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 including touch transmitter electrodes and touch receiver electrodes, and a force electrode layer including a plurality of force electrodes. The input device further includes a resilient material layer disposed between the plurality of touch electrodes and the force electrode layer. The input device further includes a processing system coupled to the plurality of touch electrodes and the plurality of force electrodes, the processing system configured to: drive the transmitter electrodes with touch transmitter signals and acquire a transcapacitive proximity measurement from the touch receiver electrodes; and drive the plurality of force electrodes with force transmitter signals and acquire a transcapacitive force measurement from either the touch transmitter electrodes or the touch receiver electrodes.