Application of orthogonal ultrasonic signals and binaural processing for imaging of the environment

Data acquisition rates in ultrasonic imaging systems are limited by the finite value of the speed of ultrasonic waves. In order to improve the imaging speed, it is proposed to perform simultaneous scanning of the environment in different directions. In order to avoid cross-talk between adjacent channels in different directions, different orthogonal signals are transmitted. Application of cross-correlation processing and non-linear iterative deconvolution enables the reliable separation of signals transmitted by different sources and reflected by multiple targets. The spatial positions of the targets are found using the data obtained after the non-linear deconvolution as the initial data for binaural or tri-aural processing. This approach has been exploited in ultrasonic sonar used for navigation of mobile robots.