# US 2019/0171304 A1 · Stylus and sensor controller > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2019/0171304 A1 - Document ID: US20190171304A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/266,380 - Filed: 2019-02-04 - Published: 2019-06-06 - Earliest claimed: 2016-07-27 - Assignees: Wacom Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Wacom Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Hideyuki Hara; Yoshio Nomura - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190171304A1 ## CPC - G06F 3/03545: {Pens or stylus} - G06F 3/04162: {for exchanging data with external devices, e.g. smart pens, via the digitiser sensing hardware} - G06F 3/04166: {Details of scanning methods, e.g. sampling time, grouping of sub areas or time sharing with display driving (Synchronisation with the driving of the display or the backlighting unit to avoid interferences generated internally G06F3/04184)} - G06F 3/0442: {using active external devices, e.g. active pens, for transmitting changes in electrical potential to be received by the digitiser} - G06F 3/0446: {using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes} - G06F 3/0383: {Signal control means within the pointing device} - G06F 2203/04106: Multi-sensing digitiser, i.e. digitiser using at least two different sensing technologies simultaneously or alternatively, e.g. for detecting pen and finger, for saving power or for improving position detection - G06F 2203/04112: Electrode mesh in capacitive digitiser: electrode for touch sensing is formed of a mesh of very fine, normally metallic, interconnected lines that are almost invisible to see. This provides a quite large but transparent electrode surface, without need for ITO or similar transparent conductive material - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract A stylus capable of bidirectionally communicating with a sensor controller includes a receiver that receives an uplink signal sent by the sensor controller, a controller that determines whether a signal having a predetermined waveform is to be continuously sent over a second time period or to be continuously sent over a first time period longer than the second time period, on the basis of the uplink signal, and a transmitter that continuously sends the signal having the predetermined waveform over the first time period or the second time period on the basis of the result of determination by the controller. As a result, the sensor controller can detect a burst signal from the stylus over a wide range in a sensor touch surface, to thereby reduce the possibility that the sensor controller may fail to detect the burst signal. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A sensor controller capable of deriving a position of a stylus by detecting a signal sent from the stylus, the sensor controller being structured to carry out: a determining step of determining whether the stylus has or has not been detected; a step, responsive to determining that the stylus has been detected in the determining step, of sending a second uplink signal that instructs the stylus to continuously transmit a signal having a predetermined waveform over a second time period; and a step, responsive to determining that the stylus has not been detected in the determining step, of sending a first uplink signal that instructs the stylus to continuously transmit the signal having the predetermined waveform over a first time period longer than the second time period. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The sensor controller according to claim 1, wherein the sensor controller is structured to further carry out: a step, responsive to determining that the stylus has not been detected in the determining step, of performing a first scan to carry out a detecting operation to detect the signal having the predetermined waveform using a detection area in a first range, and a step, responsive to determining that the stylus has been detected in the determining step, of performing a second scan to carry out a detecting operation to detect the signal having the predetermined waveform using a detection area in a selected range within the first range. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The sensor controller according to claim 2, wherein the determining step determines the stylus has been detected, responsive to the sensor controller detecting the signal having the predetermined waveform in the first scan. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The sensor controller according to claim 2, wherein the first uplink signal is sent from the first range, and the second uplink signal is sent from the selected range. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The sensor controller according to claim 1, wherein the second uplink signal represents a command that instructs the stylus to send predetermined data. ### Claim 6 A sensor controller connected to an electrode matrix of M first electrodes extending in a first direction and N second electrodes extending in a second direction different from the first direction, the sensor controller being structured to carry out: a finger touch detecting step of supplying a predetermined signal to the M first electrodes respectively and detecting a finger touch based on the predetermined signal detected in the N second electrodes respectively; a full-range scanning step of detecting an undetected stylus and deriving positional coordinates of the stylus using at least part of the M first electrodes and at least part of the N second electrodes, wherein the full-range scanning step comprises: a step of detecting the positional coordinates of the stylus using a fewer number of electrodes between the M first electrodes and the N second electrodes; and a step of deriving the positional coordinates of the stylus using a greater number of electrodes between the M first electrodes and the N second electrodes; and a sector scanning step of deriving positional coordinates of a detected stylus using fewer first electrodes than the first electrodes used in the full-range scanning step and fewer second electrodes than the second electrodes used in the full-range scanning step. ### Claim 7 A sensor controller connected to an electrode matrix of M first electrodes extending in a first direction and N second electrodes extending in a second direction different from the first direction, the sensor controller being structured to carry out: a finger touch detecting step of supplying a predetermined signal to the M first electrodes respectively and detecting a finger touch based on the predetermined signal detected in the N second electrodes respectively; a full-range scanning step of detecting an undetected stylus and deriving positional coordinates of the stylus using at least part of the M first electrodes and at least part of the N second electrodes; a sector scanning step of deriving positional coordinates of a detected stylus using fewer first electrodes than the first electrodes used in the full-range scanning step and fewer second electrodes than the second electrodes used in the full-range scanning step; a step, before the full-range scanning step is carried out, of sending a command signal to the stylus using at least all of the M first electrodes or all of the N second electrodes; and a step, before the sector scanning step is carried out, of sending a command signal to the stylus using one or more of the first electrodes and one or more of the second electrodes to be used in the sector scanning step. ### Claim 8 A sensor controller connected to an electrode matrix of M first electrodes extending in a first direction and N second electrodes extending in a second direction different from the first direction, the sensor controller being structured to carry out: a finger touch detecting step of supplying a predetermined signal to the M first electrodes respectively and detecting a finger touch based on the predetermined signal detected in the N second electrodes respectively; a full-range scanning step of detecting an undetected stylus and deriving positional coordinates of the stylus using at least part of the M first electrodes and at least part of the N second electrodes; and a sector scanning step of deriving positional coordinates of a detected stylus using fewer first electrodes than the first electrodes used in the full-range scanning step and fewer second electrodes than the second electrodes used in the full-range scanning step. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The sensor controller according to claim 8, wherein the sector scanning step is carried out using those of the M first electrodes and the N second electrodes which are positioned adjacent to the positional coordinates derived in the full-range scanning step. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The sensor controller according to claim 8, which alternately carries out the finger touch detecting step and a stylus detecting step that detects the stylus; wherein either the full-range scanning step or the sector scanning step is carried out in each instance of the stylus detecting step. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The sensor controller according to claim 8, wherein the finger touch detecting step includes detecting one or more finger touch areas each representing an area touched by a finger, and the sensor controller is structured to further carry out: a determining step of determining whether each of one or more positional coordinates derived in the sector scanning step is included in the one or more finger touch areas detected in the finger touch detecting step; and an invalidating step of invalidating the positional coordinates that are determined to be included in the determining step.