The Correlation Beamformer -- A Method of Beam Control Without the Use of Time Delay or Phase Shift Networks.

摘要

The classic beamforming algorithm involves the process of 'phasing-to-plane'. This report presents a method of beamforming which does not require the phasing-to-a-plane step, and therefore can be implemented without the use of time delay or phase shift network. The study was restricted to cylindrical or circular arrays of equally spaced sensor elements, although the method appears to be equally applicable for other geometries. Since no general closed form solution for the required shading coefficients is available, a set of shading coefficient selection algorithms are developed and presented along with the resulting beam pattern performance. Studies of the bandwidth, elevation beam patterns, and the effects of construction errors, as well as methods of implementing the beamformer, are reported.