US 11,995,307 B2
Integrated touchscreen and external controller
Patrick Troy Gray, Cedar Park, TX (US); Gerald Dale Morrison, Redmond, WA (US); Daniel Keith Van Ostrand, Leander, TX (US); and Richard Stuart Seger, Jr., Belton, TX (US)
Assigned to SIGMASENSE, LLC., Austin, TX (US)
Filed by SIGMASENSE, LLC., Wilmington, DE (US)
Filed on Jan. 3, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/092,661.
Application 18/092,661 is a continuation of application No. 17/585,885, filed on Jan. 27, 2022, granted, now 11,592,978.
Application 17/585,885 is a continuation of application No. 17/082,616, filed on Oct. 28, 2020, granted, now 11,269,510, issued on Mar. 8, 2022.
Application 17/082,616 is a continuation of application No. 16/131,990, filed on Sep. 14, 2018, granted, now 10,845,985, issued on Nov. 24, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0152959 A1, May 18, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G06F 3/0488 (2022.01); G06F 3/041 (2006.01); G06F 3/044 (2006.01)
CPC G06F 3/0488 (2013.01) [G06F 3/0412 (2013.01); G06F 3/044 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An integrated touchscreen and external controller system, the system comprising:
a plurality of touch sensors implemented within a touchscreen, wherein the touchscreen, when enabled, is configured to generate a first digital signal that is representative of first interaction of a user with a touch sensor of the plurality of touch sensors;
an external controller that includes a plurality of buttons;
a plurality of drive-sense circuits (DSCs) operably coupled to the plurality of buttons, wherein, when enabled, a drive-sense circuit (DSC) of the plurality of DSCs is configured to:
drive a signal via a single line coupling to a button of the plurality of buttons and simultaneously sense, via the single line, change of the signal that is based on second interaction of the user with the button of the plurality of buttons that changes an electric al characteristic of the button of the plurality of buttons; and
process the signal to generate a second digital signal that is representative of the electrical characteristic of the button of the plurality of buttons, wherein the DSC of the plurality of DSCs includes:
a power source circuit operably coupled to the button of the plurality of buttons within the external controller via the single line, wherein, when enabled, the power source circuit is configured to provide the signal that includes an analog signal via the single line coupling to the button of the plurality of buttons, and wherein the analog signal includes at least one of a DC (direct current) component or an oscillating component; and
a power source change detection circuit operably coupled to the power source circuit, wherein, when enabled, the power source change detection circuit is configured to:
detect an effect on the analog signal that is based on the electrical characteristic of the button of the plurality of buttons; and
generate the digital signal that is representative of the electrical characteristic of the button of the plurality of buttons;
memory that stores operational instructions; and
one or more processing modules operably coupled to the memory, the touchscreen, and the DSC of the plurality of DSCs, wherein, when enabled, the one or more processing modules is configured to execute the operational instructions to:
process the first digital signal to detect the first interaction of the user with the touch sensor of the plurality of touch sensors; and
process the second digital signal to detect the second interaction of the user with the button of the plurality of buttons.