Product category:
Touchscreens and Touch Sensors
News Release from: Cypress Semiconductor | Subject: CapSense touch screen solution
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 19 July 2007
Touch screen sensors mix capacitive
techniques
Flexible touch screen controller solution addresses growing trend toward touch screen technology in products from mobile handsets to white goods.
Cypress Semiconductor has come up with what it reckons is the industry's most flexible touch screen controller solution, addressing a growing trend toward touch screen technology in products from mobile handsets to white goods Cypress's PSoC CapSense capability supports projected capacitance and surface capacitance technologies across a broad range of screen sizes and types
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 7 Feb 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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The new solution takes advantage of the flexible PSoC mixed-signal array architecture to deliver high-accuracy touch screen performance that is ideal for small screen portable devices including mobile handsets, smartphones, and portable media players, as well as for larger screens required by applications such as games, POS terminals and white goods.
The new PSoC CapSense touch screen solution also offers designers the ability to implement multiple additional functions beyond touch screens.
The same devices can implement capacitive buttons and sliders simultaneously, replacing their mechanical counterparts, as well as proximity sensing.
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Engineers can also take advantage of the PSoC mixed signal array to implement functions beyond CapSense.
Such functions include, driving LEDs, backlight control, motor control, power management, I/O expansion, accelerometers and ambient light sensors.
These functions, in conjunction with flexible communication (I2C and SPI), allow for unparalleled system integration.
"The recent release of the iPhone from Apple is generating tremendous interest in touch screen technology", says Bill Morelli, Mobile Technologies Analyst at IMS Research.
"Cypress's flexible CapSense-based touch-screen technology is well positioned to capitalise on this trend".
Cypress's CapSense touch screen solution is available using projected capacitance and surface capacitance sensing techniques.
Projected capacitance uses an electrostatic field forced above the sensing surface to determine inputs.
This format requires the use of patterned ITO (indium tin oxide) and requires no calibration.
It can sense through thick overlays and supports multi-touch detection and gesturing, making it ideal for small form factor screens.
Surface capacitance uses an electric field created across the screen surface and senses from the four corners to determine location when a user's finger drains charge from the panel.
This format scales up to larger screens well, as the I/O does not change with the size.
"The flexibility of our CapSense solution enables us to deliver capacitive touch screens with high resolution, linearity and accuracy", says Carl Brasek, Business Unit Director for Cypress's CapSense products.
"In addition, we have established regional ITO partnerships to deliver customised touch screen solutions to our global customer base".
The PSoC CapSense touch screen solution is available with the CY8C20x34, CY8C21x34 and CY8C24x94 device families, all of which are in full production.
Both new formats of the solution are supported in the PSoC Designer integrated development environment.
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