Communication method executed between active pen and sensor controller, and active pen

1. A communication method executed between:

one of a first active pen including a pen tip electrode and a second active pen including a pen tip electrode and a peripheral electrode; and

a sensor controller connected to a sensor electrode,

the communication method comprising:

a beacon signal supply step in which the sensor controller supplies a beacon signal which serves as a reference time for a frame formed of a plurality of time slots;

a functional information acquisition step in which the sensor controller acquires, from a downlink signal returned from one of the first active pen and the second active pen in response to the beacon signal, functional information indicating whether or not one of the active pens that has transmitted the downlink signal includes the peripheral electrode; and

an allocation determination step in which the sensor controller determines based on the acquired functional information whether to allocate one or more of the time slots to only the pen tip electrode of the first or second active pen or to allocate one or more of the time slots to each of the pen tip electrode of the first or second active pen and the peripheral electrode of the second active pen.

2. The method according to claim 1 , comprising:

a setting step in which the sensor controller transmits, to the one of the active pens, setting information which specifies a first time slot set indicating one or more of the time slots allocated to the pen tip electrode of the first or second active pen and a second time slot set indicating one or more of the time slots allocated to the peripheral electrode when the sensor controller determines to allocate one or more of the time slots to each of the pen tip electrode of the first or second active pen and the peripheral electrode of the second active pen in the allocation determination step.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the setting information includes information which designates content of a signal to be transmitted from the one of the active pens from each of the pen tip electrode of the first or second active pen and the peripheral electrode of the second active pen.

4. The method according to claim 2 , comprising:

a step in which the second active pen uses one or more of the time slots in the first time slot set to transmit a downlink signal from the pen tip electrode of the second active pen; and

a step in which the second active pen uses one or more of the time slots in the second time slot set to transmit a downlink signal from the peripheral electrode.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein

the functional information includes at least one of information indicating a shape of the peripheral electrode, information indicating a positional relationship between the pen tip electrode of the first or second active pen and the peripheral electrode of the second active pen, information indicating an angle of the peripheral electrode with respect to a pen axis, and information indicating a number of peripheral electrodes, and

the sensor controller detects at least one of an inclination and a rotation angle of the second active pen on the basis of the functional information.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein

the functional information includes information indicating whether the peripheral electrode is isotropic or anisotropic with respect to the rotation about the pen axis, and

the sensor controller detects the inclination of the second active pen when the functional information indicates that the peripheral electrode is isotropic with respect to the rotation about the pen axis and detects the rotation angle of the second active pen when the functional information indicates that the peripheral electrode is anisotropic with respect to the rotation about the pen axis.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein

the functional information includes an electrode characteristic profile identifier which identifies one of a plurality of electrode characteristic profiles predefined for the peripheral electrode, and

the sensor controller detects at least one of the inclination and the rotation angle of the second active pen on the basis of the electrode characteristic profile identifier.

8. The method according to claim 2 , wherein in the setting step, the setting information is included and transmitted in the one beacon signal.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein in the setting step, an identifier which identifies one of multiple sets of predefined setting information is transmitted as the setting information.

10. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the setting information includes information indicating whether or not the sensor controller supports inclination detection using the peripheral electrode.

11. The method according to claim 2 , wherein in the setting step, a first part which specifies the first time slot set in the setting information and a second part which specifies the second time slot set in the setting information are included and transmitted in different beacon signals.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein

the first part includes information which specifies a length of time required to transmit signals using the first time slot set, and

the second part includes information which specifies a length of time required to transmit signals using the second time slot set.

13. The method according to claim 12 , comprising:

a step in which one of the active pens transmits a response signal to the beacon signal including the second part from the pen tip electrode of the one of the active pens.

14. The method according to claim 12 , comprising:

a step in which one of the active pens transmits a response signal to the beacon signal including the second part from the peripheral electrode.

15. An active pen that transmits, through coupling capacitance, a signal to a sensor electrode connected to a sensor controller, the active pen comprising:

a pen tip electrode provided on a leading end in a pen axis direction of the active pen;

a peripheral electrode provided behind in the pen axis direction as viewed from the pen tip electrode; and

a signal processor that, in response to a beacon signal from the sensor controller, the beacon signal serving as a reference time for a frame formed of a plurality of time slots, transmits a downlink signal from the pen tip electrode and transmits a reverse-phase signal of the downlink signal from the peripheral electrode at the same time,

wherein the downlink signal is used by the sensor controller to determine that the active pen includes both the pen tip electrode and the peripheral electrode and to allocate one or more of the plurality of time slots to the pen tip electrode and the peripheral electrode of the active pen.

16. The active pen according to claim 15 , wherein the signal processor stops transmitting the reverse-phase signal from the peripheral electrode according to a predetermined trigger.

17. The active pen according to claim 15 , wherein the signal processor starts to transmit the downlink signal from the pen tip electrode according to a predetermined trigger.

18. The active pen according to claim 15 , wherein

the peripheral electrode includes a plurality of segmented electrodes, and

the signal processor is capable of individually switching each of the plurality of segmented electrodes to transmit the downlink signal or to transmit the reverse-phase signal.

19. The active pen according to claim 18 , wherein the signal processor uses a predetermined communication method to notify the sensor controller that the peripheral electrode includes the plurality of segmented electrodes.

20. The active pen according to claim 16 , wherein the predetermined trigger is provided by a timer built in the active pen.

21. The active pen according to claim 16 , wherein the predetermined trigger is provided by a beacon signal transmitted from the sensor controller.