Acoustic-electric channel construction and operation using adaptive transducer arrays
First Claim
1. A method of acoustical transmission of at least one of power, instructions, and data through an acoustic-electric channel using piezoelectric transducer arrays, the method comprising:
- providing a channel medium for passing acoustical transmissions, the channel medium comprising a first surface and a second surface, the channel medium being capable of transmitting acoustical energy there through;
providing a send arrangement coupled to the first surface and a receive arrangement coupled to the second surface, and wherein the send and receive arrangements are positioned at least partially on opposite sides of the same region of the channel medium;
wherein the send arrangement comprises a send array which is coupled to the first surface;
wherein the send array comprises a plurality of send elements, and wherein each send element comprises a transducer and can be controlled independently of other send elements in the same array;
wherein the receive arrangement comprises at least one receive transducer which may optionally be an element within a receive array;
optimizing at least the send array, wherein the optimization process comprises;
sending a plurality of transmissions using different combinations of send elements while maintaining the same transmission power,detecting the plurality of transmissions sent by the different combinations of send elements using the at least one receive transducer of the receive arrangement,determining which of the tested combinations of send elements resulted in the strongest received transmission being received at the receive arrangement,activating the send elements in the combination which resulted in the strongest received transmission, and deactivating the remaining elements of the send array;
after the array has been optimized, sending transmissions from the send arrangement using the activated elements of the send array, and receiving said transmissions using the at least on receive transducer.
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Abstract
A method for transmitting power, data, and instructions using acoustic-electric channels having one or more transducer arrays, and to compensate for imperfect alignment of transducer arrays. Transducer arrays each include multiple transducer elements coupled to a channel barrier. Each element can be independently controlled, and misaligned transducers are selectively deactivated to improve overall channel performance. Arrays are optimized by testing different combinations of elements, and the combinations which are the most effective or efficient are used for transmissions. The system and the optimization features can be used to communicate between surfaces which have relative movement, such as between water craft hulls. Optimization can be periodic or constant to compensate for movement within the channel. The arrays can be used with curved substrates. Methods of designing adaptable arrays are also provided.
19 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method of acoustical transmission of at least one of power, instructions, and data through an acoustic-electric channel using piezoelectric transducer arrays, the method comprising:
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providing a channel medium for passing acoustical transmissions, the channel medium comprising a first surface and a second surface, the channel medium being capable of transmitting acoustical energy there through; providing a send arrangement coupled to the first surface and a receive arrangement coupled to the second surface, and wherein the send and receive arrangements are positioned at least partially on opposite sides of the same region of the channel medium; wherein the send arrangement comprises a send array which is coupled to the first surface; wherein the send array comprises a plurality of send elements, and wherein each send element comprises a transducer and can be controlled independently of other send elements in the same array; wherein the receive arrangement comprises at least one receive transducer which may optionally be an element within a receive array; optimizing at least the send array, wherein the optimization process comprises; sending a plurality of transmissions using different combinations of send elements while maintaining the same transmission power, detecting the plurality of transmissions sent by the different combinations of send elements using the at least one receive transducer of the receive arrangement, determining which of the tested combinations of send elements resulted in the strongest received transmission being received at the receive arrangement, activating the send elements in the combination which resulted in the strongest received transmission, and deactivating the remaining elements of the send array; after the array has been optimized, sending transmissions from the send arrangement using the activated elements of the send array, and receiving said transmissions using the at least on receive transducer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of optimizing and using an acoustic-electric channel including piezoelectric transducer arrays, the method comprising:
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providing a channel medium for passing acoustical transmissions, the channel medium comprising a first surface and a second surface, the channel medium being capable of transmitting acoustical energy there through; providing a first arrangement coupled to the first surface and a second arrangement coupled to the second surface, wherein the first and second arrangements are positioned at least partially on opposite sides of the same region of the channel medium; wherein the first arrangement comprises a first array coupled to the first surface, the first array comprising a plurality of first array elements, each first array element comprising a transducer, wherein each first array element can be controlled independently of other elements in the first array; wherein the second arrangement comprises a second array coupled to the second surface, the second array comprising a plurality of second array elements, each second array element comprising a transducer, wherein each second array element can detect received transmissions independently of transmission detection at other second array elements; optimizing the acoustic-electric channel using a sounding process, the optimizing step comprising individually exciting each first element of the first array one at a time to send a transmission through the channel medium, while simultaneously monitoring the received transmission or absence of received transmissions at each second element, thereby mapping which first elements effectively send transmissions to each of the second elements, the optimizing step further comprising activating first elements which are capable of sending effective transmissions to at least a threshold number of second elements, and deactivating the remaining first elements; and after the optimizing step, sending transmissions from the first arrangement using only the activated first elements.
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23. A method of designing and constructing a dual transducer array acoustic-electric channel between transducer arrays coupled to moving surfaces, the method comprising:
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providing a channel medium for passing acoustical transmissions, the channel medium comprising a first surface and a second surface which can move relative to each other, the channel medium being capable of transmitting acoustical energy there through; determining performance requirements for the acoustic-electric channel; determining a theoretical minimum transducer footprint required for a first array of the acoustic-electric channel to achieve the performance requirements if the first and second surfaces are stationary, and selecting two dimensions Lmin1 and Lmin2 for a transducer array having at least the minimum footprint; determining maximum expected alignment errors ε
max1 and ε
max2 in each of two dimensions, the alignment errors corresponding to the maximum expected relative movement of first surface and second surface in the respective dimensions;providing a first array having a first dimension of not less than Lmin1+ε
max1, and a second dimension of not less than Lmin2+ε
max2, wherein each dimension of the first array includes a plurality of first array elements, each element comprising a transducer;coupling the first array with the first surface of the channel medium; and providing a second array coupled to the second surface of the channel medium which, in an operable state, is at least partially opposite the first array. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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Specification