Touch screen
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorsBaher S. Haroun, Marco Corsi, Brian P. Ginsburg, Vijay B. Rentala, Srinath M. Ramaswamy, Eunyoung Seok
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A pulse of terahertz radiation is transmitted through a touch panel formed of a dielectric material. The pulse generates an employable evanescent field in a region adjacent to a touch surface of the touch panel. The terahertz radiation has a frequency range between 0.1 terahertz and 10 terahertz. A reflected pulse is generated from an object located within the region adjacent to the touch surface of the touch panel. A position is triangulated of the object on the touch surface of the touch panel, based at least in part on the reflected pulse.
Claims19
A method comprising:
- transmitting a pulse of terahertz radiation through a touch panel including a dielectric material, the pulse generating an evanescent field in a region proximate a touch surface of the touch panel, and the terahertz radiation having a frequency range between 0.1 terahertz and 10 terahertz;
- receiving a reflected pulse, responsive to distortion of the evanescent field by an object therein;
- generating an average signal based on the reflected pulse;
- providing the average signal to an analog-to-digital converter;
- and
- detecting a position of the object responsive to an output of the analog-to-digital converter, the output of the analog-to-digital converter based at least in part on the distortion of the evanescent field.
An apparatus comprising:
- an analog-to-digital converter;
- a touch panel including a dielectric material over a substrate, the dielectric material adapted to be coupled to an antenna, the touch panel configured to carry terahertz radiation and having a touch surface, and the terahertz radiation having a frequency range between 0.1 terahertz and 10 terahertz;
- and
- a touch controller coupled to the analog-to-digital converter and to the touch panel, the touch controller configured to:
- transmit a pulse of terahertz radiation through the touch panel and the antenna to generate an evanescent field in a region proximate the touch surface;
- receive a reflected pulse, responsive to distortion of the evanescent field by an object therein;
- generate an average signal based on the reflected pulse;
- provide the average signal to the analog-to-digital converter;
- and
- detect a position of the object responsive to an output of the analog-to-digital converter, the output of the analog-to-digital converter based at least in part on the distortion of the evanescent field.
A method comprising:
- transmitting a pulse of terahertz radiation through a touch panel including formed of a dielectric material, the pulse generating an evanescent field in a region adjacent to a touch surface of the touch panel, and the terahertz radiation having a frequency range between 0.1 terahertz and 10 terahertz;
- receiving a plurality of reflected pulses, including a first reflected pulse occurring responsive to an object (1) causing distortion of the evanescent field ;
- generating an average signal based on the plurality of reflected pulses;
- providing the average signal to an analog-to-digital converter;
- and
- detecting a position of the object responsive to an output of the analog-to-digital converter, the output of the analog-to-digital converter based at least in part on the distortion of the evanescent field.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.