Patent ID: 7728823
Filing Date: 2010-06-01
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A computer system, comprising: a track pad device including a plurality of conductive lines distributed substantially throughout a touch-sensing area, each conductive line having a capacitance that is one of a capacitive coupling capacitance between the conductive line and one or more other conductive lines and a self-capacitance of the conductive line, wherein an object touching, or in close proximity to, the touch-sensing area changes the capacitance of a conductive line, a data acquisition system that acquires a digital value that is a direct indication of the capacitance of each of a plurality of the conductive lines, and a first communication circuit that transmits the digital values aggregated into packets according to a universal serial bus protocol; and a host module including a second communication circuit that receives the digital values, the second communication circuit being operatively coupled to the first communication circuit via a communication path, one or more host processors operatively coupled to the second communication circuit, at least one of the host processors being responsible, at least in part, for executing user-level tasks of a host application, and software executing on at least one of the host processors, the software interpreting the digital values from the track pad device, including calculating movement information of the object touching, or in close proximity to, the touch-sensing area, and making the interpreted data available to the host application for execution as a user-level task.