JP2007022114A - Sono-buoy of global positioning system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sono-buoy of a global positioning system (GPS) capable of wirelessly transmitting the sonar information and the position (latitude and longitude) information according to GPS using a simple configuration without providing a digital modulation circuit and a digital radio transmission circuit. <P>SOLUTION: The sono-buoy to be cast into the water from an airplane 6 is composed of a float part 10, a surfacing part 20, and an underwater part 30. The float part 10 is equipped with antennae 11-13, and the underwater part 30, with a sonar receiver circuit 31, while the surfacing part 20 is furnished with a GPS module 21, a signal converter circuit 22, an analog FM modulation circuit 24, and a changeover circuit 23 to make changing-over between the latitude and longitude analog signals 221 of the radio transmission circuit 25 and the signal converter circuit 22 and the reception signal 311 of the sonar. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sonobuoy, and more particularly to a GPS sonobuoy that wirelessly transmits sonar information together with accurate position (latitude and longitude) information using GPS (Global Positioning System) technology.

  A sonobuoy is composed of one or more underwater parts that are dropped into the sea from an aircraft or the like, and a floating part that rises to the venue. Widely used for sending to.

  A marine invasion warning method is disclosed in which navigation of a navigation body such as a submarine in a warning sea area is detected with respect to an aircraft flying on the sea, and GPS position information and sonar information are digitally transmitted and notified by radio (for example, Patent Document 1). Further, a wireless device that displays position information on a display unit in combination with a GPS receiver is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 2). Furthermore, an underwater sound data collection device that collects sound pattern data and GPS position information from a surface ship navigating the sea or the sea or a submarine navigating the sea is disclosed by sonobuoy dropped from an aircraft (for example, And Patent Document 3).

JP 2004-345434 A (page 7-8, FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-68884 (page 3, FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-120489 (page 2-3, FIGS. 1 and 2)

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a typical conventional sonobuoy. This sonobuoy includes a float portion 10, a floating portion 20, and an underwater portion 30. The float unit 10 includes a GPS antenna 11, a transmission antenna 12, and a reception antenna 13. The flying unit 20 includes a GPS module 21, a signal conversion circuit 22, an FM modulation circuit 24, a radio transmission circuit 25, a digital modulation circuit 26, a digital radio transmission circuit 27, and a control reception circuit 28. In addition, the underwater unit 30 includes a sonar receiving circuit 31.

  In FIG. 6, the sonar sound 4 in water is received by the sonar receiving circuit 31 and FM-modulated by the FM modulation circuit 24 as a received signal 311. The FM modulated signal 241 is transmitted from the radio transmission circuit 25 to the transmission antenna 12 as a transmission signal 251 and transmitted as a radio wave 121.

  Next, when a GPS data transmission request radio wave is received from the aircraft by the receiving antenna 13, the latitude and longitude data 102 by the GPS signal 101 received from the GPS antenna 11 is converted into serial data by the signal conversion circuit 22 via the GPS module 21. 221 is sent to the radio transmission circuit 25 and the digital modulation circuit 26. In the digital modulation circuit 26, digital communication modulation such as FSK or GMSK is performed, and radio waves 121 are transmitted from the digital wireless transmission circuit 27 via the antenna 12 as digital data 271. While the serial data 221 is generated, the analog FM-compatible radio transmission circuit 25 stops output and avoids interference.

  However, the Sonobuoy equipped with the conventional digital radio as described above has several problems. First, since the digital modulation circuit and the wireless transmission circuit are provided, the electronic circuit stored in the sonobuoy becomes large, which increases power consumption as well as dimensional constraints. Second, the aircraft-side radio needs to have two radios for analog FM and digital communication. In this method, since the frequency analysis process and the latitude / longitude information are handled completely separately, the latitude / longitude cannot be seen in the frequency analysis screen.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and is capable of transmitting latitude and longitude information, which is character information, using sonobuoy that solves such problems, that is, analog wireless transmission of received signals of sonar. The main purpose is to provide a GPS sonobuoy.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the GPS sonobuoy according to the present invention employs the following characteristic configuration.

(1) In a GPS sonobuoy comprising a float part having an antenna, a floating part having a radio and an underwater part having a sonar receiving circuit
A radio that transmits a combination of a signal conversion circuit that converts latitude / longitude information received from the GPS antenna of the float unit into a latitude / longitude analog signal, and a reception signal of the latitude / longitude analog signal and the sonar reception circuit, on the floating portion. GPS sonobuoy equipped with a transmission circuit.
(2) The GPS sonobuoy according to (1), further including a switching circuit that selectively switches the latitude / longitude analog signal and the reception signal of the sonar reception circuit.
(3) The GPS sonobuoy according to (2), wherein the switching circuit is switched and controlled by a control reception signal received from the antenna.
(4) The GPS sonobuoy according to (2), wherein the switching circuit includes a timer and is controlled to be switched at a predetermined interval.
(5) The GPS sonobuoy according to (1), further comprising a signal addition circuit for adding the latitude / longitude analog signal and the reception signal of the sonar reception circuit.
(6) The GPS sonobuoy according to any one of (1) to (5), further including an analog FM modulation circuit that FM-modulates the latitude / longitude analog signal and the reception signal of the sonar reception circuit and inputs the result to the wireless transmission circuit.
(7) In a GPS sonobuoy that wirelessly transmits latitude / longitude information, which is position information obtained using a GPS satellite, and sonar information obtained from a sonar receiving circuit
A GPS sonobuoy comprising: conversion means for converting the latitude / longitude information into a character corresponding to a frequency time that can be visually recognized as characters; and transmission means for analogly transmitting the latitude / longitude information converted by the conversion means together with the sonar information.
(8) The GPS sonobuoy according to (7), wherein the converted latitude / longitude information and the sonar information are alternately switched and transmitted in a time division manner.
(9) The GPS sonobuoy according to (7), wherein the converted latitude / longitude information and the sonar information are added together and transmitted.

  According to the GPS sonobuoy of the present invention, the following practical effects can be obtained. That is, since latitude / longitude information by GPS is converted into an analog signal, it is possible to determine latitude / longitude by GPS on a gram display screen for performing frequency analysis. Further, since latitude / longitude information by GPS is converted into an analog signal, a digital wireless device is unnecessary, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced along with the miniaturization of the circuit. Further, since latitude and longitude can be visually displayed, there is no error that occurs again when latitude and longitude information is converted into a voltage value and transmitted.

  Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of a preferred embodiment of a GPS sonobuoy using position (latitude and longitude) information from a GPS satellite according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  First, FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a GPS sonobuoy according to the present invention, (A) shows the overall configuration, and (B) is a block diagram showing its internal configuration. For convenience of explanation, the corresponding reference numerals are used for the components corresponding to the components of the conventional sonobuoy shown in FIG.

  The GPS sonobuoy (hereinafter sometimes referred to simply as sonobuoy) in FIG. 1 has a float portion 10 projecting from the water surface into the air, a floating portion 20 floating on the water surface, and a sinker below the water surface and electrically connected to the floating portion 20. It is the same as the conventional sonobuoy mentioned above by the point comprised by the underwater sonar part 30 currently performed.

  In the GPS sonobuoy shown in FIG. 1, the float unit 10 obtains the buoyancy of sonobuoy. The flying unit 20 houses a radio that transmits and receives data to and from the aircraft 6. The float unit 10 includes a GPS antenna 11, a transmission antenna 12 for the aircraft 6, and a reception antenna 13 for the aircraft 6. The flying unit 20 includes a GPS module 21, a signal conversion circuit 22, a switching circuit (switch) 23, an analog FM modulation circuit 24, a radio transmission circuit 25, and a control reception circuit 28. In addition, the underwater unit 30 includes a sonar receiving circuit 31.

  The underwater sonar unit 30 receives sound waves 4 from a ship such as a submarine that sails underwater. The underwater sound wave 4 is received by the sonar receiving circuit of the underwater sonar unit 30 and transmitted to the floating portion 20 as a reception signal 311 via the cable 32 having a predetermined length. This received signal 311 passes through the switching circuit 23, and is FM-modulated by the analog FM modulation circuit 24, and the modulation signal 241 is input to the radio transmission circuit 25. This signal is power-amplified in the radio band, is output to the transmission antenna 12 as a transmission signal 251, and is transmitted to the aircraft 6 as a radio wave 121.

  Next, the case where the aircraft 6 side wants to know the position of Sonobui will be described. The aircraft 6 transmits a control radio wave 131 and is received by the receiving antenna 13 of the Sonobuoy float 10. The control signal 132 received by the antenna 13 is subjected to signal content determination by the control reception circuit 28. Since the control item includes a plurality of information such as a Sonobuoy depth switch and a GPS data transmission request, the control reception circuit 28 decodes the signal and determines that there is a GPS data transmission request. To do.

  When there is a request for GPS transmission, the control reception circuit 28 outputs a GPS request signal 281 to the switching circuit 23. The Sonobuoy constantly receives radio waves from the GPS satellite 5 and outputs a GPS signal 102 received by the GPS antenna 11 to the GPS module 21. The GPS module 21 performs calculation and converts the signal into latitude / longitude information 211. The latitude / longitude information 211 is text information and cannot be input to the analog FM modulation circuit 24 as it is like an analog signal such as a sonar reception signal 311.

  The signal conversion circuit 22 converts the latitude / longitude information 211 input thereto into a latitude / longitude analog signal 221 and outputs it to the switching circuit 23. When there is a GPS data transmission request, the GPS request signal 281 switches the contact of the switching circuit 23 to the 221 side, so the latitude / longitude analog signal 221 from the signal conversion circuit 22 is input to the analog FM modulation circuit 24, Analog FM modulated. This FM-modulated signal is input to the radio transmission circuit 25, power amplified in the radio band, and output to the antenna 12 as a transmission signal 251. Then, the radio wave 121 is transmitted from the transmission antenna 12 to the aircraft 6.

  Next, FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the processing display of data transmitted from the Sonobuoy shown in FIG. Since the underwater sound wave 4 received by the Sonobuoy is subjected to frequency analysis, it is composed of a frequency axis and a time axis, and is displayed on a gram screen which displays the level intensity of the frequency analysis result in shades of color. In the screen image shown in FIG. 2, the horizontal axis is the frequency and the vertical axis is the time axis. During the time 221 in FIG. 2, the latitude and longitude are displayed in gray on the gram screen during the time T1 to T11 when the GPS data is transmitted from the aircraft 6. The horizontal axis is the frequency axis, and the screen has a bandwidth of N × frequency resolution.

  On the other hand, since the frequency analysis is performed in a certain sample section, the time axis resolution is Δt. The gram screen at each time has N matrices and is updated every time Δt, and when the screen is full, the screen is scrolled up or down every Δt.

  In the display example shown in FIG. 2, GPS data is displayed from the time T1 when the GPS data transmission request of the aircraft 6 is requested, and an N × 11 matrix is used for the time up to T11, and longitude information (for example, 138 ° 54 Minute 132 seconds) 211a and latitude information (for example, 40 degrees 29 minutes 715 seconds) 211b. At the time T12, since the GPS transmission is completed, the contact of the switching circuit 23 in FIG. 1 is switched to the sonar reception signal 311 side, and after T12 in FIG. Yes.

  When there is a request for sending GPS data from the aircraft 6 as described above, the screen of the sonar received signal is switched to display the latitude / longitude information 211 by the switching circuit 23, and the latitude / longitude information is displayed. After that, the screen returns to the sonar received signal screen again.

  As described above, the configuration and operation of the first embodiment of the GPS sonobuoy according to the present invention have been described in detail. In FIG. 1, the frequency analysis of the received signal of the sonar, the position detection method by GPS, the control from the aircraft, and the wireless transmission to the aircraft are performed. Since it is well known to those skilled in the art and is not directly related to the present invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  Next, FIG. 3 shows details of processing for displaying text of latitude and longitude using the gram screen. Since the gram screen has N matrices for each Δt, it has 1 and 0 information of N matrices at each time to display characters. Since each of the N matrices corresponds to the frequencies F1 to FN, when the matrix is “1”, a signal of sin (2πFNt) is generated and lasts for Δt. On the other hand, when “0” is assigned, there is no signal. This is expressed by the correspondence at each time as (Equation 1) shown in FIG.

  Signals generated at a frequency corresponding to a matrix of “1” are added every unit time. This added signal becomes a latitude / longitude analog signal 221. As described above, using the frequency resolution and time resolution of the gram screen as a matrix, the latitude and longitude information is converted into an analog signal for visual representation. For A in (Equation 1), an SN having a high dynamic range of the transmitted signal is set to a good value. The switching circuit 23 may have a built-in timer and automatically switch after a certain time has elapsed. This eliminates the need for a control reception function.

  Next, a second embodiment of the GPS sonobuoy according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment as well, the same reference numerals are used for the components corresponding to those in the first embodiment described above, and the following description will focus on the differences.

  The basic configuration of this GPS sonobuoy is the same as the GPS sonobuoy of the first embodiment described above. However, as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 4, the float unit 10 and the underwater unit 30 constituting the GPS sonobuoy are the same as those in the first embodiment, but the floating portion 20 ′ is partially different. That is, the flying unit 20 ′ includes a GPS module 21, a signal conversion unit 22, an analog FM modulation circuit 24, a radio transmission circuit 25, and a control reception circuit 28, but has a signal addition circuit 26 instead of the switching circuit 23. .

  In the second embodiment, the switching circuit 23 is not provided as described above, and the latitude / longitude character information is added to the received signal for transmission. In this case, since there is no switching, the signal adding circuit 26 is configured to add the latitude / longitude analog signal 221 when the GPS request signal 281 is added to the signal 311 from the sonar receiving circuit 31.

  5A and 5B are explanatory diagrams for explaining the display of the GPS sonobuoy according to the second embodiment. FIG. 5A is a display example (part), and FIG. 5B shows a sono display (Formula 2). In the signal 311 from the sonar receiving circuit 31, the latitude / longitude analog signal 221 from the signal conversion circuit 22 is superimposed on Bsin (ωt). That is, the signal 311 from the sonar receiving circuit 31 is used as a background (background), and latitude / longitude information (or data) is displayed thereon. In this case, the analysis result of the gram can be seen between the character displays indicating the latitude and longitude information.

  The configuration and operation of the preferred embodiment of the GPS sonobuoy according to the present invention have been described in detail above. However, it should be noted that such embodiments are merely examples of the present invention and do not limit the present invention in any way. Those skilled in the art will readily understand that various modifications and changes can be made in accordance with a specific application without departing from the gist and spirit of the present invention.

  The present invention configured as described above and having the effects as described above is suitable for a small, light and inexpensive GPS sonobuoy.

1 shows a first embodiment of a GPS sonobuoy according to the present invention, (A) is an external view showing an overall configuration, and (B) is a block diagram showing an internal configuration thereof. It is an example of a display of the analysis result of GPS sonobuoy shown in FIG. It is a display explanatory drawing of the latitude longitude information of FIG. 2, (A) shows the partial expansion part of a display, (B) shows the numerical formula which obtains the display. 2 shows a second embodiment of a GPS sonobuoy according to the present invention, (A) is an external view showing the overall configuration, and (B) is a block diagram showing the internal configuration. FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the frequency analysis result of FIG. 4, and the latitude longitude information display, (A) is the elements on larger scale of a display, (B) shows the numerical formula which obtains the display. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the conventional typical GPS sonobuoy.

Explanation of symbols

4 Sound wave 5 GPS satellite 6 Aircraft 10 Float part 11 GPS antenna 12, 13 Transmission / reception antenna 20 Floating part 21 GPS module 22 Signal conversion circuit 23 Switching circuit 24 Analog FM modulation circuit 25 Radio transmission circuit 26 Signal addition circuit 28 Control reception circuit 30 Water Central part 31 sonar receiving circuit 211 converted GPS position (latitude and longitude) information 311 sonar information

Claims (9)

In a GPS sonobuoy comprising a float part with an antenna, a floating part with a radio and an underwater part with a sonar receiver circuit,
A radio that transmits a combination of a signal conversion circuit that converts latitude / longitude information received from a GPS antenna of the float unit into a latitude / longitude analog signal, and a reception signal of the latitude / longitude analog signal and the sonar reception circuit, on the floating portion. A GPS sonobuoy comprising a transmission circuit.   The GPS sonobuoy according to claim 1, further comprising a switching circuit that selectively switches between the latitude / longitude analog signal and the reception signal of the sonar reception circuit.   The GPS sonobuoy according to claim 2, wherein the switching circuit is switch-controlled by a control reception signal received from the antenna.   The GPS sonobuoy according to claim 2, wherein the switching circuit includes a timer and is controlled to be switched at a predetermined interval.   The GPS sonobuoy according to claim 1, further comprising a signal addition circuit that adds the latitude / longitude analog signal and a reception signal of the sonar reception circuit.   The GPS sonobuoy according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising an analog FM modulation circuit that FM-modulates the latitude / longitude analog signal and a reception signal of the sonar reception circuit and inputs the result to the wireless transmission circuit. In GPS sonobuoy for wirelessly transmitting latitude / longitude information which is position information obtained using a GPS satellite and sonar information obtained from a sonar receiving circuit,
A GPS comprising: conversion means for converting the latitude / longitude information into a character corresponding to a frequency time that can be visually recognized as characters; and transmission means for analog transmission of the latitude / longitude information converted by the conversion means together with the sonar information. Sonobui.   The GPS sonobuoy according to claim 7, wherein the converted latitude / longitude information and the sonar information are alternately switched and transmitted in a time division manner.   The GPS sonobuoy according to claim 7, wherein the converted latitude / longitude information and the sonar information are transmitted after being added to each other.

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