基于共轭虚拟阵列的稳健波束形成方法

针对提高阵列天线波束性能问题,本文提出了基于共轭虚拟阵列的信号导向矢量扩展方法.利用共轭虚拟阵元扩展阵列,增大了阵列孔径却不改变实际阵元数,降低了副瓣电平并且不会增加天线制造成本.在虚拟阵列的基础上对信号导向矢量进行扩展,使阵列波束形成效果更加稳健.本文通过在有无干扰以及存在幅度和相位误差情况下对11个阵元阵列天线进行...     

Effects of Broadband Laser Generated Ultrasound on Array Gain

Array gain is a common parameter used in laser phased array research. This paper will present a new parameter called the frequency modulation of laser phased array (FMLPA). The array gain model for laser phased arrays was derived using an assumption that ultrasound from each array member interferes with each other. This would be always true if laser generated ultrasound is narrow band. However, laser generation of ultrasound is broad band. Broad band ultrasound signals have short duration in the time domain. If the time delay between generated wave fronts from each array member is longer than the duration of the broad band ultrasound signal from each array member, the ultrasound signals from each array member will not interfere with each other. The time delay between generated wave fronts from each array member is 0 s at a laser phased array’s beam steering angle and increases away from the beam steering angle. Therefore, ultrasound from each array member always interfere at angles close to the beam steering angle. However, ultrasound from each array member may not interfere at angles away from the beam steering angle depending on the time delay between generated wave fronts and duration of the broad band ultrasound signal. A theoretical model of the FMLPA was developed and experimentally verified for use when ultrasound from each array member does not interfere with each other. It was experimentally verified that current array gain equations still apply when ultrasound from array members interfere with each other. The FMLPA can be used to create new techniques for measuring weld penetration depth, crack location, and dimensions of objects.     

A Simulation Study of the Beam Steering Characteristics for Linear Phased Arrays

Ultrasonic beam steering characteristics for linear phased array transducers are simulated numerically by visualizing the full-field acoustic pressure field of the waves radiated from a linear phased array transducer. The influences of various transducer parameters on the beam steering properties are studied, including number of elements, inter-element spacing, element size, frequency of the transducer and the steering angle. In addition, the effects of these parameters on the near field characteristics are investigated by analyzing the acoustic pressure profile in the steering direction. The simulation results agree well with the analytical solutions which are valid only in the far field. A suggested scheme for optimal transducer design is presented.     

Reconfigurable time-steered array-antenna beam former

We present and analyze a hardware-optimized technique that provides true-time-delay steering for broadband two-dimensional array-antenna applications. The technique improves on previous approaches by the reduction of the two-dimensional beam-former architecture complexity, by the provision of flexibility in time-delay unit selection, and by the potential reduction of optical loss. The technique relies on a one-dimensional bank of time-delay units to form the required time-delay gradient for proper off-broadside angle steering. A reconfigurable optical interconnection fabric is used to reassign dynamically the connections between the time-delay units and individual array elements of a two-dimensional array to effect the proper steering angle along the off-broadside cone.     

基于稳健Capon波束形成的阵形校正

由于受地形、海流和布放方法等的影响,声阵在布放后通常会偏离原定阵形。若直接利用原定阵形作方位估计,则各种高分辨方位估计算法的性能通常会退化甚至失效。因此,为了在实际中应用这些算法,必须对阵元的位置进行校正。RCB(Robust Capon Beamforming)是最近提出的一种稳健自适应波束形成算法,该算法直接对导向矢量进行估计,并用估计的导向矢量作波束形成,从而有效避免了因阵列流形失配而导致的算法性能下降。借用RCB的思想,提出一种新的阵形校正方法,该方法对导向矢量进行估计,然后用估计的导向矢量推导出阵元的位置。湖试结果表明了该校正方法的有效性。     

A parametric study of ultrasonic beam profiles for a linear phased array transducer

A numerical simulation model is presented to investigate the influences of design parameters of linear phased array transducers on beam focusing and steering performance. The characteristic of ultrasonic beam profiles has been simulated on the basis of the Huygen's superposition principle. For the simulation, a linear phased array is considered as the composition of finite number of elements separated by equidistance. Individual elements are considered as two-dimensional point sources. The waves generated from piezoelectric elements are considered as simplified transient ultrasonic waves that are constructed with the cosine function enveloped with a Hanning window. The characteristic of ultrasonic wave propagation into a medium from the phased array transducer is described. The effects of the number, the interelement spacing, steering angle, the focal length, and frequency bandwidth of the piezoelectric elements on beam directivity and ultrasonic pressure field in a linear phased array transducer are systematically discussed.     

Maximum confidence measure-based dual-microphone beamforming direction and beamwidth steering algorithm for robust speech recognition

This paper proposes a maximum confidence measure-based closed-loop dual-microphone beamforming direction and beamwidth steering algorithm to facilitate robust speech recognition. This technique involves feeding back the confidence measure reported through a back-end speech recognizer, automatically steering a front-end microphone array to optimally identify the correct speaker direction and array beamwidth. The technique enables users to move around freely and directly improves overall system performance. The experimental results from a voice command task show that the proposed approach demonstrated superior performance.     

相控阵超声一维阵列系统焦点形态研究

为了有效评价相控阵设备的功能和性能,有效保护国内用户的权益,从如何有效评价相控阵超声设备的角度出发,研究了聚焦深度、偏转角度和阵列孔径等因素变化时对焦点形态的影响.总结出了相控阵超声设备应用中的一些共性特点,为有效可靠地校准相控阵超声设备提供了理论支持.     

空域反转阵导向最小方差波束形成

文章研究了基于空域反转阵（Spatial Reversion Array,SRVA）的导向最小方差（Steered Minimum Variance,STMV）波束形成方法。根据空域反转阵的原理将均匀线阵列的快拍进行空间反转,再与原阵列快拍卷积,得到孔径扩大近一倍的空域反转阵,提高阵列性能。将同样的方法用于构造空域反转阵的导向向量,实现其导向最小方差（SRVA-STMV）波束形成。仿真和海试试验结果表明,相较于常规的STMV波束形成,空域反转阵STMV波束形成能够获得更窄的主瓣、更低的旁瓣、更高的输出信干噪比以及更好的多目标分辨能力。     

Analysis of the ultrasonic field radiated by time-delay cylindrically focused linear arrays

The ultrasonic field at the scanning central plane of a linear array whose driving delays are quadratically varied for cylindrical focusing is studied. An efficient and accurate algorithm based on the classical time domain convolution-impulse response methodology is applied for calculations. The method takes into account the full size of the array elements and does not use any paraxial or far-field approximations. The cases of linear and sector scanning are studied. Patterns of array impulse responses h(A)(x ,t) at selected field zones, including the main propagation axis and the focal line, are described for different steering conditions. In order to facilitate the analysis of h(A)(.) curves, a set of temporal and spatial parameters are defined. In particular, the concepts of "elements" times of arrival vectors" and "virtual aperture" are shown to be helpful in achieving a simple interpretation of array fields. Plots of pressure under wide-band and continuous-wave radiations are also presented and discussed. In particular, several discrepancies with classical approaches are mentioned, as well as other aspects of the focused held such as the location of the point of maximum amplitude, and the lateral deterioration and asymmetries caused by steering.     

Shape calibration of a conformal ultrasound therapy array

A conformal ultrasound phased array prototype with 96 elements was previously calibrated for electronic steering and focusing in a water tank. The procedure for calibrating the shape of this 2D therapy array consists of two steps. First, a least squares triangulation algorithm determines the element coordinates from a 21×21 grid of time delays. The triangulation algorithm also requires temperature measurements to compensate for variations in the speed of sound. Second, a Rayleigh-Sommerfeld formulation of the acoustic radiation integral is aligned to a second grid of measured pressure amplitudes in a least squares sense. This shape calibration procedure, which is applicable to a wide variety of ultrasound phased arrays, was tested on a square array panel consisting of 7-×7-mm elements operating at 617 kHz. The simulated fields generated by an array of 96 equivalent elements are consistent with the measured data, even in the fine structure away from the primary focus and sidelobes. These two calibration steps are sufficient for the simulation model to predict successfully the pressure field generated by this conformal ultrasound phased array prototype     

Shear-wave focusing with a laser-ultrasound phased-array

Pulsed laser arrays have been used to improve the beam parameters of laser generated ultrasound. The focusing and steering of shear-acoustic-wave beams generated by an array of thermoelastic sources has been investigated. A modeling of the impulse diffraction response of a single line source was derived from the point source model (Surface Center Of Expansion) of the thermoelastic source. The acoustic field launched by an array of point- or line-sources has been computed. Experimentally, the impulse response of a line source has been measured by using a heterodyne interferometer. It was shown with a 16-beam YAG laser, that shear-acoustic-wave beams can be focused and steered inside a duraluminum sample with a great efficiency     

基于洛伦兹锥规划的声矢量阵宽容自适应波束形成

针对矢量阵Capon波束形成对阵列误差尤其敏感这一不足,提出了运用洛伦兹锥规划(LCP,Lorentz Cone Pro.gramming)实现导向矢量范数约束来提高波束形成鲁棒性的方法.鉴于矢量水听器声压分量和振速分量对阵列误差敏感程度不同的特点,采用了"双线约束"的策略.将范数约束波束形成转化为LCP形式,通过内点...     

High-speed ultrasound volumetric imaging system. I. Transducer design and beam steering

Transducer design and phased array beam steering are developed for a volumetric ultrasound scanner that enables the 3-D visualization of dynamic structures in real time. The authors describe the design considerations and preliminary evaluation of a high-speed, online volumetric ultrasound imaging system that uses the principles of pulse-echo, phased array scanning with a 2-D array transducer. Several 2-D array designs are analyzed for resolution and main lobe-side lobe ratio by simulation using 2-D fast Fourier transform methods. Fabrication techniques are described for 2-D array transducer. Experimental measurements of pulse-echo point spread responses for 2-D arrays agree with the simulations. Measurements of pulse-echo sensitivity, bandwidth, and crosstalk are included     

A Large-Area PVDF Pyroelectric Sensor for CO 2 Laser Beam Alignment

We present the design of a large-area (50 mm times 50 mm) polyvynilidene fluoride (PVDF) pyroelectric sensor array for industrial CO₂ (lambda = 10.6 mum) laser beam positioning. The array dimensions were chosen to match the area typically monitored in the alignment procedure of external optics (beam steering moving arm system, for example) used to redirect the laser beam from the laser output window to a remote working station. The instrument is provided with a tilted, high reflection, ZnSe plate which partially transmits the laser beam onto the sensor array. From positioning simulations with a Gaussian laser intensity profile with a sigma = 3.2 mm standard deviation (equivalent spot size 3sigma cong 20 mm), the positional accuracy along the two orthogonal array dimensions was found to be better than 0.02 mm for an 8 times 8 array and one order of magnitude higher for a 16 times 16 array. The centroid position of a CO₂ industrial laser beam was evaluated by integrating the pyroelectric current for a time comparable to the time duration (100-200 ms) of the laser pulses used in the alignment procedure.     

Experimental demonstration of an optical phased array antenna for laser space communications

The feasibility of an optical phased array antenna applicable for spaceborne laser communications was experimentally demonstrated. Heterodyne optical phase-locked loops provide for a defined phase relationship between the collimated output beams of three single-mode fibers. In the far field the beams interfere with a measured efficiency of 99%. The main lobe of the interference pattern can be moved by phase shifting the subaperture output beams. The setup permitted agile beam steering within an angular range of 1 mr and a response time of 0.7 ms. We propose an operational optical phased array antenna fed by seven lasers, featuring high transmit power and redundance.     

Theoretical analysis of tuning coherent laser array for several applications

Theoretical analysis for the far-field diffraction of the coherent laser array (CLA) is presented. Based on the theoretical model of the propagation of CLA, the conditions and restrictions for coherent beam combination, two-dimensional steering, and dark-hollow beam generation are theoretically described in detail. With properly organized phase distributions and tilt control, the peak location of the far-field pattern of the CLA could shift two-dimensionally in a large scale of steering angle. With additional amplitude modulation, the far-field pattern could have special shapes. The simulated results agree with the theoretical analysis. It is a feasible way to realize all these applications by a CLA with well-arranged phase distributions and/or additional amplitude modulation.     

一种具有多重稳健性的自适应波束形成算法

由于存在阵元幅相差、期望信号导向矢量误差和数据失配等问题,传统的自适应波束形成算法性能下降,针对这一问题,提出了一种新的对于上述多种误差同时具有稳健性的波束形成算法。该算法以最小二乘恒模算法为基础,结合最优对角加载和协方差矩阵锥消技术,使得算法适用于同时存在多种误差的情况。结果表明,与目前已有的同类算法相比,该算法克服了期望信号信噪比大时算法性能恶化的缺点,具有更好的输出信干噪比,并且通过计算机仿真验证了它的有效性和优越性。     

Focal translation by frequency shift in free space

Variable focusing in range from a transmit array can be accomplished by a frequency shift in an acoustic waveguide. In this paper, a general algorithm is derived in free space that can move the focal spot of a linear transmit array both transversely and horizontally. In particular, for variable range focusing, the prescribed frequency shift is the same for all elements of the array, whereas, for transverse focal shifts, the frequency shift varies with element location in the array. The method described in this paper is especially suitable for varying the location of the focal spot of a time-reversal mirror in the presence of an aberrating layer in that no knowledge of the medium properties is necessary. Simulation results demonstrating the proposed method are presented in comparison with those from a conventional steering method.     

Thinning and weighting of large planar arrays by simulated annealing

Two-dimensional arrays offer the potential for producing three-dimensional acoustic imaging. The major problem is the complexity arising from the large number of elements in such arrays. In this paper, a synthesis method is proposed that is aimed at designing an aperiodic sparse two-dimensional array to be used with a conventional beam-former. The stochastic algorithm of simulated annealing has been utilized to minimize the number of elements necessary to produce a spatial response that meets given requirements. The proposed method is highly innovative, as it can design very large arrays, optimize both positions and weight coefficients, synthesize asymmetric arrays, and generate array configurations that are valid for every steering direction. Several results are presented, showing notable improvements in the array characteristics and performances over those reported in the literature.