• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.178-186
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• 2018

A chirp-echo data acquisition and processing system was developed for use as a simplified, PC-based chirp echo-sounder with some data processing software modules. The design of the software and hardware system was implemented via a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Digital signal processing algorithms for driving a single-channel chirp transmitter and dual-channel receivers with independent TVG (time varied gain) amplifier modules were incorporated into the FPGA for better real-time performance. The chirp-echo data acquisition and processing system consisted of a notebook PC, an FPGA board, and chirp sonar transmitter and receiver modules, which were constructed using three chirp transducers operating over a frequency range of 35-210 kHz. The functionality of this PC-based chirp echo-sounder was tested in various field experiments. The results of these experiments showed that the developed PC-based chirp echo-sounder could be used in the acquisition, processing and analysis of broadband acoustic echoes related to fish species identification.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.798-807
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• 2021

The directivity characteristics of acoustic transducers for conventional single-beam echo sounders considerably limit the detection of fish-size information in acoustic field surveys. To overcome this limitation, using the split-aperture technique to estimate the direction of arrival of single-echo signals from individual fish distributed within the sound beam represents the most reliable method for fish-size classification. For this purpose, we design and develop a split-beam data acquisition and processing system to obtain fish-size information in conjunction with a 50-kHz single-beam echo sounder. This split-beam data acquisition and processing system consists of a notebook PC, a field-programmable gate array board, an external single-transmitter module with a matching network, and four-channel receiver modules operating at a frequency of 50-kHz. The functionality of the developed split-beam data processor is tested and evaluated. Acoustic measurements in an experimental water tank showed that the developed data acquisition and processing system can be used as a fish-sizing echo sounder to estimate the size distribution of individual fish, although an external single-transmitter module with a matching network is required.