Abstract:

A new optimization algorithm for threedimensional (3D) sonar beamforming in the frequencydomain is proposed. The relationship between the beam intensity and azimuth angle is derived based on the resolution of echo displacement vector, and then the algorithm is optimized. Simulation of the algorithm is conducted in Matlab and two datapaths for the proposed algorithm are demonstrated. The memory and the computational requirements for the proposed datapaths are also analyzed. Finally, under the Xilinx ISE environment, simulations for the two datapaths are carried out on FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) respectively, and the resource utilizations are listed. It is demonstrated that the proposed algorithm possesses the advantage to reduce the memory requirements without sacrificing the system performance.

Key words: acoustics；3D sonar image；frequencydomain beamforming, fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGA)