Scalable architecture for airborne ultrasound tactile display

Abstract

In this paper, we show a scalable architecture for ultrasound phased array system. The biggest issue here to modularize phased array system is phase synchronization across arrays. Its timing constraint is quite severe because the phase error between arrays directly hits focusing performance. We employ EtherCAT network protocol to achieve scalable precise phase synchronization and effective communication. A new designed phased array unit connects each other in a daisy chain topology with precise timing synchronization, high frame rate, and large capacity communication.