Waveguide invariant focusing for broadband beamforming in an oceanic waveguide

The performance of broadband sonar array processing can degrade significantly in shallow-water environments when interference becomes angularly spread due to multipath propagation. Particularly for towed line arrays near endfire, elevation angle spreading of multipath interference often results in masking of weaker sources of interest. While adaptive beamforming in a series of narrow frequency bands can suppress coherent multipath interference, this approach requires long observation times to estimate the required narrowband covariance matrices. To form wideband covariance matrices which can be estimated with less observation time, plane-wave focusing methods have been used to avoid interference covariance matrix rank inflation. This paper extends wideband focusing to the case of coherent multipath interference. The approach presented here, called waveguide invariant focusing (WIF), exploits a robust relationship for the frequency dependence of horizontal wave number differences. Unlike matched-field methods, WIF does not model multipath wave fronts but rather makes the interference appear to occupy the same rank-one subspace across frequency. This permits formation of wideband covariance matrices without interference rank inflation. Simulation experiments in a realistic ocean environment indicate that adaptive beamforming using WIF covariance matrices can provide a significant array gain improvement over conventional adaptive methods with limited observation time.     

Beam intensity striations and applications

The single-element spectrogram for a continuous broadband signal, plotted as a function of range, has been shown to exhibit striated bands of intensity maxima and minima. The slope of the striations is an invariant of the modal interference and is described by a waveguide invariant parameter "beta." The striation pattern is analyzed and modeled in this paper for the beam outputs of a horizontal line array obtained by conventional beamforming. Array beamforming makes it possible to measure the waveguide invariant parameter for weak signals due to the enhancement of signal levels by the array gain over that of a single element. It is shown that the signal beam spectrogram as a function of range exhibits the same striation pattern as that (predicted) for a single element. Specifically, for a broadside signal, the beam striation is identical to that of a single-element plus a constant signal gain. For a nonbroadside target, the signal beam intensity will be modified by a frequency-bearing dependent signal gain due to the signal spread over multiple beams, nevertheless the beam spectrogram retains the same striation pattern (slope) as for a single element. The sidelobe beams (outside the canonical cones containing the signal arrivals) exhibit an entirely different striation pattern as a function of frequency and range. For array processing, it is shown that a fast range-rate, close range target and a distant, slow range-rate interference source will have a different striation pattern (slope) in the corresponding beam spectrograms as a function of time, assuming no prior knowledge of the source ranges. The difference in the striations between the beam spectrograms can be used in array processing to suppress the interference contribution. A 5-7 dB interference suppression is demonstrated using simulated data.     

协方差矩阵重构的稳健自适应波束形成算法

针对协方差矩阵含有期望信号成分以及波束指向角失配时,传统自适应波束形成器性能严重下降的问题,提出了协方差矩阵重构的稳健自适应波束形成算法。该算法将全空域划分成若干互不重叠的区域,分别对应干扰区域与信号区域,先利用Capon波束形成器对干扰区域积分,由此构造出干扰协方差矩阵。然后,利用标准Capon波束形成器的波束域MUSIC谱估计法对信号区域积分,重构出信号协方差矩阵,以其主特征向量作为期望信号导引向量估计。由于算法重构了干扰加噪声协方差矩阵并对导引向量进行了修正,保证了自适应波束形成器的性能。理论分析和仿真实验结果表明,算法在训练数据含有期望信号成分和波束指向角度失配情况下具有良好的性能。      

一种最差情况下性能最优化的特征分析自适应波束形成方法

自适应波束形成在弱目标检测和空域滤波中应用广泛。然而在实际海洋环境中,失配情况比较普遍,往往会导致传统自适应波束形成方法性能明显下降。针对此问题,本文基于特征分析重构观测信号协方差矩阵来抑制干扰对弱目标检测的影响,在此基础上进一步利用凸优化算法来提高波束形成方法的鲁棒性。数值仿真和海试数据处理结果表明,本文所提方法在抑制干扰对弱目标影响的基础上,在阵元位置平均误差不超过入射信号中心频率对应波长的40%的情况下,仍可以鲁棒地检测目标信号。同时,该方法显著提高了自适应波束形成方法的输出信干噪比,且受对角加载量取值的影响较小。      

MASS-RAB: Robust adaptive beamforming for general-rank signal models via matched spatial spectrum processing

The wavefront of acoustic signal suffers from fast fluctuation after a long distance propagation in a random and inhomogeneous ocean channel, which makes the rank of the covariance matrix for the desired signal (signal of interest) remarkably higher than one. Consequently, the assumption of rank-one point signal model for existing adaptive beamforming algorithms is no longer suitable. In this paper, a matched spatial spectrum processing based robust adaptive beamforming (MASS-RAB) algorithm is presented for general-rank signal models. First, the interference-plus-noise covariance matrix and the desired signal covariance matrix are reconstructed using the matched spatial spectrum processing method. Second, the weight vector is directly calculated using these reconstructed covariance matrices for the minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) algorithm, which is developed for the general-rank signal models. Due to covariance matrix reconstruction, the MASS-RAB algorithm is more robust than those methods relying on the sample covariance matrix. The cases of the rank-one point signal model and the full-rank non-point signal model are considered by several numerical examples. Experimental results have demonstrated the superiority of the proposed MASS-RAB method.     

波束空间能量约束的稳健自适应波束形成

为改善波束形成器在一定失配条件下的工作性能,提出了一种稳健自适应波束形成方法。该方法通过设计信号在波束空间能量分布的约束条件,利用阵列数据协方差矩阵,结合迭代二阶锥规化方法,实现信号驾驶向量的估计,最后利用该估计得到最小方差无失真响应波束形成器。该方法在较恶劣的失配条件下也可以自适应地准确估计信号驾驶向量并保证其成分无失真地通过,使系统的稳健性得到改善。数据仿真结果表明,该方法在理想条件下与成熟的对角加载法性能相当,在失配条件下则优于后者。      

海洋环境噪声场对称性分析及噪声消除方法

实际的海洋环境是非常复杂的,存在着海洋自噪声、舰船噪声、生物发声等,阵元接收到的噪声信号存在一定的相关性,此时基于传统阵列信号处理的目标方位估计方法的性能将变差,针对这一问题,提出了一种实部消除方法.首先从阵元接收环境噪声的物理机理出发,将圆环阵接收的噪声场分解为对称噪声场和非对称噪声场,并且研究发现对称噪声场只影响数据协方差矩阵的实部.然后通过消除协方差矩阵实部,达到消除对称噪声场的目的,提高信噪比,但是同时产生了虚假声源.针对虚假声源的问题,提出了基于优化算法重构协方差矩阵实部的方法,消除了虚假声源的影响.仿真分析与海试数据处理结果表明:该方法明显消除了对称噪声,提高了信噪比,改善了阵列信号处理算法的性能.实部消除方法易于实现,有一定的工程应用价值.     

基于近场聚焦逆波束形成的UUV平台噪声自适应抵消

UUV平台自噪声会对舷侧阵产生干扰，从而影响其探测性能，本文针对平台尾部自噪声源的直达噪声和海面反射噪声，提出了基于近场聚焦逆波束形成的平台噪声自适应抵消方法。文中利用UUV平台设计参数、深度以及运动姿态信息对尾部自噪声传播到舷侧阵的路径建立几何模型，并分析了影响该路径的因素；通过该模型，平台尾部自噪声能够实时自适应地通过聚焦波束形成被估计出来，从而在舷侧阵的接收信号中实现干扰抵消。仿真结果与海试实验数据处理结果表明，该方法能够有效抑制尾部自噪声干扰，显著提高UUV探测弱目标的能力。     

基于压缩感知的矢量阵聚焦定位方法

本文针对噪声源近场定位识别问题,利用声源分布在空间域具有稀疏性,在压缩感知理论框架下建立了新体系下的矢量阵聚焦波束形成方法,用于解决同频相干声源的定位识别问题.新方法可在小快拍下准确获得噪声源的空间位置,且不损失对噪声源贡献相对大小的评价能力.通过详细的理论推导、仿真分析和试验验证,证明了基于压缩感知的矢量阵聚焦定位新方法本质上实现了l1范数正则化求解下的波形恢复和空间谱估计,因此具有较高的定位精度,较强的相干声源分辨能力、准确的声源贡献相对大小评价能力以及较高的背景压制能力,可应用于水下复杂噪声源的定位识别.     

Frequency-invariant robust adaptive beamforming based on interference covariance matrix reconstruction

Consider the problems of frequency-invariant beampattern optimization and robustness in broadband beamforming.Firstly,a global optimization algorithm,which is based on phase compensation of the array manifolds,is used to construct the frequency-invariant beampattern.Compared with some methods presented recently,the proposed algorithm is not only available to get the global optimal solution,but also simple for physical realization.Meanwhile,a robust adaptive broadband beamforming algorithm is also derived by reconstructing the covariance matrix.The essence of the proposed algorithm is to estimate the space-frequency spectrum using Capon estimator firstly,then integrate over a region separated from the desired signal direction to reconstruct the interference-plus-noise covariance matrix,and finally caleulate the adaptive beamformer weights with the reconstructed matrix.The design of beamformer is formulated as a convex optimization problem to be solved.Simulation results show that the performance of the proposed algorithm is almost always close to the optimal value across a wide range of signal to noise ratios.     

圆弧形面阵自适应波束形成快速计算方法

针对圆弧形面阵估计水下目标二维波达方向的问题,提出一种降维处理的自适应波束形成方法。利用圆弧形面阵模型简化阵列内插矩阵的计算,通过垂直和水平两阶段波束加权,降低自适应波束形成维数,从而实现快速估计声源二维波达方向的目的。仿真结果表明,所提改进方法的计算量较传统二维最小方差无失真波束形成方法降低约一个数量级,且在低快拍条件下具有更明显的噪声抑制优势。湖上实验数据处理结果验证,在复杂水声环境下,所提方法具有较好的目标分辨性能。      

Source motion mitigation for adaptive matched field processing

Application of adaptive matched field processing to the problem of detecting quiet targets in shallow water is complicated by source motion, both the motion of the target and the motion of discrete interferers. Target motion causes spreading of the target peak, thereby reducing output signal power. Interferer motion increases the dimensionality of the interference subspace, reducing adaptive interference suppression. This paper presents three techniques that mitigate source motion problems in adaptive matched field processing. The first involves rank reduction, which enables adaptive weight computation over short observation intervals where motion effects are less pronounced. The other two techniques specifically compensate for source motion. Explicit target motion compensation reduces target motion mismatch by focusing snapshots according to a target velocity hypothesis. And time-varying interference filtering places time-varying nulls on moving interferers not otherwise suppressed by adaptive weights. The three techniques are applied to volumetric array data from the Santa Barbara Channel Experiment and are shown to improve output signal-to-background-plus-noise ratio by more than 3 dB over the standard minimum-variance, distortionless response adaptive beam-former. Application of the techniques in some cases proves to be the difference between detecting and not detecting the target.     

Fast implementation of sparse iterative covariance-based estimation for source localization

Fast implementations of the sparse iterative covariance-based estimation (SPICE) algorithm are presented for source localization with a uniform linear array (ULA). SPICE is a robust, user parameter-free, high-resolution, iterative, and globally convergent estimation algorithm for array processing. SPICE offers superior resolution and lower sidelobe levels for source localization compared to the conventional delay-and-sum beamforming method; however, a traditional SPICE implementation has a higher computational complexity (which is exacerbated in higher dimensional data). It is shown that the computational complexity of the SPICE algorithm can be mitigated by exploiting the Toeplitz structure of the array output covariance matrix using Gohberg-Semencul factorization. The SPICE algorithm is also extended to the acoustic vector-sensor ULA scenario with a specific nonuniform white noise assumption, and the fast implementation is developed based on the block Toeplitz properties of the array output covariance matrix. Finally, numerical simulations illustrate the computational gains of the proposed methods.     

基于时延估计的分裂阵时域波束形成技术

大孔径拖曳线列阵受舰艇横向机动、洋流影响和水动力影响时会产生一定的阵形畸变,阵形畸变使得波束形成时阵列流型失配,进而降低了目标方位分辨率和阵处理的增益。在无法进行阵形估计时,基于时延估计的分裂阵时域波束形成技术将大孔径拖曳线阵分为左右两个子阵分别做波束形成,通过加权广义相关时延估计算法估算对应波束的时延差,再依据估算时延差对左右两个波束进行延时求和得到最终的波束信号。仿真和海试数据证明,相对于全阵直接做波束形成的方法,基于时延估计的分裂阵的时域波束形成技术有效提高了目标方位分辨率和阵处理的增益。     

基于干扰协方差矩阵重构的恒定束宽鲁棒自适应波束形成

针对宽带波束形成中的恒定束宽波束响应优化设计问题与鲁棒性问题展开研究。首先,提出一种基于相位补偿的恒定束宽全局优化设计方法,通过对阵列流形向量进行相位补偿来设计恒定束宽波束,与现有的一些方法相比,该方法不仅能获得全局最优解,而且物理实现简单。同时,还提出一种基于协方差矩阵重构的鲁棒自适应宽带波束形成算法。该算法采用Capon估计器估计样本数据的空间一频率谱密度函数,然后对期望信号波达方向之外的角度区间进行积分来重构干扰加噪声协方差矩阵,最后利用重构的协方差矩阵设计自适应波束形成器权系数。该波束形成器设计问题被表述成凸优化问题求解。仿真结果表明,在整个输入信噪比范围内,该算法几乎都能获得接近理想值的输出信干噪比。      

快速收敛最小方差无畸变响应算法研究及应用

常规最小方差无畸变响应(MVDR)自适应波束形成是一种高分辨窄带波束形成器,它是利用实际声场的窄带互谱密度矩阵(CSDM)估计出自适应波束形成权向量。在实际应用中,MVDR算法需要较长的观测时间估计协方差矩阵,不利于对高速运动目标进行定位;对于宽带目标信号,MVDR算法需要对每一个CSDM进行求逆运算,计算量较大;在相干源条件下,目标信号之间会发生"对消"现象,MVDR算法性能急剧恶化。本文提出了基于子带子阵处理的快速收敛MVDR自适应波束形成方法。首先将全频带划分成一组子带,将接收线阵划分成一组子阵,然后对每一子带计算降维的驾驶协方差矩阵(STCM),从而得到快速收敛MVDR自适应波束形成的权值和空间谱估计结果。同时采用双向空间平滑方法对相干源进行MVDR空间谱估计。仿真和海试数据处理结果表明该算法在保证高分辨力的同时,具有瞬时收敛的性能,双向空间平滑技术具有良好的解相干性能。      

An acousto-optic beamformer

There is a great variety of beamforming techniques that can be used for localization of sound sources. The differences among them usually lie in the array layout or in the specific signal processing algorithm used to compute the beamforming output. Any beamforming system consists of a finite number of transducers, which makes beamforming methods vulnerable to spatial aliasing above a certain frequency. The present work uses the acousto-optic effect, i.e., the interaction between sound and light, to localize sound sources in a plane. The use of a beam of light as the sensing element is equivalent to a continuous line aperture with an infinite number of microphones. This makes the proposed acousto-optic beamformer immune to spatial aliasing. This unique feature is illustrated by means of simulations and experimental results within the entire audible frequency range. For ease of comparison, the study is supplemented with measurements carried out with a line array of microphones.     

一种加权稀疏约束稳健Capon波束形成方法

为了克服标准Capon波束形成器旁瓣级高以及存在角度失配时性能急剧下降等缺点, 在稀疏约束Capon波束形成器的基础上, 提出了一种加权稀疏约束Capon波束形成器. 该方法利用波束响应的稀疏分布特性, 在标准Capon波束形成优化模型中加入旁瓣区域波束响应稀疏约束(l₁ 范数约束), 使旁瓣区域波束响应向量中非零元素的个数最小化; 通过阵列采样数据协方差矩阵特征分解得到信号子空间及噪声子空间, 利用信号子空间与噪声子空间的正交特性, 构造加权矩阵对稀疏约束进行加权, 使得稀疏重构时波束响应向量中不同角度对应的元素得到不同程度的约束. 该方法有效地抑制了Capon波束形成器的高旁瓣级, 加深了干扰方位零陷, 提高了阵列输出信干噪比. 由于稀疏约束, 波束响应向主瓣集中, 期望信号方向附近的波束响应都较大, 从而也提高了阵列抗导向矢量角度失配的能力. 数值仿真和水池实验验证了所提方法的有效性.     

稳健的子带子阵级导向最小方差波束形成算法

导向最小方差(STMV)波束形成是一种利用导向协方差矩阵获得自适应权值的方法,具有快速收敛特性.常规的稳健导向最小方差(RSTMV)波束形成算法在处理宽频带信号时,性能下降明显.为了改善算法的性能,结合频域子带划分和空域子阵划分技术,提出一种多子带不确定集独立约束的稳健子阵级STMV波束形成算法。通过频域子带划分可对不同子带的导向向量误差范数边界进行约束,计算出各子带对应的对角加载量,得到稳健的子带级最小方差波束形成算法权向量;同时采用子阵技术进行降维处理,可进一步增加划分子带的数目,从而提高算法的性能并有效降低计算复杂度,最终得到一种稳健的子带子阵级STMV波束形成算法。理论分析和仿真结果表明,在阵列导向向量存在误差的情况下,该算法在干扰方向形成的零陷最深,且零陷波束宽度最窄,输出信噪比接近理论值,因此性能最佳.实际海试数据处理表明,在强干扰目标存在时,弱目标输出信干噪比较RSTMV算法可提高4 dB,较常规波束形成可提高10 dB,在角度分辨力和算法复杂度方面得到有效改善,同时可以保证目标功率无失真输出。      

Adaptive beamforming for array signal processing in aeroacoustic measurements

Phased microphone arrays have become an important tool in the localization of noise sources for aeroacoustic applications. In most practical aerospace cases the conventional beamforming algorithm of the delay-and-sum type has been adopted. Conventional beamforming cannot take advantage of knowledge of the noise field, and thus has poorer resolution in the presence of noise and interference. Adaptive beamforming has been used for more than three decades to address these issues and has already achieved various degrees of success in areas of communication and sonar. In this work an adaptive beamforming algorithm designed specifically for aeroacoustic applications is discussed and applied to practical experimental data. It shows that the adaptive beamforming method could save significant amounts of post-processing time for a deconvolution method. For example, the adaptive beamforming method is able to reduce the DAMAS computation time by at least 60% for the practical case considered in this work. Therefore, adaptive beamforming can be considered as a promising signal processing method for aeroacoustic measurements.