Always-on sensor device for human touch

Abstract

Always-on or nearly always-on sensing of human touch at a device is provided. The sensing is split into a low-power detection stage and a full-power analysis stage, where the detection stage is implemented continually or nearly continually and causes system circuitry to perform analysis of the human touch after the low-power detection stage has confirmed the human touch. The sensing permits avoiding the reliance on physical actuation of a trigger prior to analysis of human touch.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A device, comprising:
 always-on circuitry configured to implement a first stage comprising first operations including:
 detecting touch of a touch sensitive area; 
 predicting that the touch is associated with a human finger based on determining that the touch resulted in a defined frequency response; and 
 in response to the predicting,
 generating a control signal configured to cause a system circuitry to wake-up from a power-off mode or a sleep mode; and 
 sending the control signal to the system circuitry, the system circuitry configured to implement a second stage in response to the control signal, the second stage comprising second operations including: 
 
 analyzing biometric data of a human body associated with the human finger. 
   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the first operations further comprise:
 receiving the biometric data from a biometric sensor communicatively coupled to the always-on circuitry.   
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein the first operations further comprise:
 sending the biometric data to a processor from the always-on circuitry.   
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the second operations further comprise:
 determining, using an outcome of the analyzing, one or more of a blood pressure of the human body or a pulse of the human body.   
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the second operations further comprise:
 determining, using an outcome of the analyzing, one or more of a blood flow parameter of the human body or a blood glucose level of the human body.   
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the second operations further comprise:
 determining, using an outcome of the analyzing, a fingerprint of the human finger.   
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the detecting comprises static capacitive sensing of the touch or dynamic capacitive sensing of the touch. 
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the detecting comprises optical imaging of the touch, ultrasonic imaging of the touch, or pressure sensing of the touch. 
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the always-on circuitry comprises an application specific integrated circuit. 
     
     
         10 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the always-on circuitry comprises a register-transfer level processing circuit. 
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the system circuitry comprises an application processor or a processor of a host device. 
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the always-on circuitry and the system circuitry are configured in a single semiconductor die. 
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the always-on circuitry is configured in a first semiconductor die and the system circuitry is configured in a second semiconductor die. 
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the always-on circuitry and the system circuitry are configured within a mobile device. 
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the always-on circuitry and the system circuitry are configured within a wearable device. 
     
     
         16 . A method, comprising:
 detecting, by an always-on circuitry, touch of a touch sensitive area;   determining, by the always-on circuitry, that there is a probability greater than a defined threshold value that the touch is associated with a human finger based on determining a defined frequency response associated with the touch; and   in response to the determining, performing, by the always-on circuitry, second stage operations comprising determining a fingerprint of a finger that provided the touch.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising analyzing biometric data of a human body associated with the human finger. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the first stage operations further include:
 receiving, by power-on circuitry, biometric data from a biometric sensor communicatively coupled to the always-on circuitry.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the first stage operations further include:
 sending the biometric data to the processor by the always-on circuitry.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 determining, by the system circuitry, using an outcome of the analyzing, one or more of a blood pressure of the human body or a pulse of the human body.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising:
 determining, by the system circuitry, using an outcome of the analyzing, one or more of a blood flow parameter of the human body or a blood glucose level of the human body.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the detecting comprises utilizing static capacitive sensing, utilizing dynamic capacitive sensing, utilizing optical imaging, utilizing acoustic imaging, or utilizing pressure sensing. 
     
     
         23 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage device having executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause a device to perform operations comprising:
 detecting, by an always-on circuitry, touch of a touch sensitive area;   determining, by the always-on circuitry, that there is a probability greater than a defined threshold value that the touch is associated with a human finger based on determining a defined frequency response associated with the touch; and   in response to the determining, performing, by the always-on circuitry, second stage operations comprising determining a fingerprint of a finger that provided the touch.