Capacitive coupling based sensor
A capacitive coupling based sensor is disclosed. In some embodiments, a sensor comprises a transmitter and a receiver that are configured to be capacitively coupled when a coupling condition is satisfied as well as a circuit configured to determine whether a received signal that is received by the receiver matches a transmitted signal that is transmitted by the transmitter.
1. A sensor, comprising:
a first transmitter and a first receiver configured to be capacitively coupled when a first passive coupler is in proximity to the first transmitter and the first receiver;
a second transmitter and a second receiver configured to be capacitively coupled when a second passive coupler is in proximity to the second transmitter and the second receiver; and
an integrated circuit coupled to the transmitters and the receivers configured to determine whether a signal transmitted by the first transmitter is received by the first receiver and an inverted version of the signal transmitted by the second transmitter is received by the second receiver;
wherein at least one of the first passive coupler and the second passive coupler comprises a plurality of portions that are not adjacently situated.
2. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the integrated circuit is further configured to generate an output signal and wherein the output signal comprises a first state when both transmitter and receiver pairs are capacitively coupled and otherwise comprises a second state.
3. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the transmitters and the receivers are situated approximately in a single plane.
4. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein each passive coupler comprises a conductive material.
5. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the integrated circuit is further configured to generate the signals transmitted by the transmitters.
6. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein determining that a transmitted signal is received by a corresponding receiver comprises determining the strength of a received signal.
7. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein determining that a transmitted signal is received by a corresponding receiver comprises determining an error, if any, between a received signal and the corresponding transmitted signal.
8. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein determining that a transmitted signal is received by a corresponding receiver comprises determining that a received signal and the corresponding transmitted signal match for a prescribed number of samples.
9. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the signal comprises a patterned signal.
10. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the transmitters, the receivers, and the integrated circuit comprise one or more of a switch, a position detection sensor, a proximity detection sensor, a presence detection sensor, and a touch sensor.
11. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the integrated circuit comprises a plurality of components for providing a plurality of functionalities.
12. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein each of the first passive coupler and the second passive coupler comprises a plurality of portions.
13. The sensor of claim 12 , wherein portions comprising each passive coupler are alternatively situated such that portions comprising the same passive coupler are not adjacent.
14. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein no physical connection exists between the passive couplers and the transmitters, the receivers, and the integrated circuit.
15. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a differential configuration.
16. The sensor of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of portions is electrically connected together by a wire.
17. A method for providing a sensor, comprising:
configuring a first transmitter and a first receiver to be capacitively coupled when a first passive coupler is in proximity to the first transmitter and the first receiver;
configuring a second transmitter and a second receiver to be capacitively coupled when a second passive coupler is in proximity to the second transmitter and the second receiver; and
configuring an integrated circuit coupled to the transmitters and the receivers to determine whether a signal transmitted by the first transmitter is received by the first receiver and an inverted version of the signal transmitted by the second transmitter is received by the second receiver;
wherein at least one of the first passive coupler and the second passive coupler comprises a plurality of portions that are not adjacently situated.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein each of the first passive coupler and the second passive coupler comprises a plurality of portions.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein portions comprising each passive coupler are alternatively situated such that portions comprising the same passive coupler are not adjacent.
20. A computer program product for providing a sensor, the computer program product being embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:
configuring a first transmitter and a first receiver to be capacitively coupled when a first passive coupler is in proximity to the first transmitter and the first receiver;
configuring a second transmitter and a second receiver to be capacitively coupled when a second passive coupler is in proximity to the second transmitter and the second receiver; and
configuring an integrated circuit coupled to the transmitters and the receivers to determine whether a signal transmitted by the first transmitter is received by the first receiver and an inverted version of the signal transmitted by the second transmitter is received by the second receiver;
wherein at least one of the first passive coupler and the second passive coupler comprises a plurality of portions that are not adjacently situated.