Contact-free interaction with an electronic device

An electronic device configured to detect contact-free interaction, comprising:

• a comparator;
• a reference oscillator directly connected to the comparator and configured to generate a reference data signal having a reference frequency and output the reference data signal directly to the comparator;
• a first antenna located at a first position of the electronic device, wherein the first antenna has a first antenna load having a reactance value based on inductive and capacitive elements of the first antenna, wherein the first antenna load varies in accordance with a location of an object within a sensitive region of the first antenna and a permittivity of the object;
• a first measurement oscillator directly connected to the comparator and the first antenna, wherein the first measurement oscillator is configured to generate a first measurement data signal having a first measurement frequency corresponding to the first antenna load and output the first measurement data signal directly to the comparator, wherein the first antenna is tuned so that the first measurement frequency is substantially the same as the reference frequency when no object is within the sensitivity region of the first antenna and so that the first measurement frequency varies from the reference frequency by an amount that depends on the first antenna load;
• and
• wherein the comparator receives the reference data signal directly from the reference oscillator and receives the first measurement data signal directly from the first measurement oscillator, wherein the comparator determines a difference between the reference frequency and the first measurement frequency, and outputs a first output data signal representing the determined difference which represents a distance of the object from the first antenna.