Entries |
Document | Title | Date |
20080253229 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING FIRST ARRIVAL WAVE PACKETS IN A STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING SYSTEM - Methods and apparatus for extracting the first arrival wave packet of an acoustic signal in a structural health monitoring (SHM) system include receiving an acoustic signal transmitted between two transducers thereof. Electromagnetic cross-talk is removed from the signal. Signal amplitude threshold values used for picking out the first arrival wave packet are chosen based on signal characteristics or chosen adaptively as the value that leads to the minimum variance of the group velocity estimates of all the actuation-sensing transducer pairs. The group velocity is estimated as the known actuator-sensor distance divided by the propagation time of the first wave packet of which the envelope exceeds a candidate threshold value. The first arrival wave packet is determined as the signal segment where the signal envelope first exceeds the chosen amplitude threshold and the segment length exceeds a specified threshold of time width. | 10-16-2008 |
20080285387 | Staged Sodar Sounding - A monostatic sodar system ( | 11-20-2008 |
20090003134 | Method and Apparatus for Improved Active Sonar Using Singular Value Decomposition Filtering - The invention is a method for improved active sonar using a singular value decomposition filtering and a Volterra-Hermite Basis Expansion to model real active sonar measurements. The fitting model minimizes the sum of the squared errors between a measured channel response, z(t), and model response, y(t), which is a fitted Volterra Series solution. The model requires as input an excitation waveform, x(t), to which is fitted the model response, y(t). A contracted broadband cross-ambiguity function is used to correct the excitation waveform for Doppler and range effects. Once completed, the modeled response can be used to determine the linearity or non-linearity of the channel effects. Appropriate measures can be utilized to reduce these effects on the measured channel response. | 01-01-2009 |
20090028001 | REFLECTIVE AND SLANTED ARRAY CHANNELIZED SENSOR ARRAYS - Reflective and slanted array channelized sensor arrays having a broadband source providing acoustic energy to a reflective or slanted array that reflects a portion of the incident signal to one or more sensing films wherein the response is measured. | 01-29-2009 |
20090067289 | Communicating using sonar signals at multiple frequencies - An embodiment of an apparatus includes a communication circuit and a transducer array coupled to the communication circuit. The communication circuit is operable to generate first and second information signals, and the transducer array is operable to generate in response to the first information signal a first sonar signal having a first frequency, and to generate in response to the second information signal a second sonar signal having a second frequency. The transducer array may generate the first and second sonar signals simultaneously to increase the transmission bandwidth. Where such an apparatus is a buoy, then the buoy may relay signals from an above-surface vessel to an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), and may relay signals from the UUV to the vessel. Therefore, the buoy allows the vessel to control the UUV without a cable linking the buoy and the vessel, and thus allows one to eliminate the tether between the UUV and the vessel for applications in which a tethered UUV may be unsuitable. | 03-12-2009 |
20090168603 | Ultrasonic sensor - An ultrasonic sensor includes a transmitting device, receiving devices arranged in an array, and a circuit device. One receiving device is configured as a reference receiving device. The circuit device includes a reference signal generator and first and second synchronous detectors. The reference signal generator generates a reference signal by using a received signal of the reference receiving device. The first synchronous detector performs synchronous detection of a received signal of one of the receiving devices based on the reference signal to detect a distance to an object. The second synchronous detector performs synchronous detection of received signals of the receiving devices except the reference receiving device based on the reference signal to detect a direction of the object. | 07-02-2009 |
20090196121 | ULTRASOUND SENSOR, IN PARTICULAR, A MOTOR VEHICLE ULTRASOUND SENSOR - Ultrasound sensor ( | 08-06-2009 |
20100034054 | Enviromentally Assisted Processor in Sonar - An environmentally assisted processor that includes an environmental characterization module, an echo prediction module and an acoustic consistency module. The environmental characterization module obtains surrounding environmental characteristics, and provides inputs of the surrounding environmental characteristics to the echo prediction module. The echo prediction module utilizes the surrounding environmental characteristics to predict echo waveforms of would be targets in that particular local environment. The acoustic consistency module compares an observed echo waveform with predicted echo waveforms, if they are similar the observed echo waveform is determined to be from a target. | 02-11-2010 |
20100046325 | SODAR SOUNDING OF THE LOWER ATMOSHERE - A monstatic sodar system using long chirps and send-while-listening techniques employs transmitter-receiver pairs (T | 02-25-2010 |
20100046326 | Method and apparatus for detection and classification of a swimming object - A method and apparatus for detecting and classifying submerged swimming object from a passive signal generated by, and an active signal reflected from the object. In a first input of a passive mode branch a first signal representative of the passive signal is received. A second signal representative of the active signal is received in a second input of an active mode branch. In the active mode branch, the first signal is processed to generate a first classification estimate output, with first clues, of the most probable class of target for the object. In the passive mode branch, the second signal is processed to generate a second classification estimate output, with first clues, of the most probable class of target for the object. Both estimate outputs are received in a merger, for generating a merged classification estimate output with clues, which is input to a joint classifier that classifies the object. | 02-25-2010 |
20100128566 | System and method for enhancing weak target signals for a sensor array - A method for enhancing weak target signals for a sensor array, the method including: a) determining the locations of weak candidate target signals using one or more adaptive thresholding processes, b) extracting a wave profile of a center beam signal of a weak candidate target signal and adjacent beam signals of the weak candidate target signal using a local signal profile window, c) determining cross-beam correlations between an extracted wave profile of the center beam signal and extracted wave profiles of the adjacent beam signals and between extracted wave profiles of adjacent beam signal profiles based on the similarity of the wave profiles to determine the occurrence of a weak candidate target signal and compute a set of weighting factors, d) enhancing the center beam signal of the weak candidate target signal based on the said correlations and said set of weighting factors, and e) repeating steps b) through d) for each of the weak candidate target signals to provide enhanced weak candidate target signals. | 05-27-2010 |
20100149920 | Clutter Signal Filtering For Doppler Signal - Embodiments for filtering clutter signal from Doppler signal in an ultrasound system are disclosed. In one embodiment, a Doppler signal acquiring unit may transmit and receive ultrasound signals to and from a target object to acquire Doppler signal. A signal processing unit performs filtering upon the Doppler signal by using a first clutter filter having a first cutoff frequency and compute an input signal power to filtered input signal power rate (IFR) for the Doppler signal. The signal processing unit is further configured to be responsive to the IFR to modulate the Doppler signal and perform filtering upon the modulated Doppler signal by using the first clutter filter or to perform filtering the Doppler signal by using a second clutter filter having a second cutoff frequency. | 06-17-2010 |
20100188931 | DESIGN AND METHOD FOR IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF SUBMARINE AND OTHER WATER CRAFT SONAR SENSORS, ARRAYS AND/OR HYDROPHONES - Disclosed herein are exemplary embodiments of devices to attach to submarines or other water craft to enable a sonar array to function better at higher water speeds. When operated, the devices slow down or fully offset the mounted array's (hydrophones' or arrays') relative water speed and reduce the water friction noise on the array, allowing it to function more optimally. In an exemplary embodiment, a device includes a telescoping boom that can be alternately retracted and extended to provide cycles (or rotates to provide similar cycles for any one array) of higher performance reception and “hearing” by the array, as its relative water speed is reduced or offset. The device can be mounted on the external surface of the hull to “retrofit” existing craft or built so that in the telescoping embodiment, the housing can be fully retracted and hidden from view and otherwise protected more fully when not in use. | 07-29-2010 |
20100195443 | Transducer Array Arrangement and Operation for Sodar Application - An array of transducers for a sodar system, and the operation of the array in a monostatic sodar system. The array is made up of a number of individual sound transducers. Each transducer emits sound into the atmosphere and senses emitted sound that has been reflected by the atmosphere. The transducers have a generally circular cross-sectional shape. The transducers are arranged in a generally planar, generally hexagonal grid packing arrangement. | 08-05-2010 |
20100290314 | Process measurement instrument with target rejection - A process measurement instrument with target rejection comprises a sensor circuit. The sensor circuit comprises a drive circuit for transmitting a pulse signal at a target of interest and a receive circuit receiving reflected echoes of the pulse signal and developing an analog receive signal representative of the reflected echoes. An analog processing circuit receives the analog receive signal and comprises a summer subtracting an analog target rejection signal from the analog receive signal to develop a corrected receive signal. A programmed digital processing circuit is operatively coupled to the analog processing circuit and comprises a memory storing target rejection signal value data representing false target reflections and developing the analog target rejection signal for transfer to the analog processing circuit. | 11-18-2010 |
20100322033 | MAST-MOUNTED SONAR - The present invention relates to a sonar surveillance system for coastal protection and port surveillance comprising: an anchoring structure; a support mast designed to be mounted on the structure and arranged on the latter so as to adopt a substantially vertical position; a platform mounted on the top of the mast and receiving a sonar head; a float fixed to the mast, in proximity to the top, the buoyancy of which is sufficient to keep the mast in the vertical position, when the latter is subjected to the action of movement of the water masses in which it is immersed. The length of the mast is determined so as to position the sonar head at a depth for which the latter offers maximum performance in terms of detection range. | 12-23-2010 |
20110044133 | ULTRASOUND APPARATUS - A storage unit ( | 02-24-2011 |
20110051554 | INSONIFICATION DEVICE THAT INCLUDES A THREE-DIMENSIONAL NETWORK OF EMITTERS ARRANGED IN AT LEAST TWO CONCENTRIC SPIRALS, WHICH ARE DESIGNED TO GENERATE A BEAM OF HIGH-INTENSITY FOCUSSED WAVES - The invention concerns a device ( | 03-03-2011 |
20110063950 | VIBRATION GENERATION AND DETECTION IN SHEAR WAVE DISPERSION ULTRASOUND VIBROMETRY WITH LARGE BACKGROUND MOTIONS - A method for measuring a mechanical property of a subject includes using an ultrasonic transducer to apply ultrasonic vibration pulses to a vibration origin in the subject in an on-off time sequence in order to impart a harmonic motion at a prescribed frequency to the subject, and when the vibration pulses are off, preferably using the same transducer to apply ultrasonic detection pulses to a motion detection point and to receive echo signals therefrom in order to sense the harmonic motion on the subject at the motion detection point The ultrasonic detection pulses are interspersed with the vibration pulses and can be applied in a non-uniform manner From the received ultrasonic echo signals, a harmonic signal is detected and a characteristic such as amplitude or phase of the detected harmonic signal is calculated using a Kalman filter or interpolation. | 03-17-2011 |
20110096629 | ACOUSTIC SIGNAL GENERATION SYSTEM USING MOVING REFLECTING SURFACE - An acoustic signal generation system may include a cylindrical-like object having a cylindrical-like surface which is configured to reflect an acoustic signal directed to a location on the surface in substantially different directions as the cylindrical-like object is rotated. The cylindrical-like surface may be on the exterior of the cylindrical-like object or form an interior surface of the cylindrical-like object. The cylindrical-like surface may be formed by a plurality of substantially flat surfaces connected to one another in a substantially cylindrical configuration. The flat surfaces may have different angular orientations with respect to the axis of rotation. An acoustic transducer may be configured and oriented so as to direct an acoustic signal to a location on the cylindrical-like surface as the cylindrical-like object rotates. A motor may be configured to cause the cylindrical-like object to rotate. | 04-28-2011 |
20110149688 | Conduit Monitoring - A method for monitoring a fluid carrying conduit by introducing an acoustic pulse into the conduit, and interrogating an optic fibre positioned along the path of said conduit to provide distributed acoustic sensing. By measuring the response at each of a plurality of locations, a conduit condition profile can be derived. A condition profile can be obtained quickly and easily with minimum disruption to the pipeline infrastructure and contained flow. Existing optic fibres running along the path of a pipe can be employed for sensing purposes, allowing relatively long spans of pipeline to be monitored with only limited access to the pipe. | 06-23-2011 |
20110176388 | SWITCHING POWER SUPPLY - The patent application describes a switching power supply, wherein the supply has a first output voltage, wherein the first output voltage was generated by a first working voltage with a first frequency and a first phase, wherein the supply is adapted to configure the first frequency and/or the first phase in such a way that disturbances m devices powered by the supply are reduced, wherein the disturbances are caused of electromagnetic interferences. In an embodiment the switching power supply is adapted to configure the first frequency in such a way that the first frequency and its harmonies are different from the operating frequency of the powered device. | 07-21-2011 |
20110273962 | Transducer Array Arrangement and Operation for Sodar Applications - An array of transducers for a sodar system, and the operation of the array in a monostatic sodar system. The array is made up of a number of individual sound transducers. Each transducer emits sound into the atmosphere and senses emitted sound that has been reflected by the atmosphere. The transducers have a generally circular cross-sectional shape. The transducers are arranged in a generally planar, generally hexagonal grid packing arrangement. | 11-10-2011 |
20120020187 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes: a plurality of vibration elements ( | 01-26-2012 |
20120075956 | MAG-PHASE PROCESS - An active sonar system comprising a transmitter for providing a sonar signal, a receiver for receiving a reflected return signal, a processor of processing and extracting both magnitude and phase information from the return signal, and display unit for presenting both magnitude and phase information from the return signal to an operator. | 03-29-2012 |
20120099397 | ULTRASONIC DETECTION DEVICE - An ultrasonic detection device is constructed in such a way as to include a discriminating processing unit (a time width detecting part | 04-26-2012 |
20120106298 | GESTURE RECOGNITION APPPARATUS AND METHOD - The disclosure provides a gesture recognition apparatus and method. The gesture recognition apparatus includes an ultrasound transmitter, an ultrasound receiver, a dividing module, a computing module, a gesture library, and a recognition module. The dividing module is configured to divide reflected ultrasound signals into a plurality of frames according to time intervals. The computing module is configured to obtain an eigenvalue of each frame. The classifying module is configured to filter the eigenvalues to obtain gesture eigenvalues, and to obtain a matrix of probabilities of the gesture eigenvalues. The recognition module is configured to search reference matrices of probabilities from the gesture library for matching with the matrix of probabilities, and to recognize the gesture eigenvalues as a reference gesture corresponding to the reference matrix of probabilities if the reference matrix of probabilities is found. | 05-03-2012 |
20120140595 | ULTRASOUND PROBE AND ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - An ultrasound probe connected to an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus configured to transmit an ultrasound beam to a target object is provided. The ultrasound probe includes a switching unit including N/2 channels, each channel configured to switch between a first pole and a second pole, wherein N is a natural number, N/2 first transducer elements connected to the first pole and placed in two-dimensions, wherein a placement is defined in an x-axis direction and a y-axis direction, and N/2 second transducer elements connected to the second pole and placed in two-dimensions, wherein the placement is defined in the x-axis and y-axis directions, wherein a placement of a channel number of the first transducer elements and a placement of a channel number of the second transducer elements differ in the x-axis and y-axis directions. | 06-07-2012 |
20120163124 | ULTRASONIC DETECTION DEVICE AND ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE - Provided is an ultrasonic detection device including: a capacitive electromechanical transducer including a cell that includes a first electrode and a second electrode disposed so as to oppose with a space; a voltage source for developing a potential difference between the first electrode and the second electrode; and an electric circuit for converting a current, which is caused by a change in electrostatic capacitance between the first electrode and the second electrode due to vibration of the second electrode, into a voltage, in which the capacitive electromechanical transducer provides an output current with a high-pass characteristic having a first cutoff frequency with respect to a frequency, the electric circuit provides an output with a low-pass characteristic having a second cutoff frequency with respect to the frequency, and the second cutoff frequency is smaller than the first cutoff frequency. | 06-28-2012 |
20120182833 | ULTRASONIC ID READER - A method for identifying a warhead in an aircraft launch tube includes providing a pattern of grooves on the surface of a warhead, with the pattern of grooves being associated with an identification code identifying the warhead or a characteristic of it, providing the warhead in an aircraft launch tube, providing a piezoelectric transducer on the launch tube, emitting an ultrasonic wave from the piezoelectric transducer to the pattern of grooves, where the wave encounters the pattern of grooves at an angle of less than 90° so that waves striking the interior of a groove are reflected back to the transducer as echo waves, while waves not striking the interior of a groove are reflected away from the transducer, and reading the pattern of returning echo waves to determine the identification code indicated by the pattern of grooves on the warhead. | 07-19-2012 |
20120201097 | ARRAY SYSTEM WITH HIGH RESOLVING POWER AND HIGH IMAGE QUALITY - A Transmit/Receive Array combination with high resolving power wherein the Signal Dependent Noise contributors to Image Quality, as determined by the Peak Sidelobe Ratio (PSLR) and the Integrated Sidelobe Ratio (ISLR) are controlled largely independently of the Main Lobe Width. The receiving array is comprised of a number of discrete elements, nominally at half wavelength spacing. The Receive Array is weighted to aid in the control of PSLR and ISLR. The Transmit Array is comprised of a sparse array of discrete elements (more than two). The Transmit Array is longer than the receive array. The transmit array may be weighted to aid in the control of PSLR and ISLR. | 08-09-2012 |
20120218864 | MULTICHANNEL TRANSDUCER ARRAY FOR A BATHYMETRY SONAR DEVICE - A transducer array comprises an elongate support with first and second channels. The first channel has a bottom and a pair of opposed side walls extending from the bottom thereof. The second channel also has a bottom and a pair of opposed side walls extending from the bottom thereof. There is a first transducer element disposed in the first channel and a spacer disposed between the first transducer element and the bottom of the first channel. There is a second transducer element disposed in the second channel and a spacer disposed between the second transducer element and the bottom of the second channel. | 08-30-2012 |
20120218865 | Towed Array Sonar System and Method for Carrying out a Sonar Mission with such a Towed Array Sonar System - A towed array sonar system | 08-30-2012 |
20120218866 | Housings for Phased Array Monostatic Sodar Systems - A housing for a phased array monostatic sodar system with a transducer array that emits and receives multiple generally conical main beams of sound along different primary axes. The housing includes one or more upwardly-directed sidewalls that define a volume between them that is open to the atmosphere at the top, to emit and receive the beams, and an upper lip at the top of at least one wall, defining a curved perimeter at the top of at least some of the volume that closely conforms to the shape of at least one main beam at the location of the lip. | 08-30-2012 |
20120250462 | TRANSMIT/RECEIVE SYSTEMS FOR IMAGING DEVICES - A transceiver for an ultrasonic imaging device includes a transmit circuit and a receive circuit. The transmit circuit outputs test pulses to a probe including a transducer to generate an image of a test object. A composite signal including the test pulses and a reflected signal is output by the transducer. The receive circuit receives the composite signal including the test pulses and the reflected signal and includes a filter circuit. The filter circuit filters the test pulses from the composite signal and passes the reflected signal. An impedance of the filter circuit is equal to substantially zero when the reflected signal is within a predetermined frequency range. | 10-04-2012 |
20120281502 | BEAMFORMING METHOD, ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS, PROGRAM, AND INTEGRATED CIRCUIT - A beamforming method according to the present invention is a method of processing echo signals of a target region which are obtained from a probe including a plurality of receiving elements arrayed on a predetermined line. The beamforming method includes the following steps (S | 11-08-2012 |
20120287756 | PIVOTING ULTRASONIC PROBE MOUNT AND METHODS FOR USE - A device for conducting ultrasonic inspections comprises a base. In addition, the device comprises a probe housing pivotally coupled to the base with a suspension system. Further, the device comprises an ultrasonic probe disposed within the probe housing and configured to transmit ultrasonic signals. The suspension system is configured to permit the probe housing to pivot relative to the base to transmit ultrasonic signals in a plurality of directions. | 11-15-2012 |
20130016583 | Correcting Aliasing of Pulsed Wave Doppler of Diagnostic Ultrasound - Pulsed wave (PW) Doppler has the same emitted and reflected pulse frequency because it emits the next ultrasound pulse after receiving the previously reflected one. But, the forward blood flow will interact with the emitted ultrasound pulse and shorten its time of flight (TOF), which creates a positive TOF shift between the calculated TOF and detected TOF. If the velocity of forward flow is too fast and causes the TOF shift more than half of the calculated TOF, the reflected ultrasound pulses are considered as from the previously emitted pulses with longer TOF, which will show negative TOF shift and be misinterpreted as aliasing. This aliasing TOF shift can be completely rectified to its correct registration no matter how fast the forward flow velocity will be. So, the advantages of TOF shift theory can better quantitatively explain the spectral characteristics of PW Doppler, and more accurately calculate the flow velocity. | 01-17-2013 |
20130077441 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ULTRASOUND IMAGING - An ultrasound imaging method transmits ultrasound into a medium from a source and receives and samples signals resulting from interaction of the ultrasound with the medium for each of a plurality of sources. The sampled signals are stored. Criteria are applied to select subsets of the stored sampled signals. In some embodiments the criteria relate to locations of a source and/or receiving element corresponding to a sampled signal. Images are generated from the subsets. | 03-28-2013 |
20130083628 | IMAGING SYSTEM AND METHOD - A method of operating an ultrasound imaging system having an array of transducer elements. The method comprises transmitting a plurality of ultrasound signals, each transmission using a different sub-aperture of the array, receiving a plurality of reflected ultrasound signals by a receive array corresponding to each sub-aperture transmission, calculating a coherency factor corresponding to the proportion of coherent energy in the received signals from each sub-aperture transmission and weighting the received output by the calculated coherency factor, and synthesizing all weighted outputs under all different sub-aperture transmissions. | 04-04-2013 |
20130094327 | ACOUSTIC WAVE ACQUIRING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - The present invention provides an acoustic wave acquiring apparatus including: a probe configured to receive an acoustic wave from an object through an object holding unit that holds the object; an acoustic matching material holding unit configured to form a space, which holds an acoustic matching material, between the object holding unit and the probe; a scanning unit configured to allow the probe to scan in a first direction on the surface of the object holding unit, and in a second direction crossing the first direction; and a supplying unit configured to supply the acoustic matching material to the space by using a predetermined supply-amount pattern, wherein the supplying unit uses different supply-amount patterns in the case where the probe scans in the first direction and in the case where the probe scans in the second direction. | 04-18-2013 |
20130094328 | METHOD FOR CONTROLLING TRANSDUCERS OF AN ULTRASONIC PROBE, CORRESPONDING COMPUTER PROGRAM AND ULTRASONIC PROBE DEVICE - A method for controlling ultrasonic transducers of an ultrasonic probe for inspecting an object includes: iterated at least twice, receiving from the transducers new measurement signals; measuring echoes due to reflections of ultrasonic waves on the object, the ultrasonic waves having emission delays with respect to one another, the emission delays having been determined from initial emission delays and all complementary emission delays determined previously; determining new complementary emission delays from the new measurement signals; controlling the transducers so they emit ultrasonic waves to the object, the ultrasonic waves having emission delays with respect to one another, the emission delays having been determined from the initial emission delays and all the complementary emission delays determined previously. | 04-18-2013 |
20130142011 | METHOD FOR OPERATING AN ULTRASONIC SENSOR OF A DRIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEM IN A MOTOR VEHICLE, DRIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEM, AND MOTOR VEHICLE - The invention relates to a method for operating at least one ultrasonic sensor ( | 06-06-2013 |
20130235698 | ULTRASONIC IMAGING USING THIN FILM TRANSISTOR BACKPLANE - An embodiment is a method and apparatus for coherent ultrasonic imaging. A receiver array has a plurality of receiver elements on a substrate to detect in-phase and quadrature components of a received signal corresponding to a transmit signal. Each of the receiver elements includes a receiver transducer and a thin-film transistor (TFT) receiver circuit. The TFT receiver circuit includes a quadrature detector having a mixer to mix a received signal with a reference signal in a composite bias signal that is distributed across the plurality of receiver elements. A transmitter is acoustically coupled to the plurality of receiver elements to generate the transmit signal through an imaging medium. | 09-12-2013 |
20130250729 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MONITORING FIRE BASED ON DETECTION OF SOUND FIELD VARIATION - Disclosed are a method and a system for monitoring a fire based on a detection of sound field variation. The system for monitoring a fire based on a detection of sound field variation includes: a sound generator outputting a sound wave within a defined space according to input voltage; a sound receiver receiving the sound wave within the defined space and obtaining a sound pressure from the received sound wave; and a fire monitor using a sound transfer function representing a ratio of the sound pressure obtained by the sound receiver to input voltage of the sound generator in a preparation mode to calculate reference sound pressure information, using the sound transfer function in a monitoring mode to calculate current sound pressure information, and comparing the reference sound pressure information with the current sound pressure information to determine whether a fire occurs. | 09-26-2013 |
20130250730 | METHOD FOR EVALUATING THE INSTALLATION OF BLIND RIVETS, METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INSTALLING BLIND RIVETS, METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OBTAINING A PATTERN, AND AIRCRAFT - A method for evaluating installation of blind rivets including measuring the “cycle time” represented “y | 09-26-2013 |
20130279294 | Nonlinear imaging with dual band pulse complexes - The invention presents methods and instrumentation for measurement or imaging of a region of an object with waves of a general nature, for example electromagnetic (EM) and elastic (EL) waves, where the material parameters for wave propagation and scattering in the object depend on the wave field strength. The invention specially addresses suppression of 3 | 10-24-2013 |
20130294198 | TRANSDUCER ASSEMBLY FOR AN ECHOSCOPE - The present invention relates to a transducer assembly ( | 11-07-2013 |
20130308425 | ULTRASONIC TRANSDUCER, ULTRASONIC PROBE, AND ULTRASONIC EXAMINATION DEVICE - An ultrasonic transducer includes a substrate, a supporting film, and a piezoelectric element. The substrate includes an opening. The supporting film is configured on the substrate to cover the opening. The piezoelectric element is configured at a part of the supporting film. The part overlaps with the opening in a planar view in a thickness direction of the substrate. A thickness of the part of at a center of gravity in the planar view is smaller than a thickness of an outer edge portion of the part. The outer edge portion is closer to the substrate than the center to the substrate. | 11-21-2013 |
20140016438 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ULTRASOUND SCATTERER CHARACTERIZATION - A method for characterizing ultrasound scatterers in a medium comprises receiving ultrasound data representing a region of interest comprising a plurality of scatterers in a medium, the plurality of scatterers including aggregates of the scatterers. The ultrasound data is modeled data using an effective medium theory combined with the structure factor model, the structure factor model defining the spatial organization and concentration of the aggregates. The modeled ultrasound data is compared to theoretical data obtained with the effective medium theory combined with the structure factor model. From the comparison, dimensional data of the aggregates of the scatterers and the volume concentration of scatterers in the medium is determined. | 01-16-2014 |
20140036630 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING RECOGNITION TIMES IN AN IMAGE-BASED PRODUCT RECOGNITION SYSTEM - A product recognition system comprises a product image data collector arranged to capture image data which is representative of an image of a product item. The product recognition system also comprises an acoustic energy source arranged to emit acoustic energy towards the product item. The product recognition further comprises a product acoustic data collector arranged to (i) capture acoustic energy deflected from the product item, (ii) process the captured acoustic data which has been deflected from the product item to provide product acoustic data which is representative of one or more characteristics of the product item, and (iii) compare the product acoustic data with a store of reference acoustic data to provide one or more subsets of items against which the captured image data can be compared to identify the product item. | 02-06-2014 |
20140043940 | TRANSMISSION CIRCUIT, SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE, ULTRASONIC SENSOR AND VEHICLE - A transmission circuit transmits an ultrasonic signal from an ultrasonic vibrator by driving a terminal voltage of the ultrasonic vibrator using a first pulse signal and then further driving the terminal voltage using a second pulse signal having an opposite phase to the first pulse signal. At least one of a pulse number of the second pulse signal and a pulse level of the terminal voltage is arbitrarily set. | 02-13-2014 |
20140043941 | OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS - The present invention employs an object information acquiring apparatus comprising a plurality of receiving elements which receive acoustic waves emitted from an object and convert the acoustic waves into received signals, a delay unit which matches phases of the received signals, a complex converter which converts the received signals into complex signals, a complex covariance matrix calculator which periodically obtains a complex covariance matrix by using a complex signal group configured from a plurality of phase-matched complex signals, an eliminator which eliminates the number of bits of input data configured from at least either the complex signal group or matrix elements, and an electric power calculator which calculates a power of target positions, wherein the eliminator eliminates the number of bits by performing common level conversion processing on all input data relating to one complex covariance matrix. | 02-13-2014 |
20140056104 | INTEGRATED ACTIVE ULTRASONIC PROBE - An ultrasonic probe includes ultrasonic transducers and processing electronics to control emission of ultrasonic energy and to process and digitize returned echo data. Processed echo data can then be transmitted over a digital interface for display. | 02-27-2014 |
20140056105 | OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS AND OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING METHOD - The present invention employs an object information acquiring apparatus comprising a plurality of conversion elements which receive acoustic waves emitted from an object and convert the acoustic waves into electrical signals, a correlation calculator which calculates correlation data by using the plurality of electrical signals output from the plurality of conversion elements, an average correlation calculator which calculates an average correlation matrix by extracting a plurality of submatrices from the correlation data and averaging the submatrices, and an adaptive signal processor which generates power distribution by performing adaptive signal processing by using the average correlation matrix and calculating the power of each target position, wherein the correlation calculator calculates the correlation data by obtaining the correlation of input signals that are separated by at least one input signal among the input signals. | 02-27-2014 |
20140064030 | OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS - An object information acquiring apparatus is used that includes: a light source; a bundle fiber including a plurality of optical fibers; and a processor using an acoustic wave that is generated when light is irradiated on an irradiated surface of an object from an outputting unit of the bundle fiber, and acquiring information from the object, wherein outputting edges of a plurality of sub-bundles, each sub-bundle including a plurality of optical fibers, are arranged in the outputting unit of the bundle fiber, the plurality of sub-bundles include a first sub-bundle arranged in a central part of the outputting unit and a second sub-bundle arranged in a peripheral part of the outputting unit, and the number of optical fibers per unit area of the first sub-bundle is smaller than the number of optical fibers per unit area of the second sub-bundle. | 03-06-2014 |
20140078866 | BEAMFORMING METHOD AND ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - A beamforming method includes: generating a main beam signal by performing, with a focus on a first region, a delay and sum operation on receiving echo signals; generating a sub beam signal which has a low sensitivity to ultrasound signals reflected off the first region; and generating a narrow beam signal by (i) calculating a coefficient for narrowing an angle of the main beam signal, and (ii) multiplying the main beam signal by the coefficient, wherein in the generating of a sub beam signal, the sub beam signal is generated using a differential signal that is a difference between two beam signals each of which is generated by performing a delay and sum operation on the receiving echo signals, with a focus on a corresponding one of two regions of a subject which are different from the first region and are different from each other. | 03-20-2014 |
20140086013 | METHOD FOR AN EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT PARAMETER ESTIMATION OF A TRANSDUCER AND A SONAR SYSTEM USING THEREOF - The present disclosure relates to an active sonar system including a transmitter; a transducer; and an impedance matching circuit, and a method of estimating an equivalent model parameter of a multi-mode transducer, wherein an electrical equivalent model parameter having a plurality of stages corresponding to each mode is estimated by estimating an individual mode impedance and a total mode impedance from multi-mode impedance data and obtaining an interference amount of adjacent modes, and an equivalent model modeled thereby for which an interference effect by a multi-mode is taken into consideration is used for the design of an impedance matching circuit to minimize actual model fabrication and effectively derive detailed design elements and the like, thereby allowing an integrated circuit design with peripheral electronic units for interfacing the sonar system. | 03-27-2014 |
20140092709 | PVDF SONAR TRANSDUCER SYSTEM - A sound navigation and ranging (SONAR) transducer system comprises a transmit element and a receive element. The transmit element may be formed from ceramic material and configured to transmit an ultrasonic signal into a body of water. The transmit element may include a first component configured to transmit the ultrasonic signal in a first direction and a second component configured to transmit the ultrasonic signal in a second direction. The receive element may be formed from polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) in the shape of a sheet of material and configured to receive a reflection of the ultrasonic signal after the ultrasonic signal is reflected from objects in the body of water. The receive element may include a first section configured to receive reflections from the first direction and a second section configured to receive reflections from the second direction. | 04-03-2014 |
20140160892 | SONAR SYSTEM AND IMPEDANCE MATCHING METHOD THEREOF - This specification relates to an active SONAR system comprising a transmitter, a transducer and an impedance matching circuit for expanding bandwidth and increasing a power factor value in sound and ultrasonic wave bands by mutually matching resonant frequencies of the transducer and the impedance matching circuit or a resonant frequency between the transducer and the impedance matching circuit using an electrical equivalent model corresponding to actual impedance data of the transducer and controlling the positions and the intervals of the frequencies at which reactance components of the transducer including the impedance matching circuit become zero, and an impedance matching method thereof. This allows for efficient driving in a broadband between the transmitter and the transducer in the active SONAR system, contributing to output power performance and detection performance of the active SONAR system. | 06-12-2014 |
20140219058 | ULTRASOUND IMAGING TOOL FOR ROCK CORES - The ultrasound imaging tool for rock cores includes an ultrasound generator that can be inserted at selected depths into a drilled bore in a geological core sample. An array of ultrasound receivers are placed completely around the outer surface of the core sample. The ultrasound generator produces the ultrasound waves at various depths inside the bore, and the data obtained by the ultrasound receivers generates a complete 3-D ultrasound image of the core sample. | 08-07-2014 |
20140219059 | SYNTHETIC DATA COLLECTION METHOD FOR FULL MATRIX CAPTURE USING AN ULTRASOUND ARRAY - A method for efficiently achieving full-matrix ultrasonic data capture which includes the steps of providing an ultrasound array apparatus, the ultrasound array apparatus further comprising a probe, collecting data over a plurality of inspection locations, generating a plurality of data matrices, each of the data matrices reflecting data collected at the locations, and collecting, initially, a subset of a quantity of data needed for reconstruction of each of the inspection locations. In the method, as the probe moves from collection location to collection location, a data matrix at a prior collection location is gradually filled in as the probe moves to subsequent collection locations. In certain embodiments physical scanning of a probe with few elements is replaced by electronically scanning using an array with many elements. | 08-07-2014 |
20140219060 | SUBJECT INFORMATION OBTAINING APPARATUS, SUBJECT INFORMATION OBTAINING METHOD, AND PROGRAM - A subject information obtaining apparatus according includes: plurality of conversion elements configured to convert an elastic wave from a subject into a plurality of reception signals, a delay and sum unit configured to perform a delay and sum process by using the plurality of reception signals and output a plurality of scanning line signals, a scanning line synthesis unit configured to add the plurality of scanning line signals between adjacent scanning lines and output a plurality of synthesis scanning line signals, and an FDI adaptive processing unit configured to perform a frequency domain interferometry and an adaptive signal processing by using the plurality of synthesis scanning line signals and obtain a power intensity distribution. | 08-07-2014 |
20140219061 | SIGNAL PROCESSING DEVICE, SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD, RECORDING MEDIUM, AND PROGRAM - This technology relates to a signal processing device, a signal processing method, a recording medium, and a program capable of enabling appropriate beam forming with a simple configuration even when a positional relationship between a plurality of transducers included in a probe of an ultrasonic diagnostic device is not fixed. | 08-07-2014 |
20140233355 | WIDEBAND SONAR WITH PULSE COMPRESSION - A sonar transmitter includes digital logic that controls switches coupled to a primary coil of a transformer. The switches are driven to produce at least one voltage pulse across a secondary coil for the transformer to produce a series of voltage pulses approximating the desired signal. The transformer may comprise: a secondary coil having a plurality of windings arranged into a first section, a middle section, and a final section; and a primary coil winding wound only with the secondary coil windings forming the middle section. | 08-21-2014 |
20140254323 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING BIOFOULING OF A MEMBRANE - A method of determining a state of biofouling of a membrane is provided. The membrane is contained within a flow cell and the flow cell has an outer surface coupled to a tranducer, The method comprises introducing inorganic particles into the flow cell such that the inorganic particles form a part of a top surface of a foulant layer on the membrane. The transducer then emits acoustic waves towards the membrane and an acoustic signature of reflected sound waves are detected. A state of biofouling of the membrane is determined based on the detected acoustic signature. A method and an apparatus are also provided for determining a state of biofouling in commercial membrane modules such as spiral wounded membrane modules. | 09-11-2014 |
20140269189 | Echolocation Systems and Methods - An echolocation device assists visually impaired persons to navigate their environment. The echolocation device comprises a micro control unit, a power source operably connected to the micro control unit, a band pass preamplifier operably connected to the micro control unit, a power amplifier operably connected to the band pass preamplifier, a piezoelectric speaker operably connected to the power amplifier, and a user interface operably connected to the micro control unit. The device emits sound waves that echo off nearby surrounding objects. The visually impaired person listens to the echoes to determine the location or size of the surrounding objects. | 09-18-2014 |
20140269190 | OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS - An object information acquiring apparatus including: a plurality of receiving elements receiving an acoustic wave propagating from an object and converting the acoustic wave into an electrical signal; a delaying unit aligning phases of electrical signals of M number of channels outputted from the plurality of receiving elements; an eliminator reducing the electrical signals of M number of channels to electrical signals of L number of channels; a calculator calculating Nb number of output signals corresponding to low-frequency components of a complex signal based on the electrical signals outputted from the eliminator; and a signal processor performing beam formation according to adaptive signal processing using output signals outputted from the calculator, wherein positive integers M, L, and Nb satisfy M>L>=2(Nb−1). | 09-18-2014 |
20140286131 | WIDEBAND SONAR RECEIVER AND SONAR SIGNAL PROCESSING ALGORITHMS - A wideband sonar receiver is provided that includes: a selectable bandpass filter adapted to filter a received sonar signal to produce a filtered signal and a correlator adapted to correlate the baseband samples with baseband replica samples to provide a correlated signal. In addition, the wideband sonar receiver may include a shaping filter to shape unshaped received pulses. Finally, a variety of sonar processing algorithms are described with regard to reducing clutter and interference, target detection, and bottom detection. | 09-25-2014 |
20140313856 | OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUISITION APPARATUS, OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUISITION METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM - An object information acquisition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of transducer elements each configured to transmit an acoustic wave to an object, to receive reflected waves reflected from inside the object, and to convert the reflected waves into a time-series reception signal; and a processor configured to perform frequency domain interferometry combined with adaptive signal processing by using the reception signals output from the plurality of transducer elements and a reference signal so as to obtain acoustic characteristics at a plurality of positions located inside the object. The processor is configured to switch the reference signal to another reference signal at least once in accordance with a target position located inside the object while performing the frequency domain interferometry so as to obtain the acoustic characteristics at the plurality of positions located inside the object. | 10-23-2014 |
20140321242 | NETWORKED SONAR OBSERVATION OF SELECTED SEABED ENVIRONMENTS - A sonar transducer network for observing a seabed includes a controller. A first transducer assembly includes a first acoustic transducer to convert a first ping to a first electrical signal; and a first transducer processor to receive a first electrical signal from the first acoustic transducer to generate the first transducer data. At least one second transducer assembly is spaced apart from the first transducer assembly. The second transducer assembly includes a second acoustic transducer to convert a second ping to a second electrical signal. The second transducer processor receives the second electrical signal from the second acoustical transducer to generate second transducer data. A network bus communicates first transducer data and second transducer data with the controller. | 10-30-2014 |
20140334263 | MOBILE ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE - A mobile ultrasonic diagnostic device comprising: a battery; an adapter connection detection unit that detects the connection status of an AC adapter that supplies power to each constituent element of the device; and a processing determination unit (determination unit) that determines the processing for each constituent element on the basis of the connection status of the AC adapter. Each constituent element (a processing unit and constituent elements other than the processing unit) are processed on the basis of the processing determined by the processing determination unit (determination unit), and, as a result, the device can be safely used even if there is a possibility that power cannot be supplied from the battery. | 11-13-2014 |
20140355381 | COMPUTATION DEVICES AND ARTIFICIAL NEURONS BASED ON NANOELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS - Techniques, systems, and devices are described for implementing for implementing computation devices and artificial neurons based on nanoelectromechanical (NEMS) systems. In one aspect, a nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) based computing element includes: a substrate; two electrodes configured as a first beam structure and a second beam structure positioned in close proximity with each other without contact, wherein the first beam structure is fixed to the substrate and the second beam structure is attached to the substrate while being free to bend under electrostatic force. The first beam structure is kept at a constant voltage while the other voltage varies based on an input signal applied to the NEMS based computing element. | 12-04-2014 |
20140355382 | ULTRASONIC SENSOR - An ultrasonic sensor is provided with a mount that is fixed to an inside-face of the bumper, and a sensor body that is coupled to the mount so as to be exposed outside the bumper through an exposure hole that is provided in the bumper. Compared with a case where an ultrasonic sensor is fixed to a bumper by sandwiching the bumper from inside and outside of the bumper, appearance can be improved, since protrusion outward from the bumper is eliminated. | 12-04-2014 |
20150016221 | TRANSDUCER AND SUBJECT INFORMATION ACQUISITION APPARATUS - A transducer includes a plurality of elements each including at least one cell structured in such a way that a diaphragm including one of a first electrode and a second electrode disposed facing each other via a space is vibratably supported, bias wiring for supplying a bias voltage to the first electrode to provide a potential difference between the first and the second electrodes, and for electrically connecting the first electrodes of the elements to each other, and signal wiring lines each connected to a different one of the elements. The bias wiring includes a plurality of branch wiring lines to each of which the first electrodes of a part of the elements are connected, a plurality of first common wiring lines for connecting the branch wiring lines to each other, and a second common wiring line for connecting the first common wiring lines to each other. | 01-15-2015 |
20150016222 | ELECTROSTATIC CAPACITANCE TRANSDUCER, PROBE, AND SUBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING DEVICE - An electrostatic capacitance transducer includes: multiple elements each having a cell including a first electrode, and a vibrating film including a second electrode, formed across a gap from the first electrode; a first flexible printed circuit having multiple first lines; and a second flexible printed circuit having multiple second lines. Part of the multiple elements are grouped into a first element group, each one thereof being electrically connected to a different one of the first lines. Part of the multiple elements other than the first element group are grouped into a second element group, each one thereof being electrically connected to a different one of the second lines. The intervals between adjacent lines in at least part of the plurality of first and second lines are wider at an opposite side from a connection side where the lines have been connected to the multiple elements, than at the connection side. | 01-15-2015 |
20150016223 | SENSOR ARRAY WITH RECEIVER BIAS ELECTRODE - A method of operation of an ultrasonic sensor array includes receiving a receiver bias voltage at a receiver bias electrode of the ultrasonic sensor array to bias piezoelectric sensor elements of the ultrasonic sensor array. The method further includes receiving a transmitter control signal at the ultrasonic sensor array to cause an ultrasonic transmitter of the ultrasonic sensor array to generate an ultrasonic wave. The method further includes generating data samples based on a reflection of the ultrasonic wave. The receiver bias voltage and the transmitter control signal are received from an integrated circuit that is coupled to the ultrasonic sensor array. | 01-15-2015 |
20150049586 | SIGNAL PROCESSING DEVICE, SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD, RECORDING MEDIUM, AND PROGRAM - This technology relates to a signal processing device, a signal processing method, a recording medium, and a program capable of enabling appropriate beam forming with a simple configuration even when a positional relationship between a plurality of transducers included in a probe of an ultrasonic diagnostic device is not fixed. | 02-19-2015 |
20150049587 | FULL-DUPLEX ULTRASONIC THROUGH-WALL COMMUNICATION AND POWER DELIVERY SYSTEM WITH FREQUENCY TRACKING - A method and apparatus provide simultaneous bi-directional communications through a barrier using a pair of piezoelectric transducers. Outside-to-inside transmission of differentially encoded binary data is only sampled at the inside when a known repeated bit in a Barker sequence is transmitted in the other direction. Differentially encoded data is translated based on the absolute value of differences between each signal envelope sample and the previous signal envelope sample. Inside-to-outside data is transmitted by varying an electrical load on the inside transducer to vary the proportion of a continuous wave signal it reflects. The reflected portion of the continuous wave changes the electrical impedance of the outside transducer and this change is measured and interpreted as binary data. Two frequency selection algorithms select minimally sufficient and then optimal frequencies for power and data transmission by a frequency stepping process. | 02-19-2015 |
20150078129 | Sensing Apparatus Using Multiple Ultrasound Pulse Shapes - A sensing apparatus comprising an ultrasound transceiver for transmitting ultrasound signals into a sample and receiving a resultant ultrasound reflection signal from the sample, a detector for processing signals received by the transceiver by comparing the received signal against a reference signal to generate a response signal, the response signal comprising values as a function of time that represent the strength of the match between the received signal and the reference signal at the respective time; and a driver capable of generating a plurality of pre-defined pulse templates. | 03-19-2015 |
20150092518 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR REMOVING NOISE OF ULTRASONIC SYSTEM - An apparatus and method for removing noise of an ultrasonic system to improve robustness against noise by removing external noise from a reception signal reflected from an object are provided. The method includes transmitting, by a sensor, a transmission signal to a medium and receiving a reception signal reflected from the medium. A controller is configured to remove noise from a frequency range recognized as a normal signal from the reception signal and calculate a correlation between the transmission signal and a signal in the frequency range recognized as the normal signal in the reception signal. In addition, the controller is configured to determine whether the signal in the frequency range recognized as the normal signal is the normal signal or noise based on the calculated correlation. | 04-02-2015 |
20150098304 | METHODS AND SYSTEM TO ASSIST SEARCH FOR LOST AND SUBMERGED OBJECTS - Devices and methods for aiding a large area search for submerged objects such as aircraft. A searcher transmits interrogation signals to be received by a device at the target object. The interrogation signals have a long range relative to that of returned signals. The target device responds with a ping signal modified to be more easily found by means of information contained in the interrogation signal. The information may be inherent in the nature of the received signal or data encoded and embedded by the searching device. The target device may use a microprocessor to do complex operations using the information from the interrogation signal and other information. Detection of a weak ping is facilitated by such means as being beamed in the direction of the interrogation, arriving at a predictable time, or having parameters adapted to values requested by the searcher. | 04-09-2015 |
20150098305 | PHOTOACOUSTIC APPARATUS, OPERATION METHOD OF PHOTOACOUSTIC APPARATUS, AND PROGRAM - A photoacoustic apparatus disclosed in the present specification includes: an acoustic wave transmission unit configured to transmit a transmission acoustic wave to a specific area; a control unit configured to control a transmission waveform of the transmission acoustic wave transmitted from the acoustic wave transmission unit; a light source configured to generate light emitted to an area including the specific area when the acoustic wave reaches the specific area; an acoustic wave reception unit configured to receive the acoustic wave and to output a time-series received signal; and a signal processing unit configured to acquire optical property information based on the time-series received signal, wherein the control unit controls the transmission waveform in such a manner that amplitude of a photoacoustic wave generated in the specific area is reduced by the transmission acoustic wave transmitted from the acoustic wave transmission unit. | 04-09-2015 |
20150103627 | GROUP OF SPACED APART ACOUSTIC TRANSCIVER ARRAYS AND A METHOD FOR MEASURING A CONTENT OF A BIN - A method and a system for evaluating a content of a bin, the method may include: transmitting at a first point in time and by a first acoustic transceiver array, a first acoustic pulse; receiving by a second acoustic transceiver array an echo of the first acoustic pulse; and processing the echo of the first acoustic pulse to assist in a provision of a first estimate related to the content; wherein the second acoustic transceiver array differs from the first transceiver array; wherein a distance between the first and second acoustic transceiver array is at least ten times a distance between transducers of the second acoustic transceiver array. | 04-16-2015 |
20150103628 | MOVABLE SYSTEM FOR MEASURING A CONTENT OF A BIN - A method and a system for evaluating a content of a bin, the method may include (a) transmit multiple acoustic pulses by multiple acoustic transceiver arrays towards different areas of an upper surface of the content when the acoustic transceivers are positioned at different locations; wherein the multiple acoustic transceiver arrays are connected to a device that is moved according to a movement pattern between the different locations; receive by the multiple acoustic transceiver arrays multiple echoes of the multiple acoustic pulses; process by the multiple acoustic transceiver arrays the multiple echoes to provide multiple estimates of the different areas; associate with the multiple estimates of the different areas timing information indicative of a timing of the receiving of the multiple echoes to a computer; and obtain by an acoustic based location device, location information readings related to locations of the device at multiple points of time | 04-16-2015 |
20150138920 | MODULATED ECHO UNDERWATER COMMUNICATIONS AND ENERGY HARVESTING - A system is provided that includes a gateway node and terminal node. The gateway node may be configured to produce a continuous acoustic wave for propagation through a fluid such as water, and detect an echo thereof. The terminal node may be configured to control a piezoelectric layer to switchably reflect or transmit the acoustic wave incident thereon to produce and modulate the echo with a data stream to thereby convey the data stream within the echo, which the sensor of the gateway node may detect. The terminal node may be further configured to capture and store energy produced by the piezoelectric layer while the piezoelectric layer is controlled to transmit the incident acoustic wave. And at least a portion of the terminal node may be powerable from the stored energy. | 05-21-2015 |
20150343493 | PIEZOELECTRIC TRANSDUCER DEVICE FOR CONFIGURING A SEQUENCE OF OPERATIONAL MODES - In an embodiment, a tile device includes a plurality of piezoelectric transducers elements and a base adjoining and supporting the plurality of piezoelectric transducers elements. The base includes integrated circuitry programmed to successively configure operational modes of the tile, according to a pre-programmed sequence, to successively select respective subsets of the piezoelectric transducers elements for activation. The integrated circuitry includes pulser logic to selectively activate such subsets, and demultiplexer logic to communicate from the tile sense signals resulting from such activation. In another embodiment, the demultiplexer logic is part of a first voltage domain of the tile, and the pulser logic is part of a second voltage domain of the tile. The base may include circuitry to protect the demultiplexer logic from a relatively high voltage level of the second voltage domain. | 12-03-2015 |
20160003942 | DEVICE, METHOD AND PROGRAM FOR PROCESSING SIGNAL, UNDERWATER DETECTING DEVICE AND RADAR APPARATUS - A signal processor for processing target echo signal is provided. The signal processor includes a filter configured to generate a filtered echo signal by extracting echo signal components within a predetermined frequency band from the target echo signal, a high resolution signal generator configured to generate a high resolution signal based on the target echo signal, and a synthesizing module configured to synthesize the filtered echo signal with the high resolution signal. The high resolution signal has higher resolution than the filtered echo signal. | 01-07-2016 |
20160011326 | Multi-Function Broadband Phased-Array Software Defined Sonar System And Method | 01-14-2016 |
20160038974 | Ultrasound Device - An ultrasound system ( | 02-11-2016 |
20160109572 | NEUTRALIZATION OF A TARGET WITH AN ACOUSTIC WAVE - An embodiment of an apparatus includes a transducer array and a controller that is operable to cause the transducer array to generate a signal having a frequency, and to direct the signal toward an object having a resonant frequency that is approximately equal to the frequency of the signal. For example, an embodiment of a mine-hunting-and-neutralizing apparatus may generate an acoustic wave with a transducer array, and may disable or destroy a mine by directing the wave toward the mine. The apparatus generates the acoustic wave having a frequency that is approximately equal to the natural frequency of a component of the mine such that the wave causes the component to resonate in a manner that is sufficient to disable the mine from detonating, or that is sufficient to cause the mine to detonate. For example, if the component is the detonator, then the wave causes the detonator to resonate at an energy level that is sufficient to render the detonator unable to detonate the mine, or that is sufficient to cause the detonator to detonate the mine. | 04-21-2016 |
20160124082 | ULTRASONIC MEASUREMENT APPARATUS, ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS, AND ULTRASONIC MEASUREMENT METHOD - An ultrasonic measurement apparatus includes a transmission processing unit that performs processing for transmitting an ultrasonic wave at a given transmission angle, a reception processing unit that performs reception processing of an ultrasonic echo with respect to a transmitted ultrasonic wave, and a processing unit that performs processing with respect to a reception signal from the reception processing unit. The processing unit obtains a plurality of first resolution signals by synthesizing a plurality of the reception signals based on a first beamforming coefficient, and obtains a second beamforming coefficient for synthesizing a second resolution signal from the plurality of first resolution signals based on whether a signal processing target point belongs to a plane wave propagation region or belongs to a spherical wave propagation region. | 05-05-2016 |
20160146935 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING THAT A DEVICE IS IMMERSED IN A LIQUID - A method comprising: receiving, by an electronic device, a first signal having a first frequency; identifying, by the electronic device, at least one of a strength of the first signal or a signal-to-noise ratio of the first signal; outputting, by the electronic device, a second signal having a second frequency that is different from the first frequency, the second signal being output based on at least one of the strength of the first signal or the signal-to-noise ratio of the first signal; receiving the second signal by the electronic device; and detecting whether the electronic device is at least partially immersed in a liquid based on the received second signal. | 05-26-2016 |
20160170013 | Operating a Sonar Transducer | 06-16-2016 |
20160379018 | ULTRASONIC IDENTIFICATION DEVICES AND METHODS OF MAKING AND USING SAME - Ultrasonic identification devices, and methods of making and use same. The present invention further relates to ultrasonic ID devices using membranes (such as membranes made of graphene or a polyester film). | 12-29-2016 |