Thinning and weighting of large planar arrays by simulated annealing

• Published in: IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control Vol. 46; no. 2; pp. 347 - 355
• Main Author: Trucco, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.03.1999; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Subjects: Acoustic arrays; Acoustic beams; Acoustic imaging; Acoustics; Apertures; Arrays; Asymmetry; Costs; Electrical capacitance tomography; Exact sciences and technology; Ferroelectric materials; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Physics; Planar arrays; Simulated annealing; Spatial resolution; Steering; Thinning; Transduction; acoustical devices for the generation and reproduction of sound; Two dimensional; Underwater acoustics; Design; Probabilistic approach; Simulated annealing; Acoustic antenna; Plane antenna; Acoustic image; Underwater acoustics; Modeling; Transducer network; Acoustic transducer
• ISSN: 0885-3010; 1525-8955
• DOI: 10.1109/58.753023

Two-dimensional arrays offer the potential for producing three-dimensional acoustic imaging. The major problem is the complexity arising from the large number of elements in such arrays. In this paper, a synthesis method is proposed that is aimed at designing an aperiodic sparse two-dimensional array to be used with a conventional beam-former. The stochastic algorithm of simulated annealing has been utilized to minimize the number of elements necessary to produce a spatial response that meets given requirements. The proposed method is highly innovative, as it can design very large arrays, optimize both positions and weight coefficients, synthesize asymmetric arrays, and generate array configurations that are valid for every steering direction. Several results are presented, showing notable improvements in the array characteristics and performances over those reported in the literature.