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EP-3798805-B1 - TOUCHSCREEN WITH BIOSENSOR

EP3798805B1EP 3798805 B1EP3798805 B1EP 3798805B1EP-3798805-B1

Inventors

  • LAWRENCE, SEAN JUDE WILLIAM

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20200619

Claims (7)

  1. An electronic device comprising: a touchscreen (104), wherein the touchscreen (104) includes one or more biosensing areas (106), each biosensing area (106) including: a protective covering (112); drive lines (118); sense lines (120); a photoconductive material (114), wherein the drive lines (118) and the sense lines (120) are at least partially embedded in or surrounded by the photoconductive material (114); and a light source (116), wherein the light source (116) is configured such that, in a biosensing mode, light from the light source (116) reflects off of a user's finger (122) and back towards the protective covering (112) and the photoconductive material (114) and causes a current to flow in a plurality of the drive lines (118) and a plurality of the sense lines (120) a touchscreen engine (108) configured to, in a touchscreen mode, couple with the sense lines (120) and analyze a pattern of voltage changes in the sense lines (120) to detect where on the protective covering (112) a finger (122) touched the protective covering (112), the voltage changes in the sense lines (120) caused by current flowing through the drive lines (118), the current causing a change in capacitance, when the finger touches the protective covering (112); and a biosensor engine (110) configured to, in the biosensing mode, use the current in the plurality of the drive lines (118) and in the plurality of the sense lines (120) to determine biometrics of the user when the user touches at least one of the one or more biosensing areas (106).
  2. The electronic device of Claim 1, wherein the photoconductive material (114) is graphene.
  3. The electronic device of any one of Claims 1 and 2, wherein the biometrics of the user includes photoplethysmogram, PPG, related data.
  4. A method comprising: determining, in a touchscreen mode, a place on a touchscreen (104) of an electronic device of any of the preceding claims where a user touched the touchscreen (104), wherein a pattern of voltage changes in the sense lines (120) is analyzed by the touchscreen engine (108) of the electronic device to detect where on the protective covering (112) a finger (122) touched the protective covering (112), the voltage changes in the sense lines (120) caused by current flowing through drive lines (118), the current causing a change in capacitance, when the finger touches the protective covering (112); and determining, in a biosensing mode, biometrics of the user when the user touches the biosensing area (106), wherein light from the light source (116) reflects off of a user's finger (122) and back towards the protective covering (112) and the photoconductive material (114) and causes a current to flow in a plurality of the drive lines (118) and in a plurality of the sense lines (120), and the current in the plurality of the drive lines (118) and the plurality of the sense lines (120) is used by the biosensor engine (110) to determine biometrics of the user when the user touches at least one of the one or more biosensing areas (106).
  5. The method of Claim 4, wherein the photoconductive material (114) is graphene.
  6. The method of any one of Claims 4 and 5, wherein the biometrics of the user includes photoplethysmogram, PPG, related data.
  7. A system for enabling a touchscreen with a biosensor, the system comprising: one or more processors; an electronic device (102) according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the touchscreen (104) of the electronic device (104) further includes a drive signal source; wherein the touchscreen (104) is configured such that, in a touchscreen mode, the drive signal sources is activated, and the touchscreen engine (108) is configured to cause at least one of the one or more processors to determine the place on the touchscreen (104) where the user touched the touchscreen (104) with the finger (122); and wherein the touchscreen (104) is further configured such that, in a biosensing mode, the drive signal source is deactivated, and the biosensor engine (110) is configured to cause at least one of the one or more processors to determine the biometrics of the user when the user touches the at least one of the one or more biosensing areas (106).

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This disclosure relates to Indian Provisional Application No. 201941039072, entitled "TOUCHSCREEN WITH BIOSENSOR" filed in the Indian Patent Office on September 27, 2019. TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure relates in general to the field of computing, and more particularly, to a touchscreen with one or more biosensors. The invention is defined by the appended independent claims. Further embodiments are defined by the dependent claims. BACKGROUND Some emerging trends in electronic devices include the use of a touchscreen. A touchscreen is a both an input device and an output device and is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. A user can give input or control the information processing system through simple or multi-touch gestures by touching the screen with a special stylus or one or more fingers. The touchscreen enables the user to interact directly with what is displayed, rather than using a mouse, touchpad, or other such devices (other than a stylus, which is optional for most modern touchscreens). Touchscreens are common in devices such as personal computers, smartphones, personal digital assistance, game consoles, etc. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS To provide a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and features and advantages thereof, reference is made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts, in which: FIGURE 1 is a simplified block diagram of a system to enable a touchscreen with one or more biosensors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIGURE 2A is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a system to enable a touchscreen with one or more biosensors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIGURE 2B is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a system to enable a touchscreen with one or more biosensors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIGURE 3A is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a system to enable a touchscreen with one or more biosensors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIGURE 3B is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a system to enable a touchscreen with one or more biosensors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIGURE 3C is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a system to enable a touchscreen with one or more biosensors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIGURE 3D is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a system to enable a touchscreen with one or more biosensors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIGURE 4A is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a system to enable a touchscreen with one or more biosensors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIGURE 4B is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a system to enable a touchscreen with one or more biosensors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIGURE 5A is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a system to enable a touchscreen with one or more biosensors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIGURE 5B is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a system to enable a touchscreen with one or more biosensors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIGURE 6A is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a system to enable a touchscreen with one or more biosensors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIGURE 6B is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a system to enable a touchscreen with one or more biosensors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIGURE 7A is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a system to enable a touchscreen with one or more biosensors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIGURE 7B is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a system to enable a touchscreen with one or more biosensors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;FIGURE 8 is a simplified block diagram of a system to enable a touchscreen with one or more biosensors, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; andFIGURE 9 is a simplified flowchart illustrating potential operations that may be associated with the system in accordance with an embodiment. The FIGURES of the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, as their dimensions can be varied considerably without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS The following detailed description sets forth examples of devices, apparatuses, methods, and systems relating to a touchscreen with one or more biosensors. Features such as structure(s), function(s), and/or characteristic(s), for example, are described with reference to one embodiment as a matter o