JPH01295162A - Aperture synthesis processor - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) This invention is applicable to, for example, ultrasonic flaw detection equipment used in the field of industrial measurement, underground exploration used in underground construction, etc. The present invention relates to an aperture synthesis processing device used in radar, etc.

(Prior Art) Generally, as shown in FIG. The generated ultrasonic waves are emitted to a target object (not shown) via the sensor part 2, and the reflected signal (echo signal) is received again by the sensor part 2 and sent to the frequency converter via the transmitting/receiving part 3. By repeating the process of leading to 4 and converting to low frequency,
A two-dimensional cross-sectional image called a B scope is obtained. and,
The image data obtained by this active sensing means is A/D
A/D conversion is performed in the (analog/digital) converter 5 and converted into a digital signal, which is then displayed on an image display unit 6 such as a monitor.
will be displayed.

However, in the above-mentioned ultrasonic flaw detection device, since the ultrasonic waves have a certain spread angle, a plurality of reflected signals are included in the reflected signals from each point of the target object (not shown). When a dimensional cross-sectional image is displayed on the image display unit 6,
For example, there is a problem in that the signal from the point Tarkerat spreads in an arc shape, reducing the azimuth resolution.

For this reason, in the ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus, as shown in FIG. 5, an aperture synthesis processing device 7 is interposed between the A/D conversion section 5 and the image display section 6. This aperture synthesis processing device 7 collects the information distributed in the arc shape and compresses it into one point to improve the azimuth resolution, and performs a process of synthesizing the aperture surface of the sensor part 2.

However, in the aperture synthesis processing device 7, since the digital signal must be subjected to geometric transformation, so-called batch processing must be performed using a general-purpose computer, or a device dedicated to aperture synthesis processing must be provided. Whether it is something that takes a long time to process or is large in size, there are
The problem was that it was subject to many restrictions.

In addition, in this situation, by emitting microwaves to the target object,
The same applies to a ground-penetrating radar that obtains a two-dimensional cross-sectional image from the reflected signal.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, conventional aperture synthesis processing devices require a long time for processing, are large in size,
Both methods were subject to significant operational constraints.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an aperture synthesis processing device that can be made into smaller components and can increase processing speed. .

[Structure of the Invention] (Problems for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides an average value compression means for matching vertical and horizontal scales corresponding to one pixel of two-dimensional cross-sectional image data output from an active sensing means; data holding means for holding image data scaled by the average value compression means;
A geometric transformation means for geometrically transforming an output image address from an input image address of the image data held in this data holding means and outputting it to the data holding means, and generating and holding a conversion coefficient for this geometric transformation means. An aperture synthesis processing device comprising: a parameter control means; and a shift and addition means for sequentially adding the outputs of the geometric conversion means held in the data holding section while shifting them to synthesize an aperture figure and outputting the result to an image display section. It is composed of

(Function) According to the above configuration, the image data is obtained by performing geometric transformation on the output image address from the input image address using the geometric transformation means in which the transformation coefficient is set via the parameter control means. An aperture composite figure is obtained by sequentially adding the outputs while shifting them. As a result, there is no need to calculate an unnecessary area for geometric transformation, and only the minimum area needs to be calculated, so that the processing speed can be increased as much as possible.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an aperture synthesis processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a preprocessing means 11 is provided at the output end of an active sensing means 10 that outputs image data of a two-dimensional cross-sectional image of a target object (not shown). is connected. The preprocessing means 11 performs preprocessing such as density conversion and window processing on the image data, and outputs the result to the average value compression means 12. The average value compression means 12 converts the input image data into square pixels having uniform vertical and horizontal physical scales, and outputs the square pixels to the data holding means 13. The image data held in the data holding means 13 is processed by the geometric transformation means 14, for example, by inverse affine transformation, one line of data is expanded into a fan shape as shown in FIG. Fan-shaped part A (excluding areas other than the shaded area in the figure)
The output address is determined from the input image address. Parameter holding means 15 is connected to this geometric conversion means 14, and performs geometric conversion in accordance with the conversion coefficients stored in the parameter holding means 15. As a sampling method, for example, pixel density The nearest neighbor method is used to avoid mixing. The transformation coefficients stored in the parameter holding means 15 are then transferred to the active sensing means 10 by the parameter generating means 16 in order to prevent gaps from occurring between pixels on the circumference of the sector during geometric transformation. The conversion coefficients are selectively switched and set in accordance with the mode at the time of image data acquisition of a part of the sensor (not shown). The output of the geometric conversion means 14 is led to the shift addition means 7 via the data holding means 13. The shift and addition means 17 adds the outputs of the geometric conversion means 14, for example, by shifting them one pixel at a time and drawing them one on top of the other, thereby forming an aperture composite figure corresponding to the image data.

An image display section 18 is connected to the shift addition means 17, for example, via a post-processing means 19 that performs predetermined post-processing.

Said active sensing means 10. Preprocessing means 11, average value compression means 12, geometric transformation means] 4° parameter holding means 15, parameter generation means 16, shift addition means 17
, the post-processing means 19 and the image processing section 18 are provided with a control means 20 constituted by a general-purpose computer, for example, at their respective signal input terminals.
A control bus 21 is connected thereto, and the drive is controlled via this control means 20.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3(a), the image data 10a from the active sensing means 10 is first processed by the preprocessing means 1.
] After being subjected to predetermined preprocessing, the average value compression means 12 adjusts the scale as shown in the figure.

Thereafter, the scaled image data 10b is converted into a vertical one by the geometric conversion means 14, as shown in FIG.
Each line data is developed into fan-shaped data 10c. Next, the output of this number (nl conversion means 14) is shifted pixel by pixel by the shift addition means 17 and added so as to be drawn one on top of the other, thereby forming an aperture composite figure 10d as shown in FIG. This aperture composite figure 10c
1 is subjected to predetermined post-processing guided by one post-processing means, and then guided to the image display unit 18 and displayed as a two-dimensional cross-sectional image.

In this way, the aperture synthesis processing device calculates the output image address from the input image address by inverse affine transformation using the geometric transformation means 14 in which transformation coefficients are set via the parameter holding means 15 and the parameter generation means 16. By configuring this geometric transformation output to be added while shifting to form an aperture composite figure, it is no longer necessary to perform all the calculations within the window, such as ordinary affine transformation, as the area of the geometric transformation. , it is possible to speed up the processing as much as possible because calculations are required only in the minimum area, and calculation of transform coefficients during processing can be omitted. According to this, the part surrounded by the broken line in FIG. 1 is a so-called digital signal processing processor (D
Since it can be configured with a simple system using SP) etc., it is possible to improve miniaturization.

Although the above embodiment has been described using the pre-processing means 11 and the post-processing means 19, the configuration is not limited to this, and these pre-processing means 11 may be used depending on the image to be processed.
It is also possible to omit the post-processing means 19.Also, in the above embodiment, the average value compression means 12 and the geometric transformation means 14 are arranged separately, but the present invention is not limited to this.
It is also possible to configure these means integrally. Furthermore, it is also possible to configure the parameter holding means 15 and the parameter generating means 16 integrally with the control means 20.

Therefore, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in detail above, the present invention provides an aperture synthesis processing device that has a simple configuration, can be made smaller, and can increase processing speed. I can do it.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plot diagram showing an aperture synthesis processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams shown to explain the operation of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 4 and 5. are block diagrams shown to explain problems of the conventional aperture synthesis processing device. 10... Active sensing means, 11... Preprocessing means, 12... Average value compression means, 13... Data holding means, 14... Geometric transformation means, 15... Parameter holding means, 16 . . . Parameter generation means, 17 . . . Shift addition means, 18 . . . Image display unit, 19 . Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue

Claims (1)

[Claims] an average value compression means for matching the vertical and horizontal scales corresponding to one pixel of two-dimensional cross-sectional image data output from the active sensing means; and a data holding means for holding the image data scaled by the average value compression means. and geometric transformation means for geometrically transforming an output image address from the input image address of the image data held in the data holding means and outputting it to the data holding means, and generating conversion coefficients for this geometric conversion means. It is characterized by comprising a parameter control means for holding, and an addition means for sequentially adding while shifting the output of the geometric conversion means held in the data holding section to synthesize an aperture figure and outputting the result to an image display section. Aperture synthesis processing device.