CN113589962B

CN113589962B - Touch equipment, touch driving device and operation method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN113589962B
Application number: CN202010361338.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张耀光; 寸恩泽
Original assignee: Himax Technologies Ltd
Current assignee: Himax Technologies Ltd
Priority date: 2020-04-30
Filing date: 2020-04-30
Publication date: 2023-07-21
Anticipated expiration: 2040-04-30
Also published as: CN113589962A

Abstract

A touch device, a touch driving device and an operation method are provided. The touch driving device comprises a first routing circuit, a second routing circuit and a processing circuit. The first routing circuit connects a first current electrode of the plurality of first sensing electrodes to a first common terminal of the first routing circuit. The second routing circuit connects a second current electrode of the plurality of second sense electrodes to a second common terminal of the second routing circuit. The same input terminal of the processing circuit is coupled to the first common terminal and the second common terminal. In the case that the touch sensing result corresponding to the input end indicates that a touch event occurs, the processing circuit checks whether the adjacent sensing electrode adjacent to the first current electrode also has the touch event or not to judge whether the first current electrode has the touch event or not.

Description

Touch equipment, touch driving device and operation method thereof

[ field of technology ]

The present invention relates to an electronic device, and more particularly, to a touch device, a touch driving device and an operating method thereof.

[ background Art ]

Generally, a touch panel has a plurality of sensing electrodes. The sensing electrodes are used to sense touch events. Analog-to-digital converter (ADC) of the processing circuit is used to convert the sensing signals of the sensing electrodes into digital data. To reduce circuit cost, a smaller number of analog-to-digital converters are typically used by the processing circuitry to process a larger number of sensing electrodes in a time-division multiplexed manner. For example, assuming that the touch panel has 192 sensing electrodes and the processing circuit has 8 analog-to-digital converters, the 8 analog-to-digital converters perform 24 reading operations (converting operations) to convert the sensing signals of the 192 sensing electrodes into digital data. That is, the 8 analog-to-digital converters take 24 unit times to convert the sensing signals of the 192 sensing electrodes into digital data. Assuming that the touch panel has 192 sensing electrodes and the processing circuit has only 1 analog-to-digital converter, the analog-to-digital converter takes 192 unit time to convert the sensing signals of the 192 sensing electrodes into digital data. Reducing the number of analog-to-digital converters means that the processing time of the processing circuit can be increased.

It should be noted that the content of the "background art" section is intended to aid in understanding the present invention. Some (or all) of the content disclosed in the background section may not be known to those of ordinary skill in the art. The disclosure in the background section is not presented to persons of ordinary skill in the art who have prior to the application of the invention.

[ invention ]

The invention provides a touch device, a touch driving device and an operation method thereof, which can reduce the number of times of reading a touch panel (or can reduce the number of analog-to-digital converters (ADC) under the condition of limited number of analog-to-digital converter ADC).

In an embodiment of the invention, the touch driving device is used for driving the touch panel. The touch driving device comprises a first routing circuit, a second routing circuit and a processing circuit. The first select terminals of the first routing circuit are for coupling to the first sense electrodes of the first sub-region of the touch panel. The first routing circuit is configured to select one of the first sense electrodes as a first current electrode in a first order and selectively connect the first current electrode to a first common terminal of the first routing circuit. The plurality of second select terminals of the second routing circuit are for coupling to a plurality of second sense electrodes of the second sub-region of the touch panel. The second routing circuit is configured to select one of the second sense electrodes as a second current electrode in a second order (different from the first order), and to selectively connect the second current electrode to a second common terminal of the second routing circuit. Wherein the second common terminal is coupled to the first common terminal. The first input terminal of the processing circuit is coupled to the first common terminal and the second common terminal. The first analog-digital converter of the processing circuit converts a first touch sensing result corresponding to the first input end into first touch sensing data. In the case that the first touch sensing data indicates that a touch event occurs, the processing circuit checks whether the touch event also occurs in at least one first adjacent sensing electrode among the first sensing electrodes adjacent to the first current electrode in space to determine whether the touch event occurs in the first current electrode.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned operation method includes: selecting, by the first routing circuit, one of a plurality of first sensing electrodes of a first sub-region of the touch panel in a first order as a first current electrode, and selectively connecting the first current electrode to a first common terminal of the first routing circuit; selecting, by the second routing circuit, one of the plurality of second sensing electrodes of the second sub-region of the touch panel as a second current electrode in a second order (different from the first order), and selectively connecting the second current electrode to a second common terminal of the second routing circuit, wherein the second common terminal is commonly coupled to the first input terminal of the processing circuit with the first common terminal; converting a first touch sensing result corresponding to the first input end into first touch sensing data by a first analog-digital converter of the processing circuit; and in the case that the first touch sensing data indicates that a touch event occurs, checking, by the processing circuit, whether the touch event occurs to at least one first adjacent sensing electrode among the first sensing electrodes adjacent to the first current electrode in space to determine whether the touch event occurs to the first current electrode.

In an embodiment of the invention, the touch device includes a touch panel, a first routing circuit, a second routing circuit, and a processing circuit. The first selection terminals of the first routing circuit are coupled to the first sensing electrodes of the first sub-region of the touch panel. The first routing circuit is configured to select one of the first sense electrodes as a first current electrode in a first order and selectively connect the first current electrode to a first common terminal of the first routing circuit. The plurality of second selection terminals of the second routing circuit are coupled to the plurality of second sensing electrodes of the second sub-region of the touch panel. The second routing circuit is configured to select one of the second sense electrodes as a second current electrode in a second order (different from the first order), and to selectively connect the second current electrode to a second common terminal of the second routing circuit. Wherein the second common terminal is coupled to the first common terminal. The first input terminal of the processing circuit is coupled to the first common terminal and the second common terminal. The first analog-digital converter of the processing circuit converts a first touch sensing result corresponding to the first input end into first touch sensing data. In the case that the first touch sensing data indicates that a touch event occurs, the processing circuit checks whether the touch event also occurs in at least one first adjacent sensing electrode among the first sensing electrodes adjacent to the first current electrode in space to determine whether the touch event occurs in the first current electrode.

Based on the above, the touch device, the touch driving device and the operation method thereof according to the embodiments of the present invention can divide the touch panel into a plurality of sub-areas, such as a first sub-area and a second sub-area. In one reading of the touch panel by the processing circuit, the first routing circuit selects one sensing electrode (first current electrode) from the first sub-area in a first order, and the second routing circuit selects one sensing electrode (second current electrode) from the second sub-area in a second order (different from the first order). The first routing circuit and the second routing circuit short-circuit (electrically connect) the first current electrode and the second current electrode to each other. In the same time (in one reading of the touch panel by the processing circuit), one identical analog-digital converter in the processing circuit can obtain (read out) the first touch sensing result corresponding to the first current electrode and the second current electrode through the first routing circuit and the second routing circuit. Therefore, the touch driving device may reduce the number of readings of the touch panel (or may reduce the number of analog-to-digital converters in the case of limited readings of the touch panel) in the case of limited numbers of analog-to-digital converters.

In order to make the above features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

[ description of the drawings ]

Fig. 1 is a schematic circuit block diagram of a touch device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation method of the touch driving device according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a layout of a sensing electrode array of the touch panel shown in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the invention.

[ symbolic description ]

【1】

100:touch device

110 touch panel

111. 112 sub-region

120 touch control driving device

121. 122 routing circuitry

123 processing circuit

ADCa, ADCb, analog-to-digital converter

E1 to E192 sense electrodes

INa, INb input terminal

S210, S220, S230, S240 steps

TC1a, TC1b, TC2a, TC2b common terminal

TP article

[ detailed description ] of the invention

The term "coupled" as used throughout this specification (including the claims) may refer to any direct or indirect connection. For example, if a first device couples (or connects) to a second device, that connection may be through a direct connection, or through an indirect connection via other devices and connections. The terms first, second and the like in the description (including the claims) are used for naming the elements or distinguishing between different embodiments or ranges and are not used for limiting the number of elements or the order of the elements. In addition, wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts. Elements/components/steps in different embodiments that use the same reference numerals or use the same language may be referred to in relation to each other.

Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a touch device 100 according to an embodiment of the invention. The touch device 100 shown in fig. 1 includes a touch panel 110 and a touch driving device 120. The touch panel 110 has a plurality of sensing electrodes (i.e., an array of sensing electrodes), and the sensing electrodes can be divided into a plurality of sub-regions according to design requirements, such as sub-region 111 and sub-region 112 shown in fig. 1. It should be noted that the number of the plurality of sub-regions may be determined according to design requirements, and the number of the sensing electrodes in any one of the plurality of sub-regions may also be determined according to design requirements. In addition, the geometry of the plurality of sub-regions may also be determined according to design requirements.

The embodiment is not limited to the implementation and the details of the touch panel 110. For example, in some embodiments, the touch panel 110 may be an in-cell touch display panel (in-cell touch display panel) or other touch panels. In some embodiments, the common electrode (common voltage electrode) of the in-cell touch display panel may be divided into a plurality of sub-electrodes, and the sub-electrodes may be used as the sensing electrodes of the sub-regions 111 and 112.

The touch driving device 120 is used for driving the touch panel 110. In the embodiment shown in fig. 1, the touch driving device 120 includes a plurality of routing circuits, such as the routing circuit 121 and the routing circuit 122 shown in fig. 1. The routing circuit 121 has a plurality of select terminals for coupling to a plurality of sense electrodes of the sub-region 111 of the touch panel 110. The routing circuit 121 has at least one common terminal, such as the common terminal TC1a and the common terminal TC1b shown in fig. 1. The number of the at least one common terminal of the routing circuit 121 may be determined according to design requirements. The routing circuit 122 has a plurality of select terminals for coupling to a plurality of sense electrodes of the sub-region 112 of the touch panel 110. The routing circuit 122 has at least one common terminal, such as the common terminal TC2a and the common terminal TC2b shown in fig. 1. The number of the at least one common terminal of the routing circuit 122 may be determined according to design requirements. The at least one common terminal of routing circuit 122 is coupled to the at least one common terminal of routing circuit 121 in a one-to-one manner. For example, the common terminal TC2a is coupled to the common terminal TC1a, and the common terminal TC2b is coupled to the common terminal TC1b.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1, the touch driving device 120 further includes a processing circuit 123. The processing circuit 123 has at least one input terminal, such as the input terminal INa and the input terminal INb shown in fig. 1. The number of the at least one input of the processing circuit 123 may be determined according to design requirements. The at least one input of the processing circuit 123 is coupled to the at least one common of the routing circuit 121 (or the routing circuit 122) in a one-to-one manner. For example, the input terminal INa of the processing circuit 123 is coupled to the common terminal TC1a of the routing circuit 121 and the common terminal TC2a of the routing circuit 122, and the input terminal INb of the processing circuit 123 is coupled to the common terminal TC1b of the routing circuit 121 and the common terminal TC2b of the routing circuit 122.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation method of the touch driving device 120 according to an embodiment of the invention. Please refer to fig. 1 and fig. 2. The routing circuit 121 is configured to select one of the sense electrodes of the sub-region 111 as a first current electrode in a first order, and to selectively connect the first current electrode to the common terminal TC1a of the routing circuit 121 (step S210). The first order may be determined according to design requirements. The routing circuit 122 is configured to select one of the sense electrodes of the sub-region 112 as a second current electrode in a second order (different from the first order), and to selectively connect the second current electrode to the common terminal TC2a of the routing circuit 122 (step S220). The second order may be determined according to design requirements.

Step S210 and step S220 may be performed in the same time interval. For example, the steps S210 and S220 may be performed during a period when an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) of the processing circuit 123 performs a read operation (conversion operation). In some embodiments, step S210 and step S220 may be performed simultaneously.

In case the routing circuit 121 has a plurality of common terminals, the routing circuit 121 selects another (or others) from the sense electrodes of the sub-region 111 in the first order and then selectively connects the another (or others) sense electrode(s) to the other common terminals of the routing circuit 121 in a one-to-one manner. For example, the routing circuit 121 selects another one of the sense electrodes of the sub-region 111 as a third current electrode in the first order, and selectively connects the third current electrode to the common terminal TC1b of the routing circuit 121.

In case the routing circuit 122 has a plurality of common terminals, the routing circuit 122 selects another (or others) from the sense electrodes of the sub-region 112 in said second order and then selectively connects said another (or others) sense electrode(s) to the other common terminals of the routing circuit 122 in a one-to-one manner. For example, the routing circuit 122 selects another one of the sense electrodes of the sub-region 112 as a fourth current electrode in the second order, and selectively connects the fourth current electrode to the common terminal TC2b of the routing circuit 122.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1, the processing circuit 123 includes at least one analog-to-digital converter (ADC), such as the ADC ADCa and ADCb shown in fig. 1. It should be noted that the number of the at least one adc may be determined according to design requirements. In general, the number of the at least one analog-to-digital converter may be less than the number of the sensing electrodes of the touch panel 110.

An Analog Front End (AFE) circuit (not shown in fig. 1) of the processing circuit 123 may provide the touch sensing result corresponding to the input INa to the analog-to-digital converter ADCa of the processing circuit 123. The adc ADCa can convert the touch sensing result corresponding to the input terminal INa into the first touch sensing data (step S230). In the case that the processing circuit 123 has a plurality of analog-to-digital converters, the analog front end circuit may provide touch sensing results corresponding to other inputs of the processing circuit 123 to other analog-to-digital converters of the processing circuit 123. For example, the analog front end circuit may further provide the touch sensing result corresponding to the input terminal INb to the analog-to-digital converter ADCb of the processing circuit 123, and then the analog-to-digital converter ADCb may convert the touch sensing result corresponding to the input terminal INb into the second touch sensing data. The input terminal INb, the adc ADCb and the second touch sensing data can be analogized with reference to the related descriptions of the input terminal INa, the adc ADCa and the first touch sensing data, and thus the description thereof will not be repeated.

The processing circuit 123 may check the first touch sensing data of the adc ADCa to determine whether a touch event occurs at the first current electrode selected by the routing circuit 121 or the second current electrode selected by the routing circuit 122. In case the first touch sensing data indicates that the touch event occurs, the processing circuit 123 may check whether the touch event occurs to at least one first adjacent sensing electrode among the first sensing electrodes of the sub-region 111 adjacent to the first current electrode in space to determine whether the touch event occurs to the first current electrode (step S240). Or in other embodiments, the processing circuit 123 may check whether the touch event also occurs to at least one second adjacent sensing electrode of the second sensing electrodes of the sub-region 112 adjacent to the second current electrode in space to determine whether the touch event occurs to the second current electrode (step S240).

For example, in a case where the first touch sensing data of the adc ADCa indicates that the touch event occurs, and in a case where the touch event also occurs to the at least one first adjacent sensing electrode, the processing circuit 123 may determine that the touch event occurs to the first current electrode selected by the routing circuit 121. Conversely, in the case where the first touch sensing data of the adc ADCa indicates that the touch event occurs, and in the case where the touch event does not occur in the at least one first adjacent sensing electrode, the processing circuit 123 may determine that the touch event does not occur in the first current electrode selected by the routing circuit 121. Further, in a case where the first touch sensing data of the adc ADCa indicates that the touch event occurs, and in a case where the first current electrode selected by the routing circuit 121 is determined not to occur, the processing circuit 123 may determine that the touch event occurs to the second current electrode selected by the routing circuit 122.

In other embodiments, in the case where the first touch sensing data of the adc ADCa indicates that the touch event occurs, the processing circuit 123 may check whether the touch event occurs in at least one second adjacent sensing electrode of the sub-areas 112 adjacent to the second current electrode selected by the routing circuit 122 in space, in addition to checking the first current electrode selected by the routing circuit 121 and its adjacent sensing electrode, to determine whether the touch event occurs in the second current electrode. For example, in a case where the first touch sensing data of the adc ADCa indicates that the touch event occurs, and in a case where the touch event also occurs to the at least one second adjacent sensing electrode, the processing circuit 123 may determine that the touch event occurs to the second current electrode selected by the routing circuit 122. Conversely, in a case where the first touch sensing data of the adc ADCa indicates that the touch event occurs, and in a case where the touch event does not occur in the at least one second adjacent sensing electrode, the processing circuit 123 may determine that the touch event does not occur in the second current electrode selected by the routing circuit 122.

The description about the first touch sensing data of the adc ADCa may also be analogized to the second touch sensing data of the adc ADCb. In case the second touch sensing data of the analog-to-digital converter ADCb indicates the occurrence of the touch event, the processing circuit 123 may check whether the touch event also occurs to at least one third neighboring sensing electrode of the first sensing electrodes of the sub-region 111 that is spatially neighboring to the third current electrode selected by the routing circuit 121 to determine whether the touch event occurs to the third current electrode; and (or), the processing circuit 123 may examine whether the touch event also occurs to at least one fourth neighboring sense electrode of the sub-regions 112 that are spatially neighboring to the fourth current electrode selected by the routing circuit 122 to determine whether the touch event occurs to the fourth current electrode.

Fig. 3 is a schematic layout diagram illustrating a sensing electrode array of the touch panel 110 shown in fig. 1 according to an embodiment of the invention. Assume that the touch panel 110 shown in fig. 3 has 192 sensing electrodes E1 to E192. In the case where the touch panel 110 is an in-cell touch display panel, the sub-electrodes E1 to E192 may be used as the common electrode of the in-cell touch display panel. In the embodiment shown in fig. 3, the touch panel 110 is divided into a sub-area 111 and a sub-area 112. The sub-region 111 includes sensing electrodes E1 to E8, sensing electrodes E17 to E24, sensing electrodes E33 to E40, sensing electrodes E49 to E56, sensing electrodes E65 to E72, sensing electrodes E81 to E88, sensing electrodes E97 to E104, sensing electrodes E113 to E120, sensing electrodes E129 to E136, sensing electrodes E145 to E152, sensing electrodes E161 to E168, and sensing electrodes E177 to E184. The sub-region 112 includes sensing electrodes E9 to E16, sensing electrodes E25 to E32, sensing electrodes E41 to E48, sensing electrodes E57 to E64, sensing electrodes E73 to E80, sensing electrodes E89 to E96, sensing electrodes E105 to E112, sensing electrodes E121 to E128, sensing electrodes E137 to E144, sensing electrodes E153 to E160, sensing electrodes E169 to E176, and sensing electrodes E185 to E192.

Please refer to fig. 1 to 3. The routing circuit 121 is configured to select one of these sensing electrodes E1-E8, E17-E24, E33-E40, E49-E56, E65-E72, E81-E88, E97-E104, E113-E120, E129-E136, E145-E152, E161-E168 and E177-E184 of the sub-region 111 as a first current electrode in a first order, and selectively connect the first current electrode to the common terminal TC1a of the routing circuit 121 (step S210). In the sub-area 111 shown in fig. 3, the numbers in brackets represent one example of the first order. The routing circuit 122 is configured to select one of these sensing electrodes E9-E16, E25-E32, E41-E48, E57-E64, E73-E80, E89-E96, E105-E112, E121-E128, E137-E144, E153-E160, E169-E176 and E185-E192 of the sub-region 112 as a second current electrode in a second order (different from the first order), and to selectively connect the second current electrode to the common terminal TC2a of the routing circuit 122 (step S220). In the sub-area 112 shown in fig. 3, the numbers in brackets represent one example of the second order.

Assuming that the processing circuit 123 has only 1 adc ADCa, this adc ADCa performs 96 reading operations (converting operations). For example, during the first period, the adc ADCa can perform a read operation on the sensing electrode E1 and the sensing electrode E9. In the second period, the adc ADCa can perform a read operation on the sensing electrode E2 and the sensing electrode E11. In the third period, the adc ADCa can perform a read operation on the sensing electrode E3 and the sensing electrode E13. By analogy, the adc ADCa may perform one read operation on the sensing electrode E97 and the sensing electrode E25 in the 49 th period, and perform one read operation on the sensing electrode E184 and the sensing electrode E192 in the 96 th period.

Assuming that the processing circuit 123 has 8 analog-to-digital converters, the 8 analog-to-digital converters are subjected to 12 read operations (conversion operations). For example, in the first period, the 8 analog-to-digital converters can perform one reading operation on the sensing electrodes [ E1 and E9], [ E2 and E11], [ E3 and E13], [ E4 and E15], [ E5 and E10], [ E6 and E12], [ E7 and E14], and [ E8 and E16], respectively. In the second period, the 8 analog-to-digital converters can perform one read operation on the sensing electrodes [ E17 and E41], [ E18 and E43], [ E19 and E45], [ E20 and E47], [ E21 and E42], [ E22 and E44], [ E23 and E46] and [ E24 and E48], respectively. By analogy, the adc ADCa can perform one read operation on the sensing electrodes [ E177 and E185], [ E178 and E187], [ E179 and E189], [ E180 and E191], [ E181 and E186], [ E182 and E188], [ E183 and E190] and [ E184 and E192], respectively, in the 12 th period.

Assume that an object TP (e.g., a finger) touches the touch panel 110, and a touch position and a touch range of the object TP are shown in fig. 3. That is, the touch range of the object TP overlaps the sensing electrodes E1, E2, E17 and E18. Therefore, in a touch frame, the processing circuit 123 can know that at least one of the sensing electrodes E1 and E9 has a touch event according to the touch sensing data corresponding to the sensing electrodes E1 and E9; the processing circuit 123 can determine that at least one of the sensing electrodes E2 and E11 has a touch event according to the touch sensing data corresponding to the sensing electrodes E2 and E11; the processing circuit 123 can determine that at least one of the sensing electrodes E17 and E41 has a touch event according to the touch sensing data corresponding to the sensing electrodes E17 and E41; the processing circuit 123 can determine that at least one of the sensing electrodes E18 and E43 has a touch event according to the touch sensing data corresponding to the sensing electrodes E18 and E43; and the processing circuit 123 can determine that the touch event does not occur to the remaining sensing electrodes according to the touch sensing data corresponding to the remaining sensing electrodes.

Assume that sensing electrode E1 is the first current electrode selected by routing circuit 121 and sensing electrode E9 is the second current electrode selected by routing circuit 122. In the case where the sensing electrodes E1 and E9 are preliminarily determined to be "a touch event occurs", the processing circuit 123 may check whether the touch event also occurs to at least one first adjacent sensing electrode (e.g., sensing electrodes E2, E17, and/or E18) adjacent to the sensing electrode E1, and/or check whether the touch event also occurs to at least one second adjacent sensing electrode (e.g., sensing electrodes E10, E25, and/or E26) adjacent to the sensing electrode E9. Because the touch event also occurs to the sensing electrodes E2, E17 and/or E18 adjacent to the sensing electrode E1, the processing circuit 123 may further confirm that the touch event occurs to the first current electrode (sensing electrode E1). Because the sensing electrodes E10, E25 and E26 adjacent to the sensing electrode E9 do not have the touch event, the processing circuit 123 may further confirm that the second current electrode (sensing electrode E9) does not have the touch event.

Assume that sensing electrode E2 is the first current electrode selected by routing circuit 121 and sensing electrode E11 is the second current electrode selected by routing circuit 122. In the event that the sensing electrodes E2 and E11 are preliminarily determined to be "a touch event occurs", the processing circuit 123 may check whether the touch event also occurs to at least one first adjacent sensing electrode (e.g., sensing electrodes E1, E3, E17, E18, and/or E19) adjacent to the sensing electrode E2, and/or check whether the touch event also occurs to at least one second adjacent sensing electrode (e.g., sensing electrodes E10, E12, E26, E27, and/or E28) adjacent to the sensing electrode E11. Because the touch event also occurs to the sensing electrodes E1, E17 and/or E18 adjacent to the sensing electrode E2, the processing circuit 123 may further confirm that the touch event occurs to the first current electrode (sensing electrode E2). Because none of the sensing electrodes E10, E12, E26, E27, and E28 adjacent to the sensing electrode E11 has occurred the touch event, the processing circuit 123 may further confirm that the second current electrode (sensing electrode E11) has not occurred the touch event.

Assume that sensing electrode E17 is the first current electrode selected by routing circuit 121 and sensing electrode E41 is the second current electrode selected by routing circuit 122. In the event that the sensing electrodes E17 and E41 are preliminarily determined to be "a touch event occurs", the processing circuit 123 may check whether the touch event also occurs to at least one first adjacent sensing electrode (e.g., sensing electrodes E1, E2, E18, E33, and/or E34) adjacent to the sensing electrode E17 and/or to at least one second adjacent sensing electrode (e.g., sensing electrodes E24, E25, E26, E40, E42, E56, E57, and/or E58) adjacent to the sensing electrode E41. Because the touch event also occurs to the sensing electrodes E1, E2 and/or E18 adjacent to the sensing electrode E17, the processing circuit 123 may further confirm that the touch event occurs to the first current electrode (sensing electrode E17). Because none of the sensing electrodes E24, E25, E26, E40, E42, E56, E57, and E58 adjacent to the sensing electrode E41 have the touch event occurred, the processing circuit 123 may further confirm that the second current electrode (sensing electrode E41) has the touch event not occurred.

Assume that sensing electrode E18 is the first current electrode selected by routing circuit 121 and sensing electrode E43 is the second current electrode selected by routing circuit 122. In the event that the sensing electrodes E18 and E43 are preliminarily determined to be "a touch event" is occurred, the processing circuit 123 may check whether the touch event is also occurred to at least one first adjacent sensing electrode (e.g., sensing electrodes E1, E2, E3, E17, E19, E33, E34, and/or E35) adjacent to the sensing electrode E18, and/or whether the touch event is also occurred to at least one second adjacent sensing electrode (e.g., sensing electrodes E26, E27, E28, E42, E44, E58, E59, and/or E60) adjacent to the sensing electrode E43. Because the touch event also occurs to the sensing electrodes E1, E2 and/or E17 adjacent to the sensing electrode E18, the processing circuit 123 may further confirm that the touch event occurs to the first current electrode (sensing electrode E18). Because none of the sensing electrodes E26, E27, E28, E42, E44, E58, E59, and E60 adjacent to the sensing electrode E43 have the touch event occurred, the processing circuit 123 may further confirm that the second current electrode (sensing electrode E43) has the touch event not occurred.

The blocks of the routing circuit 121, the routing circuit 122, and/or the processing circuit 123 may be implemented in hardware (hardware), firmware (firmware), software (software) or a combination of more than one of the three according to different design requirements.

In hardware, the blocks of the routing circuit 121, the routing circuit 122, and/or the processing circuit 123 may be implemented as logic circuits on an integrated circuit (integrated circuit). The relevant functions of the routing circuitry 121, routing circuitry 122, and/or processing circuitry 123 described above may be implemented as hardware using a hardware description language (hardware description languages, such as Verilog HDL or VHDL) or other suitable programming language. For example, the functions associated with the routing circuits 121, 122 and/or the processing circuit 123 may be implemented in various logic blocks, modules and circuits in one or more controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (digital signal processor, DSPs), field programmable logic gate arrays (Field Programmable Gate Array, FPGAs), and/or other processing units.

The relevant functions of the routing circuit 121, the routing circuit 122 and/or the processing circuit 123 may be implemented as programming code (programming codes) in software and/or firmware. The routing circuitry 121, routing circuitry 122, and/or processing circuitry 123 described above are implemented, for example, using a general programming language (programming languages, such as C, C ++ or assembly language) or other suitable programming language. The programming code may be recorded/stored on a recording medium including, for example, read Only Memory (ROM), storage device, and/or random access Memory (Random Access Memory, RAM). A computer, central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), controller, microcontroller or microprocessor can read and execute the programming code from the recording medium to achieve the relevant functions. As the recording medium, "non-transitory computer readable medium (non-transitory computer readable medium)", for example, tape (tape), disk (disk), card (card), semiconductor memory, programmable logic circuit, or the like can be used. Moreover, the program may be provided to the computer (or CPU) via any transmission medium (communication network, broadcast wave, etc.). Such as the Internet, wired communications (wired communication), wireless communications (wireless communication), or other communication medium.

In summary, the above embodiments disclose the touch device 100, the touch driving device 120 and the operation method thereof, which can divide the touch panel 110 into two or more sub-areas (e.g. sub-area 111 and sub-area 112). In one read operation of the touch panel 110 by the processing circuit 123, the routing circuit 121 may select one sensing electrode (first current electrode) from the sub-region 111 in a "first order", and the routing circuit 122 may select one sensing electrode (second current electrode) from the sub-region 112 in a "second order" (different from the first order). The routing circuit 121 and the routing circuit 122 short-circuit (electrically connect) the first current electrode and the second current electrode to each other. At the same time (during one read operation of the touch panel 110 by the processing circuit 123), one identical analog-to-digital converter (e.g., ADCa) of the processing circuit 123 may obtain (read out) touch sensing results corresponding to the first current electrode and the second current electrode through the routing circuit 121 and the routing circuit 122, and then convert the touch sensing results into touch sensing data. Therefore, in the case where the number of analog-to-digital converters is limited, the touch driving device 120 may reduce the number of readings of the touch panel 110 (or may reduce the number of analog-to-digital converters in the case where the number of readings of the touch panel 110 is limited).

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but rather may be modified or altered somewhat by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which is to be limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A touch driving device for driving a touch panel, the touch driving device comprising:

a first routing circuit having a plurality of first select terminals for coupling to a plurality of first sense electrodes of a first sub-region of the touch panel, configured to select one of the plurality of first sense electrodes as a first current electrode in a first order, and selectively connect the first current electrode to a first common terminal of the first routing circuit;

a second routing circuit having a plurality of second select terminals for coupling to a plurality of second sense electrodes of a second sub-region of the touch panel, configured to select one of the plurality of second sense electrodes as a second current electrode in a second order different from the first order, and selectively connect the second current electrode to a second common terminal of the second routing circuit, wherein the second common terminal is coupled to the first common terminal; and

A processing circuit having a first input coupled to the first common terminal and the second common terminal, wherein,

the first analog-digital converter of the processing circuit converts a first touch sensing result corresponding to the first input end into first touch sensing data; and

in the case where the first touch sensing data indicates that a touch event has occurred, the processing circuit checks whether the touch event has also occurred in at least one first adjacent sensing electrode among the plurality of first sensing electrodes adjacent to the first current electrode in space to determine whether the touch event has occurred in the first current electrode.

2. The touch driving device according to claim 1, wherein,

in the case that the first touch sensing data indicates that the touch event occurs, and in the case that the touch event also occurs to the at least one first adjacent sensing electrode, the processing circuit determines that the touch event occurs to the first current electrode; and

in the case where the first touch sensing data indicates that the touch event has occurred, and in the case where the at least one first adjacent sensing electrode has not occurred, the processing circuit determines that the first current electrode has not occurred the touch event.

3. The touch driving device according to claim 2, wherein,

the processing circuit determines that the touch event occurs at the second current electrode in a case where the first touch sensing data indicates that the touch event occurs, and in a case where the first current electrode is determined not to occur.

4. The touch driving device of claim 1, wherein in case the first touch sensing data indicates that the touch event occurs, the processing circuit further checks whether the touch event also occurs to at least one second adjacent sensing electrode of the plurality of second sensing electrodes adjacent to the second current electrode in space to determine whether the touch event occurs to the second current electrode.

5. The touch driving device according to claim 4, wherein,

in the case that the first touch sensing data indicates that the touch event occurs, and in the case that the touch event also occurs to the at least one second adjacent sensing electrode, the processing circuit determines that the touch event occurs to the second current electrode; and

in the case where the first touch sensing data indicates that the touch event has occurred, and in the case where the at least one second adjacent sensing electrode does not occur, the processing circuit determines that the second current electrode does not occur the touch event.

6. The touch driving device according to claim 1, wherein,

the first routing circuit selecting another one of the plurality of first sense electrodes as a third current electrode in the first order and selectively connecting the third current electrode to a third common terminal of the first routing circuit;

the second routing circuit selecting another one of the plurality of second sense electrodes as a fourth current electrode in the second order and selectively connecting the fourth current electrode to a fourth common terminal of the second routing circuit, wherein the fourth common terminal is coupled to the third common terminal;

a second input of the processing circuit is coupled to the third common terminal and the fourth common terminal;

a second analog-digital converter of the processing circuit converts a second touch sensing result corresponding to the second input end into second touch sensing data; and

in the case where the second touch sensing data indicates that the touch event has occurred, the processing circuit checks whether the touch event has also occurred in at least one third adjacent sensing electrode of the plurality of first sensing electrodes adjacent to the third current electrode in space to determine whether the touch event has occurred in the third current electrode, or the processing circuit checks whether the touch event has also occurred in at least one fourth adjacent sensing electrode of the plurality of second sensing electrodes adjacent to the fourth current electrode in space to determine whether the touch event has occurred in the fourth current electrode.

7. The touch driving device according to claim 1, wherein the touch panel is an in-cell touch display panel, and the plurality of first sensing electrodes and the plurality of second sensing electrodes are used as common voltage electrodes of the in-cell touch display panel.

8. An operation method of a touch driving device for driving a touch panel, the operation method comprising:

selecting, by a first routing circuit, one of a plurality of first sensing electrodes of a first sub-region of the touch panel in a first order as a first current electrode, and selectively connecting the first current electrode to a first common terminal of the first routing circuit;

selecting, by a second routing circuit, one of a plurality of second sensing electrodes of a second sub-region of the touch panel as a second current electrode in a second order different from the first order, and selectively connecting the second current electrode to a second common terminal of the second routing circuit, wherein the second common terminal is commonly coupled to a first input terminal of a processing circuit with the first common terminal;

converting a first touch sensing result corresponding to the first input end into first touch sensing data by a first analog-digital converter of the processing circuit; and

In the case that the first touch sensing data indicates that a touch event occurs, the processing circuit checks whether the touch event also occurs to at least one first adjacent sensing electrode among the plurality of first sensing electrodes adjacent to the first current electrode in space to determine whether the touch event occurs to the first current electrode.

9. The method of operation of claim 8, further comprising:

judging that the first current electrode has the touch event when the first touch sensing data indicates that the touch event occurs and when the at least one first adjacent sensing electrode also has the touch event; and

and judging that the first current electrode does not generate the touch event in the case that the first touch sensing data indicates that the touch event occurs and in the case that the at least one first adjacent sensing electrode does not generate the touch event.

10. The method of operation of claim 9, further comprising:

and judging that the touch event occurs to the second current electrode in the case that the first touch sensing data indicates that the touch event occurs and in the case that the first current electrode is judged not to occur.

11. The method of operation of claim 8, further comprising:

in the case that the first touch sensing data indicates that the touch event occurs, checking, by the processing circuit, whether the touch event also occurs to at least one second adjacent sensing electrode of the plurality of second sensing electrodes adjacent to the second current electrode in space to determine whether the touch event occurs to the second current electrode.

12. The method of operation of claim 11, further comprising:

judging that the second current electrode has the touch event when the first touch sensing data indicates that the touch event occurs and when the at least one second adjacent sensing electrode also has the touch event; and

and judging that the second current electrode does not generate the touch event in the case that the first touch sensing data indicates that the touch event occurs and in the case that the at least one second adjacent sensing electrode does not generate the touch event.

13. The method of operation of claim 8, further comprising:

selecting, by the first routing circuit, another one of the plurality of first sense electrodes as a third current electrode in the first order, and selectively connecting the third current electrode to a third common terminal of the first routing circuit;

Selecting, by the second routing circuit, another one of the plurality of second sense electrodes as a fourth current electrode in the second order, and selectively connecting the fourth current electrode to a fourth common terminal of the second routing circuit, wherein the fourth common terminal is commonly coupled to a second input terminal of the processing circuit with the third common terminal;

converting a second touch sensing result corresponding to the second input end into second touch sensing data by a second analog-digital converter of the processing circuit; and

in the case where the second touch sensing data indicates that the touch event has occurred, determining whether the touch event has occurred in the third current electrode by the processing circuit checking whether the touch event has also occurred in at least one third adjacent sensing electrode of the plurality of first sensing electrodes adjacent to the third current electrode in space, or determining whether the touch event has occurred in the fourth current electrode by the processing circuit checking whether the touch event has also occurred in at least one fourth adjacent sensing electrode of the plurality of second sensing electrodes adjacent to the fourth current electrode in space.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the touch panel is an in-cell touch display panel, and the first and second sensing electrodes are used as common voltage electrodes of the in-cell touch display panel.

15. A touch device, comprising:

a touch panel;

a first routing circuit having a plurality of first select terminals coupled to a plurality of first sense electrodes of a first sub-region of the touch panel, configured to select one of the plurality of first sense electrodes as a first current electrode in a first order, and selectively connect the first current electrode to a first common terminal of the first routing circuit;

a second routing circuit having a plurality of second select terminals coupled to a plurality of second sense electrodes of a second sub-region of the touch panel, configured to select one of the plurality of second sense electrodes as a second current electrode in a second order different from the first order, and selectively connect the second current electrode to a second common terminal of the second routing circuit, wherein the second common terminal is coupled to the first common terminal; and

16. The touch device of claim 15, wherein,

17. The touch device of claim 16, wherein,

18. The touch device of claim 15, wherein the processing circuit further checks whether the touch event also occurs to at least one second adjacent sensing electrode of the plurality of second sensing electrodes that is spatially adjacent to the second current electrode to determine whether the touch event occurs to the second current electrode if the first touch sensing data indicates that the touch event occurs.

19. The touch device of claim 18, wherein,

20. The touch device of claim 15, wherein,

the first routing circuit selecting another one of the plurality of first sensing electrodes as a third current electrode in the first order, and selectively connecting the third current electrode to a third common terminal of the first routing circuit;

21. The touch device of claim 15, wherein the touch panel is an in-cell touch display panel, and the plurality of first sensing electrodes and the plurality of second sensing electrodes are used as common voltage electrodes of the in-cell touch display panel.