KR101616361B1 - Apparatus and method for estimating location of long-range acoustic target - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for estimating a long-range acoustic target position. An apparatus for estimating a long-range acoustic target position according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a plurality of sensing units for sensing low-frequency instantaneous noise and estimating arrival times and orientations of signals; Estimating a position of the long-range low-frequency acoustic target using the result of the arrival time and the orientation estimation; And a communication unit for communication between the plurality of sensing units and the command unit.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ESTIMATING LOCATION OF LONG-RANGE ACOUSTIC TARGET [0002]

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for estimating a long-range acoustic target position.

Acoustic target detection equipment refers to a weapon system based on acoustic signal processing technology that detects the position of a target by receiving a sound (sound wave) generated by the target using a microphone array composed of a plurality of acoustic sensors.

In general, target detection using acoustic signals is used in SONAR (Sound Navigation and Ranging) system to detect underwater targets such as submarines in underwater environments. Recently, however, A sniper detection system capable of detecting the location of firearms and turrets, and a large artillery sound detection system.

Acoustic target detection equipment is being developed in various forms such as portable soldier, ground fixed type, vehicle mounted type, traps mounted type, and aircraft mounted type, depending on the type of operation. In addition, it can be classified into a sniper detection system that detects the position of a sniper according to the mission, a vehicle and aircraft detection system that can detect and identify a vehicle or an aircraft, and a artillery sound detection system that detects the position of an enemy bulwark in a long distance.

With this advancement, there is an increasing interest in devices and methods for estimating the location of low frequency acoustic targets at a distance.

An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for estimating a long-range acoustic target position that can reliably estimate a position of an acoustic target by detecting instantaneous noises generated in a low-frequency acoustic target located at a long distance.

An apparatus for estimating a long-range acoustic target position according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a plurality of sensing units for sensing low-frequency instantaneous noise and estimating arrival times and orientations of signals; Estimating a position of the long-range low-frequency acoustic target using the result of the arrival time and the orientation estimation; And a communication unit for communication between the plurality of sensing units and the command unit.

In an embodiment, each of the plurality of sensing units includes a sounder for receiving low-frequency instantaneous noises generated in the acoustic target; A signal processor for processing the instantaneous noise received by the sound processor to determine whether the instantaneous noise is present and to estimate the orientation; A weather sensor connected to the signal processor for sensing weather information including at least one of a wind direction, a wind speed and a temperature; A GPS receiving sensor coupled to the signal processor for providing absolute time information; And a communication processor connected to the signal processor and communicating with the command unit.

In an embodiment, the command unit may include an information fuser for estimating a position of the low frequency acoustic target using a result of detecting the instantaneous noise of the instantaneous noise generated by the plurality of sensors, or the instantaneous noise detection time; A communication processor connected to the information fusion device and communicating with the plurality of sensing units; And a GPS reception sensor connected to the information fusion device to provide absolute time information.

In an exemplary embodiment, the communication unit may include: a wireless transceiver for transmitting and receiving a wireless communication signal between the plurality of sensing units and the command unit; And a communication repeater performing wireless communication between the plurality of sensing units and the command unit when the line of sight of the wireless transceiver is not secured.

A method for estimating a long-range acoustic target position according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of: (a) estimating arrival times and orientations of a signal by detecting low-frequency instantaneous noises at a plurality of points; And (b) estimating a position of the long-range low frequency acoustic target using the result of the arrival time and the orientation estimation.

According to the present invention, a plurality of target positions can be estimated by fusing the detection result and the orientation estimation result generated from a plurality of sensors.

In addition, it can be used to estimate the position of acoustic targets such as rocket, gun, personal firearm, which are military targets, and can be used for surveillance and reconnaissance of unit boundaries by analyzing acoustic signals.

And, as a non-military target, it can be used for surveillance equipment that tracks the acoustic signal of the target.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for estimating a long-range acoustic target position according to the present invention.
2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a functional flow of a long-range acoustic target position estimating apparatus according to the present invention.
3 is a conceptual view showing a lower configuration of the sensing unit.
4 is a conceptual diagram showing a lower configuration of a command section.
FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing a method of fusing detection information of an acoustic target in a command section.
6 is a conceptual diagram showing a lower configuration of the communication unit.
7 is a conceptual diagram showing a method of measuring a coordinate difference between two points using a DGPS receiver.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the technical idea of the present invention. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In order to clearly explain the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and like parts are denoted by similar reference numerals throughout the specification.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for estimating a long-range acoustic target position according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the long-range acoustic target position estimating apparatus according to the present invention includes a plurality of sensing units 110, a communication unit 120, and a command unit 130.

Specifically, the sensing unit 110 receives the low-frequency instantaneous noises generated in the acoustic target, and detects arrival time and direction. The command unit 130 fuses the detection result of the instantaneous noise calculated by the plurality of sensors 110 to estimate the position of the acoustic target, and provides the result to the operator. The communication unit 120 performs wired / wireless communication between the sensing unit 110 and the command unit 130.

2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a functional flow of a long-range acoustic target position estimating apparatus according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the sensing unit 110 receives signals from a weather sensor, an acoustic sensor, and a GPS sensor, and detects instantaneous noises in the signal processor using the signals. The signal processor filters the acoustic signal received at the auditor into a frequency band and monitors the energy level at which the acoustic target may be included. Also, at the time when the energy suddenly becomes large, whether or not the target is detected is determined and the detection time is determined.

For the detected target, the time difference between the acoustic signals received from the connected plural audios is calculated through cross correlation, and the arrival direction of the sound wave surface can be calculated using this time difference. This is because the delay time of arrival of the sound waves between the sound waves is determined by the arrival direction of the sound waves.

The command unit 130 receives detection results (arrival time, orientation, detection frequency, time waveform) generated by the plurality of sensors 110 from the communication unit 120 and performs a target association for sorting the detection results by target .

Then, the position of the target is estimated using only the detection result generated from the same target, and the analysis of the target is performed by frequency analysis of the signal waveform of the target. In addition, the command unit 130 may finally display the target position estimation result and the analysis identification result on the screen.

3 is a conceptual diagram showing a lower configuration of the sensing unit 110. As shown in FIG.

3, the sensing unit 110 includes a sounder 301 for receiving a low-frequency instantaneous noise generated in an acoustic target, a signal processor (not shown) for processing the received low-frequency instantaneous noise to determine instantaneous noise, A weather sensor 303 connected to the signal processor 302 to detect weather information of wind direction, wind speed and temperature, a GPS receiving sensor 304 connected to the signal processor 302 for providing absolute time information, ).

A cable 306 connecting the signal processor 302 and the air cleaner 301; a cable 306 connecting the signal processor 302 and the gas sensor 303; A communication processor 307 for performing a communication function with the command unit 130 and a battery 308 for supplying power to operate the sensing unit 110 in the absence of an external power source.

The sound sensor 301 and the weather sensor 303 connected to the signal processor 302 must be capable of being remotely installed in a complex terrain such as mountain or the like. Therefore, in order to support this, a long cable 305, 306, Lt; / RTI > In addition, in case of installing at a length of 200 m or more, a signal repeater or the like can be used to compensate the attenuation of the transmitted signal.

And the power supply battery 308 can determine the output voltage so as to be compatible with the vehicle battery in preparation for an emergency.

4 is a conceptual diagram showing a lower configuration of the command unit 130. As shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 4, the command unit 130 includes an information fusion unit 401 for performing position estimation of an acoustic target by fusing the instantaneous noise detection result and the azimuth estimation result generated by the plurality of sensing units 110, And a GPS reception sensor 403 connected to the information fusion device 401 and providing absolute time information. The communication processor 402 is connected to the sensor 401 and performs a communication function with the sensing unit 110.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a method of fusing detection information of the acoustic target 501 in the command unit 130. FIG.

Referring to FIG. 5, the information fusion unit 401 of the command unit 130 receives instantaneous noise detection results of a plurality of targets and classifies the detection information by the target. The information fusion unit 401 performs final position estimation using the detection information classified according to the target.

The position of the acoustic target can be calculated at the intersection of the diagonal line 503 by using the result of the AoA (Angle of Arrival) estimation of the instantaneous noise detected by the signal processor 302. [ Assuming that the signal generated in the acoustic target is transmitted through the spherical ideal sound wavefront 502 in spite of the constraint of the terrestrial environment, the time difference detected by the dispersed signal processor 302 (TDOA, Time The position can be estimated at the intersection of the hyperbola 504 using the Difference of Arrival.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing a lower configuration of the communication unit 120. FIG.

Referring to FIG. 6, the communication unit 120 may support the radio wave communication 603 so that the sensing unit 110 can be installed regardless of the influence of the terrain. To this end, the communication unit 120 includes a wireless transceiver 122 for performing wireless communication between the command unit 130 and the sensing unit 110 and a wireless transceiver 122 for use in securing a line of sight when the wireless transceiver 122 is not secured by the terrain And may include a communication repeater 123, Also, a wired communication preference 604 may be utilized for communication connection between the nearby command unit 130 and the sensing unit 110.

On the other hand, if the line of sight is not secured, it is possible to secure a communication channel for long-wave AM or FM communication. In the case where the line of sight is secured, short-wave communication can be applied to increase the communication capacity.

The signal processor 302 and the information fusion unit 401 shown in FIGs. 3 and 4 are configured to perform the synchronization processing in units of 1 second using the satellite synchronization signal (pps, pulse per second) received by the GPS reception sensor 304 The sample time of the sound signal can be synchronized accurately (within 100 ns), and the same sample time can be maintained between the remote signal processors.

If the GPS reception sensor 304 can not receive the synchronization signal due to the GPS disturbance signal, the signal processor 302 may switch to the synchronization circuit using the internal clock to secure time synchronization for a predetermined period of time. In addition, although it is possible to use military GPS which is relatively robust against jamming in order to cope with GPS jamming, it is possible to maintain the synchronization between the distributed signal processors for a certain period of time by using the internal clock even when the civilian GPS is used, Synchronization can be attempted using a satellite synchronization signal.

7 is a conceptual diagram showing a method of measuring a coordinate difference between two points using a DGPS receiver.

A typical GPS receiver receives a satellite signal without a reference point and calculates the latitude and longitude coordinates. However, since the DGPS receiver calculates the difference of the coordinates of the measurement point receiver 702 with respect to the reference point receiver 701 and displays it in the previous period 703, the DGPS receiver eliminates the common error factors between the two points. Thus, the position measurement error can be reduced.

Further, since the position measurement error of the sound sensor 301 leads to the azimuth and distance estimation error, accurate measurement (small error in cm level) using the DGPS should be performed.

The signal processor 302 receives position information of the earphone 301 that is confirmed by the DGPS receiver and updates position information of the earphone 301. The information fusion unit 401 receives position information of the earphone 301 updated by the signal processor 302 Receive and reflect in real time.

When the number of the connected phonetic transducers 301 is changed, the signal processor 302 can update the number and configuration of the phonetic transducers 301 and reflect the same in the direction estimation. And signal processing can be performed.

The operator grasps the signal level of the entire gawk 301 connected to the signal processor 302 through the information fusion unit 401. If the signal level is very high or low compared with the surrounding noise level, (301) can be excluded from the signal processing. Through the above operation procedure, the observation station can be temporarily installed and operated on a complex terrain such as a mountainous area.

Meanwhile, the information fusion unit 401 may support the following four operation modes. First, the detection time and direction detection result of the sensing unit 110 are received in real time, and the estimated position of the target on the map of the surveillance region and the position of the sensing unit 110 participating in the position estimation, It can support real-time mode displaying azimuth, signal waveform and weather information.

In addition, it is possible to support a playback mode in which a result detected in the past is stored and reproduced upon request from the operator. And can support a simulation mode that is operated by a simulation scenario without being connected to the signal processor 302. [

Finally, based on the environmental information received from the signal processor 302, the precise terrain data DB of the surveillance area, the environment information received from the high-altitude weather equipment, and the environment information input by the operator, Mode.

As a result, according to the present invention, it is possible to estimate a plurality of target positions by fusing the detection result and the orientation estimation result generated in a plurality of sensors.

In addition, it can be used to estimate the position of acoustic targets such as rocket, gun, personal firearm, which are military targets, and can be used for surveillance and reconnaissance of unit boundaries by analyzing acoustic signals.

And, as a non-military target, it can be used for surveillance equipment that tracks the acoustic signal of the target.

As described above, the arrangement and method of the above-described embodiments are not limited to be applied to the above-described embodiments, but the embodiments may be modified such that all or some of the embodiments are selectively combined .

Claims (5)

A plurality of sensing units for sensing a low frequency instantaneous noise and estimating arrival times and orientations of signals;
Estimating a position of the long-range low-frequency acoustic target using the result of the arrival time and the orientation estimation; And
And a communication unit for performing communication between the plurality of sensing units and the command unit,
Wherein each of the plurality of sensing units comprises:
A plurality of sounders for receiving low frequency instantaneous noises generated in the acoustic target;
The acoustic signals received by the sounders are filtered in a frequency band, an energy level at which the acoustic target may be included is monitored, a determination is made as to whether the acoustic target is detected at a time point when the monitored energy becomes greater than a reference value, A signal processor for estimating the azimuth using a time difference between the acoustic signals when a target is detected;
A weather sensor connected to the signal processor for sensing weather information including at least one of a wind direction, a wind speed and a temperature;
A GPS receiving sensor coupled to the signal processor for providing absolute time information; And
And a communication processor connected to the signal processor and communicating with the command unit,
Wherein the signal processor comprises:
When at least one of the signal levels received from the plurality of hearing instruments is higher than a predetermined maximum value or lower than a predetermined minimum value in comparison with a surrounding noise level, Based on the positional information of the target object. delete The method according to claim 1,
The command unit,
An information fusion unit for estimating a position of the low frequency acoustic target using the instantaneous noise detection result generated by the plurality of sensing units or the instantaneous noise detection time;
A communication processor connected to the information fusion device and communicating with the plurality of sensing units; And
And a GPS reception sensor connected to the information fusion device to provide absolute time information. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein,
A wireless transceiver for transmitting and receiving wireless communication signals between the plurality of sensing units and the command unit; And
And a communication repeater for performing wireless communication between the plurality of sensing units and the command unit when the visible line of the wireless transceiver is not secured. The method of claim 3,
The information fusion device includes:
And a plurality of target positions are estimated using the detection information classified according to the target by classifying the result of the orientation detection of the instantaneous noise generated by the plurality of sensors.

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