Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (cmut) multi-touch and slider detection with improved pixel area coverage and ultrasonic feedback by a same pixel array

An ultrasonic touch sensor, comprising:

• a housing having an ultrasound chamber;
• a touch structure arranged over the ultrasound chamber, wherein the touch structure comprises a touch surface having a plurality of sensitive areas configured to receive at least one touch, wherein the touch structure comprises a touch interface at the touch surface, wherein neighboring sensitive areas of the plurality of sensitive areas are contiguous or partially overlapping, and wherein the plurality of sensitive areas includes a plurality of first sensitive areas and a plurality of second sensitive areas interleaved with the plurality of first sensitive areas on a first alternating basis;
• a pixel array of capacitive ultrasonic transducers comprising a plurality of pixels, wherein each pixel of the plurality of pixels includes a respective capacitive ultrasonic transmitter and a respective capacitive ultrasonic receiver, wherein each pixel of the plurality of pixels is configured to monitor for the at least one touch at a respective first sensitive area of the plurality of first sensitive areas and at a respective second sensitive area of the plurality of second sensitive areas, and wherein each pixel of the plurality of pixels is configured to generate a measurement signal that is representative of a first respective ultrasonic reflected wave reflected by the touch interface at the respective first sensitive area or that is representative of a second respective ultrasonic reflected wave reflected by the touch interface at the respective second sensitive area;
• and
• a sensor circuit configured to receive the measurement signal of a respective pixel of the plurality of pixels and determine whether the measurement signal of the respective pixel corresponds to the respective first sensitive area or to the respective second sensitive area of the respective pixel.