Modeling and Design Optimization of Capacitive Touch Sensor Panels

Nowadays, devices with capacitive touch sensors are more and more popular in our daily life. So far, engineers have mostly designed such sensors on a trial-and-error basis. This thesis introduces an efficient and systematic methodology for design, analysis, and optimization of capacitive Touch Sensor Panels (TSPs). It incorporates hybrid quasi-static/circuit simulations and applications of localization algorithms. An approach for optimizing electrode patterns of TSPs is also proposed. Pattern Search (PS) algorithm is applied to search for a TSP electrode pattern that provides high touch response and high localization accuracy. The optimized TSP has been validated by robust measurements using a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) controller. Finally, results obtained from this optimized TSP have been compared with those of TSPs designed before. The end-to-end modeling tool developed in this thesis provides great insights for researchers in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) community.M.A.S