Button-press detection and filtering

This application claims the benefit of priority to Chinese Patent Application Serial No. 201210099872.9, filed on Mar. 30, 2012, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

With the rapid development of portable electronic devices, wire control apparatuses have been developed that can enable users to conveniently operate the electronic devices from an external device, such as a wire control apparatus. For example, users can implement control of music playing, answer a call, control volume, and so on using said external device.

Some buttons are generally provided on the wire control apparatuses to implement different control functions, and the electronic devices identify that a certain button is pressed through the detection of a button-press signal. However, in practical applications, the button-press signal generally contains noise interference signals. In order to accurately perform button-press detection and avoid failure and omission of button-press detection due to the noise interference signals, in normal cases, a customized button-press signal transmitting chip are required on the wire control apparatus with a matching button-press signal receiving chip on the electronic device.

As shown in FIG. 1 , a mobile device, such as the iPod® from Apple Inc., can be provided with a wire control handset. The wire control handset is includes a dedicated digital signal transmitting chip IC 1 configured to identify a pressed button and generate a corresponding digital signal. Similarly, the mobile device can include a dedicated digital signal receiving chip IC 2 configured to receive the digital signal and transmit the digital signal to an audio codec 32 as a control signal. The audio codec 32 can control a left sound channel signal (L_SPKR) and a right sound channel signal (R_SPKR) transmitted to the wire control handset according to a control signal. Failure or omission of button-press detection due to noise interference signals can be avoided using the dedicated digital signal transmitting and receiving chips IC 1 , IC 2 , but the dedicated chips need to be arranged on both the wire control apparatus and the electronic device, which greatly increases the manufacturing cost.

In addition, failure or omission of button-press detection due to noise interference signals can be avoided by filtering the button-press signal using software, but the filtering requires complex software codes, which increases the processing capacity of codes of an operating system of the electronic device and is not beneficial to the product design.

In certain applications, passgates can be employed to pass a signal between two nodes of an electronic device. For example, a passgate can be used to pass a signal from an electronic device, such as a portable electronic device, to an accessory device connected to the electronic device. Passgates can be used to pass analog signals, such as analog audio signals, between devices. Design criteria for passgate control circuits can influence how well a passgate can pass certain analog signals without introducing distortion and how well a passgate can isolate the two nodes when the passgate is not enabled. Some analog passgates and corresponding passgate controls are made using high-voltage processes such that the passgate and control circuits can withstand reception of higher voltage signals. Such high-voltage devices and processes to make such devices can add costs to products using such devices.

In view of the above, in order to solve the problem in the prior art that the noise interference signals included in the button-press signals need to be eliminated by using a dedicated chip or complex software codes, a button-press detection and filtering method, a related circuit, and a button-press detection chip for an external device is provided.

A filter circuit can be configured to digitally sample a button-press signal, to determine a pressed button according to the sampling result, and to output a digital logic signal corresponding to the pressed button. A button-press detection chip for an external device can include a filter circuit, a digital logic circuit, and an Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) bus. The filter circuit can be configured to digitally sample the button-press signal, to determine the pressed button according to the sampling result, and to output the digital logic signal corresponding to the pressed button to the digital logic circuit. The digital logic circuit is configured to receive the digital logic signal output by the filter circuit, and to transmit the digital logic signal to an audio codec through the I2C bus.

A button-press detection circuit can include a button-press detection chip for an external device and an audio codec. The button-press detection chip for the external device can be configured to receive a button-press signal from a wire control apparatus, to digitally sample the button-press signal through a filter circuit, and to output a digital logic signal corresponding to a pressed button to the audio codec according to the sampling result. The audio codec can be configured to determine a pressed button according to the digital logic signal and to perform a corresponding function.

A button-press detection method can include coupling a button-press signal of a wire control apparatus to a button-press detection chip for an external device. The button-press detection chip for the external device can digitally sample the button-press signal through the filter circuit and can output a digital logic signal corresponding to a button to an audio codec according to the sampling result. The audio codec can determine a pressed button according to the digital logic signal and perform a corresponding function.

A button-press signal filtering method can include digitally sampling a button-press signal from a wire control apparatus to determine the pressed button according to the sampling result and outputting a digital logic signal corresponding to the pressed button.

In an example, a wire control apparatus can be coupled to a button-press detection chip of an electronic device. The button-press detection chip can digitally sample a button-press signal through a filter circuit and can output a digital logic signal, corresponding to a button, to an audio codec according to the sampling result. The audio codec can determine a pressed button according to the digital logic signal and can perform a corresponding function. Further, a filter circuit can be integrated in the button-press detection chip in an external device, which can save spaces on the printed circuit board, reduce the manufacturing cost, and facilitate the product design of the electronic device.

In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numerals may describe similar components in different views. Like numerals having different letter suffixes may represent different instances of similar components. The drawings illustrate generally, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, various embodiments discussed in the present document.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a button-press detection circuit for a wire control handset in the prior art.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a button-press detection circuit implemented by an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a filter circuit when there are three buttons which need detection in a wired-controller according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a button-press detection method implemented by an embodiment of the disclosure.

A wire control apparatus can be coupled to a button-press detection chip for an external device of an electronic device. The button-press detection chip for the external device can digitally sample a button-press signal through a filter circuit and can output a digital logic signal, corresponding to a button, to an audio codec according to the sampling result. The audio codec can determine a pressed button according to the digital logic signal and can performing a corresponding function.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a button-press detection circuit implemented by an embodiment of the disclosure including a button-press detection chip 31 for an external device and an audio codec 32 . The button-press detection chip 31 for the external device is configured to receive a button-press signal from a wire control apparatus, to digitally sample the button-press signal through a filter circuit, and to output a digital logic signal corresponding to a button to the audio codec 32 according to the sampling result.

The audio codec 32 , in FIG. 2 , is configured to determine a pressed button according to the digital logic signal, and perform a corresponding function. The button-press detection chip 31 for the external device includes a filter circuit 311 , a digital logic circuit 312 , and an I2C bus 313 . The filter circuit 311 is configured to digitally sample the button-press signal, to determine the pressed button according to the sampling result, and to output the digital logic signal corresponding to the pressed button to the digital logic circuit 312 . The digital logic circuit 312 is configured to receive the digital logic signal output by the filter circuit, and to transmit the digital logic signal to the audio codec 32 through the I2C bus 313 .

In this example, the button-press detection chip 31 for the external device further includes a microphone switch (Mic_Switch) 314 , configured to transmit an audio signal to the audio codec 32 when a microphone button is pressed. The filter circuit 311 includes a reference voltage providing circuit 3111 , a comparator sampling circuit 3112 , a sampling result register 3113 , and a logic processing circuit 3114 . The reference voltage providing circuit 3111 is configured to provide reference voltages of one or more buttons to the comparator sampling circuit 3112 . The comparator sampling circuit 3112 is provided with one or more comparators, e.g., of which the number equal to the number of the buttons, wherein each of the comparators compares a reference voltage of a respective button with a voltage of a respective button-press signal, and one or more of the comparators triggered by the respective button-press signals transmit respective trigger signals to the sampling result register 3113 .

Specifically, in the comparator sampling circuit 3112 of the example of FIG. 2 , the reference voltage of each of the buttons is coupled to a first signal input of a respective one of the comparators, each of the button-press signals is coupled to a second signal input of a respective one of the comparators, and an output of each of the comparators is coupled to the sampling result register 3113 .

The sampling result register 3113 in the example of FIG. 2 is configured to receive the respective trigger signals output by the one or more of the comparators in the comparator sampling circuit 3112 , to count, at each of output ports, through a respective pulse counter, according to the triggering of the one or more of the comparators, and to transmit the count result at each of the output ports to the logic processing circuit 3114 . The logic processing circuit 3114 is configured to determine the pressed button according to the count result at each of the output ports, and to output the digital logic signal corresponding to the pressed button.

Specifically, in the example of FIG. 2 , the logic processing circuit 3114 inquires an output port at which the count result first reaches a preset threshold, determines the button corresponding to the output port as the pressed button, and outputs the digital logic signal corresponding to the pressed button.

Operational principles of the comparator sampling circuit 3112 , the sampling result register 3113 , and the logic processing circuit 3114 will be further described by way of specific examples hereinafter.

When there are three buttons which need detection in the wire control apparatus, three comparators are provided in the comparator sampling circuit 3112 .

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a filter circuit when there are three buttons which need detection in a wired-controller according to an embodiment of the disclosure. In FIG. 3 , the positive inputs of the three comparators receive reference voltages of the three buttons, respectively. A reference voltage Vref 1 of a first button is received at a positive input of a first comparator CP 1 , a reference voltage Vref 2 of a second button is received at a positive input of a second comparator CP 2 , and a reference voltage Vref 3 of a third button is received at a positive input of a third comparator CP 3 , assuming that Vref 1 is lower than Vref 2 and Vref 2 is lower than Vref 3 . Button-press signals KPS are received at negative inputs of the three comparators. When a voltage of KPS is lower than Vref 1 , all the comparators are triggered and generate trigger signals at a high level to the sampling result register 3113 , which increments the count value of an impulse counter at a first output port Out 1 by 1.

When the voltage of KPS is greater than Vref 1 and lower than Vref 2 , the first comparator CP 1 is not triggered, the second and third comparators CP 2 and CP 3 are triggered and generate trigger signals at a high level to the sampling result register 3113 , which increments the count value of an impulse counter at a second output port Out 2 by 1. When the voltage of KPS is greater than Vref 2 and lower than Vref 3 , the first and second comparators CP 1 and CP 2 are not triggered, the third comparator CP 3 is triggered and generates a trigger signal at a high level to the sampling result register 3113 , which increments the count value of an impulse counter at a second output port Out 3 by 1. When a count result of the pulse counter at the first output port Out 1 first reaches a preset threshold, it is determined that the first button is pressed, and the digital logic circuit 3114 outputs a digital logic signal (for example, 01) corresponding to the first button. When a count result of the pulse counter at the second output port Out 2 first reaches the preset threshold, it is determined that the second button is pressed, and the digital logic circuit 3114 outputs a digital logic signal (for example, 10) corresponding to the second button. When a count result of the pulse counter at the third output port Out 3 first reaches the preset threshold, it is determined that the third button is pressed, and the digital logic circuit 3114 outputs a digital logic signal corresponding to the third button. The preset threshold can be set according to a sampling rate and sampling time of a chip in which the filter circuit is located. For example, the threshold may be 10, 28 and 30, etc. The larger the threshold is, the higher the precision of the button-press detection is.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a button-press detection method implemented by an embodiment of the disclosure. At 101 , the wire control apparatus is coupled to a button-press detection chip for an external device of an electronic device. Here, the button-press detection chip for the external device includes a multi-button detection chip for an audio interface.

At 102 , the button-press detection chip for the external device digitally samples the button-press signal through the filter circuit and outputs a digital logic signal corresponding to a button to an audio codec according to the sampling result.

Specifically, the filter circuit is integrated in the button-press detection chip for the external device, one or more comparators, of which the number is equal to the number of buttons, are provided in the filter circuit, a reference voltage of each of the buttons is received at a first signal input of a respective one of the comparators, a button-press signal is received at a second signal input of each of the comparators, one or more trigger signals are generated when one or more of the comparators are triggered by their respective button-press signals, each pulse counter counts at a respective output port according to the triggering of the one or more of the comparators and the filter circuit determines the pressed button according to the count result at each of the output ports, and digital logic signals corresponding to the respective buttons are output to the digital logic circuit in the button-press detection chip for the external device. The digital logic circuit transmits the digital logic signals to the audio codec through an Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C).

The filter circuit determines the pressed button according to the count result at each of the output ports specifically by inquiring an output port at which the count result first reaches a preset threshold, and determining the button corresponding to the output port as the pressed button.

The implementation of the step will be further described by way of specific examples hereinafter.

In the case that there is only one button which needs detection in the wire control apparatus, one comparator is provided in the filter circuit, a reference voltage of the button is received at a positive input of the comparator, and a button-press signal is received at a negative input of the comparator, wherein when a voltage of the button-press signal at the negative input is lower than the reference voltage at the positive input, the comparator is triggered and generates a trigger signal at a high level, a pulse counter counts at an output port until a count result reaches a preset threshold, then it is determined that the button is pressed, a digital logic signal (for example, 11) corresponding to the button is output, and the digital logic circuit in the button-press detection chip for the external device transmits the digital logic signal to the audio codec through the I2C bus. The preset threshold can be set according to a sampling rate and sampling time of a chip in which the filter circuit is located. For example, the threshold may be 10, 28 and 30, etc. The larger the threshold is, the higher the precision of the button-press detection is.

In the case that there are two buttons which need detection in the wire control apparatus, two comparators are provided in the filter circuit, reference voltages of the two buttons are received at positive inputs of the two comparators, respectively, wherein the first comparator receives a reference voltage Vref 1 of the first button, the second comparator receives a reference voltage Vref 2 of the second button, the values of the Vref 1 and Vref 2 are determined by the resistances serially connected to the first and second buttons. Here, it is assumed that Vref 1 is lower than Vref 2 . Button-press signals are received at negative inputs of the two comparators, wherein when a voltage of the button-press signal is lower than Vref 1 , both the comparators are triggered and generate trigger signals at a high level, and a pulse counter at a first output port is incremented by 1. When the voltage of the button-press signal is greater than Vref 1 and lower than Vref 2 , the first comparator is not triggered, the second comparator is triggered and generates a trigger signal at a high level, and a pulse counter at a second output port is incremented by 1. When a count result of the pulse counter at the first output port first reaches a preset threshold, it is determined that the first button is pressed, and a digital logic signal (for example, 01) corresponding to the first button is output. When a count result of the pulse counter at the second output port first reaches the preset threshold, it is determined that the second button is pressed, and a digital logic signal (for example, 10) corresponding to the second button is output. The digital logic circuit in the button-press detection chip for the external device transmits the digital logic signal to the audio codec through the I2C bus. The preset threshold is usually set according to a sampling rate and sampling time of a chip in which the filter circuit is located. For example, the threshold may be 10, 28 and 30, etc. The larger the threshold is, the higher the precision of the button-press detection is.

In the case that there are three buttons which need detection in a wire control apparatus, three comparators are provided in the filter circuit, reference voltages of the three buttons are received at positive inputs of the three comparators, respectively, wherein, a reference voltage Vref 1 of the first button is received at a positive input of the first comparator, a reference voltage Vref 2 of the second button is received at a positive input of the second comparator, a reference voltage Vref 3 of the third button is received at a positive input of the third comparator, and the values of the Vref 1 , Vref 2 and Vref 3 are determined by the resistances serially connected to the first, second and third buttons. Here, it is assumed that Vref 1 is lower than Vref 2 , and Vref 2 is lower than Vref 3 . Button-press signals are received at negative inputs of the three comparators, wherein when a voltage of the button-press signal is lower than Vref 1 , all the comparators are triggered and generate trigger signals at a high level, and a pulse counter at a first output port is incremented by 1. When the voltage of the button-press signal is greater than Vref 1 and lower than Vref 2 , the first comparator is not triggered, the second and third comparators are triggered and generate trigger signals at a high level, and a pulse counter at a second output port is incremented by 1. When the voltage of the button-press signal is greater than Vref 2 and lower than Vref 3 , the first and second comparators are not triggered, the third comparator is triggered and generates a trigger signal at a high level, and a pulse counter at a third output port is incremented by 1. When a count result of the pulse counter at the first output port first reaches a preset threshold, it is determined that the first button is pressed, and a digital logic signal (for example, 01) corresponding to the first button is output. When a count result of the pulse counter at the second output port first reaches the preset threshold, it is determined that the second button is pressed, and a digital logic signal (for example, 10) corresponding to the second button is output; and when a count result of the pulse counter at the third output port first reaches the preset threshold, it is determined that the third button is pressed, and a digital logic signal (for example, 11) corresponding to the third button is output; and the digital logic circuit in the button-press detection chip for the external device transmits the digital logic signal to the audio codec through the I2C bus. The preset threshold is usually set according to a sampling rate and sampling time of a chip in which the filter circuit is located. For example, the threshold may be 10, 28 and 30, etc. The larger the threshold is, the higher the precision of the button-press detection is.

When there are more than three buttons which need detection in the wire control apparatus, the manner of operation of the filter circuit is similar to that above.

At 103 , the audio codec determines a pressed button according to the digital logic signal and performs a corresponding function.

The embodiment of the disclosure provides a button-press signal filtering method, including digitally sampling a button-press signal from a wire control apparatus, determining the pressed button according to the sampling result, and outputting a digital logic signal corresponding to the pressed button.

The method further includes arranging one or more comparators, of which the number is equal to the number of buttons, receiving a reference voltage of each of the buttons at a first signal input of a respective one of the comparators, receiving a button-press signal at a second signal input of each of the comparators, wherein the digitally sampling the button-press signal, determining the pressed button according to the sampling result, and outputting the digital logic signal corresponding to the pressed button includes each of the comparators compares a reference voltage of a respective button with a voltage of a respective button-press signal, wherein one or more of the comparators triggered by their respective button-press signals generate trigger signals; each pulse counter counts at a respective output port according to the triggering of the one or more of the comparators and the pressed button is determined according to the count result at each of the output ports, and the digital logic signal corresponding to the pressed button is output.

The determining the pressed button according to the count result at each of the output ports includes inquiring an output port at which the count result first reaches a preset threshold and determining the button corresponding to the output port as the pressed button.

With the solution provided the disclosure, a noise interference signal in a button-press signal may be avoided and a pressed button may be accurately detected, without using a dedicated chip or complex software codes in a wire control apparatus and an electronic device. Additionally, a filter circuit is integrated in the button-press detection chip for the external device, which can save spaces on the printed circuit board, reduce the manufacturing cost, and facilitate the product design.

Additional Notes

The above detailed description includes references to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the detailed description. The drawings show, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the invention can be practiced. These embodiments are also referred to herein as “examples.” All publications, patents, and patent documents referred to in this document are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety, as though individually incorporated by reference. In the event of inconsistent usages between this document and those documents so incorporated by reference, the usage in the incorporated reference(s) should be considered supplementary to that of this document; for irreconcilable inconsistencies, the usage in this document controls.

In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patent documents, to include one or more than one, independent of any other instances or usages of “at least one” or “one or more.” In this document, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that “A or B” includes “A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unless otherwise indicated. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and “wherein.” Also, in the following claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are open-ended, that is, a system, device, article, or process that includes elements in addition to those listed after such a term in a claim are still deemed to fall within the scope of that claim. Moreover, in the following claims, the terms “first,” “second,” and “third,” etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.

The above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. In other examples, the above-described examples (or one or more aspects thereof) may be used in combination with each other. Other embodiments can be used, such as by one of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b), to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Also, in the above Detailed Description, various features may be grouped together to streamline the disclosure. This should not be interpreted as intending that an unclaimed disclosed feature is essential to any claim. Rather, inventive subject matter may lie in less than all features of a particular disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.