阅读说明：本技术 用于驱动换能器的方法和装置 (Method and apparatus for driving a transducer ) 是由 M·扬科 H·饶 C·L·斯塔尔 胡榮 于 2019-03-19 设计创作，主要内容包括：根据本文所描述的实施方案,提供了用于向换能器提供驱动信号的方法和装置,其中驱动信号由放大器输出。一种方法,包括：接收对驱动信号的电压和电流的指示；基于所述换能器的电气模型以及所述驱动信号的电压和电流,对所述换能器的估计电气响应进行估计,所述估计电气响应代表换能器中质量的移动；将所述估计电气响应与一个期望电气响应进行比较；以及,基于所述比较来控制所述驱动信号。(According to embodiments described herein, a method and apparatus are provided for providing a drive signal to a transducer, where the drive signal is output by an amplifier. A method, comprising: receiving an indication of a voltage and a current of a drive signal; estimating an estimated electrical response of the transducer based on the electrical model of the transducer and the voltage and current of the drive signal, the estimated electrical response representing movement of a mass in the transducer; comparing the estimated electrical response to an expected electrical response; and controlling the drive signal based on the comparison.)

1. A method for providing a drive signal to a transducer, wherein the drive signal is output by an amplifier, the method comprising:

receiving an indication of a voltage and a current of a drive signal;

estimating an estimated electrical response of the transducer based on the electrical model of the transducer and the voltage and current of the drive signal, the estimated electrical response representing movement of a mass in the transducer;

comparing the estimated electrical response to an expected electrical response; and

controlling the drive signal based on the comparison.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of estimating the estimated electrical response of the transducer comprises:

estimating an estimated electrical response of the transducer based on a previous estimated electrical response and a state equation, wherein the state equation is based on an electrical model of the transducer.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

first updating a previous estimated electrical response based on a comparison between the modeled electrical response and the previous estimated electrical response, wherein

Determining the modeled electrical response based on the voltage and current of the drive signal and an electrical model of the transducer.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the state equation comprises one of a kalman filter state equation, a lunberg state equation, and a sliding-mode observer state equation.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the estimated electrical response comprises an estimate of a back-emf voltage in the transducer, wherein the back-emf voltage in the transducer is representative of a velocity of a mass in the transducer.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the desired electrical response comprises a desired back EMF voltage that represents a desired velocity of mass in the transducer.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the estimated electrical response comprises an estimate of an inductor current in the transducer, wherein the inductor current in the transducer represents an offset of mass in the transducer.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the desired electrical response comprises a desired inductor current representing a desired offset of mass in the transducer.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing step comprises:

subtracting the estimated electrical response from the expected electrical response to provide an error signal.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the controlling step comprises:

the drive signal is determined by applying a gain to the error signal.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein the state equation comprises a state transition model for application to a previous estimate of the electrical response, wherein the state transition model comprises an estimate of an internal parameter of an electrical model of the transducer.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the voltage and current of the drive signal are limited by predetermined maximum values.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the desired electrical response is limited by a predetermined maximum inductor current.

14. A controller for controlling a drive signal to a transducer, wherein the drive signal is output by an amplifier, the controller comprising:

an estimation block configured to:

receiving an indication of a voltage and a current of the drive signal; and

estimating an estimated electrical response of the transducer based on an electrical model of the transducer and the voltage and current of the drive signal, the estimated electrical response representing movement of a mass in the transducer; and

a comparison block configured to compare the estimated electrical response to an expected electrical response; wherein the controller is configured to control the drive signal based on the comparison.

15. The controller of claim 14, wherein the estimation block comprises a smooth state estimator configured to:

estimating the estimated electrical response of the transducer based on the previous estimated electrical response and a state equation, wherein the state equation is based on an electrical model of the transducer.

16. The controller of claim 15, further comprising:

a state estimator configured to determine a modeled electrical response based on the voltage and current of the drive signal and an electrical model of the transducer, wherein the smooth state estimator is further configured to:

the previous estimated electrical response is first updated based on a comparison between the modeled electrical response and the previous estimated electrical response.

17. The controller of claim 15, wherein the state equation comprises one of a kalman filter state equation, a lunberg state equation, and a sliding-mode observer state equation.

18. The controller of claim 14, wherein the estimated electrical response comprises an estimate of a back-emf voltage in the transducer, wherein the back-emf voltage in the transducer is representative of a velocity of a mass in the transducer.

19. The controller of claim 18, wherein the desired electrical response comprises a desired back-emf voltage representing a desired velocity of mass in the transducer.

20. The controller of claim 14, wherein the estimated electrical response comprises an estimate of an inductor current in the transducer, wherein the inductor current in the transducer represents an offset of mass in the transducer.

21. The controller of claim 20, wherein the desired electrical response comprises a desired inductor current representing a desired offset of mass in the transducer.

22. The controller of claim 14, wherein the comparison block is configured to:

subtracting the estimated electrical response from the expected electrical response to provide an error signal.

23. The controller of claim 22, wherein the controller is configured to:

the drive signal is determined by applying a gain to the error signal.

24. The controller of claim 15, wherein the state equation comprises a state transition model for application to a previous estimate of the electrical response, wherein the state transition model comprises an estimate of an internal parameter of an electrical model of the transducer.

25. The controller of claim 14, wherein the voltage and current of the drive signal are limited by predetermined maximum values.

26. The controller of claim 21, wherein the desired electrical response is limited by a predetermined maximum inductor current.

27. An electronic device, comprising:

a tactile transducer; and

an integrated circuit, comprising:

an amplifier configured to output a drive signal to the haptic transducer; and

a controller, comprising:

an estimation block configured to receive indications of voltage and current of the drive signal; estimating an estimated electrical response of the transducer based on the electrical model of the transducer and the voltage and current of the drive signal, the estimated electrical response representing movement of mass in the transducer; and

a comparison block configured to compare the estimated electrical response to an expected electrical response; wherein the controller is configured to control the drive signal based on the comparison.

28. The electronic device of claim 27, wherein the device is one of: a portable device; a battery powered device; a computing device; a communication device; a game device; a mobile phone; a personal media player; laptop computing devices, tablet computing devices, and notebook computing devices.

Technical Field

Embodiments described herein relate to methods and apparatus for driving transducers, particularly tactile transducers, such that the acceleration and/or deceleration times of the transducers may be compensated.

Background

A Linear Resonant Actuator (LRA) is a device that can be used to stimulate the vibrotactile sensing system of the human body to induce tactile sensations programmatically. The human tactile system is particularly sensitive to vibrations having frequencies in the range of 100Hz to 400 Hz. The LRA may be used to directly stimulate the haptic system through controlled vibration. These vibrations can be achieved by applying electromechanical power to a small mass held by a spring or a set of springs. The electromechanical force may be induced by applying an input voltage (typically an oscillating input voltage) to the LRA, which may shift the internal mass of the LRA.

The LRA may be designed to have a resonant frequency (F0) in the range of 150Hz to 200 Hz. In most cases, this resonance characteristic implies a relatively large acceleration rise time.

As illustrated in fig. 1a and 1b, after the LRA mass starts moving, removing the input voltage may not stop the motion of the mass immediately. Instead, the mass may continue to oscillate and slowly decay.

FIG. 1a illustrates an example voltage input in a tactile transducer. FIG. 1b illustrates the corresponding response of the tactile transducer to the voltage signal illustrated in FIG. 1 a. As can be seen, the 2V voltage input begins at time 0s, but the haptic transducer cannot reach maximum acceleration until time 0.05 s. Furthermore, when the 2V input is removed at time 0.175s, the acceleration of the tactile transducer begins to decay, but does not reach zero until at least 0.3 s.

Haptic applications may seek to drive the haptic transducer at a frequency close to resonance in order to obtain the highest vibration amplitude (i.e., acceleration) per unit input power. By driving the tactile transducer at the resonance frequency, the application may save energy consumption or may cause a stronger vibration stimulation of the user. Furthermore, in other applications that do not include near-resonance actuation, the resonant frequency of the tactile transducer may still constrain the rise time and the stop time of the response of the tactile transducer.

Thus, it may be beneficial to control the time it takes for the haptic transducer to accelerate and decelerate.

Disclosure of Invention

According to embodiments described herein, there is provided a method for providing a drive signal to a transducer, wherein the drive signal is output by an amplifier. The method comprises the following steps: receiving an indication of a voltage and a current of a drive signal; estimating an estimated electrical response (estimated electrical response) of the transducer based on the electrical model of the transducer and the voltage and current of the drive signal, the estimated electrical response representing movement of mass in the transducer; comparing the estimated electrical response to an expected electrical response; and controlling the drive signal based on the comparison.

According to some embodiments, a controller is provided for controlling a drive signal to a transducer, wherein the drive signal is output by the amplifier. The controller comprises an estimation block configured to: receiving an indication of a voltage and a current of a drive signal; and estimating an estimated electrical response of the transducer, the estimated electrical response being representative of the movement of the mass in the transducer, based on the electrical model of the transducer and the voltage and current of the drive signal. The controller further comprises a comparison block configured to compare the estimated electrical response to an expected electrical response; wherein the controller is configured to control the drive signal based on the comparison.

According to some embodiments, an electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a tactile transducer and an integrated circuit. The integrated circuit includes: an amplifier configured to output a drive signal to a haptic transducer; and, a controller comprising: an estimation block configured to receive indications of the voltage and current of the drive signal and to estimate an estimated electrical response of the transducer based on an electrical model of the transducer and the voltage and current of the drive signal, the estimated electrical response representing movement of a mass in the transducer; a comparison block configured to compare the estimated electrical response to an expected electrical response; wherein the controller is configured to control the drive signal based on the comparison.

Drawings

For a better understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure, and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example only, to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1a illustrates an example input voltage in a haptic transducer;

FIG. 1b illustrates the corresponding response of a haptic transducer to the voltage signal illustrated in FIG. 1a according to the prior art;

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a Linear Resonant Actuator (LRA) modeled as a linear system;

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a Linear Resonant Actuator (LRA) modeled as a purely electrical system;

FIG. 4 illustrates a method for providing a drive voltage V to a haptic transducer 401 according to some embodiments_DEmbodiments of the controller 400;

FIG. 5a is a graph illustrating an embodiment of a desired electrical response in a haptic transducer;

FIG. 5b is a graph illustrating an embodiment of a drive signal for driving a haptic transducer;

FIG. 5c is a graph illustrating an embodiment of an actual electrical response in a tactile transducer;

fig. 5d is a graph illustrating an example of a controlled drive signal for driving a haptic transducer, according to some embodiments;

fig. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing a drive signal to a transducer, according to some embodiments.

Detailed Description

The following description sets forth example embodiments according to the present disclosure. Other exemplary embodiments and implementations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Further, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that a variety of equivalent techniques may be employed in place of or in combination with the embodiments discussed below, and all such equivalents are to be considered as encompassed by the present disclosure.

The various electronic or smart devices may have a transducer, a speaker or any acoustic output transducer, e.g. any transducer for converting a suitable electrical drive signal into an acoustic output (e.g. acoustic pressure waves or mechanical vibrations). For example, many electronic devices may include one or more speakers or microphones for generating sound, e.g., for playback of audio content, voice communication, and/or for providing audible notifications.

Such a speaker or microphone may include an electromagnetic actuator (e.g., a voice coil motor) mechanically coupled to a flexible diaphragm (e.g., a conventional speaker cone) or mechanically coupled to a surface of a device (e.g., a glass screen of a mobile device). Some electronic devices may also include an acoustic output transducer capable of generating ultrasonic waves, for use, for example, in proximity detection type applications and/or machine-to-machine communications.

Many electronic devices may additionally or alternatively include more specialized acoustic output transducers (e.g., tactile transducers) that are customized to generate vibrations to the user for tactile control feedback or notifications. Additionally or alternatively, the electronic device may have a connector (e.g. a socket) for removable mating connection with a corresponding connector of the accessory device, and the electronic device may be arranged to provide an actuation signal to the connector to actuate one or more of the above-mentioned types of transducers of the accessory device when the accessory device is connected. Such an electronic device will therefore comprise a drive circuit for driving the transducer of the host device or the connected accessory by means of a suitable drive signal. For acoustic or tactile transducers, the drive signal will typically be an analog time-varying voltage signal, such as a time-varying waveform.

Fig. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a Linear Resonant Actuator (LRA) modeled as a linear system. The LRA is a non-linear component, and the behavior of the LRA may differ depending on, for example, the applied voltage level, the operating temperature, and the operating frequency. However, under certain conditions, these components can be modeled as linear components. In this embodiment, the LRA is modeled as a third order system with electrical and mechanical components.

Alternatively, the LRA may be modeled as a pure circuit as illustrated in fig. 3, where the parallel connected resistor Res, inductor Les and capacitor Ces represent the mechanical properties of the motion of the moving mass in the LRA. The values of Res, Ces, and Les for each individual tactile transducer can be modeled. For example, the test frequency may be utilized to determine the value of each parameter (Le, Re, Res, Ces, Les) of the model of a particular tactile transducer.

It should be understood that the electrical model illustrated in fig. 3 is one example electrical model, and that other types of models of tactile transducers may be used in the embodiments described herein.

The voltage across the capacitor Ces represents the back-emf voltage V in the transducer_B. This voltage can be modeled as being proportional to the velocity of the moving mass in the transducer. Current through inductor I_LCan be modeled as proportional to the position of the moving mass in the transducer.

It is also possible to use an equation of state to represent the state of the haptic transducer system. This state equation relates the variable value at the future time in the system to the variable value at the current time.

For example, a kalman filter may be used to estimate the state of the system based on previous states in the system.

For example, the state equation of the kalman filter may be illustrated as:

wherein, F_kIncluding a state transition model; x is the number of_k-1|k-1Is an estimate of the posterior state at time k-1 in view of the observations up to and including time k-1; x is the number of_k|k-1Is an a priori state estimate of x at time k in view of observations up to and including time k-1; and, B_kIs applied to the control vector u_kThe control input model.

For the system illustrated in fig. 3, the state equation for the haptic transducer equation (1) may be written as:

wherein the content of the first and second substances,is a vector of the states of the device,is that I, I at time k is represented in view of the observation up to and including time k-1_LAnd V_BA value of (d); and the number of the first and second groups,is a vector of the states of the device,

is representative of I, I at time k-1 in view of the observation up to and including time k-1_LAnd V_BThe value of (c). The values of Le, Re, Les, Res, and Ces can be derived from the electrical model of a particular transducer, and V_INIs the terminal voltage across the tactile transducer.

In this embodiment, the state transition model F_kCan be as follows:

control input model B_KCan be that

In addition, the control vector u_k＝V_IN。

Fig. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a controller 400 for providing a drive signal v (t) to a haptic transducer 401. In this embodiment, the tactile transducer comprises an LRA, however, it is understood that any form of tactile transducer may be utilized and the model of the tactile transducer may be adjusted accordingly.

Can measure the terminal voltage V across the tactile transducer_INAnd a current I. For example, the terminal voltage V may be measured using a voltmeter across the input of the tactile transducer_IN. The current I across the tactile transducer can be measured by measuring the voltage across a shunt resistor on the signal path to the tactile transducer.

The controller 400 comprises an estimation block 402, the estimation block 402 being configured to estimate an estimated electrical response R of the transducer based on the electrical model of the tactile transducer and the voltage and current of the drive signal_ESTThe estimated electrical response R_ESTRepresenting the movement of mass in the transducer. The electrical model may include values of Le, Re, Les, Res, and Ces, as illustrated in fig. 3.

The estimated electrical response of the transducer may be an estimate of the electrical response at time k-1 based on a previous estimate of the electrical response.

For example, estimating the electrical response may include estimating a back electromotive force (EMF) voltage V in the haptic transducer_BWherein the back EMF voltage in the tactile transducer represents the velocity of the mass in the tactile transducer. Alternatively or additionally, estimating the electrical response may include estimating an inductor current I in the transducer_LWherein the inductor current in the transducer represents the shift in mass in the transducer. It should be understood that any electrical response or combination of electrical responses representative of the movement of the moving mass of the tactile transducer may be used.

Including the voltage V to the back EMF in estimating the electrical response_BIn the estimated embodiment, the electrical response at modeled time k-1 can be estimated as:

the estimated electrical response at time k comprises an estimate I of the inductor current_LIn an embodiment, the electrical response at modeled time k-1 may be estimated as:

wherein the back EMF voltage V_BThe calculation was performed as illustrated in equation (5).

Thus, referring to fig. 4, the estimation block 402 may include a state modeling module 403, the state modeling module 403 configured to model or observe the electrical response at time k. The electrical response at time k-1 being modeled may be Z_k-1. Z is shown above in equations (5) and (6)_k-1May be based on current I and voltage V_INIs calculated along with modeled values of Ces, Res, Re, and Le from the electrical model of the tactile transducer.

In other words, the state building block 403 may be configured to determine the modeled electrical response Z based on the voltage and current of the drive signal and the electrical model of the transducer_k-1。

The estimation block 402 may then further include a smooth state estimator (e.g., kalman filter 404) configured to receive the modeled electrical response Z_k-1. It should be understood that any suitable state estimator or state observer system may be used, such as a sliding mode observer or a lunberg observer.

The smoothed state estimator may be configured to estimate the estimated electrical response of the transducer based on a previous estimated electrical response and a state equation (e.g., equation (2)), where the state equation is based on an electrical model of the transducer. Changeable pipeIn other words, the state equations for the smooth state estimator may utilize parameters determined from an electrical model of the transducer. The state equations include a state transition model (e.g., F in equation (2))_k) To be applied to a previous estimate of the electrical response. The state transition model may include an estimation of internal parameters of an electrical model of the transducer.

In particular, the state equations may comprise kalman filter state equations, lunberg state equations or sliding-mode observer state equations, depending on the type of state estimator used.

The kalman filter 404 may be used to improve the estimation process of estimating the electrical response and may mitigate the effects of noisy measurements and parameter mismatches.

The kalman filter 404 may then first update the previous estimated electrical responseThis previous estimated electrical response may be an estimate of the electrical response at time k-1 (in view of the observations up to time k-2). For example, the Kalman filter may be based on the modeled electrical response and a previously estimated electrical response

Comparison between

To update the previous estimated electrical response.

Thus, the updated previous electrical response

Can be as follows:

modeled electrical response Z_k-1An actual current model based on the current measured electrical response of the voltage and current across the transducer may be represented. By combining this response with that of a Kalman filterUpdated estimates at a previous time madeBy comparison, errors in the kalman filter can be corrected. How fast this correction is performed at each stage of the kalman filter (aggregate) can be determined by the kalman gain K_kAnd (5) controlling.

The kalman filter may then predict the estimated electrical response in equation (1)

The equation:

can be used to extract from the variable output measured or estimated by the controller 400. For example, the current I may be measured directly and may be used for enhancement to estimate the back EMF voltage V_BThe model estimator of (1). In this embodiment, the voltage V_BIs a control variable of interest, and may, for example, use a second order estimate (i.e., V)_B＝V_IN-Re I) was estimated. In this embodiment, the inductor current I is neither measured nor estimated_LHowever, in some embodiments, the inductor current I_LCan be used as a control variable and can be estimated as illustrated in equation (6) or using a second order approximation.

The kalman filter 404 may also be tuned to respond with minimal delay and high accuracy in the operating region of the haptic transducer.

Returning to fig. 4, the controller 400 further includes a comparison block 405, the comparison block 405 configured to estimate the electrical response R_ESTWith a desired electrical response R_DA comparison is made. The desired electrical response may, for example, illustrate a desired movement of the tactile transducer 401. Period of timeEmbodiments desiring an electrical response (in this case, the back EMF voltage V is desired_B) Illustrated in fig. 5 a.

The comparison block may, for example, be configured to derive the expected electrical response R from_DSubtracting the estimated electrical response R_EST. The error signal e may then be input into an amplifier 406, thereby generating a drive signal V_D. However, in some embodiments, the error signal is input into amplifier 406 after being processed by processing block 407. For example, the processing block 407 may apply a fixed gain to the error signal e. In addition to or instead of applying a fixed gain and feeding it to the VCO or DCO, the processing block 407 may also include a controller that may smoothly drive the VCO or DCO, for example the processing block 407 may include a proportional, integral and derivative controller (or PID).

For example, the processing block 407 may use a fixed gain, which may correspond to a proportional controller (P). However, the processing block 407 may also use a proportional integral controller (PI) or a proportional derivative controller (PD). The processing block may be selected according to a desired control action (e.g., fast convergence, noise robustness, minimum delay, etc.).

Thus, the controller 400 may control the drive signal V into the transducer based on a comparison between the estimated electrical response and the desired electrical response_D. The drive signal may be related to the terminal voltage, e.g. V_IN＝V_D-Io, where Ro is the impedance of the amplifier.

It should be understood that the controller 400 may be implemented on an integrated circuit forming part of the electronic device. For example, the electronic device may include a haptic transducer coupled to receive a drive signal from an amplifier, as illustrated in fig. 4. The integrated circuit comprising the controller may then control the drive signals, as illustrated in fig. 4.

The electronic device may comprise at least one of: a portable device; a battery powered device; a computing device; a communication device; a game device; a mobile phone; a personal media player; a laptop computing device, a tablet computing device, or a notebook computing device.

Fig. 5a and 5c illustrate example back EMF responses in a haptic transducer. It should be understood that other electrical responses (e.g., inductor current I)_L) May equally be used to control the drive signal as illustrated in fig. 4.

Figure 5a illustrates a desired back EMF voltage, which represents a desired movement of the transducer.

However, if the drive signal does not account for any acceleration or deceleration of the haptic transducer, for example by using the input signal illustrated in fig. 5b to create the back EMF voltage response illustrated in fig. 5a, the back EMF voltage actually generated across the haptic transducer may be as illustrated in fig. 5 c.

In FIG. 5b, at 0.1s, the drive signal V_INIs set to oscillate with an amplitude of 1.5V. This set amplitude is intended to produce a back EMF of 0.2V in the tactile sensor. However, as illustrated in fig. 5c, the haptic transducer in this embodiment actually takes 0.05s for the back EMF voltage (representing the speed of the moving mass in the haptic transducer) amplitude to increase from 0V to 0.2V.

Similarly, at 0.2s in fig. 5b, the amplitude of the drive signal increases to 2.5V. This set amplitude is intended to produce a back EMF voltage of 0.45V. However, as illustrated in fig. 5c, the haptic transducer in this embodiment actually takes 0.05s for the back EMF voltage (representing the speed of the moving mass in the haptic transducer) amplitude to increase from 0V to 0.2V.

However, the drive signal V is derived by using a comparison between the estimated back EMF voltage and the desired back EMF voltage_INFor example, as illustrated in fig. 5d, the generated back EMF may be as illustrated in fig. 5 a. In other words, the desired electrical response or a good estimate of the desired electrical response can be reproduced in the tactile transducer.

As illustrated in fig. 5d, as the desired back EMF voltage is transformed from one value to another, the difference between the estimated back EMF voltage and the desired back EMF voltage becomes larger, and the error signal may spike, for example, at 0.1s, 0.2s, 0.3s, 0.4s, and 0.5 s. These spikes in the error signal are used to generate the input signal V_INWhile causing the tactile transducer to be in the intended transducerRapid acceleration or deceleration occurs when the electrical response changes. These spikes therefore overdrive (over drive) the transducer in one direction or the other, thereby compensating for the rise and fall times illustrated in fig. 5 a.

In some embodiments, the spikes in the error signal may be constrained by the following criteria.

1) It may be desirable for the internal mass to not exceed a predetermined excursion limit to prevent damage to the internal components of the tactile transducer. Since the inductor current represents the offset of the haptic transducer, the desired electrical response (e.g., the desired inductor current) may be limited by a predetermined maximum inductor current.

2) The predetermined maximum voltage and current for the drive signal may also be applied to prevent damage to the internal components of the haptic transducer. Thus, in this embodiment, the voltage and current of the drive signal may be limited by a predetermined maximum value.

Fig. 6 illustrates a method for providing a drive signal to a transducer, wherein the drive signal is output by an amplifier.

In step 601, the method includes receiving an indication of a voltage and a current of a drive signal.

In step 602, the method includes estimating an estimated electrical response of the transducer, which is representative of movement of the mass in the transducer, based on the electrical model of the transducer and the voltage and current of the drive signal. For example, the estimated electrical response may be estimated by a state observer (e.g., a kalman filter), as described with reference to fig. 4.

It should be understood that the electrical response may include any electrical response or combination of electrical responses that represents movement of a moving mass in the tactile transducer. For example, the electrical response may include a back EMF in the tactile transducer, or an inductor current through an inductor in an electrical model of the tactile transducer.

In step 603, the method includes comparing the estimated electrical response to an expected electrical response. For example, the estimated electrical response may be subtracted from the expected electrical response.

In step 604, the method includes controlling the drive signal based on the comparison.

Methods and apparatus for accurately controlling mass movement inside a haptic transducer are described. In particular, the methods described herein utilize a smooth state estimator, such as a kalman filter, to provide an estimate of the state of the tactile transducer that is representative of the electrical response of the movement of the tactile transducer. This estimate may then be compared to an expected electrical response to control the drive signal applied to the haptic transducer.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. The word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed in a claim, "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality, and a single feature or other unit may fulfil the functions of several units listed in a claim. Any reference signs or references in the claims shall not be construed as limiting the scope of said claims. Terms such as amplification or gain include the possibility of applying a scaling factor of less than 1 to the signal.

Of course, it should be understood that the various embodiments of the analog conditioning circuit as described above, or various blocks or portions thereof, may be co-integrated with other blocks or portions thereof, or with other functions of the host device, on an integrated circuit such as a smart codec.

Accordingly, those skilled in the art will recognize that some aspects of the apparatus and methods described above may be embodied as processor control code, for example, on a non-volatile carrier medium such as a magnetic disk, CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, programmed memory such as read only memory (firmware), or on a data carrier such as an optical or electrical signal carrier. For many applications, embodiments of the invention will be implemented on a DSP (digital signal processor), an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), or an FPGA (field programmable gate array). The code may thus comprise conventional program code or microcode or, for example, for setting up or controllingCode for making an ASIC or FPGA. The code may also include code for dynamically configuring a reconfigurable device, such as a re-programmable array of logic gates. Similarly, code may be included for a hardware description language (such as Verilog)^TMOr VHDL (very high speed integrated circuit hardware description language)). As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, code may be distributed among a plurality of coupled components in communication with each other. The embodiments may also be implemented using code running on a field-programmable (re) programmable analog array or similar device to configure analog hardware, where appropriate.

It should be understood that various operations described herein, particularly with respect to the figures, may be performed by other circuits or other hardware components, as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art with the benefit of this disclosure. The order in which each operation of a given method is performed can be varied, and various elements of the systems illustrated herein can be added, reordered, combined, omitted, modified, etc. It is intended that the present disclosure includes all such modifications and alterations and, accordingly, the above description should be taken as illustrative and not restrictive.

Similarly, while the present disclosure makes reference to particular embodiments, certain modifications and changes may be made to those embodiments without departing from the scope and coverage of the present disclosure. Moreover, no benefit, advantage, or solution to the problem described herein with respect to a particular embodiment is intended to be construed as a critical, required, or essential feature of the element.

Likewise, other embodiments having the benefit of this disclosure will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and such embodiments are to be considered as encompassed herein.