Cypress Semiconductor Corp. introduced a new controller in its TrueTouch® Gen5 family that brings the world’s best noise-immunity touchscreen control technology to superphones, smartphones, tablets and e-readers. The TMA568 controller supports writing and drawing with a 2.0-mm-tip passive stylus, enabling touchscreens to capture characters as small as 7 mm. This capability is important for writing in languages that require enhanced character recognition for reliable text input, such as Chinese and Japanese. The controller also adds a palm rejection feature to the Gen5 family that recognizes a user’s palm touching the screen and prevents unintended touch inputs.

Electronic noise from displays and after-market chargers can disrupt a touchscreen’s ability to operate properly. The TrueTouch Gen5 family’s ChargerArmor™ feature delivers unprecedented 40 volt peak-to-peak (Vpp) charger noise immunity measured from 1 to 500 kHz with an ultra-thin 0.5-mm cover lens and a finger-size up to 22 mm—the most stringent specifications used to measure any touchscreen controller. No competing controllers deliver noise immunity over 15 Vpp under these conditions. Along with leading noise performance, the new TMA568 controller delivers superior responsiveness by integrating 58 sense I/Os and 21 parallel receive channels, enabling scanning of the entire panel in a single pass. The controller provides precise tracking of smaller fingers and styluses by allowing for tight spacing of touchscreen sensors, and it supports screens up to 8.3 inches at a 5.0-mm sensor pitch. More information on the new TMA568 controller and an introductory video are available online at touch.cypress.com.

“We specifically designed our new TMA568 controller to deliver the features and performance required for next-generation superphones and tablets,” said John Carey, Senior Director of TrueTouch Marketing at Cypress. “In addition to providing the Gen5 family’s leading charger noise immunity and waterproofing, TMA568 brings precise stylus support, palm rejection and responsiveness to larger size touchscreens.”

With Cypress’s unique and patented DualSense™ technology to execute both self-capacitance and mutual-capacitance measurements in the same device, the Gen5 family offers the industry’s best waterproofing for seamless performance in real-world conditions, including the presence of rain, condensation, or sweat. By combining this powerful architecture with an industry leading 32-bit ARM® Cortex™ M-Core processor that is known for high-efficiency MIPS/mW, the TMA568 controller boasts 120-Hz refresh rates, and averages low power consumption of 12 mW in active mode and 15 uW in deep-sleep mode.

Gen5 controllers drive the touchscreen at 10V and at high frequency with narrow-band, single-pass scanning and advanced hardware DSP filtering. The family’s unmatched noise immunity enables designers of next-generation handsets to implement ultra-thin, display-integrated stackups, including In-Cell, On-Cell, & direct lamination onto a noisy display. The result will be thinner, sleeker end products with a flawless user experience.

Availability and Photo
The new TrueTouch TMA568 controller is now available in volume production for lead customers. The controller is available in a 56-pin 6 mm x 6 mm QFN package and in a 70-ball 5.5 mm x 5.5 mm BGA package. A high-resolution image of the controller is available at www.cypress.com/go/TMA568photo.

Touch Leadership
Cypress’s touch-sensing portfolio is the industry’s broadest and most well-adopted, encompassing TrueTouch, CapSense®, and TrackPad solutions. The company’s IP portfolio is unmatched, including true single-layer sensor solutions for dramatically reduced touchscreen costs and self and mutual capacitance sensing on the same chip that enables advanced features such as waterproofing, proximity sensing, support for 2-mm stylus, and hover.

About TrueTouch
Cypress’s TrueTouch technology provides the industry’s best noise immunity, highest SNR, fastest refresh rates, lowest power consumption, and world’s best accuracy and linearity. The flexible TrueTouch solution allows customers to rapidly develop leading-edge solutions without having to buy turnkey modules. They have a choice of using touch sensors (glass or film) and LCDs from preferred partners, and can develop innovative mechanical designs ranging from flat to curved surfaces of varying thickness. In addition, TrueTouch devices offer Cypress’s legendary noise immunity with patented capacitive sensing technology that enables flawless operation in noisy RF and LCD environments.