The Detection Performance Analysis of Vector Circular Array for Small Underwater Platforms

The weight and volume of a sonar receiving array are strictly limited by small platforms, so finding an efficient acoustic receiving array with a small size and light weight has received extensive attention. Acoustic vector hydrophone has better directivity and anti-interference ability than traditional acoustic pressure hydrophone. In this paper, the detection performance of a small underwater platform with a vector circular array was studied. The performance of direction of arrival (DOA) estimation and distance estimation of sound pressure array and vector array were compared. Then, examples were given to illustrate the detectable area and proportional error of distance measurement under different types of signals. The simulation results showed that the acoustic vector sensor array consisting of fewer elements had the same detecting performance as the acoustic pressure array with more elements. Finally, it was also proved that it was feasible to replace the large volume acoustic pressure array with a small volume acoustic vector sensor array working at low frequency.