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Sparse Representation Techniques for Sonar Applications

With the continued development of offshore resources such as oils and minerals reserves there is necessary for the equipment used to become more sophisticated and integrated. One aspect of this is underwater wireless communications, which, due to the poor transmission of electromagnetic waves is largely accomplished with acoustics. However, predicting how sound waves travel underwater is a difficult problem and requires significant computational effort. This project is first focused on modelling the characteristics of an underwater acoustic channel for communication and imaging applications.

The project builds upon existing simulation techniques and aims to reduce the amount of computation required to construct the response for a dynamic environment, for example where both the receiver the transmitter may be moving or the effects of surface waves. Sparse representation techniques have been developed in recent years that allow an estimate of the environment to be made from a reduced number of physical measurements, or alternatively a more precise result obtained from traditional sensors. This project is to examine the use of these techniques in antenna array beamforming where they may be used to reduce the complexity of the sensor array processing. The application focus for the project is for underwater sonar and imaging systems which have increased potential as the world oceans are explored.

Members

  • Ben Henson
  • Dr Yuriy Zakharov

Funding

  • EPSRC

Dates

  • Start: October 2013

Research