CN106293184B

CN106293184B - Terminal capable of lateral touch control and touch control method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN106293184B
Application number: CN201510301003.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 江忠胜; 杨坤; 陶钧
Original assignee: Xiaomi Inc
Current assignee: Xiaomi Inc
Priority date: 2015-06-03
Filing date: 2015-06-03
Publication date: 2020-06-02
Anticipated expiration: 2035-06-03
Also published as: CN106293184A

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a terminal capable of lateral touch control and a touch control method thereof, and belongs to the technical field of terminals. A touch screen integrated circuit in the terminal is respectively connected with each signal receiving sensor, the processor and the metal frame; the touch screen integrated circuit continuously outputs excitation signals to the metal frame, when the electric signals received by at least one signal receiving sensor are detected to change, touch events on the metal frame are determined according to the position information of the signal receiving sensor, and the touch events are sent to the processor; and the processor controls the terminal to execute the operation corresponding to the touch event. This is disclosed through being connected touch-sensitive screen integrated circuit and metal frame to through touch-sensitive screen integrated circuit output excitation signal to metal frame in succession, make when taking place touch event on the metal frame, the signal of telecommunication that each signal generation sensor received still can receive the influence of metal frame, thereby make touch-sensitive screen integrated circuit can detect stronger side touch signal, SNR when can improving the side touch.

Description

Terminal capable of lateral touch control and touch control method thereof

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of terminal technologies, and in particular, to a terminal capable of lateral touch and a touch method thereof.

Background

With the rapid development of terminal technology, more and more terminals equipped with a touch screen are appeared, and a user can directly operate such terminals by fingers. In order to improve the operation experience of the user and reasonably utilize the operable interface of the terminal, more and more terminals with touch screens support side touch. On the terminal supporting side touch control, a user can control the terminal to execute certain operation by touching a certain position on the side of the terminal.

In the side-touchable terminal provided in the related art, one or more signal receiving sensors are usually disposed at the side of the terminal, and the signal receiving sensors sense a touch event of a finger of a user and perform an operation corresponding to the touch event.

Disclosure of Invention

The disclosure provides a terminal capable of lateral touch control and a touch control method thereof.

According to a first aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a terminal capable of lateral touch is provided, where the terminal at least includes a processor, a touch screen integrated circuit, a plurality of signal receiving sensors, and a metal frame disposed outside the terminal; wherein:

the touch screen integrated circuit is respectively connected with the metal frame, each signal receiving sensor and the processor, and part of the signal receiving sensors are arranged in the terminal and close to the metal frame;

the touch screen integrated circuit is used for continuously outputting excitation signals to the metal frame, determining touch events on the metal frame according to position information of the signal receiving sensors when detecting that electric signals received by at least one signal receiving sensor in the partial signal receiving sensors are changed, and sending the touch events to the processor;

the processor is used for controlling the terminal to execute the operation corresponding to the touch event.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the metal frame portion surrounds the side edge of the terminal or completely surrounds the side edge of the terminal.

With reference to the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the processor is further configured to obtain an operation corresponding to the touch event according to a preset correspondence between the touch event and the operation, and control the terminal to execute the operation corresponding to the touch event.

With reference to the first aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the touch screen integrated circuit is further configured to determine a touch event on the metal frame according to the position information of the signal receiving sensor when it is detected that a variation amount of an electrical signal received by at least one signal receiving sensor in the partial signal receiving sensors with respect to a reference electrical signal is greater than a preset threshold, and send the touch event to the processor, where the reference electrical signal is an electrical signal received by each signal receiving sensor when no touch event occurs on the metal frame.

With reference to any one possible implementation manner of the first aspect to the third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the terminal further includes a shielding layer, the shielding layer is disposed below the plurality of signal receiving sensors, and the shielding layer is configured to shield a noise signal.

With reference to any one possible implementation manner of the first aspect to the third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the terminal further includes a plurality of signal transmitting sensors, and the plurality of signal transmitting sensors, the plurality of signal receiving sensors, the metal frame, the touch screen integrated circuit, and the processor form a mutual capacitance touch terminal.

According to a second aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for controlling a terminal capable of performing side touch, where the terminal is described in any one of the foregoing first aspect to the fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method includes:

when detecting that the electric signal received by at least one signal receiving sensor changes, determining a touch event on the metal frame according to the position information of the signal receiving sensor;

and executing the operation corresponding to the touch event according to the preset mapping relation between the touch event and the operation.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, before the determining a touch event on the metal bezel, the method further includes:

acquiring the variation of the electric signals received by the signal receiving sensors relative to a reference electric signal, wherein the reference electric signal is the electric signal received by each signal receiving sensor when no touch event occurs on the metal frame;

judging whether the variation is larger than a preset threshold value or not;

and when the variation is larger than a preset threshold value, executing a step of determining a touch event on the metal frame.

With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the operation corresponding to the touch event is at least one of a screen locking operation, an unlocking operation, a volume adjusting operation, or an on/off operation.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can have the following beneficial effects:

the touch screen integrated circuit is connected with the metal frame, and the touch screen integrated circuit continuously outputs excitation signals to the metal frame, so that when a touch event occurs on the metal frame, electric signals received by each signal generation sensor can be influenced by the metal frame, and compared with a scheme that the electric signals received by each signal reception sensor are not influenced by the metal frame, the touch screen integrated circuit can detect strong side touch signals, and the signal-to-noise ratio of the side touch signals can be improved.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a side-touchable terminal according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a change in an electrical signal received by a signal receiving sensor according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a touch method according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a touch method according to an exemplary embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a terminal according to an example embodiment.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, like numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with the present invention. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with certain aspects of the invention, as detailed in the appended claims.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a side-touchable terminal according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in fig. 1, the terminal at least includes a processor 101, a touch screen integrated circuit 102, a plurality of signal receiving sensors 103, and a metal frame 104 disposed outside the terminal.

The touch screen integrated circuit 102 is connected to the metal frame 104, the signal receiving sensors 103 and the processor 101, and a part of the signal receiving sensors 103 is disposed inside the terminal and near the metal frame 104. Under the composition structure, the processor 101, the touch screen integrated circuit 102, the signal receiving sensors 103 and the metal frame 104 are combined into a self-contained touch terminal.

Specifically, the partial signal receiving sensor 103 is disposed inside the terminal near the metal frame 104, which means that a specified distance is formed between the partial signal receiving sensor 103 and the metal frame 104. The specified distance can be set according to the requirements in the terminal layout. As shown in fig. 1, taking the left edge of the metal frame 104 in fig. 1 as an example, the three signal receiving sensors shown on the left side in fig. 1 are partial signal receiving sensors 103, and as can be seen from fig. 1, the partial signal receiving sensors 103 are not in contact with the corresponding metal frame 104. By arranging the metal frame 104 not to contact with part of the signal receiving sensors 103, the part of the signal receiving sensors 103 and the metal frame 104 can be coupled to form a capacitor, and when a touch event occurs on the metal frame 104, the capacitance value of the capacitor is affected, so that the electric signals received by the signal receiving sensors are affected.

In another embodiment, the metal bezel 104 may partially surround the side edges of the terminals or may completely surround the side edges of the terminals. The metal border 104 partially surrounding the side edges of the terminal means that only one, two, or three of the four side edges of the terminal surround the metal border 104, while the other side edges of the terminal do not surround the metal border 104. The metal border 104 completely surrounds the side edges of the terminal end means that the four side edges of the terminal end all surround the metal border 104.

Of course, whether the metal bezel 104 partially surrounds the side edges of the terminals or completely surrounds the side edges of the terminals, the side edges of the terminals surrounded by the metal bezel 104 may leave designated areas that may be used to accommodate hardware keys of the terminals. The hardware keys of the terminal can be a power key, a volume adjusting key and the like. For example, when the metal bezel is surrounded at the upper edge of the terminal, and the power key is further provided at the upper edge of the terminal, the metal bezel 104 may be surrounded on the upper edge in other regions than the power key.

In combination with the above-mentioned structure of the terminal, in the working process of the terminal, the touch screen integrated circuit 102 is configured to continuously output the excitation signal to the metal frame 104, so as to implement charging and discharging of the metal frame 104, and thus the metal frame 104 can be used as a signal emitting sensor. On the basis of the above, the occurrence of a touch event on the metal bezel 104 will affect the electrical signals received by the respective signal receiving sensors 103. The excitation signal may be a square wave signal, a sine wave signal, or the like.

Specifically, when no touch event occurs on the metal bezel 104 of the terminal, the electrical signal received by each signal receiving sensor 103 is a stable electrical signal. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, for convenience of description, when no touch event occurs on the metal bezel 104, the electrical signal received by each signal receiving sensor 103 is referred to as a reference electrical signal. However, because the touch screen integrated circuit 102 is coupled to the metal bezel 104, when a touch event occurs on the metal bezel 104, a portion of the charge in the stimulation signal output by the touch screen integrated circuit 102 is transferred to the touch subject of the touch event. For example, when the touch subject is a user's finger, some of the charge in the stimulation signal output by the touch screen integrated circuit 102 will be transferred to the user's finger. In this case, due to the change of the charge on the touch subject, the electrical signal received by the corresponding at least one signal receiving sensor 103 at the touch position of the touch event will be changed in the portion of the signal receiving sensors 103 disposed inside the terminal near the metal bezel 104.

As shown in fig. 2, a schematic diagram illustrating a change in an electrical signal received by a signal receiving sensor is shown. In the implementation environment shown in fig. 2, a user sends a touch event through a finger, where a first finger signal is an electrical signal received by one signal receiving sensor 103 corresponding to a touch position of the finger when no touch event occurs on the metal bezel 104. The second finger signal is an electrical signal received by the same signal receiving sensor 103 when a touch event occurs on the metal bezel 104. For convenience of comparison, the first finger signal and the second finger signal are shown in parallel in fig. 2, but the first finger signal and the second finger signal are electric signals received by the same signal receiving sensor 103 before and after a touch event occurs on the metal bezel 104. As can be seen from fig. 2, when a touch event occurs on the metal bezel 104, the electrical signal received by the signal receiving sensor 103 changes significantly.

With reference to fig. 1 and the above description, since each signal receiving sensor 103 is connected to the touch screen integrated circuit 102, when an electrical signal received by at least one signal receiving sensor 103 of the signal receiving sensors 103 changes, the touch screen integrated circuit 102 can determine that a touch event occurs on the metal bezel 104. In addition, since a part of the signal receiving sensors 103 is disposed near the metal bezel 104, the touch screen integrated circuit 102 may determine a touch event according to the position information of the part of the signal receiving sensors 103.

The touch event determined by the touch screen integrated circuit 102 may be specifically a touch type and coordinates of a touch position. For example, the touch event is the coordinates of the location touched by the user when clicking on the metal bezel 104. Of course, the touch event may also be just the coordinates of the touch location. The coordinates of the touch position are coordinates of a position touched by an operation given by the touch subject. The touch subject may be a user's finger, a user's palm, or the like. The touch type may be a click operation, a long press operation, a slide operation, or the like. The click operation may be a single click operation or a double click operation.

Further, after the touch screen integrated circuit 102 determines the touch event, in order to trigger the terminal to execute an operation corresponding to the touch event, the touch screen integrated circuit 102 sends the touch event to the processor 101. After receiving the touch event, the processor 101 controls the terminal to execute an operation corresponding to the touch event.

In another embodiment, the processor 101 may preset a corresponding relationship between a touch event and an operation, and on this basis, the processor 101 may obtain an operation corresponding to the touch event according to the preset corresponding relationship between the touch event and the operation, and control the terminal to execute the operation corresponding to the touch event.

Specifically, after receiving the touch event, the processor 101 may query a corresponding relationship between the preset touch event and the operation, regard an operation corresponding to the touch event in the corresponding relationship as an acquired operation, and control the terminal to execute the operation.

For example, when the operation corresponding to the touch event acquired by the processor 101 is an unlocking operation, the processor 101 controls the terminal to unlock. For another example, when the processor 101 acquires that the operation corresponding to the touch event is an operation of lighting up a terminal screen, the processor 101 controls to light up the terminal screen.

In another embodiment, the touch screen integrated circuit 102 is further configured to determine a touch event on the metal bezel 104 according to the position information of the signal receiving sensors 103 when detecting that an amount of change of the electrical signal received by at least one signal receiving sensor 103 of the partial signal receiving sensors 103 with respect to the reference electrical signal is greater than a preset threshold, and send the touch event to the processor 101.

The embodiments of the present disclosure are not particularly limited with respect to specific values of the preset threshold. In general, a touch event causes a greater amount of change in the electrical signal received by the signal receiving sensor than another non-touch event causes a greater amount of change in the electrical signal received by the signal receiving sensor. The non-touch event may be an event due to the terminal being placed in a backpack, a pocket, or the like, due to the terminal being in contact with the backpack or the pocket. Therefore, when it is determined that the variation is greater than the preset threshold, the touch screen integrated circuit 102 determines the touch event according to the position information of the at least one signal receiving sensor 103, and sends the touch event to the processor 101, so that the occurrence of an accidental change of the electrical signal received by the signal receiving sensor 103 due to a non-touch event can be avoided, the accuracy of determining the touch event can be improved, and good operation experience can be brought to a user.

In another embodiment, the terminal further comprises a shielding layer disposed below the plurality of signal receiving sensors 103, the shielding layer for shielding noise signals.

The noise signal may be electrical noise from an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen below the touch screen of the terminal. In addition, the material of the shielding layer includes, but is not limited to, ITO (Indium Tin Oxides). One end of the shielding layer can be grounded to play a role in shielding noise signals.

In another embodiment, the terminal further comprises a plurality of signal emitting sensors. The plurality of signal transmitting sensors, the plurality of signal receiving sensors 103, the metal frame 104, the touch screen integrated circuit 102 and the processor 101 may form a mutual capacitance type touch terminal. In this embodiment, the touch screen integrated circuit 102 also outputs stimulation signals to a plurality of signal emitting sensors. On the basis, the signal emitting sensors and the metal frame 104 jointly determine the magnitude and the variation of the electric signals received by the signal receiving sensors 103.

The terminal provided by the embodiment of the disclosure is connected with the metal frame through the touch screen integrated circuit, and continuously outputs the excitation signal to the metal frame through the touch screen integrated circuit, so that when a touch event occurs on the metal frame, the electric signal received by each signal generation sensor can be influenced by the metal frame.

With reference to the terminal capable of lateral touch provided by the embodiment corresponding to fig. 1 and the above description, fig. 3 is a flowchart of a touch method according to an exemplary embodiment, where the touch method is applied to the terminal capable of lateral touch provided by the embodiment corresponding to fig. 1. As shown in fig. 3, the touch method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure includes the following steps.

In step S301, when it is detected that the electrical signal received by at least one signal receiving sensor changes, a touch event on the metal bezel is determined according to the position information of the signal receiving sensor.

In step S302, according to a preset mapping relationship between the touch event and the operation, an operation corresponding to the touch event is executed.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, when the change of the electric signal received by at least one signal receiving sensor is detected, the touch event on the metal frame is determined according to the position information of the signal receiving sensor, and the operation corresponding to the touch event is executed, so that the method for realizing the touch operation on the side surface of the terminal is realized, the operable interface of the terminal can be reasonably utilized, and brand new user experience can be brought.

In another embodiment, before determining the touch event on the metal bezel, the method further includes:

judging whether the variation is larger than a preset threshold value or not;

and when the variation is larger than a preset threshold, executing the step of determining the touch event on the metal frame.

In another embodiment, the touch event is at least one of a coordinate of a touch location and a touch type.

In another embodiment, the operation corresponding to the touch event is at least one of a screen locking operation, an unlocking operation, a volume adjusting operation or a power on/off operation.

All the above-mentioned optional technical solutions can be combined arbitrarily to form the optional embodiments of the present invention, and are not described herein again.

With reference to the content of the embodiment corresponding to fig. 3, fig. 4 is a flowchart of a touch method according to an exemplary embodiment, where the touch method is applied to the terminal capable of side touch provided by the embodiment corresponding to fig. 1. As shown in fig. 4, the touch method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure includes the following steps.

In step S401, when it is detected that the electrical signal received by at least one signal receiving sensor changes, the amount of change of the electrical signal received by the at least one signal receiving sensor relative to a reference electrical signal is obtained, where the reference electrical signal is the electrical signal received by each signal receiving sensor when no touch event occurs on the metal bezel.

Wherein, the touch event can affect the electric signals received by the signal receiving sensors, and when the electric signals received by at least one signal receiving sensor are changed, the touch event can be determined to occur. The touch event may occur on the touch screen or on the metal bezel. Therefore, when it is detected that the electrical signal received by at least one signal receiving sensor changes, it is necessary to determine which sensors at which positions receive the electrical signal that changes. Specifically, multiple columns or multiple rows of signal receiving sensors are arranged in the terminal, and when a change in the signal received by the signal receiving sensor close to a designated column or a designated row of the metal frame is detected, it can be determined that a touch event occurs on the metal frame. For example, when the metal frame is a vertical frame, the designated column may be a first column close to the metal frame, or a first column and a second column, etc. Of course, whether a touch event occurs on the metal bezel may also be determined in other ways.

In the terminal provided in conjunction with the embodiment corresponding to fig. 1, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the "at least one signal receiving sensor" is a "partial signal receiving sensor" described in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 1, that is, the "at least one signal receiving sensor" is a signal receiving sensor that changes a received electrical signal caused by a touch event occurring on a metal frame, and is not a signal receiving sensor that changes a received electrical signal caused by a touch event occurring in other areas of a terminal screen.

The details of the reference signal have been explained in detail in the content of the embodiment corresponding to fig. 1, and are not described herein again. In addition, the content of this portion has also been stated in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 1, and details are not repeated here, and refer to the content in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 1 specifically.

For example, when a touch event is not detected on the metal frame, the electrical signal received by each signal receiving sensor is a, and when the electrical signal received by any signal receiving sensor after the touch event occurs on the metal frame is B, the variation of the electrical signal received by the signal receiving sensor with respect to the reference electrical signal is B-a.

In step S402, determining whether a variation of the electrical signal received by the at least one signal receiving sensor with respect to the reference signal is greater than a preset threshold, and if the variation is greater than the preset threshold, performing step S303; and when the variation is not larger than the preset threshold, ending the process.

The embodiments of the present disclosure are not particularly limited with respect to specific values of the preset threshold. In specific implementation, the setting can be carried out according to needs.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the reason why it is determined whether the variation amount of the electrical signal received by the at least one signal receiving sensor with respect to the reference electrical signal is larger than the preset threshold value is that the event causing the variation of the electrical signal received by each signal receiving sensor may be some non-touch events in addition to the touch event. For example, when the terminal is placed in a backpack, a pocket, or the like, the terminal may also cause a change in the electrical signal received by at least one of the signal receiving sensors in the signal receiving sensors when the terminal is in contact with the backpack or the pocket, and such an event is a non-touch event. In general, a touch event causes the electrical signal received by the signal receiving sensor to vary by a large amount relative to the reference electrical signal relative to other non-touch events. Therefore, through the step, whether a touch event or some non-touch events caused by accidental factors are detected on the metal frame of the terminal can be accurately determined.

Specifically, when the variation is greater than a preset threshold, it may be determined that a touch event is detected on a metal frame of the terminal; when the variation is not greater than the preset threshold, it may be determined that the variation of the electrical signals received by some of the signal receiving sensors is caused by some non-touch events, and at this time, the terminal may ignore the event and does not perform any operation.

In step S403, a touch event on the metal bezel is determined according to the position information of the signal receiving sensor.

The content of this portion is consistent with the principle that the touch screen integrated circuit 102 determines the touch event on the metal frame according to the position information of the signal receiving sensor in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 1, which can be specifically referred to the content in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 1, and is not described herein again.

In step S404, an operation corresponding to the touch event is obtained according to a preset mapping relationship between the touch event and the operation.

On the basis, the operation corresponding to the touch event can be obtained according to the preset corresponding relationship between the touch event and the operation.

Specifically, the terminal may query a corresponding relationship between the preset touch event and the operation, and use the operation corresponding to the touch event in the corresponding relationship as the acquired operation.

In step S405, an operation corresponding to the touch event is performed.

The embodiment of the present disclosure is not particularly limited with respect to specific content of the operation corresponding to the touch event. In specific implementation, the operation corresponding to the touch event may be an operation that can be executed by any terminal. For example, the operation corresponding to the coordinate is at least one of a screen locking operation, an unlocking operation, a volume adjusting operation or a power on/off operation. The operation of adjusting the volume may be an operation of increasing the volume, or an operation of decreasing the volume. The power on/off operation may be a power on operation, a power off operation, a restart operation, or the like.

For example, when the operation corresponding to the touch event is an unlocking operation, the terminal executes the unlocking operation, so that the screen locking state is switched to the non-screen locking state. For another example, when the operation corresponding to the coordinates of the touch event is a power-on operation, the terminal is switched from the power-off state to the power-on state.

Of course, the operation corresponding to the coordinates may also be an operation of lighting up a terminal screen, an operation of displaying a top page of a desktop, and the like.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, when it is determined that the variation of the electric signal received by the at least one signal receiving sensor relative to the reference electric signal is greater than the preset threshold, the touch event is determined according to the position information of the at least one signal receiving sensor, and the operation corresponding to the touch event is executed, so that the situation that the electric signal received by the signal receiving sensor is changed accidentally due to a non-touch event can be avoided, the accuracy of judging the touch event occurring on the metal frame can be improved, the misoperation can be reduced, and good operation experience can be brought to a user.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram of a terminal 500 according to an exemplary embodiment, where the terminal may be a terminal capable of performing side touch control according to the embodiment corresponding to fig. 1, and may be configured to perform the touch control method according to the embodiment corresponding to fig. 3 or fig. 4. For example, the terminal 500 may be a mobile phone, a computer, a digital broadcast terminal, a messaging device, a game console, a tablet device, a medical device, an exercise device, a personal digital assistant, and the like.

Referring to fig. 5, terminal 500 may include one or more of the following components: processing component 502, memory 505, power component 506, multimedia component 508, audio component 510, I/O (Input/Output) interface 512, sensor component 514, and communication component 516.

The processing component 502 generally controls overall operation of the terminal 500, such as operations associated with display, telephone calls, data communications, camera operations, and recording operations. The processing components 502 may include one or more processors 520 to execute instructions to perform all or a portion of the steps of the methods described above. Further, the processing component 502 can include one or more modules that facilitate interaction between the processing component 502 and other components. For example, the processing component 502 can include a multimedia module to facilitate interaction between the multimedia component 508 and the processing component 502.

The memory 504 is configured to store various types of data to support operations at the terminal 500. Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method operating on terminal 500, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, videos, and so forth. The Memory 504 may be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile Memory device or combination thereof, such as an SRAM (Static Random Access Memory), an EEPROM (Electrically-Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), a PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), a ROM (Read-Only Memory), a magnetic Memory, a flash Memory, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The power components 506 provide power to the various components of the terminal 500. The power components 506 may include a power management system, one or more power sources, and other components associated with generating, managing, and distributing power for the terminal 500.

The multimedia component 508 includes a screen providing an output interface between the terminal 500 and the user. In some embodiments, the screen may include an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and a TP (touch panel). If the screen includes a touch panel, the screen may be implemented as a touch screen to receive an input signal from a user. The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touch, slide, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensor may not only sense the boundary of a touch or slide action, but also detect the duration and pressure associated with the touch or slide operation. In some embodiments, the multimedia component 508 includes a front facing camera and/or a rear facing camera. The front camera and/or the rear camera may receive external multimedia data when the terminal 500 is in an operation mode, such as a photographing mode or a video mode. Each front camera and rear camera may be a fixed optical lens system or have a focal length and optical zoom capability.

The audio component 510 is configured to output and/or input audio signals. For example, the audio component 510 includes a MIC (Microphone) configured to receive external audio signals when the terminal 500 is in an operational mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and a voice recognition mode. The received audio signals may further be stored in the memory 504 or transmitted via the communication component 516. In some embodiments, audio component 510 further includes a speaker for outputting audio signals.

The I/O interface 512 provides an interface between the processing component 502 and peripheral interface modules, which may be keyboards, click wheels, buttons, etc. These buttons may include, but are not limited to: a home button, a volume button, a start button, and a lock button.

The sensor assembly 514 includes one or more sensors for providing various aspects of status assessment for the terminal 500. For example, sensor assembly 514 can detect an open/closed state of terminal 500, relative positioning of components, such as a display and keypad of terminal 500, position changes of terminal 500 or a component of terminal 500, presence or absence of user contact with terminal 500, orientation or acceleration/deceleration of terminal 500, and temperature changes of terminal 500. The sensor assembly 514 may include a proximity sensor configured to detect the presence of a nearby object without any physical contact. The sensor assembly 514 may also include a light sensor, such as a CMOS (Complementary Metal oxide semiconductor) or CCD (Charge-coupled Device) image sensor, for use in imaging applications. In some embodiments, the sensor assembly 514 may also include an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a magnetic sensor, a pressure sensor, or a temperature sensor.

The communication component 516 is configured to facilitate communications between the terminal 500 and other devices in a wired or wireless manner. The terminal 500 may access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as WiFi, 2G or 3G, or a combination thereof. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 516 receives a broadcast signal or broadcast related information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In an exemplary embodiment, the Communication component 516 further includes a Near Field Communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communications. For example, the NFC module may be implemented based on an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology, an IrDA (infrared-Data Association) technology, an UWB (ultra wideband) technology, a BT (Bluetooth) technology, and other technologies.

In an exemplary embodiment, the terminal 500 may be implemented by one or more ASICs (Application specific integrated circuits), DSPs (Digital signal processors), DSPDs (Digital signal processing devices), PLDs (Programmable logic devices), FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate arrays), controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors or other electronic components for performing the touch method provided by the corresponding embodiments of fig. 3 or fig. 4.

In an exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions, such as the memory 504 comprising instructions, executable by the processor 520 of the terminal 500 to perform the above-described method is also provided. For example, the non-transitory computer readable storage medium may be a ROM, a RAM (Random Access Memory), a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory), a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, and the like.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions therein, which when executed by a processor of a terminal, enable a mobile terminal to perform a touch method, the method comprising:

Assuming that the above is the first possible implementation manner, in a second possible implementation manner provided on the basis of the first possible implementation manner, the memory of the terminal further includes instructions for performing the following operations: before determining the touch event on the metal frame, the method further comprises:

judging whether the variation is larger than a preset threshold value or not;

In a third possible implementation manner provided on the basis of the first or second possible implementation manner, the memory of the terminal further includes instructions for performing the following operations: the operation corresponding to the touch event is at least one of screen locking operation, unlocking operation, volume adjusting operation or power on/off operation.

According to the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium provided by the embodiment of the disclosure, when it is detected that an electric signal received by at least one signal receiving sensor changes, a touch event on a metal frame is determined according to position information of the signal receiving sensor, and an operation corresponding to the touch event is executed, so that a method for realizing touch operation on a side surface of a terminal is realized, an operable interface of the terminal can be reasonably utilized, and brand new user experience can be brought.

Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the invention pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements described above and shown in the drawings and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the invention is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A terminal capable of lateral touch control is characterized by at least comprising a processor, a touch screen integrated circuit, a plurality of signal transmitting sensors, a plurality of signal receiving sensors and a metal frame arranged on the outer side of the terminal; wherein:

the touch screen integrated circuit is respectively connected with the metal frame, each signal transmitting sensor, each signal receiving sensor and the processor, part of the signal receiving sensors are arranged in the terminal and close to the metal frame, and the metal frame is a signal transmitting sensor; the signal transmitting sensors, the signal receiving sensors, the metal frame, the touch screen integrated circuit and the processor form a mutual-capacitance touch terminal;

the touch screen integrated circuit is used for continuously outputting excitation signals to the metal frame and outputting the excitation signals to the plurality of signal transmitting sensors, and is used for determining a touch event on the metal frame according to the position information of the signal receiving sensors when detecting that the variation of the electric signals received by at least one signal receiving sensor in the partial signal receiving sensors relative to a reference electric signal is larger than a preset threshold value, and sending the touch event to the processor, wherein the reference electric signal is the electric signal received by each signal receiving sensor when no touch event occurs on the metal frame;

the processor is used for controlling the terminal to execute the operation corresponding to the touch event; the terminal further comprises a shielding layer, wherein the shielding layer is arranged below the signal receiving sensors and used for shielding noise signals.

2. A terminal as claimed in claim 1, wherein the metal bezel portion surrounds a side edge of the terminal or fully surrounds a side edge of the terminal.

3. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain an operation corresponding to the touch event according to a preset correspondence between the touch event and the operation, and control the terminal to execute the operation corresponding to the touch event.

4. A touch method of a side-touchable terminal, the terminal being as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, the method comprising:

when detecting that an electrical signal received by at least one signal receiving sensor changes, acquiring the change amount of the electrical signal received by the signal receiving sensor relative to a reference electrical signal, wherein the reference electrical signal is the electrical signal received by each signal receiving sensor when no touch event occurs on the metal frame;

judging whether the variation is larger than a preset threshold value or not;

when the variation is larger than the preset threshold, determining a touch event on the metal frame according to the position information of the signal receiving sensor;

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the operation corresponding to the touch event is at least one of a screen locking operation, an unlocking operation, a volume adjusting operation or a power on/off operation.