Measuring phasors of phase quadrature signals for capacitive sensing

1 . A method comprising:

providing a capacitive sensing system comprising first and second transmit electrodes and a receive electrode positioned to have mutual capacitances between the first and second transmit electrodes and the receive electrode at mutual capacitance nodes, wherein the mutual capacitance at respective ones of the mutual capacitance nodes changes when an interfering object is proximate;

applying simultaneously a first drive signal to the first transmit electrode and a second drive signal to the second transmit electrode, wherein the first and second drive signals are in quadrature with each other;

receiving a receive signal via the receive electrode;

measuring a phasor of the receive signal; and

identifying a change in mutual capacitance based on the phasor of the receive signal.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the providing the capacitive sensing system comprises providing third and fourth transmit electrodes, wherein the receive electrode is positioned to have mutual capacitances between the first, second, third, and fourth transmit electrodes at mutual capacitance nodes, wherein the mutual capacitance at respective ones of mutual capacitance nodes changes when an interfering object is proximate;

the method comprising:

applying simultaneously a third drive signal to the third transmit electrode and a fourth drive signal to the fourth transmit electrode, wherein the third and fourth drive signals are in quadrature with each other.

3 . The method of claim 2 , comprising:

applying during a first chip first, second, third, and fourth drive signals to the first, second, third, and fourth transmit electrodes, respectively, wherein the first and second drive signals are in quadrature with each other, wherein the third and fourth drive signals are in quadrature with each other, wherein the third drive signal has inverse polarity relative to the first drive signal, and wherein the fourth drive signal has inverse polarity relative to the second drive signal;

receiving a first receive signal from the receive electrode corresponding to the first chip;

measuring a first phasor from the first receive signal;

applying during a second chip fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth drive signals to the first, second, third, and fourth transmit electrodes, respectively, wherein the fifth and sixth drive signals are in quadrature with each other, wherein the seventh and eighth drive signals are in quadrature with each other, wherein the seventh drive signal is in-phase relative to the fifth drive signal, and wherein the eighth drive signal is in-phase relative to the sixth drive signal;

receiving a second receive signal from the receive electrode corresponding to the second chip;

measuring a second phasor from the second receive signal;

performing an operation on the first and second phasors; and

identifying a change in a mutual capacitance based on a result of a performed operation on the first and second phasors.

4 . The method of claim 3 , comprising identifying a mutual capacitance node proximate an interfering object based on a result of a performed operation on the first and second phasors.

5 . The method of claim 1 , comprising identifying a mutual capacitance node proximate an interfering object based on the phasor of the receive signal.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second drive signals comprise a wave selected from sinusoidal, square, and impulse.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second drive signals comprise waves varied over time by a characteristic, wherein the characteristic is selected from amplitude and frequency.

8 . A system comprising:

a capacitive sensing system comprising first and second transmit electrodes and a receive electrode positioned to have mutual capacitances between the transmit electrodes and the receive electrode at mutual capacitance nodes, wherein the mutual capacitance at respective ones of mutual capacitance nodes changes when an interfering object is proximate;

a drive signal generator circuit operatively coupled to the first and second transmit electrodes;

a receive signal receiver circuit operatively coupled to the receiver electrode;

a logic circuit operatively coupled to the drive signal generator circuit and the receive signal receiver circuit, the logic circuit to:

apply simultaneously a first drive signal to the first transmit electrode and a second drive signal to the second transmit electrode, wherein the first and second drive signals are in quadrature with each other;

receive a receive signal via the receive electrode;

measure a phasor of the receive signal; and

identify a change in mutual capacitance based on the phasor of the receive signal.

9 . The system of claim 8 , comprising third and fourth transmit electrodes, wherein receive electrode is positioned to have mutual capacitances between the first, second, third, and fourth transmit electrodes at mutual capacitance nodes, wherein the mutual capacitance at respective ones of mutual capacitance nodes changes when an interfering object is proximate;

the logic circuit to:

apply simultaneously a third drive signal to the third transmit electrode and a fourth drive signal to the fourth transmit electrode, wherein the third and fourth drive signals are in quadrature with each other.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the logic circuit is to:

apply during a first chip first, second, third, and fourth drive signals to the first, second, third, and fourth transmit electrodes, respectively, wherein the first and second drive signals are in quadrature with each other, wherein the third and fourth drive signals are in quadrature with each other, wherein the third drive signal has inverse polarity relative to the first drive signal, and wherein the fourth drive signal has inverse polarity relative to the second drive signal;

receive a first receive signal from the receive electrode corresponding to the first chip;

measure a first phasor from the first receive signal;

apply during a second chip fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth drive signals to the first, second, third, and fourth transmit electrodes, respectively, wherein the fifth and sixth drive signals are in quadrature with each other, wherein the seventh and eighth drive signals are in quadrature with each other, wherein the seventh drive signal is in-phase relative to the fifth drive signal, and wherein the eighth drive signal is in-phase relative to the sixth drive signal;

receive a second receive signal from the receive electrode corresponding to the second chip;

measure a second phasor from the second receive signal;

perform an operation on the first and second phasors; and

identify a change in a mutual capacitance based on a performed operation on the first and second phasors.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the logic circuit is to identify a mutual capacitance node proximate an interfering object based on a performed operation on the first and second phasors.

12 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the logic circuit is to identify a mutual capacitance node proximate an interfering object based on the phasor of the receive signal.

13 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the first and second drive signals comprise a wave selected from sinusoidal, square, and impulse.

14 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the first and second drive signals comprise waves varied over time by a characteristic, wherein the characteristic is selected from amplitude and frequency.

15 . A method comprising:

providing a capacitive sensing system comprising first and second transmit electrodes and a receive electrode positioned to have mutual capacitances between the transmit electrodes and the receive electrode at mutual capacitance nodes, wherein the mutual capacitance at respective ones of mutual capacitance nodes changes when an interfering object is proximate;

applying simultaneously an in-phase drive signal to the first transmit electrode and a quadrature drive signal to the second transmit electrode;

receiving a receive signal via the receive electrode;

measuring a phasor of the receive signal; and

decoding the phasor via a quadrature phase shift key to identify a change in mutual capacitance.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the providing a capacitive sensing system comprises providing third and fourth transmit electrodes, wherein the receive electrode is positioned to have mutual capacitances between the first, second, third, and fourth transmit electrodes at mutual capacitance nodes, wherein the mutual capacitance at respective ones of mutual capacitance nodes changes when an interfering object is proximate;

the method comprising:

applying simultaneously an in-phase drive signal to the first transmit electrode, a quadrature drive signal to the second transmit electrode, an in-phase drive signal to the third transmit electrode, and a quadrature drive signal to the fourth transmit electrode.

17 . The method of claim 16 , comprising:

applying during a first chip an in-phase drive signal to the first transmit electrode, a quadrature drive signal to the second transmit electrode, an inverse polarity to in-phase drive signal to the third transmit electrode, and an inverse polarity to quadrature drive signal to the fourth transmit electrode;

receiving a first receive signal from the receive electrode corresponding to the first chip;

measuring a first phasor from the first receive signal;

applying during a second chip an in-phase drive signal to the first transmit electrode, a quadrature drive signal to the second transmit electrode, an in-phase drive signal to the third transmit electrode, and a quadrature drive signal to the fourth transmit electrode;

receiving a second receive signal from the receive electrode corresponding to the second chip;

measuring a second phasor from the second receive signal; and

decoding the first and second phasors via a code division multiple access operation to identify a change in mutual capacitance.

18 . The method of claim 15 , comprising identifying a mutual capacitance node proximate an interfering object based on decoding the phasor via a quadrature phase shift key.

19 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the first and second drive signals comprise a wave selected from sinusoidal, square, and impulse.

20 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the first and second drive signals comprise waves varied over time by a characteristic, wherein the characteristic is selected from amplitude and frequency.