JPH1090395A - Control method for wave transmission from spherical array and spherical-array wave transmitter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a control method in which composite spherical sound waves are transmitted from a spherical-array wave transmitter at a desired wave transmission beam width and with wave transmission directivity as a wave- transmission central direction. SOLUTION: In a delay-amount computing circuit 707, the three-dimensional position coordinates 711 of every wave-transmitting element from a coordinate memory 708 are referred to, and a delay amount 712 with reference to a transmitting signal to every wave-transmitting element is computed on the basis of a virtual sphere radius which is set from the outside in order to control a wave-transmitting operation and on the basis of a relative horizontal/vertical direction deviation angle in the wave-transmitting central direction with reference to a phasing-range central direction. As a result, composite spherical sound waves can be transmitted toward a desired wave-transmitting central direction from a wave-transmitting element group 706.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transmission control method when a signal is transmitted from a sonar, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, or the like. Moreover, a transmission control method from a spherical array in which transmission is performed with a desired transmission center direction, and further,
This relates to the configuration of the spherical array transmitter itself.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, when a sonar device is provided with a spherical array transmitter as a transmitter, a desired directivity is imparted to a transmission signal transmitted from the sonar device. The fact is that phase processing is basically used. Here, the spherical array transmitter is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, among the plurality of transmitting element groups 101 arranged in a predetermined manner on a spherical surface having a spherical radius of R, horizontal transmitting angles included in the range of the horizontal opening angle θ _M and the vertical opening angle φN are included. A group of M transmitting elements 102 in the direction M and N in the vertical direction is defined as a transmitter arbitrarily selectable as a phasing target. In addition, the phasing process means that, as shown in FIG. 10, the transmission state from the transmitting element group 102 thus selected is M
The transmission state included in the transmission element group 102 is set to be equivalent to the transmission state from the planar array transmitter 201 including × N transmission elements (a state in which there is no difference in the propagation path of the sound wave). It is defined as a process for giving a phasing amount τ _mn corresponding to the position as a delay amount to each wave element. More specifically, for a transmission signal to each of the transmitting elements included in the transmitting element group 102, the larger the transmitting element is located at the center thereof, the larger the amount of delay is. In addition, by providing a smaller delay amount as it is located closer to the outer peripheral end, a transmission state equivalent to the transmission state from the planar array transmitter 201 is realized.

[0003] The transmission beam width when the phasing process is performed on the transmission element group 102 can be approximated by the following equation (1).

[0004]

(Equation 1)

The transmission beam width B _W is the transmission signal (transmission signal)
It is known that while being proportional to the wavelength λ, it is inversely proportional to the transmission aperture length L. Here, the horizontal opening length and the vertical opening length are 2Rsin (θ _M / 2) and 2Rsin, respectively.
(φ _N / 2), the transmission beam width B
It can be seen that _W depends on the transmission aperture angles θ _M and φ _N.

On the other hand, when the phasing process is not performed, it is known that the transmission beam width from the spherical array transmitter is proportional to the transmission signal wavelength λ and the transmission aperture angles θ _M and φ _N.
After all, regardless of whether or not the phasing process is performed, the transmission beam width from the spherical array transmitter depends on the transmission aperture angle.

While the transmission beam width is in the above situation, the transmission signal level transmitted from the spherical array transmitter is proportional to the transmission area, that is, the sphere radius and the transmission aperture length. It has become.

[0008] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 64-15682 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-326 disclose this kind of transmission technology.
No. 082. In the case of the former publication, the acoustic array element array as a transmitter / receiver has a reduction in the number of elements as each of the transmitting / receiving elements as its constituent elements is divided into a transmitting element and a receiving element as a special pattern array. Although required, the required resolution is maintained. In the case of the latter publication, when a plurality of received signals from individual array elements are bundled and divided into a plurality of groups, the received signals of one element belong to one or more arbitrary groups. As a result, generation of large side lobes is suppressed when multiple beams are simultaneously formed.

[0009]

Under the circumstances described above, when a wave is transmitted from a spherical array transmitter, the transmission signal wavelength, the sphere radius R, and the transmission aperture angle are determined by the transmission beam width. And the transmission signal level had to be set as a compromise. At that time, there are generally physical restrictions on the values of the transmission signal wavelength, the radius of the sphere, and the like, which makes it difficult to arbitrarily set both the transmission beam width and the transmission signal level. It is a fact. In addition, in addition to such inconveniences, in the spherical array transmitter, as shown in FIG. 11, the transmission center directions 303 and 304 are uniquely defined as the phasing range center directions according to the phasing target ranges 301 and 302, respectively. Therefore, even if the transmission center direction can be uniquely set by selectively switching the phasing target range, the transmission center direction can be selected only in a stepwise manner. ing. In other words, in a state where a certain phasing target range is fixedly selected, the direction is set within the range of a solid angle of a size near the center of the transmission center direction corresponding to the phasing target range. An arbitrarily shifted transmission center direction could not be set. Further, until now, in order to improve the transmission directivity, shading for weighting the output of each transmitting element has been used. However, this shading causes a loss in the transmission signal level. Is the actual situation. This means that when shading is used for transmitting, it is necessary to keep the output of each transmitting element small according to the weighting, and therefore, as in hamming shading, a large weight is applied to the transmitting elements located inside. In shading such that the smaller the weight of the transmitting element is, the more the transmitting element is located on the outside, it is almost impossible for each of the outermost transmitting elements to contribute to the transmission. It cannot be expected.

A first object of the present invention is to include a transmission signal wavelength, a sphere radius, and a transmission aperture angle as basic parameters in a spherical array transmitter, which are included in a range to be phased. By controlling the amount of delay to each transmitting element as desired, the transmission of the combined spherical sound wave from the spherical array transmitter with the desired transmission beam width and the transmission directivity as the transmission center direction. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of controlling the transmission of waves from a spherical array in which waves can be performed, and to provide a spherical array transducer capable of such transmission control. A second object of the present invention is to include a transmission signal wavelength, a sphere radius, and a transmission aperture angle as basic parameters in a spherical array transmitter, which are included in a phasing target range. By controlling the amount of delay to each transmitting element as desired,
With the desired transmit beam width and transmit directivity as the transmit center direction, and with less loss of transmit signal level,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of controlling a wave transmission from a spherical array in which a wave can be transmitted from a spherical array transmitter, and a spherical array transmitter / receiver in which such transmission control is enabled.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is basically to arbitrarily select a part of a plurality of transmitting elements arranged on a real spherical surface having a spherical radius as an object of phase adjustment. From the selected horizontal and vertical transmitting angles θ _M and _N included in the range of the selected horizontal aperture angle θ _M and vertical aperture angle φ _N , the transmission beam width and the transmission center direction are respectively When the transmission of the synthetic spherical sound wave is performed in a desired state, the horizontal / vertical aperture lengths are assumed to be the same, and the virtual sphere radius R ′ (ＲR) and the transmission center direction with respect to the phasing range center direction are externally determined. Each time the relative horizontal / vertical deviation angle is set arbitrarily, the position coordinates of each of the phasing target transmitting elements on the real spherical surface are known in advance, and the phasing from each of the phasing target transmitting elements is performed. The position of the intersection of the extension line extending toward the center of the range with the virtual spherical surface is determined by the After being obtained as the position coordinates of the virtual transmitting element corresponding to the element, the delay amount corresponding to each of the phasing target transmitting elements on the real spherical surface is shifted from the phasing target transmitting element toward the center of the phasing range. On the extension line extended to, the linear distance to the phasing reference plane orthogonal to the phasing range center direction and including the center of the real sphere, and from the virtual transmitting element corresponding to the phasing target transmitting element , Based on a difference from a linear distance to the phasing reference plane on an extension line extending perpendicular to the phasing reference plane inclined in accordance with the above-mentioned shift direction / angle, and The transmission signal to each of the phase-target transmitting elements is a shading coefficient calculated and stored in advance for the phase-targeting transmitting element while being delayed by the delay amount required for the phase-targeting transmitting element. As a sound wave from the phasing target transmitting element as a state weighted by It is achieved by being done.

The configuration of the spherical array transmitter itself includes a virtual sphere radius R '(≠ R) arbitrarily set from the outside.
And the relative horizontal /
Based on the vertical deviation angle, the delay amount corresponding to each of the phasing target transmitting elements on the real sphere is referred to while the position coordinates of each of the phasing target transmitting elements on the real sphere known in advance are referred to. A delay amount calculating circuit for calculating, a waveform generator for generating a transmission signal waveform to each of the phasing target transmitting elements as a delay controlled state based on the delay amount from the delay amount calculating circuit, and the waveform generator A delay waveform storage for storing the transmission signal waveform from the corresponding to the phasing target transmitting element, a shading coefficient table in which the shading coefficient is calculated and stored in advance for the phasing target transmitting element, and a A multiplier for weighting the transmission signal waveforms read out from the delay waveform storage all at once according to the shading coefficients from the shading coefficient table in accordance with the phasing target transmitting elements. From adder, analog converts the transmission signal waveform after weighting phasing target wave sending element corresponding D /
A power converter configured to include at least an A converter and a power amplifier that power-amplifies an analog transmission signal waveform from the D / A converter corresponding to the phasing target transmitting element and then applies the power amplifier to the phasing target transmitting element. It is achieved by being done.

Further, when a wave is transmitted from each of the phasing target transmitting elements, a virtual transmitting element is added to the periphery of the phasing target transmitting element group, and a shading coefficient for each of the virtual transmitting elements is set. In addition,
When the shading coefficient is calculated and stored in advance for each of the phasing target transmitting elements, the transmission from the spherical array transmitter can be performed with less loss of the transmission signal level.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, prior to specifically describing the present invention, its theoretical background will be described.
Shows the relationship between the phasing target transmitting element group in the spherical array transmitter and the virtual spherical surface arbitrarily set from the outside. As shown in the figure, the phasing target transmitting element 40 on the real spherical surface (spherical radius (known) = R) of the spherical array transmitter 401 is shown.
8 is applied to each of the phasing target transmitting elements 408 in a state where the transmission signal to each of them is appropriately controlled in delay,
The formation of the virtual sphere 407, and therefore the virtual sphere radius (=
R '≠ R) 405. The transmitter aperture angle 406 can be varied in various ways, and a spherical sound wave having a desired transmission beam width can be synthesized. This is a spherical array transmitter 401, ie, a sphere radius 402 and a transmit aperture angle of 4
Assuming that the phasing target transmitting elements 408 are arranged on the real spherical surface defined by the reference numeral 03, the virtual sphere radius 405 and the virtual transmitting aperture Assuming a virtual spherical surface 407 having an angle 406, the group of transmitting elements for phase adjustment 408 is
The delay amount 41 for each of the phasing target transmitting elements 408 so as to form a transmission state equivalent to the above virtual transmitting elements 409 group.
0 is calculated in advance and the phasing target transmitting elements 408
This is because a spherical sound wave transmitted from the virtual spherical surface 407 can be formed by applying the transmission signal to each of them to each of the phasing target transmitting elements 408 with a delay amount of 41 minutes. .

The transmission horizontal aperture angle (known) 403 and the transmission vertical aperture angle (known) 403 are θ _M / 2 and φ _N / 2, respectively.
, The virtual sphere radius (= R ′) 405, the transmission horizontal aperture angle (= θ ′ _M / 2) 406, and the transmission vertical aperture angle (=
φ ′ _N / 2) 406 is related by the following relational expression.

[0016]

(Equation 2)

That is, the virtual spherical radius 405 or one of the transmission horizontal aperture angle 406 and the transmission vertical aperture angle 406 is arbitrarily set from the outside, so that the virtual spherical surface 407 is uniquely set accordingly. Can be done.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, when the transmission center direction 504 needs to be set as desired while being shifted from the phasing range center direction 503 by a certain angle 505 in a certain direction, The relative horizontal / vertical shift angle of the transmission center direction 504 with respect to the phase range center direction 503 is set from the outside, and the phasing reference plane 501 is inclined so as to be orthogonal to the transmission center direction 504. As a simple phasing reference plane 502, the distance △
The difference between ymn and Δy'mn is calculated as the delay amount τmn on the sound wave propagation, and the transmission signal is applied to the corresponding transmitting element in a state delayed by the delay amount τmn. The synthetic spherical sound wave can be transmitted in the transmission center direction 504.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, when a wave is transmitted from each of the phasing target transmitting elements, a virtual transmitting element group 602 is added around the phasing target transmitting element group 601. Assuming that the shading coefficient for the virtual transmitting element group 602 is also calculated, if the shading coefficient is calculated and stored in advance corresponding to the phasing target transmitting element, Is calculated and stored as a large value as a whole, and as a result, transmission can be performed with a reduced level loss of the transmission signal.

Now, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
1 shows a schematic configuration of an example of a spherical array transmitter according to the present invention. As in the case shown in FIG. 9 described above,
The configuration and operation of M (horizontal direction) and N (vertical direction) transmitting elements (group) 706 as a phasing transmitting element group will be briefly described as follows. That is, on the coordinate memory 708, at least the three-dimensional position coordinates of each of the transmitting elements constituting the transmitting element group 706 are stored in advance, and parameters required for transmitting control (described later) ) Is arbitrarily set from the outside as the transmission control signal 710, but the delay amount calculation circuit 707 refers to the three-dimensional position coordinates 711 of each of the transmission elements from the coordinate memory 708, and The delay amount 712 corresponding to each of the transmitting elements is calculated based on 710, and the (m, n) control signal 713 required for shading is generated for the shading coefficient table 710. . In the waveform generator 701, a transmission signal waveform 714 to each of the transmitting elements is generated in a state where the delay is controlled based on the delay amount 712 from the delay amount calculating circuit 707, and the transmitting element corresponding delay waveform storage 702 is also provided. Is stored. Therefore, if the transmission synchronization signal generation circuit 721 generates the transmission synchronization signal 722 while the transmission signal waveform 714 is stored in the transmission element corresponding delay waveform storage 702, the transmission synchronization signal 722 is synchronized with the transmission synchronization signal 722. From the delay waveform storage 702, the transmission signal waveform 71
5 are read all at once.
Is multiplied with the shading coefficient 716 from the shading coefficient table 710 in the multiplier 703 corresponding to the transmitting element so that weighting is performed. The transmission signal waveform 717 after weighting from each of the multipliers 703 is then converted into an analog transmission signal waveform 718 by the D / A converter 704 corresponding to the transmission element, and then transmitted through the power amplifier 705 corresponding to the transmission element. After being obtained as the power amplified transmission signal waveform 719 and being applied to the corresponding transmitting element, the power amplified transmitting signal waveform 719 is output to the outside as a sound wave 720 by the electro-acoustic conversion function of the corresponding transmitting element 706. As a result, the combined spherical acoustic wave can be transmitted toward a desired transmission center direction.

As described above, the delay amount calculation circuit 707 is directly related to the present invention. FIG. 5 shows an example of the configuration. In this case, from the control unit 805,
(M, n) control signal 713 required for shading
Is generated for the shading coefficient table 710, and the virtual sphere radius calculation unit 801 calculates the transmission control signal 7
For example, the sphere radius 402, the transmission aperture angle 403, and the virtual transmission aperture angle 406 are extracted from the parameter set as 10, and the virtual sphere radius 405 is calculated by the above-described Expression 2. I have. The virtual transmitting element position coordinate calculation unit 802 further includes a sphere radius 402, a transmitting aperture angle 403, and a virtual transmitting aperture angle 406 extracted from the parameters.
And the virtual sphere radius 405 from the virtual sphere radius calculation unit 801
And the three-dimensional position coordinates 711 of each transmitting element from the coordinate memory 708, the position coordinates 803 of each virtual transmitting element on the virtual spherical surface 407 are calculated by the following formula. .

[0022]

(Equation 3)

Further, in addition to the position coordinates 803 and the three-dimensional position coordinates 711, the delay amount calculation unit 804 further calculates a desired virtual spherical wave based on the relative horizontal / vertical deviation angles tb and φtb extracted from the parameters. The delay amount 712 corresponding to the transmitting element is calculated in advance by the following equation.
This is sent to the waveform generator 701.

[0024]

(Equation 4)

By the way, like the delay amount calculating circuit 707, the shading coefficient table 710 is also directly related to the present invention. FIG. 6 shows an example of the configuration. In this case, the shading coefficient storage unit 901 allows the shading coefficient 716 to be externally readable from the (m, n) control signal 713 corresponding to the transmitting element. However, prior to the reading, the shading coefficient storage unit In 901, the shading coefficient calculated by the shading coefficient calculator 902 is stored in advance. The shading coefficient calculator 902
For example, when the window function is a Hamming window, the shading coefficient wmn is calculated by the following equation.

[0026]

(Equation 5)

At the time of calculating the shading coefficient, assuming that the virtual transmitting element 602 is added to the outer periphery of the phasing target transmitting element group, the shading coefficient is calculated and stored corresponding to the phasing target transmitting element. If the virtual transmitting element group 602 is assumed, and a window function having a large center such as a Hamming window is used, the phasing existing inside the virtual transmitting element group 602 is assumed. The shading coefficient for the target transmitting element group can be calculated as a whole larger than when the virtual transmitting element group 602 is not assumed, so that the loss of the transmitted signal level can be reduced.

Finally, FIGS. 7 and 8 show computer simulation examples of the transmission directivity according to the present invention, respectively. In this example, the spherical radius R of the spherical array transmitter is R = 0.
5 m, transmission signal wavelength λ is 2.38 cm, and the phasing transmission element range is M = 54 columns in the horizontal direction and N = 54 in the vertical direction.
The row and window functions are hamming windows, and the virtual transmitting element is a transmitting element located at the outermost peripheral position of the phasing target transmitting element group like the virtual transmitting element group 602 described above. It is assumed that the elements are arranged adjacent to each other one by one.

FIG. 7 shows that the transmission beam width is 40 °,
The transmission directivity when the delay amount is calculated by the delay amount calculation circuit 707 to be 50 ° and 60 ° is shown as a solid line display, a broken line display, and a dotted line display, respectively. This indicates that the transmission beam width can be controlled by the delay amount calculation circuit 707. FIG. 8 shows the transmission directivity when the delay amount is calculated by the delay amount calculation circuit 707 so that the transmission center direction is 0 °, 20 °, and −20 ° with respect to the phasing range center direction. Are shown as a solid line display, a broken line display, and a dotted line display, respectively. This indicates that the transmission center direction can be controlled by the delay amount calculation circuit 707.

[0030]

As described above, according to the first and second aspects, the transmission signal wavelength, the sphere radius, and the transmission aperture as the basic parameters in the spherical array transmitter are fixedly set. In this state, the amount of delay to each of the transmitting elements included in the phasing target range is controlled as desired, so that a desired transmitting beam width and a transmitting directivity as a transmitting center direction are obtained. 4. A method of controlling transmission of light from a spherical array capable of transmitting a combined spherical acoustic wave from an array transmitter, and a spherical array transmitter / receiver in which such transmission control is enabled. , 4, the transmission elements included in the phasing target range with the transmission signal wavelength, the sphere radius, and the transmission aperture angle as the basic parameters in the spherical array transmitter being fixedly set. The amount of delay to each is controlled as desired Therefore, with the desired transmission beam width and the transmission directivity as the transmission center direction, and with a reduced loss of the transmission signal level, the transmission from the spherical array from the spherical array transmitter can be performed. A transmission control method and a spherical array transmitter / receiver in which such transmission control is enabled are obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an example of a spherical array transmitter according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a relationship between a phasing target transmitting element group in a spherical array transmitter and a virtual spherical surface arbitrarily set from the outside;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a method for controlling a transmission center direction as desired.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a method of reducing a loss of a transmission signal level by adding a virtual transmission element group to an outer periphery of a phasing target transmission element group;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of an example of a delay amount calculating circuit as one component of the spherical array transmitter according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of an example of a shading coefficient table as one component of the spherical array transmitter according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a computer simulation on the transmission directivity according to the present invention (part 1);

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a computer simulation on the transmission directivity according to the present invention (part 2);

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a general configuration of a spherical array transmitter.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a phasing process when a wave is transmitted from a spherical array transmitter.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining that the phasing range center direction is uniquely determined each time the phasing target range is set on the spherical array transmitter.

[Explanation of symbols]

701: Waveform generator, 702: Delayed waveform storage, 703
.., Multiplier 704, D / A converter, 705, power amplifier, 706, transmitting element (group), 707, delay amount calculating circuit, 708, coordinate memory, 710, shading coefficient table

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kazuko Oishi 216 Totsuka-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside the Hitachi, Ltd.Information Communication Division (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Hashimoto 216 Totsuka-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Address Co., Ltd.Hitachi, Ltd.Information and Communication Division (72) Inventor Yoshinobu Kanda 216 Totsuka-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa PrefectureInformation and Communication Division of Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshisuke Funazaki Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 216 Totsukacho In the Information and Communication Division, Hitachi, Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A horizontal aperture angle θ _M and a vertical aperture angle, which are arbitrarily partially selected as phasing targets from among a large number of transmitting elements arranged on a real spherical surface having a spherical radius of R. φ
_{From the} M number of transmitting elements in the horizontal direction and the N transmitting elements in the vertical direction included in the range of N, the transmission of the combined spherical acoustic wave is performed with the transmission beam width and the transmission center direction set as desired. A method for controlling the transmission of waves from a spherical array, wherein the horizontal / vertical aperture lengths are the same, and the imaginary sphere radius R ′ (≠ R) and the relative position of the center of the transmission wave with respect to the center of the phasing range are externally determined. Every time the horizontal / vertical direction deviation angle is set arbitrarily, it is assumed that the position coordinates of each of the phasing target transmitting elements on the real spherical surface are known in advance, and the phasing range is set from each of the phasing target transmitting elements. After the position of the intersection of the extension line extended in the center direction with the virtual spherical surface is determined as the position coordinates of the virtual transmitting element corresponding to the phase adjusting target transmitting element, the phase adjusting target transmission on the real spherical surface is performed. The delay amount corresponding to each of the elements is shifted from the phasing target transmitting element toward the phasing range center. On the extension line extended to, the linear distance to the phasing reference plane orthogonal to the phasing range center direction and including the center of the real sphere, and from the virtual transmitting element corresponding to the phasing target transmitting element And a linear distance to the phasing reference plane on an extended line perpendicular to the phasing reference plane inclined in accordance with the relative horizontal / vertical direction shift angle. Above, the transmission signal to each of the phasing target transmitting elements is calculated and stored in advance for the phasing target transmitting element while being delayed by the delay amount required for the phasing target transmitting element. A method for controlling transmission from a spherical array, wherein the state is weighted by a shading coefficient and transmitted as sound waves from the transmission element for phasing. 2. A horizontal aperture angle θ _M and a vertical aperture angle, which are arbitrarily partially selected as phasing targets from among a large number of transmitting elements arranged on a real spherical surface having a spherical radius of R. φ
_{From the} M number of transmitting elements in the horizontal direction and the N transmitting elements in the vertical direction included in the range of N, the transmission of the combined spherical acoustic wave is performed with the transmission beam width and the transmission center direction set as desired. A spherical array transmitter configured to be operated, wherein a virtual sphere radius R '(≠ R) arbitrarily set from the outside and a relative horizontal / vertical shift angle in a transmission center direction with respect to a phasing range center direction. The delay amount for calculating the delay amount corresponding to each of the phasing target transmitting elements on the real sphere while referring to the position coordinates of each of the phasing target transmitting elements on the real sphere known in advance. A calculation circuit, a waveform generator for generating a transmission signal waveform to each of the phasing target transmission elements as a delay-controlled state based on the delay amount from the delay amount calculation circuit, and a transmission signal from the waveform generator. Delayed waveform memory for storing waveforms corresponding to the phasing target transmitting elements And a shading coefficient table in which shading coefficients are preliminarily calculated and stored in correspondence with the phasing target transmitting element, and the shading coefficient for the transmission signal waveform read out from the delay waveform storage simultaneously in synchronization with the transmission synchronization signal. A multiplier that weights the phase-matching transmitting element with a shading coefficient from a table, and a D / A converter that converts the weighted transmission signal waveform from the multiplier to a phase-matching transmitting element in an analog manner When,
A power amplifier for power-amplifying the analogized transmission signal waveform from the D / A converter corresponding to the phase-matching transmission element and applying the power amplifier to the phase-matching transmission element. vessel. 3. A horizontal aperture angle θ _M and a vertical aperture angle, which are arbitrarily partially selected as phasing targets from among a large number of transmitting element groups arranged on a real spherical surface having a spherical radius of R. φ
_{From the} M number of transmitting elements in the horizontal direction and the N transmitting elements in the vertical direction included in the range of N, the transmission of the combined spherical acoustic wave is performed with the transmission beam width and the transmission center direction set as desired. A method for controlling the transmission of waves from a spherical array, wherein the horizontal / vertical aperture lengths are the same, and the imaginary sphere radius R ′ (≠ R) and the relative position of the center of the transmission wave with respect to the center of the phasing range are externally determined. Every time the horizontal / vertical direction deviation angle is set arbitrarily, it is assumed that the position coordinates of each of the phasing target transmitting elements on the real spherical surface are known in advance, and the phasing range is set from each of the phasing target transmitting elements. After the position of the intersection of the extension line extended in the center direction with the virtual spherical surface is determined as the position coordinates of the virtual transmitting element corresponding to the phase adjusting target transmitting element, the phase adjusting target transmission on the real spherical surface is performed. The delay amount corresponding to each of the elements is shifted from the phasing target transmitting element toward the center of the phasing range. On the extension line extended to, the linear distance to the phasing reference plane orthogonal to the phasing range center direction and including the center of the real sphere, and from the virtual transmitting element corresponding to the phasing target transmitting element And a linear distance to the phasing reference plane on an extended line perpendicular to the phasing reference plane inclined in accordance with the relative horizontal / vertical direction shift angle. Above, the transmission signal to each of the phasing target transmitting elements is virtually transmitted around the phasing target transmitting element group while being delayed by the delay amount required for the phasing target transmitting element. A spherical array that is transmitted as a sound wave from the phasing target transmitting element in a state where the elements are added and weighted by a shading coefficient previously calculated and stored for the phasing target transmitting element. Transmission control method from 4. A horizontal aperture angle θ _M and a vertical aperture angle arbitrarily selected as a phasing target from among a large number of transmitting element groups arranged on a real spherical surface having a spherical radius of R. φ
_{From the} M number of transmitting elements in the horizontal direction and the N transmitting elements in the vertical direction included in the range of N, the transmission of the combined spherical acoustic wave is performed with the transmission beam width and the transmission center direction set as desired. A spherical array transmitter configured to be operated, wherein a virtual sphere radius R '(≠ R) arbitrarily set from the outside and a relative horizontal / vertical shift angle in a transmission center direction with respect to a phasing range center direction. The delay amount for calculating the delay amount corresponding to each of the phasing target transmitting elements on the real sphere while referring to the position coordinates of each of the phasing target transmitting elements on the real sphere known in advance. A calculation circuit, a waveform generator for generating a transmission signal waveform to each of the phasing target transmission elements as a delay-controlled state based on the delay amount from the delay amount calculation circuit, and a transmission signal from the waveform generator. Delayed waveform memory for storing waveforms corresponding to the phasing target transmitting elements And a shading coefficient table in which shading coefficients are calculated and stored in advance corresponding to the phasing target transmitting element assuming that a virtual transmitting element is added to the outer periphery of the phasing target transmitting element group, and a transmission synchronization signal. A multiplier for weighting the transmission signal waveforms read out simultaneously from the delay waveform storage in synchronization with the shading coefficients from the shading coefficient table in accordance with the phase-matching transmitting element; A D / A converter for converting the subsequent transmission signal waveform into an analog signal corresponding to the phasing target transmitting element, and power-amplifying the analogized transmission signal waveform from the D / A converter corresponding to the phasing target transmitting element. And a power amplifier applied to the phasing target transmitting element.