Shieldless touch sensor noise cancellation
View Patent ↗An apparatus may include a controller and a capacitive sensor that includes electrodes. The controller includes a processor and a memory. When logic is executed by the processor, the logic is capable of selecting a first subset of electrodes for measurement and selecting one of the electrodes from a second subset of electrodes as a reference drive electrode. The logic is further capable of determining a difference between a capacitance measurement of the first subset and a capacitance measurement of the reference drive electrode. The logic is also capable of adjust the capacitance measurement of the first electrode based at least in part upon the difference.
1. An apparatus comprising:
a mutual-capacitance touch sensor comprising:
a first plurality of electrodes comprising a first drive electrode and a first sense electrode;
a second plurality of electrodes comprising a plurality of drive electrodes;
a plurality of reference sense lines corresponding to a respective one or more of the second plurality of electrodes;
a multiplexer operable to select input from one of the second plurality of electrodes; and
an integrator coupled to the multiplexer, the integrator operable to measure the capacitance of the selected input from one of the second plurality of electrodes; and
a controller comprising:
a processor; and
a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory comprising logic, when executed by the processor, operable to:
select a reference drive electrode from one of the second plurality of electrodes;
determine a capacitive measurement of the reference drive electrode using a selected reference sense line of the plurality of reference sense lines that corresponds to the reference drive electrode;
determine a reference noise level by calculating a difference between a capacitance measurement of the first plurality of electrodes and the capacitance measurement of the reference drive electrode; and
adjust the capacitance measurement of the first plurality of electrodes based at least in part upon the reference noise level.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a second multiplexer operable to select input from one of the first plurality of electrodes; and
a second integrator coupled to the second multiplexer, the second integrator operable to measure the capacitance of the selected input from one of the first plurality of electrodes.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the capacitance measurement of the first plurality of electrodes is based upon a capacitance change at a capacitance node associated with the first drive electrode.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the capacitance measurement of the reference drive electrode is based upon a capacitance change at a capacitance node associated with the reference drive electrode.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein selecting the reference drive electrode is based at least in part upon the distance between the reference drive electrode and the first drive electrode.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the logic, when executed by the processor, is further operable to:
select a second reference drive electrode from the first plurality of electrodes;
determine a second reference noise level by calculating the difference between a capacitance measurement of the second plurality of electrodes and a capacitance measurement of the second reference drive electrode; and
adjust the capacitance measurement of the second plurality of electrodes based at least in part upon the second noise level.
7. An apparatus comprising:
a capacitive sensor comprising:
a plurality of electrodes comprising a plurality of drive electrodes and a plurality of sense electrodes;
a controller comprising:
a processor; and
a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory comprising logic, when executed by the processor, operable to:
select a first subset of the plurality of electrodes for measurement;
select a reference drive electrode from a second subset of the plurality of electrodes, wherein the first subset is distinct from the second subset;
determine a capacitive measurement of the reference drive electrode using a selected reference sense line of a plurality of reference sense lines that is corresponds to the reference drive electrode, the plurality of reference sense lines corresponding to a respective one or more of the second subset of the plurality of electrodes;
determine a difference between a capacitance measurement of the first subset and the capacitance measurement of the reference drive electrode; and
adjust the capacitance measurement of the first subset based at least in part upon the difference between the capacitance measurement of the first subset and the capacitance measurement of the reference drive electrode.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the capacitive sensor is a mutual-capacitance touch sensor, the apparatus further comprising:
a multiplexer operable to select input from one of the plurality of electrodes; and
an integrator coupled to the multiplexer, the integrator operable to measure capacitance of the selected input.
9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the first subset comprises a first drive electrode and a first sense electrode.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the capacitance measurement of the first subset is based at least in part upon detecting a first capacitance change at a capacitance node associated with the first drive electrode.
11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the second subset comprises two or more drive electrodes and wherein the capacitance measurement of the second subset is based at least in part upon detecting a second capacitance change at a capacitance node associated with the reference drive electrode.
12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein selecting the reference drive electrode is based at least in part upon the distance between the reference drive electrode and the first drive electrode.
13. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the logic, when executed by the processor, is further operable to:
select a second reference drive electrode from the first subset;
determine a second reference noise level by calculating the difference between a capacitance measurement of the second subset and a capacitance measurement of the second reference drive electrode; and
adjust the capacitance measurement of the second subset based at least in part upon the second difference.
14. A method for noise cancellation, comprising:
selecting a first subset of a plurality of electrodes of a capacitive sensor for measurement, the plurality of electrodes comprising a plurality of drive electrodes and a plurality of sense electrodes;
selecting a reference drive electrode from a second subset of the plurality of electrodes, wherein the first subset is distinct from the second subset;
determining a capacitive measurement of the reference drive electrode using a selected reference sense line of a plurality of reference sense lines that corresponds to the reference drive electrode, the plurality of reference sense lines corresponding to a respective one or more of the second subset of the plurality of electrodes;
determining a difference between a capacitance measurement of the first subset and a capacitance measurement of the reference drive electrode; and
adjusting the capacitance measurement of the first subset based at least in part upon the difference between the capacitance measurement of the first subset and the capacitance measurement of the reference drive electrode.
15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
selecting, using a multiplexer, input from one of the plurality of electrodes; and
determining, using an integrator coupled to the multiplexer, a measurement of the selected input.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the capacitive sensor is a mutual-capacitance touch sensor and the first subset comprises a first drive electrode and a first sense electrode.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the capacitance measurement of the first subset is based at least in part upon detecting a first capacitance change at a capacitance node associated with the first drive electrode.
18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the second subset comprises two or more drive electrodes and wherein the capacitance measurement of the second subset is based at least in part upon detecting a second capacitance change at a capacitance node associated with the reference drive electrode.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein selecting the reference drive electrode is based at least in part upon the distance between the reference drive electrode and the first drive electrode.
20. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
selecting a second reference drive electrode from the first subset;
determining a second reference noise level by calculating the difference between a capacitance measurement of the second subset and a capacitance measurement of the second reference drive electrode; and
adjusting the capacitance measurement of the second subset based at least in part upon the second difference.