Frequency-Domain Sonar Processing in FPGAs

This paper proposes a new improved algorithm for three dimensional (3D) sonar beamforming in the frequency-domain: The improved algorithm is based on the resolution of echo displacement vector. The data-path on field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) for this algorithm will be illustrated. The memory and the computational requirements of this data-path will also be analyzed. A rapid prototype on FPGAs is implemented based on Xilinx System Generator (XSG) and Simulink (Mathworks model-based design environment). The paper illustrates that the proposed algorithm has the advantage in reducing the memory requirements for the phase-shift parameters storage. Finally, the paper demonstrates the resource utilization for the proposed data-path of 3D sonar system.