Target velocity estimation with FM and PW echo ranging Doppler systems. II. Systems analysis

For part I see ibid., vol.40, no.4, pp.366-372 (1993). In Part I, the encoding of the velocity and range information into the received and demodulated signals based on transmission of coherent repetitive linear sweep signals, was discussed. In the present work, two different implementations of FM Doppler systems that can be used to obtain velocity profiles are presented. The first implementation is similar to the implementation of a conventional pulsed wave (PW) Doppler system, based on measurement of phase shift (correlation based system): the second implementation is a frequency-domain analog to the PW Doppler system, based on time shift measurements (cross correlation-based system).     

A new time-domain narrowband velocity estimation technique for Doppler ultrasound flow imaging. I. Theory

A significant improvement in blood velocity estimation accuracy can be achieved by simultaneously processing both temporal and spatial information obtained from a sample volume. Use of the spatial information becomes especially important when the temporal resolution is limited. By using a two-dimensional sequence of spatially sampled Doppler signal "snapshots" an improved estimate of the Doppler correlation matrix can be formed. Processing Doppler data in this fashion addresses the range-velocity spread nature of the distributed red blood cell target, leading to a significant reduction in spectral speckle. Principal component spectral analysis of the "snapshot" correlation matrix is shown to lead to a new and robust Doppler mode frequency estimator. By processing only the dominant subspace of the Doppler correlation matrix, the Cramer-Rao bounds on the estimation error of target velocity is significantly reduced in comparison to traditional narrowband blood velocity estimation methods and achieves almost the same local accuracy as a wideband estimator. A time-domain solution is given for the velocity estimate using the root-MUSIC algorithm, which makes the new estimator attractive for real-time implementation.     

基于单基元几何交汇法的被动目标测距测速研究

从理论上分析和推导了单传感器测距测速的几何交汇模型,该模型结合二维栅格搜索策略对具有稳定线谱的匀速直线运动目标进行距离和速度的估计。为满足交汇模型的测频精度要求,介绍了对短样本信号进行测频的谱估计法、过零法和Hilbert方法。把多组对应一定特征频率、正横距离、目标速度和信噪比的目标通过信号代入交汇模型进行计算机仿真,相应得出一系列测量误差曲线,分析结果表明,对于一定参数的通过信号该模型可以较精确的估计出目标的正横距离及速度。     

Isomorphism between pulsed-wave Doppler ultrasound anddirection-of-arrival estimation. I. Basic principles

Direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation of signals is an important area of research in sonar and radar signal processing. Over the last few decades, numerous techniques have been developed for high-resolution DOA estimation. In this paper, we show that velocity measurement using pulsed-wave Doppler ultrasound and DOA estimation are isomorphic problems. We discuss a number of DOA methods and their potential application to flow velocity measurement using ultrasound. Wide-band DOA methods are of special interest because the pulses used for Doppler ultrasound are also wide band. These wide-band methods generally involve a preprocessing step to convert wideband signals to narrow band before applying high-resolution techniques. Application of DOA methods to Doppler ultrasound provides tools for high-resolution velocity measurement, identification of multiple velocity components within a sample volume, and clutter rejection     

Signal/noise ratio in laser Doppler velocity measuring system with single-frequency operating mode

Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 1, pp. 32–34, January, 1993.     

Model-based phase velocity and attenuation estimation in wideband ultrasonic measurement systems

A parametric method to estimate frequency-dependent phase velocity and attenuation is presented in this paper. The parametric method is compared with standard nonparametric Fourier analysis techniques using numerical simulations as well as real pulse-echo experiments. Approximate standard deviations are derived for both methods and validated with numerical simulations. Compared to standard Fourier analysis, the parametric model gives considerably lower variance when estimating attenuation and phase velocity. In contrast to nonparametric techniques, the proposed estimator avoids the phase unwrapping problem because analytical expressions for the continuous phase velocity and attenuation can be derived.     

Directional velocity estimation using focusing along the flow direction. I: Theory and simulation

A new method for directional velocity estimation is presented. The method uses beam formation along the flow direction to generate data in which the correct velocity magnitude can be directly estimated from the shift in position of the received consecutive signals. The shift is found by cross-correlating the beamformed lines. The approach can find the velocity in any direction, including transverse to the traditionally emitted ultrasound beam. The velocity estimation is studied through extensive simulations using Field II. A 128-element, 7-MHz linear array is used. A parabolic velocity profile with a peak velocity of 0.5 m/s is simulated for different beam-to-flow angles and for different emit foci. At 45/spl deg/ the relative standard deviation over the profile is 1.6% for a transmit focus at 40 mm. At 90/spl deg/ the approach gave a relative standard deviation of 6.6% with a transmit focus of 80 mm, when using 8 pulse-echo lines and stationary echo canceling. Pulsatile flow in the femoral artery was also simulated using Womersley's flow model. A purely transverse flow profile could be obtained with a relative standard deviation of less than 10% over the whole cardiac cycle using 8 pulse emissions for each imaging direction, which is sufficient to show clinically relevant transverse color flow images.     

A new time-domain narrowband velocity estimation technique for Doppler ultrasound flow imaging. II. Comparative performance assessment

For pt.I see ibid., vol.45, no.4, pp.939-54 (1998). The statistical performance of the new 2-D narrowband time-domain root-MUSIC blood velocity estimator described previously is evaluated using both simulated and flow phantom wideband (50% fractional bandwidth) ultrasonic data. Comparisons are made with the standard 1-D Kasai estimator and two other wideband strategies: the time domain correlator and the wideband point maximum likelihood estimator. A special case of the root-MUSIC, the "spatial" Kasai, is also considered. Simulation and flow phantom results indicate that the root-MUSIC blood velocity estimator displays a superior ability to reconstruct spatial blood velocity information under a wide range of operating conditions. The root-MUSIC mode velocity estimator can be extended to effectively remove the clutter component from the sample volume data. A bimodal velocity estimator is formed by processing the signal subspace spanned by the eigenvectors corresponding to the two largest eigenvalues of the Doppler correlation matrix. To test this scheme, in vivo common carotid flow complex Doppler data was obtained from a commercially available color flow imaging system. Velocity estimates were made using a reduced form of this data corresponding to higher frame rates. The extended root-MUSIC approach was found to produce superior results when compared to both 1- and 2-D Kasai-type estimators that used initialized clutter filters. The results obtained using simulated, flow phantom, and in vivo data suggest that increased sensitivity as well as effective clutter suppression can be achieved using the root-MUSIC technique, and this may be particularly important for wideband high frame rate imaging applications.     

宽带声学多普勒计程仪性能试验分析

宽带声学多普勒计程仪与窄带声学多普勒计程仪相比,具有更高的测速精度和更广泛的应用价值。其中宽带信号的编码形式是提升宽带多普勒计程仪性能的重要因素。文章利用宽带测速的标准差公式分析了宽带多普勒测速精度的误差来源,提出了采用差分全球定位系统（Differential Global Positioning System,DGPS）和iXSEA公司的Octans光纤罗经组合测速参考系统进行测速精度考核的试验方法,分别对63、31和15阶（即码元数）的三种m码形式的编码序列脉冲,在高航速和低航速下,进行了对地和对水的测速考核试验以及数据分析。试验结果表明,宽带声学多普勒计程仪具有比传统计程仪测速精度高、稳定性好的特点。文章为宽带多普勒计程仪在实际应用中的参数选择提供了重要的试验依据。     

A new wideband spread target maximum likelihood estimator for blood velocity estimation. I. Theory

The derivation and theoretical evaluation of new wideband maximum-likelihood strategies for the estimation of blood velocity using acoustic signals are presented. A model for the received signal from blood scatterers, using a train of short wideband pulses, is described. Evaluation of the autocorrelation of the signal based on this model shows that the magnitude, periodicity, and phase of the autocorrelation are affected by the mean scatterer velocity and the presence of a velocity spread target. New velocity estimators are then derived that exploit the effect of the scatterer velocity on both the signal delay and the shift in frequency. The wideband range spread estimator is derived using a statistical model of the target. Based on the point target assumption, a simpler wideband maximum-likelihood estimator is also obtained. These new estimation strategies are analyzed for their local and global performance. Evaluation of the Cramer-Rao bound shows that the bound on the estimator variance is reduced using these estimators, in comparison with narrowband strategies. In order to study global accuracy, the expected estimator output is evaluated, and it is determined that the width of the mainlobe is reduced. In addition, it is shown that the height of subsidiary velocity peaks is reduced through the use of these new estimators.     

Signal spectrum analysis and period estimation by using delayedsignal sampling

The paper describes a signal power spectrum analyzer and a signal period estimator whose bandwidth is not limited by the mean sampling time. The procedure relies on the evaluation of the input signal autocorrelation function in different delayed time instants, located at either equispaced or random time instants. To do this, a recursive random sampling process in the time domain was used in order to avoid any bandwidth limitation due to the sampling strategy in the evaluation of each autocorrelation function. The signal power spectrum as well as its period, provided that an approximate value of the fundamental frequency is known, can finally be evaluated. Some theoretical background and experimental work are reported in the paper for validating the performance of the method     

Model-based estimation of ultrasonic echoes. Part I: analysis and algorithms

The patterns of ultrasonic backscattered echoes represent valuable information pertaining to the geometric shape, size, and orientation of the reflectors as well as the microstructure of the propagation path. Accurate estimation of the ultrasonic echo pattern is essential in determining the object/propagation path properties. In this study, we model ultrasonic backscattered echoes in terms of superimposed Gaussian echoes corrupted by noise. Each Gaussian echo in the model is a nonlinear function of a set of parameters: echo bandwidth, arrival time, center frequency, amplitude, and phase. These parameters are sensitive to the echo shape and can be linked to the physical properties of reflectors and frequency characteristics of the propagation path. We address the estimation of these parameters using the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) principle, assuming that all of the parameters describing the shape of the echo are unknown but deterministic. In cases for which noise is characterized as white Gaussian, the MLE problem simplifies to a least squares (LS) estimation problem. The iterative LS optimization algorithms when applied to superimposed echoes suffer from the problem of convergence and exponential growth in computation as the number of echoes increases. In this investigation, we have developed expectation maximization (EM)-based algorithms to estimate ultrasonic signals in terms of Gaussian echoes. The EM algorithms translate the complicated superimposed echoes estimation into isolated echo estimations, providing computational versatility. The algorithm outperforms the LS methods in terms of independence to the initial guess and convergence to the optimal solution, and it resolves closely spaced overlapping echoes     

基于辐射噪声强度和线谱多普勒的目标运动参数估计

提出了一种利用辐射噪声强度和线谱多普勒频移联合估计匀速直线运动目标的速度和正横距离的方法。该方法基于单水听器观测,首先在球面波近似下利用目标辐射噪声强度估计出正横时刻并确定目标速度和正横距离之间满足的线性关系;然后利用线谱多普勒频移,通过对一个新定义的代价函数进行一维搜索的方法估计出目标速度和正横距离。与现有各种基于噪声强度和线谱多普勒频移进行测距测速的方法相比,该方法具有以下优点：（1）要求更少的先验知识,易于确定参数搜索范围;（2）参数估计过程中仅需一维搜索,并且算法可应用于需对目标参数进行预报的场合。数值仿真给出了不同参数条件下目标运动参数估计结果的统计误差。湖试结果验证了该方法的有效性。     

使用ESM方位与多普勒频率量测的目标跟踪

针对ESM传感器能够同时测量方位角与多普勒频率的特点,提出了基于MGEKF的ESM多普勒频率/方位角目标跟踪算法(DB-MGEKF).与通常的纯方位角目标跟踪算法相比,DB-MGEKF算法增加了多普勒频率量测信息,并引入了能够较好处理系统非线性问题的修正增益扩展卡尔曼滤波器(MGEKF),从而提高了目标的估计精度及滤波...     

环形管流量计不同测点位置的信号分析及误差估计

设计了一个多圈环形管流量计,在环形管不同位置上布置差压测点,测量同一流量下各测点位置信号差压的不同和变化趋势.结果表明:环形管流量计的差压输出随着测点位置的不同有很大的差异,流量系数也有不同的变化趋势.然而,经修正后,测量精度可控制在±1%以内.     

Gradient and parameter sensitivity estimation for systems evaluated using Monte Carlo analysis

The performance evaluation of many practical systems can be handled only through computationally intensive Monte Carlo simulation. Although a number of specialist techniques have been proposed, in general, estimation of the sensitivity of the outcome to changes in parameters involves duplicate simulations and finite differences for each parameter of interest. An approximate technique for gradient sensitivity estimation was outlined previously. It is appropriate when the performance function is uni-modal and relatively smooth in the region of interest. It generates all gradients simultaneously by converting Monte Carlo simulation run outcomes to an approximate analytic problem defined by a simplified response surface. The gradients then follow immediately. No extra simulation runs are required. Herein that approach is extended to non-Normal random variables and to the estimation of parameter sensitivities for random variable means and standard deviations. Some illustrative examples are given with comparisons to sensitivities computed by conventional Monte Carlo. The influence of constraint function(s) defining the admissible solution region is also considered.     

Hydrodynamics and heat exchange in cooling systems with intersecting channels. I. Hydrodynamic characteristics

We present the results of visualization and measurement of hydrodynamic drag for Re₁=1.10²–2.5–10⁴ as a function of the geometry and the angle of flow about the structure.Translated from Inzhenerno-fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 61, No. 5, pp. 717–725, November, 1991.     

Qualitative analysis of classes of motion for multiresonant systems I. An algebraic method

Summary. A general multiresonant system is considered, in which the linear frequency and, possibly, a forcing frequency are involved in a set of linear conditions. The nature of the resonances is first discussed, by distinguishing independent and dependent equations, and both the analysis and design problems of the system are addressed. Rules are then given to construct the qualitative form of the AMEs to any desired order. Two families of terms are identified: improper resonant terms (not associated with any resonance conditions) and proper resonant terms (depending on the specific conditions), sub-divided into primary (of lower order) and secondary (of higher order). Theorems are proved to show that both improper and secondary resonant terms have no qualitative but only quantitative effects on classes of motion; reference is therefore made to reduced equations. An algebraic algorithm is illustrated to determine classes of motion, using only the integer resonance coefficients. The concept of degree of constraint of a given resonance condition is introduced, entailing a hierarchic order among the resonance conditions, the implications of which are discussed. Finally, some numerical simulations are shown to test the robustness of classes of motion to higher-order terms not accounted for in the asymptotic analysis.     

Atmospheric turbulence characterization with the Keck adaptive optics systems. I. Open-loop data

We present a detailed investigation of different methods of the characterization of atmospheric turbulence with the adaptive optics systems of the W. M. Keck Observatory. The main problems of such a characterization are the separation of instrumental and atmospheric effects and the accurate calibration of the devices involved. Therefore we mostly describe the practical issues of the analysis. We show that two methods, the analysis of differential image motion structure functions and the Zernike decomposition of the wave-front phase, produce values of the atmospheric coherence length r0 that are in excellent agreement with results from long-exposure images. The main error source is the calibration of the wave-front sensor. Values determined for the outer scale L0 are consistent between the methods and with typical L0 values found at other sites, that is, of the order of tens of meters.