WO2022257737A1

WO2022257737A1 - Haptic effect control method and apparatus, and electronic device

Info

Publication number: WO2022257737A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/094245
Authority: WO
Inventors: 董舒; 马可铮; 柯毅; 刘德珩
Original assignee: 武汉市聚芯微电子有限责任公司
Priority date: 2021-06-10
Filing date: 2022-05-20
Publication date: 2022-12-15

Abstract

A haptic effect control method, which may comprise: receiving a haptic trigger message, the haptic trigger message at least comprising haptic mode encoding, the haptic mode encoding indicating one among multiple predetermined haptic modes, the multiple predetermined haptic modes corresponding to multiple haptic effects, and a haptic effect being expressed by a drive signal used to drive a haptic output device; decoding the haptic trigger message, so as to determine a haptic mode indicated by the haptic mode encoding; according to the mapping between haptic mode encoding and the register address that stores a corresponding drive signal, determining the register address of a drive signal corresponding to the haptic mode encoding, thereby determining a haptic effect corresponding to the haptic mode; and driving the haptic output device by using the drive signal stored in the register address, so as to output the haptic effect.

Description

Haptic effect control method and device, and electronic device

technical field

The invention relates to a method and device for flexibly controlling the output of haptic effects, and electronic equipment including the device.

Background technique

Touch screens have replaced traditional keys and are used in various electronic devices. Taking a portable electronic device such as a smart phone as an example, in addition to volume and power buttons, a physical keyboard is no longer provided, but a virtual keyboard is instead provided on a touch screen to receive user input. In response to the user touching the virtual keyboard, tactile effects such as vibration feedback may be provided to confirm successful key entry to the user. In addition, vibration effects can also be provided when text messages or voice calls are received, and when an alarm is due.

The vibration effect can be provided by a motor such as a rotor motor or a linear motor, which is controlled by a driver chip. The driver chip may include hardware trigger pins. When the operating system detects a predetermined event, it can generate a hardware trigger pulse and provide the pulse to a hardware trigger pin of the motor driver chip. In response to detecting a trigger pulse on the hardware trigger pin, the driver chip can use the drive signal to drive the motor to generate a vibration effect. Motor drive chips generally include one to three hardware trigger pins, which are used to receive trigger pulses generated in response to specific events or event types, and use different drivers in response to receiving trigger pulses on different hardware trigger pins. Signals are used to drive motors to provide different haptic effects.

With the development of hardware and software, portable electronic devices can provide more and more functions, so it is also expected that they can provide richer tactile effects. For example, when a user uses a portable electronic device to watch movies, listen to music, or play games, he may expect to be able to provide tactile effects corresponding to video images or music; Electronic devices can provide tactile feedback. For different events or event types, users expect to experience different haptic effects. However, on the one hand, due to the limitation of the number of pins, the traditional trigger method based on hardware pins can no longer meet the needs of increasingly rich trigger situations and haptic effects. If the driver chip provides more pins for receiving pulse signals triggered by different events to generate different tactile effects, this will lead to a more complex structure of the driver chip and higher costs. On the other hand, when electronic devices provide rich tactile feedback for various events, the problem of conflict or interference between multiple tactile effects may also arise. For example, an operating system running on an electronic device may execute multiple parallel processes, and these parallel processes may trigger multiple different haptic effects simultaneously or within a short period of time, causing the motor driver chip to be unable to determine which haptic effect should be executed. For another example, if the motor driver chip receives a new haptic effect trigger signal generated by the operating system while the motor is outputting the previously triggered haptic effect, the driver chip does not know how to generate the haptic effect desired by the user.

Therefore, it is still desirable to provide an apparatus and method for controlling haptic effect output, which has a simple structure and can flexibly process multiple trigger signals to generate desired haptic effect output. Contents of the invention

One aspect of the present application provides a haptic effect control method executed in a haptic effect control chip, including: receiving a haptic trigger message, the haptic trigger message at least including a haptic mode code, the haptic mode code indicating multiple predetermined haptic modes One of, wherein the plurality of predetermined haptic patterns correspond to a plurality of haptic effects represented by a drive signal for driving a haptic output device; decoding the haptic trigger message to determine the haptic pattern code The indicated tactile mode; according to the mapping relationship between the tactile mode code and the register address storing the corresponding drive signal, determine the register address of the drive signal corresponding to the tactile mode code, thereby determining the tactile effect corresponding to the tactile mode and using the drive signal stored in the register address to drive the tactile output device to output the tactile effect.

In some embodiments, the haptic trigger message further includes a header for identifying the haptic trigger message.

In some embodiments, the haptic trigger message further includes a priority code associated with the haptic mode code, the priority code indicating a priority of the haptic mode indicated by the haptic mode code.

In some embodiments, decoding the haptic trigger message further includes determining a priority indicated by the priority encoding, and the method further includes determining whether to output the haptic effect based on the priority.

In some embodiments, the haptic trigger message is received on a plurality of pins, the plurality of pins including a control pin and one or more data pins, when the control pin is activated , receiving the haptic trigger message on the one or more data pins.

In some embodiments, the haptic trigger message is received on an I2C or I2S interface, the driving signal includes a real-time driving signal received on the I2C or I2S interface, and the The real-time driving signal is written into the first-in-first-out register, so that when the haptic pattern code obtained by decoding the haptic trigger message is mapped to the register address in the first-in-first-out register for storing the real-time driving signal, the The real-time driving signal in the register address is used to drive the tactile output device, so as to realize the real-time output of the tactile effect.

In some embodiments, the driving signal includes a real-time driving signal, and the real-time driving signal and the haptic trigger message are received through a single pin of the haptic effect control chip.

In some embodiments, the real-time driving signal and the haptic trigger message are represented by floating levels, and the floating levels are detected and decoded by a level detection unit in the haptic effect control chip.

In some embodiments, the floating level has a first level range corresponding to the header part and a second level range corresponding to the signal payload part, and the first level range is different from the second level range, the header part is used to indicate that the signal payload part includes a tactile mode code or a real-time driving signal.

Another aspect of the present application provides a haptic effect control chip, including: an input unit configured to receive a haptic trigger message, the haptic trigger message at least including a haptic mode code, the haptic mode code indicating a plurality of predetermined haptic modes One, wherein the plurality of predetermined haptic patterns correspond to a plurality of haptic effects represented by a driving signal for driving a haptic output device; a decoding unit configured to decode the haptic trigger message to determine the The tactile mode indicated by the tactile mode code; the tactile effect determining unit configured to determine the register address of the drive signal corresponding to the tactile mode code according to the mapping relationship between the tactile mode code and the register address storing the corresponding drive signal, thereby determining a haptic effect corresponding to the haptic mode; and a driving unit configured to use a driving signal stored in the register address to drive the haptic output device to output the haptic effect.

In some embodiments, the decoding unit further determines the priority indicated by the priority encoding when decoding the haptic trigger message, and the haptic effect determining unit is further configured to determine whether to output the priority based on the priority. haptic effects.

In some embodiments, the input unit receives the haptic trigger message from multiple pins, the multiple pins include a control pin and one or more data pins, when the control pin is activated , receiving the haptic trigger message on the one or more data pins.

In some embodiments, the input unit includes an I2C or I2S interface, the haptic trigger message is received on the I2C or I2S interface, and the driving signal includes a real-time driving signal received on the I2C or I2S interface. signal, the real-time driving signal received through the I2C or I2S interface is written into the first-in-first-out register, so that the tactile pattern code obtained when decoding the tactile trigger message is mapped to the first-in-first-out register for storage When the register address of the real-time driving signal is used, the real-time driving signal in the register address is used to drive the haptic output device, so as to realize the real-time output of the haptic effect.

Another aspect of the present application provides a mobile electronic device, including: at least one tactile output device; and the above-mentioned tactile effect control chip, configured to control the at least one tactile output device to output a corresponding tactile effect.

Another aspect of the present application provides a method for controlling haptic feedback, including: receiving a first haptic trigger message, the first haptic trigger message including a first haptic mode code indicating a first haptic mode and indicating the first haptic first priority encoding of the first priority of the mode; in response to receiving said first haptic trigger message, start a timer; before said timer expires, receive a second haptic trigger message, said second haptic trigger message The trigger message includes a second haptic mode code indicating a second haptic mode and a second priority code indicating a second priority of the second haptic mode; based on the first haptic mode and the first priority and the first two haptic modes and a second priority, determining the haptic mode to be output; and instructing the haptic output device to output the determined haptic mode to be output after the timer expires.

In some embodiments, determining the haptic pattern to be output includes, when the first haptic pattern is the same as the second haptic pattern: if the first priority is the same as the second priority, selecting the one of the first haptic mode and the second haptic mode and ignore the other; or if the first priority is different from the second priority, select the haptic mode with the higher priority and ignore the haptic mode with the higher priority. Low priority haptic mode.

In some embodiments, determining the haptic pattern to be output includes, when the first haptic pattern is different from the second haptic pattern: if the first priority is higher than the second priority, then determining the The first haptic mode is the haptic mode to be output, and the second haptic mode is ignored; if the first priority is lower than the second priority, then determine that the second haptic mode is the haptic mode to be output mode, and ignore the first haptic mode; or if the first priority is equal to the second priority, determine one of the first haptic mode and the second haptic mode as the haptic to be output mode, and ignore the other of the first haptic mode and the second haptic mode.

In some embodiments, determining the haptic pattern to output includes, when the first haptic pattern is different from the second haptic pattern: if the first priority is higher than the second priority, and the If the second priority is higher than or equal to a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the first haptic mode and the second haptic mode are the haptic modes to be output, and the output timing of the first haptic mode is in the second haptic mode Before; if the first priority is higher than the second priority, and the second priority is lower than a predetermined threshold, then determining that the first haptic pattern is a haptic pattern to be output, and ignoring the first haptic pattern Two haptic modes; if the first priority is lower than the second priority, and the first priority is higher than or equal to a predetermined threshold, then determining that the first haptic mode and the second haptic mode are a haptic pattern to be output, and the output timing of the first haptic pattern is after the second haptic pattern; if the first priority is lower than the second priority, and the first priority is lower than A predetermined threshold, then determine that the second haptic pattern is the haptic pattern to be output, and ignore the first haptic pattern; if the first priority is equal to the second priority, and both are higher than or equal to A predetermined threshold, then determine that the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern are haptic patterns to be output, and the output timing of the first haptic pattern is before the second haptic pattern; or if the first If the priority is equal to the second priority, and both are lower than a predetermined threshold, then it is determined that one of the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern is the haptic pattern to be output, and the first haptic pattern is ignored. The other of the haptic mode and the second haptic mode, or both the first haptic mode and the second haptic mode are ignored.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: establishing a haptic pattern output list, and after the timer expires, inserting the determined haptic pattern to be output into the haptic pattern output list.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: when the determined haptic pattern to be output is completed or canceled, deleting the haptic pattern from the haptic pattern output list.

Another aspect of the present application provides an apparatus for controlling haptic feedback, including: a first receiving unit configured to receive a first haptic trigger message, the first haptic trigger message including a first haptic signal indicating a first haptic mode A mode code and a first priority code indicating a first priority of the first haptic mode; a timer control unit, configured to start a timer in response to receiving the first haptic trigger message; a second receiving unit, receiving a second haptic trigger message before the timer expires, the second haptic trigger message including a second haptic mode code indicating a second haptic mode and a second priority indicating the second haptic mode The second priority encoding; the determination unit is used to determine the tactile mode to be output based on the first tactile mode and the first priority and the second tactile mode and the second priority; and an indication unit is used for After the timer expires, the haptic output device is instructed to output the determined haptic pattern to be output.

In some embodiments, the determining unit is configured to, when the first haptic pattern is the same as the second haptic pattern: if the first priority is the same as the second priority, select the One of the first haptic mode and the second haptic mode and ignore the other; or if the first priority is different from the second priority, select the haptic mode with the higher priority and ignore the haptic mode with the lower priority. Prioritized haptic patterns.

In some embodiments, the determining unit is configured to, when the first haptic pattern is different from the second haptic pattern: if the first priority is higher than the second priority, determine the The first haptic mode is the haptic mode to be output, and ignoring the second haptic mode; if the first priority is lower than the second priority, determining that the second haptic mode is the haptic mode to be output , and ignore the first haptic pattern; or if the first priority is equal to the second priority, determine one of the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern as the haptic pattern to be output , and ignore the other of the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern.

In some embodiments, the determining unit is configured to, when the first haptic pattern is different from the second haptic pattern: if the first priority is higher than the second priority, and the second If the priority is higher than or equal to a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern are haptic patterns to be output, and the output timing of the first haptic pattern is before the second haptic pattern ; if the first priority is higher than the second priority, and the second priority is lower than a predetermined threshold, then determine that the first haptic pattern is the haptic pattern to be output, and ignore the second a haptic mode; if the first priority is lower than the second priority, and the first priority is higher than or equal to a predetermined threshold, then determining the first haptic mode and the second haptic mode to be output haptic pattern, and the output timing of the first haptic pattern is after the second haptic pattern; if the first priority is lower than the second priority, and the first priority is lower than a predetermined threshold, then determine that the second haptic pattern is the haptic pattern to be output, and ignore the first haptic pattern; if the first priority is equal to the second priority, and both are higher than or equal to the predetermined threshold, it is determined that the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern are the haptic patterns to be output, and the output timing of the first haptic pattern is before the second haptic pattern; or if the first haptic pattern is prioritized level is equal to the second priority, and both are lower than a predetermined threshold, then determine that one of the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern is the haptic pattern to be output, and ignore the first haptic pattern mode and the second haptic mode, or both the first haptic mode and the second haptic mode are ignored.

In some embodiments, the device further includes an output list maintenance unit, configured to establish a tactile pattern output list, and after the timer expires, insert the determined tactile pattern to be output into the tactile pattern In the output list, and when the determined tactile pattern to be output is completed or canceled, the tactile pattern is deleted from the tactile pattern output list.

Another aspect of the present application provides a mobile electronic device, comprising: at least one tactile output device; and the above-mentioned device for controlling tactile feedback, configured to control the at least one tactile output device in response to a received tactile trigger message Output the corresponding haptic feedback.

Another aspect of the present application provides a method for controlling haptic feedback, including: based on a received haptic trigger message, determining a first haptic pattern to be output and a first priority of the first haptic pattern, the haptic trigger The message includes a haptic mode code indicating the first haptic mode and a priority code indicating the first priority; determining a second haptic mode being output by a haptic output device and a second priority of the second haptic mode; And based on the first haptic mode and first priority and the second haptic mode and second priority, determining a driving haptic mode for driving the haptic output device.

In some embodiments, determining the driving haptic mode for driving the haptic output device includes, when the first haptic mode is the same as the second haptic mode, ignoring the first haptic mode and continuing to use the A second haptic mode drives the haptic output device; when the first haptic mode is different from the second haptic mode, if the first priority is higher than the second priority, suspending or terminating the The output of the second haptic mode, using the first haptic mode to drive the haptic output device, if the first priority is equal to or lower than the second priority, continue to use the second haptic mode to drive the tactile output device, and ignore the first tactile mode or use the first tactile mode to drive the tactile output device after the second tactile mode ends.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: determining a third haptic pattern to be output based on the haptic trigger message and a third priority of the third haptic pattern, the third haptic pattern being different from the first haptic pattern. A haptic mode, the third priority is equal to or lower than the first priority, and the output order of the third haptic mode is after the first haptic mode.

In some embodiments, for the first haptic pattern and the third haptic pattern indicated by the haptic trigger message, the step of determining the driving haptic pattern for driving the haptic output device is iteratively performed in their output order.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: updating a drive haptic pattern list with the determined drive haptic pattern, the drive haptic pattern list including at most a predetermined number of drive haptic patterns for driving the haptic output device and each The priorities of the driving haptic modes, the maximum predetermined number of driving haptic modes for driving the haptic output device are different from each other and are arranged in order of priority from high to low.

Another aspect of the present application provides a device for controlling haptic feedback, including: a haptic pattern to be output determining unit, configured to determine a first haptic pattern to be output and the first haptic pattern based on a received haptic trigger message The first priority of the mode, the haptic trigger message includes the tactile mode code indicating the first tactile mode and the priority code indicating the first priority; the current tactile mode determination unit is used to determine that the tactile output device is outputting a second haptic mode and a second priority of the second haptic mode; and driving a haptic mode determination unit for based on the first haptic mode and first priority and the second haptic mode and second priority The priority determines the driving haptic mode for driving the haptic output device.

In some embodiments, the driving haptic mode determining unit is configured to ignore the first haptic mode and continue driving with the second haptic mode when the first haptic mode is the same as the second haptic mode. the haptic output device; when the first haptic mode is different from the second haptic mode, if the first priority is higher than the second priority, suspending or terminating the second haptic mode, driving the haptic output device using the first haptic mode, continuing to drive the haptic output device using the second haptic mode if the first priority is equal to or lower than the second priority, and The first haptic mode is ignored or the haptic output device is driven using the first haptic mode after the second haptic mode ends.

In some embodiments, the haptic pattern to be output determining unit is further configured to determine a third haptic pattern to be output and a third priority of the third haptic pattern based on the haptic trigger message, the third haptic pattern Different from the first haptic pattern, the third priority is equal to or lower than the first priority, and an output order of the third haptic pattern is after the first haptic pattern.

In some embodiments, the drive haptic mode determination unit is configured to iteratively perform the determination for driving the haptic output in the order of their output for the first haptic mode and the third haptic mode indicated by the haptic trigger message Steps to drive the haptic pattern of the device.

In some embodiments, the device further includes: a driving haptic pattern list maintenance unit configured to update the driving haptic pattern list with the determined driving haptic pattern, the driving haptic pattern list includes a maximum predetermined number of driving haptic patterns for driving the The driving tactile modes of the tactile output device and the priority of each driving tactile mode, the maximum predetermined number of driving tactile modes for driving the tactile output device are different from each other and arranged in order of priority from high to low.

Another aspect of the present application provides a haptic effect control method, including: playing a first driving signal to output a first haptic effect; in response to a trigger event, pausing playing the first driving signal, and playing a second driving signal to output a second a haptic effect; and during playing of the second driving signal, performing virtual playing of the first driving signal.

In some embodiments, the first driving signal is a real-time driving signal, and the second driving signal is a driving signal pre-stored in a memory.

In some embodiments, performing virtual playback of the first driving signal includes: reading the first driving signal from a FIFO register, and discarding the read first driving signal.

In some embodiments, the haptic effect control method further includes: when the playing of the second driving signal is finished, starting from the current virtual playing position of the first driving signal, and continuing to play the first driving signal.

The above and other features and advantages of the present application will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an electronic device including a haptic effect control device.

Fig. 2 shows a flowchart of a method for controlling a haptic effect according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of encoding a haptic trigger message according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of receiving a haptic trigger message through a single pin according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of receiving a haptic trigger message through multiple pins according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of receiving a haptic trigger message under the control of a control signal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 shows a schematic diagram of receiving a haptic trigger message through an I2C interface according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic diagram of receiving a haptic trigger message through an I2S interface according to another embodiment of the present invention.

9A to 9D show schematic diagrams of receiving haptic trigger messages and real-time driving signals on a single pin, wherein FIG. 9A is a schematic diagram of a floating level, FIG. 9B is a schematic diagram of a device for decoding a floating level, and FIG. 9C and FIG. 9D is a schematic diagram of the structure of a message transmitted using a floating level.

Fig. 10 shows a schematic diagram of encoding a haptic trigger message according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 shows a schematic block diagram of a haptic effect control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 12 shows a flowchart of a haptic effect control method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 shows a schematic diagram of processing a haptic trigger message based on a timer signal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 14 shows a flowchart of a method for determining a tactile pattern to be output according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 15 shows a flowchart of a method for determining a tactile pattern to be output according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 16 shows a functional block diagram of an apparatus for controlling haptic effects according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 17 shows a flowchart of a haptic effect control method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 shows a flowchart of a method for determining a driving haptic mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 19 shows a schematic diagram of multiple haptic modes being triggered simultaneously according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 shows a schematic diagram of a list of driving haptic patterns according to an embodiment of the present invention.

21 , 22 and 23 illustrate schematic diagrams of updating a list of driving haptic patterns according to some embodiments of the present invention.

Fig. 24 shows a functional block diagram of an apparatus for controlling haptic effects according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 25 shows a flow chart of a haptic effect control method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 26 shows a schematic diagram of a FIFO register.

Detailed ways

Some exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description provides some specific details in order to clearly and completely describe these exemplary embodiments. It should be understood, however, that the invention should not be limited to the specific details of these exemplary embodiments. Rather, embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details, or with other alternatives, without departing from the idea and principle of the invention as defined by the claims.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an electronic device 100 including a haptic effect control device. The electronic device 100 may be a portable mobile electronic device, such as a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a personal terminal device, a tablet computer, a handheld game console, a wearable electronic device, an automotive electronic device, and the like.

Referring to FIG. 1 , an electronic device 100 may include one or more processors 101 . The processor 101 may be a general-purpose processor or a special-purpose processor, examples of which include, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), an ARM processor, Apple's A-series and M-series processors, a microcontroller unit (MCU), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), audio processor, graphics processing unit (GPU), coprocessor, etc. It can be understood that the processor 101 may be a single-core or multi-core processor.

The electronic device 100 may further include a touch screen 102, which has the functions of display output and touch input. The touch screen 102 may be a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), an Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED) display, etc., and is integrated with a capacitive or resistive touch sensing function.

Electronic device 100 may have one or more memories 103, which may include non-volatile and volatile memory. Examples of non-volatile memory include flash memory, SD card, ROM, EEPROM, etc., which can be used to store program instructions executable by processor 101, user data, etc. Examples of volatile memory include RAM, SRAM, DRAM, etc., which are also called memory, and are used to store instruction data for execution by the processor 101 or as a data cache when the electronic device 100 is running.

The electronic device 100 may also include a speaker 104 for playing audio and one or more sensors 105. Examples of the sensor 105 include, for example, a light sensor, a distance sensor, a speed sensor, a gravity sensor, a magnetic sensor, a gyroscope, and the like.

The electronic device 100 may further include a tactile effect control device 106 and a tactile output device 107 to provide a tactile effect output, which may also be called a tactile feedback. Herein, the tactile effect includes but is not limited to vibration, and may also include, for example, touch texture simulation, deformation, pressure, and the like. For example, touch texture simulation can simulate surfaces with different roughness in response to driving signals, ultrasonic waves can simulate radiation pressure, and so on. Therefore, the tactile output device 107 may be various devices capable of generating tactile effects, examples of which may include eccentric rotor motors (ERMs), linear resonant motors (LRAs), piezoelectric motors, electrostatic actuators, ultrasonic transducers, memory Alloy etc. The tactile effect control device 106 may be, for example, one or more driver chips mounted on a printed circuit board, which is used to control and drive the tactile output device 107 to output desired tactile effects, which will be further described in detail below.

The aforementioned devices may be connected to the bus system 108 to communicate with each other. When the electronic device 100 is running, the processor 101 can execute programs stored in the memory 103, such as operating system programs, applet programs (APP), video programs, audio programs, etc., and control operations of various devices. For example, the processor 101 may control the touch screen 102 to play video, the speaker 104 to play audio, and detect inputs from the touch screen 102 and the sensor 105 . In response to various predefined events, the processor 101 may instruct the haptic effect control device 106 to drive the haptic output device 107 to output corresponding haptic effects. For example, when the processor 101 detects that the user presses a virtual key or performs other gesture operations through the touch screen 102, it may instruct the tactile effect control device 106 to generate various corresponding tactile effects. For another example, when the processor 101 detects the sensing input of the sensor 105, for example, when the magnetic sensor detects that the user opens the device case (such as a mobile phone case) of the electronic device 100, it may instruct the tactile effect control device 106 to generate various corresponding tactile effect. Also for example, when the processor 101 detects various other events, such as playing audio and/or video, receiving a phone call, and an alarm, it may also instruct the haptic effect control device 106 to generate various corresponding haptic effects . For example, along with the drumbeat or heavy bass in the audio, a vibration effect with corresponding rhythm and amplitude can be generated; or when the movie or game video includes vibration effect data associated with a specific picture such as explosion, impact, vibration, etc. 101 may also instruct the haptic effect control device 106 to generate a corresponding haptic effect based on the data. An exemplary embodiment of controlling and driving the tactile output device 107 to generate various tactile effects through the tactile effect control device 106 will be described in detail below, and for simplicity and convenience of description, vibration is used as an example of the tactile effect, but it should be understood that this The principles of the invention can be applied to trigger various haptic effects in various scenarios or occasions, without being limited to the embodiments described here.

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of a haptic effect control method 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention, which may be executed, for example, by the haptic effect control apparatus 106 in the electronic device 100 shown in FIG. 1 .

Referring to FIG. 2 , the method 200 may include step S210 of receiving a haptic trigger message. In some embodiments, as mentioned above, when the processor 101 detects a predetermined event associated with the haptic effect, it may send a haptic trigger message to the haptic effect control device 106 . It can be understood that the processor 101 may trigger a haptic effect when various predetermined events are detected, and various events may correspond to different or the same haptic effects. Therefore, in step S210, the received haptic trigger message may include a haptic mode code, which may indicate one of various predetermined haptic modes.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram of tactile mode coding in a tactile trigger message according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3 , the tactile pattern code may be N-bit data, where N is an integer greater than 1. Thus, a haptic mode code can have ^2N values, and a value of zero can also indicate ^2N -1 haptic modes if one considers no haptic effect. For example, a 3-bit haptic pattern code can indicate 7 haptic patterns. Various tactile modes can be flexibly defined for various events; when the processor 101 detects a specific event, it can encode the corresponding tactile mode into a tactile trigger message and send it to the tactile effect control device 106 . For example, taking the 3-bit tactile mode code as an example, when the processor 101 detects that the user presses a key on the virtual keyboard to perform input, it can generate a tactile trigger message whose tactile mode code is 001; Or when there are three virtual buttons on the home page (home), a tactile trigger message with a tactile mode coded as 010 can be generated; when the set alarm clock is up, a tactile trigger message with a tactile mode coded as 011 can be generated; when playing games or watching When the haptic feedback is triggered during a movie, a haptic trigger message whose haptic mode code is 100 can be generated; when the haptic feedback is triggered when listening to music, a haptic trigger message whose haptic mode code is 101 can be generated; when a short message is received, a haptic trigger message can be generated A haptic trigger message with mode code 110; a haptic trigger message with haptic mode code 111 may be generated when a voice call is received; and so on. It should be understood that the encoding described here is only an example, and more bits of encoding can be used to define more kinds of tactile modes according to desired application scenarios of tactile feedback. Although not shown, the haptic trigger message may also include a header portion before the haptic pattern encoding, so that the haptic effect control device 106 may identify the message as a haptic trigger message based on the header.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram of receiving a haptic trigger message according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the example of FIG. 4 , the haptic trigger message including the haptic pattern code may be received on one data pin PIN1 of the haptic effect control device 106 , such as a driver chip. For example, based on the system clock signal SCL, the haptic effect control device 106 can perform signal sampling on the data pin PIN1 to read data thereon. It can be understood that the signal received on the data pin PIN1 may be a digital signal or an analog signal. When an analog signal, the haptic effect control device 106 may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to convert the received analog signal into a digital signal. In the embodiment of FIG. 4 , the haptic trigger message can be identified by the header and valid sampling data can be extracted therefrom. The haptic trigger message received on the pin PIN1 can be processed immediately, such as decoded, and can also be stored, such as in a register, for subsequent processing.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of receiving a haptic trigger message according to another embodiment of the present invention. In the example of FIG. 5 , the haptic trigger message including the haptic pattern code can be received on multiple data pins of the haptic effect control device 106 such as a driver chip. FIG. 5 shows two data receiving pins PIN1 and PIN2 . For example, signal sampling may be performed on the data receiving pins PIN1 and PIN2 based on the system clock signal SCL to read data received thereon. It can be understood that these pins can be sampled once or multiple times. For example, when receiving a 3-bit haptic pattern code on three pins, only one sample is required; when receiving an 8-bit haptic pattern code on three pins, three samples are required . The data sampled on each pin can be combined according to predefined rules, for example, the data on each pin can be combined sequentially or interleaved. Regardless of whether the haptic trigger message is received on a single or multiple pins, the present invention saves pins for triggering haptic effects compared to traditional hardware pin triggering modes, because encoding is used to indicate different haptic modes number.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of receiving a haptic trigger message according to another embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment of FIG. 6 , the control pin Ctrl can also be used to control the sampling of the data receiving pin PIN1 . That is, only when the control pin Ctrl is activated, one or more data receiving pins are sampled, which can avoid a large number of invalid samples and ensure the validity of the sampled data. For example, as shown in Figure 6, the control pin Ctrl can be activated with a high level, and sampling starts at the second rising edge of the system clock signal after the rising edge signal on the pin Ctrl is detected, and the voltage on the pin Ctrl Stop sampling when level goes low. The activation duration of the control pin Ctrl may be equal to or greater than the effective data transmission duration of the data pin PIN1. At this time, the data from the most significant bit MSB to the least significant bit 1 in the sampling data can be regarded as valid data, and the remaining data can be regarded as invalid data and discarded. It should be understood that the control pin Ctrl may also be activated in other ways, such as low-level activation, pulse activation, and the like.

Fig. 7 shows a schematic diagram of receiving a haptic trigger message according to another embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the haptic trigger message may be received on an I2C (inter-integrated circuit) interface. The I2C interface is an existing bidirectional interface, and FIG. 7 shows a signal timing diagram for receiving a haptic trigger message using it. Referring to FIG. 7 , when the system clock signal SCL is at a high level, the level of the data pin SDA changes, for example, from a high level to a low level, and data transmission starts. During data transmission, the data pulse width on the data pin SDA should be greater than the pulse width of the system clock signal, that is, the level change on the data pin SDA only occurs during the low level period of the system clock signal. As shown in FIG. 7 , on the data pin SDA, 8-bit data including the address of the slave device (slave device) can be transmitted first, that is, the address of the tactile effect control device 106 such as the driver chip, followed by the read/write flag, as shown here is a write flag represented by a low level, indicating that the data transmission is a write operation from a master device (master device) such as the processor 101 to a slave device such as the haptic effect control device 106. In the next bit, the slave device can assert the ACK signal to confirm the correct receipt of the transfer data, then the master device can continue to send the 8-bit register address, and the slave device can assert the ACK to confirm the correct receipt of the register address. This is followed by the transfer of the 8-bit data written to the register address, the slave can also assert an ACK to indicate that the data was received correctly. Here, 8-bit data can be sent multiple times, and it will continue to be written to the next address of the previous register address. Finally, when the system clock signal is at a high level, the level of the data pin SDA changes, indicating that the data transmission ends. In the operation shown in FIG. 7 , the received haptic trigger message is stored into the specified register address.

In some embodiments, in addition to receiving haptic trigger messages, the I2C interface can also be reused to receive driving signals for driving the haptic effect output device 107 , which will be described in detail later. In this way, the number of pins of the tactile effect control device 106 can be further saved, the structure can be simplified, packaging and installation can be facilitated, and cost can be saved.

In some embodiments, the haptic trigger message may also be received on an I2S (inter-IC sound) interface, and FIG. 8 shows such an embodiment. The I2S interface is an existing interface that was originally used to transmit audio data. As shown in FIG. 8 , the I2S interface includes a channel control pin LRCK on which a channel clock signal can be received. FIG. 8 shows that a high level indicates the left channel, and a low level indicates the right channel. Based on the channel control signal, data acquisition can be performed on the data pin SDA. For example, the second rising edge of the system clock signal after the rising edge of the channel control signal starts to collect the data of the left channel, including data from the highest bit MSB to the lowest bit 1; after the second falling edge of the channel control signal The rising edge of the system clock signal starts to collect the data of the left channel, including the data from the highest bit MSB to the lowest bit 1. In an embodiment of the present invention, depending on the length and transmission scheme of the haptic trigger message, it may be transmitted using only the left channel, only the right channel, or both the left and right channels.

In some embodiments, in addition to receiving haptic trigger messages, the I2S interface can also be reused to receive driving signals for driving the haptic effect output device 107, which will be described in detail later. In this way, the number of pins of the tactile effect control device 106 can be further saved, the structure can be simplified, packaging and installation can be facilitated, and cost can be saved.

Various embodiments of receiving a haptic trigger message are described above with reference to FIGS. 4-8 . It can be understood that the present invention can use a small number of pins (at least one pin) to flexibly indicate various tactile modes by adopting tactile mode coding, so that various tactile modes can be expanded without increasing the complexity of hardware design. Effect flexibility. For example, various haptic patterns can be defined and applied for various events, thereby improving the user experience.

Referring back to FIG. 2 , in step S220 , the received haptic trigger message may be decoded to determine the haptic mode indicated by the haptic mode code included therein. For example, decoding may include extracting a predetermined location and number of bits in the haptic trigger message as a haptic pattern code. Further in step S230, a haptic effect corresponding to the haptic pattern may be determined. The tactile effect can be represented by a drive signal for driving the tactile output device 107 such as a linear motor, and the drive signal can be, for example, a triangular wave signal, a sawtooth wave signal, a sine wave signal, a square wave signal, an irregular wave signal, or any combination of the above signals, The frequency and amplitude of these signals are modulated so that when applied to the haptic output device 107 a desired haptic effect can be produced. A plurality of driving signals can be pre-stored in a predetermined register address, and a real-time driving signal received from the outside can also be stored in a predetermined register address. A mapping relationship between the tactile pattern code and the register address of the driving signal can be established, and this mapping relationship can be stored in, for example, a look-up table. Therefore, after the haptic mode code is decoded in step S220, the haptic mode code can be used to search a lookup table to determine the register address of the corresponding driving signal, thereby determining the haptic effect corresponding to the haptic mode.

In some embodiments, the haptic effect control device 106 may receive a real-time driving signal for generating a desired haptic effect from the outside. For example, when a user is playing a game or watching a movie, a driving signal corresponding to the audio or video of the game or movie may be provided to the haptic effect control device 106 in real time to generate a haptic effect that matches the audio or video. As mentioned above, the haptic effect control device 106 can receive the real-time driving signal through the I2C or I2S interface, and the received real-time driving signal can be stored in the predetermined address of the register. As mentioned above, receiving both the tactile trigger signal and the driving signal through the I2C or I2S interface can further save the number of pins of the driver chip, simplify the hardware structure, and save costs. In some embodiments, the received real-time drive signal can be stored in a first-in-first-out (FIFO) register, and the tactile mode code corresponding to the real-time drive signal and the read address of the first-in-first-out (FIFO) register can be established mapping relationship between them. After the tactile mode code is decoded in step S220, the FIFO register address corresponding to the real-time driving signal can be determined according to the mapping relationship, so that the real-time driving signal temporarily stored in the address is used to drive the tactile output device 107 in subsequent steps To produce haptic effect output. It can be understood that the FIFO register can operate in an asynchronous mode, that is, the writing end and the reading end of the FIFO register can be associated with different clock domains, so that the data reading frequency can be different from the data writing frequency. Therefore, the FIFO register is especially suitable for temporarily storing the real-time driving signal, so that the reading frequency of the real-time driving signal is not limited by the writing frequency, so that a more flexible data reading clock can be applied to provide richer tactile effect output.

It has been described above that both haptic trigger messages and real-time drive signals can be received on a single interface, such as an I2C or I2S interface. In some embodiments, the haptic trigger message and the real-time driving signal can also be received on a single pin to further reduce the pin count of the haptic effect control device 106 , such an embodiment is shown in FIGS. 9A to 9D .

Referring first to FIG. 9A , a floating level can be received on a single pin, and the level value of the floating level can float within a certain range. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9A, the floating level can be floating within a first floating range and a second floating range, and the first floating range is different from the second floating range. For example, when the signal level provided by the system is in the range of 0 volts to 5 volts, for example 0 volts can be used as the idle level, and the range of 4 volts to 5 volts can be used as the first floating range, which will be greater than 0 Volts and less than 4 volts as the second floating range.

Referring to FIG. 9B , the floating level may be detected and decoded by the level detection unit in the haptic effect control device 106 . For example, the level detection unit may be an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that converts a floating-level sampling value into a digital code of a predetermined number of bits. For example, an 8-bit ADC can convert the level value into an 8-bit digital code, and the coded value depends on the sampling value of the floating level.

As an example, a floating level within a first floating range may be used to represent a header portion of a signal received on a pin, and a floating level within a second floating range may be used to represent a payload portion of a signal. That is to say, when the coded value produced by the level detection unit corresponds to the first floating range, the coded value is identified as header code; when the coded value produced by the level detection unit corresponds to the second floating range, the coded value The value identifies the encoded payload of the signal. The header portion may be used to indicate the content of the signal payload portion, eg, whether the signal payload portion includes haptic pattern encoding or real-time driving signal encoding. In this way, both haptic trigger messages and real-time drive signals can be received on a single pin.

FIG. 9C shows a schematic diagram of signals received on a single pin of the haptic effect control device 106 . As shown in Figure 9C, initially an idle level may be received on the pin, followed by a level value within a first floating range, which represents the header portion. Following the header portion is an encoding level representing the signal payload, which is within a second floating range different from the first floating range, so that the haptic effect control device 106 can identify it as a signal payload rather than a header. It can be understood that the level detection unit in the haptic effect control device 106 can sample the encoding level once or multiple times in each time window, and when multiple sampling is performed, any one of the samples or the multiple sampling can be The average value is output as a sampled value within this time window. Although not shown, the level sampling of the header part may also be performed within a predetermined time window. After the encoding level is completed, the received signal becomes an idle level again, and at this time, the tactile effect control device 106 can determine that the signal has been received completely.

It can be understood that in some embodiments, the header part can also be omitted. For example, haptic trigger messages received on a single pin of haptic effect control device 106 may be decoded directly. When the haptic mode code included in the haptic trigger message indicates the real-time driving signal, the real-time driving signal may be transmitted within a predetermined period after the haptic trigger message. FIG. 9D shows the message structure when the header part is omitted. Other aspects of the message structure are similar to the message shown in FIG. 9C , and will not be described again here.

In the example of FIGS. 9A-9D , with floating levels, both the haptic trigger message and the real-time drive signal can be received on a single pin of the haptic effect control device 106, thus further reducing the pin count of the haptic effect control device 106. number. Furthermore, since each sample value of the floating level can be decoded into a multi-bit code, the message code can be transmitted with higher efficiency.

Next in step S240, the haptic output device 107 may be driven to output the determined haptic effect. For example, for some tactile modes, the drive signal waveforms have been stored in one or more register positions, at this time, in step S240, the drive signal data in these register positions can be directly used to drive the tactile output device 107 to output the desired tactile effect. For some modes, it may be necessary to use driving signals provided by the outside world in real time to generate haptic effects. For example, some video games, application programs, or audio-visual works may include custom haptic effect data (ie, driving signals), and at this time, the haptic effect data can be provided to the haptic effect control device 106, and the haptic effect control device 106 can use the haptic effect control device 106. The effect data drives the haptic output device 107 to output the desired haptic effect in real time. As mentioned above, the haptic effect data can be continuously written into the first-in-first-out (FIFO) register through the I2C interface, and the signal output from the FIFO register is used to drive the haptic output device 107, thereby realizing the real-time output of the haptic effect . For another example, in some modes, such as when playing music, it is desired to generate a corresponding haptic effect such as vibration along with the melody and/or amplitude of the music, at this time the audio signal can be provided to the haptic effect control device 106 through the I2S interface. The tactile effect control device 106 can use the audio signal to drive the tactile output device 107 to generate a tactile effect corresponding to the audio, or, the tactile effect control device 106 can first process the audio data with an algorithm, and extract the audio data according to characteristics such as frequency and amplitude. specific audio component, such as a drum signal, and then use the extracted signal to drive the haptic output device 107 to generate a haptic effect corresponding to the specific audio component, such as a drum. Likewise, the haptic effect control device 106 may also store the received audio signal for real-time driving of the haptic output device 107 in the FIFO register. As previously mentioned, the I2C interface and/or I2S interface for receiving real-time haptic effect data can reuse the I2C interface and/or I2S interface for receiving haptic trigger messages described with respect to FIGS. 7 and 8 without requiring a separate Therefore, the number of pins of the tactile effect control device 106 can be further saved, its hardware structure can be simplified, and packaging and installation can be facilitated.

The process of triggering and outputting haptic effects using coding is described above. It can be understood that with the solution of the present invention, various tactile modes and effects defined for various events can be realized by using a small number of pins, thereby improving user experience. However, the inventors also realized that with the sharp increase in the number of tactile modes, overlapping and conflicts between multiple modes may occur. For example, the electronic device 100 may trigger multiple haptic modes at the same time, so how to correctly and orderly output the haptic effects corresponding to these haptic modes also becomes a problem. To solve this problem, an embodiment of the present invention further proposes a solution. As shown in FIG. 9 , the tactile trigger message received in step S210 may include not only the tactile mode code, but also the priority associated with the tactile mode. Encoding, which is shown as P-bit data in FIG. 9 , where P can be a positive integer greater than or equal to 1. Priority codes can either follow or precede their corresponding haptic mode codes. Taking 2-bit (P=2) priority encoding as an example, "00" may correspond to the lowest priority, and "11" may correspond to the highest priority. Priorities can be assigned according to the importance of various events, for example, receiving a voice call has the highest priority, receiving a text message or an alarm clock has expired has the second priority, touching a key on the virtual keyboard has the lowest priority, and so on. It should be understood that this is only an example, and the corresponding priorities of various events can be flexibly defined in practical applications. Different events may trigger the same or different haptic pattern codes, and the same haptic pattern code may have different priority levels because it is triggered by different events. When the processor of the electronic device 100 detects a predetermined event, it can determine a corresponding tactile pattern, and flexibly assign a corresponding priority to the pattern, and the priority can reflect the urgency and/or importance of the event. The transmission of the haptic trigger message including the haptic mode code and the priority code can be as described above with reference to FIGS. 4-8 , and the description will not be repeated here.

It can be understood that correspondingly, the priority can be decoded in step S220 shown in FIG. 2 . Furthermore, before step S240, the method 200 may further include determining whether to output and how to output a haptic effect related to the priority based on the priority. For example, when a haptic effect with low priority overlaps with a haptic effect with high priority in time, the haptic effect with low priority can be ignored and only the haptic effect with high priority can be output, or the priority can be changed from high to low The order in which these haptic effects are output sequentially. Therefore, the present invention can more flexibly control the output of various haptic effects by assigning priorities to each haptic mode, and avoid conflict and interference between them. The application of priority coding will be described in more detail in the following embodiments.

Fig. 10 shows a schematic block diagram of a haptic effect control device 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It can be understood that the haptic effect control device 300 can be used as the haptic effect control device 106 in the electronic device 100 described above, and its function and operation have been described in detail above with reference to FIGS. 1-9 , so only a brief description is given below.

Referring to FIG. 10 , the haptic effect control device 300 may include an input unit 301 , a memory 302 , a decoding unit 303 , a haptic effect determining unit 304 and a driving unit 305 .

The input unit 301 may include pins or interfaces for receiving haptic trigger messages, such as I2C and/or I2S interfaces. As mentioned above, the received haptic trigger message may include a haptic mode code and an optional priority code, the haptic mode code indicates one of various predetermined haptic modes, and the priority code indicates the priority of the haptic mode.

The memory 302 can be used to store the haptic mode code and priority code in the received haptic trigger message, and can also be used to store other data, including but not limited to data related to the haptic effect being output and to be output such as haptic mode code, Priority encoding, driving signal data, and the mapping relationship between haptic modes and haptic effects, etc. Memory 302 may also be used to store any other data related to haptic feedback.

The decoding unit 303 can decode the received haptic trigger message to determine the encoded haptic pattern and its corresponding priority.

The haptic effect determining unit 304 may determine a haptic effect corresponding to the decoded determined haptic pattern. In some embodiments, when multiple haptic patterns overlap or conflict in time, the haptic effect determining unit 304 may also determine whether to output the haptic effect of the haptic pattern based on the priority of each haptic pattern. For example, the haptic effect determining unit 304 may determine to output a high-priority haptic pattern while ignoring a low-priority haptic pattern.

The driving unit 305 may drive the haptic output device according to the determined haptic effect. The tactile effect is represented by the corresponding driving signal waveform, which can be the driving signal waveform pre-stored in the memory, or the driving signal waveform received in real time from the outside. The driving signal waveform is used to drive one or more tactile output devices, so as to achieve a desired tactile effect. In some embodiments, pins or interfaces of the receiving unit 301 for receiving haptic trigger messages, such as I2C and/or I2S interfaces, can be reused to receive driving signal waveforms representing haptic effects.

As mentioned above, in some cases, the operating system running on the electronic device 100 can execute multiple parallel tasks, and these parallel tasks may trigger multiple different haptic effects at the same time or within a short period of time, and the haptic output device 107 operates in one Only one predetermined haptic effect can be output at any time. Therefore, when the haptic effect control chip 106 receives multiple haptic trigger messages continuously within a short period of time, how to properly process these haptic trigger messages becomes a problem. FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of a haptic effect control method 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention. It can be understood that the method 400 shown in FIG. 11 may be executed, for example, by the haptic effect control apparatus 106 in the electronic device 100 shown in FIG. 1 .

Referring to FIG. 11 , in step S410, the haptic effect control device 106 may receive a first haptic trigger message. As mentioned above, when a predetermined event associated with a haptic effect is detected by the processor 101 , a haptic trigger message may be generated and sent to the haptic effect control device 106 . As mentioned above, the haptic trigger message generated by the processor 101 may include a header for identifying the message and a haptic mode code for indicating one of a plurality of predetermined haptic modes, wherein the haptic mode corresponds to a specific haptic effect, That is, a specific driving signal for driving the tactile output device 107 to generate a tactile effect. In addition, the haptic trigger message may further include a priority code, which indicates the priority of the corresponding haptic mode, that is, the priority of outputting the haptic effect corresponding to the haptic mode. In step S410, the first haptic trigger message received by the haptic effect control device 106 may include a first haptic mode code and a first priority code.

In response to receiving the first haptic trigger message, the haptic effect control device 106 may start the timer T at step S420. It can be understood that when the first haptic trigger message is received in step S410, the timer T has not been started yet. If the timer T has been started when the first haptic trigger message is received, that is to say, the haptic trigger message is received during the running of the timer T, then the processing of the haptic trigger message can be as follows regarding the receipt of the second haptic trigger message as described. The timer T can have a preset duration, such as 0.1 second, 0.5 second, 1 second or 2 seconds, etc., which can be set according to specific applications. As can be understood from the detailed description below, multiple haptic trigger messages received during the running of the timer T (ie, before expiration) can be regarded as simultaneously triggered haptic trigger messages.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 11 , in step S430, before the timer T that has been started expires, the haptic effect control device 106 receives a second haptic trigger message, which may include a second haptic mode code indicating the second haptic mode and an indication A second priority encoding for the priority of the second haptic mode. It can be understood that before the timer T expires, the haptic effect control device 106 may receive a plurality of haptic trigger messages, for example, a plurality of haptic trigger messages generated by the processor 101 in response to various events during this period, these haptic Both trigger messages may be processed according to the steps described herein for the second haptic trigger message.

Fig. 12 shows a schematic diagram of receiving a haptic trigger message during the running of the timer. Referring to FIG. 12 , the first haptic trigger message is received at time T1 , and a timer T is started in response to the first haptic trigger message, which has a predetermined duration T _timer . At time T2 and T3 (T2-T1<T _timer , T3-T1<T _timer ) before the timer T expires, the second haptic trigger message and the third haptic trigger message are respectively received. At time T4 (T4-T1>T _timer ) after the timer T expires, a fourth haptic trigger message is received. At this time, the first, second and third haptic trigger messages are regarded as simultaneously received haptic trigger messages, and the operations described here are performed; and when the fourth haptic trigger message is received, it restarts the timer T , that is, the processing of the fourth haptic trigger message is similar to the processing described herein for the first haptic trigger message. For the sake of brevity and convenience of description, only the corresponding processing steps of the first haptic trigger message and the second haptic trigger message are described here, but it should be understood that the third haptic trigger message received during the running of the timer T even more haptic trigger messages Messages can also undergo the processing steps described here, which are within the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 11 , in step S440, based on the first haptic pattern and the first priority received in step S410 and the second haptic pattern and the second priority received in step S430, it may be determined to be output Tactile mode. It can be understood that the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern may be the same, for example, different events correspond to the same haptic effect output, or the user executes the same event multiple times in a short time to trigger multiple haptic effect outputs. At this time, since the first and second haptic patterns identical to each other are simultaneously triggered within a short time and correspond to the output of the same haptic effect, their corresponding haptic effects may be output only once. In step S440, a haptic mode with a high priority may be selected, and a haptic mode with a low priority may be ignored. When the first priority of the first haptic mode is also the same as the second priority of the second haptic mode, either one of the first haptic mode and the second haptic mode may be selected to be output while ignoring the other, because both are essentially are exactly the same.

In a more general case, the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern may not be the same. At this point, it may be determined which haptic pattern or modes to output based on the first priority and the second priority, and FIG. 13 shows an example of such a process 500 . Referring to FIG. 13, in step 510, it may be determined by comparison whether the first priority is higher than, equal to, or lower than the second priority. If the first priority is higher than the second priority, execute step 520, determine the first haptic pattern as the haptic pattern to be output, and ignore the second haptic pattern; if the first priority is lower than the second priority level, execute step 530, determine the second haptic pattern as the haptic pattern to be output, and ignore the first haptic pattern; if the first priority is equal to the second priority, execute step 540, determine the first haptic pattern and the second One of the haptic patterns is the haptic pattern to be output, and the other is ignored. In step 540, for example, the haptic mode triggered first may be selected, or the haptic mode triggered later may be selected, which may be determined according to specific applications.

The inventors have realized that when the haptic patterns to be output are selected based only on the first and second priorities as shown in FIG. It may also be insufficient in certain circumstances. For example, when two events that are both important, such as an alarm expiry event and a voice call received event, are triggered simultaneously, it may not be desirable to ignore the output of a haptic effect for either of them. Therefore, in step S440 , a predetermined priority threshold may also be introduced to determine the tactile pattern to be output, and FIG. 14 shows an example of such a process 600 . Referring to FIG. 14, in step 610, it may be determined by comparison whether the first priority is higher than, equal to, or lower than the second priority. If the first priority is higher than the second priority, then in step 620a, continue to compare whether the second priority is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold. If the second priority is greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold, it indicates that both the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern are important, so in step 630, it can be determined that both the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern are to be output haptic mode, and determine the output timing of the first haptic mode and the second haptic mode in order of priority, that is, the output timing of the first haptic mode is before the second haptic mode. In this way, for example, after the output of the haptic effect corresponding to the voice call ends, or after the user completes the voice communication, the haptic effect corresponding to the alarm clock expiration event can be output to remind the user that the alarm clock is due without causing the user to miss important events . If the second priority is lower than the predetermined threshold, it indicates that the second haptic mode is not important, so in step 640, the first haptic mode with higher priority may be determined as the haptic mode to be output, and the second haptic mode is ignored .

Similarly, if the first priority is lower than the second priority, then in step 620b, continue to compare whether the first priority is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold. If the first priority is greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold, it indicates that both the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern are important, so in step 650, it can be determined that both the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern are to be output haptic mode, and determine the output timing of the first haptic mode and the second haptic mode in order of priority, that is, the output timing of the first haptic mode is after the second haptic mode. If the first priority is lower than the predetermined threshold, it indicates that the first haptic mode is not important, so in step 660, it may be determined that the second haptic mode is the haptic mode to be output, and the first haptic mode is ignored.

If the first priority is equal to the second priority, then in step 620c, continue to compare whether the first/second priority is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold. If both are greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold, then in step 670 it can be determined that both the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern are haptic patterns to be output, and the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern can be determined in order of, for example, trigger time. The output timing of the modes, that is, the output timing of the first haptic mode is before the second haptic mode. If both the first priority and the second priority are lower than the predetermined threshold, in step 680, either one of the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern may be determined to be the haptic pattern to be output, and the other one may be ignored, Alternatively, both the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern can be ignored.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 11 , through the above steps, one or more haptic patterns to be output are determined. Then in step S450, after the timer T expires, the haptic output device 107 (see FIG. 1 ) may be instructed to output the determined haptic pattern to be output. As mentioned before, the haptic mode corresponds to the drive signal stored in a predetermined register address, which can be used to drive the haptic output device 107 to produce a desired haptic effect output. In step S450, the haptic effect control device 106 can determine the driving signal corresponding to the haptic pattern to be output according to the mapping relationship between the haptic pattern code and the register address storing the driving signal, and use it to drive the haptic output device 107 to generate Desired haptic effect output. In some embodiments, the haptic effect control device 106 can also create a haptic pattern output list, and insert the determined haptic pattern codes to be output into the list in time sequence, so that the corresponding haptic effects can be output in sequence. For example, the list may include a haptic pattern currently being output, and one or more haptic patterns to be outputted in sequence. When the currently output haptic pattern is finished or canceled, the haptic pattern may be deleted from the haptic pattern output list, and the next haptic pattern to be output is executed until all the haptic patterns are output. Regarding the tactile pattern output list, it will be further described in detail in the following embodiments.

FIG. 15 shows a schematic functional block diagram of a haptic effect control device 700 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It can be understood that each functional module in the tactile effect control device 700 shown in FIG. part. The relevant functions and operations of each functional module in the haptic effect control device 700 shown in FIG. 15 have been described in detail above with reference to FIGS. 11-14 , so only a brief description will be given below.

Referring to FIG. 15 , the haptic effect control device 700 may include a first receiving unit 710 for receiving a first haptic trigger message, the first haptic trigger message including a first haptic mode code indicating a first haptic mode and indicating the first haptic mode code. A first priority code for the first priority of a haptic mode.

The haptic effect control apparatus 700 may further include a timer control unit 720, configured to start a timer in response to receiving the first haptic trigger message.

The haptic effect control device 700 may further include a second receiving unit 730, configured to receive a second haptic trigger message before the timer expires, the second haptic trigger message including a second haptic pattern indicating the second haptic pattern A code and a second priority code indicating a second priority of the second haptic mode.

The haptic effect control apparatus 700 may further include a determination unit 740 configured to determine a haptic pattern to be output based on the first haptic pattern and first priority and the second haptic pattern and second priority. For example, when the first haptic mode is the same as the second haptic mode, if the first priority is the same as the second priority, select the first haptic mode and the second haptic mode one and ignore the other; if the first priority is different from the second priority, the haptic mode with the higher priority is selected and the haptic mode with the lower priority is ignored. When the first haptic pattern is different from the second haptic pattern: if the first priority is higher than the second priority, determine that the first haptic pattern is the haptic pattern to be output, and ignore the second haptic pattern; if the first priority is lower than the second priority, then determining the second haptic pattern as the haptic pattern to be output and ignoring the first haptic pattern; or if the If the first priority is equal to the second priority, then it is determined that one of the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern is the haptic pattern to be output, and the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern are ignored. Another of two haptic patterns. For another example, when the first haptic pattern is different from the second haptic pattern: if the first priority is higher than the second priority, and the second priority is higher than or equal to a predetermined threshold, Then determine that the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern are haptic patterns to be output, and the output timing of the first haptic pattern is before the second haptic pattern; if the first priority is higher than the second priority, and the second priority is lower than a predetermined threshold, then determine that the first haptic pattern is the haptic pattern to be output, and ignore the second haptic pattern; if the first priority lower than the second priority, and the first priority is higher than or equal to a predetermined threshold, then it is determined that the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern are haptic patterns to be output, and the first an output of the haptic pattern is timed after the second haptic pattern; determining the second haptic pattern if the first priority is lower than the second priority and the first priority is lower than a predetermined threshold is the haptic pattern to be output, and ignore the first haptic pattern; if the first priority is equal to the second priority, and both are higher than or equal to a predetermined threshold, then determine the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern is the haptic pattern to be output, and the output timing of the first haptic pattern is before the second haptic pattern; or if the first priority is equal to the second priority, and Both are lower than the predetermined threshold, then determine that one of the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern is the haptic pattern to be output, and ignore the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern another.

The haptic effect control apparatus 700 may further include an instructing unit 750 configured to instruct the haptic output device to output the determined haptic pattern to be output after the timer expires.

Optionally, the haptic effect control device 700 may further include an output list maintenance unit 760, configured to establish a haptic pattern output list, and insert the determined haptic pattern to be output into the haptic pattern after the timer expires. In the haptic pattern output list, and when the determined haptic pattern to be output is completed or canceled, the haptic pattern is deleted from the haptic pattern output list.

The method 400 described above with respect to FIG. 11 describes the processing of multiple haptic trigger messages triggered at the same time, which can determine the haptic pattern to be output from the multiple haptic trigger messages triggered at the same time or within a short period of time, and use the corresponding driving Signals are used to drive the tactile output device 107 to generate corresponding tactile effects. However, when the haptic effect control means 106 determines the haptic pattern to be output, the haptic output device 107 may be outputting the previously determined haptic effect. For example, when the electronic device 100 is playing music or video and generates a corresponding haptic effect, another haptic effect output is triggered when a voice call is received, or when the electronic device 100 is generating a haptic effect in response to receiving a voice call, Another haptic effect is triggered in turn in response to another event, such as an alarm clock going off. At this point, how to properly control the haptic output device 107 to generate desired haptic effect output becomes a problem. FIG. 16 shows a flow chart of a haptic effect control method 800 according to another embodiment of the present invention. It can be understood that the method 800 shown in FIG. 16 may be executed, for example, by the haptic effect control apparatus 106 in the electronic device 100 shown in FIG. 1 .

Referring to FIG. 16 , in step S810 , the haptic effect control device 106 may determine the first haptic pattern to be output and its corresponding first priority based on the received haptic trigger message. As mentioned above, when the processor 101 detects a predetermined event associated with a haptic effect, it can generate and send a haptic trigger message to the haptic effect control device 106, and the haptic effect control device 106 can determine based on the received haptic trigger message A first haptic mode and its corresponding first priority. As mentioned above, multiple predetermined events may correspond to different or the same haptic effects. When detecting various predetermined events, the processor 101 may generate a haptic trigger message corresponding to the predetermined events to trigger the corresponding haptic effect output. It should also be understood that when different events trigger the same haptic effect, they may correspond to different priorities, and the priority indicates the importance of outputting the haptic effect, which generally reflects the predetermined event detected by the processor 101 importance.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 16 , in step S820 , the haptic effect control device 106 may determine the second haptic pattern currently being output by the haptic output device 107 and its corresponding second priority. That is to say, the haptic effect control device 106 determines that when the haptic output device 107 is outputting the second haptic pattern, it has received a trigger message to output the first haptic pattern, so that the first and second haptic patterns conflict with each other in terms of output time Or conflict. It should be understood that throughout the present application, ordinal numerals such as "first" and "second" are only used to distinguish different objects, and do not impose any limitation on the described objects.

Next, in step S830, the haptic effect control device 106 may, based on the currently outputting second haptic pattern and its corresponding second priority, and the newly triggered first haptic pattern to be output and its corresponding first priority, The driving tactile mode for driving the tactile output device 107 is determined, so as to solve the problem of mutual conflict or conflict between multiple tactile modes. Generally speaking, when the haptic effect control device 106 determines that the first and second haptic patterns conflict with each other in terms of output time, it may continue to output the second haptic pattern while ignoring the newly triggered first haptic pattern, or may continue to output the second haptic pattern in the second haptic pattern. Output the first haptic pattern after the end of the output, or switch to output the newly triggered first haptic pattern to terminate the second haptic pattern currently being output, or continue to output the second haptic pattern after the end of the first haptic pattern model. In step S830 , the haptic effect control device 106 may select a desired haptic mode for output by the haptic output device 107 based on the first and second haptic modes and the first and second priorities.

FIG. 17 shows a flowchart of a method 900 for determining a driving haptic mode based on first and second haptic modes and first and second priorities according to an embodiment. Referring to FIG. 17 , the haptic effect control device 106 may first determine whether the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern are the same at step 910 . In some cases, the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern may be the same, for example, they are haptic patterns triggered in response to the same type of events occurring at different times in succession, or the same haptic patterns triggered in response to different types of events , their priorities (first and second priorities) can be different from each other or the same. In this case, since the first and second haptic patterns correspond to the same haptic effect, the haptic output device 107 may continue to output the haptic pattern currently being output, while ignoring the newly triggered same haptic pattern. Therefore, in step 920 , the haptic effect control device 106 may ignore the first haptic mode, and determine to continue to use the second haptic mode as the driving haptic mode for driving the haptic output device 107 .

In other cases, the first haptic pattern and the second haptic pattern may be different from each other, for example, the processor 101 triggers different haptic patterns in response to different events. In this case, the haptic effect control means 106 may determine the driving haptic mode for driving the haptic output device 107 based on the priority. In step 930, the haptic effect control device 106 may compare whether the first priority of the first haptic pattern is greater than the second priority of the second haptic pattern. If the first priority is greater than the second priority, it indicates that the event triggering the first haptic mode is more important than the event triggering the second haptic mode, so in step 940, the haptic effect control device 106 can determine to terminate the haptic output The device 107 is outputting the second tactile pattern, and then uses the first tactile pattern to drive the tactile output device 107, or may suspend the output of the second tactile pattern, and continue to output the second tactile sensation after the output of the first tactile pattern is finished. model. If the first priority is equal to or lower than the second priority, it indicates that the importance of the event triggering the first haptic mode is equal to or lower than the importance of the event triggering the second haptic mode, so in step 950, the haptic effect control device 106 may determine to continue to use the second haptic mode to drive the haptic output device 107 . At this time, the haptic effect control device 106 may ignore the newly triggered first haptic pattern, or may output the first haptic pattern after the output of the second haptic pattern ends.

The method described above with reference to FIGS. 16-17 can select from a plurality of haptic patterns whose output times contradict or conflict with each other and output a desired haptic pattern at an appropriate timing, thereby avoiding different haptic effects while providing rich haptic effects. conflicts or interferences between them, improving the user experience.

In some embodiments, the processor 101 may trigger multiple haptic patterns to be output in response to multiple events detected at the same time (eg, within a sufficiently short time), and FIG. 18 shows a schematic diagram of such an embodiment. . Referring to FIG. 18 , the processor 101 may trigger a first haptic pattern in response to a first event at time T1. At this time, the processor 101 can start a timer to monitor the time, if the processor 101 triggers another, for example, the third haptic pattern in response to the second event at time T2 within the predetermined period T _timer , the processor 101 can consider the second The first and third haptic patterns are two haptic patterns that are triggered simultaneously. Here, only two haptic modes are taken as an example, in fact, the processor 101 may trigger more, for example, three or four haptic modes at the same time. The processor 101 may selectively instruct the haptic effect control device 106 a predetermined number of haptic patterns to be output based on the type of the triggered haptic pattern and its corresponding priority, such as one or two with higher priority. Haptic modes that are different from each other, ignoring one or more haptic modes with lower priority. In addition, the processor 101 may indicate to the haptic effect control device 106 the haptic patterns to be output in order of priority from high to low. Referring to FIG. 18, if the processor 101 triggers a haptic output mode in response to an event at time T3 after exceeding a predetermined period of time T _timer (for example, after the timer expires), it is regarded as a new trigger instead of Together with the triggers at T1 and T2 times, they are considered as simultaneous triggers. It can be understood that for the new trigger T3, it can be processed according to the method described above for the trigger T1.

The processing when only the first haptic mode is triggered is described above with reference to FIGS. 16-17 , and the situation when the first and third haptic modes are simultaneously triggered is considered below. That is, in step S810, the haptic effect control device 106 determines the first and third haptic patterns to be output and their corresponding first and third priorities based on the haptic trigger message received from the processor 101, wherein the third haptic The mode is different from the first haptic mode, and the third priority is equal to or lower than the first priority, so that the output order of the third haptic mode is after the first haptic mode. The output sequence can be determined according to the order of priority from high to low. When the priority is the same, it can be determined according to its trigger timing. In general, in the haptic trigger message sent from the processor 101 to the haptic effect control device 106, one or more haptic patterns may be arranged in the order of their output. At this time, in step S830, the steps of determining the driving haptic mode for driving the haptic output device 107 described above with reference to FIGS. . "Iteration" means that if it is determined in the above steps that the first haptic mode is used to drive the haptic output device 107, and the second mode currently being output is suspended or terminated, then when the above steps are performed using the third haptic mode, the The driving haptic pattern currently being output is iterated into the first haptic pattern instead of the original second haptic pattern.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 16 , optionally, in step S840 , the list of driving haptic patterns may also be updated with the determined driving haptic patterns. In some embodiments, the haptic effect control device 106 may maintain a list of driving haptic patterns, and FIG. 19 shows an example of such a list of driving haptic patterns. Referring to FIG. 19 , the drive haptic mode list may include up to a predetermined number of drive haptic modes for driving the haptic output device 107, shown as three in the example of FIG. 19 , specifically, may include its haptic mode code and priority coding. These drive haptic modes are different from each other and can be arranged in order of priority from highest to lowest. Wherein, the first tactile pattern is the tactile pattern currently being output by the tactile output device 107 , followed by the first tactile pattern to be output, and the second tactile pattern to be output after that. When the output haptic pattern is finished and no new haptic pattern is triggered, the first output haptic pattern becomes the output haptic pattern, and the second output haptic pattern becomes the first output haptic pattern.

20 to 22 show some examples of updating the driving haptic mode list with the determined driving haptic mode, from which the above-described steps of determining the driving haptic mode for driving the haptic output device 107 can also be further understood. Referring first to FIG. 20 , in this example, only the first haptic pattern with the first priority is indicated in the haptic trigger message, and the current drive haptic pattern list includes only the second haptic pattern with the second priority being output. Assuming that the first haptic mode is different from the second haptic mode, and the first priority is higher than the second priority, so in step S830 it is determined to use the first haptic mode to drive the haptic output device 107, and after the end of the first haptic mode If the second haptic pattern continues to be output, the driving haptic pattern list may be updated in step S840 so that the first pattern becomes the current output and the second pattern becomes the first driving haptic pattern to be output. In some embodiments, if the second haptic mode is terminated, the second haptic mode may not be included in the updated drive haptic mode list.

In the example of FIG. 21 , the haptic trigger message may indicate a first haptic pattern with a first priority and a third haptic pattern with a third priority, wherein the first, second, and third haptic patterns are different from each other, and the third haptic pattern has a third priority. The priority is lower than the first priority, and the current drive haptic pattern list includes only the second haptic pattern with the second priority being output. Assuming that the first priority is higher than the second priority and the third priority is lower than the second priority, then in step S830 it is determined to use the first haptic mode to drive the haptic output device 107, and then continue after the first haptic mode ends Outputting the second haptic pattern; further determining that the third haptic pattern is executed after the first haptic pattern (now becoming the driving haptic pattern currently being output) when iteratively processing the third haptic pattern, and based on the comparison of the third and second priorities , it may be determined that the third haptic pattern is performed after the second haptic pattern. At this time, as shown in FIG. 21 , the driving haptic mode list can be updated in step S840, so that the first mode becomes the current output, the second mode becomes the first driving haptic mode to be output, and the third mode becomes the second outputting mode. Drive Haptic Mode. In some embodiments, if the third priority is higher than the second priority, the output orders of the second haptic pattern and the third haptic pattern shown in FIG. 21 may be exchanged with each other.

In the example of FIG. 22 , the haptic trigger message may be the same as FIG. 21 , indicating a first haptic pattern with a first priority and a third haptic pattern with a third priority. The current drive haptic mode list includes a fourth haptic mode with a fourth priority in addition to a second haptic mode with a second priority, where the first, second, third, and fourth haptic modes are different from each other , the third priority is lower than the first priority, and the fourth priority is lower than the second priority. Assuming that the first priority is higher than the second priority, it is determined in step S830 to use the first haptic mode to drive the haptic output device 107, and continue to output the second haptic mode after the end of the first haptic mode; further in the iterative process In the third haptic mode, if the third priority is lower than the fourth priority, since the driving haptic mode list can accommodate up to three driving haptic modes to be output, the third haptic mode will be ignored, and the updated driving haptic mode list The first tactile pattern, the second tactile pattern and the fourth tactile pattern are sequentially included.

It should be understood that the ways of updating the driving haptic pattern list described above with reference to FIGS. 20-22 are only examples, and the list of driving haptic patterns can also be maintained and updated in other ways. Using the list of driving haptic patterns, multiple driving haptic patterns to be output can be conveniently managed, which is very useful for systems that provide rich haptic feedback.

FIG. 23 shows a schematic functional block diagram of a haptic effect control device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It can be understood that each functional module in the haptic effect control apparatus 1000 shown in FIG. part. The relevant functions and operations of each functional module in the haptic effect control device 1000 shown in FIG. 23 have been described in detail above with reference to FIGS. 16-22 , so only a brief description will be given below.

Referring to FIG. 23 , the haptic effect control device 1000 may include: a haptic pattern to be output determining unit 1010 , which may be configured to determine a first haptic pattern to be output and a first haptic pattern of the first haptic pattern based on the received haptic trigger message. priority; a current haptic mode determination unit 1020 configured to determine a second haptic mode that the tactile output device is outputting and a second priority of the second haptic mode; and a drive haptic mode determination unit 1030 configured to determine based on the The first haptic mode and first priority and the second haptic mode and second priority determine a driving haptic mode for driving the haptic output device.

In some embodiments, the driving haptic mode determining unit 1030 may be configured to ignore the first haptic mode and continue to drive the haptic mode with the second haptic mode when the first haptic mode is the same as the second haptic mode. The haptic output device; when the first haptic mode is different from the second haptic mode, if the first priority is higher than the second priority, then suspend or terminate the second haptic mode, using the first haptic mode to drive the haptic output device, if the first priority is equal to or lower than the second priority, continue to use the second haptic mode to drive the haptic output device, and ignore The first haptic mode or the first haptic mode is used to drive the haptic output device after the second haptic mode ends.

In some embodiments, the to-be-output haptic pattern determination unit 1010 may also be configured to determine a third haptic pattern to be output and a third priority of the third haptic pattern based on the haptic trigger message, the third haptic pattern Different from the first haptic pattern, the third priority is equal to or lower than the first priority, and an output order of the third haptic pattern is after the first haptic pattern.

In some embodiments, the driving haptic mode determination unit 1030 may be configured to iteratively perform the determination for driving the haptic output for the first haptic mode and the third haptic mode indicated by the haptic trigger message in the order of their output Steps to drive the haptic pattern of the device.

In some embodiments, optionally, the device 1000 may also include a driving haptic pattern list maintenance unit 1040, which may be configured to update the driving haptic pattern list with the determined driving haptic pattern, the driving haptic pattern list includes a maximum predetermined number A driving tactile mode for driving the tactile output device and a priority of each driving tactile mode, the maximum predetermined number of driving tactile modes for driving the tactile output device are different from each other and in order of priority from high to high lower order.

The above describes such a situation: when the tactile output device 107 is playing the first driving signal to output the first tactile effect, it is suddenly interrupted and plays the second driving signal to output the second tactile effect. For example, when the user is listening to music, he suddenly receives a voice call. At this time, the haptic effect corresponding to the music is interrupted by the haptic effect triggered by the incoming voice call event, because the incoming voice call event has a higher priority, so the haptic effect control device 106 will instead use the second haptic effect corresponding to the incoming voice call event. The driving signal is used to drive the tactile output device 107 . At this time, the playing of the first driving signal can be stopped, or after the playing of the second driving signal is completed, the playing of the first driving signal can be continued from the pause point of the first driving signal.

However, when the haptic output device 107 is playing the real-time driving signal received from the outside, there may be problems in continuing to play after the interruption. For example, when a user listens to a broadcast or webcast program (music and/or video, etc.) accompanied by real-time haptic effects, the real-time driving signal will be continuously written into the FIFO register; When outputting the haptic effect corresponding to a voice call, on the one hand, the real-time driving signal continues to be written into the FIFO register, which may cause the FIFO register to be filled and overflow; on the other hand, when the haptic effect corresponding to the voice call is output , when the real-time driving signal continues to be played, since the broadcast or webcast program has continued to the next moment, there may be a situation where the real-time driving signal (that is, the real-time haptic effect) does not match the broadcast or webcast program.

To solve this problem, an embodiment of the present invention proposes a haptic effect control method, as shown in FIG. 24 . The method can be executed by, for example, the haptic effect control device 106 to control the haptic effect output through the haptic output device 107 .

Referring to FIG. 24 , a haptic effect control method 1100 may include step S1110, playing a first driving signal to generate a first haptic effect. The first driving signal may be a real-time driving signal. As mentioned above, the haptic effect control device 106 may receive the real-time driving signal provided by the outside and store it in the FIFO register. The haptic effect control device 106 also reads the real-time driving signal from the FIFO register in real time, and uses the real-time driving signal to drive the haptic output device 107 to generate the first haptic effect output.

Figure 25 shows a schematic diagram of a FIFO register. As shown in FIG. 25, the FIFO register has a predetermined address range, that is, from a start address to an end address. The haptic effect control device 106 can continuously write the real-time driving signal received through the I2C or I2S interface into the FIFO register, and read the real-time driving signal from the FIFO read address to drive the haptic output device 107 to generate tactile sensation Effect output. You can set the write counter and read counter to monitor the read and write status of the FIFO register. When the FIFO is not empty, the haptic effect control device 106 reads and plays the real-time driving signal stored therein; when the FIFO is empty, stops playing the real-time driving signal.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 24 , in step S1120 , in response to a trigger event, the haptic effect control device 106 may interrupt the playing of the first driving signal, such as a real-time driving signal, and instead play the second driving signal to output the second haptic effect. For example, when the real-time driving signal is being played, the electronic device 100 receives a voice call, so it turns to play the second driving signal triggered by the voice call event to generate the second haptic effect. Here, the second driving signal may be a different type of driving signal from the first driving signal. For example, the first driving signal is a real-time driving signal received from the outside in real time, and the second driving signal is a driving signal pre-stored in a non-volatile memory. Signals, such as WAV waveform signals.

In step S1130, while playing the second driving signal, perform virtual playing of the first driving signal. For example, while playing the second driving signal, the haptic effect control device 106 may continue to receive and write the first driving signal into the FIFO register, and read the first driving signal from the FIFO register. However, the read first drive signal is not used to drive the tactile output device 107, but can be discarded, because the tactile effect control device 106 is using the second drive signal to drive the tactile output device 107 to output the second tactile effect. In this way, through the virtual playback of the first driving signal, many advantages can be realized. First, it can avoid that the real-time driving signal received by the haptic effect control device 106 occupies the storage space of the entire FIFO register, or even overflows; in addition, it can ensure that the first driving signal keeps matching with the corresponding event, such as a broadcast or webcast program, without A delay in the real-time haptic effect is generated due to the paused playback of the first drive signal.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 24 , in step S1140, after the second driving signal is played, the first driving signal can be played continuously from the current virtual playing position of the first driving signal to generate a corresponding haptic effect. At this time, the haptic effect control device 106 only needs to simply provide the first driving signal read from the FIFO register to the haptic output device 107 .

In some embodiments, during the virtual play of the first drive signal, for example, when the user takes a long time to answer the voice call, the event that triggers the first drive signal, such as a broadcast or webcast program, has stopped, then when in step When resuming to play the first driving signal in S1140, the haptic effect control device 106 will find that the FIFO register is empty, because the first driving signal has been read out completely during the virtual playback period, at this time the haptic effect control device 106 can determine the first driving signal The playback has been completed, and the driving signal triggered by the subsequent event is played instead.

As mentioned above, during the virtual play of the real-time driving signal, the haptic effect control device 106 can normally receive, store and read out the real-time driving signal, so as to ensure that the real-time driving signal and the corresponding event such as broadcasting or webcast program are maintained. Matching will not cause the delay of the real-time haptic effect due to the pause of the real-time driving signal, and by reading the real-time driving signal from the FIFO register, it can prevent the real-time driving signal from filling the FIFO register and causing overflow.

The basic principles of the present application have been described above in conjunction with specific embodiments, but it should be pointed out that the advantages, advantages, effects, etc. mentioned in the application are only examples rather than limitations, and these advantages, advantages, effects, etc. Various embodiments of this application must have. In addition, the specific details disclosed above are only for the purpose of illustration and understanding, rather than limitation, and the above details do not limit the application to be implemented by using the above specific details.

The block diagrams of devices, devices, devices, and systems involved in this application are only illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that they must be connected, arranged, and configured in the manner shown in the block diagrams. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, these devices, devices, devices, systems may be connected, arranged, configured in any manner. Words such as "including", "comprising", "having" and the like are open-ended words meaning "including but not limited to" and may be used interchangeably therewith. As used herein, the words "or" and "and" refer to the word "and/or" and are used interchangeably therewith, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. As used herein, the word "such as" refers to the phrase "such as but not limited to" and can be used interchangeably therewith.

It should also be pointed out that in the devices, equipment and methods of the present application, each component or each step can be decomposed and/or reassembled. These decompositions and/or recombinations should be considered equivalents of this application.

The above description of the disclosed aspects is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present application. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects without departing from the scope of the present application. Thus, the present application is not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

The foregoing description has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. Furthermore, this description is not intended to limit the embodiments of the application to the forms disclosed herein. Although a number of example aspects and embodiments have been discussed above, those skilled in the art will recognize certain variations, modifications, changes, additions and sub-combinations thereof.

Claims

A haptic effect control method implemented in a haptic effect control chip, comprising:

receiving a haptic trigger message, the haptic trigger message including at least a haptic pattern code indicating one of a plurality of predetermined haptic patterns, wherein the plurality of predetermined haptic patterns correspond to a plurality of haptic effects, the The haptic effect is represented by a drive signal for driving the haptic output device;

decoding the haptic trigger message to determine a haptic pattern indicated by the haptic pattern encoding;

According to the mapping relationship between the tactile mode code and the register address storing the corresponding drive signal, determine the register address of the drive signal corresponding to the tactile mode code, so as to determine the haptic effect corresponding to the tactile mode; and

The tactile output device is driven by using the drive signal stored in the address of the register to output the tactile effect.
The method of claim 1, wherein the haptic trigger message further includes a header for identifying the haptic trigger message.
The method of claim 1 , wherein the haptic trigger message further includes a priority code associated with the haptic mode code, the priority code indicating a priority of the haptic mode indicated by the haptic mode code.
The method of claim 3, wherein decoding the haptic trigger message further comprises determining a priority indicated by the priority code, and the method further comprises determining whether to output the haptic effect based on the priority.
The method of claim 1, wherein the haptic trigger message is received on a plurality of pins, the plurality of pins including a control pin and one or more data pins, when the control The haptic trigger message is received on the one or more data pins when the pin is activated.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the haptic trigger message is received on an I2C or I2S interface, and the driving signal includes a real-time driving signal received on the I2C or I2S interface, through the I2C or I2S interface The real-time driving signal received by the I2S interface is written into the first-in-first-out register, so that the tactile pattern code obtained when decoding the tactile trigger message is mapped to the first-in-first-out register for storing the real-time driving signal. address, use the real-time driving signal in the address of the register to drive the tactile output device, so as to realize the real-time output of the tactile effect.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the haptic trigger message is received on an I2C or I2S interface, and the driving signal includes a real-time driving signal received on the I2C or I2S interface, through the I2C or I2S interface The real-time driving signal received by the I2S interface is written into the first-in-first-out register, so that the tactile pattern code obtained when decoding the tactile trigger message is mapped to the first-in-first-out register for storing the real-time driving signal. address, use the real-time driving signal in the address of the register to drive the tactile output device, so as to realize the real-time output of the tactile effect.
The method of claim 1, wherein the driving signal comprises a real-time driving signal, and the real-time driving signal and the haptic trigger message are received through a single pin of the haptic effect control chip.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the real-time driving signal and the haptic trigger message are represented by a floating level, and the floating level is detected and decoded by a level detection unit in the haptic effect control chip .
The method according to claim 9, wherein the floating level includes a first level range corresponding to the header part and a second level range corresponding to the signal payload part, and the first level range is different from the In the second level range, the header part is used to indicate that the signal payload part includes a tactile mode code or a real-time driving signal.
A haptic effect control chip, comprising:

An input unit configured to receive a tactile trigger message, the tactile trigger message at least including a tactile mode code, the tactile mode code indicating one of a plurality of predetermined tactile modes, wherein the plurality of predetermined tactile modes are associated with a plurality of haptic effects Correspondingly, the tactile effect is represented by a driving signal for driving a tactile output device;

a decoding unit configured to decode the haptic trigger message to determine the haptic mode indicated by the haptic mode code;

The tactile effect determination unit is configured to determine the register address of the driving signal corresponding to the tactile mode code according to the mapping relationship between the tactile mode code and the register address storing the corresponding driving signal, so as to determine the corresponding tactile mode haptic effects; and

A driving unit configured to use the driving signal stored in the address of the register to drive the tactile output device to output the tactile effect.
The haptic effect control chip according to claim 11, wherein the haptic trigger message further includes a header for identifying the haptic trigger message.
The haptic effect control chip according to claim 11, wherein the haptic trigger message further includes a priority code associated with the haptic mode code, the priority code indicating the haptic mode indicated by the haptic mode code. priority.
The haptic effect control chip according to claim 13, wherein the decoding unit further determines the priority indicated by the priority code when decoding the haptic trigger message, and the haptic effect determining unit is further configured to The priority is used to determine whether to output the haptic effect.
The haptic effect control chip according to claim 11, wherein the input unit receives the haptic trigger message from multiple pins, the multiple pins include a control pin and one or more data pins, The haptic trigger message is received on the one or more data pins when the control pin is activated.
The haptic effect control chip according to claim 11, wherein the input unit includes an I2C or I2S interface, the haptic trigger message is received on the I2C or I2S interface, and the driving signal is included in the I2C Or the real-time driving signal received on the I2S interface, the real-time driving signal received through the I2C or I2S interface is written into the first-in-first-out register, so that the tactile pattern code obtained when decoding the tactile trigger message is mapped to the When the register address of the real-time driving signal is stored in the first-in-first-out register, the real-time driving signal in the register address is used to drive the haptic output device, so as to realize the real-time output of the haptic effect.
The haptic effect control chip according to claim 11, wherein the driving signal comprises a real-time driving signal, and the real-time driving signal and the haptic trigger message are received through a single pin of the haptic effect control chip.
The haptic effect control chip according to claim 17, wherein the real-time driving signal and the haptic trigger message are represented by a floating level, and the floating level is determined by a level detection unit in the haptic effect control chip detection and decoding.
The haptic effect control chip according to claim 18, wherein the floating level has a first level range corresponding to the header part and a second level range corresponding to the signal load part, and the first level range Different from the second level range, the header part is used to indicate that the signal payload part includes a tactile mode code or a real-time driving signal.
A mobile electronic device comprising:

at least one tactile output device; and

The haptic effect control chip according to any one of claims 11-19, configured to control the at least one haptic output device to output a corresponding haptic effect in response to the received haptic trigger message.