SAID BUOY

DESCRIPTION

Technical Field related to the Invention

The invention subject to the application is related with a smart buoy and the determination and recognition method where said buoy is used, wherein said buoy can carry out the determination and recognition of under water and surface platforms (submarines, ships etc) automatically during security/defence application and underwater oceanographic observations/research by means of the sensors, signal processing hardware and software it possesses and can transmit the processed data (type, class, bearing, speed etc.) related to the determined platform to the observation station via a wireless communication protocol.

Known State of the art related to the Invention (Prior Art)

The determination and recognition of under water and surface platforms in security/defence applications in the known state of the art are carried out by means of expendable sensors known as "sonobuoy (sonoboy)".

The noise arising from machinery and propellers that emanate under water from the platforms can be sensed by acoustic sensors of sonobuoys and the direction (bearing) of the surface or underwater platforms that produce the said noise can be determined by means of acoustic sensors. In addition to this, the platform types (such as frigate, submarine, tanker,assault boats etc.) can be classified by analysing and evaluating the signal parameters of machinery and propellers.

However, these procedures are not carried out by sonobuoys themself. After the deployment of sonobuoys from Antisubmarine Warfare (DSH) elements such as frigates, helicopters and sea patrol planes, the raw data sensed by the passive acoustic sensors (hydrophones) of the sonobuoy is sent to the signal processing receiver located in the DSH observation station via modulated analogue wireless radio frequency (RF) broadcasting without any signal processing methods. All of the signal processing, determination, signal analysis and classification processes are carried out by DSH operators using the receiver processing unit located at the DSH observation station. This application causes an excessive amount of data transmission between the observation station and the sonobuoy and also waste of time for the target detection. Moreover, continuous RF broadcasting increases the power consumption and this leads to short life of batteries located on the sonobuoy. Continuous RF broadcasting also may help the enemies or threat risks, in determining the presence and/or the location of the sonobuoys. Besides, the observation station where the raw data are sent must be equipped with the huge equipments having high processing capacity.

The measurement buoys in underwater oceanographic observation/research applications are the most commonly used devices in the known state of the art. However the launching and retrieval procedures of these buoys necessitate lots of workforce as said buoys are large in size and as they are very heavy. The measurement buoys stay fixed once they are launched into water and they submit the measured oceanographic and meteorological raw data which are collected by their sensors, to a close shore station. .

The inventions subject to the documents numbered US3870989A, CA1228665A1 , US4673363A, JPH0266481 A and US5224074A can be shown as examples to sonobuoy systems that are widely used in the known state of the art and the art described above.

Brief description of the invention and its aims

According to the determination and recognition method where the smart buoy developed by means of this invention, the platform noises are determined by means of a smart buoy comprising a signal processing unit that is embedded such that it is integrated to the hydrophones positioned on different points on the body of said buoy and these noises are processed via a signal processing unit and the platforms which emit underwater noise within the range depending on environmental conditions are processed by means of the signal processing unit located inside the buoys and following signal analysis the type classification of the contact is obtained. However the bearing information of the target platform in relation to the buoy can also be determined by using directional hydrophones and electronic motion compensation compass. The classification information that have been analysed by means of analysis parameters are also transmitted to the DSH observation station by means of a wireless communication protocol. By means of the application subject to the invention, platform determination, signal analysis and classification processes can be carried out independent from the operator and as a result the data/information amount to be transmitted to the DSH observation station and the transmit time can be kept at a minimum.

By means of this advantage, the weight and the sizes of the receiving unit, display unit and the signal processing unit hardware that are required to be a part of the DSH observation station can be significantly reduced.

Oceanographic data such as sound speed, temperature, wave height, around the environment where the buoy is located can be collected by means of the smart buoy and the determination/recognition method subject to the invention and the information obtained can be transferred to shore stations.

In addition to this, the passage of commerce ships at the entrances of ports harbours/bays can be observed by means of the smart buoy and the determination/recognition method subject to the invention and information related to commerce ships can be submitted to the ports (security and/or commercial observation supervision units)

Definitions of the figures describing the Invention

The figures that have been prepared in order to be able to further describe the smart buoy which can determine and recognize platforms developed according to the invention and the determination and recognition method used by said buoy have been explained below:

Figure 1 - Is the system configuration view of the smart buoy

Figure 2 - Is the block diagram of the determination and recognition method The definitions of the aspects/sections/parts forming the Invention

The parts/sections/ aspects that are shown in the figures that have been prepared in order to be able to further describe the smart buoy which can determine and recognize platforms developed according to the invention and the determination and recognition method used by said buoy have each been separately numbered and the references of each number have been given below.

1 . Carrier unit 2. Signal processing unit

3. Electronic compass

4. Recording unit

5. Carrier steel cable

6. CTD probe sensor

7. Fixing anchors

8. Battery

9. Power distribution unit

10. Top unit

1 1 . Communication unit

12. RF antenna

13. GPS receiver unit

14. GPS antenna

15. Manuel mode selection key

16. Status LEDs

17. Maintenance port

18. Battery port

19. Hydrophone Detailed description of the Invention

The smart buoy using hydrophones (19) submerged into water and a data communication cable over the body in order to determine the platforms by means of the motor and propeller noises of surface and under water platforms, enable the calculation of the distance, speed, type, classification and bearing information of the determined platforms by processing the data that has been obtained from the noises following platform determination and also enable to transfer via a wireless communication protocol, the processed recognition data to a DSH observation station; wherein said buoy comprises;

• Awaterproof box submerged into water comprising a carrier unit (1 ) which carries the hydrophones and signal processing unit,

• A signal processing unit (2) which collects and processes acoustic data and other sensor data,

• An electronic compass (3) which measures the lateral angle of the magnetic north relative to the hydrophones and submits it to the signal processing unit, · A recording unit (4) which records the data obtained by the signal processing unit,

• A carrier steel cable (5) which connects the carrier unit to the buoy,

• A CTD probe sensor (6) which collects the depth and temperature data,

• A fixing anchor (7) which has a fixing point in order for the buoy to be used as an anchored structure,

• A battery (8) which provides power to the electronic units of the buoy,

• A power distribution unit (9) which distributes the battery energy to the electronic units,

• A top unit (10) which is an impermeable chamber comprising the electronic units that are not present inside the carrier unit but are used by the system and are located on the body of the buoy,

• An RF antenna (12) and a communication unit (1 1 ) used for RF communication of the buoy and which enables the transfer of the processed recognition data to the DSH observation station via a wireless communication protocol,

· A GPS receiver unit (13) and a GPS antenna (14) which determines the position of the buoy using GPS satellites,

• A manual mode selection key (15) which can select different operation modes such as sending the unprocessed or the processed data,

• Status LED's (16) which gives feedback to the user regarding the status of the buoy's operation,

• A maintenance port (17) having a connection point which connects the buoy to a computer in order to configure and program the buoy and download the recorded data, and

• A battery port (18) used to charge batteries. (Figure 1 ).

The data received from the hydrophones (19) are processed in two different ways on the signal processing unit (2) according to the determination and recognition method used by the smart buoy subject to the invention (Figure 2).

In the first process, the data received from different sensors are subjected to equal gain combining procedure. The data received from each sensor is processed on the signal processing unit (2). First of all the data received from each sensor is multiplied by the same coefficient and a single signal is obtained. Following this, the signal obtained is subjected to acoustic analysis; DEMON (Detection of Envelope Modulation on Noise) analysis for the analysis of propeller information, and LOFAR (Low Frequency Analysis and Ranging) analysis for the analysis of machinery parameters are carried out. The trace information of the data obtained as a result of the analysis is separated from ambient noise and the determination and classification of threats that are present in the surrounding area is performed by feature extraction.

The signal processing unit (2) performs the following;

• carries out the platform classification by processing acoustic data sensed by the hydrophones (19),

· finding the bearing of the target platform according to the position of the hydrophone (19) by processing acoustic data sensed by the hydrophones (19),

• finding the bearing of the target platform according to magnetic north, by combining the bearing according to the hydrophones (19) of the target and the magnetic north angle obtained from the electronic compass (3),

· Obtaining the latitude and longitude information from the GPS receiver unit (13) and calculating the bearing of the target platform in terms of latitude and longitude coordinations by combining the coordinations with the bearing angle formed with the magnetic north of the target platform,

• Encrypting the data obtained by the signal processing unit (2) and providing protection against foreign elements,

• Recording the raw or processed data obtained by the signal processing unit (2), with or without encryption to the recording unit,

• Transmitting the processed data that has been obtained by the signal processing unit (2) via the RF communication unit (1 1 ) with or without encryption to the observation station.

In the second phase the data received from the sensors, are used in order to calculate the angle (bearing) that are in contact with the signal processing unit (2). The determination that is obtained, the classification and bearing information are transferred to the platforms by means of a communication unit (1 1 ).