TWI663531B - Electronic device having touch panel and control circuit thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic device and a control circuit of a touch panel. The electronic device includes a touch panel and a control circuit. The touch panel includes a first sensing area and a second sensing area. The first sensing area includes a plurality of first touch sensing elements, and the second sensing area includes a plurality of second touch sensing elements. The control circuit includes a plurality of first transmitting units, a plurality of second transmitting units, and a plurality of receiving units. The first transmitting unit transmits a signal to the first touch sensing element through the first side of the touch panel. The second transmitting unit transmits a signal from the second side of the touch panel to the second touch sensing element. The receiving unit receives a signal from the first touch sensing element in a first time period, and receives a signal from the second touch sensing element in a second time period.

Description

Electronic device with touch panel and control circuit thereof

The invention relates to an electronic device with a touch panel and a control circuit thereof.

The touch panel is an inductive device that can receive input signals from a finger or a stylus. Touch panels are used for a wide range of applications, from common cash dispensers, smart phones, digital appliances, car central control panels, and even smart watches.

Touch lines are arranged on the capacitive touch panel. The touch lines can be divided into horizontally arranged driving lines (Tx) and vertically arranged sensing lines (Rx), driving lines (Tx) and sensing lines (Rx). The cross nodes formed in space form a capacitor. Because the human body itself is a conductor, when our fingers touch the touch panel, it will affect the power line to change the size of the capacitor. Through the change in the size of the capacitance measured by the sensing line (Rx), the position where the finger touches can be calculated .

In order to maintain the sensitivity of the touch panel, if the size of the touch panel is larger, the touch panel needs more sensing lines (Rx), which will improve the manufacturing process. This will also increase the power consumption of the touch panel. Therefore, how to reduce the cost and the power consumption of the panel when the length of the touch panel is increased is one of the current efforts of the industry.

The invention relates to a control circuit for an electronic device and a touch panel, which is shared by partitions by using time-sharing characteristics of a transmission unit on the control circuit. The receiving unit of the control circuit is shared by different sensing areas on the touch panel, so that the cost and power consumption of the control circuit can be reduced.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a touch panel and a control circuit. The touch panel includes a first sensing area and a second sensing area. The first sensing area includes a plurality of first touch sensing elements, and the second sensing area includes a plurality of second touch sensing elements. The touch panel has a first side and a second side. The control circuit is coupled to the touch panel. The control circuit includes a plurality of first transmitting units, a plurality of second transmitting units, and a plurality of receiving units. The first transmitting unit transmits a signal to the first touch sensing element via the first side of the touch panel, and the second transmitting unit transmits the signal to the second touch sensing element via the second side of the touch panel. The receiving unit receives a signal from the first touch sensing element in a first time period, and the receiving unit receives a signal from the second touch sensing element in a second time period.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a control circuit for a touch panel is provided for controlling a touch panel. The touch panel includes a first sensing area and a second sensing area. The first sensing area includes a plurality of first touch sensing elements, and the second sensing area includes a plurality of second touch sensing elements. The touch panel has a first A side edge and a second side edge. The control circuit includes a plurality of first transmitting units, a plurality of second transmitting units, and a plurality of receiving units. The first transmitting unit transmits signals to the first touch sensing elements via the first side of the touch panel, and the second transmitting unit transmits signals to the second touch sensing elements from the second side of the touch panel. The receiving unit receives a signal from the first touch sensing element in a first time period, and the receiving unit receives a signal from the second touch sensing element in a second time period.

In order to have a better understanding of the above and other aspects of the present invention, the following specific examples are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

10, 20, 30, 40, 80‧‧‧ electronic devices

110, 110 ’, 810‧‧‧ touch panel

111 (a) ‧‧‧first side

111 (b) ‧‧‧ second side

111 (c) ‧‧‧ third side

111 (d) ‧‧‧ fourth side

120, 820‧‧‧Control circuit

112, 812‧‧‧The first sensing area

113, 114, 814‧‧‧Second sensing area

116, 813, 815 ‧ ‧ ‧ Junction

130 (1), 130 (2), 130 (3), 130 (4), 130 (5), 130 (6), 130 (7), 130 (8) ‧‧‧Drive circuit

141 (1), 141 (2), 141 (3), 141 (25) ‧‧‧First sensing circuit

142 (1), 142 (2), 142 (3), 142 (25) ‧‧‧Second sensing circuit

610‧‧‧ analog front-end unit

616‧‧‧ Analog Digital Converter

620‧‧‧ Digital Signal Processor

622‧‧‧Signal remapping unit

624‧‧‧Junction Compensation Unit

626‧‧‧ Coordinate Return Unit

816‧‧‧Third sensing area

900‧‧‧ laptop

910‧‧‧function keypad

P1, P3‧‧‧‧First touch sensing element

P2, P4‧‧‧Second touch sensing element

TP1‧‧‧First time zone

TP2‧‧‧Second time zone

Tx1 ~ Tx21, TxM‧‧‧Transfer Unit

Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, Rx25, Rx32, RxN‧‧‧ receiving units

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of a first transmission unit and a second transmission unit transmitting signals in a time-sharing manner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention.

5A and 5B are schematic diagrams illustrating differences in signal transmission paths of touch sensing elements at corresponding positions on two sides of a boundary between a first sensing area and a second sensing area of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a control circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7A shows a schematic diagram of driving circuits of the touch panel arranged from top to bottom.

FIG. 7B is a schematic diagram of signal remapping according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a suitable product of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Various embodiments are provided below for detailed description. However, the embodiments are only used as examples for illustration, and will not limit the scope of the present invention to be protected. In addition, some elements in the drawings in the embodiments are omitted to clearly show the technical features of the present invention. The same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

Please refer to Figure 1A. FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of an electronic device 10 according to an embodiment of the invention. The electronic device 10 includes a touch panel 110 and a control circuit 120. The control circuit 120 is coupled to the touch panel 110.

The touch panel 110 includes a first sensing area 112 and a second sensing area 114. There is a boundary 116 between the first sensing region 112 and the second sensing region 114. The first sensing region 112 includes a plurality of first touch sensing elements, and the second sensing region 114 includes a plurality of second touch sensing elements. The touch panel 110 has a first side edge 111 (a), a second side edge 111 (b), a third side edge 111 (c), and a fourth side edge 111 (d). The first side 111 (a) is opposite to the second side 111 (b), the third side 111 (c) is opposite to the fourth side 111 (d), and the third side 111 (c) is connected The first side edge 111 (a) and the second side edge 111 (b), and the fourth side edge 111 (d) connect the first side edge 111 (a) and the second side edge 111 (b).

The control circuit 120 includes a plurality of first transmitting units, a plurality of second transmitting units, and a plurality of receiving units. In this embodiment, the control circuit 120 includes, for example, four first transmission units, which are first transmission units Tx1, Tx2, Tx3, and Tx4, respectively. The control circuit 120 includes, for example, four second transmission units, which are second transmission units Tx5, Tx6, Tx7, and Tx8, respectively. The control circuit 120 includes, for example, 25 receiving units, which are receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, ..., Rx25, respectively. It should be understood that the number of the first transmitting unit, the second transmitting unit, and the receiving unit in the control circuit 112 is not limited to this. The number of the first transmitting unit, the second transmitting unit, and the receiving unit may be arbitrary. Positive integer N, N 1. In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, the first transmitting unit, the second transmitting unit, and the receiving unit are arranged in the control circuit 120 so as to be arranged on one side of the control circuit 120, but the first transmitting unit, The configuration of the second transmitting unit and the receiving unit is not limited to this. The first transmitting unit, the second transmitting unit, and the receiving unit in the control circuit 120 may also have other types of configuration methods. For example, the first transmitting unit, the second transmitting unit, and the receiving unit are respectively disposed on the four sides of the control circuit 120.

The first transmission units Tx1, Tx2, Tx3, and Tx4 pass through the driving lines 130 (1), 130 (2), 130 (3), 130 (4) through the left side (first side 111 (a)) of the touch panel 110. ) Sends a signal to the first touch sensing element of the first sensing area 112, and the second transmission unit Tx5, Tx6, Tx7, Tx8 passes through the driving circuit 130 through the right side (the second side 111 (b)) of the touch panel 110 (5), 130 (6), 130 (7), 130 (8) send signals to the second touch sensing element of the second sensing area 114. The first transmission unit Tx1, Tx2, Tx3, Tx4 and the second transmission unit Tx5, Tx6, Tx7 and Tx8 transmit signals to the touch panel 110 in a sequential manner, as shown in FIG. 1B. FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of the first transmission unit Tx1, Tx2, Tx3, Tx4, and the second transmission unit Tx5, Tx6, Tx7, Tx8, and time-sharing transmission signals according to an embodiment of the invention. That is, the first transmission unit Tx1, Tx2, Tx3, Tx4 and the second transmission unit Tx5, Tx6, Tx7, Tx8 have the characteristics of time division multiplexing. Therefore, the receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, ..., Rx25 receive signals of the first touch sensing element from the first sensing area 112 in a first time period TP1, and the receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, .. ., Rx25 and receives a signal from the second touch sensing element of the second sensing area 114 in a second time period TP2. The receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, ..., Rx25 use the time-sharing characteristics of the first transmitting unit Tx1, Tx2, Tx3, Tx4 and the second transmitting unit Tx5, Tx6, Tx7, Tx8 in different time zones It receives signals from the first touch sensing element of the first sensing region 112 and the second touch sensing element of the second sensing region 114.

In this embodiment, the receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, ..., Rx25 respectively pass through the first sensing line (for example, the first signal line) 141 (1), 141 (2), 141 (3), ..., 141 (25) receives signals from one or more first touch sensing elements from the first sensing area 112 via the upper side (third side 111 (c)) of the touch panel 110, and transmits The second sensing line (for example, a second signal line) 142 (1), 142 (2), 142 (3), ..., 142 (25) passes through the upper side (third side) of the touch panel 110 Edge 111 (c)) receives signals from one or more second touch sensing elements of the second sensing area 114. The first touch sensing element of the first sensing area 112 of the touch panel 110 may be along the third side 111 (c) to the fourth side 111 (d) of the touch panel 110. The directions are aligned. Therefore, the first sensing area 112 includes the first touch sensing elements in the first row to the 25th row. Similarly, the second touch sensing elements of the second sensing area 114 can be arranged along the direction of the third side 111 (c) to the fourth side 111 (d) of the touch panel 110. Therefore, the second sensing area 114 includes second touch-sensing elements in rows 1 to 25.

That is, the first touch sensing elements of the first sensing area 112 may be arranged in, for example, 25 rows, and the first touch sensing elements in rows 1 to 25 are passed through the first to 25 first sensing lines. The channels 141 (1), 141 (2), 141 (3), ..., 141 (25) are coupled to the receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, ..., Rx25, and the second of the second sensing area 114 The touch sensing elements can be arranged in 25 rows, for example, and the second touch sensing elements in rows 1 to 25 pass through the second sensing lines 142 (1), 142 (2), and 142 (3), ..., 142 (25) are coupled to the receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, ..., Rx25. In this way, the first touch sensing element in the first sensing region 112 and the second touch sensing element in the second sensing region 114 can share the receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, ..., Rx25 of the control circuit 120. In this way, the configuration of the sensing circuit can be reduced, and the volume of the control circuit 120 can be further reduced.

In this embodiment, the first to 25th first sensing lines 141 (1), 141 (2), 141 (3), ..., 141 (25) are along the left side of the touch panel 110 The extended parts are arranged in order from the left side of the touch panel 110 to the boundary 116 between the first sensing area 112 and the second sensing area 114. The first to 25th second sensing lines 142 (1) , 142 (2), 142 (3), ..., 142 (25) The portion extending from the right side of the control panel 110 is sequentially arranged from the boundary 116 between the first sensing region 112 and the second sensing region 114 to the right side of the touch panel 110.

Please refer to Figure 2. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic device 20 of this embodiment is similar to the electronic device 10 of the above embodiment, and the same or similar components will be represented by the same reference numerals. The same configurations of the electronic device 20 and the electronic device 10 will not be described in detail here. It should be understood that the control circuit 120 of the electronic device 20 includes a plurality of first transmitting units, a second transmitting unit, and a receiving unit, and the number of the first transmitting unit, the second transmitting unit, and the receiving unit may be any positive integer N , N 1.

In this embodiment, the main difference between the electronic device 20 and the electronic device 10 is that the first to 25th first sensing lines 141 (1), 141 (2), 141 (1) of the electronic device 20 3), ..., 141 (25) The portion extending along the left side of the touch panel 110 is from the left side of the touch panel 110 to the boundary 116 between the first sensing area 112 and the second sensing area 114 Arranged in sequence, the first to 25th second sensing lines 142 (1), 142 (2), 142 (3), ..., 142 (25) extend along the right side of the touch panel 110 The parts are arranged in order from the right side of the touch panel 110 to the boundary 116 between the first sensing area 112 and the second sensing area 114.

In this embodiment, the first to 25th first sensing lines 141 (1), 141 (2), 141 (3), ..., 1412 (25), and 1 to 25th The two sensing lines 142 (1), 142 (2), 142 (3), ..., 142 (25) are centered on the boundary 116 between the first sensing area 112 and the second sensing area 114, and symmetrically The left and right sides of the control panel 110 are expanded and arranged in order. With the first sensing area 112 and the first The first sensing line 141 (1), 141 (2), 141 (3), ..., 141 (25), and the second sensing line 114 are centered on the boundary 116 of the two sensing areas 114. The test lines 142 (1), 142 (2), 142 (3), ..., 142 (25) correspond to the same receiving unit, and use the same analog-to-digital converter (ADC) Performing analog-to-digital conversion of signals can reduce signal discontinuities caused by different channels and improve the accuracy of the touch panel 110 for touch points.

Please refer to Figure 3. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic device 30 in this embodiment is similar to the electronic device 10 in the above embodiment, and the same or similar components will be represented by the same reference numerals. The same configuration of the electronic device 30 as that of the electronic device 10 will not be repeated here. It should be understood that the number of the first transmitting unit, the second transmitting unit, and the receiving unit in the control circuit 120 may be any positive integer N, N 1.

In this embodiment, the main difference between the electronic device 30 and the electronic device 10 is that the receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, ..., Rx25 of the electronic device 30 pass through the first sensing lines 141 (1), 141 (2 ), 141 (3), ..., 141 (25) receive the signal from the first touch sensing element through the upper side (third side 111 (c)) of the touch panel 110, and pass the second sensor The test lines 142 (1), 142 (2), 142 (3), ..., 142 (25) receive the second touch via the lower side (fourth side 111 (d)) of the touch panel 110 Signal of the sensing element. In this embodiment, the first sensing lines 141 (1), 141 (2), 141 (3), ..., 141 (25) are connected to the receiving units Rx1, Rx2 via the upper side of the touch panel 110. , Rx3, ..., Rx25, and the second sensing line 142 (1), 142 (2), 142 (3), ..., 142 (25) are connected to the lower side of the touch panel 110 to The receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, ..., Rx25. This routing arrangement can make the width of the routing area (or non-visible area) on the upper and lower sides of the touch panel 110 approximately the same, reducing the design of the mechanism. Trouble.

Please refer to Figure 4. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device 40 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic device 40 of this embodiment is similar to the electronic device 10 of the above embodiment, and the same or similar components will be represented by the same reference numerals. The same configuration of the electronic device 40 as in the electronic device 10 will not be repeated here. It should be understood that the number of the first transmitting unit, the second transmitting unit, and the receiving unit in the control circuit 120 may be any positive integer N, N 1.

In this embodiment, the main differences between the electronic device 40 and the electronic device 10 are the following two points. First, in the electronic device 40, the first to 25th first sensing lines 141 (1), 141 (2), 141 (3), ..., 141 (25) are along the touch panel 110 The portion extending from the left side of the touch panel is arranged in order from the left side of the touch panel 110 to the boundary 116 between the first sensing area 112 and the second sensing area 114. The first to 25th second sensing lines 142 ( 1), 142 (2), 142 (3), ..., 142 (25) The portion extending along the right side of the touch panel 110 is from the right side of the touch panel 110 to the first sensing area 112 and The directions of the boundary 116 of the second sensing region 114 are arranged in order.

In addition, the receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, ..., Rx25 are through the first sensing line 141 (1), 141 (2), 141 (3), ..., 141 (25) through the touch panel. The upper side of 110 (third side 111 (c)) receives the signal from the first touch sensing element, and passes the second sensing line 142 (1), 142 (2), 142 (3), .. ., 142 (25) receives the signal from the second touch sensing element through the lower side (fourth side 111 (d)) of the touch panel 110. That is, the first sensing lines 141 (1), 141 (2), 141 (3), ..., 141 (25) are connected to the receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3 via the upper side of the touch panel 110. , ..., Rx25, the second sensing lines 142 (1), 142 (2), 142 (3), ..., 142 (25) are connected to the receiving unit Rx1 via the lower side of the touch panel 110. Rx2, Rx3, ..., Rx25. In this embodiment, the first sensing lines 141 (1), 141 (2), 141 (3), ..., 141 (25) are used to transmit the first touch sensing element in the first sensing area 112 Signals to the receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, ..., Rx25, and the second sensing lines 142 (1), 142 (2), 142 (3), ..., 142 (25) are used to transmit the second The signal of the second touch sensing element in the sensing area 114 is sent to the receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, ..., Rx25.

Please refer to FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B. FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B show the touch at the corresponding positions on both sides of the boundary 116 between the first sensing area 112 and the second sensing area 114 of the electronic device 40 of FIG. 4 Schematic diagram of signal transmission path differences of sensing elements. In the electronic device 40 shown in FIG. 4, for example, when the driving node 130 (4) connected to the first transmitting unit Tx4 and the crossing node of the first sensing circuit 141 (25) connected to the receiving unit Rx25 After the first touch sensing element P1 on the touch panel is touched, a signal corresponding to the first touch sensing element P1 is transmitted to the receiving unit Rx25 via the first sensing line 141 (25). When the second touch sensing element P2 on the cross node of the driving line 130 (8) of the second transmitting unit Tx8 and the second sensing line 141 (25) of the receiving unit Rx25 is touched, it corresponds to the second touch The signal of the sensing element P2 is transmitted to the receiving unit Rx25 via the second sensing line 141 (25). Corresponds to the first touch The path transmitted by the signal of the application element P1 in the touch panel 110 is longer than the path transmitted by the signal of the second touch sensing element P2 in the touch panel 110, as shown in FIG. 5A. Therefore, the strength of the signal corresponding to the first touch sensing element P1 sent to the receiving unit Rx25 is weaker than the strength of the signal corresponding to the second touch sensing element P2 sent to the receiving unit Rx25.

Please refer to FIG. 5B. For example, when the first touch sensing element P3 on the crossing node of the driving line 130 (1) of the first transmitting unit Tx1 and the first sensing line 141 (25) of the receiving unit Rx25 is After the touch, the signal corresponding to the first touch sensing element P3 is transmitted to the receiving unit Rx25 via the first sensing line 141 (25). When the second touch sensing element P4 on the cross node of the driving line 130 (5) of the second transmitting unit Tx5 and the second sensing line 142 (25) of the receiving unit Rx25 is touched, it corresponds to the second touch The signal of the sensing element P4 is transmitted to the receiving unit Rx25 via the second sensing line 142 (25). The path transmitted by the signal corresponding to the first touch sensing element P3 in the touch panel 110 is shorter than the path transmitted by the signal corresponding to the second touch sensing element P4 in the touch panel 110. Therefore, the strength of the signal corresponding to the first touch sensing element P3 will be stronger than the strength of the signal corresponding to the second touch sensing element P4.

In other words, the signals transmitted to the same receiving unit corresponding to the first touch sensing element and the second touch sensing element at positions corresponding to the left and right of the boundary of the first sensing region 112 and the second sensing region 114 will be caused by The path length of the signal transmitted in the touch panel 110 is different, so that the receiving unit receives signals of different strengths. Signal, the signal intensity of the left and right sides of the boundary between the first sensing region 112 and the second sensing region 114 is discontinuous.

In order to reduce the influence of the discontinuity of the signal strength on the left and right sides of the junction, the electronic device 40 in FIG. 4 transmits the signal corresponding to the first touch sensing element or the second touch sensing element to the receiving unit, and is coupled to the receiving unit through After the analog digital converter converts the received signal into a digital signal, it uses the lookup table shown in Table 1 below to compensate the converted digital signal, and then performs the calculation of the touch point position after compensation. Table 1 records the signal gain values of the signals corresponding to the first touch sensing element and the second touch sensing element. For example, compensating the converted digital signal may be multiplying the digital signal converted by the analog-to-digital converter by a corresponding signal gain value as shown in Table 1. The signal corresponding to the first touch sensing element or the second touch sensing element transmitted to the receiving unit is converted into a digital signal by an analog digital converter, and the converted signal is converted by a lookup table shown in Table 1. After the digital signal is compensated, the two have a signal strength of about the same size. It should be understood that the signal gain values shown in Table 1 are only examples, and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention. Any value that can be used to compensate the converted digital signal belongs to the protection scope of the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 6, which illustrates a schematic diagram of a control circuit 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The control circuit 120 includes an analog front end unit (AFE) 610 and a digital signal processor 620. The analog front-end unit 610 is coupled to the digital signal processor 620. The analog front-end unit 610 includes M transmission units Tx1, Tx2, Tx3, ..., TxM, N receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, ..., RxN, and N analog digital converters 616. Among them, the M transmission units can be divided into first transmission units Tx1, Tx2, ..., Tx And the second transmission unit Tx +1, Tx +2, ..., TxM. The N receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3,..., RxN are respectively coupled to an analog-to-digital converter 616. The control circuit 120 is coupled to a touch panel (not shown) via the transmitting unit 612 and the receiving unit 614. The above M and N can be any positive integer, M 1 and N 1.

The digital signal processor 620 includes a signal remap unit 622, a junction correlation unit 624, and a coordinate report unit 626. The signal remapping unit 622 can adjust a first resolution on the touch panel according to a first touch sensing element in a first sensing area of the touch panel and a second touch sensing element in a second sensing area of the touch panel. The coordinate values corresponding to the signals received by the receiving unit from the first touch sensing element and the second touch sensing element. For example, the first resolution may be the resolution corresponding to the arrangement of the first touch sensing element and the second touch sensing element on the touch panel.

The boundary compensation unit 624 can adjust the signal from the first touch sensing element and the signal from the second touch sensing element received by the receiving unit according to a lookup table in Table 1 of the above table. The lookup table records the first touch sensing element and the A signal gain value of a signal corresponding to the second touch sensing element. The boundary compensation unit 624 can transmit the signals corresponding to the first touch sensing element or the second touch sensing element to the receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, ..., RxN, and pass through the receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, ..., RxN coupled analog digital converter 616 converts the received signal into a digital signal, and then uses the lookup table shown in Table 1 to compensate the converted digital signal. For example, compensating the converted digital signal may be multiplying the digital signal converted by the analog-to-digital converter by a corresponding signal gain value as shown in Table 1. The signal transmitted to the receiving unit corresponding to the first touch sensing element or the second touch sensing element is converted into a digital signal by an analog digital converter, and the converted digital is converted by a lookup table shown in Table 1. After the signal is compensated, both have a signal strength of approximately the same size.

The coordinate reporting unit 626 can recalculate the coordinate value of the touch panel with a second resolution according to the signal corresponding to the first touch sensing element and the signal corresponding to the second touch sensing element adjusted by the junction compensation unit 624. The second resolution is greater than the first resolution described above. For example, the above-mentioned second resolution may be, for example, a resolution of a touch panel.

Please refer to Figures 7A and 7B. FIG. 7A shows a schematic diagram of driving circuits of the touch panel arranged from top to bottom. FIG. 7B is a schematic diagram of signal remapping according to an embodiment of the present invention. For example, the conventional touch panel 110 ′ is composed of a sensing area 112 and a sensing area 113, and is coupled to the transmission units Tx1, Tx2, Tx3, Tx4, Tx5, Tx6, Tx7, Tx8, and the sensing area 112 and the sensing area 113. The driving circuits of the touch sensing elements are arranged in a top-down manner. The driving circuits of the touch sensing elements coupled to the transmission units Tx5, Tx6, Tx7, Tx8, and the sensing area 113 are arranged at the coupling transmission units Tx1, Tx2. , Tx3, Tx4, and the driving circuit of the touch sensing element of the sensing area 112, as shown in FIG. 7A. Referring to FIG. 7B, the touch panel 110 in the embodiment of the present invention is composed of a sensing area 112 and a sensing area 114, and is coupled to the touch sensing elements of the transmitting units Tx5, Tx6, Tx7, Tx8, and the sensing area 114 The driving circuit is not disposed below the driving circuit that is coupled to the touch sensing elements of the transmission unit Tx1, Tx2, Tx3, Tx4, and the sensing area 112, but is configured to be coupled to the transmission unit Tx1, Tx2, Tx3, Tx4, and the sensing area 112 To the right of the driving circuit of the touch sensing element. Therefore, the position (coordinate value) of the touch sensing element on the touch panel needs to be recalculated. The control circuit coupled to the touch panel 110 has eight transmitting units (Tx1, Tx2, ..., Tx8) and 25 receiving units (Rx1, Rx2, ..., Rx25) as an example. In this embodiment, the coordinate values of the transmitting unit and the receiving unit are used to represent the coordinate values. The calculation formula of the coordinate C of the touch sensing element on the sensing area 112 is C ( x , y ) = C ( RxN , TxM ), and the calculation formula of the coordinate C of the touch sensing element on the sensing area 114 is C ( x , y ) = C ( Rx 25+ RxN , TxM -4), where N = 1 ~ 25 and M = 1 ~ 8. The aforementioned signal remapping unit 622 calculates the coordinates of the touch sensing element in the sensing area 112 and the touch sensing element in the sensing area 114 on the touch panel 110 through the above formula. It should be understood that the above formula is only an example, and is not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention. Any method that can be used to calculate and represent the coordinates of the touch sensing element on the touch panel belongs to the protection scope of the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 8, which illustrates a schematic diagram of an electronic device 80 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The touch panel 810 includes a first sensing area 812, a second sensing area 814, and a third sensing area 816. The first sensing region 812 includes a plurality of first touch sensing elements, the second sensing region 814 includes a plurality of second touch sensing elements, and the third sensing region 816 includes a plurality of third touch sensing elements. There is a first boundary 813 between the first sensing area 812 and the second sensing area 814. There is a second boundary 815 between the second sensing area 814 and the third sensing area 816.

In this embodiment, the control circuit 820 includes, for example, seven first transmission units, which are first transmission units Tx1, Tx2, ..., Tx7, respectively. The control circuit 820 includes, for example, seven second transmission units, which are second transmission units Tx8, Tx9, ..., Tx14, respectively. The control circuit 820 includes, for example, seven third transmission units, which are third transmission units Tx15, Tx9, ..., Tx21. The control circuit 820 includes, for example, 32 receiving units, which are receiving units Rx1, Rx2, Rx3, ..., Rx32, respectively. It should be understood that the number of the first transmitting unit, the second transmitting unit, and the receiving unit in the control circuit 820 is not limited to this. The number of the first transmitting unit, the second transmitting unit, and the receiving unit may be arbitrary. Positive integer N, N 1. The first transmission unit Tx1, Tx2, ..., Tx7 transmits a signal to the first touch sensing element of the first sensing area 812 through the driving line through the left side of the touch panel 810, and the second transmission unit Tx8, Tx9, ... ., Tx14 transmits a signal to the second touch sensing element of the second sensing area 814 through a driving line along a first boundary 813 between the first sensing area 812 and the second sensing area 814. The third transmitting unit Tx15, Tx16,..., Tx21 transmits a signal to the third touch sensing element of the third sensing area 816 through the driving line through the right side of the touch panel 810. It should be understood that the touch panel of the present invention is not limited to include two sensing regions and three sensing regions. The touch panel of the present invention may include more than two sensing regions, and the arrangement direction of each sensing region is parallel to The routing direction of the driving circuit of the transmission unit, that is, the arrangement direction of each sensing area is the same as the direction from the left side to the right side of the touch panel.

Taking a touch panel with a size of 260mm X 20mm as an example, Table 2 in the following table summarizes the differences between the conventional technology and the technology shown in the embodiment of the present invention. The control circuit is packaged with Ball Grid Array Package (BGA) technology as an example, and millimeter (mm) is used as the measurement unit for its length, width and height. Ball Grid Array (BGA) is a high-pin package. Because the entire integrated circuit (IC) can be used to provide pins on the bottom, it can provide more advantages than other traditional packaging methods. High number of pins. According to the technical features of the common receiving unit of different sensing areas on the touch panel according to the present invention, the size of the control circuit can be reduced, and the number of channels used by the control circuit can be reduced.

Please refer to FIG. 9, which illustrates a schematic diagram of a suitable product of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. For example, the electronic device according to the embodiment of the present invention can be applied to the notebook computer 900 as shown in FIG. 9. The elongated touch panel of the electronic device can be installed on the function keys on the keyboard of the notebook computer. The position of area 910 is further used to display the screen of the function keys of the keyboard by a long-shaped touch panel, and used as the function keys of the keyboard of the notebook computer 900. The long-touch panel replaces the function keys of the physical keyboard.

According to the time-sharing characteristics of the transmission unit through the control circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention, the sensing areas of the touch panel are shared in different regions, so that different sensing areas on the touch panel share the receiving unit. In this way, there is no need to use multiple control circuits or multiple control integrated circuits (ICs), and it is not necessary to connect multiple control circuits or multiple control integrated circuits in series. Only one control circuit or one control integrated circuit is needed. , You can control the long touch panel as shown in the embodiment of the present invention. In addition, according to the technical features of the common receiving unit in different sensing areas on the touch panel according to the present invention, the size of the control circuit, the number of channels used, the power consumption can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. .

In summary, although the present invention has been disclosed as above with the embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Those with ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be determined by the scope of the attached patent application.

Claims (19)

An electronic device includes: a touch panel including a first sensing area and a second sensing area, the first sensing area including a plurality of first touch sensing components, and the second sensing area including a plurality of A second touch sensing element, the touch panel having a first side and a second side; and a control circuit coupled to the touch panel, the control circuit including a plurality of first transmitting units and a plurality of A second transmitting unit and a plurality of receiving units; wherein the first transmitting units transmit signals to the first touch sensing elements via the first side of the touch panel, and the second transmitting units are transmitted by the touch The second side of the control panel sends a signal to the second touch sensing elements. The receiving units receive signals from the first touch sensing elements in a first time zone. The signals from the second touch sensing elements are received in a second time period. The electronic device according to item 1 of the scope of patent application, wherein the touch panel further has a third side, the first side is opposite to the second side, and the third side is connected to the first The side and the second side, the receiving units receive signals from the first touch sensing elements via the third side of the touch panel, and the receiving units receive signals from the third side The signals from the second touch sensing elements. The electronic device described in item 2 of the scope of patent application, wherein the receiving units include the first to N receiving units, where N is a positive integer greater than 1, and the electronic device further includes N first signal lines and N 2 second signal lines, the N first signal lines include a 1st to a Nth first signal lines, the N second signal lines include a 1st to a Nth second signal lines Line, there is an interface between the first sensing area and the second sensing area. The first touch sensing elements have a first touch sensing element in a first row to an Nth row. The two touch-sensing elements are second touch-sensing elements having a first row to an N-th row, and the first touch-sensing elements from the first row to the N-th row pass through the first to the The Nth first signal line is coupled to the 1st to the Nth receiving units, and the second touch sensing elements in the 1st line to the Nth line pass through the 1st to the Nth Two second signal lines are coupled to the first to the Nth receiving units. The electronic device according to item 3 of the scope of patent application, wherein a portion of the first to Nth first signal lines extending along the first side edge is in a direction from the first side edge to the junction. The parts extending along the second side of the first to Nth second signal lines are arranged in order from the junction to the second side. The electronic device according to item 3 of the scope of patent application, wherein a portion of the first to Nth first signal lines extending along the first side edge is in a direction from the first side edge to the junction. The parts of the first to N-th second signal lines extending along the second side are arranged in order from the second side to the junction. The electronic device according to item 1 of the scope of patent application, wherein the touch panel further has a third side and a fourth side, the first side is opposite to the second side, and the third side The side is opposite to the fourth side, the third side is connected to the first side and the second side, and the receiving units receive signals from the first side via the third side of the touch panel. A signal from a touch-sensitive element. The receiving units receive signals from the second touch-sensitive element via the fourth side. The electronic device according to item 6 of the scope of patent application, wherein the receiving units include the first to N receiving units, where N is a positive integer greater than 1, and the electronic device further includes N first signal lines and N 2 second signal lines, the N first signal lines include a 1st to a Nth first signal lines, the N second signal lines include a 1st to a Nth second signal lines Line, there is an interface between the first sensing area and the second sensing area. The first touch sensing elements have a first touch sensing element in a first row to an Nth row. The two touch-sensing elements are second touch-sensing elements having a first row to an N-th row, and the first touch-sensing elements from the first row to the N-th row pass through the first to the The Nth first signal line is coupled to the 1st to the Nth receiving units, and the second touch sensing elements in the 1st line to the Nth line pass through the 1st to the Nth Two second signal lines are coupled to the first to the Nth receiving units. The electronic device according to item 7 of the scope of patent application, wherein a portion of the first to Nth first signal lines extending along the first side edge is in a direction from the first side edge to the junction. The parts extending along the second side of the first to Nth second signal lines are arranged in order from the junction to the second side. The electronic device according to item 7 of the scope of patent application, wherein a portion of the first to Nth first signal lines extending along the first side edge is in a direction from the first side edge to the junction. The parts of the first to N-th second signal lines extending along the second side are arranged in order from the second side to the junction. The electronic device according to item 9 of the scope of patent application, wherein the control circuit adjusts the signals of the first touch sensing elements received by the receiving units and the second touch sensing received according to a lookup table. The lookup table records the signal gain values of the first touch sensing elements and the second touch sensing elements, and the signals of the first touch sensing elements and the second touch sensing elements The gain value is related to the lengths of the first signal lines and the second signal lines extending in the touch panel corresponding to the first touch sensing elements and the second touch sensing elements. A control circuit for a touch panel is used to control a touch panel. The touch panel includes a first sensing area and a second sensing area. The first sensing area includes a plurality of first touch sensing elements. The two sensing areas include a plurality of second touch sensing elements, the touch panel has a first side and a second side, and the control circuit includes: a plurality of first transmission units, a plurality of second transmission units, and a plurality of Receiving units, the first transmitting units transmit signals to the first touch sensing elements via the first side of the touch panel, and the second transmitting units are transmitted by the second side of the touch panel Sending signals to the second touch-sensing elements, the receiving units receiving signals from the first touch-sensing elements in a first time zone, and the receiving units receiving in a second time zone The signals from the second touch sensing elements. The control circuit according to item 11 of the scope of patent application, the control circuit further includes: a signal remap unit for adjusting the signals received by the receiving units from the first units according to a first resolution Coordinate values corresponding to the signals of the touch sensing elements and the second touch sensing elements; a boundary compensation unit for adjusting, according to a look-up table, the values received by the receiving units from the first touch sensing elements Signals and signals from the second touch sensing elements, the lookup table records the signal gain values corresponding to the first touch sensing elements and the second touch sensing elements; and a standard reporting unit for The signals from the first touch sensing elements and the signals from the second touch sensing elements adjusted according to the boundary compensation unit are used to recalculate the coordinates of the touch panel at a second resolution. The second resolution is greater than the first resolution. The control circuit according to item 11 of the scope of patent application, wherein the touch panel further has a third side, the first side is opposite to the second side, and the third side is connected to the first The side and the second side, the receiving units receive signals from the first touch sensing elements via the third side of the touch panel, and the receiving units receive signals from the third side The signals from the second touch sensing elements. The control circuit according to item 13 of the scope of patent application, wherein the control circuit is electrically connected to the touch panel via N first signal lines and N second signal lines, where N is a positive integer greater than 1, and the N The first signal lines include a first to a first N signal lines, the N second signal lines include a first to a N second signal lines, the first sensing area and There is an interface between the second sensing areas, the receiving units include first to N receiving units, and the first touch sensing elements have a first contact from a first row to an Nth row. Control sensing elements, the second touch sensing elements having second touch sensing elements in a first row to an Nth row, the first touch sensing elements in the first row to the Nth row Is coupled to the first to the Nth receiving units via the first to the Nth first signal lines, and the second touch sensing elements in the first to the Nth rows are routed through the The first to the Nth second signal lines are coupled to the first to the Nth receiving units, and the first to Nth first signal lines extend along the first side. The parts are arranged in order from the first side to the junction. The parts of the first to N second signal lines extending along the second side are from the junction to the second side. The directions of the edges are arranged in order. The control circuit according to item 13 of the scope of patent application, wherein the control circuit is electrically connected to the touch panel via N first signal lines and N second signal lines, where N is a positive integer greater than 1, and the N The first signal lines include a first to a first N signal lines, the N second signal lines include a first to a N second signal lines, the first sensing area and There is an interface between the second sensing areas, the receiving units include first to N receiving units, and the first touch sensing elements have a first contact from a first row to an Nth row. Control sensing elements, the second touch sensing elements having second touch sensing elements in a first row to an Nth row, the first touch sensing elements in the first row to the Nth row Is coupled to the first to the Nth receiving units via the first to the Nth first signal lines, and the second touch sensing elements in the first to the Nth rows are routed through the The first to the Nth second signal lines are coupled to the first to the Nth receiving units, and the first to Nth first signal lines extend along the first side. The parts are arranged in order from the first side to the junction, and the parts of the first to Nth second signal lines extending along the second side are from the second side to the The directions of the junctions are arranged in order. The control circuit according to item 11 of the patent application scope, wherein the touch panel further has a third side and a fourth side, the first side is opposite to the second side, and the third side The side is opposite to the fourth side, the third side is connected to the first side and the second side, and the receiving units receive signals from the first side via the third side of the touch panel. A signal from a touch-sensitive element. The receiving units receive signals from the second touch-sensitive element via the fourth side. The control circuit according to item 16 of the scope of patent application, wherein the control circuit is electrically connected to the touch panel via N first signal lines and N second signal lines, where N is a positive integer greater than 1, and the N The first signal lines include a first to a first N signal lines, the N second signal lines include a first to a N second signal lines, the first sensing area and There is an interface between the second sensing areas, the receiving units include first to N receiving units, and the first touch sensing elements have a first contact from a first row to an Nth row. Control sensing elements, the second touch sensing elements having second touch sensing elements in a first row to an Nth row, the first touch sensing elements in the first row to the Nth row Is coupled to the first to the Nth receiving units via the first to the Nth first signal lines, and the second touch sensing elements in the first to the Nth rows are routed through the The first to the Nth second signal lines are coupled to the first to the Nth receiving units, and the first to Nth first signal lines extend along the first side. The parts are arranged in order from the first side to the junction. The parts of the first to N second signal lines extending along the second side are from the junction to the second side. The directions of the edges are arranged in order. The control circuit according to item 16 of the scope of patent application, wherein the control circuit is electrically connected to the touch panel via N first signal lines and N second signal lines, where N is a positive integer greater than 1, and the N The first signal lines include a first to a first N signal lines, the N second signal lines include a first to a N second signal lines, the first sensing area and There is an interface between the second sensing areas, the receiving units include first to N receiving units, and the first touch sensing elements have a first contact from a first row to an Nth row. Control sensing elements, the second touch sensing elements having second touch sensing elements in a first row to an Nth row, the first touch sensing elements in the first row to the Nth row Is coupled to the first to the Nth receiving units via the first to the Nth first signal lines, and the second touch sensing elements in the first to the Nth rows are routed through the The first to the Nth second signal lines are coupled to the first to the Nth receiving units, and the first to Nth first signal lines extend along the first side. The parts are arranged in order from the first side to the junction, and the parts of the first to Nth second signal lines extending along the second side are from the second side to the The directions of the junctions are arranged in order. The control circuit according to item 18 of the scope of patent application, wherein the control circuit further includes a boundary compensation unit, and the boundary compensation unit adjusts the reception of the first touch sensing elements received by the receiving units from the first touch sensing elements according to a lookup table. Signals and signals from the second touch sensing elements, the lookup table records the signal gain values corresponding to the first touch sensing elements and the second touch sensing elements, the first touch sensing The signal gain values of the components and the second touch sensing elements are between the first signal lines and the second signal lines corresponding to the first touch sensing elements and the second touch sensing elements. The length of the extension in the touch panel is related.