Quantization effects for a wideband beamformer [sonar arrays]

The authors present the results of analysis of quantization effects on a wideband FFT (fast Fourier transform) beamformer using two different approaches: a simulation of the quantization errors and a statistical analysis of the quantization errors. First, a brief description of the FFT beamformer is presented. Next, the statistical analysis of the quantization error effects is presented. Finally, analysis of the FFT beamformer performance by simulation is compared with the beamformer performance predicted by the statistical analysis technique. The theoretical results, which were derived as worst-case analysis, were shown to be consistent with the simulation results. A design based on the results of these analyses demonstrated that satisfactory performance was achieved with a 12 bit wordlength with 6 bits to the right of the radix for the scenario presented