A miniature high resolution 3-D imaging sonar

This paper discusses the design and development of a miniature, high resolution 3-D imaging sonar. The design utilizes frequency steered phased arrays (FSPA) technology. FSPAs present a small, low-power solution to the problem of underwater imaging sonars. The technology provides a method to build sonars with a large number of beams without the proportional power, circuitry and processing complexity. The design differs from previous methods in that the array elements are manufactured from a monolithic material. With this technique the arrays are flat and considerably smaller element dimensions are achievable which allows for higher frequency ranges and smaller array sizes. In the current frequency range, the demonstrated array has ultra high image resolution (1″ range × 1° azimuth × 1° elevation) and small size (<3″ × 3″). The design of the FSPA utilizes the phasing-induced frequency-dependent directionality of a linear phased array to produce multiple beams in a forward sector. The FSPA requires only two hardware channels per array and can be arranged in single and multiple array configurations that deliver wide sector 2-D images. 3-D images can be obtained by scanning the array in a direction perpendicular to the 2-D image field and applying suitable image processing to the multiple scanned 2-D images. This paper introduces the 3-D FSPA concept, theory and design methodology. Finally, results from a prototype array are presented and discussed.