Compressive sensor array system and method

Abstract

A compressive sensor array (CSA) system and method uses compressive sampling techniques to acquire sensor data from an array of sensors without independently sampling each of the sensor signals. In general, the CSA system and method uses the compressive sampling techniques to combine the analog sensor signals from the array of sensors into a composite sensor signal and to sample the composite sensor signal at a sub-Nyquist sampling rate. At least one embodiment of the CSA system and method allows a single analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and single RF demodulation chain to be used for an arbitrary number of sensors, thereby providing scalability and eliminating redundant data acquisition hardware. By reducing the number of samples, the CSA system and method also facilitates the processing, storage and transmission of the sensor data.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The invention relates to sensor arrays, and more particularly, to a compressive sensor array that uses compressive sampling techniques.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Sensor array systems generally include multiple sensors arranged in an array such that each of the sensors measures a physical quantity generated by one or more emitting sources and converts the physical quantity into a representative signal. The representative signal generated by each sensor is often an analog signal (e.g., an RF signal) representative of the physical quantity measured by the sensors. To acquire sensor data for processing, the analog sensor signals may be demodulated to a baseband frequency (e.g., using RF demodulation) and converted to digital signals. By acquiring data from an array of sensors, a sensor array system may be used to determine information about a signal of interest, such as a direction-of-arrival, and about the source, such as the location.[0003]In existing...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Because these components perform the same functions for each sensor, this parallel acquisition hardware results in a redundant bank of complex components, which may be expensive and power intensive.

Applications for sensor arrays have demanded higher spatial resolutions and thus an increased number of sensors, which results in more complex array acquisition hardware and larger amounts of data.

Although increasing the number of sensors in an array produces higher precision results with regard to the direction of the source, it comes at the cost of acquiring high resolution information about all of the other directions that do not contain the signal of interest.

Merely using compressive sampling in each of the ADCs of an existing sensor array system, however, does not eliminate the redundant acquisition hardware in sensor arrays.

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