Examination of the Use of Exact Versus Approximate Phase Weights on the Performance of a Synthetic Aperture Sonar System
Abstract
Synthetic aperture sonar beam forming and signal processing relies on properly steering and focusing the aperture beam pattern in order to co-phase all the received signals. Due to the effects of motion in the synthetic aperture sonar problem, the propagation path between the transmitter, discrete point scatterer, and the receiver is time varying. Traditionally, simple approximations are used to determine these propagation ranges and angles of incidence and scatter. Methods to determine these ranges and angles exactly may significantly improve array gain and, therefore, target detection. This thesis investigates improvements to SAS signal processing algorithms using exact methods for the calculation of the time-varying ranges between transmitter and discrete point scatter, and between discrete point scatter and receiver, and the phase angle of the scattered acoustic signal incident upon the receiver. Using computer simulations, exact range and angle calculations were performed for different scenarios and compared to ranges and angles determined using standard approximations. The exact ranges were then used to determine incident phase, and were again compared to the approximate methods. Comparison of the exact and approximate methods was based on range estimation error and percentage error. Improvements in synthetic aperture array gain using exact phase weights based on exact, time-varying range solutions are proposed.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA414590
Entities
People
- Matthew R. Boland
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School