UACE2017 Proceedings: Comparison of Computation Time and Accuracy of the Real Time Implementation of Two Beamforming Algorithms.

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  • Session:
    Large Time-Bandwidth acoustic signals for target detection and tracking
  • Paper:
    Comparison of Computation Time and Accuracy of the Real Time Implementation of Two Beamforming Algorithms.
  • Author(s):
    Gaetano Canepa, Alessandra Tesei, Luigi Troiano, Stefano Biagini, Federico Aglietti, Rodney Dymond, Marco Mazzi, Arjan Vermeij, Vittorio Grandi
  • Abstract:
    NATO STO-CMRE has designed, developed and built a new triplet hydrophone array called SLICTA (SLIm Cardioid Towed Array) to be towed either from an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) or a ship in multistatic active sonar applications. A triplet array has the capability to reduce the port/starboard ambiguity that strongly affects detection and localization in the case of a linear array. Two beamforming algorithms have been implemented in C++ for real-time signal processing on-board the AUV towing the array: a classic cardioid beamformer and a 3D optimal beamformer. The algorithms were originally developed to work in active sonar mode with pulse waveforms and have been adapted to Continuous Active Sonar (CAS) mode. The two algorithms are compared in terms of computational time and memory usage, parameters which are particularly important since the array is intended to be used on an autonomous vehicle with limited computation power. Other comparison criteria evaluated in this work are the achieved spatial resolution and the Port/Starboard Ambiguity Rejection (PSAR) capability. The algorithms are evaluated against a data set collected during LCAS16 experiment (off the coast of Taranto, Italy), when the SLICTA array was tested and used for the first time. Preliminary but encouraging results of accuracy and computation time of the two algorithms are presented.\nThis work is part of the LCAS Multi National Joint Research Project, whose includes as participants CMRE (NATO), DSTG (AUS), DRDC (CAN), DSTL (GBR), CSSN (ITA), FFI (NOR), DTA (NZL), and ONR (USA). The LCAS16 trial and this work were funded by the Allied Command Transformation (ACT).
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Contact details

  • Contact person:
    Dr Gaetano Canepa
  • e-mail:
  • Affiliation:
    NATO STO-CMRE
  • Country:
    Italy

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