FPGA-Based Configurable Frequency-Diverse Ultrasonic Target-Detection System

In this paper, we present field-programmable gate-array (FPGA)-based configurable architectures that are able to perform frequency-diverse target detection for real-time ultrasonic imaging. Three design methodologies are explored including the execution of the detection algorithm on an embedded microprocessor, the creation of a dedicated hardware solution, and the use of hardware/software codesign principles. In addition to the design flow, this paper presents the impact of parameter changes on the detection-algorithm performance and FPGA implementation results. Experimental studies show that the proposed configurable systems are able to meet real-time operation requirements, and the algorithm performs robustly.