Sigmasense, Llc.

Wacom Co., Ltd.

Patrick Troy Gray

Daniel Keith Van Ostrand

Richard Stuart Seger, Jr

Gerald Dale Morrison

Michael Shawn Gray

Timothy W Markison

Kevin Joseph Derichs

Phuong Huynh

Michael Frederick David Olley

Shayne X Short

Grant Howard McGibney

John Christopher Price

Hans Howard Eilers

Sarah Marie Derichs

Patricia Markison Healy

Sadao Yamamoto

Patricia A Markison

A sensor system operates by: communicating a first ID signal at a first frequency between a first passenger restraint and a first sensor circuit of a touch screen through a body of a first user in a first occupancy area; receiving first sensed signal data from the first sensor circuit indicating a possible interaction with a first interactable element at a first touch screen location based on changes in electrical properties of an electrode of the first sensor circuit; determining the first sensed signal data indicates detection of the first frequency; when permissions data for the first occupancy area indicates occupants of the first occupancy area can interact with the first interactable element, facilitate performance of a functionality associated with the first interactable element; when permissions data for the first occupancy area indicates occupants of the first occupancy area cannot interact with the first interactable element, foregoing performance of the functionality associated with the interaction with the first interactable element.

System for detecting and validating multiuser interaction with interface elements via signaling through users bodies

A touch screen display is operable to operate in a first mode during a first temporal period based on activating exactly one set of drive-sense circuits of a plurality of sets of drive-sense circuits to generate a corresponding one set of sensed signals during the first temporal period, and processing the corresponding one set of sensed signals to generate first proximal interaction data for the first temporal period. The touch screen display is operable to operate in a second mode during a second temporal period after the first temporal period based on activating more than one set of drive-sense circuits of the plurality of sets of drive-sense circuits to generate a corresponding more than one set of sensed signals during the second temporal period, and processing the set of sensed signals to generate second proximal interaction data for the second temporal period.

Activation of different subsets of drive-sense circuits in accordance with different modes of operation of a touch-based device

A sensor system operates by: communicating a first ID signal at a first frequency between a first perimeter sensor and a first sensor circuit of a touch screen through a body of a first user in a first occupancy area; receiving first sensed signal data from the first sensor circuit indicating a possible interaction with a first interactable element at a first touch screen location based on changes in electrical properties of an electrode of the first sensor circuit; determining the first sensed signal data indicates detection of the first frequency; when permissions data for the first occupancy area indicates occupants of the first occupancy area can interact with the first interactable element, facilitate performance of a functionality associated with the first interactable element; when permissions data for the first occupancy area indicates occupants of the first occupancy area cannot interact with the first interactable element, foregoing performance of the functionality associated with the interaction with the first interactable element.

System for detecting and validating multiuser interaction with interface elements via perimeter sensors

An organic and inorganic material test system includes at least one test container, a first and second set of electrodes embedded in the at least one test container, a set of transmit circuits coupled to the first set of electrodes, and a set of differential drive-sense circuits (DDSCs) coupled to the second set of electrodes. A first transmit circuit coupled to a first electrode is operable to produce a first transmit signal at a first frequency for transmission through contents of a first test container. A first DDSC coupled to a second electrode of the first test container includes a pair of drive-sense circuits (DSCs) and an output operational amplifier. The pair of DSCs are operable to generate receive signals at the first frequency. The output operational amplifier compares receive signals to produce a signal representative of the contents with respect to positioning of the first and second electrodes.

Organic and/or inorganic material test system using differential drive-sense circuits

A fingerprint imaging device incorporating a first plurality of electrodes, a second plurality of electrodes and drive-sense circuitry. The first plurality of electrodes and the second plurality of electrodes are separated by a dielectric material and arranged in a crossing pattern in a sensing area. In an embodiment, each of the drive-sense circuits is configured to drive a sensor signal on an electrode of the first plurality or second plurality of electrodes, the sensor signal including a drive signal component and a receive signal component. Each of the drive-sense circuits is further configured to generate, based on the receive signal component, a sensed signal representative of at least a first impedance of the electrode. For at least some of the drive-sense circuits, the sensed signal further represents a second impedance of the electrode in accordance with a drive signal component from a differing electrode. A processing module of the device is configured to process the sensed signals to detect a finger touch to the sensing area and generate a digital representation/capacitive image of a fingerprint corresponding to the finger touch.

Fingerprint imaging device incorporating electrodes and drive-sense circuitry

A drive-sense circuit module includes at least one regulated source circuit coupled to a load, and to a loop correction circuit. The regulated source circuit generates a drive signal, which has a regulated characteristic and a controlled characteristic. At least one reference circuit applies a reference signal to the loop correction circuit that establishes a reference value of the controlled characteristic. The loop correction circuit senses an effect of one or more load characteristics on a sensed value of the controlled characteristic of the drive signal and generates a comparison signal based on the sensed value and the reference value of the controlled characteristic. A regulation signal is generated based on the comparison signal and used to regulate the regulated characteristic of the drive signal. A control module controls the regulated source circuit and the loop correction circuit to iterate through at least a first combination and a second combination of regulated characteristics and controlled characteristics.

Determining the effects of different electrical characteristics of a drive-sense circuit on a load

A rotating equipment system with in-line drive-sense circuit (DSC) electric power signal processing includes rotating equipment, in-line drive-sense circuits (DSCs), and one or more processing modules. The in-line DSCs receive input electrical power signals and generate motor drive signals for the rotating equipment. An in-line DSC receives an input electrical power signal, processes it to generate and output a motor drive signal to the rotating equipment via a single line and simultaneously senses the motor drive signal via the single line. Based on the sensing of the motor drive signal via the single line, the in-line DSC provides a digital signal to the one or more processing modules that receive and process the digital signal to determine information regarding one or more operational conditions of the rotating equipment, and based thereon, selectively facilitate one or more adaptation operations on the motor drive signal via the in-line DSC.

Prime mover and generator regulation based on output signal sensing

A touch sensor system includes touch sensors, drive-sense circuits (DSCs), memory, and a processing module. A DSC drives a first signal via a single line coupling to a touch sensor and simultaneously senses, when present, a second signal that is uniquely associated with a user. The DSC processes the first signal and/or the second signal to generate a digital signal that is representative of an electrical characteristic of the touch sensor. The processing module executes operational instructions (stored in the memory) to process the digital signal to detect interaction of the user with the touch sensor and to determine whether the interaction of the user with the touch sensor compares favorably with authorization. When not authorized, the processing module aborts execution of operation(s) associated with the interaction of the user with the touch sensor. Alternatively, when authorized, the processing module facilitates execution of the operation(s).

Single user or few users identification and blocking operable touch sensor device

A method includes generating, by a first drive-sense circuit of circuitry of an electronic pen, a first error signal corresponding to an electrical characteristic of a first orientation capacitor of the electronic pen; and generating, by a second drive-sense circuit of the circuitry, a second error signal corresponding to an electrical characteristic of a second orientation capacitor. The method further includes subtracting, by a first subtraction module, the first and second error signals to produce a first difference error signal; receiving, by the circuitry, a self-signal transmitted by one or more electrodes of a touch screen via a primary conductor of the electronic pen; transmitting, by the circuitry, a ring back signal to the touch screen via the primary conductor in response to the self-signal; and transmitting, by the circuitry, the first difference error signal to the touch screen via a secondary conductor of the electronic pen.

Electronic pen generation of tilt orientation data based on capacitance difference detection

A device having a flexible touch screen display configured to display images in at least a first touch area and a second touch area. At least a portion of the second touch area is located on an edge or side surface of the device. A first plurality of touch sensitive column electrodes and a plurality of row electrodes are integrated into the first touch area, and a second plurality of column electrodes and the plurality of row electrodes are integrated into the second touch area of the flexible display. The device further includes a plurality of drive-sense circuits that drive sensor signals on the electrodes. A processing module senses, based on the sensor signals, an electrical characteristic of at least one row electrode and at least one column electrode of the first touch area or the second touch area and determines, based on the electrical characteristic, a proximal touch to at least one of the first touch area or the second touch area.

Device having a flexible/foldable touch screen display with multiple touch areas

A method for use in a touch-sensitive panel includes generating electric fields by applying drive signals to a plurality of row electrodes and a plurality of column electrodes included in the touch-sensitive panel, and sensing at least one information signal capacitively coupled to the touch-sensitive panel by detecting impedance changes associated with the plurality of row electrodes and the plurality of column electrodes. The impedance changes are converted to received data. Based on the received data a transmission pattern associated with the at least one information signal is determined. It is further determined that the transmission pattern corresponds to an identification code.

Touch sensitive panel supporting capacitively coupled identification code

A battery characterization system includes a drive-sense circuit (DSC), memory that stores operational instructions, and processing module(s) operably coupled to the DSC and the memory. Based on a reference signal, the DSC generates a charge signal, which includes an AC (alternating current) component, and provides the charge signal to a terminal of a battery via a single line and simultaneously to senses the charge signal via the single line to detect an electrical characteristic of the battery based on a response of the battery. The DSC generates a digital signal representative of the electrical characteristic of the battery. The processing module(s), based on the operational instructions, generate the reference signal to include a frequency sweep of the AC component of the charge signal (e.g., different frequencies at different times or multiple frequencies simultaneously) and processes the digital signal to characterize the battery across the different respective frequencies and generate spectrum analysis (SA) information of the battery.

Battery impedance tracking during charging

A current reference operative drive-sense circuit (DSC) includes a current source operably coupled to a load and a voltage-mode analog to digital converter (ADC). When enabled, the current source is configured to drive a sinusoidal current reference signal to the load thereby generating a load voltage that is based on the sinusoidal current reference signal and an impedance of the load. The voltage-mode ADC is operably coupled the load and to the current source. When enabled, the voltage-mode ADC configured to perform digital sampling of the load voltage and to generate a digital signal that is representative of the load voltage. In some implementations, one or more processing modules is configured to execute operational instructions to process the digital signal that is representative of the load voltage in accordance with determining impedance of the load and/or change of impedance of the load.

Current reference operative drive-sense circuit (dsc) with voltage amplifier

A touch screen display includes a plurality of electrodes configured to facilitate touch sense functionality based on electrode signals having a drive signal component and a receive signal component, a plurality of drive-sense circuits coupled to at least some of the plurality of electrodes to generate a plurality of sensed signals, and a processing module. The processing module is configured to cause the touch screen display to receive the plurality of sensed signals. A stream of capacitance image data associated with the plurality of cross points is generated based on the plurality of sensed signals. The stream of capacitance image data is processed to detect a touchless gesture.

Detection of touchless gestures based on capacitance image data

A capacitive touch screen display operates by: providing a display configured to render frames of data into visible images; providing a plurality of electrodes integrated into the display to facilitate touch sense functionality based on electrode signals having a drive signal component and a receive signal component; generating, via a plurality of drive-sense circuits coupled to at least some of the plurality of electrodes, a plurality of sensed signals; receiving the plurality of sensed signals; generating capacitance image data associated with the plurality of cross points that includes capacitance variation data corresponding to variations of the capacitance image data from a nominal value; and processing the capacitance image data to determine a touchless indication proximal to the touch screen display based on a touchless indication threshold.

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Cedar Park, TX, United States of America

Patrick Troy Gray