Wacom Co., Ltd.

Seimi Chemical Co., Ltd.

Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho

Takeshi Koike

Hideyuki Hara

Masayuki Miyamoto

Naoki Watanabe

Yuji Katsurahira

Haruhiko Hisano

Osamu Yokokouji

Tamon Tachibana

Masaki Oiwa

Kanetaka Shimizu

Atsushi Fukunaga

A delta-sigma modulation circuit is enabled to be used to detect a pen signal. An integrated circuit according to the present disclosure is a sensor controller that detects pen signals transmitted from an active pen. The integrated circuit includes a delta-sigma modulation circuit including a subtractor that subtracts a feedback signal from a received signal input from a sensor, an integrator that integrates an output signal of the subtractor, a quantizer that quantizes an output signal of the integrator, and a digital analog converter that generates the feedback signal based on an output value of the quantizer. The integrated circuit also has a processor that detects a level of the received signal based on an output value of the delta-sigma modulation circuit, and a gain controller that a level of the feedback signal based on the level of the received signal detected by the processor.

Integrated circuit

An active pen includes an integrated circuit that transmits a downlink signal through a first electrode and receives an uplink signal through a second electrode different from the first electrode. The active pen includes a stop filter inserted between the second electrode and the integrated circuit. The integrated circuit, in operation, performs transmission of the downlink signal and the reception of the uplink signal at the same time.

System and sensor controller for use with active pen

The present disclosure relates to a sensor controller including transmission drivers each having a negative and a positive power supply terminal, each of the transmission drivers being configured to generate a signal waveform transitioning between first potential and second potential and output the signal waveform to a corresponding detection electrode, and an intermediate potential supply unit having a potential generation circuit that includes a voltage source or a capacitive element separate from the transmission drivers, the intermediate potential supply unit being configured to output a voltage from the potential generation circuit at first timings at which a potential of a signal waveform starts to transition from the first potential to the second potential or from the second potential to the first potential, to supply the intermediate potential between the first potential and the second potential to at least one of the positive or the negative power supply terminal.

Sensor controller, electronic device, and control method of sensor controller

To reduce an increase in the burden of designing circuits used in a pen pressure sensor, provided is a stylus including a detection circuit that is connectable to a pen pressure sensor that, in operation, acquires pen pressure data of the stylus, the pen pressure sensor being a capacitive sensor in which a capacitance value changes according to applied force or a resistive sensor in which a resistance value changes according to applied force, the detection circuit can selectively operating in a first mode and a second mode, the detection circuit, in operation, acquiring the pen pressure data based on the capacitance value of the pen pressure sensor while the detection circuit operates in the first mode, and the detection circuit, in operation, acquiring the pen pressure data in reference to the resistance value of the pen pressure sensor while the detection circuit operates in the second mode.

Stylus

An electronic pen is provided which indicates a position on a plane-shaped sensor through communication with an electronic device including the plane-shaped sensor. The electronic pen includes a reception circuit configured to receive a signal transmitted from the electronic device, a pen pressure sensor configured to output a detection signal correlated with an amount of pen pressure exerted on a pen tip of the electronic pen, and a value conversion circuit configured to convert, according to a conversion rule, a detection value indicated by the detection signal output from the pen pressure sensor, into a conversion value indicating a magnitude of the amount of pen pressure. The value conversion circuit adjusts, according to a strength of the signal received by the reception circuit, rising sensitivity at which the amount of pen pressure transitions from zero to non-zero on a conversion characteristic curve identified by the conversion rule.

Electronic pen, input system, and pen pressure adjustment method

A method is provided for transmitting transmission data from a sensor controller that detects a pen to the pen through a sensor electrode group. The pen includes a pen tip electrode arranged near a pen tip, and an analog circuit that detects edges of a signal led to the pen tip electrode. The pen also includes a digital circuit that performs a correlation operation of an output signal of the analog circuit and known patterns to detect the transmission data. The sensor controller is configured to generate a pulse signal representing the transmission data. The sensor controller is configured to transmit the pulse signal, by using a main signal and a sub signal of the pulse signal so as to enhance the edges, thereby transmitting the transmission data through the sensor electrode group.

Method of transmitting transmission data from sensor controller to pen, and pen

A transmission driver receives an input signal, a first voltage, and a second voltage higher than the first voltage, and transmits a transmission signal according to the input signal, the transmission driver includes an output terminal that outputs the transmission signal and circuitry that is coupled to the output terminal and that operates in a first mode of transmitting the transmission signal with a first voltage range that ranges from the first voltage to the second voltage, and a second mode of transmitting the transmission signal with a second voltage range that ranges from the first voltage to a third voltage higher than the second voltage.

Transmission driver including circuitry that transmits signals with different voltage ranges while operating in different modes, electronic device, and control method of electronic device

A pen includes: an electrode; a power supply circuit which, in operation, supplies a first voltage; a low voltage integrated circuit (LVIC) coupled to the power supply circuit, wherein the LVIC, in operation, outputs a transmission signal at the first voltage; a high voltage integrated circuit (HVIC) including a level shifter which, in operation, outputs the transmission signal at a second voltage that is higher than the first voltage; an inter-IC wire which, in operation, supplies the transmission signal having the first voltage from the LVIC to the HVIC; an electrode wire which, in operation, supplies the transmission signal having the second voltage from the HVIC to the electrode; and a step-up circuit coupled to the power supply circuit, wherein the HVIC in operation, supplies the second voltage to the level shifter.

Active pen

[Object] To allow a pen to properly receive an uplink signal even if there is dullness in a waveform of the uplink signal. [Solution] Provided is an invention of a method of transmitting transmission data from a sensor controllerthat detects a pento a pen through a sensor electrode group. The penincludes a pen tip electrode arranged near a pen tip, an analog circuit that detects edges of a signal led to the pen tip electrode, and a digital circuit that performs a correlation operation of an output signal of the analog circuit and known patterns to detect transmission data. The sensor controllergenerates a pulse signal representing the transmission data and transmits the pulse signal, by using a main signal and a sub signal of the pulse signal so as to enhance the edges, thereby transmitting the transmission data through the sensor electrode group.

A method in which a sensor controller is connected to a sensor having an electrode group provided together with a display panel configured to operate in during a variable refresh cycle among a plurality of refresh cycles, and an active stylus performs bidirectional communication with the sensor controller. According to the method, the sensor controller acquires a present refresh cycle among the plurality of refresh cycles of the display panel, generates an uplink signal, which serves as a reference for synchronization corresponding to the acquired present refresh cycle, and transmits the uplink signal to the active stylus, which is not detected as yet or is detected already, at the present refresh cycle.

Active stylus downlink signal transmission timing control relative to sensor controller

Active pen includes first and second electrodes provided at different positions, a transmission circuit that uses a booster circuit to cause a change in the first electrode to thereby transmit a downlink signal, a reception circuit that uses the second electrode to detect an uplink signal, and a stop filter that prevents a change in a potential of the first electrode from affecting a potential of the uplink signal detected by the reception circuit.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Takeshi Koike