 and/or an infrared receiver 599. The electrical interface 595 (if present) enables the source interface 590 to couple the controller 500 to at least one source, whether incorporated into the same audio/visual device as the controller 500, or not, to receive electrical signals (e.g., Ethernet, S-Video, USB, HDMI, etc.) conveying an audio/visual program to the controller 500. The optical interface 596 (if present) enables the source interface 590 to couple the controller 500 to at least one source to receive optical signals (e.g., Toslink) conveying an audio/visual program to the controller 500. The radio frequency transceiver 598 (if present) enables the source interface 590 to wirelessly couple the controller 500 to at least one other audio/visual device functioning as a source to receive radio frequency signals (e.g., Bluetooth, a variant of IEEE 802.11, ZigBee, etc.) conveying an audio/visual program to the controller 500 from that other audio/visual device. The infrared receiver 599 (if present) enables the source interface 590 to wirelessly couple the controller 500 to at least one other audio/visual device functioning as a source to receive infrared signals conveying an audio/visual program to the controller 500 from that other source. It should be noted that although the output interface 510 and the sensor interface 520 are depicted as separate from the source interface 590, it may be deemed advantageous, depending on the nature of the signaling supported, to combine one or both of the output interface 510 and the sensor interface 520 with the source interface 590.
Stored within the storage 540 are one or more of a control routine 450, a protocols data 492, a commands data 493, an audio/visual data 495, a rescaled audio/visual data 496, and menu data 498. Upon being executed by the processing device 550, a sequence of instructions of the control routine 450 causes the processing device 550 to coordinate the monitoring of the touch sensor 220 for user input, the output of the racetrack menu 150 to a display element (e.g., the display element 120), the selection of a source of an audio/visual program to be played, and one or both of the display of a visual portion of an audio/visual program on a display element on which the racetrack menu 150 is also displayed and the acoustic output of an audio portion of the audio/visual program via one or more acoustic drivers (e.g., the acoustic drivers 130).
Upon execution, the control routine 450 causes the processing device 550 to operate the sensor interface 520 to await indications of a user placing a tip of a digit in contact with a portion of the racetrack surface 250 defined on a surface of the touch sensor 220, moving that digit about the racetrack surface 250 and/or applying greater pressure at the position 260 on the racetrack surface 250 to make a selection. Upon receiving an indication of activity by the user involving the racetrack surface 250, the processing device 550 may be caused to operate the output interface 510 to display the racetrack menu 150 with one or more of the menu items 155 positioned thereon and surrounding the display area 950 via a display element, if the racetrack menu 150 is not already being displayed. The processing device 550 is further caused to display and position at least the marker 160 on the racetrack menu 150 in a manner that corresponds to the position 260 of the user's digit on the racetrack surface 250. Further, in response to the passage of a predetermined period of time without receiving indications of activity by the user involving the racetrack surface 250, the processing device 550 may be caused to operate the output interface 510 to cease displaying the racetrack menu 150, and to display substantially little else on a display element than the display area 950.
Upon execution, the control routine 450 causes the processing device 550 to operate the sensor interface 520 to await an indication of a selection of a menu item 155 that corresponds to selecting a source from which the user may wish an audio/visual program to be provided for playing, and may operate the source interface 590 to at least enable receipt of an audio/visual program from that selected source. Where an audio/visual program is received, the processing device 550 may be further caused to buffer audio and/or visual portions of the audio/visual program in the storage 540 as the audio/visual data 495. In embodiments in which a visual portion of an audio/visual program is rescaled to be displayed in the display area 950 at a time when the display area 950 is surrounded by the racetrack menu 150, the processing device 550 may be further caused to buffer the rescaled form of the visual portion in the storage 540 as the rescaled audio/visual program data 496.
Upon execution, the control routine 450 causes the processing device 550 to operate the sensor interface 520 to await an indication of a selection of a menu item 155 corresponding to the selection of a command (e.g., “play” or “record” commands, numerals or other symbols specifying a radio frequency channel to tune, etc.) to be transmitted to an audio/visual device serving as a source, and may operate the source interface 590 to transmit a command to that audio/visual device (e.g., one of sources 901-904) that corresponds to a menu item 155 that has been selected. In transmitting that command, the processing device 550 may be further caused to refer to the protocols data 492 for data concerning sequences of signals that must be transmitted by the source interface 590 as part of a communications protocol in preparation for transmitting the command, and/or the processing device 550 may be further caused to refer to the commands data 493 for data concerning the sequence of signals that must be transmitted by the source interface 590 as part of transmitting the command. As will be familiar to those skilled in the art, some of the earlier listed forms of coupling make use of various protocols to organize various aspects of commands and/or data that are conveyed, including and not limited to, Ethernet, Bluetooth, IEEE-1394, USB, etc. In support of the processing device 550 responding to the selection of various ones of the menu items 155, the processing device 550 is further caused to store data correlating at least some of the various menu items with actions to be taken by the processing device 550 in response to their selection by the user in the storage 540 as the menu data 498.
Amidst operating the source interface 590 to enable receipt of an audio/visual program from a source selected by the user, the processing device 550 may be caused to operate the output interface 510 to alter the quantity and/or type of menu items 155 that are displayed at various positions on the racetrack menu 150. In so doing, the processing device 550 may be further caused to store information concerning the size, shape, color and other characteristics of the racetrack menu 150, at least some of the graphical representations of the menu items 155, and/or at least one graphical representation of the marker 160 in the storage 540 as part of the menu data 498.
a and 10b, taken together, depict and contrast two variants of the touch sensor 220. Both variants are depicted in perspective as distinct touch-sensitive devices that are typically mounted within a recess of a casing of a device, including either the casing 110 of any variant of the audio/visual device 100 or the casing 210 of any variant of the remote control 200. However, as those skilled in the art will readily recognize, other touch-sensitive device technologies may yield variants of the touch-sensitive device 220 that are film-like overlays that may be positioned to overlie a portion of a casing or of a circuitboard of a device. The discussion that follows is centered more on the shape and utilization of the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220, and not on the touch-sensitive technology employed.
a depicts the variant of the touch sensor 220 having the ring shape that has been discussed above at length that permits other manually-operable controls (e.g., the navigation buttons 270a-d and the selection button 280) to be positioned in a manner in which they are surrounded by the ring shape of the touch sensor 220. As has already been discussed, the ring shape of this variant of the touch sensor 220 provides a form of the touch-sensitive surface 225 that is bounded by the ring shape of the touch sensor 220, and this in turn defines the ring shape of the racetrack surface 250 (where the racetrack surface 250 is defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225 to encompass substantially all of the touch-sensitive surface 225). Once again, although this variant of the touch sensor 220 is depicted as having a rectangular ring shape having four sides, other embodiments are possible in which the touch sensor 220 has a ring shape of a different geometry, such as a circular ring shape, an oval ring shape, a hexagonal ring shape, etc.
b depicts an alternate variant of the touch sensor 220 having a rectangular shape that provides a continuous form of the touch-sensitive surface 225 that is bounded by this rectangular shape (i.e., there is no “hole” formed through the touch-sensitive surface 225). This rectangular shape more easily enables more than the ring shape of the racetrack surface 250 to be defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225 in a manner in which the racetrack surface 250 encompasses only a portion of the touch-sensitive surface 225 and leaves open the possibility of one or more other surfaces that serve other functions also being defined on thereon. In this alternate variant, the ring shape of the racetrack surface 250 may be defined by a processing device executing a sequence of instructions of a routine, such as the processing device 550 executing the control routine 450 in
Alternatively and/or additionally, one or more ridges 227 and/or grooves (not shown) may be formed in the touch-sensitive surface 225 to at least provide a tactile guide as to where the racetrack surface 250 is defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225. Such ridges 227 may be formed integrally with the touch-sensitive surface 225, may be formed as part of a casing on which the touch sensor 220 is disposed, or may be adhered to the touch-sensitive surface 225. Further, such ridges 227 and/or grooves (not shown) may coincide with locations on the touch-sensitive surface 225 at which the touch sensor 220 is incapable of detecting the touch of a tip of a digit (i.e., the touch-sensitive surface 225 may be made up of multiple separate touch-sensitive portions, of which one is a portion having a ring shape where the racetrack surface 250 is defined).
More specifically, and as depicted in dotted lines in
It should be noted that although both of the variants of the touch sensor 220 have been depicted in
a and 11b, taken together, depict two variants of the user interface 1000 in which more than one display area is defined within the portion of the display element 120 that is surrounded by the racetrack menu 150. These variants enable more than one visual portion of one or more selected audio/visual programs to be played on the display element 120 in a manner that enables a user to view them simultaneously. Also depicted is the manner in which various ones of the menu items 155 associated within only one of the display areas may be positioned along the racetrack menu 150 to provide a visual indication of their association with that one of the display areas.
More specifically,
Also more specifically,
Although
Although
With the simultaneous display of multiple visual portions, there may be multiple audio portions that each correspond to a different one of the visual portions. While viewing multiple visual portions simultaneously may be relatively easy for a user insofar as the user is able to choose any visual program to watch with their eyes, listening to multiple audio portions simultaneously may easily become overwhelming. To address this, some embodiments may select one of the audio portions to be acoustically output to the user based on the position 260 of a tip of a digit along the racetrack surface 250 (referring back to
As also depicted in
To provide tactile guidance to the user as to the location of the racetrack surface 250, one or more ridges 227 and/or grooves (not shown) may be formed in the touch-sensitive surface 225. In this way, the user may be aided in unerringly placing a tip of a digit on whichever one of the racetrack surface 250 or the remaining portion of the touch-sensitive surface 225 that they wish to place that tip upon, without errantly placing that tip on both, and without having to glance at the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220.
It should be noted with regard to the depiction of a possible architecture of the controller 500 in
As has been discussed at length, operation of the user interface 1000 entails a user placing the tip of a digit on the touch-sensitive surface 225 at a position 260 along the racetrack surface 250 defined thereon, moving the position 260 of that tip along the racetrack surface 250 to cause movement of the corresponding position of the marker 160 along the racetrack menu 150 to the position of a particular one of the menu items 155, and pressing that tip against the racetrack surface 250 with increased pressure at the position 260 that corresponds to the position of the particular one of the menu items 155 to select that particular one of the menu items 155. Thus, the user interface 1000 must provide a mechanism to detect both the current position 260 of that tip and the increased pressure applied by the user through that tip to select one of the menu items 155.
Also, as previously discussed, the touch sensor 220 may be based on any of a variety of technologies to at least sense the position 260 of a tip of a digit of a user's hand along the racetrack surface 250 that is defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225. More specifically, the touch sensor 220 may be based, for example, on one or more variants of resistive, optical, inductive or capacitive sensing technology. At least some variants of resistive and inductive sensing technologies are capable of sensing the amount of pressure applied by a user through a tip of a digit, while at least some variants of capacitive and optical sensing technologies are not. Thus, in some embodiments, the touch sensor 220 is able to directly sense the increased pressure applied by a user through a tip of a digit to select a particular one of the menu items 155. And thus, in other embodiments, the touch sensor 220 is made depressible into the casing of whatever device on which the touch sensor 220 is disposed to enable a mechanical switch (e.g., perhaps a spring-biased button switch or other type of switch) to detect such depression of the touch sensor 220 as the mechanism by which this increased pressure is detected (as has been previously discussed).
a, 13b and 13c, taken together, depict details of a variant of the touch sensor 220 based on a form of capacitive sensing technology that senses the proximity of a tip of a digit of a user's hand.
The substrate 2215 may be formed from any of a variety of non-conductive materials to provide a non-conductive physical support surface for the conductive pads 2250, which may be formed from any of a variety of conductive materials. For example, the substrate 2215 may be a printed circuit board (PCB) formed from glass-reinforced epoxy resin or other suitable material with the conductive pads 2250 being formed thereon as part of a copper conductor layer in a manner widely familiar to those skilled in the art of PCB fabrication. Alternatively, for example, the substrate 2215 may be a sheet of polycarbonate or other plastic onto which the conductive pads 2250 are printed using conductive ink. Although the substrate 2215 may be formed from a relatively flexible material, it is preferred that a relatively stiff material be used to maintain the conductive pads 2250 at stationary positions relative to each other. Since the relatively close proximity of a tip of a digit to any one of the conductive pads 2250 is detected as an increase in capacitance of one or more of the conductive pads 2250, and since the amount of capacitance that the close proximity of a tip of a digit is able to add to any one of the conductive pads 2250 is of a relatively small magnitude, it is preferred that the materials and dimensions of the substrate and the conductive pads 2250 be selected to minimize the inherent capacitance of each of the conductive pads 2250. Doing so is likely to make the relatively small increase in capacitance added by the relatively close proximity of a tip of a digit easier to distinguish over the inherent capacitance of each of the conductive pads 2250 that is always present, whether a tip of a digit is in close proximity, or not.
The cover 2210 is layered over the substrate 2215 and the conductive pads 2250. The cover 2210 is meant to provide the touch-sensitive surface 225 on which the racetrack surface 250 is to be defined, and is therefore, meant to be the portion of the touch sensor 220 with which a user is meant to have physical contact with a tip of a digit of one of their hands. As will be made more clear, the cover 2210 is not actually necessary for the operation of the touch sensor 220, and so, the cover 2210 could be omitted, possibly leaving the conductive pads visible 2250. However, inclusion of the cover 2210 is preferred for aesthetic reasons and to provide some degree of protection of the conductive pads 2250 from becoming physically worn and/or being subjected to corrosion (or other destructive chemical process), such that there sensitivity to the proximity of a tip of a digit is degraded over time. The inclusion of the cover 2210 is also preferred to provide a sufficiently electrically resistant barrier between a tip of a digit and the conductive pads 2250 as to at least reduce the likelihood or magnitude of instances of electrostatic discharge into one or more of the conductive pads that may damage the controller 2500, which is coupled to the conductive pads 2250. Further, the cover may be formed from a material chosen to provide a surface over which a tip of a finger may be moved with minimal physical resistance despite the natural texturing of the tips of typical human digits and despite instances where high humidity and/or the presence of perspiration may otherwise act to cause a tip of a digit to “stutter” in a repetitively jerking-like motion as a person moves a tip of a digit across the touch-sensitive surface 225.
In some variations, the conductive pads 2250 are “sandwiched” between the cover 2210 and the substrate 2215 in a manner in which the conductive pads 2250 are in direct contact with both such that there are no gaps of air therebetween. Layering the cover 2210 over the substrate 2215 and the conductive pads 2250 in a manner that does not leave air gaps therebetween serves to enhance accuracy in the detection of the close proximity of a tip of a digit by removing the possibility of relatively large alterations in the inherent capacitance of one or more of the conductive pads 2250 through direct exposure to moisture (e.g., relatively high humidity in the surrounding air or water droplets put in direct contact with one or more of the conductive pads 2250 from either condensation or a user's perspiration). In other variations, another covering material (not shown) is formed over the conductive pads 2250 at the time that substrate 2215 is formed with the conductive pads 2250 thereon, the cover 2210 is positioned over this covering material, and this covering material provides much of the protection against wearing of the pads and exposure to moisture or other damaging substances. By way of example, where the substrate 2215 is a PCB and the conductive pads 2250 are formed as part of a copper layer of that PCB, it is common practice to coat portions of a surface of a PCB with a partially transparent layer of material meant to protect outermost copper layers (e.g., a remaining portion of a solder mask layer). Since the proximity of a tip of a digit is sensed by each of the conductive pads 2250 as an increase in capacitance formed through the cover 2210 (and perhaps through another covering material, if present), it is preferred that the cover 2210 be a relatively thin sheet of material and it is preferred that the cover 2210 (and whatever other covering material may be present) have a relatively high dielectric constant (at least in comparison to air) to enable better capacitive coupling between a tip of a digit and each of the conductive pads 2250.
In this capacitive sensing variant of the touch sensor 220, the shape and location of the racetrack surface 250 on the touch-sensitive surface 225 provided by the cover 2210 is at least partly defined by the rectangular loop (ring shape) formed by the locations of the conductive pads 2250 (the touch-sensitive surface 225 being defined on the side of the cover 2210 facing away from the side of the cover 2210 that faces towards the conductive pads 2250). In other words, the shape and location of the racetrack surface 250 follows the rectangular ring shape formed by how the conductive pads 2250 are positioned on the substrate 2215. This rectangular ring shape provides the racetrack surface 250 with an outer boundary 250x that defines the periphery of the racetrack surface 250, and an inner boundary 250z that defines the periphery of the area surrounded by the racetrack surface 250. As will be discussed in greater detail, it is intended that a user engage the racetrack surface 250 by moving the position 260 at which a tip of a digit overlies a portion of the racetrack surface 250 along the racetrack surface 250, and substantially between the outer boundary 250x and the inner boundary 250z. As will also be discussed in greater detail, one or more mechanisms may be employed to distinguish such engagement of the racetrack surface 250 at locations substantially between these boundaries by the user from other actions by the user that may otherwise be mistaken for such engagement of the racetrack surface 250.
The controller 2500 monitors the level of capacitance of each of the conductive pads 2250 on a recurring basis (e.g., at an interval of typically less than a second in length) to determine the relative proximities of a tip of a digit to each of the conductive pads 2250. As those skilled in the art of capacitive sensing technology will readily recognize, a closer proximity of a portion of a person's body (such as a tip of one of their digits) to a conductive pad of a capacitive sensor generally corresponds to a higher capacitance being added to whatever inherent capacitance that conductive pad already has without that portion of that person's body in that close proximity. The controller 2500 compares (also on a recurring basis) those detected relative proximities of each of the conductive pads 2250 to that tip of that digit (as indicated by the relative levels of additional capacitance imparted to each of those conductive pads 2250 by their relative proximities to that tip) to determine the current position 260 of that tip along the racetrack surface 250. As that tip of that digit is moved about this rectangular ring shape configuration of the racetrack surface 250, whichever ones of the conductive pads 2250 in this rectangular ring shape that are overlain by the position 260 of that tip along the racetrack surface 250 are provided with a greater capacitance by their relatively close proximity to that tip as compared to others of the conductive pads 2250.
As is more clearly depicted in
As those familiar with so-called “slider” controls based on capacitive sensing technology will readily recognize, the enmeshed teeth 2252 of adjacent pairs of the conductive pads 2250 enable each adjacent pair of the conductive pads 2250 to be operable as a “slider” control. More specifically, as a tip of a user's digit is slid across an adjacent pair of the conductive pads 2250 from being positioned to overlie the central region 2251 of one of the conductive pads 2250 towards being positioned to overlie the central region 2251 of the other, that tip moves over the enmeshed teeth 2252 between the pair of the conductive pads 2250. As that tip of that digit moves over those enmeshed teeth 2252, the surface area of the teeth 2252 of one of the pair of the conductive pads 2250 underlying that tip progressively decreases while the surface area of the teeth 2252 of the other of the pair of the conductive pads 2250 underlying that tip progressively increases. This has the effect of causing the capacitance added by the proximity of that tip to the one of the pair of conductive pads 2250 to progressively decrease as the capacitance added by the proximity of that tip to the other of the pair of conductive pads 2250 progressively increases. In monitoring the capacitance of each of the conductive pads 2250 in this pair of the conductive pads 2250, the controller 2500 is able to use this relatively gradual and smoothly changing proportion of additional capacitances added to each one of this pair of the conductive pads 2250 to determine the location 260 of that tip of that digit between the central regions 2251 of each one of this pair of the conductive pads 2250 with an appreciable degree of accuracy.
With the conductive pads 2250 arranged in the generally rectangular configuration of the racetrack surface 250 (as depicted in
c depicts an example of operation of this variant of the touch sensor 220 by a user in which the position 260 of a tip of a digit of that user's hand initially overlies the enmeshed teeth 2252 of a first one of the interposer-type conductive pads 2250q and the midpoint-type conductive pad 2250r that correspond to the side 250b of the racetrack surface 250. Then, as depicted, the user moves that tip along the side 250b in the direction indicated by the darkened arrows such that the position 260 of that tip of that digit overlies the central region 2251 of that midpoint-type conductive pad 2250r; then further to overlie the enmeshed teeth 2252 of that midpoint-type conductive pad 2250r and the second one of the interposer-type conductive pads 2250q of the side 250b; then further to overlie the central region 2251 of that second interposer-type conductive pad 2250q; then further to overlie the enmeshed teeth 2252 of that second interposer-type conductive pad 2250q and the corner-type conductive pad 2250p corresponding to the corner where the sides 250b and 250d meet; and then further to overlie the central region 2251 of that corner-type conductive pad 2250p.
With that tip of that digit initially overlying the enmeshed teeth 2252 of the first interposer-type conductive pad 2250q and the midpoint-type conductive pad 2250r corresponding to the side 250b, the controller 2500 detects a relatively high additional capacitance imparted to both of these two conductive pads by the close proximity of that tip (i.e., as a result of the capacitive coupling of that tip to those enmeshed teeth 2252 of those two conductive pads at the initial location of the position 260 overlying those enmeshed teeth 2252). It should be noted that it is possible, even likely, that measurable amounts of additional capacitance will be imparted by the close proximity of that tip of that digit (and perhaps by other portions of that digit and/or the hand to which that digit belongs) to others of the conductive pads 2250, perhaps even most or all of the other conductive pads. However, since that tip of that digit overlies these enmeshed teeth 2252 of these two particular conductive pads, the additional capacitance imparted to these two particular conductive pads is relatively high in comparison to the relatively low additional capacitance imparted to any of the others of the conductive pads 2250. The controller 2500 identifies which one or ones of the conductive pads 2250 are overlain by the position 260 of that tip of that digit by identifying which one or ones of the conductive pads 2250 have the highest additional capacitance, and perhaps also through the use of a minimum capacitance threshold, as discussed earlier. Greater precision in determining the current location of the position 260 of that tip of that digit is achieved by the controller 2500 comparing the levels of additional capacitance imparted to the one or more of the conductive pads 2250 that are identified as having the highest additional capacitance. For example, as depicted in
As the user moves the position 260 of that tip (in the manner described at length, above) from overlying those enmeshed teeth 2252 and towards overlying the central region 2251 of the midpoint-type conductive pad 2250r corresponding to the side 250b, the controller 2500 detects both a progressive lowering of the relatively high additional capacitance imparted by that tip to the first interposer-type conductive pad 2250q and a progressive rising of the relatively high additional capacitance imparted by that tip to that midpoint-type conductive pad 2250r. As this corresponding lowering and rising of relatively high additional capacitances of these two conductive pads occurs, the controller 2500 is able to determine the position 260 of that tip along the side 250b between the central regions 2251 of these two conductive pads by an analysis of the changing proportion of relatively high additional capacitances imparted to each these two conductive pads by the close proximity of that tip.
As that tip comes to substantially overlie the central region 2251 of that midpoint-type conductive pad 2250r, a relatively high additional capacitance begins to be imparted to the second interposer-type conductive pad 2250q of the side 250b as a result of the manner in which its teeth 2252 reach towards the central region 2251 of that midpoint-type conductive pad 2250r. The controller 2500 is able to determine that the position 260 of that tip along the side 250b is substantially centered over the central region 2251 by detecting the relatively high additional capacitances imparted to that midpoint-type conductive pad 2250r and both of the interposer-type conductive pads 2250p, in which the relatively high additional capacitance imparted to the midpoint-type conductive pad 2250r is the highest of these three relatively high additional capacitances, and in which the relatively high additional capacitances imparted to each of the interposer-type conductive pads 2250p are relatively equal. In other words, the controller 2500 identifies that midpoint-type conductive pad 2250r and these two adjacent interposer-type conductive pads 2250p as having relatively high additional capacitances while others of the conductive pads 2250 have relatively low additional capacitances, and the controller 2500 compares these relatively high additional capacitances to more precisely determine the current position 260 of that digit relative to these three conductive pads.
As the user moves the position 260 of that tip away from being substantially centered over the central region 2251 of that midpoint-type conductive pad 2250r (again, in the direction indicated by the darkened arrows) and over the enmeshed teeth 2252 of that midpoint-type conductive pad 2250r and the second interposer-type conductive pad 2250q of the side 250b, the controller 2250 detects a reduction in the relatively high capacitance imparted to that midpoint-type conductive pad 2250r, detects a further reduction in the relatively high additional capacitance imparted to the first interposer-type conductive pad 2250q, and detects a further increase in the relatively high additional capacitance imparted to the second interposer-type conductive pad 2250q. This progressive shifting of which ones of these conductive pads along the side 250b are provided with the highest of the relatively high additional capacitances being imparted due to the position 260 of that tip of a digit continues as the position 260 of that tip continues to be moved along the side 250b towards the corner where the sides 250b and 250d meet.
As that tip comes to substantially overlie the central region 2251 of that corner-type conductive pad 2250p, a relatively high additional capacitance is imparted to the central region 2251 of that corner-type conductive pad 2250p, and to each of the two interposer-type conductive pads 2250q adjacent that corner-type conductive pad 2250p as a result of the manner in which their teeth 2252 reach towards the central region 2251 of that corner-type conductive pad 2250p. Again, the controller 2500 is able to determine that the position 260 of that tip in that corner where the sides 250b and 250d meet is substantially centered over the central region 2251 of that corner-type conductive pad 2250p by detecting that the relatively high additional capacitance imparted to that corner-type conductive pad 2250p is the highest of these three relatively high additional capacitances, and that the relatively high additional capacitances imparted to each of the two adjacent interposer-type conductive pads 2250p are relatively equal.
It is preferred that the surface areas of all of the conductive pads 2250 of this capacitive sensing variant of the touch sensor 220 be relatively equal, despite their differing shapes. Having relatively equal surface areas enables all of the conductive pads 2250 to have relatively similar inherent capacitances such that the use of offset or weighting values to prepare the controller 2500 to compensate for differences in inherent capacitances among the conductive pads 2250 may be rendered unnecessary, thereby simplifying any calculations employed by the controller 2500 in comparing capacitances between conductive pads 2250 to determine the current position 260 of a tip of a user's digit. Having relatively equal surface areas also aids in ensuring that a tip of a particular digit of a user's hand will impart a relatively high additional capacitance that is relatively equal to each of the conductive pads 2250 when its position 260 is substantially centered over each of their central regions 2251, despite their differing shapes. As in the case of the inherent capacitances, having such additional capacitances being relatively equal serves to further simplify calculations by enabling comparisons of additional capacitances among the conductive pads 2250 without the use of offset or weighting values.
Avoiding the use of offset or weighting values in calculations to subtract inherent capacitances from total capacitances for each of the conductive pads 2250 to determine the amount of additional capacitances imparted by a tip of a digit, in calculations to compare additional capacitances imparted to each of the conductive pads 2250 by a tip of a digit, and/or in calculations to compare total capacitances of each of the conductive pads 2250 to reduce their complexity may be deemed desirable, especially where the touch sensor 220 is provided with electric power from a power source of limited capacity (e.g., a battery). As those skilled in the art of computations implemented in digital logic will readily recognize, being able to reduce the complexity of a calculation may allow that calculation to be carried out by a given piece of digital logic at a slower clock speed (i.e., with that given piece of digital logic being driven through each calculation step at a reduced frequency) and/or may allow that calculation to be carried out by an alternate piece of digital logic of lesser complexity, either of which is likely to result in a lesser rate of consumption of electric power. Thus, where the touch sensor 220 is incorporated into a portable device (e.g., the handheld remote control 200 of
Additionally and/or alternatively, having relatively equal surface areas across all of the conductive pads 2250 may provide an opportunity to simplify circuitry employed in monitoring the capacitance levels of the conductive pads 2250. As will be familiar to those skilled in the art of capacitive sensing technologies, a common approach to making recurring measurements of the capacitance of a conductive pad of a capacitive sensor is to employ the conductive pad as the capacitive element in a RC network of an oscillator. Such an oscillator is then allowed to run freely to provide clock pulses to a counter, where the value of the count is checked and the counter is reset at regular intervals. The count reached by the counter during an interval corresponds to the capacitance of the conductive pad during that interval. Employing this approach to monitoring all of the conductive pads 2250 of this capacitive sensing variant of the touch sensor 220 requires making each of the conductive pads 2250 a capacitive element of a separate RC network of a separate oscillator accompanied by a separate counter. Some degree of simplification of the implementation of so many RC networks, so many oscillators and so many counters may be enabled (e.g., a resistor network of multiple resistors of identical levels of resistance may be employed) by having all of the conductive pads 2250 of the same surface area such that their inherent capacitances are all relatively similar and such that each of the counts reached by each of their oscillators in response to their inherent capacitances are the same (or at least substantially similar).
It is also preferred that each tooth 2252 of each of the conductive pads 2250 be similar enough in its length (as measured from its base where it joins with and protrudes from a central region to where it tapers to a point-like end) and in its tapered shape that the rate at which levels of additional capacitance decrease and increase is the same between different adjacent pairs of the conductive pads 2250 as a tip of a digit is moved across different adjacent pairs. Returning to the example of operation of the touch sensor 220 depicted in
Having rates of decrease and increase in additional capacitance that are the same between any two adjacent ones of the conductive pads 2250 aids in the reduction of complexity in the calculations employed in determining the current position 260 of a tip of a digit. The use of offset or weighting values to compensate for different rates of change in additional capacitance for differing pairs of the conductive pads 2250 (i.e., for differing ones of the “slider” controls formed by differing pairs of the conductive pads 2250) is made unnecessary.
As depicted in
This enmeshing of multiple teeth extending from each one of the conductive pads 2250 towards each adjacent one of the conductive pads 2250 provides at least separate enmeshed pairs teeth (i.e., an enmeshed pairing of one tooth from each of a pair of adjacent ones of the conductive pads 2250) along each of the outer boundary 250z and the inner boundary 250x. This creates “slider” controls that are able to function regardless of whether a user tends to move a tip of a digit along about the rectangular ring shape of the racetrack surface 250 in a manner in which the position 260 of that tip tends to overlie only one or the other of the outer boundary 250x or the inner boundary 250z, or tends to move that tip in a manner that tends to be more centered between the outer and inner boundaries 250x and 250z. In other words, for example, it has been observed that some people tend to move a tip of a digit about the racetrack surface 250 in a manner in which they tend to “ride” the periphery of the touch sensor 220, resulting in that tip frequently overlying portions of the outer boundary 250x. The extension of the outer teeth 2252x by each of the adjacent ones of the interposer-type conductive pads 2250q along the outer boundary 250x, and the extension of the outer teeth 2252v by each of the corner-type conductive pads 2250p alongside corresponding ones of these outer teeth 2252x provides an enmeshed pair of teeth 2252 alongside the outer boundary 250x between these two such conductive pads. Thus, there is still a progressive decrease in additional capacitance imparted to one of two such adjacent conductive pads and corresponding progressive increase in additional capacitance imparted to the other of two such adjacent conductive pads despite a user tending to move the position 260 of a tip of a digit in a manner that frequently overlies the outer boundary 250x. The corresponding extension and enmeshing of inner teeth 2252z and inner teeth 2252w provides a separate enmeshed pair of teeth 2252 alongside the inner boundary 250z between these same two such conductive pads, thereby ensuring that there still is such a progressive decrease and corresponding progressive increase in additional capacitance between two adjacent conductive pads despite a user tending to move the position 260 of a tip of a digit in a manner that frequently overlies the inner boundary 250z. For users who tend to move the position 260 of a tip of a digit about the racetrack surface 250 in a manner that is more centered between the outer and inner boundaries 250x and 250z, the extension and enmeshing of corresponding ones of the teeth 2252y with each of the outer teeth 2252v and inner teeth 2252w makes possible such a progressive decrease and corresponding progressive increase in additional capacitance between two adjacent conductive pads.
The deep protrusions to differing extents into the central region 2251 of each of the corner-type conductive pads 2250p by multiple teeth of adjacent ones of the interposer-type conductive pads 2250q ensure that a progressive decrease and corresponding progressive increase in additional capacitance occurs as a tip of a digit is moved between one of the corner-type conductive pads 2250p and an adjacent one of the interposer-type conductive pads 2250q, regardless of whether a particular user tends to “ride” the outer boundary 250x, “ride” the inner boundary 250z, or tends to center the position 260 of that tip between the outer and inner boundaries 250x and 250z. Most especially, the deepest protrusions into the central region 2251 of each of the corner-type conductive pads 2250p that are made by the outer teeth 2252x of adjacent ones of the interposer-type conductive pads ensures that there is no “dead zone” in the central region 2251 of the corner-type conductive pads 2250p towards the outer corner formed in the outer boundary 250x such that the position 260 of a tip of a digit could be moved about in that outer corner by a user without there being sufficient sensitivity to detect that movement.
The fact that each one of the corner-type conductive pads 2250p extend the same quantity of teeth towards each of its adjacent ones of the interposer-type conductive pads 2250q, and the fact that the teeth extending towards one of those adjacent interposer-type conductive pads 2250q have shapes and dimensions that mirror the teeth extending towards the other of those adjacent interposer-type conductive pads 2250q provides a symmetry of shape and surface area. This physical symmetry of these particular teeth provides a symmetry in the manner in which movement between each one of the corner-type conductive pads 2250p and each of its adjacent interposer-type conductive pads 2250q is sensed, and thereby, responded to. In other words, this symmetry allows the sensitivity of the touch sensor 220 in detecting movement between a corner-type conductive pad 2250p and one of its adjacent interposer-type conductive pads 2250q to be identical to the sensitivity of the touch sensor 220 in detecting movement between the same corner-type conductive pad 2250p and the other one of its adjacent interposer-type conductive pads 2250q. More precisely, the characteristics of the resulting progressive decrease and corresponding increase in additional capacitance arising from movement between that corner-type conductive pad 2250p and either of the adjacent interposer-type conductive pads 2250q are the same.
As also depicted in
This difference between the extent to which the teeth 2252y protrude into the central region 2251 of this midpoint-type conductive pad 2250r and the extent to which both the outer teeth 2252x and the inner teeth 2252y protrude into that central region reflects an effort to achieve a desired balance of multiple characteristics in the behavior of this capacitive sensing variant of the touch sensor 220. As previously described, it may be deemed desirable to have all of the conductive pads 2250 sized to have the same surface area to reduce the complexity of calculations in making comparisons of levels of capacitance in determining the current location of the position 260 of a tip of a digit along the racetrack surface 250. Thus, regardless of whatever shape is given the midpoint-type conductive pad 2250r, it is desired that it's surface area be the same as for the other two types. As has also been described, it is desired to avoid creating a “dead zone” in which it would be possible for the position 260 of a tip of a digit to be moved about a portion of one of the conductive pads 2250 without there being sufficient sensitivity to sense that movement. And it has been explained as being desirable to avoid having such a “dead zone” arise regardless of whether a user tends to move a tip of a digit in a manner that “rides” the outer boundary 250x, “rides” the inner boundary 250z or stays relatively centered between these two boundaries. However, while the corner position of the corner-type conductive pads 2250p easily lends itself to the formation of such a “dead zone” towards their outer corners formed in the outer boundary 250x, the risk of creating such a “dead zone” amidst a portion of the midpoint-type conductive pads 2250r is not as great. Therefore, the teeth 2252y protrude more deeply into the central region 2251 of this midpoint-type conductive pad 2250r to preclude the formation of such a “dead zone” within this central region 2251, while the outer teeth 2252x and the inner teeth 2252y protrude less deeply into this central region 2251 to allow this central region 2251 enough room between the outer boundary 250x and the inner boundary 250z to enable the overall surface area of this midpoint-type conductive pad 2250r to be relatively equal to the surface areas of the others of the conductive pads 2250.
As is clear from viewing
This proportionality in tooth lengths enables the preferred constancy of the rates at which additional capacitances progressively decrease and correspondingly progressively increase between differing adjacent pairs of the conductive pads 2250, regardless of whether a tip of a digit is moved about the racetrack surface 250 in a manner that tends to overlie the outer boundary 250x, tends to overlie the inner boundary 250z, or tends to remain more centered between the outer and inner boundaries 250x and 250z, respectively. In other words, where a user tends to move a tip of a digit about the racetrack surface 250 in a manner that “rides” the outer boundary 250x, the proportionately longer teeth positioned closer to the outer boundary 250x ensure that the rates of decrease and increase of additional capacitance between each adjacent pair of the conductive pads 2250 remains constant during that movement. The longer length of travel that will be followed by that user's digit as its tip tends to overlie the outer boundary 250x necessarily means that the rates of decrease and increase in additional capacitance will be more gradual than if the user's tip were tending to overlie the inner boundary 250z, but these rates of decrease and increase along the outer boundary 250x will be the same between any two adjacent ones of the conductive pads 2250.
Unfortunately, such efforts as have been described to avoid the use of offset or weighting values in measuring capacitances and/or performing capacitance calculations by providing all of the conductive pads 2250 with shapes that result in relatively equal surface areas can be undone by other factors having little to do with the design of any of the conductive pads 2250. By way of example, where the substrate 2215 is generally ring shaped to enable other manually-operable controls (e.g., the navigation buttons 270a-d and the selection button 280 depicted in
In some implementations of this capacitive sensing variant of the touch sensor 220, weighting values for at least some of the conductive pads 2250 may be employed in calculations to compare levels of total or additional capacitance of adjacent ones of the conductive pads 2250 to determine the current position 260 of a tip of a finger between their central regions 2251 (i.e., over enmeshed ones of their teeth 2252) with greater precision. Such weighting values may be derived through a calibration of the controller 2500 in which the one conductive pad 2250 with the highest inherent capacitance is identified, and then comparisons are made between the inherent capacitance of that one conductive pads 2250 and all of the other conductive pads 2250.
It should be noted that although
In considering the comparing of levels of additional capacitance imparted by a the proximity of a tip of a digit, it should be noted that the touch sensor 220 is a touch-sensitive sensor in spite of the cover 2210 preventing any tip of any digit from actually making contact with any of the conductive pads 2250, and in spite of this variant of capacitive sensing technology applied to this variant of the touch sensor 220 being unable to actually sense a physical contact with the cover 2210. As those skilled in the art will readily recognize, the variant of capacitive sensing technology being employed in this variant of the touch sensor 220 is actually a sensing of the proximity of a tip of a digit of a user's hand, and not a sensing of contact with that tip or of pressure applied by that tip. What makes the touch sensor 220 validly classifiable as “touch-sensitive” (i.e., what makes the touch-sensitive surface 225 provided by the cover 2210 sensitive to touch) is that the dielectric characteristics of a tip of a digit of a person's hand are such that the amount of additional capacitance that a tip of a digit of a person's hand is ever capable of imparting to any of the conductive pads 2250 is relatively small, and perhaps the imposition of a minimum capacitance threshold that renders the touch sensor 220 substantially unresponsive to a tip of a digit that is not close enough to be in contact with the cover 2210. Thus, a tip of a digit must be brought into contact with the cover 2210 (i.e., must actually touch the touch-sensitive surface 225) to be close enough to one or more of the conductive pads 2250 to impart a large enough capacitance to be reliably detectable, at all, and to perhaps meet a minimum capacitance threshold employed to distinguish such contact from other influences (e.g., electrostatic discharges, components of the device into which the touch sensor 220 is installed that have particular dielectric characteristics, etc.) that are also capable of imparting some measurable degree of capacitance. Thus, it is the imposed necessity of a tip of a digit touching the touch sensor 220 to operate it that makes the touch sensor 220 “touch sensitive” such that the cover 2210 can be said to provide the touch-sensitive surface 225.
With the identifying of which one or ones of the conductive pads 2250 have the highest additional capacitances and the more precise determining of the current position 260 of a tip of a digit having been done by the controller 2500, the controller 2500 either directly acts in response to the current position 260 of that tip or relays the current position 260 of that tip to another component or device. Where the touch sensor 220 is incorporated directly into an audio/visual device that also incorporates the controller 500, the controller 2500 and the controller 500 may be one and the same controller such that a single controller both directly determines the current position 260 of that tip and performs the various other functions previously described as being performed by the controller 500 in response to that current position 260 (as was earlier discussed with regard to
a, 15b and 15c, taken together, depict additional details of an alternate form of the capacitive sensing variant of the touch sensor 220 of
Of the pair of conductive rings 2270, an outer ring 2270x follows and surrounds the rectangular ring shape formed by the conductive pads 2250 (i.e., follows and surrounds the perimeter of that rectangular loop), and an inner ring 2270z follows and is just inside that rectangular ring shape (i.e., follows and is just inside the perimeter of the area surrounded by the rectangular loop). Thus, the conductive rings 2270 cooperate with the conductive pads 2250 in defining the rectangular ring shape of the racetrack surface 250. As a result, the outer boundary 250x now follows the periphery of the outer ring 2270x, and the inner boundary 250z now follows and is just inside of the inner conductive ring 2270z. In other words, the distance between the outer boundary 250x and the inner boundary 250z is widened (in comparison to what it was in
As depicted, the conductive rings 2270 are disposed on the same surface of the substrate 2215 as the conductive pads 2250. The cover 2210 is layered over the conductive rings 2270, in very much the same way as it is layered over the conductive pads 2250, with the result that the conductive rings 2270 are “sandwiched” between at least the cover 2210 and the substrate 2215 in much the same way as the conductive pads 2250. The controller 2500 monitors the level of capacitance of each of the conductive rings 2270 on a recurring basis (just as the controller 2500 monitors the level of capacitance of each of the conductive pads 2250) to detect the proximities of each of the conductive rings 2270x and 2270z to a tip of a digit of a user's hand.
As has been previously discussed, one of the features of the user interface 1000 is that the racetrack menu 150 may be caused to be displayed in response to a user simply placing a tip of a digit on the racetrack surface 250 defined on the touch sensor 220. Where the racetrack surface 250 is provided by a capacitive-sensing variant of the touch sensor 220 in a manner and at a position on a casing of a device that does not result in other manually-operable controls being positioned adjacent to the racetrack surface 250, it is relatively unlikely that a user will bring a portion of a digit of one of their hands into contact with the racetrack surface 250 inadvertently while attempting to use that digit to operate some other manually-operable control. However, as has been previously depicted and discussed, the touch sensor 220 may be disposed on a casing of a device at a location that is in close proximity to other manually-operable controls in a manner such as is depicted in
Thus, it is possible that a user may extend a tip of a digit towards a manually-operable control (whether it is a separate manually-operable control or a control surface defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225) positioned adjacent to a portion of the racetrack surface 250 with the intention of operating only that manually-operable control, but the close proximity of that tip or another portion of that digit may come close enough to that portion of the racetrack surface 250 to impart sufficient additional capacitance to one or more of the conductive pads 2250 that the controller 2500 may be caused to misinterpret the user's actions as interaction by the user with the racetrack surface 250. This could occur despite the imposition of minimum capacitance threshold for the conductive pads 2250. Such a situation is likely to arise where a user holds a portable form of a device into which the touch sensor 220 is incorporated (e.g., one of the earlier-discussed portable variants of the audio/visual device 100 or one of the earlier-discussed variants of the handheld remote control 200) in one of their hands in a manner in which they tend to operate a manually-operable control that is in close proximity to the racetrack surface 250 by extending a portion of one of their digits over a portion of the racetrack surface 250 to bring the tip of that digit into contact with that manually-operable control such that a sufficient amount of additional capacitance is imparted as to cause such a misinterpretation by the controller 2500.
Such a situation may also arise where a user is simply a bit “sloppy” about how they position the tip of a digit that they use to operate a manually-operable control (whether it is entirely separate from the touch sensor 220 or is a control surface defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220) adjacent to the racetrack surface 250 to the extent that a portion of that tip overlies one or more of the conductive pads 2250, as well as the manually-operable control that the user intended to operate.
c illustrates the relative positions of the conductive rings 2270, along with the outer boundary 250x and the inner boundary 250z of the racetrack surface 250, relative to the manually-operable controls 222, 224, 226, 228, 270a-d and 280 of the handheld remote control 200 of
The result of such misinterpretations of a user's actions by the controller 2500 will usually be nothing more than the displaying of the racetrack menu 150 at times when the user did not need or want the racetrack menu 150 to be displayed. Since relatively greater pressure must be applied to the racetrack surface 250 to actually select a menu item 155 of the racetrack menu 150, inadvertent selections are unlikely to occur unless the user is sufficiently sloppy in the manner in which they position the tip and/or another portion of a digit that they do apply sufficient pressure to the racetrack surface 250 while attempting to operate another manually-operable control. However, even just the occasional unwanted appearance of the racetrack menu 150 is not desirable, and so an ability to more precisely distinguish between a user attempting to interact with the racetrack surface 250 and a user attempting to operate a manually-operable control (whether an entirely separate manually-operable control or a control surface defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225) other than the racetrack surface 250 is desirable.
In one approach to using the conductive rings 2270 to distinguish user operation of the racetrack surface 250 from user operation of other manually-operable controls, the controller 2500 simply compares any additional capacitance imparted to the outer conductive ring 2270x to any additional capacitance imparted to the inner conductive ring 2270z at recurring intervals. During intervals in which the additional capacitance imparted to both of these conductive rings 2270 is relatively equal (i.e., during intervals where the additional capacitances imparted to these conductive rings 2270 are similar enough to meet a predetermined threshold of similarity), amounts of additional capacitance imparted to one or more of the conductive pads 2250 are assumed to be indications of a user's efforts to interact with the racetrack surface 250, and the controller 2500 responds to those additional capacitances in the manner that has been previously described, at length, including causing the racetrack menu 150 to be displayed, and moving the marker 160 about the racetrack menu 150 in a manner corresponding to the position 260 of the tip of a digit of a user's hand. The presumption is made that if a relatively equal amount of additional capacitance is imparted to each of the conductive rings 2270, it must be due to a tip of a user's digit being positioned between the conductive rings 2270, and therefore, is being positioned by the user to interact with the racetrack surface 250. Further, during intervals in which the additional capacitances imparted to these conductive rings 2270 is relatively unequal (i.e., during intervals where the additional capacitances imparted to these conductive rings 2270 is dissimilar enough to not meet the predetermined threshold of similarity), the controller 2500 ignores any additional capacitances imparted to the conductive pads 2250. Indeed, while the additional capacitances imparted to each of the conductive rings 2270 remain unequal to such an extent (i.e., not meeting the predetermined threshold of similarity), the controller 2500 may reduce power consumption by disabling and/or otherwise removing power from whatever oscillators, counters and/or other circuitry is employed in monitoring the capacitance levels of the conductive pads 2250.
In another approach, the controller 2500 simply determines whether or not separate minimum capacitance thresholds set for each of the conductive rings 2270 are met at recurring intervals to distinguish user operation of the racetrack surface 250 from user operation of other manually-operable controls. During intervals in which the additional capacitance imparted to both of these conductive rings 2270 is enough to meet the separate minimum capacitance thresholds for each, amounts of additional capacitance imparted to one or more of the conductive pads 2250 are assumed to be indications of a user's efforts to interact with the racetrack surface 250. The presumption is made that if such amounts of additional capacitance are imparted to each of the conductive rings 2270, it must be due to a tip of a user's digit being positioned between the conductive rings 2270, and therefore, is being positioned by the user to interact with the racetrack surface 250. Further, during intervals in which the additional capacitances imparted to either of these conductive rings 2270 does not meet the separate minimum capacitance threshold for that one of these conductive rings, the controller 2500 ignores any additional capacitances imparted to the conductive pads 2250, and the controller 2500 may reduce power consumption by disabling and/or otherwise removing power from whatever oscillators, counters and/or other circuitry is employed in monitoring the capacitance levels of the conductive pads 2250.
In yet another approach, the additional capacitances imparted to any of the conductive pads 2250 may be treated by the controller 2500 as valid indications of a user interacting with the racetrack surface 250 (and responded to by the controller 2500, accordingly) even though the additional capacitances imparted to each of the conductive rings 2270 may be highly unequal. In this approach, any additional capacitances imparted to each of the conductive rings 2270 are compared to any additional capacitances imparted to the conductive pads 2250 on a recurring basis. During intervals in which the additional capacitance imparted to at least one of the conductive rings 2270 is does not excessively exceed the highest additional capacitance imparted to any of the conductive pads 2250 (i.e., if the additional capacitance imparted to either of the conductive rings is not greater than the highest additional capacitance imparted to any of the conductive pads 2250 by an amount that exceeds a predetermined threshold of difference), amounts of additional capacitance imparted to one or more of the conductive pads 2250 are assumed to be indications of a user's efforts to interact with the racetrack surface 250. The presumption is made that such conditions will only be met if a user has positioned the tip of a digit such that it overlies portions of at least one of the conductive rings 2270 and at least one of the conductive pads 2250 to such an extent that more of that tip must overlie those portions of at least one of the conductive rings 2270 and at least one of the conductive pads 2250 than overlies any other manually-operable control that may be adjacent to the racetrack surface 250. Further, during intervals in which the additional capacitance imparted to one of the conductive rings 2270 sufficiently exceeds the highest additional capacitance imparted to any of the conductive pads 2250 (i.e., during intervals where the additional capacitance imparted to one of the conductive rings 2270 is greater than the highest additional capacitance imparted to any of the conductive pads by an amount that does exceed the threshold of difference), the controller 2500 ignores any additional capacitances imparted to the conductive pads 2250. The presumption is made that such conditions will only be met if a user has positioned a tip of a digit at a location adjacent to the racetrack surface 250 (presumably to operate another manually-operable control) that is close enough to the racetrack surface 250 to impart a relatively large additional capacitance to the closest one of the conductive rings, but not close enough to the racetrack surface 250 to impart a similarly large additional capacitance to any of the conductive pads 2250.
This other approach may be further refined by providing a different threshold of difference in additional capacitance for at least some of the conductive pads 2250 located relatively close to another manually-operable control from the threshold of difference in additional capacitance that is provided to at least some of the conductive pads 2250 that are not located relatively close to another manually-operable control. For example, and referring to both
As can be appreciated from
a and 16b depict alternate aspects of the conductive rings 2270.
As depicted in
In yet another alternative, both of the conductive rings 2270x and 2270z may be provided with the teeth 2272x and 2272z, respectively, to increase the surface areas of these conductive rings to increase their sensitivity to the proximity of a tip of a user's digit in comparison to the sensitivity of the conductive pads 2250 to the proximity of that tip. Such increased sensitivity of the conductive rings 2270 may improve the ability of the controller 2500 to distinguish between use of that tip by the user to interact with the racetrack surface 250 and use of that tip to operate a different manually-operable control at a location adjacent a portion of the racetrack surface 250. Further, such increased sensitivity may allow the controller 2500 to more quickly detect the approach of that tip towards the racetrack surface 250, thereby allowing speedier powering up of oscillators and/or other components employed by the controller 2500 to monitor the capacitances of each of the conductive pads 2250 on a recurring basis during periods of time where that tip is in close enough proximity to both of the conductive rings 2270 that it is presumed that the user intends to interact with the racetrack surface 250.
In
Unlike the physical configuration of the capacitive sensing variant of the touch sensor 220 more completely depicted in perspective in
The conductive rings 2270 in this resistance sensing variant of the touch sensor 220 may be employed in a resistance sensing mode in which they are monitored by the controller 2500 to measure resistance through portions of the conductive foam 2212. In this resistance sensing mode, the controller 2500 may compare the resistance by which current is conveyed to or from each of the conductive rings 2270 to determine whether those resistances are sufficiently similar (i.e., within a predetermined threshold of similarity) or sufficiently low (i.e., dropping below a predetermined threshold, or below separate predetermined thresholds, of resistance) that it may be assumed that a tip of a user's digit is applying pressure along the racetrack surface 250 at a location relatively centered between the conductive rings 2270, and therefore, is being employed to interact with the racetrack surface 250. Alternatively, the conductive rings 2270 may be employed in a capacitive sensing mode in which they are monitored by the controller for levels of additional capacitance in much the same way as has been discussed at length with regard to the capacitive sensing variants of the touch sensor 220 of
Still another variant (not shown) of the touch sensor 220 is possible that employs a different hybrid of capacitive sensing and resistance sensing technologies in which a resistance sensing element providing multiple resistance sensing points is layered atop an array of capacitive sensing conductive pads and/or the conductive rings 2270. It may be that the capacitive sensing technology is used in determining the position 260 of a tip of a digit along the racetrack surface 250, while the resistance sensing technology is used in distinguishing between instances in which relatively low pressure is being applied by a user through that tip such that it is determined that the user is not making a selection of a menu item and instances in which relatively greater pressure is being applied by a user through that tip such that it is determined that the user is making a selection of a menu item. It may be that the conductive rings 2270 are employed in sensing levels of capacitance to distinguish between user interaction with the racetrack surface 250 and user operation of a manually-operable control adjacent the racetrack surface 250 (whether a manually-operable control that is entirely separate from the touch sensor 220 or a manually-operable control implemented as a control surface defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220).
Indeed, beyond the possibility of one or both of the conductive rings 2270x and 2270z being carried on a separate component of the touch sensor 220 from a component of the touch sensor 220 that carries resistance sensing component to sense touch or increased pressure, it is also possible in other possible embodiments for one or both of the conductive rings 2270x and 2270z to be carried on a portion of a casing of a device into which the touch sensor 220 is incorporated (or otherwise disposed on still some other component of such a device) at positions adjacent the touch sensor 220. By way of example, where the touch sensor 220 is incorporated into a variant of the handheld remote control 200, the outer conductive ring 2270x may be disposed on the casing 210 at a location closely surrounding the periphery of a hole formed in the casing 210 through which at least the touch-sensitive surface 225 extends such that the outer conductive ring 2270x closely follows the periphery of the touch-sensitive surface 225 (thus closely following the outer boundary 250x), but is not actually apart of the touch sensor 220, itself. Further, where there are other manually-operable controls that are entirely separate from the touch sensor 220 that protrude through a hole formed through the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220 (such that the touch-sensitive surface 225 surrounds those other manually-operable controls) a portion of the casing 210 may carry the inner conductive ring 2270z at a position closely following the edge of the hole formed through the touch-sensitive surface 225 (thus closely following the inner boundary 250z) and surrounding those other manually-operable controls.
Each of the output interface 2510, the sensor interface 2520 and the switch interface 2521 may employ any of a variety of technologies to enable the controller 2500 to communicate with other devices and/or other components of whatever audio/visual device into which the controller 500 is incorporated. More specifically, where the controller 2500 is a separate and distinct controller from the controller 500 and where the controller 500 is incorporated into an audio/visual device that also incorporates one or both of a display element (such as the display element 120) and at least one acoustic driver (such as the acoustic drivers 130), the output interface 510 may be of a type to provide communications at least from the controller 2500 to the controller 500 to convey indications of the operation of various manually-operable controls to the controller 2500. An example of this would be where the controller 2500 is incorporated into the handheld remote control 200 of
It is also possible that both of the controllers 500 and 2500 are co-located within the same audio/visual device having an overall architecture in which it is deemed desirable to split the controller functions for monitoring manually-operable controls from the controller functions involved in displaying the racetrack menu 150 and acting on indications of a user's selection of a audio/visual program. Alternatively, and as previously mentioned, where the touch sensor 200 (of whatever variant) is incorporated directly into the same audio/visual device in which one or both of the functions of displaying the racetrack menu 150 and selecting sources from which to obtain audio/visual programs are carried out, then it may be deemed desirable for the controllers 500 and 2500 to be one and the same controller (likely with the processing devices 550 and 2550 being one and the same, and likely with the storages 540 and 2540 being one and the same), in which case, incorporating the output interface 2510 would be unnecessary.
The sensor interface 2520 is coupled to the touch sensor 220 to monitor the touch sensor 220 for indications of a user operating it at least to interact with the racetrack surface 250. As depicted, the sensor interface 2520 is meant to monitor either the capacitive sensing variant of the touch sensor 220 of
Stored within the storage 2540 are one or more of a control interaction routine 2450, a control interaction data 2455, a device power routine 2460, a control distinguishing routine 2470 and a control distinguishing data 2475. Upon being accessed in the storage 2540 and executed by the processing device 2550, a sequence of instructions of the device power routine 2460 causes the processing device 2550 to shift the manner in which manually-operable controls are monitored between different power modes; a sequence of instructions of the control distinguishing routine 2470 causes the processing device 2550 to employ indications of user activity from the touch sensor 220 distinguish user interaction with at least the racetrack surface 250 from user operation manually-operable controls adjacent to the racetrack surface 250 (whether separate from the touch sensor 220 or implemented as control surfaces defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225); and a sequence of instructions of the control interaction routine 2450 causes the processing device 2550 to employ indications of user activity from various manually-operable controls (including the touch sensor 220) to at least interpret user intentions (and perhaps also to convey indications of the user's operation of those various controls to the processing device 550).
Beginning at 2610, generally, where there has been no indication of user interaction with either the touch sensor 220 or any other manually-operable control provided alongside the touch sensor 220 (e.g., one or more of the manually-operable controls 222, 224, 226, 228, 270a-d and 280) for more than a first predetermined time period, the power routine 2460 causes the processing device 2550 to place the controller 2500 and the touch sensor 220 in the lower power mode. In the lower power mode, the processing device 2550 is caused to disable and/or power off the sensor interface 2520 and the switch interface 2521 to conserve what may be a limited supply of electric power, such as may be the case where the touch sensor 220 and the controller 2500 are incorporated into one of the previously discussed variants of the handheld remote control 200, in which there is a limited available supply of electric power from a battery or other power source of limited capacity. During the lower power mode, and where the controller 2500 and the touch sensor 220 are incorporated into such a device as one of the variants of the handheld remote control 200, the processing device 2550 is caused by the device power routine 2460 to await an indication of movement at 2612 by monitoring the motion sensor 2560 for an indication of the device being moved, with the presumption being made that movement is likely an indication of a user picking up the device or otherwise preparing to operate one or more manually-operable controls of the device.
Upon the provision of an indication of movement by the motion sensor 2560, the processing device 2550 is caused by the device power routine 2460 to place the controller 2500 and the touch sensor 220 in the partial power mode at 2620. In the partial power mode, the processing device is caused to provide power to and/or enable only a portion of the sensor interface 2520, only a portion of the touch sensor 220, and at least a portion of the switch interface 2521. More precisely, some or all of the RC components 2527, the oscillators 2528 and the counters 2529 required to monitor at least the outer conductive ring 2270x (i.e., the inner conductive ring 2270z may also be monitored) are provided with power and enabled to monitor at least the outer conductive ring 2720x either for any additional capacitance imparted to it (indicative of a tip of a user's digit approaching the capacitive sensing variant or a hybrid variant of the touch sensor 220) or for a reduction in resistance between the conductive ring 2720x and another conductive surface (indicative of a tip of a user's digit beginning to press against the conductive foam 2212 to operate the earlier-discussed resistance sensing variant of the touch sensor 220). Also, more precisely, at least a portion of the switch interface 2521 is provided with power and enabled to monitor manually-operable controls other than the touch sensor 220, such as the controls 222, 224, 226 and 228 (if present); and possibly to also monitor the controls 270a-d and 280 (if the controls 270a-d and 280 are implemented as separate manually-operable controls and not implemented as control surfaces defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220). This monitoring occurs for up to a first predetermined time period at 2622, with the first predetermined time period starting from when movement was detected, and chosen to last long enough to provide a user with a reasonable opportunity to begin operating manually-operable controls after picking up or otherwise moving the device. If, at 2630, no indication of any operation of controls other than the touch sensor 220 is received and no indication of either additional capacitance or reduced resistance is detected through the outer conductive ring 2270x (or through the inner conductive ring 2270z, where it is also monitored during partial power mode) during the first predetermined time period, then the processing device is caused by the device power routine 2460 to place the controller 2500 and the manually-operable controls coupled to the controller 2500 back into lower power mode at 2610.
However, if, at 2630, during the first predetermined time period, an indication of user operation was received from one of the controls other than the touch sensor 220 (e.g., from one of the manually-operable controls 222, 224, 226 or 228 via the switch interface 2521 by which they are coupled to the controller 2500), then the processing device 2550 is caused to operate the output interface 2510 to cause an indication of that other manually-operable control being operated by a user to be conveyed to the controller 500 at 2632. Further, the partial power mode is maintained at 2620, and monitoring of both manually-operable controls other than the touch sensor 220 and of at least the outer conductive ring 2270x of the touch sensor 220 for another instance of the first predetermined time period occurs again at 2622.
Alternatively, if, at 2630, during the first predetermined time period, an indication of a tip of a user's digit at least approaching the proximity of the touch sensor 220 (if not actually beginning to operate the touch sensor 220) was received from the touch sensor 220 (e.g., from the outer conductive ring 2270x via the sensor interface 2520 by which the touch sensor 220 is coupled to the controller 2500), then the processing device 2550 is caused by the device power routine 2460 to place the controller 2500 and the touch sensor 220 in the higher power mode at 2640. In the higher power mode, the processing device is caused to provide power to and/or enable the entirety of the sensor interface 2520, the touch sensor 220, as well as the switch interface 2521. More precisely, all of the RC components 2527, the oscillators 2528 and the counters 2529 required to monitor both of the conductive rings 2270 are provided with power and enabled to monitor both the outer conductive ring 2270x and the inner conductive ring 2270z. Also, more precisely, all of the RC components 2523, the oscillators 2524 and the counters 2525 required to monitor conductive pads (e.g., the conductive pads 2250 in the capacitive sensing variant of the touch sensor 220) are provided with power and enabled. Further, the switch interface 2521 is fully provided (or continues to be provided) with power and enabled to monitor manually-operable controls other than the touch sensor 220, such as the controls 222, 224, 226 and 228 (if present); and possibly to also monitor the controls 270a-d and 280 (if the controls 270a-d and 280 are implemented as separate manually-operable controls and not implemented as control surfaces defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225 of the touch sensor 220). This monitoring occurs for up to a second predetermined time period at 2642, with the second predetermined time period being chosen to last long enough to provide a user with a reasonable opportunity to operate the touch sensor 220 (e.g., to interact with the racetrack surface 250). If, at 2650, no indication of any operation of controls, including the touch sensor 220, is received and no indication of either additional capacitance or reduced resistance is detected through either of the outer conductive ring 2270x or the inner conductive ring 2270z during the second predetermined time period, then the processing device is caused by the device power routine 2460 to place the controller 2500 and the manually-operable controls coupled to the controller 2500 back into lower power mode.
However, if, at 2650, during the second predetermined time period, an indication of user operation was received from one of the controls other than the touch sensor 220, then the processing device is caused to operate the output interface 2510 to cause an indication of that other control being operated by a user to be conveyed to the controller 500 at 2632. Further, the processing device 2550 is caused to place the controller and the touch sensor 220 back into partial power mode at 2620, and monitoring of both controls other than the touch sensor 220 and of at least the outer conductive ring 2270x for another instance of the first predetermined time period occurs again at 2622.
Alternatively, if, at 2650, during the second predetermined time period, an indication of a user operation was received from the touch sensor that is indicative of the user interacting with the racetrack surface 250 (or perhaps another control surface also defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225, such as control surfaces to implement the manually-operable controls 270a-d and 280), then the processing device 2550 is caused to operate the output interface 2510 to cause an indication of the touch sensor 220 being operated by a user to be conveyed to the controller 500 at 2652. Further, the processing device 2550 is caused by the device power routine 2460 to maintain the controller 2500 and the touch sensor 220 in the higher power mode at 2640, and to continue monitoring both controls other than the touch sensor 220 and the touch sensor 220 for another instance of the second predetermined time period at 2642.
During times when the device power routine 2460 causes the processing device 2550 to place the controller 2500 and the various controls coupled to it into the partial power mode, the device power routine 2460 enables the processing device 2550 to execute a sequence of instructions of the control interaction routine 2450 as part of causing the monitoring of controls other than the touch sensor 220 and the monitoring of at least the outer conductive ring 2270x. The control interaction routine 2450 causes the processing device 2550 to operate at least the counters 2529 to check for an additional capacitance or a reduced resistance at a recurring interval, causing the processing device 2550 to reset the counters 2529 each time.
During times when the device power routine 2460 causes the processing device 2550 to place the controller 2500 and the various controls coupled to it into the higher power mode, the device power routine 2460 enables the processing device 2550 to execute sequences of instructions of both the control interaction routine 2450 and the control distinguishing routine 2750 as part of causing the monitoring of manually-operable controls, including the entirety of the touch sensor 220 (including conductive pads of the touch sensor 220, such as the conductive pads 2250). The control interaction routine 2450 causes the processing device 2550 to operate the counters 2525 and 2529 to check for additional capacitance or reduced resistance at a recurring interval, causing the processing device 2550 to reset the counters 2525 and 2529 each time. The control interaction routine 2450 also causes the processing device 2550 to check the switch interface 2521 for indications of the selection switch(es) 221 and/or other switches (e.g., the manually-operable controls 222, 224, 226 and 228, where they are implemented as switches) being operated. In implementations of either a capacitive sensing or resistance sensing variant of the touch sensor 220 that requires the use of offset or weighting values in monitoring conductive pads (e.g., the conductive pads 2250 or other conductive pads that may be employed where the manually-operable controls 270a-d and 280 are implemented as control surfaces on the touch-sensitive surface 225) or in performing calculations to determine the current position 260 of a tip of a user's digit (as has previously been described at length), the control interaction data 2455 is made up of at least such offset or weighting values, and the control interaction routine 2450 causes the processing device 2550 to access the control interaction data 2455 to retrieve those offset or weighting values. The control distinguishing routine 2470 causes the processing device 2550 to perform the various possible comparisons and calculations previously discussed at length to employ the detected additional capacitances (in capacitive sensing variants of the touch sensor 220) or reduced resistances (in resistance sensing variants of the touch sensor 220) in distinguishing a user action intended to interact with the racetrack surface 250 from a user action to operate some other manually-operable control. Where the use of offset or weighting values in performing such calculations is required (such as in determining the current position 260 of a tip of a digit as that tip is moved by a user from overlying one of the conductive pads 2250 with one inherent capacitance to another of the conductive pads 2250 with a different inherent capacitance), the control distinguishing data 2475 is made up of at least such offset or weighting values, and the control distinguishing routine 2750 causes the processing device 2550 to access the control distinguishing data 2475 to retrieve those offset or weighting values.
In an alternate implementation of the manner in which the controller 2500 is caused to balance the monitoring of manually-operable controls and the conservation of electric power, the three earlier-described portions of the controller 2500 (namely, the portions 2500a, 2500b and 2500c) cooperate in various ways to toggle one another's separate power states to place the controller 2500, overall, and whatever manually-operable controls are coupled to the controller 2500 into one of the lower power, partial power and higher power mode. As discussed with regard to
If the processing device 2550 receives no indication of either further motion from the motion sensor 2560 or operation of a manually-operable control implemented as a switch from the switch interface 2521 during the first predetermined period of time, then the processing device is caused by the device power routine 2460 to signal the portion 2500b that the main portion 2500a has received no indication of user activity for at least the first predetermined period of time. If the independent processing device of the sensor interface 2520 receives no indication of increased capacitance on the outer conductive ring 2270x (or whatever other conductive ring may be monitored), then that independent processing signals the main portion 2500a that the portion 2500b has received no indication of user activity for at least the first predetermined period of time. If the first predetermined period of time passes without either the processing device 2550 of the main portion 2500a or the independent processing device of the sensor interface 2520 (i.e., the portion 2500b) receiving an indication of user activity, then these processing devices respond to both the passage of the first predetermined period of time and each other's signals indicating no user activity observed by the other during the first predetermined period of time by placing both the portions 2500a and 2500b, as well as the manually-operable controls coupled to each, into the lower power mode.
However, if the processing device 2550 does receive an indication of either further motion from the motion sensor 2560 or operation of a manually-operable control implemented as a switch from the switch interface 2521 during the first predetermined period of time, then the processing device is caused by the device power routine 2460 to signal the portion 2500b that the main portion 2500a has received that indication, and the processing device 2550 is caused by the control interaction routine to operate the output interface 2510 to output an indication of that user activity to the controller 500. The processing device 2550 continues monitoring the switch interface 2521 and operating the output interface 2510 to signal the controller 500 with indications of user activity until at some point where the first predetermined period of time has elapsed since the last time there was either such user activity or an indication of movement received from the motion sensor 2560 (i.e., the portion 2500c). At that point, the processing device 2550 signals the sensor interface 2520 (i.e., the portion 2500b) that the first predetermined period of time has elapsed since the last user activity was observed.
Each time the independent processing device of the sensor interface 2520 receives an indication of increased capacitance on the outer conductive ring 2270x (or whatever other conductive ring may be monitored), the independent processing device of the sensor interface 2520 places the sensor interface 2520 (i.e., the portion 2500b) into the high power mode for a second predetermined of time in which that independent processing device provides power to and enables the operation of the oscillators 2524 and the counters 2525 to monitor conductive pads (e.g., the conductive pads 2520) of the touch sensor 220 to monitor for user interaction with the racetrack 250 and/or any other control surfaces that may be defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225. The second predetermined period of time is considerably shorter than the first, and thus, the independent processing device is essentially toggling the sensor interface 2520 between the partial and higher power modes, switching to the higher power mode when a higher capacitance on the outer conductive ring 2270x indicates a user interaction with a control surface may be likely to occur, and switching back to the partial power mode when such higher capacitance disappears from the outer conductive ring 2270x. The independent processing device of the sensor interface 2520 signals the main portion 2500a with indications of any user interaction with any control surface defined on the touch-sensitive surface 225, causing the processing device 2550 to operate the output interface 2510 to signal the controller 500 with indications of these user interactions. This continues until at some point where the first predetermined period of time has elapsed since the last time there was such user interaction with any control surface and since the last time there was any such higher capacitance detected on the outer conductive ring 2270x. At that point, the independent processing device of the sensor interface 2520 signals the main portion 2500a that the first predetermined period of time has elapsed since the last user interaction was observed.
Again, if the first predetermined period of time passes without either the processing device 2550 of the main portion 2500a or the independent processing device of the sensor interface 2520 (i.e., the portion 2500b) receiving an indication of user activity, then these processing devices respond to both the passage of the first predetermined period of time and each other's signals indicating no user activity observed by the other during the first predetermined period of time by placing both the portions 2500a and 2500b, as well as the manually-operable controls coupled to each, into the lower power mode. Thus, in this alternate implementation, the portions 2500a and 2500b are each provided with the capacity to cause the other to immediately transition out of the lower power state, and each is provided with the capacity to signal the other of there being a sufficient lack of observed activity to allow the other to transition back into the lower power state.
Regardless of the exact implementation of order and timings by which transitions between power modes are caused to occur, it is deemed preferable that a conductive ring, such as the outer conductive ring 2270x, be employed to quickly toggle the monitoring of conductive pads (and/or other components of whatever power-consuming sensor technology is employed by the touch sensor 220) between a partial power mode in which a limited monitoring of the touch sensor 220 (e.g., a monitoring of only the conductive ring 2270x) occurs and a higher power mode in which a fuller monitoring of more of the touch sensor occurs. It is also preferred that a lower power mode be entered into where no part of the touch sensor 220 is monitored in response to a predetermined period of time having elapsed since any user interaction was observed, at least with the touch sensor 220, and that possibly, a motion sensor (e.g., the motion sensor 2560) be employed to cause a transition out of the lower power mode and into the partial power mode.
Further, although these examples have employed at least the outer conductive rings 2270x in detecting the approach of a tip of a digit towards the touch sensor or towards other portions of the touch sensor and/or detecting the beginning of application of pressure by a user against a portion of the touch sensor 220 indicative of interaction with other portions of the touch sensor 220 being about to occur, other mechanisms may be employed in place of at least the conductive ring 2270x. By way of example, the provision of a full ring encircling the touch sensor 220 or other portions of the touch sensor 220 may not be necessary where it is surmised that the approach of a tip of a digit is most likely to be from only a limited subset of directions toward the touch sensor 220 such that an elongate conductor positioned along an edge of a casing of a device into which the touch sensor 220 may be incorporated or an elongate conductor along only one or two sides of the periphery of the touch sensor may be deemed necessary. Also by way of example, a temperature capable of sensing body heat or an optical sensor capable of sensing the translucence of skin may be employed in place of at least the outer conductive ring 2270x.
Other implementations are within the scope of the following claims and other claims to which the applicant may be entitled.
The present application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 12/613,943 filed Nov. 6, 2009 by Santiago Carvajal and John M. Sakalowsky, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
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