Claims
- 1. Apparatus for testing an acoustic device having a plurality of transducing elements adapted for conversion between acoustic and electrical signals, the apparatus comprising:
a transmitter adapted to generate an electrical transmission signal; a relay element; an adapter in electrical communication with the relay element, wherein the adapter includes a multichannel switch; and a receiver adapted to receive an electrical received signal from the acoustic device, wherein a routing of the electrical transmission signal to a selected transducing element is defined in accordance with a state of the relay element and with a state of the multichannel switch.
- 2. The apparatus recited in claim 1 wherein the multichannel switch comprises a plurality of electrically connected single-channel switches.
- 3. The apparatus recited in claim 2 wherein the plurality of electrically connected single-channel switches are organized into discrete banks of single-channel switches such that no more than one bank is active for any state of the multichannel switch.
- 4. The apparatus recited in claim 1 further comprising a computational unit configured to diagnose operational characteristics of the selected transducing element from an amplitude of the electrical received signal.
- 5. The apparatus recited in claim 1 wherein the electrical received signal corresponds to an acoustic signal converted from the electrical transmission signal and reflected from a target.
- 6. The apparatus recited in claim 1 further comprising a waveform generator adapted to generate a reference signal with which a capacitance associated with the selected transducing element may be determined.
- 7. Apparatus for testing a multiplexing acoustic probe having a plurality of transducing elements adapted for conversion between acoustic and electrical signals and a switch matrix adapted for mapping a plurality of channels to the plurality of transducing elements, wherein the plurality of channels is smaller in number than the plurality of transducing elements, the apparatus comprising:
a transmitter adapted to generate an electrical transmission signal; a relay element; an adapter in electrical communication with the relay element, wherein the adapter includes an interface with the switch matrix for communicating a state for the switch matrix; and a receiver adapted to receive an electrical received signal from the multiplexing acoustic probe, wherein a routing of the electrical transmission signal to a selected transducing element is defined in accordance with a state of the relay element and with the state of the switch matrix.
- 8. The apparatus recited in claim 7 wherein the adapter further includes an interface for providing power to the switch matrix.
- 9. The apparatus recited in claim 7 wherein:
the adapter further includes a multichannel switch; and the routing of the electrical transmission signal to the selected transducing element is further defined in accordance with a state of the multichannel switch.
- 10. The apparatus recited in claim 7 further comprising a computational unit configured to diagnose operational characteristics of the selected transducing element from an amplitude of the electrical received signal.
- 11. The apparatus recited in claim 7 further comprising a waveform generator adapted to generate a reference signal with which a capacitance associated with the selected transducing element may be determined.
- 12. A method for testing an acoustic device having a plurality of transducing elements adapted for conversion between acoustic and electrical signals, the method comprising:
generating an electrical transmission signal; transmitting the electrical transmission signal to one of a first plurality of channels through a relay element in accordance with a state of the relay element; transmitting the electrical transmission signal from the one of the first plurality of channels to one of a second plurality of channels through a multichannel switch of an adapter in accordance with a state of the multichannel switch; transmitting the electrical transmission signal from the one of the second plurality of channels to a selected transducing element; and receiving an electrical received signal from the acoustic device in response to the electrical transmission signal.
- 13. The method recited in claim 12 wherein transmitting the electrical transmission signals from the one of the first plurality of channels to the one of the second plurality of channels comprises transmitting the electrical transmission signals through an arrangement of single-channel switches in accordance with the state of the multichannel switch.
- 14. The method recited in claim 13 wherein the arrangement of single-channel switches is organized into discrete banks of single-channel switches such that no more than one bank is active for any state of the multichannel switch.
- 15. The method recited in claim 12 further comprising diagnosing operational characteristics of the selected transducing element from an amplitude of the electrical received signal.
- 16. The method recited in claim 15 further comprising:
generating a reference signal; and determining a capacitance associated with the selected transducing element from the reference signal, wherein diagnosing operational characteristics of the selected transducing element is further performed from the determined capacitance.
- 17. The method recited in claim 12 wherein the electrical received signal corresponds to an acoustic signal converted from the electrical transmission signal and reflected from a target.
- 18. The method recited in claim 12 further comprising uniquely identifying the acoustic device from a plurality of electrical received signals.
- 19. A method for testing a multiplexing acoustic probe having a plurality of transducing elements adapted for conversion between acoustic and electrical signals and a switch matrix adapted for mapping a plurality of switch-matrix channels to the plurality of transducing elements, wherein the plurality of switch-matrix channels is smaller in number than the plurality of transducing elements, the method comprising:
communicating an instruction for the switch matrix to adopt a specified state; generating an electrical transmission signal; transmitting the electrical transmission signal to one of a plurality of adapter channels through a relay element in accordance with a state of the relay element; transmitting the electrical transmission signal from the one of the plurality of adapter channels to one of the plurality of switch-matrix channels; transmitting the electrical transmission signal from the one of the plurality of switch-matrix channels to a selected transducing element; and receiving an electrical received signal from the multiplexing acoustic in response to the electrical transmission signal.
- 20. The method recited in claim 19 further comprising providing power to the switch matrix.
- 21. The method recited in claim 19 wherein transmitting the electrical transmission signal from the one of the plurality of adapter channels to the one of the plurality of switch-matrix channels comprises transmitting the electrical transmission signal through a multichannel switch of an adapter in accordance with a state of the multichannel switch.
- 22. The method recited in claim 19 further comprising diagnosing operational characteristics of the selected transducing element from an amplitude of the electrical received signal.
- 23. The method recited in claim 22 further comprising:
generating a reference signal; and determining a capacitance associated with the selected transducing element from the reference signal, wherein diagnosing operational characteristics of the selected transducing element is further performed from the determined capacitance.
- 24. The method recited in claim 19 further comprising uniquely identifying the multiplexing probe from a plurality of electrical received signals.
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is related to the following concurrently filed, commonly assigned U.S. Patent applications, the entire disclosure of each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety: “APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR TESTING ACOUSTIC PROBES AND SYSTEMS,” by James M. Gessert et al. (Attorney Docket No. 40100-000100US) and “APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR TESTING ACOUSTIC SYSTEMS,” by James M. Gessert et al (Attorney Docket No. 40100-000200US).