Fingerprint sensing system and method for providing user input on an electronic device using a fingerprint sensor

A fingerprint sensing system comprising:

• a finger touch surface for receiving a finger having a fingerprint topography;
• an array of sensing elements;
• fingerprint image acquisition circuitry connected to the array of sensing elements for acquiring fingerprint images indicating local distances between the sensing elements and the fingerprint topography;
• and
• image processing circuitry connected to the fingerprint image acquisition circuitry for:
• controlling the fingerprint image acquisition circuitry to acquire a first time-sequence of partial fingerprint images from at least two sub-groups of sensing elements;
• determining a force applied on each of the sub-groups of sensing elements, based on the partial fingerprint images acquired from each sub-group of sensing elements;
• determining a force value difference between a pair of the determined forces applied on sub-groups of sensing elements, and
• determining a user input based on the determined force value difference, and based on a relative location between the sub-groups of sensing elements in the pair associated with the force value difference,
• wherein the relative location between the sub-groups of sensing elements in the pair associated with the force value difference provides directionality for the user input, and an amount of the force value difference provides a speed indication for the user input.