Theoretical and experimental study on a finite size vector sensor array with a cylindrically symmetric carrier

In this work, a finite size acoustic vector sensor (AVS) array is designed and its performance is theoretically and experimentally studied. The two-dimensional AVS array is comprised of five vector sensors and configured as a cross, and the array carrier is a cylindrically symmetric structure. Theoretical analysis and simulation indicate that the proposed method considering structure scattering can widen the working bandwidth. Furthermore, the utilization of vector sensor enables a significant white noise gain improvement at low frequencies, which makes the array more robust and easier to realize. Experiments have been done to study the array performance from several aspects including sensor noise characteristics, the beampattern, the direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation ability and the array gain. From the change of the sensor directivity patterns or the amplitude distortion of the noise field, we can clearly observe the scattering field intensity. Moreover, it shows that the influence of the structure scattering on the tangential component of the vector field is symmetric, while that of the radial component is asymmetric. Experimental results also demonstrate that, with the proposed method, the 2nd and the 3rd order beamformers can be obtained which could be further used for the estimation of target DOA. In addition, an array gain of at least 6 dB is obtained capable of detection of weak signals. Our results indicate that the proposed array with a physical size less than one meter, although affected by nearby scatterers, can effectively break the Rayleigh limit and realize the remote detection in low-frequency regime.