Patent ID: 8704797

Claim:
A method, comprising: controlling a touch pad having a plurality of row electrodes transverse to a plurality of column electrodes, the controlling including: executing an object locate mode, the executing of the object locate mode including: determining a plurality of first capacitances between a plurality of pairs of electrodes, each pair of electrodes including one of the row electrodes that overlaps one of the column electrodes; determining a presence of an object within a first distance of the touch pad by comparing each of the first capacitances with a first detection threshold; and determining a position of the object with respect to the touch pad by analyzing the first capacitances; executing a proximity detection mode, the executing of the proximity detection mode including: determining a second capacitance between a first electrode and a second electrode of the touch pad, the first electrode being one of the row electrodes positioned at an edge of the touch pad and the second electrode being one of the column electrodes positioned at the edge of the touch pad; determining a third capacitance between the second electrode and a third electrode that is one of the row electrodes at opposite edge of the touch pad from the first electrode and a fourth capacitance between the third electrode and a fourth electrode that is one of the column electrodes at an opposite edge of the touch pad from the second electrode, and a fifth capacitance between the first electrode and the fourth electrode; and determining the presence of the object within a second distance of the touch pad by comparing the second capacitance with a second detection threshold, the second threshold being different from the first detection threshold.