US 9,088,282 B2 · Proximity sensors with optical and electrical sensing capabilities

Abstract

An electronic device may be provided with a touch screen display that is controlled based on information from a proximity sensor. The proximity sensor may have a light source that emits infrared light and a light detector that detects reflected infrared light. When the electronic device is in the vicinity of a user's head, the proximity sensor may produce data indicative of the presence of the user's head. Variations in proximity sensor output due to user hair color and smudges on the proximity sensor can be accommodated by using an electrical sensing mechanism in addition to the light sensing mechanism. The proximity sensor may include a pair of capacitive electrodes for generating an electric field in the vicinity of the device. The presence of a user's head can sufficiently disturb the electric field so as to produce data indicative of the presence of the user's head.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A method of operating an electronic device having a proximity sensor that includes optical proximity sensor circuitry and electrical proximity sensor circuitry, the method comprising:

with the optical proximity sensor circuitry, gathering optical proximity sensor data by emitting light and detecting corresponding reflected light;
with the electrical proximity sensor circuitry, gathering capacitive proximity sensor data by detecting a change in capacitance;
with the proximity sensor, generating an integrated sensor output signal that includes the optical proximity sensor data and the capacitive proximity sensor data;
and
with signal processing circuitry, extracting only the optical proximity sensor data from the integrated sensor output signal by demodulating the integrated sensor output signal using a first control signal.

2 more elements

A method of operating an electronic device having a proximity sensor and associated signal processing circuitry, comprising:

generating a sensor output signal with the proximity sensor, wherein the sensor output signal comprises a first signal component corresponding to a first component in the proximity sensor that is integrated with a second signal component corresponding to a second component in the proximity sensor;
with the signal processing circuitry, analyzing the sensor output signal to extract the first signal component from the sensor output signal during a first detection mode;
with the signal processing circuitry, analyzing the sensor output signal to extract the second signal component from the sensor output signal during a second detection mode that is different than the first detection mode;
and
after analyzing the sensor output signal to extract the first signal component from the sensor output signal during the first detection mode and before analyzing the sensor output signal to extract the second signal component from the sensor output signal during the second detection mode, switching from the first detection mode to the second detection mode using switching circuitry.

2 more elements

A method of operating an electronic device having a proximity sensor and associated signal processing circuitry, comprising:

generating a sensor output signal with the proximity sensor, wherein the sensor output signal comprises a first signal component corresponding to a first component in the proximity sensor that is integrated with a second signal component corresponding to a second component in the proximity sensor;
with the signal processing circuitry, analyzing the sensor output signal to extract the first signal component from the sensor output signal during a first detection mode;
and
with the signal processing circuitry, analyzing the sensor output signal to extract the second signal component from the sensor output signal during a second detection mode that is different than the first detection mode, wherein the first component comprises optical proximity sensor structures, wherein the second component comprises capacitive proximity sensor structures, wherein the first signal component comprises optical proximity sensor data gathered using the optical proximity sensor structures, wherein the second signal component comprises capacitive proximity sensor data gathered using the capacitive proximity sensor structures, wherein extracting the first signal component comprises extracting the optical proximity sensor data from the sensor output signal, and wherein extracting the second signal component comprises extracting the capacitive proximity sensor data from the sensor output signal.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Proximity sensors with optical and electrical sensing capabilities

Life of this patent

Proximity sensors with optical and electrical sensing capabilities

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims16