System and method for dynamic mode switching in an active stylus
View Patent ↗A disclosed information handling system includes a touch controller and a touch device. The touch controller may include circuitry to establish a communication link with a stylus, to determine that the stylus should operate in a first one of multiple stylus modes, the first mode defining a set of stylus features to be enabled on the stylus in the first mode, to communicate, to the stylus, an indication that the stylus is to be configured in the first mode, to determine an effect of digital inking by the stylus, dependent on stylus features enabled in the first mode, to determine that the stylus should operate in a second stylus mode, the second mode defining at least a subset of stylus features to be disabled on the stylus in the second mode, and to communicate, to the stylus, an indication that the stylus is to be configured in the second mode.
1. An information handling system, comprising:
a touch controller;
a touch device including circuitry for enabling, in conjunction with the touch controller, input to the information handling system via touch functionality;
wherein the touch controller comprises circuitry to:
establish a communication link with a stylus device to be used with the touch device;
determine that the stylus device is to operate in a first one of a plurality of stylus modes, wherein the first stylus mode defines a first set of stylus features implemented on the stylus device to be supported on the touch controller and enabled on the stylus device when the stylus device operates in the first stylus mode, the first set including one or more stylus features that, when enabled, consume power supplied by a stylus battery and affect a visually distinguishable characteristic of lines drawn by the stylus using digital inking;
communicate, to the stylus device, an indication that the stylus device is to be configured for operation in the first stylus mode;
determine, while the stylus device operates in the first stylus mode, an effect of digital inking by the stylus device on the touch device, dependent on the one or more battery-consuming stylus features included in the first set of stylus features;
determine that the stylus device is to operate in a second one of the plurality of stylus modes, wherein the stylus device consumes less power when operating in the second stylus mode than when operating in the first stylus mode, and the second stylus mode defines a subset of the first set of stylus features that are to be disabled on the stylus device in the second stylus mode;
communicate, to the stylus device, in response to the determination that the stylus device is to operate in the second stylus mode, an indication that the stylus device is to be configured for operation in the second stylus mode; and
determine, while the stylus device operates in the second stylus mode, an effect of digital inking by the stylus device on the touch device, dependent on the one or more battery-consuming stylus features that remain enabled when the stylus device operates in the second stylus mode.
2. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein:
to determine that the stylus device is to operate in the first stylus mode, the touch controller comprises circuitry to:
detect that the stylus device has come into proximity with the touch device; and
select, as an initial stylus mode, the first stylus mode;
the first stylus mode comprises a default stylus mode in which all battery-consuming stylus features implemented on the stylus device are enabled.
3. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein:
to determine that the stylus device is to operate in the first stylus mode, the touch controller comprises circuitry to detect a movement, a position, or an orientation of the stylus device that represents a gesture associated with the first stylus mode.
4. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein:
to determine that the stylus device is to operate in the first stylus mode, the touch controller comprises circuitry to determine that a first application executing on the information handling system supports use of one or more of the battery-consuming stylus features that are included in the first subset of stylus features and are to be disabled on the stylus device when the stylus device operates in the second stylus mode; and
to determine that the stylus device is to operate in the second stylus mode, the touch controller comprises circuitry to determine that a second application executing on the information handling system does not support use of the one or more battery-consuming stylus features that are to be disabled on the stylus device when the stylus device operates in the second stylus mode.
5. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein:
to determine that the stylus device is to operate in the second stylus mode, the touch controller comprises circuitry to receive, from the stylus device, information representing a state-of-charge of a battery providing energy to the stylus device, the information indicating that the state-of-charge of the battery is below a predetermined state-of-charge threshold.
6. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein:
to communicate, to the stylus device, an indication that the stylus device is to be configured for operation in the first stylus mode, the touch controller comprises circuitry to transmit a beacon signal to the stylus device, the beacon signal encoding information representing a command to configure the stylus device for operation in the first stylus mode.
7. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein:
the information handling system further comprises a stylus controller, the stylus controller comprising circuitry to:
receive, from the touch controller, the indication that the stylus device is to be configured for operation in the first stylus mode;
configure the stylus device for operation in the first stylus mode, including circuitry to enable the stylus features in the first subset of stylus features;
receive, from the touch controller, the indication that the stylus device is to be configured for operation in the second stylus mode; and
configure the stylus device for operation in the second stylus mode, including circuitry to disable the one or more battery-consuming stylus features that are to be disabled on the stylus device when the stylus device operates in the second stylus mode.
8. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein:
the information handling system further comprises a stylus controller, the stylus controller comprising circuitry to:
configure the stylus device for operation in the second stylus mode in response to:
a determination that the stylus device is not in proximity to the touch device; or
a determination that a state-of-charge of a battery providing energy to the stylus device is below a predetermined state-of-charge threshold.
9. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein:
the information handling system further comprises a stylus controller, the stylus controller comprising circuitry to:
receive, from a user input mechanism of the stylus device, an indication that the stylus device is to operate in the second stylus mode; and
transmit a beacon signal to the touch controller, the beacon signal encoding information indicating that the stylus device is to be configured for operation in the second stylus mode;
to determine that the stylus device is to operate in the second stylus mode, the touch controller comprises circuitry to receive, from the stylus device, the beacon signal encoding information indicating that the stylus device is to be configured for operation in the second stylus mode.
10. A method comprising, in an information handling system:
establishing a communication link between a touch controller and a stylus device, the stylus device to be used with a touch device to provide input to the information handling system;
determining that the stylus device is to operate in a first one of a plurality of stylus modes, wherein the first stylus mode defines a first set of stylus features implemented on the stylus device to be supported on the touch controller and enabled on the stylus device when the stylus device operates in the first stylus mode, the first set including one or more stylus features that, when enabled, consume power supplied by a stylus battery and affect a visually distinguishable characteristic of lines drawn by the stylus using digital inking;
communicating, to the stylus device, an indication that the stylus device is to be configured for operation in the first stylus mode;
determining, while the stylus device operates in the first stylus mode, an effect of digital inking by the stylus device on the touch device, dependent on the one or more battery-consuming stylus features included in the first set of stylus features;
determining that the stylus device is to operate in a second one of the plurality of stylus modes, wherein the stylus device consumes less power when operating in the second stylus mode than when operating in the first stylus mode, and the second stylus mode defines a subset of the first set of stylus features that are to be disabled on the stylus device in the second stylus mode;
communicating, to the stylus device, in response to the determination that the stylus device is to operate in the second stylus mode, an indication that the stylus device is to be configured for operation in the second stylus mode; and
determining, while the stylus device operates in the second stylus mode, an effect of digital inking by the stylus device on the touch device, dependent on the one or more battery-consuming stylus features that remain enabled when the stylus device operates in the second stylus mode.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein:
determining that the stylus device is to operate in the first stylus mode comprises:
detecting that the stylus device has come into proximity with the touch device; and
selecting, as an initial stylus mode, the first stylus mode;
the first stylus mode comprises a default stylus mode in which all battery-consuming stylus features implemented on the stylus device are enabled.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein:
determining that the stylus device is to operate in the first stylus mode comprises determining that the stylus device is to operate in the first stylus mode, the touch controller comprises circuitry to determine that a first application executing on the information handling system supports use of one or more of the battery-consuming stylus features that are included in the first subset of stylus features and are to be disabled on the stylus device when the stylus device operates in the second stylus mode; and
determining that the stylus device is to operate in the second stylus mode comprises determining that a second application executing on the information handling system does not support use of the one or more battery-consuming stylus features that are to be disabled on the stylus device when the stylus device operates in the second stylus mode.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein:
determining that the stylus device is to operate in the second stylus mode comprises receiving, from the stylus device, information representing a state-of-charge of a battery providing energy to the stylus device, the information indicating that the state-of-charge of the battery is below a predetermined state-of-charge threshold.
14. The method of claim 10 , wherein:
communicating, to the stylus device, an indication that the stylus device is to be configured for operation in the first stylus mode comprises transmitting a beacon signal to the stylus device, the beacon signal encoding information representing a command to configure the stylus device for operation in the first stylus mode.
15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
configuring the stylus device for operation in the first stylus mode, including enabling the stylus features in the first subset of stylus features, in response to the indication that the stylus device is to be configured for operation in the first stylus mode; and
configuring the stylus device for operation in the second stylus mode, including disabling the one or more battery-consuming stylus features that are to be disabled on the stylus device when the stylus device operates in the second stylus mode, in response to the indication that the stylus device is to be configured for operation in the stylus mode.
16. At least one non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing program instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause the processors to perform:
establishing a communication link between a touch controller for a touch device and a stylus device to be used with the touch device;
determining that the stylus device is to operate in a first one of a plurality of stylus modes, wherein the first stylus mode defines a first set of stylus features implemented on the stylus device to be supported on the touch controller and enabled on the stylus device when the stylus device operates in the first stylus mode, the first set including one or more stylus features that, when enabled, consume power supplied by a stylus battery and affect a visually distinguishable characteristic of lines drawn by the stylus using digital inking;
communicating, to the stylus device, an indication that the stylus device is to be configured for operation in the first stylus mode;
determining, while the stylus device operates in the first stylus mode, an effect of digital inking by the stylus device on the touch device, dependent on the one or more battery-consuming stylus features included in the first set of stylus features;
determining that the stylus device is to operate in a second one of the plurality of stylus modes, wherein the stylus device consumes less power when operating in the second stylus mode than when operating in the first stylus mode, and the second stylus mode defines a subset of the first set of stylus features that are to be disabled on the stylus device in the second stylus mode;
communicating, to the stylus device, in response to the determination that the stylus device is to operate in the second stylus mode, an indication that the stylus device is to be configured for operation in the second stylus mode; and
determining, while the stylus device operates in the second stylus mode, an effect of digital inking by the stylus device on the touch device, dependent on the one or more battery-consuming stylus features that remain enabled when the stylus device operates in the second stylus mode.
17. The medium of claim 16 , wherein:
determining that the stylus device is to operate in the first stylus mode comprises:
determining that the stylus device has come into proximity with the touch device; and
selecting, as an initial stylus mode, the first stylus mode;
the first stylus mode comprises a default stylus mode in which all battery-consuming stylus features implemented on the stylus device are enabled.
18. The medium of claim 16 , wherein:
determining that the stylus device is to operate in the first stylus mode comprises receiving, through an application programming interface, information indicating that a first application executing on the one or more processors supports use of one or more of the battery-consuming stylus features that are included in the first subset of stylus features and are to be disabled on the stylus device when the stylus device operates in the second stylus mode; and
determining that the stylus device is to operate in the second stylus mode comprises receiving, through an application programming interface, information indicating that a second application executing on the one or more processors does not support use of the one or more battery-consuming stylus features that are to be disabled on the stylus device when the stylus device operates in the second stylus mode.
19. The medium of claim 16 , wherein:
determining that the stylus device is to operate in the second stylus mode comprises receiving, from the stylus device, information representing a state-of-charge of a battery providing energy to the stylus device, the information indicating that the state-of-charge of the battery is below a predetermined state-of-charge threshold.
20. The medium of claim 16 , wherein:
communicating, to the stylus device, an indication that the stylus device is to be configured for operation in the first stylus mode comprises sending, to the stylus device, information representing a command to configure the stylus device for operation in the first stylus mode.