KR101980604B1 - Sensing System and Method, Portable Terminal Using the Same - Google Patents

Abstract

A sensing system according to an embodiment of the present invention operates independently of a coil device and a coil device that operate based on an electromagnetic induction signal generated from a coil and a coil, And a sensing device configured to determine the type of dielectric that is to be accessed.

Description

(Sensing System and Method, Portable Terminal Using the Same)

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to an object sensing technology, and more particularly, to a sensing system and method and a portable terminal using the same.

 Portable electronic devices offer the advantage of being able to use voice calls, text messaging, multimedia services, communication services, electronic document work, or all of these services, regardless of time and space.

Portable electronic devices are evolving their functions day by day, and the penetration rate of smart devices such as smart phones and smart pads is continuously increasing not only in domestic but also in the world.

The more services available through portable electronic devices, the more convenient life a user can enjoy, but this increases the number and complexity of the tasks that must be handled by the portable electronic device and ultimately increases the battery consumption of the portable electronic device do.

On the other hand, since the portable electronic device is required to ensure mobility, the portable electronic device can be used while being charged with electric power.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Wireless charging techniques have been continuously studied in order to simplify the charging of batteries of portable electronic devices. As an example of wireless charging, there is a method in which a transmission coil is installed in a transmission terminal for transmitting electric power and a reception coil is installed in a reception terminal for receiving electric power to transmit and receive electric power.

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Of course, the safety of the human body must be ensured regardless of how the battery is wirelessly charged.

The portable electronic device has a characteristic of being used in a state close to the human body. Therefore, researches have been made to detect the approach of the human body using the SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) sensor that senses the electrical capacity of a conductive object and the grip sensor that measures the permittivity of the nearby object, and to control the electromagnetic wave according to the detection result have.

As described above, portable electronic devices are being developed to provide more various functions, and accordingly physical functional devices to be mounted on portable electronic devices are increasing.

Embodiments of the present invention can provide a sensing system and method capable of performing various functions with a minimum number of elements and a portable terminal using the same.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a sensing system includes a coil; A coil device that operates based on an electromagnetic induction signal generated in the coil; And a sensing device that operates independently of the coil device and is configured to determine whether the dielectric is approachable and the type of dielectric material that is approached based on changes in capacitance and inductive capacitance of the coil.

A sensing method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a coil, a coil device that operates on the basis of an electromagnetic induction signal generated in the coil, and a coil device that operates independently of the coil device, A method of operating a sensing system comprising a sensing device configured to determine whether a dielectric is accessed and a type of an accessed dielectric, wherein the sensing device is configured to determine a capacitance change amount and an inductive capacitance change amount for the coil independently of the coil device Measuring; Determining whether the object is approaching or not based on the capacitance change amount and the inductive capacitance change amount measurement result; And detecting the type of the approaching object if it is determined that the object is approaching.

A portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a memory device; An application processor for driving at least one application, performing graphics processing, and controlling the memory device; A communication module for providing an environment capable of accessing a wireless or wired Internet; An input / output device for inputting and outputting control signals and data; And a coil device operative based on an electromagnetic induction signal generated in the coil, the coil device operating independently of the coil device, the presence or absence of a dielectric on the basis of a change in capacitance of the coil, And a sensing device configured to determine the type of the sensing device.

According to the present invention, devices that perform different functions share a single device, so that electronic devices can be implemented at low cost without waste of resources. In addition, since it is not necessary to install the same device in a portable terminal adopting such an electronic device, the portable terminal can perform various functions even with a simple configuration.

1 is a configuration diagram of a sensing system according to an embodiment.
2 is a configuration diagram of a coil device according to an embodiment.
3 is a configuration diagram of a sensing device according to an embodiment.
4 is a configuration diagram of a sensing unit according to an embodiment.
5 and 6 are block diagrams of a sensing system according to embodiments.
7 is a block diagram of a portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present technology will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a configuration diagram of a sensing system according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, a sensing system 10 according to one embodiment may include a coil 110 coil device 120 and a sensing device 130.

The coil 110 is an electronic component wound around a conductor and generating a magnetic flux when an electric current is passed therethrough and promoting electromagnetic induction or electromagnetic force action.

The coil device 120 may be an apparatus that operates based on an electromagnetic induction signal generated in the coil 110. [ The coil device 120, together with the coil 110, can constitute a receiving circuit of a magnetic charging system of a magnetic induction type or a magnetic resonance type.

In one embodiment, the coil device 120 may be a wireless communication device that uses the coil 110 as an antenna, for example, an NFC (Near Field Communication) device, an MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission) device, It is not.

The sensing device 130 shares the same coil 110 as the coil device 120 and controls the capacitance of the coil 110 based on the change in capacitance and inductance of the coil 110 when the coil device 120 is in an inactive And the type of the dielectric.

The sensing device 130 may be configured to determine whether the object is approachable or not and the type of the object that is approached based on the capacitance change amount and the induced capacitance change amount of the coil 110 when the coil device 120 is not operating. In one embodiment, when it is determined that an object is approaching, the sensing device 130 may determine whether the object approaching is an object or a human body (an object having capacitance and inductance similar to a human body).

In this way, the coil 110 used for wireless charging or the like can be commonly used for approach detection of the dielectric, so that the sensing system 10 can be configured in a simple and low-cost manner, avoiding redundant installation of the same parts, can do.

2 is a configuration diagram of a coil device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a case where the receiving circuit 220 of the wireless charging system 20 constitutes the coil device 120.

Referring to FIG. 2, the wireless charging system 20 may include a transmitting circuit 210 and a receiving circuit 220.

The transmitting circuit 210 may include a power supply unit 2101 receiving power and generating an alternating current and a transmitting coil 2103 receiving an alternating current from the power supplying unit 2101 to generate an alternating magnetic field.

The receiving circuit 220 includes a receiving coil 2201 for receiving the magnetic energy provided from the transmitting coil 2103 of the transmitting circuit 210 and a rectifier 2201 for converting the energy received by the receiving coil 2201 into a direct current And a charging unit 2203. The battery can receive the direct current from the rectifying and charging unit 2203 and store the electric energy.

In the wireless charging system 20 shown in FIG. 2, the power transmission system can be adopted from various possible methods such as a magnetic induction system or a magnetic resonance system.

The receiving circuit 220 may have a receiving coil 2201 which may act as a sensing pad of the sensing device 130. The receiving coil 2201 may be a magnetic sensor,

The power supply unit 2101 of the transmission circuit 210 and the rectification and charging unit 2203 of the reception circuit 220 may each be constituted by an IC chip. The rectifying and charging unit 2203 of the receiving circuit 220 can check in real time whether the wireless charging process has been performed without any abnormality and transmit data according to the checked result to the power supply unit 2101 side of the transmitting circuit 210 Lt; / RTI > In one embodiment, the receiving circuit 220 may be configured to generate an enable signal for driving the sensing device 130 if it is not operated due to, for example, charging is complete.

Therefore, the sensing device 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention uses the coil 110 as a sensing device when the coil device 120 is not operated based on the enable signal provided by the coil device 120 It can detect the approach of the object.

3 is a configuration diagram of a sensing device according to an embodiment.

3, the sensing device 130 may include a driving unit 1310, a sensing unit 1320, and a detection unit 1330. [

The driving unit 1310 may be configured to drive the sensing device 130 to allow the sensing device 130 to perform the sensing operation using the coil 110 as a sensing device. In one embodiment, the driving unit 1310 may be configured such that the sensing device 130 is connected to the coil 110 based on an enable signal provided from the coil device 120 to perform a sensing operation.

The sensing unit 1320 may be driven according to the driving unit 1310 to measure the capacitance change amount and the induction capacitance change amount of the coil 110 and determine whether the object is approaching or not according to the variation amount measurement result.

The detection unit 1330 is configured to detect whether the object approached based on the capacitance change amount and the induced capacitance change amount measured by the sensing unit 1320 is a metal or a human body (an object having capacitance and capacitance similar to human body) .

4 is a configuration diagram of a sensing unit according to an embodiment.

4, the sensing unit 1320 may be configured to include a frequency generating circuit 1321, a change amount measuring circuit 1323, and a discrimination circuit 1325. [

The frequency generating circuit 1321 may be configured to generate a signal having a predetermined frequency.

The change amount measuring circuit 1323 measures the amount of change as the frequency of the signal generated in the frequency generating circuit 1321 changes finely as the capacitance and the inductance change due to an object approaching the coil 110 . In one embodiment, the change amount measurement circuit 1323 may be selected from circuits capable of detecting a frequency change amount, such as an impedance sense circuit, a phase locked loop / voltage controlled oscillator (PLL / VCO) circuit, and a phase / amplitude detection circuit.

In one embodiment, when the change amount measuring circuit 1323 is constituted by an impedance sensing circuit, the impedance sensing circuit can measure the capacitance and the inductance according to the approach of the dielectric.

In the case where the change amount measuring circuit 1323 is constituted by, for example, a PLL / VCO, if the frequency of a signal generated in the frequency generating circuit 1321 is changed in accordance with the approach of a dielectric such as a metal or a human body, the PLL is out of the locked state , And the out-of-phase value can be output through the VCO to the frequency.

When the change amount measuring circuit 1323 is implemented by a phase / amplitude detection circuit, it is possible to detect a phase and an amplitude change from a signal in which the frequency is finely changed.

The determination circuit 1325 can be configured to determine whether or not the object is approaching based on the amount of change measured by the change amount measurement circuit 1323. [

The sensing unit 1320 may adopt a frequency generating circuit-based sensing technique disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2014-068754 or No. 10-2006-0057169 filed by the present applicant.

In order to allow the coil 110 to be connected only to the sensing device 130 when the coil device 120 is not operating so that the proximity of the object and the proximity of the object are distinguished, The path between the coil 110 and the coil device 120 and the sensing device 130 can be reconfigured, examples of which are shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG.

5 and 6 are block diagrams of a sensing system according to embodiments.

5, the sensing system 10-1 may include a coil 110, a coil device 120, and a sensing device 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The sensing device 130 includes a driving unit 1310, a sensing unit 1320 and a detecting unit 1330. The driving unit 1310 may include a control signal generating unit 1311 and a path setting unit 1313. [

The control signal generator 1311 may be configured to generate the control signal S0 based on an enable signal provided from the coil device 120, for example. The enable signal may be a signal that implies whether the coil device 120 is in an unused state or in a use state.

The path setting unit 1313 includes a plurality of switches SW1 and SW2 for connecting or disconnecting an electric path between the coil 110 and the coil unit 120, the coil 110 and the sensing unit 130 in response to the control signal S0, SW2, SW3, and SW4.

The first switch SW1 and the third switch SW3 are turned on by the control signal S0 so that the coil 110 and the coil device 120 are electrically connected to each other And the second switch SW2 and the fourth switch SW4 are turned off so that the coil 110 and the sensing device 120 can be electrically disconnected. Conversely, when the coil device 120 is at rest, the first switch SW1 and the third switch SW3 are turned off by the control signal S0 to electrically connect the coil 110 and the coil device 120 And the second switch SW2 and the fourth switch SW4 are turned on so that the coil 110 and the sensing device 120 can be electrically connected.

Needless to say, the above-described path setting unit 1313 can be omitted if a signal applied from the coil 110 to the coil unit 120 is connected to the ground terminal when the coil unit 120 is not operating.

However, when the coil device 120 is a receiving circuit of the wireless charging system, the capacitance of the capacitor inside the coil device 120 is relatively large, so that the sensing sensitivity may not be guaranteed. In order to solve this problem, the sensing system 10-2 can be configured as shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 6, the sensing system 10-2 may include a coil 110, a coil device 120, and a sensing device 130 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The sensing unit 130 includes a driving unit 1310-1, a sensing unit 1320 and a detecting unit 1330. The driving unit 1310-1 includes a control signal generating unit 1311 and a path setting unit 1313-1. . ≪ / RTI >

The control signal generator 1311 may be configured to generate the control signal S0 based on an enable signal provided from the coil device 120, for example. The enable signal may be a signal that implies whether the coil device 120 is in an unused state or in a use state.

The path setting unit 1313-1 connects or disconnects the electrical path between the one side terminal of the coil 110 and the one side terminal of the coil unit 120 or the coil 110 and the sensing unit 130 in response to the control signal S0, And may include a plurality of switches SW1, SW2, and SW4 for blocking.

In one embodiment, when the coil device 120 is in operation, the first switch SW1 may be turned on by the control signal S0 to electrically connect the coil device 120 to one terminal of the coil 110 . Conversely, when the coil device 120 is in the idle state, the first switch SW1 is turned off by the control signal S0 and the second switch SW2 and the fourth switch SW4 are turned off by the control signal So, Can be turned on. At this time, a relatively small capacitor C may be electrically connected between the second switch SW2 and the fourth switch SW4. In this case, when the sensing device 130 operates, the coil 110 and the capacitor C are connected in series to the sensing device 130, and the sensing device 130 senses the capacitance of the capacitor 120, (C), so that the sensing sensitivity of the sensing device 130 can be assured.

6, when the sensing device 130 is operated when the coil device 120 is not operating, the coil 110 and the coil device 120 are electrically connected And the sensing device 130 operates according to the capacitor C having a relatively small capacitance rather than the capacitance of the high capacity existing in the coil device 120, so that the sensing sensitivity can be sufficiently secured.

7 is a block diagram of a portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7, the portable terminal 30 includes a system-on-chip (SoC) 310, a communication module 320, an input / output device 330, an image sensor 340, and a sensing system 350 can do.

The system-on-chip 310 may include a memory device 311 and an application processor (AP) 313.

The memory device 311 may function as a work memory of the application processor 313 and may be external to the system-on-chip 310.

The application processor 313 can operate as a central processing unit of the portable terminal 30, such as driving various applications and performing graphic processing and controlling the memory device 311. [

The communication module 320 may provide an environment in which the portable terminal 30 can access the wireless or wired Internet.

The input / output device 330 may include an output device such as a display and a speaker configured to output data processed by the system-on-chip 310, a control signal for controlling the operation of the system-on-chip 310, Such as a keypad, touchpad, pointing device, and the like.

The image sensor 340 may be configured to convert the optical image into a digital signal.

The sensing system 350 may be selected from the sensing systems 10, 10-1, 10-2 shown in FIG. 1 or 5 or 6.

The coil of the sensing system 350 may provide an electromagnetic induction signal when the coil device operates to cause the battery of the portable terminal 30 to be charged or allow wireless communication through the coil. In addition, when the coil device is not operating, the sensing device determines whether the object is approachable to the portable terminal 30 and the type of the approached object And an object having a capacitance and an induction capacity similar to that of the object)).

Since the coil device and the sensing device operate independently while sharing one coil, the portable terminal 30 can perform various functions by using a minimum of electronic components.

Thus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. It is therefore to be understood that the embodiments described above are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the detailed description and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents are to be construed as being included within the scope of the present invention do.

10, 10-1, 10-2: sensing system
20: Wireless charging system
210: transmitting circuit
220: receiving circuit
30:

Claims (14)

coil;
A coil device that operates based on an electromagnetic induction signal generated in the coil; And
A sensing device that operates independently of the coil device and is configured to determine whether the dielectric is approachable and the type of an accessed dielectric based on a change in capacitance and a change in inductance of the coil;
/ RTI >
Wherein the coil device generates an enable signal indicating whether the coil device is activated,
The sensing device comprising: a control signal generator configured to generate a control signal based on the enable signal; And
And a path setting unit for connecting or disconnecting an electric path between the coil and the coil device and an electric path between the coil and the sensing device in response to the control signal. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the coil and the coil device constitute a receiving circuit of a wireless charging system. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the coil and the coil device constitute a wireless communication device using the coil as an antenna. The method of claim 3,
Wherein the wireless communication device is an NFC (Near Field Communication) device. The method of claim 3,
Wherein the wireless communication device is a MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission) device. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the sensing device is configured to operate when the coil device is in an inactive state. A coil device which operates independently based on an electromagnetic induction signal generated in the coil, and a coil device that operates independently from the coil device and determines whether the dielectric is approachable and the kind of the dielectric material that is approached based on a change in capacitance of the coil, A method of operating a sensing system, the sensing system comprising:
Generating a control signal based on an enable signal indicating whether or not the coil device is activated;
Connecting or disconnecting an electrical path between the coil and the coil device and an electrical path between the coil and the sensing device in response to the control signal;
And the sensing device is electrically connected to the coil by the control signal when the coil device is in an inactive state so that the sensing device measures the capacitance change amount and the induced capacitance change amount for the coil independently of the coil device ;
Determining whether the object is approaching or not based on the capacitance change amount and the inductive capacitance change amount measurement result; And
Detecting a type of an approaching object if it is determined that the object is approaching;
/ RTI > 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the step of detecting the type of the object is a step of detecting whether the approaching object is a metal or a human body. A memory device;
An application processor for driving at least one application, performing graphics processing, and controlling the memory device;
A communication module for providing an environment capable of accessing a wireless or wired Internet;
An input / output device for inputting and outputting control signals and data; And
A coil device operative on the basis of an electromagnetic induction signal generated in the coil; and a control device operative independently of the coil device, for determining whether the dielectric is accessible based on a change in capacitance of the coil, A sensing system including a sensing device configured to determine a type;
/ RTI >
The coil device generates an enable signal indicating whether the coil device is activated.
The sensing device comprising: a control signal generator configured to generate a control signal based on the enable signal; And
And a path setting unit for connecting or disconnecting an electric path between the coil and the coil device and an electric path between the coil and the sensing device in response to the control signal. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the coil and the coil device constitute a receiving circuit of a wireless charging system. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the coil and the coil device constitute a wireless communication device using the coil as an antenna. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the wireless communication device is an NFC (Near Field Communication) device. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the wireless communication device is an MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission) device. 10. The method of claim 9,
Further comprising an image sensor configured to convert the optical image into a digital signal.

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