Synaptics Incorporated
TRANSCAPACITIVE TOUCH AND FORCE SENSING IN AN INPUT DEVICE

Abstract:

An example input device for force and proximity sensing includes a plurality of touch electrodes comprising touch transmitter electrodes and touch receiver electrodes, a force electrode layer comprising a plurality of force electrodes, and a processing system. When operating in a proximity sensing mode, the processing system drives the touch transmitter electrodes with touch transmitter signals and determines a position of an input object, within a sensing region defined by the plurality of touch electrodes, based at least in part on a transcapacitive proximity measurement acquired from the touch receiver electrodes. When operating in a force sensing mode, the processing system drives the plurality of force electrodes with force transmitter signals and determines a force of the input object based at least in part on a transcapacitive force measurement based on a change in capacitance between the plurality of force electrodes and the plurality of touch electrodes.