Combination touch and transducer input system and method

A sensor controller, comprising:

• an interface coupleable to an array of electrodes disposed along a first direction and along a second direction different from the first direction, wherein a position pointed to by a stylus on the array of electrodes is capacitively detectable;
• and
• processing circuitry, which is coupled to the interface and which, in operation:
• controls the array of electrodes to capacitively transmit stylus configuration data to the stylus, and
• decodes digital data that is encoded by the stylus and is transmitted from the stylus, wherein the digital data transmitted from the stylus is defined by the configuration data transmitted from the sensor controller.

A method implemented in a position input system including:

• an array of electrodes disposed along a first direction and along a second direction different from the first direction;
• a sensor controller coupled to the array of electrodes;
• and a stylus, the method comprising:
• transmitting, from the stylus, digital data that is encoded in an error detectable manner;
• decoding, at the sensor controller, the digital data transmitted from the stylus and received by the array of electrodes;
• and
• time-divisionally controlling, by the sensor controller, the array of electrodes in a touch sensing mode, in which the sensor controller supplies defined signals to at least one of the first electrodes and the second electrodes for measuring attributes of signals capacitively sensed by the array of electrodes to detect an object positioned on the array of electrodes, and in a stylus sensing mode, in which the sensor controller allows the array of electrodes for measuring attributes of signals sensed by the array of electrodes to detect the stylus positioned on the array of electrodes.

A method implemented by a sensor controller, comprising:

• interfacing with an array of electrodes disposed along a first direction and along a second direction different from the first direction, wherein a position pointed to by a stylus on the array of electrodes is capacitively detectable;
• controlling the array of electrodes to capacitively transmit stylus configuration data to the stylus;
• and
• decoding digital data that is encoded by the stylus and is transmitted from the stylus, wherein the digital data transmitted from the stylus is defined by the configuration data transmitted from the sensor controller.