Nonlinear Mixing of Sound Beams for Focal Point Determination

• Main Authors: Vatankhah, Ehsan, Hall, Neal Allen, Williams, Randall Paul
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 28.04.2022
• Subjects: ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES; DEAF-AID SETS; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE; ELECTRICITY; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION ORRERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKEACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; MEASURING; PHYSICS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS; RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; TESTING

Systems, methods, and mechanisms for sound beam focal point determination within an acoustic medium may include propagating a first sound beam to intersect a second sound beam, where the second sound beam converges at a focal point. Signals representative of sound pressure in the acoustic medium may be received from one or more sensors. A direction and/or focal length of the first sound beam within the acoustic medium may be adjusted, based, at least in part, on the received signals, to produce a maximum amplitude of signals generated from nonlinear mixing of the first sound beam and the second sound beam, where the maximum amplitude may correspond to the intersection of the first sound beam with the focal point of the second sound beam. A location of the intersection may be determined, at least in some instances, using a time-of-arrival analysis on the received signals.