Control Board
AMT’s PCI control boards available are:
| PenMount PCI Control Board | Sensor Size Supported | Sensing Line Supported | Driving Line Supported | Interface |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PM1100 | 3.5″~4.9″ | 13 | 15 | RS-232 |
| PM1200 | 5″~7.9″ | 15 | 24 | USB, RS-232 |
| PM1201 | 5″~7.9″ | 15 | 24 | USB, RS-232, I2C |
| PM1300 | 8″~10.9″ | 23 | 30 | USB |
| PM1400 | 11″~15″ | 35 | 46 | USB, RS-232, I2C |
The design of PCI control boards can be divided into two categories:
PCI Control Board Solution:
The first approach is to mount control IC on a separate PCB (see below Fig. ). The analog signals will transfer from touch sensor through FPC to the PCB. The firmware in control IC will convert these capacitance data into digital data of touch position. These digital data will be transferred further to host computer via on board serial interface such as USB, SPI, I2C and RS-232C.
Advantages of Control Board design are:
- Higher Design and integration flexibility due to separate control board and touch screen.
- Faster prototyping with lower tooling and production cost.
Attention should be paid to the length and location of FPC so as to prevent the weak analog touch signals from being interfered by external noise. Besides, since the control boards are larger, this control board design is suitable for bigger touch panel with roomy space to accommodate the separate control board.
PenMount provides customers with Multiple control board solutions for projected capacitive touch screen:
- PM1100: to support 3.5″ to 4.9″ projected capacitive touch screen.
- PM1200: to support 5″ to 7.9″ projected capacitive touch screen.
- PM1300: to support 8″ to 10.9″ projected capacitive touch screen.
- PM1400: to support 11″ to 15″ projected capacitive touch screen.
PCI Controller COF Solution:
The second approach is Chip on Flex, which will mount control IC on sensor FPC (see below Fig.). The analog capacitance signal will be converted to digital position data on the FPC. These position data will be transferred to Host computer by the serial interface on FPC (such as USB, SPI, I2C, RS-232C, etc.).
Advantages of COF design are:
- High integration of control IC and sensor requires less space, which is very important in mobile hand-held devices.
- Digital interface is highly immune to noise and requires only small number of circuit, which make long and slim FPC design possible for easy product installation.
- Analog capacitance signal traces of COF FPC are shorter in length to prevent noise interference.
Disadvantages of COF design are:
- MOQ of 10K for COF.
- To have good COF design, the IC package plays a decisive role. COF design isn’t recommended for ICs of QFN or uQFN packages. COF design is also not recommended for ICs of TQFP package if the IC has many pins.
- Failure of individual component (such as sensor or FPC) will cause the entire touch screen to fail after lamination.
For customize COF design, please contact AMT sale for detail.