• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.317-327
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• 2021

Low Frequency Active Sonobuoy(hereinafter referred to as LFAS) are being developed in Korea in consideration of compatibility with existing overseas sonobuoys, and a communication device for acoustic signals receiving and operating control of LFAS has been developed. The communication device needs to verify compatibility with the existing Sonobuoy, and for this purpose, the standardized Sonobuoy communication protocol was applied. The communication device is designed/manufactured to transmit the acoustic signal received in real time from the Sonobuoy through VHF band RF communication to the data processing device, and transmit CFS/CSG commands for operation control to the Sonobuoy through UHF band RF communication. In order to verify the manufactured communication device, the communication status and performance were verified by interlocking test through Ultra Electronics' PASS-II equipment and domestically developed electronic device of Sonobuoy. In addition, operability was verified through environmental tests, water tanks, and marine operations. In the future, the communication device of sonobuoy can be used for verification of the Sonobuoy developed in Korea.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.221-228
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• 2020

A sonobuoy is dropped onto the surface of water to estimate the bearing of an underwater target. A Directional Frequency Analysis and Recording (DIFAR) sonobuoy has an error in the specific angular section due to the method of estimating bearing and noise, which causes an error in target localization using multiple sonobuoys. In addition, the position of the sonobuoy continues to move, but since a sonobuoy with a GPS is intermittently arranged, it is difficult to estimate the exact position of the sonobuoy. This also causes target localization performance degradation. In this paper, we propose a technique to improve the target localization performance by compensating for bearing errors using characteristics of the DIFAR sonobuoy and multiple-sonobuoy position errors based on the intermittently arranged active sonobuoy with a GPS.

• Journal of electromagnetic engineering and science
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.97-103
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• 2005

This paper describes the measured results of sonobuoy transmitting antenna system for anti-submarine warfare (ASW). Since radiation pattern and power density depend on impedance matching between transmitting RF part and antenna with termination resistance, design of matching circuit is very important for sonobuoy system performance. Matching circuit is designed by Smith chart using control of L and C. In standing wave ratio(SWR) measurement using Network Analyzer, SWR of antenna with matching circuit observed 1.5 below at the assigned VHF band. It shows very excellent performance comparison with conversional product that is used for the same object. The measured vertical and horizontal radiation patterns are also shown the satisfaction of military specifications. A drop out of sonobuoy system on the sea is happened when angle of elevation direction is over 10 degrees, and it is conformed that it takes less than I second return to original signal level. The required electric power density is $83\;mW/m^2$ in the military specification, and measured electric power density is observed over average $110\;mW/m^2$ at all frequency bands.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.72-81
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• 2022

Maritime patrol aircraft is an efficient solution for detecting submarines at sea. The aircraft can only detect submarines by sonobuoy, but the number of buoy is limited. In this paper, we present the online sonobuoy deployment method for estimating the location of submarines. We use Gaussian process regression to estimate the submarine existence probability map, and Bayesian optimization to decide the next best position of sonobuoy. Further, we show the performance of the proposed method by simulation.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.11-22
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• 2021

Sonobuoy is widely used as a very important sensor in combat management system using P-3 patrol aircraft due to its advantages of rapid searching into wide exploration range. It is necessary to verify the performance of developed sonobuoy system using various maritime test data in order to be successfully applied in combat management system. But it is difficult to acquire various real maritime data because it needs much time and effort. Therefore we have developed in this paper a synthetic signal generator and a simulator that they can verify the performance of sonobuoy system and evaluate its operational effectiveness without conducting maritime test. We have synthesized target signals based on the characteristics of underwater sound sources, and then developed the synthesized signal generator which consider to sound propagation etc. like as underwater environment. And in the simulator development we use a HMI technique to enhance the convenience of operator, and design to verify the performance of sonobuoy system. The developed signal generator and simulator can be used as useful tools to evaluate the operational effectiveness such as optimal deployment of sonobuoy in combat management system using P-3 patrol aircraft.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.214-224
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• 2024

Sonobuoys are disposable devices that utilize sound waves for information gathering, detecting engine noises, and capturing various acoustic characteristics. They play a crucial role in accurately detecting underwater targets, making them effective detection systems in anti-submarine warfare. Existing sonobuoy deployment methods in multistatic systems often rely on fixed patterns or heuristic-based rules, lacking efficiency in terms of the number of sonobuoys deployed and operational time due to the unpredictable mobility of the underwater targets. Thus, this paper proposes an optimal sonobuoy placement strategy for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to overcome the limitations of conventional sonobuoy deployment methods. The proposed approach utilizes reinforcement learning in a simulation-based experimental environment that considers the movements of the underwater targets. The Unity ML-Agents framework is employed, and the Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) algorithm is utilized for UAV learning in a virtual operational environment with real-time interactions. The reward function is designed to consider the number of sonobuoys deployed and the cost associated with sound sources and receivers, enabling effective learning. The proposed reinforcement learning-based deployment strategy compared to the conventional sonobuoy deployment methods in the same experimental environment demonstrates superior performance in terms of detection success rate, deployed sonobuoy count, and operational time.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.140-148
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• 2021

In this paper, we intend to improve the availability by integrating Sonobuoy, the most essential detection system used in anti-submarine operations, with LTE communication of smart devices. Anti-submarine capability to respond to the threat of North Korean submarine forces is becoming increasingly important, and continuous research and development is required. This paper aims to enhance the ability of acoustic tactics by using a military-only LTE communication system installed on a ship, smart devices that can be linked to it, and a multi-static sonobuoy controlled by them. The proposed system can increase the visual effect by not only displaying coordinate values by receiving accurate coordinate information of each sonobuoy to a smart device, but also displaying a marker on a map.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.302-307
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• 2019

In modern Anti-Submarine Warfare, there are various ways to locate a submarine in a two-dimensional space. For more effective tracking and attack against a submarine the depth of the target is a critical factor. However, it has been difficult to find out the depth of a submarine until now. In this paper a possible solution to the depth estimation of submarines is proposed utilizing DIFAR (Directional Frequency Analysis and Recording) sonobuoy information such as contact bearings at or prior to CPA (Closest Point of Approach) and the target's Doppler signals. The relative depth of the target is determined by applying the Pythagorean theorem to the slant range and horizontal range between the target and the hydrophone of a DIFAR sonobuoy. The slant range is calculated using the Doppler shift and the target's velocity. the horizontal range can be obtained by applying a simple trigonometric function for two consecutive contact bearings and the travel distance of the target. The simulation results show that the algorithm is subject to an elevation angle, which is determined by the relative depth and horizontal distance between the sonobuoy and target, and that a precise measurement of the Doppler shift is crucial.

• Proceedings of the Acoustical Society of Korea Conference
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• spring
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• pp.241-244
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• 2002

시간영역에서의 음원 방향 추정 알고리즘을 이용하여 수동형 DIFAR Sonobuoy 의 도래각 추정 성능 평가 시스템을 구성하고 추정 오차에 대하여 고찰하였다. 일반 실내에서 음원주파수 $f_0(700Hz\~1.7kHz)$로 입사하는 음원에 대하여 도래각을 추정한 결과 한 주기당 한계 ${\pm}10^{\circ}$ 이내로 약 $80\%$ 이상 추정 결과로 나타났으며 특히, 1.7kHz 의 경우는 ${\pm}2.97^{\circ}$로 적은 오차를 보임에 따라 이 대역에서의 기준 주파수로 평가 시스템에 적용할 수 있음을 확인하였다.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.152-163
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• 2022

In this paper, we present a method to enable an unmanned aerial vehicle to drop the sonobuoy, an essential element of anti-submarine warfare, in an optimal deployment. To this end, an environment simulating the distribution of sound detection performance was configured through the Unity game engine, and the environment directly configured using Unity ML-Agents and the reinforcement learning algorithm written in Python from the outside communicated with each other and learned. In particular, reinforcement learning is introduced to prevent the accumulation of wrong actions and affect learning, and to secure the maximum detection area for the sonobuoy while the vehicle flies to the target point in the shortest time. The optimal placement of the sonobuoy was achieved by applying the Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) algorithm. As a result of the learning, the agent flew through the sea area and passed only the points to achieve the optimal placement among the 70 target candidates. This means that an autonomous aerial vehicle that deploys a sonobuoy in the shortest time and maximum detection area, which is the requirement for optimal placement, has been implemented.