Method and system for force-aided touchpad noise rejection

1. A touchpad system, comprising:

a touchpad comprising a plurality of force sensors and a touch sensor; and

a touch controller in electrical communication with the touchpad and configured to:

obtain a touch signal from the touch sensor,

determine a signal-to-noise ratio of the touch signal,

cause the touchpad system to enter a high noise mode based on the signal-to-noise-ratio of the touch signal,

obtain a force signal from the plurality of force sensors,

determine a weight of the touch signal and a weight of the force signal based on the signal-to-noise ratio of the touch sensor,

aggregate the touch signal and force signal by summing the touch signal and force signal multiplied by their respective weights,

determine a contact position of a user touch on the touchpad using the aggregated touch and force signals, and

transmit the contact position to a computer system.

2. The touchpad system according to claim 1 , wherein the touch sensor is a capacitance sensor.

3. The touchpad system according to claim 1 , wherein

the plurality of force sensors comprises:

a first force sensor proximate a first corner of the touchpad; and

a second force sensor proximate a second corner of the touchpad,

the first corner and the second corner are opposing corners relative a width and a height of the touchpad.

4. The touchpad system according to claim 1 , wherein the touch controller is further configured to:

execute a command to manipulate a cursor of the computer system based on the contact position.

5. The touchpad system according to claim 1 , wherein the touch controller causes the touchpad system to enter the high noise mode by determining that the signal-to-noise ratio of the touch signal satisfies a criterion.

6. The touchpad system according to claim 1 , wherein

the touch controller determines the weighting of the touch signal and the force signal by:

determining a signal-to-noise ratio of the force signal, and

assigning a higher weight to the higher of the signal-to-noise ratio of the touch signal and the signal-to-noise ratio of the force signal.

7. A method for determining a contact position on a touchpad of a touchpad system, the method comprising:

obtaining a touch signal from a touch sensor of the touchpad;

determining a signal-to-noise ratio of the touch signal;

causing the touchpad system to enter a high noise mode based on the signal-to-noise-ratio of the touch signal;

obtaining a force signal from a plurality of force sensors of the touchpad;

determining a weight of the touch signal and a weight of the force signal based on the signal-to-noise ratio of the touch sensor;

aggregating the touch signal and force signal by summing the touch signal and the force signal multiplied by their respective weights; and

determining the contact position on the touchpad using the aggregated touch and force signals.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the touch sensor is a capacitance sensor.

9. The method according to claim 7 , wherein

the plurality of force sensors comprises:

a first force sensor proximate a first corner of the touchpad; and

a second force sensor proximate a second corner of the touchpad,

the first corner and the second corner are opposing corners relative a width and a height of the touchpad.

10. The method according to claim 7 , further comprising:

transmitting the contact position to a computer system, and

executing a command to manipulate a cursor of the computer system based on the contact position.

11. The method according to claim 7 , wherein causing the touchpad system to enter the high noise mode comprises determining that the signal-to-noise ratio of the touch signal satisfies a criterion.

12. The method according to claim 7 , wherein

determining the weighting of the touch signal and the force signal comprises:

determining a signal-to-noise ratio of the force signal, and

assigning a higher weight to the higher of the signal-to-noise ratio of the touch signal and the signal-to-noise ratio of the force signal.

13. A computer system, comprising:

a touchpad system comprising a plurality of force sensors and a touch sensor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a computer processor, cause the processor to perform:

obtaining a touch signal from the touch sensor,

determining a signal-to-noise ratio of the touch signal,

causing the touchpad system to enter a high noise mode based on the signal-to-noise-ratio of the touch signal,

obtaining a force signal from the plurality of force sensors,

determining a weight of the touch signal and a weight of the force signal based on the signal-to-noise ratio of the touch sensor,

aggregating the touch signal and force signal by summing the touch signal and the force signal multiplied by their respective weights,

determining a contact position of a user touch on the touchpad using the aggregated touch and force signals, and

manipulating a cursor of the computer system based on the contact position.

14. The system according to claim 13 , wherein the touch sensor is a capacitance sensor.

15. The system according to claim 13 , wherein

the plurality of force sensors comprises:

a first force sensor proximate a first corner of the touchpad; and

a second force sensor proximate a second corner of the touchpad,

the first corner and the second corner are opposing corners relative a width and a height of the touchpad.

16. The system according to claim 13 , wherein causing the touchpad system to enter the high noise mode comprises determining that the signal-to-noise ratio of the touch signal satisfies a criterion.

17. The system according to claim 13 , wherein

determining the weighting of the touch signal and the force signal comprises:

determining a signal-to-noise ratio of the force signal, and

assigning a higher weight to the higher of the signal-to-noise ratio of the touch signal and the signal-to-noise ratio of the force signal.