Patent ID: 11921548
Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS S.R.L.
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 14:
15. A foldable electronic device comprising:
a first hardware element and a second hardware element configured to move in to a first state and a second state,
the first hardware element including a first electrostatic charge variation sensor having a first electrode, and the second hardware element including a second electrostatic charge variation sensor having a second electrode,
the first electrostatic charge variation sensor configured to measure a change in electrostatic charge detected by the first electrode and induced by a surrounding environment, and generate a first electrostatic charge variation signal indicating the change in electrostatic charge detected by the first electrode,
the second electrostatic charge variation sensor configured to measure a change in electrostatic charge detected by the second electrode and induced by the surrounding environment, and generate a second electrostatic charge variation signal indicating the change in electrostatic charge detected by the second electrode,
the first and second electrodes being in contact with each other when the foldable electronic device is in the first state, being at a distance from each other when the foldable electronic device is in the second state; and

control circuitry, which, in operation:
acquires the first electrostatic charge variation signal and the second electrostatic charge variation signal;
generates a differential signal indicative of a difference between the first and second electrostatic charge variation signals;
generates, as a function of the differential signal, one or more feature signals indicative of respective features of the differential signal; and
generates, as a function of the one or more feature signals, a contact signal which is equal to a value selected from a first value and a second value, the first value being indicative of the second state of the foldable electronic device, the second value being indicative of the first state of the foldable electronic device.