CN219066164U - Capacitive sensing unit driving device, capacitive fingerprint driving chip and electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a capacitive sensing unit driving device, a capacitive fingerprint driving chip, and an electronic apparatus, the device is used for gating a sensor array, the sensor array is divided into N capacitive sensing unit groups, each capacitive sensing unit group includes N rows of capacitive sensing units, N and N are positive integers greater than 1; the device comprises: the row gating circuit is used for inputting row gating signals into an ith capacitance sensing unit group in the sensor array, wherein i is a positive integer which is more than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N; a column selection circuit for inputting a column selection signal into the capacitance sensing units of the jth row and the h column in each capacitance sensing unit group, j being a positive integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n, h being a positive integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to M, M being the total column number of the sensor array; the row strobe signal and the column strobe signal are used to strobe a target capacitance sensing element in the sensor array. The device disclosed by the utility model can improve the overall gating efficiency of the sensor array.

Description

Capacitive sensing unit driving device, capacitive fingerprint driving chip and electronic equipment

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to the technical field of computers, and in particular relates to a capacitive sensing unit driving device, a capacitive fingerprint driving chip and electronic equipment.

Background

And the capacitive fingerprint feature collection is realized by converting fingerprint information into corresponding induction signals and outputting the corresponding induction signals for subsequent processing through the difference of the capacitance induction units in the sensor array and induction capacitances formed at different positions of the fingerprint. Under some use scenes, for example, side fingerprint identification of a smart phone, the sensor array is in a thin and high shape, the number of rows of the sensor array is large, the number of columns of the sensor array is small, at the moment, the column loading time of the sensor array is long, and the problems of poor quality of collected fingerprint features, long collection time of the fingerprint features and the like can be caused.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of this, the disclosure provides a capacitive sensing unit driving device, a capacitive fingerprint driving chip and an electronic device

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a capacitive sensing cell driving apparatus. The device is used for gating the sensor array, the sensor array is divided into N capacitance sensing unit groups, wherein each capacitance sensing unit group comprises N rows of capacitance sensing units, and N and N are positive integers larger than 1; the device comprises: a row strobe circuit for inputting a row strobe signal to an ith capacitance sensing unit group in the sensor array, wherein i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N; a column selection circuit for inputting a column selection signal into the capacitance sensing units of the jth row and the h column in each capacitance sensing unit group, wherein j is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n, h is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to M, and M is the total column number of the sensor array; wherein the row strobe signal and the column strobe signal are used to strobe a target capacitance sensing cell in the sensor array.

In one possible implementation, the row strobe circuits are N and the column strobe circuits are n×m.

In one possible implementation manner, a row strobe circuit corresponding to the ith capacitive sensing cell group of the N row strobe circuits is used for inputting the row strobe signal into N row capacitive sensing cells of the ith capacitive sensing cell group.

In one possible implementation manner, a column selection circuit corresponding to a capacitive sensing unit of a jth row and a jth column in each of the capacitive sensing unit groups in the nxm column selection circuits is used for inputting the column selection signal to the capacitive sensing unit of the jth row and the jth column in each of the capacitive sensing unit groups.

In one possible implementation, the target capacitance sensing unit is a capacitance sensing unit to which the row strobe signal and the column strobe signal are both input.

In a possible implementation, the capacitive sensing units in the sensor array are used for collecting biological features, and generating sensing signals, wherein the biological features comprise fingerprint features.

In one possible implementation, the apparatus further includes: and the signal processing circuit is used for processing the sensing signal generated by the target capacitance sensing unit.

In one possible implementation, the sensor array is a side fingerprint sensor array of an electronic device, where n×n is greater than M.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a capacitive fingerprint driving chip is provided. The chip comprises the capacitive sensing unit driving device.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes: a sensor array divided into N groups of capacitive sensing cells, wherein each group of capacitive sensing cells comprises N rows of capacitive sensing cells, N and N being positive integers greater than 1; the capacitive sensing unit driving device is characterized by comprising a capacitive sensing unit driving device.

The capacitive sensing unit driving device provided by the disclosure can gate the capacitive sensing units in the sensor array divided into N capacitive sensing unit groups; the capacitive sensing unit driving device comprises a row gating circuit and a column gating circuit, wherein the row gating circuit is used for inputting row gating signals into an ith capacitive sensing unit group in the sensor array, and the column gating circuit is used for inputting column gating signals into the capacitive sensing units of a jth row and a jth column in each capacitive sensing unit group, so that target capacitive sensing units in the sensor array are gated. The capacitive sensing unit driving device provided by the disclosure can reduce column loading times required by the gating sensor array, shortens column loading time, and further effectively improves overall gating efficiency of the sensor array.

Other features and aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments, features and aspects of the present disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a drive circuit for a sensor array according to the related art;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a capacitive sensing cell drive apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of a drive circuit for a sensor array according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 shows an equivalent driving circuit schematic of a sensor array according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Various exemplary embodiments, features and aspects of the disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Although various aspects of the embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale unless specifically indicated.

In the description of the present disclosure, it should be understood that the terms "length," "width," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientation or positional relationships shown in the drawings, merely to facilitate description of the present disclosure and simplify the description, and do not indicate or imply that the devices or elements referred to must have a particular orientation, be configured and operated in a particular orientation, and thus should not be construed as limiting the present disclosure.

Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and the like, are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying a relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defining "a first" or "a second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more such feature. In the description of the present disclosure, the meaning of "a plurality" is two or more, unless explicitly defined otherwise.

In the present disclosure, unless explicitly specified and limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," "secured," and the like are to be construed broadly, and may be, for example, fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally formed; can be mechanically or electrically connected; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and can be communicated with the inside of two elements or the interaction relationship of the two elements. The specific meaning of the terms in this disclosure will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art as the case may be.

The term "and/or" is herein merely an association relationship describing an associated object, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, may represent: a exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. In addition, the term "at least one" herein means any one of a plurality or any combination of at least two of a plurality, for example, including at least one of A, B, C, and may mean including any one or more elements selected from the group consisting of A, B and C.

The capacitive fingerprint feature acquisition technology is widely applied to various intelligent terminals and electronic equipment so as to provide safety and user convenience. Depending on the texture depth difference of the finger skin, the convex portions are referred to as "peaks or ridges" and the concave portions are referred to as "valleys". The distance between the ridges and the valleys in the finger skin and the capacitance sensing units in the sensor array is different, the corresponding formed sensing capacitances are different, and further the sensing signals generated by the capacitance sensing units at different positions are different, and the fingerprint characteristics can be acquired by performing signal processing on the sensing signals generated by the capacitance sensing units. In some usage scenarios, such as side fingerprinting of smart mobile devices, the sensor array may assume a thin high shape, i.e. the number of rows of the sensor array is larger and the number of columns is smaller.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a driving circuit of a sensor array according to the related art. As shown in fig. 1, the sensor array 100 includes 16 rows and 4 columns, i.e., 16×4 capacitive sensing cells. Each row of capacitive sensing cells in the sensor array 100 corresponds to a row strobe circuit 101 and each column of capacitive sensing cells corresponds to a column strobe circuit 102. A row strobe signal may be input to the sensor array 100 row by row (also referred to as column loading) through the row strobe circuit 101, and a column strobe signal may be input to each column of the sensor array 100 through the column strobe circuit 102.

Inputting a row strobe signal into a capacitance sensing unit of the 1 st row of the sensor array 100 based on the 1 st row strobe circuit 101 to complete 1 st column loading; the column select signals are then input to the 4 columns of capacitive sensing cells of the sensor array 100 based on the 4 column select circuits 102, at which time the 4 target capacitive sensing cells of row 1 are gated. Inputting a row strobe signal into a capacitance sensing unit of the 2 nd row of the sensor array 100 based on the 2 nd row strobe circuit 101 to complete the 2 nd column loading; the column select signals are then input to the 4 columns of capacitive sensing cells of the sensor array 100 based on the 4 column select circuits 102, at which time the 4 target capacitive sensing cells of row 2 are gated.

Similarly, all capacitive sensing cells in the sensor array 100 are gated, requiring 16 column loads. Therefore, when the number of rows of the sensor array is increased, the required column loading times are correspondingly increased, and the loading time is prolonged, so that the speed of collecting fingerprint features each time is influenced; meanwhile, the increase of the loading time can lead to the increase of attenuation of the sensing signal, and the quality of the collected fingerprint characteristics is affected.

On the other hand, when the number of row gate circuits increases, the number of electronic components corresponding to the row gate circuits also increases accordingly. Because the row strobe circuits are usually arranged at the left side and the right side of the sensor array, if the number of electronic elements corresponding to the row strobe circuits is too large, the overall width of the sensor array and the capacitive sensing unit driving device is larger, and the installation of the sensor array and the capacitive sensing unit driving device at the side of the electronic equipment is affected.

The present disclosure provides a capacitive sensing cell drive apparatus that may be used to gate a sensor array. The capacitive sensing cell driving apparatus provided by the present disclosure is described in detail below.

Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of a capacitive sensing cell drive apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in fig. 2, the capacitive sensing cell driving apparatus 200 is used for gating a sensor array, which is divided into N capacitive sensing cell groups, wherein each capacitive sensing cell group includes N rows of capacitive sensing cells, N and N are positive integers greater than 1.

The capacitive sensing cell driving apparatus 200 includes:

a row strobe circuit 201 for inputting a row strobe signal to an i-th capacitance sensing unit group in the sensor array, wherein i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N;

a column selection circuit 202 for inputting a column selection signal into the capacitance sensing units of the jth row and the h column in each capacitance sensing unit group, wherein j is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n, h is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to M, and M is the total column number of the sensor array;

wherein the row strobe signal 201 and the column strobe signal 202 are used to strobe a target capacitive sensing cell in the sensor array.

When the sensor array is grouped, the number N of the groups of the capacitance sensing units and the number N of the rows of the capacitance sensing units in each capacitance sensing unit group can be determined according to actual use requirements, and the disclosure is not limited in detail.

The sensor array comprises n×n rows and M columns, i.e. the sensor array comprises a total number of capacitive sensing cells of n×n×m. The sensor array is divided into N capacitance sensing unit groups, wherein each capacitance sensing unit group comprises N rows of capacitance sensing units.

The sensor array and the capacitive sensing unit will be described in detail in connection with possible implementations of the present disclosure, and will not be described here.

The row gate circuit 201 and the column gate circuit 202 may be each composed of various electronic components, such as a switch, a capacitor, a diode, and the like, which are not particularly limited in this disclosure.

The row strobe circuit 201 and the column strobe circuit 202 will be described in detail in connection with possible implementations of the present disclosure, and will not be described in detail here.

The target capacitance sensing unit can represent a capacitance sensing unit in which a row strobe signal and a column strobe signal are input simultaneously in the sensor array. The target capacitive sensing unit will be described in detail with reference to possible implementations of the present disclosure, which will not be described herein.

The capacitive sensing unit driving device provided by the disclosure can gate the capacitive sensing units in the sensor array divided into N capacitive sensing unit groups; the capacitive sensing unit driving device comprises a row gating circuit and a column gating circuit, wherein the row gating circuit is used for inputting a row gating signal into an ith capacitive sensing unit group in the sensor array; the column gating circuit is used for inputting column gating signals into the capacitor sensing units of the jth row and the jth column in each capacitor sensing unit group, and then gating the target capacitor sensing units in the sensor array. The capacitive sensing unit driving device provided by the disclosure can reduce column loading times required by the gating sensor array, shortens column loading time, and further effectively improves overall gating efficiency of the sensor array.

In one possible implementation, the capacitive sensing units in the sensor array are used to collect a biometric, including a fingerprint, to generate a sensing signal.

Each capacitance sensing unit in the sensor array can form a sensing capacitance with the finger skin, and the corresponding sensing capacitance is different according to different distances between the capacitance sensing unit and the finger skin, so that the generated sensing signals are also different. After each capacitance sensing unit in the sensor array is used as a target capacitance sensing unit to gate, if one target capacitance sensing unit is contacted with finger skin and generates a sensing signal, the generated sensing signal can be transmitted to a subsequent circuit for signal processing. The corresponding fingerprint features can be acquired by performing signal processing on the sensing signals generated by all the capacitive sensing units in the sensor array, which are in contact with the skin of the finger.

The capacitive sensing unit may refer to a specific embodiment of a capacitive sensing unit in the related art, for example, a self-sensing capacitive unit or a mutual-sensing capacitive unit, which is not specifically limited in the disclosure.

The sensing signal may be a voltage signal or a current signal, which is not particularly limited in the present disclosure.

In one possible implementation, the sensor array is a side fingerprint sensor array of an electronic device, where n×n is greater than M.

Due to the thickness limitation of the electronic device, the arrangement of the side fingerprint sensor array of the electronic device usually takes on a thin and high shape, that is, the number of rows of the side fingerprint sensor array of the electronic device is larger than the number of columns. As described above, the total number of rows of the sensor array is n×n, and the total number of columns of the sensor array is M, so n×n is greater than M when the sensor array is used as a side fingerprint sensor array of an electronic device.

The sensor array may also be used as other fingerprint sensor arrays according to practical use requirements, which is not specifically limited in this disclosure.

In one possible implementation, the number of row strobe circuits 201 is N and the number of column strobe circuits 202 is n×m.

Since the row strobe circuit 201 is used to input a row strobe signal into the ith group of capacitive sensing cells in the sensor array. Thus, each of the capacitance sensing unit groups corresponds to one row strobe circuit 201, and the number of row strobe circuits 201 corresponds to the number of capacitance sensing unit groups.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of a drive circuit for a sensor array according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; as shown in fig. 3, the sensor array 300 is divided into 8 capacitive sensing cell groups, namely capacitive sensing cell group 301 to capacitive sensing cell group 308, each capacitive sensing cell group comprising 2 rows of capacitive sensing cells. Each of the capacitance sensing unit groups in the sensor array 300 corresponds to one row gate circuit, which is a number of 8, from the row gate circuit 201A to the row gate circuit 201H, respectively.

Taking fig. 3 as an example, as shown in fig. 3, after a row strobe signal is input to the capacitance sensing unit group 301 based on the row strobe circuit 201A, the capacitance sensing unit located in the 1 st column and the 1 st row and the capacitance sensing unit located in the 1 st column and the 2 nd row in the capacitance sensing unit group 301, that is, the capacitance sensing unit located in the 1 st column and the 1 st row and the capacitance sensing unit located in the 1 st column and the 2 nd row of the sensor array 300 are simultaneously input with the row strobe signal. At this time, if the column selection signal is inputted to the 1 st column of the sensor array 300 through the same column selection circuit, it will result in that 2 capacitance sensing units for inputting the row selection signal are simultaneously inputted to the capacitance sensing units based on the same column selection circuit, which affects the subsequent processing of the sensing signal.

Therefore, in order to ensure that any one of the capacitance sensing units in the sensor array can simultaneously input a row strobe signal and a column strobe signal through the row strobe circuit and the column strobe circuit to realize strobe, the capacitance sensing units based on the same column strobe circuit are input into the capacitance sensing units of the column strobe signal, meanwhile, the capacitance sensing units for inputting the row strobe signal are unique, and the capacitance sensing units in the same column and different rows in the capacitance sensing unit group need to correspond to different column strobe circuits.

Taking fig. 3 as an example, the capacitive sensing cells in the capacitive sensing cell group 301 located in the 1 st column and the 1 st row correspond to the column selecting circuit 202A, and the capacitive sensing cells in the capacitive sensing cell group 301 located in the 1 st column and the 2 nd row correspond to the column selecting circuit 202B.

As can be seen from the above, the number of column select circuits 202 corresponding to each column in the sensor array should correspond to the number n of rows of the capacitive sensing cells in the capacitive sensing cell group. That is, one column of capacitive sensing cells of the sensor array is fully gated, requiring n columns of gating circuits 202. Since the total number of columns of the sensor array is M, the total number of column gate circuits 202 can be determined to be n×m.

Taking the above fig. 3 as an example, as shown in fig. 3, each capacitance sensing unit group in the sensor array 300 includes 2 rows of capacitance sensing units, and the total column number of the sensor array 300 is 4. Accordingly, the number of column gate circuits may be determined to be 8, respectively the column gate circuit 202A to the row gate circuit 202H.

In one possible implementation, a row strobe circuit corresponding to the ith capacitance sensing unit group of the N row strobe circuits 201 is used to input a row strobe signal to the N row capacitance sensing units of the ith capacitance sensing unit group.

Since each of the capacitance sensing unit groups corresponds to one row strobe circuit 201, n rows of capacitance sensing units in each of the capacitance sensing unit groups are connected to the corresponding row strobe circuit 201. The row strobe signal can be simultaneously input to the n rows of the capacitive sensing units in the capacitive sensing unit group through the row strobe circuit 201 corresponding to the capacitive sensing unit group. After the line gating signal is input, all n lines of capacitance sensing units of the corresponding capacitance sensing unit group are in a line gating state.

Taking fig. 3 as an example, as shown in fig. 3, 2 rows of capacitance sensing units of the capacitance sensing unit group 301 of the sensor array 300 are connected to the corresponding row strobe circuits 201A. The row-based gating circuit 201A may simultaneously input a row gating signal to 2 rows of the capacitance sensing cells of the capacitance sensing cell group 301, i.e., to capacitance sensing cells located at the 1 st and 2 nd rows of the sensor array 300. After the row strobe signal is input, all 2 rows of the capacitance sensing units of the capacitance sensing unit group 301 are in a row strobe state.

The 2 rows of capacitive sensing cells of the capacitive sensing cell group 302 of the sensor array 300 are connected to corresponding row strobe circuits 201B. The row-based gating circuit 201B may simultaneously input a row gating signal to 2 rows of the capacitance sensing cells of the capacitance sensing cell group 302, i.e., to capacitance sensing cells located at the 3 rd and 4 th rows of the sensor array 300. After the row strobe signal is input, all 2 rows of the capacitive sensing cells of the capacitive sensing cell group 302 are in a row strobe state. The rest of the capacitive sensing cell sets are so analogized that no further description is given.

Fig. 4 shows an equivalent driving circuit schematic of a sensor array according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The 2 rows of capacitive sensing cells of each capacitive sensing cell group in the sensor array 300 shown in fig. 3 may be equivalent to 1 row of capacitive sensing cells in the sensor array 400 shown in fig. 4. Thus, the sensor array 300 may be equivalent to the sensor array 400. The sensor array 400 in fig. 4 does not show the circuit configuration in an actual device. Accordingly, the process of equating sensor array 300 to sensor array 400 is merely for ease of understanding one equivalent transformation of the input process of row and column strobe signals and does not indicate that there is a corresponding structural transformation in the actual sensor array.

The above-described process of inputting the row strobe signal to the 2-row capacitance sensing units of the capacitance sensing unit group 301 based on the row strobe circuit 201A in the sensor array 300 may be equivalent to the process of inputting the row strobe signal to the 1-th row capacitance sensing unit in the sensor array 400 based on the row strobe circuit 201A in the sensor array 400. The process of inputting the row strobe signal to the 2-row capacitance sensing cells of the capacitance sensing cell group 302 based on the row strobe circuit 201B in the sensor array 300 may be equivalent to the process of inputting the row strobe signal to the 2-th row capacitance sensing cell in the sensor array 400 based on the row strobe circuit 201B in the sensor array 400.

In one possible implementation, a column selection circuit corresponding to a jth column of the capacitive sensing cells in each of the capacitive sensing cell groups in the nth row is used to input a column selection signal to a capacitive sensing cell corresponding to a jth column of each of the capacitive sensing cell groups in the nth row of the capacitive sensing cell groups in the nxm column selection circuit 202.

As can be seen from the above, each column of the sensor array corresponds to n column selection circuits 202, and considering the convenience and standardization of circuit connection, the jth column selection circuit 202 corresponding to the h column of the sensor array may be made to correspond to the capacitance sensing units located in the jth row of the h column in each capacitance sensing unit group. That is, the capacitive sensing cells in the j-th row of the h-th column of each capacitive sensing cell group are connected to the j-th column select circuit 202 corresponding to the h-th column of the sensor array.

Taking fig. 3 as an example, as shown in fig. 3, each column of the sensor array 300 corresponds to 2 column gate circuits. Column 1 of the sensor array 300 corresponds to column select circuit 202A and column select circuit 202B. The column select circuit 202A corresponds to each of the capacitive sensing cells of column 1 and row 1, i.e., the capacitive sensing cells of column 1, row 1, column 3, column 1, row 5, column 1, row 7, column 1, row 9, column 1, row 11, column 1, row 13, and column 1, row 15 of the sensor array 300. The column select circuit 202B corresponds to the capacitive sensing cells of each capacitive sensing cell group located at row 2 of column 1, i.e., the capacitive sensing cells corresponding to column 1, row 2, column 1, row 4, column 1, row 6, column 1, row 8, column 1, row 10, column 1, row 12, column 1, row 14, and column 1, row 16 in the sensor array 300.

Column 2 of the sensor array 300 corresponds to column select circuit 202C and column select circuit 202D. The column select circuit 202C corresponds to each of the capacitive sensing cells of column 2 and row 1, i.e., the capacitive sensing cells of column 2 and row 1, column 2 and row 3, column 2 and row 5, column 2 and row 7, column 2 and row 9, column 2 and row 11, column 2 and row 13, and column 2 and row 15 in the sensor array 300. The column select circuit 202D corresponds to the capacitive sensing cells of row 2 of each capacitive sensing cell group located in column 2, i.e., the capacitive sensing cells of column 2, row 2, column 4, column 2, row 6, column 2, row 8, column 2, row 10, column 2, row 12, column 2, row 14, and column 2, row 16 of the sensor array 300.

By analogy, the column selection signal can be simultaneously input to the capacitance sensing units of the jth row and the jth column of each capacitance sensing unit group through the column selection circuit 202 corresponding to the capacitance sensing units of the jth row and the jth column of each capacitance sensing unit group. After the column selection signal is input, all the capacitance sensing units of the jth row and the jth column of each corresponding capacitance sensing unit group are in a column selection state.

Taking fig. 3 as an example, as shown in fig. 3, a column selection signal may be input to the capacitance sensing units of the 1 st row of each capacitance sensing unit group located in the 1 st column based on the column selection circuit 202A, that is, the 1 st column, the 1 st row, the 1 st column, the 3 rd row, the 1 st column, the 5 th row, the 1 st column, the 7 th row, the 1 st column, the 9 th row, the 1 st column, the 11 th row, the 1 st column, the 13 th row, and the 15 th row of the capacitance sensing units of the 1 st column based on the column selection circuit 202A. Based on the column select circuit 202B, column select signals may be input to the capacitance sensing cells of each capacitance sensing cell group located at row 2 of column 1, i.e., based on the column select circuit 202B, column select signals are input to the capacitance sensing cells of column 1, row 2, column 1, row 4, column 1, row 6, column 1, row 8, column 1, row 10, column 1, row 12, column 1, row 14, and column 1 row 16 of the sensor array 300. The capacitive sensing cells that are input with a column select signal are all in a column select state.

Based on the column select circuit 202C, a column select signal may be input to the capacitance sensing cells of row 1 of each capacitance sensing cell group located in column 2, i.e., based on the column select circuit 202C, column select signals are input to the capacitance sensing cells of column 2, row 1, column 2, row 3, column 2, row 5, column 2, row 7, column 2, row 9, column 2, row 11, column 2, row 13, and column 2, row 15 of the sensor array 300. Based on the column select circuit 202D, column select signals may be input to the capacitance sensing cells of row 2 of each capacitance sensing cell group located in column 2, i.e., based on the column select circuit 202D, column select signals are input to the capacitance sensing cells of column 2, row 2, column 4, column 2, row 6, column 2, row 8, column 2, row 10, column 2, row 12, column 14, and column 16 of the sensor array 300. The capacitive sensing cells that are input with a column select signal are all in a column select state.

Taking fig. 4 as an example, in the sensor array 300, the process of inputting the column selection signal to the capacitance sensing units of the 1 st column and the 1 st row of each capacitance sensing unit group based on the column selection circuit 202A may be equivalent to the process of inputting the column selection signal to the capacitance sensing units of the 1 st column in the sensor array 400 based on the column selection circuit 202A in fig. 4; in the sensor array 300, the process of inputting the column selection signal to the capacitive sensing cells of the 1 st column and the 2 nd row of each capacitive sensing cell group based on the column selection circuit 202B may be equivalent to the process of inputting the column selection signal to the capacitive sensing cells of the 2 nd column of the sensor array 400 based on the column selection circuit 202B in fig. 4; in the sensor array 300, the process of inputting the column selection signal to the capacitive sensing cells of the 2 nd column and the 1 st row of each capacitive sensing cell group based on the column selection circuit 202C may be equivalent to the process of inputting the column selection signal to the capacitive sensing cells of the 3 rd column of the sensor array 400 based on the column selection circuit 202C in fig. 4; in the sensor array 300, the process of inputting the column selection signal to the capacitive sensing cells of the 2 nd column and the 2 nd row of each capacitive sensing cell group based on the column selection circuit 202D may be equivalent to the process of inputting the column selection signal to the capacitive sensing cells of the 4 th column of the sensor array 400 based on the column selection circuit 202D in fig. 4. And so on, no further description will be given.

It can be seen that, with the capacitance sensing unit driving device 200 according to the embodiment of the disclosure, each capacitance sensing unit in the sensor array can be ensured to be gated as a target capacitance sensing unit, and the capacitance sensing unit inputting the column strobe signal based on the same column strobe circuit 202 is unique.

Taking fig. 3 as an example, as shown in fig. 3, a row strobe signal is input into the capacitance sensing unit group 301 based on the row strobe circuit 201A, so as to complete the 1 st column loading; the column selection signal is input to the 4 columns of the capacitance sensing units of the sensor array 300 based on the column selection circuits 202A to 202H, and at this time, the target capacitance sensing units (the two rows of capacitance sensing units included in the capacitance sensing unit group 301) in the capacitance sensing unit group 301 are selected. Inputting a row strobe signal into the capacitance sensing unit group 302 based on the row strobe circuit 201B to complete the 2 nd column loading; the column select signal is input to the 4 columns of the capacitive sensing cells of the sensor array 300 based on the column select circuits 202A through 202H, and the target capacitive sensing cells (the two rows of capacitive sensing cells included in the capacitive sensing cell group 302) in the capacitive sensing cell group 301 are gated.

By analogy, by the capacitive sensing cell driving apparatus 200 of the embodiment of the present disclosure, a row strobe signal and a column strobe signal are input, and each capacitive sensing cell in the sensor array 300 is used as a target capacitive sensing cell to perform strobe once, which requires loading in a column direction 8 times in total. Compared with the prior art scheme shown in fig. 1, the number of column loading times can be reduced, and the time for column loading is shortened.

In one possible implementation, the target capacitance sensing unit is a capacitance sensing unit to which both the row strobe signal and the column strobe signal are input.

The row strobe signal and the column strobe signal may be input to each capacitance sensing unit in the sensor array through N row strobe circuits 201 and n×m column strobe circuits 202. When a certain capacitance sensing unit is simultaneously input with a row strobe signal and a column strobe signal, the capacitance sensing unit is in a row strobe state and a column strobe state, and can be used as a target capacitance sensing unit to be strobed.

Taking fig. 3 as an example, as shown in fig. 3, based on the row strobe circuit 201A, a row strobe signal may be input to 2 row capacitance sensing units of the capacitance sensing unit group 301 at the same time, and after the row strobe signal is input, all the 2 row capacitance sensing units of the capacitance sensing unit group 301 are in a row strobe state. Based on the column selection circuit 202A, a column selection signal can be simultaneously input to the 1 st row and 1 st column of the capacitive sensing units of each capacitive sensing unit group, and after the column selection signal is input, the 1 st row and 1 st column of the capacitive sensing units of each capacitive sensing unit group are in a column selection state. At this time, the 1 st row and 1 st column capacitance sensing units of the capacitance sensing unit group 301, that is, the 1 st row and 1 st column capacitance sensing units of the sensor array 300, are simultaneously inputted with the row strobe signal and the column strobe signal, that is, are simultaneously in the row strobe state and the column strobe state, and the capacitance sensing units are strobed as target capacitance sensing units.

Based on the row strobe circuit 201B, a row strobe signal may be input to 2 rows of the capacitance sensing units of the capacitance sensing unit group 302 at the same time, and after the row strobe signal is input, all the 2 rows of the capacitance sensing units of the capacitance sensing unit group 302 are in a row strobe state. Based on the column selection circuit 202B, a column selection signal can be simultaneously input to the capacitive sensing units of the 2 nd row and the 1 st column of each capacitive sensing unit group, and after the column selection signal is input, the capacitive sensing units of the 2 nd row and the 1 st column of each capacitive sensing unit group are in a column selection state. At this time, the 2 nd row 1 st column of the capacitive sensing cell group 302, i.e., the 4 th row 1 st column of the capacitive sensing cells of the sensor array 300, are simultaneously inputted with the row strobe signal and the column strobe signal, i.e., are simultaneously in the row strobe state and the column strobe state, and the capacitive sensing cells are strobed as target capacitive sensing cells.

In one possible implementation, the apparatus 200 further includes: and the signal processing circuit is used for processing the sensing signal generated by the target capacitance sensing unit.

If the target capacitance sensing unit generates a sensing signal, the sensing signal can be transmitted to the signal processing circuit, and the signal processing circuit processes the sensing signal.

Based on the above process, all the capacitance sensing units in the sensor array can be used as target capacitance sensing units one by one for gating, and sensing signals generated by the target capacitance sensing units are transmitted to the signal processing circuit to acquire corresponding fingerprint characteristics.

According to the capacitive sensing unit driving device provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, the capacitive sensing units in the sensor array divided into N capacitive sensing unit groups can be gated; the capacitive sensing unit driving device comprises a row gating circuit and a column gating circuit, wherein the row gating circuit is used for inputting row gating signals into n rows of capacitive sensing units of an ith capacitive sensing unit group in the sensor array, and the column gating circuit is used for inputting column gating signals into the capacitive sensing units of a jth row and a jth column in each capacitive sensing unit group so as to gate target capacitive sensing units in the sensor array. The capacitance sensing unit driving device reduces the number of row gating circuits, can reduce the width of the capacitance sensing unit driving device, and enables the capacitance sensing unit driving device and the sensor array to be more easily installed on the side edge of the electronic equipment; meanwhile, the column loading times required by the gating sensor array can be reduced, and the column loading time is shortened, so that the time for collecting the fingerprint features is shortened, and the quality of the collected fingerprint features is improved.

The embodiment of the disclosure also provides a capacitive fingerprint driving chip, which comprises the capacitive sensing unit driving device.

The sensor array driving device disclosed by the embodiment of the disclosure can be also applied to any application scene needing fingerprint feature collection except a capacitive fingerprint driving chip.

The embodiment of the disclosure also provides electronic equipment, which comprises a sensor array, wherein the sensor array is divided into N capacitance sensing unit groups, each capacitance sensing unit group comprises N rows of capacitance sensing units, and N and N are positive integers larger than 1; the capacitive sensing unit driving device.

Exemplary electronic devices in this embodiment include, but are not limited to, desktop computers, televisions, mobile devices with large-sized screens, such as cell phones, tablet computers, and other common electronic devices that require multiple chips to be cascaded to achieve driving.

The electronic device may also be a User Equipment (UE), a mobile device, a User terminal, a handheld device, a computing device, or a vehicle mounted device, and examples of some terminals are: a display, a Smart Phone or portable device, a Mobile Phone (Mobile Phone), a tablet, a notebook, a palm top, a Mobile internet device (Mobile Internetdevice, MID), a wearable device, a Virtual Reality (VR) device, an Augmented Reality (AR) device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (Industrial Control), a wireless terminal in unmanned (self driving), a wireless terminal in teleoperation (Remote medical Surgery), a wireless terminal in Smart Grid (Smart Grid), a wireless terminal in transportation security (Transportation Safety), a wireless terminal in Smart City (Smart City), a wireless terminal in Smart Home (Smart Home), a wireless terminal in the internet of vehicles, and the like. For example, the server may be a local server or a cloud server.

The foregoing is merely exemplary embodiments of the present utility model and is not intended to limit the scope of the utility model, which is defined by the appended claims.

The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, embodiment, or illustration. Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

The flowcharts and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems which perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the various embodiments described. The terminology used herein was chosen in order to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application, or the improvement of technology in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

Claims (10)

1. A capacitive sensing cell driving apparatus for gating a sensor array, the sensor array being divided into N capacitive sensing cell groups, wherein each capacitive sensing cell group comprises N rows of capacitive sensing cells, N and N being positive integers greater than 1; the device comprises:

a row strobe circuit for inputting a row strobe signal to an ith capacitance sensing unit group in the sensor array, wherein i is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N;

a column selection circuit for inputting a column selection signal into the capacitance sensing units of the jth row and the h column in each capacitance sensing unit group, wherein j is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n, h is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to M, and M is the total column number of the sensor array;

wherein the row strobe signal and the column strobe signal are used to strobe a target capacitance sensing cell in the sensor array.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the row strobe circuits are N and the column strobe circuits are N x M.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein a row strobe circuit of the N row strobe circuits corresponding to the ith capacitance sensing cell group is configured to input the row strobe signal to N rows of capacitance sensing cells of the ith capacitance sensing cell group.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein a column select circuit of the nxm column select circuits corresponding to a jth row and a jth column of each of the groups of capacitive sense cells is configured to input the column select signals to a jth row and a jth column of each of the groups of capacitive sense cells.

5. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the target capacitance sensing unit is a capacitance sensing unit to which the row strobe signal and the column strobe signal are both input.

6. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the capacitive sensing units in the sensor array are configured to collect a biometric characteristic, including a fingerprint, to generate a sensed signal.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the apparatus further comprises:

and the signal processing circuit is used for processing the sensing signal generated by the target capacitance sensing unit.

8. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the sensor array is configured as a side fingerprint sensor array of an electronic device, wherein nxn is greater than M.

9. A capacitive fingerprint driving chip, characterized in that the chip comprises a capacitive sensing unit driving device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. An electronic device, comprising:

a sensor array divided into N groups of capacitive sensing cells, wherein each group of capacitive sensing cells comprises N rows of capacitive sensing cells, N and N being positive integers greater than 1;

a capacitive sensing cell drive apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8.

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