Communications – electrical: acoustic wave systems and devices – Acoustic image conversion
Patent
1993-02-03
1994-07-26
Pihulic, Daniel T.
Communications, electrical: acoustic wave systems and devices
Acoustic image conversion
367 11, 367124, 367126, G01S 1500
Patent
active
053331290
ABSTRACT:
An array of acoustic sensors is positioned near the object to be imaged so that an array of detection beams impinge upon the surface of the object. The ambient noise in the ocean which is generated by both natural and manmade phenomena is reflected off of the target object and collected by the acoustic sensors. Each beam corresponds to a single pixel of an image of the object. The amplitude and frequency differences between the signals derived from each beam permit contrast to be developed between the pixels so that an image is formed. A first embodiment utilizes a parabolic or spherical reflector to focus the noise reflected from the object onto one or more sensors. A two dimensional array of sensors is required to produce an image. A second embodiment uses a phased array of acoustic sensors to form an image, with the phased array of sensors being used to generate a large number of scanned beams, each beam corresponding to one pixel of the image. Motion pictures can be generated by updating the image formed by the a multi-sensor array at a pre-determined frequency. "Acoustic color" can be identified by frequency information contained in the noise spectrum.
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Pihulic Daniel T.
The Regents of the University of California
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