基于基阵特性提高声发射频次的方法研究

针对传统的多波束探测效率低等问题,提出了一种利用栅瓣来提高声发射频次的方法.在设计发射波束形成的基阵时,为了防止由于阵元间距过大产生栅瓣,通常采用密排阵的方式来规避栅瓣现象,但这样又会增加发射机的复杂程度.然而,栅瓣的存在也有其本身可以利用的价值.本文利用MATLAB对发射波束形成的方向图进行了仿真分析,总结了在不同基阵条件下主瓣和栅瓣的变化规律.介绍了利用线列阵同时向两个不同方向发射波束的方法,并利用加权法对阵列特性进行了优化.     

二维MUSIC近场被动定位方法

介绍了一种高精度的近场被动定位方法——二维MUSIC被动定位方法。它是一种在距离和方位上进行二维联合搜索的高精度被动定位方法。将MUSIC（多重信号分类）算法与近场聚焦波束形成方法相结合,能大大提高对近场目标的定位精度。先推导了基于均匀线列阵的二维MUSIC近场被动定位方法的定位原理,通过仿真比较了二维MUSIC被动定位方法与常规聚焦波束形成的定位性能,仿真表明,二维MUSIC被动定位方法的定位性能要明显高于常规的聚焦波束形成被动定位方法。并仿真了该方法在不同的阵元间距以及不同的目标距离时的定位性能,验证了该方法的可行性和有效性。     

圆环形阵列理论最优指向性研究

0引言超指向性波束形成方法能获得比常规方法更好的指向性。文献[1]已经证明,当阵元间距无穷小时,M元端射直线阵的指向性因子能达到2M,即所谓的2M规律,可见超指向性的巨大潜力。对于实际中常用的圆环形阵列,文献[2]给出了高阶超指向性的精确闭式解,指出最优波束和最大指向性因子都可以分别表达为各阶特征波束及其指向性因子叠加和的形式,并且高阶特征波束指向性高而稳健性差。对于指向性因子,文献[2]数值计算了半径波长比趋于0时各阶特征波束所能达到的极大值。     

稳健的波束优化设计及FPGA实现

在分析二阶锥规划(Second-Order Cone Programming,SOCP)算法的基础上,设计了声呐阵列并采用SOCP方法对其波束图进行了优化;根据SOCP的波束优化设计方法,设计了基于FPGA的16元均匀圆阵的波束形成器。目的在于提高波束优化设计的稳健性以及信号处理系统的运算实时性、运算精度等。对FPGA波束形成器的仿真性能进行了分析,主要分析了以下两个方面:首先分析了当权值位数不同时对波束形成器输出的影响,其次分析了波束优化设计方法的抗阵列流形误差的性能。仿真设计结果和实验表明本文方法的有效性。二阶锥波束优化设计的波束图有着良好的稳健性,采用12位权值的FPGA波束形成器,抗阵元位置误差性能也比较好。     

一种利于工程应用的快速反卷积波束形成方法

针对传统的反卷积波束形成算法在处理宽带随机信号时计算量过大的问题,给出了一种利于工程应用的快速反卷积波束形成方法。利用不同频率阵列波束图的相似性,将宽带随机信号划分成非等间距的多个窄带,并在每个窄带取一个频率点的点扩散函数(Point Spread Function, PSF)进行反卷积的近似处理,极大地提高了反卷积波束形成的计算速度。通过在波束功率谱上进行边界扩展,解决了因 Richardson-Lucy(R-L)迭代算法带来的边界模糊问题,进一步提高了计算速度。仿真和海试结果表明,该方法相对于常规波束形成具有更高的分辨力、更高的处理增益和更好的旁瓣抑制能力;相对于传统反卷积波束形成计算速度提升了 50%以上。     

基于圆环阵列的声场仿真及校准实验

针对圆环阵列中声波多途效应难以消除的问题,提出了采用不等间距圆环阵列的方法破坏声波各径的相干性来降低旁瓣性能,减少边缘衍射反射的干扰。通过仿真验证不等间距圆环阵列能够有效降低聚焦波束旁瓣,并根据仿真结果设计最佳环形阵列结构。最后,在实验水池中对圆环阵列进行声场校准实验,分别利用脉冲波与连续波在4～8kHz频率下激励换能器阵列工作,结果表明采用脉冲正弦信号激励的方法可在有限空间内准确测量换能器的轴向声压的特性。     

基于高阶次Cross Sensor处理的波束形成方法

为得到鲁棒性、高分辨波束形成,提出了一种高阶次Cross Sensor处理方法。该方法依据阵元间协方差矩阵同一斜对角线上不同元素具有相同相位差的特点,对协方差矩阵进行M阶次Cross Sensor处理后可虚拟出近(2~M-1)(N-1)个虚拟阵元(N为原始阵元数)。虚拟阵元的增加可扩大线阵有效孔径,降低波束形成主瓣宽度,提高方位分辨率。在Cross Sensor处理过程中,该方法对协方差矩阵同一斜对角线上不同元素进行了叠加运算,可进一步削弱噪声对波束形成的影响,提高了波束形成鲁棒性。数值仿真和海上试验结果表明,该方法既能有效降低波束形成主瓣宽度,提高方位分辨率,又可削弱方位历程图干扰背景。相比已有的逆波束形成,该方法具有较好的方位分辨率;相比已有的基于AR模型的高分辨逆波束形成,该方法对最低门限信噪比的要求较低,方位估计均方误差较小。     

非一致性噪声条件下的特征空间波束形成

由于水声环境的复杂性,阵列的噪声分布可能是非一致性的。当阵元噪声功率各不相同时,阵列协方差矩阵特征分解得到的特征子空间与真实目标的特征子空间之间存在误差,导致特征子空间波束形成算法的性能衰减。文章提出了一种新的非一致性噪声条件下特征子空间的估计方法,将阵列协方差矩阵对角线置0,进行特征分解估计的特征子空间将不受阵元噪声非一致性的影响。将该方法应用到特征空间波束形成算法,提高了非一致性噪声条件下特征空间波束形成算法的方位分辨能力。仿真和实验结果验证了所提方法的可行性和有效性。     

阵元失效对克罗内克积波束形成性能的影响

对于一类规则阵型,可以引入克罗内克积提高最小方差无失真响应波束形成器的鲁棒性,同时降低其运算复杂度;然而,对于阵元数较多的规则阵列,阵元失效的可能性大幅增加,当某些阵元失效时,规则阵列不满足克罗内克分解。针对常见阵元失效问题,文章研究了阵元失效的三种情况对最小方差无失真响应波束形成器与克罗内克积自适应波束形成的性能影响。仿真与实验结果证明,信号完全缺失的通道对自适应波束形成器的影响最大,信号重复的通道对自适应波束形成器的影响最小。文章据此提出了一种低复杂度的信号恢复方法,通过使用相邻通道的信号代替信号缺失通道,提升阵元失效情况下的波束形成性能。     

超波束处理方法的快速实现及试验验证

提出了超波束处理方法在主动声纳中的快速实现方法。通过对阵元信号进行下变频降采样,并采用阵元信号先匹配滤波再波束形成的步骤,降低了信号处理的计算复杂度,使超波束处理方法易于在实时信号处理系统上实现。使用湖试数据处理结果验证了实现方法的正确性,并对超波束处理方法的性能进行了比较。     

滤波求和恒定束宽波束形成器设计

文章在深入分析连续阵的恒定束宽波束形成理论基础上，将阵元权系数等效为两级滤波器，第一级只该与基阵的孔径分布有关，第二级只与基阵的维数有关，给出了滤波器的设计方法。通过时域的滤波求和实现恒定束宽波束形成，避免了频域分解，降低了运算量。该方法可用于一维、二维和三维情况，并且适用于任意带宽。基于非均匀线阵的计算机仿真表明该方法的恒定束宽效果是令人满意的。     

Optimization of the Digital Near-Field Beamforming for Underwater 3-D Sonar Imaging System

This paper proposes a novel approximation for the delays of digital near-field beamforming based on a planar array. An optimized algorithm for the underwater 3-D sonar imaging system based on the novel approximation will also be described. The algorithm is applied to both an evenly spaced planar array and an unevenly spaced planar array. A data path for the optimized algorithm will be illustrated. Comparisons of the memory and the computational requirements between the optimized algorithm and the direct method (DM) beamforming will be presented. Comparisons of the proposed approximation and the Fresnel approximation will also be demonstrated. This paper illustrates that the proposed approximation enlarges the validity region of the system's view scene as compared with the Fresnel approximation. The optimized algorithm has the advantage of reducing the memory requirements for parameter storage comparing with DM beamforming.      

A split-aperture transmit beamforming technique with phase coherence grating lobe suppression

A small element-to-element pitch (~.5λ) is conventionally required for phased array ultrasound transducers to avoid large grating lobes. This constraint can introduce many fabrication difficulties, particularly in the development of highfrequency phased arrays at operating frequencies greater than 30 MHz. In this paper, a new transmit beamforming technique along with sign coherence factor (SCF) receive beamforming is proposed to suppress grating lobes in large-pitch phased-array transducers. It is based on splitting the transmit aperture (N elements) into N/K transmit elements and receive beamforming on all N elements to reduce the temporal length of the transmit grating lobe signal. Therefore, the use of synthetic aperture beamforming, which can introduce relative phase distortions between the echoes received over many transmit events, can be avoided. After each transmit-receive event, the received signals are weighted by the calculated SCF to suppress the grating lobes. After pulsing all sub-apertures, the RF signals are added to generate one line of the image. Simulated 2-way radiation patterns for different K values show that grating lobes can be suppressed significantly at different steering angles. Grating lobes can be suppressed by approximately 20 dB with K = 2 at steering angles greater than 25° and an element pitch greater than 0.75λ. A technique for determining the optimal transmit sub-apertures has been developed.     

Fresnel-based beamforming for low-cost portable ultrasound

In this paper, we propose a modified electronic Fresnel-based beamforming method for low-cost portable ultrasound systems. This method uses a unique combination of analog and digital beamforming methods. Two versions of Fresnel beamforming are presented in this paper: 4-phase (4 different time delays or phase shifts) and 8-phase (8 different time delays or phase shifts). The advantage of this method is that a system with 4 to 8 transmit channels and 2 receive channels with a network of switches can be used to focus an array with 64 to 128 elements. The simulation and experimental results show that Fresnel beamforming image quality is comparable to traditional delay-and-sum (DAS) beamforming in terms of spatial resolution and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) under certain system parameters. With an f-number of 2 and 50% signal bandwidth, the experimental lateral beamwidths are 0.54, 0.67, and 0.66 mm and the axial pulse lengths are 0.50, 0.51, and 0.50 mm for DAS, 8-phase, and 4-phase Fresnel beamforming, respectively. The experimental CNRs are 4.66, 4.42, and 3.98, respectively. These experimental results are in good agreement with simulation results.     

Nonparametric Dynamic Curve Monitoring

Rapid sequential comparison between the longitudinal pattern of a given subject and a target pattern has become increasingly important in modern scientific research for detecting abnormal activities in many data-rich applications. This article focuses on this problem when observations are collected sequentially with uncorrelated or correlated noise involved. A dynamic monitoring procedure is developed after connecting the curve monitoring problem to curve comparison. Under the framework of generalized likelihood ratio testing, we suggest a new exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) control chart that can accommodate unequally spaced design points. An adaptive parameter selection feature is built in the proposed control chart so that the chart can detect a wide range of longitudinal pattern shifts effectively. To furnish fast computation, recursive formulas are derived for computing the charting statistic. Numerical studies show that the proposed method can deliver a satisfactory performance, and it outperforms existing methods in various cases. An example from the semiconductor manufacturing industry is used for the illustration of its implementation. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.     

Perfectly matched layer in numerical wave propagation: factors that affect its performance

The perfectly matched layer (PML) boundary condition is generally employed to prevent spurious reflections from numerical boundaries in wave propagation methods. However, PML requires additional computational resources. We have examined the performance of the PML by changing the distribution of sampling points and the PML's absorption profile with a view to optimizing the PML's efficiency. We used the collocation method in our study. We found that equally spaced field sampling points give better absorption of beams under both optimal and nonoptimal conditions for low PML widths. At high PML widths, unequally spaced basis points may be equally efficient. The efficiency of various PML absorption profiles, including new ones, has been studied, and we conclude that for better numerical efficiency it is important to choose an appropriate profile.     

Design of wide-band arrays for low side-lobe level beam patterns by simulated annealing

We address the window design problem of linear arrays to be used in wide-band beamforming systems. During last decades, stochastic optimization algorithms have proven to be very efficient in optimal beamforming synthesis, but most research interest has focused on linear and two-dimensional arrays under narrow-band excitation. In the present paper, we introduce a general approach, based on the simulated annealing optimization algorithm, to design uniformly spaced wide-band arrays that generate low side-lobe level beam patterns. The effectiveness of different beam pattern formulations is evaluated within the proposed framework; we also consider three different methods to control the side-lobe level, yielding different array performances. Moreover, we investigate the influence of the frequency bandwidth on the optimized beam patterns.     

矢量水听器阵列虚拟阵元波束形成

在信号频率一定的情况下,常规波束形成方法需要通过增大基阵孔径来提高目标方位的估计精度,但这会受到实际工程应用的限制。在研究矢量水听器波束形成的基础上,提出了基于Taylor级数展开的虚拟阵元波束形成方法。该方法针对有限尺度双十字阵型的矢量水听器基阵,根据已知阵元接收的数据,运用Taylor级数展开方法估计虚拟阵元上的接收数据,使基阵孔径在虚拟意义上得以扩大。从而改善了阵列的波束性能,窄化主瓣和抑制旁瓣,实现了空间分辨率的提高。仿真和试验数据结果证明了该方法的有效性。     

一种改进的CORDIC实时生成加权系数方法

基于现场可编程门阵列实现多波束声呐频域波束形成算法时,通常需要使用坐标旋转数字计算(CoordinateRotation Digital Computer,CORDIC)方法实时生成加权系数,但波束数较多且为宽带信号时会消耗大量硬件资源。文章提出一种改进的基于CORDIC方法实时生成加权系数的方法。通过频点复用处理,多个波束组可共用同一个CORDIC IP核依次实时生成加权系数,降低了87.5%的CORDIC IP核资源消耗;通过引入二维乒乓、用后即抛思想,对存储加权系数的随机存取存储器(Random Access Memory,RAM)基于波束和频点复用进行乒乓处理,可降低97.9%的RAM系数存储空间占用。该改进方法通过多维度复用处理,占用少量RAM存储空间来节省大量CORDICIP核资源,均衡了RAM和CORDIC IP核资源的消耗,具有很好的工程应用价值。