Synaptics Announces Groundbreaking InterTouch TouchPad Interface

The combination of InterTouch with Image Sensor-based TouchPads or ClickPads delivers a premium end user experience on x86 Intel and AMD platforms and will support current and future versions of Microsoft Windows, as well as Google Android and ChromeOS.

“Synaptics InterTouch raises the bar on notebook PC interactivity and user experience,” said Tim Bajarin, president and principal analyst at Creative Strategies. “InterTouch is a game-changing interface enabling multi-touch capabilities and performance that OEMs can implement in today’s notebook PCs to enhance the end user experience. Offering a faster pipe from the TouchPad to the CPU is analogous to moving from dial-up to broadband and delivering an enhanced gesture experience on the TouchPad.”

Because Synaptics’ powerful InterTouch solution delivers higher performance by providing more bandwidth and retains legacy support for operating systems and applications, it is the ideal transition technology for OEMs to future proof their motherboard designs. Legacy PS/2 interfaces create data bottlenecks that limit speed and restrain interactivity in a multi-touch world. InterTouch eliminates the restrictions imposed by existing PS/2 communications path, allowing transmission of multi-touch full-time finger tracking information. InterTouch leverages the existing I²C high speed PC interface (common in industry standard notebook PCs) and increases data processing from 10 to 40 times, allowing users to take full advantage of Image Sensor-based TouchPads and ClickPads from Synaptics. InterTouch also leverages the open Register Mapped Interface (RMI) 4.0 communications protocol over standard PC interfaces. It can operate at 100kHz in standard mode, 400kHz in fast mode and provides an open support path to even higher speed on future generation motherboards. InterTouch also enables high speed TouchPad and ClickPad end-user firmware upgrades, from 15 minutes to less than a minute.

“Synaptics InterTouch will open the door to new and more immersive user experiences for notebook users,” said Mark Vena, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Synaptics’ PC Division. “InterTouch is a universal, open interface that can be used with all mainstream operating systems and CPU architectures that will allow PC OEMs to differentiate their notebook PCs through enhanced multi-touch experiences. InterTouch, combined with Synaptics TouchPads and ClickPads that utilize Image Sensing technology, will usher in a new age of end user productivity with notebook users that is simply not achievable with legacy PS/2-based solutions.”

With as few as two additional pins from the motherboard to the TouchPad, BIOS and/or KBC-EC firmware modifications that enables the standards-based “I2C+” protocol, InterTouch supports multi-touch full-time tracking touch operating systems and applications. InterTouch supports both current and future motherboards and offers legacy support to interoperate with PS/2 protocols for true legacy/backwards compatibility.

To accentuate its open standard orientation, InterTouch can operate with the leading motherboards, BIOS, EC/KBCs. Synaptics has prototyped InterTouch with Phoenix Technologies and other PC ecosystem partners to ensure compatibility and integration at the motherboard system level. “InterTouch is a flexible solution that allows OEMs/ODMs to provide higher bandwidth by enabling the BIOS and connections directly to the PC Southbridge or KBC,” said David Everett, Senior VP of Worldwide Field Operations at Phoenix Technologies. “As a leading enabler of these key components in the PC ecosystem, Phoenix offers flexibility in the design, reduced time to market, and the best possible end-user experience, fulfilling our vision of a connected, simple-to-use lifestyle for all-day computing and fun.”

Synaptics is now engaged with leading PC OEMs on notebook designs that feature both TouchPad and ClickPad solutions using InterTouch support. Synaptics anticipates that these notebook designs will be available in the general market in early 2012.