KR102383821B1 - Touch system and touch ic for sharing data, and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a multi-chip touch system, and provides a technique for recognizing a touch at a boundary without overlapping sensing of the boundary region by sharing sensing data of the boundary region by slave touch ICs.

Description

TOUCH SYSTEM AND TOUCH IC FOR SHARING DATA, AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF

The present invention relates to touch recognition technology. More particularly, the present invention relates to a technology for recognizing a touch using data shared between touch ICs (integrated circuits).

Touch recognition technology is a technology that recognizes a user's input manipulation by sensing a signal generated when an object approaches or touches a touch panel containing a sensor. Various methods such as magnetic method, resistance method, and electrostatic method are used. The electrostatic method is popular.

A plurality of sensors are disposed on the touch panel. The larger the area of the touch panel or the higher the resolution for touch, the more sensors are disposed. Recently, as a large area and a high resolution of the touch panel progress simultaneously, the number of sensors disposed on the touch panel is also increasing.

If the number of sensors disposed on the touch panel increases, the sensing signals can be distributed and processed using two or more touch ICs without processing all the sensing signals with one integrated circuit (IC).

1 is a diagram for explaining a technology for recognizing a touch using two touch ICs.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the touch panel 10 is divided into two regions 11 and 12 , and two touch ICs 21 and 22 are respectively connected to the divided regions to distribute sensing signals. are processing Specifically, the left touch IC 21 is connected to the left region 11 and processes sensing signals received from sensors located in the left region 11 , and the right touch IC 22 is connected to the right region 12 . While connected, sensing signals received from sensors located in the right region 12 are processed. When the sensing signal is distributed using the two touch ICs 21 and 22 in this way, the touch IC used in the conventional low-resolution or small-area touch panel 10 can be used for the high-resolution or large-area touch panel 10 . There is this.

However, in spite of the above advantages, the prior art has several problems.

First, there was a problem in that touch coordinates were not accurately recognized at the boundary of each area.

1 illustrates an example in which a patch is located in a boundary area.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the patch 30 is located at the boundary between the left area 11 and the right area 12 .

At this time, according to the prior art, the left touch IC 21 recognizes the left patch 31 located in the left region 11 of the patch 30 and calculates the touch coordinates, and the right touch IC 22 uses the patch ( 30), the touch coordinates are calculated by recognizing the right patch 32 located in the right region 12 .

Since the touch coordinates are generally determined as the center of gravity of the recognized patch, the left touch IC 21 calculates the point B, which is the center of gravity of the left patch 31, as the touch coordinates, and the right touch IC 22 calculates the right patch 32 ), point C, which is the center of gravity, is calculated as the touch coordinate.

Since these touch coordinates are different from the point A, which is the center of gravity of the actual patch 30, any touch coordinates are used, resulting in deviations from the actual touch coordinates.

Meanwhile, in order to improve this problem, as shown in FIG. 1 , the left touch IC 21 may further sense the partial area 13 of the right area 12 .

However, in this case, there is a problem in that the amount of sensing signals to be processed by each of the touch ICs 21 and 22 increases, and the signal line between the two touch ICs 21 and 22 overlaps in the overlapping sensing area 13 . This leads to a problem of mutual interference.

In this context, an object of the present invention is to provide a technology for accurately recognizing a touch in a boundary area through data sharing in one aspect.

In another aspect, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for transmitting data of one touch IC to another touch IC.

In another aspect, it is an object of the present invention to provide a technology for improving touch system performance using shared data.

In order to achieve the above object, in one aspect, the present invention provides a touch system connected to a plurality of touch sensors corresponding to a first area and a second area of a touch panel, wherein a first touch to the first area is provided. A first touch IC generating an image and a second touch IC generating a second touch image for the second region, wherein for a third region included in the second region and adjacent to the first region, The second touch IC transmits third touch image data for the third area to the first touch IC, and the first touch IC transmits touch information using the first touch image and the third touch image. It provides a touch system, characterized in that for generating.

In another aspect, in a touch IC connected to touch sensors corresponding to one area of a touch panel, the present invention provides a communication unit for receiving touch image data for an adjacent area of the one area from another touch IC and the one area. To provide a touch IC including an image processing unit that generates a touch image for the touch screen and generates touch information using the touch image for the one area and the adjacent area.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for controlling a touch IC connected to touch sensors corresponding to one region of a touch panel, the method comprising: generating a touch image for the one region; There is provided a control method of a touch IC, comprising: receiving touch image data from another touch IC; and generating touch information using touch images for the one area and the adjacent area.

As described above, according to the present invention, there is an effect of accurately recognizing a touch in a boundary region between regions that are distributed by two or more touch ICs. In addition, according to the present invention, there is an effect of transmitting data of one touch IC to another touch IC to share data between the two touch ICs. And, according to the present invention, there is an effect that the touch system performance is improved by using the data shared between the touch ICs.

1 illustrates an example in which a patch is located in a boundary area.
2 is a block diagram of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a view for explaining a touch system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is an exemplary configuration diagram of a touch panel including a plurality of driving electrodes and a plurality of receiving electrodes.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a first example of a connection relationship between the touch panel of FIG. 4 and touch ICs.
6 is a diagram illustrating a second example of a connection relationship between the touch panel of FIG. 4 and the touch ICs.
7 is a diagram schematically illustrating a touch image when a patch is positioned on a boundary.
8 is an internal configuration diagram of a first touch IC according to an embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a control flowchart of a touch system and touch ICs according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to exemplary drawings. In adding reference numerals to the components of each drawing, it should be noted that the same components are given the same reference numerals as much as possible even though they are indicated on different drawings. In addition, in describing the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known configuration or function may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In addition, in describing the components of the present invention, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b), etc. may be used. These terms are only for distinguishing the elements from other elements, and the essence, order, or order of the elements are not limited by the terms. When it is described that a component is “connected”, “coupled” or “connected” to another component, the component may be directly connected or connected to the other component, but another component is formed between each component. It should be understood that elements may also be “connected,” “coupled,” or “connected.”

2 is a block diagram of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the display device 100 includes a display panel 210 and a touch panel 110 , and drives a driver device 220 and a touch panel 110 for driving the display panel 210 , and It may include a touch recognition device 120 for sensing. Also, the display device 100 may include a host 230 capable of exchanging information with the driver device 220 and the touch recognition device 120 .

In the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 2 , it is described that the display panel 210 and the touch panel 220 are separated, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and the display panel 210 and the touch panel 220 are not limited thereto. may have the form of an integral panel sharing some electrodes. For example, the display device 100 may include an in-cell type panel (not shown). This in-cell type panel (not shown) uses a common electrode as a display electrode and also touch It has the form of an integrated panel that is also used as an electrode. In the following embodiment, for convenience of explanation, it is described that the display device 100 includes the display panel 210 and the touch panel 220, respectively, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

In the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 2 , it is also described that the driver device 220 and the touch recognition device 120 are separated, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. The driver device 220 and the touch recognition device 120 may be integrated into one integrated circuit device. In particular, when the display device 100 includes an integrated panel, a form in which the driver device 220 and the touch recognition device 120 are integrated can exhibit an advantage, for example, an in-cell type panel (not shown). ), the common electrode is used as a display electrode and also as a touch electrode. It can be driven for electrodes and can also be driven for touch electrodes. In the following embodiment, for convenience of explanation, it is described that the display device 100 includes the driver device 220 and the touch recognition device 120, respectively, but as described above, the present invention is not limited thereto.

The display panel 210 is a liquid crystal display (LCD), a field emission display (FED), a plasma display panel (PDP), an organic light emitting display (Organic Light Emitting Display, OLED), an electrophoresis display device (EPD), etc. can be implemented based on a flat panel display device. In the embodiment in which the display panel 210 is a liquid crystal display device, the display panel 210 is formed of two substrates. A liquid crystal layer may be formed therebetween. In this embodiment, on the lower substrate of the display panel 210 , a plurality of data lines, a plurality of gate lines crossing the data lines, and a plurality of TFTs (Thin Films) formed at intersections of the data lines and the gate lines transistor), a plurality of display electrodes for charging the data voltage to the liquid crystal cells, and a storage capacitor connected to the display electrodes to maintain the voltage of the liquid crystal cells. In this embodiment, the upper substrate of the display panel 210 may include a black matrix, a color filter, a polarizing plate, and the like.

The driver device 220 may convert digital video data RGB input from the host 230 or a timing controller (not shown) into analog positive/negative gamma compensation voltages to output the data voltage DATA. The data voltage may be supplied to the data lines. The driver device 220 may also select a line of the display panel 210 in which the data voltage DATA is written by sequentially supplying the gate pulse SCAN to the gate lines.

The display panel 210 and the driver device 220 are components related to displaying an image on the screen of the display device 100 . Continuing to refer to FIG. 2 , a configuration related to recognizing a touch in the display device 100 will be described.

The display device 100 may include a touch panel 110 and a touch recognition device 120 to recognize a touch as a user manipulation.

The touch panel 110 may be bonded on the upper polarizing plate of the display panel 210 or formed between the upper polarizing plate and the upper substrate. In addition, when the touch panel 110 is formed in an in-cell type, it may be formed on a lower substrate together with the pixel array in the display panel 210 .

The touch panel 110 may include driving electrodes, receiving electrodes, and sensors. The driving electrodes and the receiving electrodes may cross each other while being positioned on different layers, for example - a cross structure. In this cross structure, the sensors may be capacitors formed at intersections of the driving electrodes and the receiving electrodes. As another example, the driving electrodes and the receiving electrodes may be positioned on the same layer as one-layer structure. In such a one-layer structure, the sensors may be capacitors formed horizontally between the driving electrodes and the receiving electrodes. As another example, the driving electrode may be the receiving electrode-self structure. In this self-structure, the sensors may be capacitors formed between the receiving electrode and the peripheral electrodes. The positional relationship between the driving electrodes and the receiving electrodes in the touch panel 110 is only an example, and the driving electrodes and the receiving electrodes may form a different type of positional relationship from these examples. Examples of a structure in which a capacitor is formed as a sensor between the receiving electrodes and the peripheral electrodes or the receiving electrodes and the capacitance of the capacitor is changed by an object approaching or coming into contact with the touch panel 110 are all according to an embodiment of the present invention. It may be applied to the touch panel 110 .

Here, the sensors may be referred to as touch sensors in terms of sensing an object approaching or coming into contact with the touch panel 110 , but the present invention is not limited thereto. Unless other formulas are added below, the sensor can be interpreted as having the same meaning as the touch sensor.

The touch recognition device 120 generates touch coordinates by supplying a driving signal TX to the driving electrodes and sensing the sensing signal RX of the sensor through the receiving electrodes, and transmits the touch coordinate data to the host 230 . can

The touch recognition apparatus 120 may include two or more touch ICs, and may distribute a sensing signal using these two or more touch ICs.

In terms of using two or more touch ICs, the touch recognition device 120 may be referred to as a system or a touch system. Hereinafter, the touch recognition device 120 is referred to as a touch system in order to increase understanding of the invention. However, the present invention is not limited to these names.

3 is a view for explaining a touch system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the touch system 120 includes a first touch IC 122 , a second touch IC 124 , and a third touch IC 126 .

The touch system 120 may generate a touch image corresponding to the touch panel 110 . Here, the touch image expresses the amount of change of the sensors located on the touch panel 110 in the form of an image map or a matrix, and a value corresponding to the position of each sensor may be referred to as a pixel. A touch image is a term that contrasts with an image image in which image values are displayed in an image map or matrix form, and from this contrasting point of view, a pixel for a touch image may be referred to as a touch pixel, a pixel for an image image may be called an image pixel. Hereinafter, a pixel may be interpreted as having the same meaning as a touch pixel.

In the touch system 120 , the first touch IC 122 and the second touch IC 124 are connected to the sensors of the touch panel 110 and process sensing signals received from the sensors to obtain the first touch image 310 . ) and the second touch image 320 may be generated.

When the first touch image 310 and the second touch image 320 are combined, the entire touch image 300 is formed.

Specifically, the first touch IC 122 generates a first touch image 310 corresponding to the first area AR_F of the touch panel 110 , and the second touch IC 124 generates the first touch image 310 of the touch panel 110 . A second touch image 320 corresponding to the second area AR_S may be generated.

The second touch IC 124 generates a third touch image 322 corresponding to the third area AR_T among the second touch images 320 , and data (B_DATA) for the third touch image 322 . may be transmitted to the first touch IC 122 . Here, the third area AR_T is an area included in the second area AR_S and adjacent to the first area AR_F, and may have a preset size and location according to an embodiment, or may have a second touch according to a specific criterion. It may be a region selected by IC 124 .

The first touch IC 122 receives data B_DATA for the third touch image 322 from the second touch IC 124. Through this process, the first touch IC 122 receives the first touch image Data for the 310 and the third touch image 322 are acquired. The first touch IC 122 generates the first touch information T_DATA_1 by using the first touch image 310 and the third touch image 322 , and uses the first touch information T_DATA_1 as a third touch can be transmitted to the IC 126 . Here, the first touch information T_DATA_1 may include information on touch coordinates of patches included in the first touch image 320 and the third touch image 322 .

The second touch IC 124 may generate the second touch information T_DATA_2 using the second touch image 320 , and transmit the second touch information T_DATA_2 to the third touch IC 126 . Similar to the first touch information T_DATA_1 , the second touch information T_DATA_2 may include information on touch coordinates of patches included in the second touch image 320 .

The third touch IC 126 synthesizes or reprocesses the first touch information T_DATA_1 and the second touch information T_DATA_2 to transmit touch coordinate information (not shown) including touch coordinates or tracking information to the host 230 . can be transmitted

In the above description, the third touch IC 126 receives and reprocesses touch information from the first touch IC 122 and the second touch IC 124. In this respect, the third touch IC 126 is the master The IC may be referred to as an IC, and the first touch IC 122 and the second touch IC 124 may be referred to as a slave IC. However, the present invention is not limited to these names.

A plurality of sensors are located on the touch panel 110, and the first touch IC 122 and the second touch IC 124 are connected to some or all of the plurality of sensors and receive sensing signals from the connected sensors. can do. In this case, the sensors of the touch panel 110 may be formed by crossing the plurality of driving electrodes and the plurality of receiving electrodes.

4 is an exemplary configuration diagram of a touch panel including a plurality of driving electrodes and a plurality of receiving electrodes.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the touch panel 110 includes driving electrodes TX that are long in the X direction and receiving electrodes RX that are long in the Y direction, and the driving electrodes TX and the receiving electrode RX. Sensors (S) are formed at the intersecting positions.

When the electrodes are positioned to face each other, capacitance is generated between the electrodes. The pattern shown in FIG. 4 has a structure in which the sensor S is generated using the capacitance between the electrodes.

In this pattern, when an object approaches or comes into contact with the sensor S, the capacitance of the sensor S changes. Touch ICs measure the change in capacitance of the sensor S to detect proximity or touch of the sensor S become recognizable.

Such a pattern structure is mainly driven by a mutual method, but may be driven by a self method for the same pattern. The present invention is not limited to a specific driving method such as a mutual method or a self method.

Although the structure of the touch panel 110 shown in FIG. 4 has been described for further explanation of the embodiment of the present invention, the present invention should not be construed as being limited only to this pattern.

The touch panel 110 according to the present invention is not limited by the shape of the pattern. The technologies according to the present invention can be applied to the touch panel 110 that includes a plurality of sensors and can transmit the sensing signals of these sensors to two or more touch ICs. For example, the present invention may be applied to the touch panel 110 in which the sensors are not directly connected to other sensors and are independently located as a pattern according to the self method.

Hereinafter, for convenience of description, the touch panel 110 having the pattern of FIG. 4 will be mainly described.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a first example of a connection relationship between the touch panel of FIG. 4 and touch ICs.

Referring to FIG. 5 , the first touch IC 122 is connected to the receiving electrodes X1 to X8 positioned in the first area AR_F on the touch image 300 . In addition, the second touch IC 124 is connected to the receiving electrodes X9 to X16 positioned in the second area AR_S on the touch image 300 .

When the touch system 120 is driven in a single-ended type, a connection relationship as in the example of FIG. 5 may be formed. In the single-ended type, a driving signal is input to the driving electrodes and a change in capacitance of the sensors is sensed through each of the receiving electrodes. Accordingly, the first touch IC 122 may sense a change in capacitance of the sensors positioned in the first region AR_F while being connected to the receiving electrodes X1 to X8 positioned in the first region AR_F. . Also, the second touch IC 124 may sense a change in capacitance of sensors positioned in the second region AR_S while being connected to the receiving electrodes X9 to X16 positioned in the second region AR_S.

The first touch IC 122 and the second touch IC 124 may generate a touch image using capacitance change values of sensors. Specifically, the first touch IC 122 generates sensing data by processing the sensing signals received from the receiving electrodes X1 to X8 from No. 1 to No. 8, and using the sensing data, the first touch image ( 310 of FIG. 3) may be generated. In addition, the second touch IC 124 generates sensing data by processing the sensing signals received from the receiving electrodes X9 to X16 of Nos. 9 to 16, and using the sensing data, a second touch image (FIG. 320 of 3) can be created.

The second touch IC 124 transmits the data of the third touch image (see 322 of FIG. 3) corresponding to the third region AR_T among the generated second touch images (see 320 of FIG. 3) to the first touch IC ( 122) can be transmitted.

In this case, the third touch image (refer to 322 of FIG. 3 ) may include pixels corresponding to at least two or more receiving electrodes among the receiving electrodes located in the second region AR_S. In the example of FIG. 5 , the third touch image (refer to 322 of FIG. 3 ) corresponding to the third region AR_T includes pixels corresponding to the 9th to 11th receiving electrodes X9 to X11.

The driving electrodes may be sequentially driven in the Y direction. In addition, the first touch IC 122 and the second touch IC 124 may generate pixel data of each line of the touch image by using the sensing signal received in line units of the driving electrode. In this case, since the second touch IC 124 generates the second touch image (see 320 of FIG. 3 ) on a line-by-line basis, the third touch image (see 322 of FIG. 3 ) may also be generated on a line-by-line basis.

The second touch IC 124 may transmit the data of the third touch image (refer to 322 in FIG. 3 ) generated in line units to the first touch IC 122 in units of lines, or the third touch image (see FIG. 3 ) in units of frames. 322 of 3) is completed, it may be transmitted to the first touch IC 122 .

6 is a diagram illustrating a second example of a connection relationship between the touch panel of FIG. 4 and the touch ICs.

Referring to FIG. 6 , the first touch IC 122 is connected to the receiving electrodes X1 to X8 positioned in the first area AR_F on the touch image 300 . In addition, the second touch IC 124 includes the receiving electrodes X9 to X16 positioned in the second region AR_S and the eighth receiving electrode X8 positioned in the first region AR_F on the touch image 300 . ) is associated with Compared with the example shown in FIG. 5 , the second touch IC 124 is additionally connected to the eighth receiving electrode X8 positioned in the first region AR_F.

When the touch system 120 is driven in a differential manner, a connection relationship as in the example of FIG. 6 may be formed. In the differential method, a driving signal is input to the driving electrodes and the differential signal is sensed from two adjacent receiving electrodes. In this differential method, when a connection relationship as in the example of FIG. 5 is formed, the differential signal between the 8th receiving electrode X8 and the 9th receiving electrode X9 corresponding to the boundary cannot be sensed. Accordingly, in the differential method, one IC can be additionally connected to the receiving electrode located in the region of the other IC. In the example of FIG. 6 , the second touch IC 124 is located in the first region AR_F. It is to be additionally connected to the receiving electrode (X8). Conversely, depending on the embodiment, the first touch IC 122 may be additionally connected to the ninth receiving electrode X9 positioned in the second region AR_S.

In the differential method, since the differential signal between the sensors is sensed, the touch IC can calculate the capacitance change value of the sensors by accumulating the differential sensing data by the differential signal in one direction.

In the case of the example of FIG. 6 , the first touch IC 122 and the second touch IC 124 may accumulate differential sensing data in a direction from X16 to X1.

According to this direction, the second touch IC 124 sequentially accumulates the differential sensing data of the receiving electrodes No. 16 and 15 to the differential sensing data of the No. 9 and No. 8 receiving electrodes in the second area AR_S. A touch image (refer to 320 of FIG. 3 ) may be generated. In this case, the accumulated value may be applied only to pixels whose capacitance is changed due to proximity or touch of an object without applying the accumulated value to all pixels of the second touch image (refer to 320 of FIG. 3 ). For example, pixels with no change in capacitance may not apply the cumulative calculation.

On the other hand, when the first touch IC 122 accumulates difference values in the above-described direction (direction X16 to X1), the first touch IC 122 may receive boundary pixel data from the second touch IC 124 and use it to calculate the accumulated value. . Here, the boundary pixel means pixels adjacent to the touch image generated by the other touch IC among pixels of the touch image generated by the one touch IC, and the first region of the second touch image (refer to 320 in FIG. 3 ). Pixels adjacent to (AR_F) may correspond to these boundary pixels.

Specifically, the first touch IC 122 receives from the second touch IC 124 and differential sensing data generated by processing the differential signals received from the receiving electrodes X1 to X8 positioned in the first region AR_F. A first touch image (refer to 310 of FIG. 3 ) may be generated using boundary pixel data of a second touch image (refer to 320 of FIG. 3 ).

The final value accumulated by the second touch IC 124 in one direction is stored in the boundary pixel of the second touch image (refer to 320 in FIG. 3 ), and the first touch IC 122 converts this value in the differential method. It can be used as an initial value for cumulative calculations.

In this case, the second touch IC 124 may receive the differential signal on a line-by-line basis and calculate an accumulated value on a line-by-line basis using the differential signal. Accordingly, the second touch IC 124 converts the boundary pixel data of the second touch image (see 320 of FIG. 3 ) or the third touch image (see 322 of FIG. 3 ) to the first touch IC 122 in line units. can be transmitted

Meanwhile, as described above, the second touch IC 124 may not calculate the accumulated value for some pixels of the second touch image (refer to 320 of FIG. 3 ). In the same way, the first touch IC 122 may not calculate the accumulated value for all pixels. For example, pixels with no change in capacitance may not apply the cumulative calculation.

In the same context, the first touch IC 122 may not use the boundary pixel data received from the second touch IC 124 as initial values for some pixels. For example, when there is no change in capacitance in a pixel located at the boundary of the second region (see 320 in FIG. 3 ) - If there is no change in capacitance in the pixel, it can be understood that there is no change in capacitance in the sensor corresponding to the pixel - , the first touch IC 122 may calculate the accumulated value without using the boundary pixel data of the second region AR_S as an initial value. In this case, the first touch IC 122 may calculate the accumulated value by using a preset value (eg, 0) as an initial value.

From the point of view of the second touch IC 124 , the second touch IC 124 is a pixel that is not used for calculating the accumulated value in the first touch IC 122 even if it corresponds to the boundary pixel of the second area AR_S. For this purpose, the data may not be transmitted to the first touch IC 122 .

The third region AR_T is a region selected from among regions included in the second region AR_S and adjacent to the first region AR_F. In the second touch IC 124 , the third region AR_T is the first touch IC It can be set to include a boundary pixel to transmit data to (122). In other words, the second touch IC 124 may transmit only boundary pixel data forming a boundary with the first area AR_F among the pixels of the third area AR_T to the first touch IC 122 .

Meanwhile, when a patch is located at the boundary, the second touch IC 124 may transmit pixel data of the corresponding patch to the first touch IC 122 .

7 is a diagram schematically illustrating a touch image when a patch is positioned on a boundary.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the first patch 710 and the second patch 720 are shown in the entire touch image 300 . Among them, the first patch 710 is positioned at the boundary between the first area AR_F and the second area AR_S. In addition, the second patch 720 is located in the second area AR_S.

For the two patches 710 and 720 , the second touch IC 124 selectively transmits only the data of the first patch 710 to the first touch IC 122 , and the data of the second patch 720 is transmitted to the first It may not be transmitted to the touch IC 122 .

In this case, the selection criterion may be whether the patch is located at the boundary. For example, when two or more patches are recognized in the second area AR_S, only the data of the patches located at the boundary with the first area AR_F among these patches is the first touch IC 124 . can be transmitted to the IC 122 . Here, the patch positioned at the boundary with the first area AR_F may mean a case in which one pixel of the corresponding patch is adjacent to the first area AR_F.

As with the second patch 720 , patches that are completely located only in the second region 720 do not cause a problem of misrecognition of touch coordinates at the boundary. In contrast, in the case of a patch that spans the first area AR_F and the second area AR_S like the first patch 710 , a touch coordinate misrecognition error at the boundary as described with reference to FIG. 1 may occur.

Accordingly, the second touch IC 124 may transmit pixel data for the patches positioned at the boundary between the first area AR_F and the second area AR_S to the first touch IC 122 .

The second touch IC 124 may transmit the pixel data to the first touch IC 122 by including the pixel data in a matrix or array type data structure composed of rows and columns. At this time, as shown in FIG. 7 , the second touch IC 124 sets a rectangular area defined by the outermost rows and columns of the first patch 710 adjacent to the first area AR_F as the third area AR_T. can In addition, the third touch image data corresponding to the third area AR_T may be transmitted to the first touch IC 122 . This third touch image corresponds to some rows and some columns of the second touch image.

On the other hand, the first touch IC 122 and the second touch IC 124 may perform the above-described contents in each of the internal components while including detailed internal components.

8 is an internal configuration diagram of a first touch IC according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8 , the first touch IC 122 may include a sensing unit 810 , a signal processing unit 820 , a memory 830 , an image processing unit 840 , and a communication unit 850 .

The sensing unit 810 includes a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) generating circuit that generates a driving pulse, a driving circuit capable of supplying a driving signal to the driving electrodes formed on the touch panel 110 , and a sensing signal received from the receiving electrodes. It may include a sensing circuit capable of processing the

In the PWM generation circuit, a driving pulse for periodic sensing is generated, and the driving circuit supplies a driving signal synchronized with the driving pulse to the touch panel 110 .

The sensing circuit senses a voltage formed in each of the sensors or a change in voltage by a driving signal. In the capacitive touch panel 110, a capacitance (capacitance) is formed in the sensor, and when a change in capacitance occurs by a touch, a voltage or a change in voltage reflecting this change in capacitance occurs in the sensor, so the sensing circuit to sense the voltage or voltage change of these sensors.

The sensing circuit may differentially sense a sensing signal corresponding to a periodically applied driving signal. The sensing circuit may further include a differential amplifier circuit for sensing the sensing signal in a differential manner. The sensing circuit may differentially amplify the sensing signal of the two receiving electrodes adjacent to each other by using the differential amplification circuit. When the sensing circuit senses in a differential manner, there is an effect of reducing common mode noise.

The sensing circuit unit 820 may convert the analog sensing signal processed by the sensing circuit into sensing data and then store it in the memory 330 .

The image processing unit 840 generates the first touch image 310 by using the sensing data stored in the memory 330 .

The communication unit 850 is a block for exchanging data with other touch ICs or other devices. The communication unit 850 receives data B_DATA for the third touch image 322 from the second touch IC 124 . can

The image processing unit 840 may generate the first touch information T_DATA_1 by using the first touch image 310 and the third touch image 322 .

Also, the communication unit 850 may transmit the first touch information T_DATA_1 to the third touch IC 126 .

When the sensing unit 810 senses in a differential manner, the communication unit 850 may receive boundary pixel data from the second touch IC 124 . In this case, the image processing unit 840 may generate the first touch image 310 using the differential sensing data stored in the memory 830 and the boundary pixel data received from the second touch IC 124 .

The internal components 810 , 820 , 830 , 840 , and 850 illustrated in FIG. 8 are configured as independent hardware or processes and may independently perform functions without being affected by other components.

For example, while the sensing unit 810 receives sensing signals from sensors included in the touch panel 110 using a sensing circuit, the communication unit 850 transmits the first touch information T_DATA_1 to the host 230 . ) can be transmitted. As another example, the image processing unit 840 uses the first touch image 310 and the third touch image 322 while the signal processing unit 820 converts the sensing signal into sensing data and stores it in the memory 830 . Thus, the first touch information T_DATA_1 may be generated. As another example, while the image processing unit 840 generates the first touch image 310 using the sensing data stored in the memory 830 , the communication unit 850 receives the second touch IC 124 from the second touch IC 124 . 3 Touch image 322 data may be received.

Parallel processing is also referred to as parallel processing between the components. Since the internal components 810 , 820 , 830 , 840 and 850 of the first touch IC 122 are processed in parallel in this way, the overall processing speed may be improved. For example, the first touch IC 122 receives the data of the third touch image 322 from the second touch IC 124 and uses it to generate touch information. The third touch image 322 data may be received at the same time as generating the sensed data by receiving the sensing signal from the 110 .

The second touch IC 124 may also have the same internal circuit configuration as the first touch IC 122 . For example, the second touch IC 124 also has the same internal components as the sensing unit 810 , the signal processing unit 820 , the memory 830 , the image processing unit 840 , and the communication unit 850 of the first touch IC 122 . It may have a circuit configuration. However, as the first touch IC 122 generates the first touch image 310 and the second touch IC 124 generates the second touch image 320 , a difference may occur in the software configuration or connection relationship. can

9 is a control flowchart of a touch system and touch ICs according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9 , the first touch IC 122 receives sensing signals from first sensors located on the touch panel 110 ( S902 ), and the second touch IC 124 senses the sensing signals from the second sensors. A signal is received (S904). At this time, the first touch IC 122 and the second touch IC 124 may perform sensing in a differential manner. Accordingly, the first touch IC 122 receives a differential sensing signal from the first sensors and (S902), the second touch IC 124 may receive a differential sensing signal from the second sensors (S904).

Then, the first touch IC 122 processes the sensing signals for the first sensors to generate first sensing data (S906), and the second touch IC 124 processes the sensing signals for the second sensors. to generate second sensing data (S908). In this case, when the first touch IC 122 and the second touch IC 124 perform differential sensing, the first sensing data may be the first differential sensing data, and the second sensing data may be the second differential sensing data. can

In the case of the differential method, the first touch IC 122 may receive boundary pixel data from the second touch IC 124 for calculating the accumulated value ( S910 ). In the case of the single-ended method rather than the differential method, step S910 may be omitted.

Steps S902, S904, S906, S908, and S910 may be performed for each line of the driving electrode. For example, the first touch IC 122 receives sensing signals from the first sensors corresponding to the first driving electrode (S902), and the second touch IC 124 also receives the second touch IC 124 corresponding to the first driving electrode. A sensing signal may be received from the sensors (S904). In addition, the first touch IC 122 and the second touch IC 124 may generate the first sensing data and the second sensing data from the first sensors and the second sensors corresponding to the first driving electrode. (S906 and S908).

When steps S902, S904, S906, S908, and S910 are performed for each driving electrode line, steps S902, S904, S906, S908, and S910 may be repeated until the steps are performed for all lines.

When steps S902, S904, S906, S908, and S910 are completed so that one frame is completed, the first touch IC 122 generates a first touch image (S912), and the second touch IC 124 generates a second touch image (S912). An image is created (S914).

Then, the second touch IC 124 may set a third area in the second touch image and determine a third touch image corresponding to the third area (S916). In this case, the second touch IC 124 may analyze the second touch image and set an area including patches positioned at a boundary with the first area among patches recognized in the second touch image as the third area. For example, the second touch IC 124 may set the third region using the outermost coordinates of the patches located at the boundary.

Meanwhile, the third area may be preset. Accordingly, the second touch IC 124 may determine the third touch image according to the preset third region without separately setting the third region in step S916 .

When the third touch image is determined, the second touch IC 124 may transmit the third touch image to the first touch IC 122 (S918).

In addition, the first touch IC 122 may generate first touch information using the first touch image and the third touch image (S920), and the second touch IC 124 may use the second touch image to generate the first touch information (S920). Second touch information may be generated (S922).

The first touch information and the second touch information may include information on touch coordinates. Accordingly, the second touch IC 124 may transmit the second touch information including the touch coordinates to the third touch IC 126 (S924), and the first touch IC 122 includes the touch coordinates. The received first touch information may be transmitted to the third touch IC 126 (S926).

The third touch IC 126 may generate tracking information by using the first touch information and the second touch information (S928). Here, the tracking information is information linking the touch coordinates recognized in the previous frame with the touch coordinates recognized in the current frame, and is information for recognizing a continuous touch operation such as a sliding touch.

The third touch IC 126 generates such tracking information using the touch coordinates received from each of the touch ICs 122 and 124 , and transmits multi-touch information including the touch coordinate information and the tracking information to the host 230 . ) can be transmitted.

The host 230 is a device including a display device such as a communication terminal, a pad, a notebook computer, a TV, and the like, and may recognize a user operation using multi-touch information received from the third touch IC 126 .

According to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, there is an effect of accurately recognizing a touch in a boundary region of regions that are distributed by two or more touch ICs. Also, for example, when a touch exists at the boundary, the second touch IC 124 transmits pixel data of a patch corresponding to the touch to the first touch IC 122 . ) combines this pixel data with pixel data located in the first region to recognize a complete patch. Through this, the first touch IC 122 can accurately recognize the touch coordinates of the corresponding patch.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, there is an effect of sharing data between two touch ICs by transmitting data of one touch IC to another touch IC. According to the embodiment, the first touch IC 122 and the second touch IC 124 include a communication unit, and the second touch IC 124 transmits the boundary pixel data and the third touch image data to the first touch IC ( 122) can be transmitted. The communication unit of the first touch IC 122 and the second touch IC 124 is hardware necessary for data communication with the host 230 or the third touch IC 126 , and according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first touch The IC 122 and the second touch IC 124 additionally share data using such a communication unit. Accordingly, according to an embodiment of the present invention, there is an effect that data can be shared between the touch ICs in an embodiment in which a touch system is constructed using two or more touch ICs.

In addition, according to the embodiment of the present invention, there is an effect that the touch system performance is improved by using the data shared between the touch ICs.

Terms such as "include", "comprise" or "have" described above mean that the corresponding component may be embedded unless otherwise stated, so it does not exclude other components. It should be construed as being able to further include other components. All terms, including technical and scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs, unless otherwise defined. Terms commonly used, such as those defined in the dictionary, should be interpreted as being consistent with the meaning of the context of the related art, and should not be interpreted in an ideal or excessively formal meaning unless explicitly defined in the present invention.

The above description is merely illustrative of the technical spirit of the present invention, and various modifications and variations will be possible without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the technical spirit of the present invention, but to explain, and the scope of the technical spirit of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The protection scope of the present invention should be construed by the following claims, and all technical ideas within the scope equivalent thereto should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims (16)

In the touch system connected to a plurality of touch sensors corresponding to the first area and the second area of the touch panel,
a first touch IC for generating a first touch image for the first area; and
a second touch IC for generating a second touch image for the second area;
With respect to a third region included in the second region and adjacent to the first region,
the second touch IC transmits third touch image data for the third area to the first touch IC;
The first touch IC generates touch information using the first touch image and the third touch image,
The second touch IC identifies at least one patch from the second touch image and sets the location and size of the third area according to the location of a patch adjacent to the first area among the at least one patch.
touch system. According to claim 1,
In the touch panel, the plurality of touch sensors are formed by crossing a plurality of driving electrodes and a plurality of receiving electrodes,
The first touch IC is connected to first receiving electrodes located in the first area, and the second touch IC is connected to second receiving electrodes located in the second area. 3. The method of claim 2,
The third touch image comprises pixels corresponding to at least two of the second receiving electrodes. 3. The method of claim 2,
The first touch IC and the second touch IC sense touch sensors in a differential manner,
the second touch IC transmits boundary pixel data forming a boundary with the first area among the pixels of the third area to the first touch IC;
The first touch IC generates the first touch image by using the differential sensing data generated by processing the differential signal received from the first receiving electrodes and the boundary pixel data. 5. The method of claim 4,
The touch system, characterized in that the boundary pixel data is transmitted in line units. According to claim 1,
The first touch IC generates the first touch image from sensing signals received from the first touch sensors while being connected to the first touch sensors located in the first region;
The second touch IC is connected to second touch sensors located in the second area and generates the second touch image from sensing signals received from the second touch sensors. According to claim 1,
The second touch image is composed of a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, and the third touch image corresponds to some rows and some columns of the second touch image. delete According to claim 1,
and a rectangular area defined by an outermost row and column of the patch adjacent to the first area is set as the third area. According to claim 1,
The touch information is a touch system, characterized in that it includes touch coordinate information. According to claim 1,
and a third touch IC receiving touch information from the first touch IC and the second touch IC,
The third touch IC generates touch coordinate information and tracking information for multi-touch from the touch information and transmits the generated touch information to the host. In the touch IC connected to the touch sensors corresponding to one area of the touch panel,
a communication unit for receiving touch image data for an adjacent area of the one area from another touch IC; and
and an image processing unit for generating a touch image for the one area and generating touch information using the touch image for the one area and the adjacent area,
The other touch IC,
Identifying at least one patch from a touch image for another area and setting the location and size of the adjacent area according to the location of the patch adjacent to the one area among the at least one patch
Touch IC. 13. The method of claim 12,
a sensing unit for receiving sensing signals from the touch sensors; and
Further comprising a signal processing unit for generating sensed data by processing the sensing signals,
The image processing unit generates a touch image for the one area by using the sensing data. 14. The method of claim 13,
The sensing unit or the signal processing unit and the image processing unit are parallel-processed, characterized in that the touch IC. In the control method of a touch IC connected to touch sensors corresponding to an area of a touch panel,
generating a touch image for the one area;
receiving touch image data for an adjacent area of the one area from another touch IC; and
generating touch information by using a touch image for the one area and the adjacent area;
The other touch IC,
Identifying at least one patch from a touch image for another area and setting the location and size of the adjacent area according to the location of the patch adjacent to the one area among the at least one patch
Control method of touch IC. 16. The method of claim 15,
In the step of receiving the touch image for the adjacent area,
A control method of a touch IC, characterized in that the touch image for the adjacent area is received from the other touch IC for each frame.

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