Patent Application
20080192575
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to sonar systems, and more particularly, to providing mechanism by which to provide a sonar history.
Sonar has long been used to detect waterborne or underwater objects. For example, sonar devices may be used to determine bottom topography, detect fish or other waterborne contacts, locate wreckage, etc. In this regard, due to the extreme limits to visibility underwater, sonar is typically the most accurate way for individuals to locate objects underwater. Since the development of sonar, display technology has also been improved in order to enable better interpretation of sonar data. Strip chart recorders and other mechanical output devices have been replaced by, for example, digital displays such as LCDs (liquid crystal displays). Current display technologies continue to be improved in order to provide, for example, high quality sonar data on multi-color, high resolution displays having a more intuitive output than early sonar systems were capable of producing.
However, current sonar systems typically only display high-quality sonar data for a limited period of time, after which the data may be lost. For example, a typical display may illustrate sonar data gathered over the last few minutes, but when the data reaches the edge of the display, the data is lost. Additionally, although some sonar systems permit an operator to pause a sonar display for a period of time in order to inspect a particular screen image, real-time data may be lost while the display is paused. And if such data is not lost, it may only be stored in paper form via a strip chart.
Accordingly, it may be desirable to develop a sonar system that is capable of providing a sonar history that is easily accessible and upon which various functions may be performed. Moreover, it may be desirable to provide a sonar history that is not reliant upon paper.
Accordingly, in order to provide a historical sonar record that cures the deficiencies noted above, a method, computer program product and apparatus for providing a sonar history are described herein in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention employ a storage media for continuously storing sonar data and also provide a user with the ability to perform functions on stored sonar data while continuing to record current data. Thus, no data is undesirably lost while performing functions on existing stored data.
In one exemplary embodiment, a method for providing a sonar history is provided. The method includes storing information associated with sonar signal data to thereby create a continuous record, receiving an instruction from a user, and performing a function with respect to the continuous record in response to, and based on, the instruction. Receiving an instruction and performing a function may occur as the continuous record is created.
In another exemplary embodiment, a computer program product for providing a sonar history is provided. The computer program product includes at least one computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein. The computer-readable program code includes multiple executable portions. The first executable portion is for storing information associated with sonar signal data to thereby create a continuous record. The second executable portion is for receiving an instruction from a user. The third executable portion includes instructions for performing a function with respect to the continuous record in response to, and based on, the instruction. Receiving an instruction and performing a function may occur as the continuous record is created.
In yet another exemplary embodiment, an apparatus for providing a sonar history is provided. The apparatus includes a storage media and a function execution element. The storage media may be configured to store information associated with sonar signal data to thereby create a continuous record. The function execution element may be configured to receive an instruction from a user and to perform a function with respect to the continuous record, in response to, and based on the instruction. Receiving the instruction and performing the function may occur as the continuous record is created.
Embodiments of the invention provide users with an ability to manipulate or examine data while continuing to store current data. As a result, the user may study or review past data without being concerned over the loss of newly acquired data.
Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, the invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.
The head unit 22 may include a display 23 configured to display images, and a user interface 25 configured to receive an input from a user of the head unit 22. The display 23 may be, for example, a conventional LCD (liquid crystal display) or any other suitable display known in the art upon which images may be rendered. And the user interface 25 may include, for example, a keyboard, keypad, function keys, mouse, scrolling device, touch screen, or any other mechanism by which a user may interface with the head unit 22.
The navigation module 12 may include any of a number of different navigation devices configured to receive navigation information from one or more external sources and generate location information indicative of the location of, for example, a marine craft employing the marine system 10. For example, the navigation module 12 may include one or more GPS (global positioning system) or other satellite navigation system modules, inertial navigation system modules, terrestrial navigation system modules (e.g., LORAN-C), etc.
The detection module 14 may include any of a number of different detection and ranging systems for detecting vessels, structures or aids to navigation. For example, the detection module 14 may include a sonar system that uses sound wave transmissions to determine water depth or detect fish and/or other waterborne contacts. Additionally or alternatively, for example, the detection module 14 may include a conventional radar system that uses radio frequency transmissions to determine ranging information and other position related information associated with surface or airborne vessels or aids to navigation. It should be noted that although
The instrument module 16 may be configured to receive analog or digital information related to a parameter measured at a particular device, and communicate that information to the network 20 in a digital format. For example, the instrument module 16 may be configured to receive information from numerous sensors configured to measure parameters at numerous corresponding shipboard devices such as fuel level, speed, engine RPM (revolutions per minute), engine fluid temperature and/or pressure, battery state of charge, etc. The instrument module 16 may therefore include any of a number of different devices such as, for example, a tachometer, speedometer, thermometer, pressure gauge, volt meter, fuel level sensor, etc. Where applicable, the instrument module 16 may include analog-to-digital conversion capabilities to communicate digital data to the network 20.
As indicated above, the head unit 22 may be configured to receive data, information or the like via the network 20 and process and/or display the received data.
The processing element 26 may be embodied in many ways. For example, the processing element 26 may be embodied as a processor, a coprocessor, a controller or various other processing means or devices including integrated circuits such as, for example, an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit). In an exemplary embodiment, the processing element 26 may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory device 33 or otherwise accessible to the processing element 26. In an exemplary embodiment, the processing element 26 may be configured to execute a gauge application stored in the memory device 33 or otherwise accessible to the processing element 26. Meanwhile, the communication interface element 29 may be embodied as any device or means embodied in either hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software that is configured to receive and/or transmit data from/to the network 20.
As shown in
The data recorder 38 may be embodied as any device or means embodied in either hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software that is configured to store or otherwise record information associated with sonar signal data (“sonar information”). The data recorder may record sonar information in a real-time fashion such that the stored sonar information may be reviewed, replayed or otherwise have functions executed thereupon, as desired, even as the data recorder records current sonar information. In other words, the data recorder 38 may record sonar information such that current sonar information (information associated with current sonar signal data) may be continuously stored while previously-stored sonar information (information associated with previous sonar signal data) may be played, rewound, fast forwarded or otherwise accessed by a user. The sonar information may include, for example, the sonar signal data and/or corresponding display data. The sonar information may be selectively communicated from the data recorder 38 to the head unit 22 or another network device for further processing, or directly communicated to the head unit 22 for display in accordance with a user-selected function, as described in greater detail below. In either event, however, the sonar information may be communicated while the data recorder 38 continuously stores current sonar information.
As shown in
The storage media 52 may be any volatile and/or non-volatile memory device capable of storing the sonar information. In an exemplary embodiment, the storage media 52 may be a circular buffer with a relatively large storage capability such that, after a period of time, an amount of older sonar information may be deleted in order to enable storage of a corresponding amount of current sonar information. It is envisioned, for example, that the storage media 52 may be of sufficient size to enable the storage of many hours or even days of sonar information. As such, the storage media 52 may perform long term storage of sonar information and, as will be described in greater detail below, corresponding other information, thereby forming a continuous record of stored information in order to enable functions to be performed on the stored information. It should also be noted that although the storage media 52 is shown in
The function execution element 54 may be embodied as any device or means embodied in either hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software that is configured to perform one or more functions with respect to the sonar information, such as function(s) as determined by user instruction(s) (via, e.g., the interface element 50). The function(s) may include any of a number of basic functions such as, but not limited to, rewinding, playing, pausing, fast forwarding, etc. Thus, for example, if a particular feature of interest is encountered in a live display of sonar information on the head unit 22, a pause function may be executed so that the display 23 may be paused to enable further examination of the particular feature of interest. Alternatively, a rewind function may be executed to rewind the display data back to a time corresponding to the particular feature of interest. The display data may then be fast forwarded until current time, or the live display, is reached. Alternatively, at any time while viewing paused or rewound display data (i.e., stored sonar information), a function may be executed to return to a real-time or current display.
The function execution element 54 may also be configured to perform several more complex functions. For example, the sonar information may include supplemental information such as chart data, GPS data, or instrumentation data such as, for example, time, speed, course over ground, track, heading, fuel remaining, water temperature, salinity, depth, live well temperature, etc. The supplemental information may be associated with corresponding sonar information. As such, the function execution element 54 may be configured to perform search functions for particular supplemental information, and/or output sonar information to a display (e.g., display 23) if such information corresponds to supplemental information meeting particular user defined criteria. Thus, for example, criteria such as starting and ending times may be selected for display. Alternatively, data corresponding to a particular depth band may be selected for display. As yet another alternative, a rate of change of depth may be selected for displaying corresponding data. In an exemplary embodiment in which GPS data is integrated, the location where the corresponding data was acquired could be indicated on a chart or on a stored track.
In an exemplary embodiment, the interface element 50 may be configured to receive an input from a scrolling device (e.g., scrolling device of user interface 25). In this regard, the scrolling device could be used to move a cursor across a timeline of stored or historical display data in order to select a point along the timeline showing historical data. At the selected point, one of the functions described above could be performed. The stored or historical display data could include, for example, either or both of sonar display data and corresponding chart display data. In an exemplary embodiment, the head unit 22 may be configured to display both chart and sonar data as shown, for example, in
The charted data window 60 may include chart data provided, for example, in response to data received from the navigation module 12 and/or the detection module 14 (e.g., sonar system 40). For example, the charted data window 60 may display vessel track, contact data, charted depth, GPS data, aids to navigation, scale information, etc. In the exemplary embodiment of
The sonar display window 62 may display a selected period of display data for detailed display. Features which may be included in the detailed display provided by the sonar display window 62 may include, for example, a depth scale 70, bottom echo-return data 72, contact echo-return data 74, etc. As shown in
The historical sonar data window 64 may provide a display of data over a pre-selected period of time. For example, the pre-selected period of time may correspond to a trip or a period of time defined by default or the user. In an exemplary embodiment, the farthest right portion of the historical sonar data window 64 may correspond to live data at the current time, and the farthest left portion of the historical sonar data window 64 may correspond to the oldest data at the earliest time within the pre-selected period of time. Data in between the right and left represent a continuous representation of data gathered between the current time and the earliest time within the pre-selected period of time. Thus, the historical sonar data window 64 may display data corresponding to historical sonar signal data that has been stored over an extended period of time, and is continuously updated by the storage of sonar information. As an alternative, the historical sonar data window 64 may be configured to display stored data in a wrap-around manner, such as by connecting the oldest data to the newest data in a continuous fashion. In such instances, a portion of the display currently viewable on the sonar display window 62 may be centrally located while the ends indicate data that is farthest from the currently viewable portion.
In an exemplary embodiment, the sonar display window 62 may display (e.g., by default) live data such as the current sonar data and a selectable amount of sonar data received just prior to the receipt of the current sonar data (e.g., a preceding two minutes of data). As such, when displaying live data, the sonar display window may be continuously updated to display the current sonar data and the preceding two minutes of sonar data. The sonar display window 62 may be configured to display a more detailed or “zoomed in” version of a portion of the data displayed in the historical sonar data window 64. In an exemplary embodiment, when a user provides an input to call up a cursor 80, the sonar display window 62 may be paused such that the display is no longer continuously updated and the cursor 80 is displayed. In an exemplary embodiment, the cursor 80 may also appear simultaneously at corresponding positions on one or both the charted data window 60 and the historical sonar data window 64. While the cursor 80 is activated, the charted data window 60 and/or the historical sonar data window 64 may continue to update in response to newly received data. However, the sonar display window 62 may remain paused with the cursor 80 displayed at the center of the sonar display window 62. In such instances, the cursor 80 may also appear on either or both of the charted data window 60 and the historical sonar data window 64 at a corresponding location to that displayed on the sonar display window 62.
In an exemplary embodiment, the cursor 80 may be scrolled over historical sonar data and/or chart data (e.g., the track data 66), and display data corresponding to the position of the cursor 80 may be displayed on the sonar display window 62. In other words, particular locations or positions (temporal or geographic) on the charted data window 60 and/or the historical sonar data window 64 may be scrolled over for selection for display on the sonar display window 62. In an exemplary embodiment, particular locations or positions may also be marked using the cursor 80, such as by instituting a marking function in association with the cursor 80. The marking may continue to appear at the corresponding location or position even after real time data display is restored. Accordingly, for example, if an interesting feature is noticed on the sonar display window 62, a marker may be placed on the location at which the interesting feature was observed. Thus, at a later time, the cursor 80 may be scrolled to a location of the marker and the sonar display window 62 will display the same sonar display data that was originally displayed at the marked location. Additionally, the cursor 80 may show the position of the vessel at the marked location on the charted data window 60 and as well as the position of the marked location with respect to other historical data on the historical sonar data window 64. Marked locations could correspond to waypoints on a chart. Text entries could also be added to a marker to provide information associated with the marker. In one exemplary embodiment, a corresponding sonar display window may be called up automatically when the cursor is passed over a particular part of the track data 66.
In an exemplary embodiment, when the cursor 80 is taken down (e.g., when an exit is performed from the scrolling function), the display of the sonar display window 62 may return to real time operation. As shown in
In an exemplary embodiment, the data recorder 38 may be configured to control a display function in order to compress parts of a sonar display that are farthest from real-time data and/or farthest from the displayed data position if data other than real-time or current data is being displayed. Display time may vary with a ping rate. However, if the ping rate is such that a conventional display may only show the last minute of data, exemplary embodiments of the present invention may provide for additional compressed data to be displayed. For example, the last minute of data may be displayed normally and a selected period of additional data may be displayed with linearly or nonlinearly increasing compression as time from the last minute of data increases. Alternatively, an entire trip could be displayed with either linear or nonlinear compression of past data. Accordingly, when, for example, the cursor 80 is utilized to select a portion of stored data corresponding to a particular time for display, portions of the stored data that are farthest from the particular time may be compressed (in one or both directions) in either a linear or nonlinear manner. In an exemplary embodiment, the user may select rates of compression, time periods for which various rates of compression apply, and/or linear or nonlinear compression, etc.
Thus, for example, the historical sonar data window 64 could display data between the indicators 82 with a particular scale representation. Meanwhile, data outside of the indicators could be compressed at portions near the right and left edges of the displayed historical sonar data. Alternatively, compression of data outside of the indicators 82 may be increasingly compressed on a linear or nonlinear scale as such data increases in temporal distance from the indicators 82.
In yet another exemplary embodiment, sonar information stored in the storage media 52 may be communicated to another device, such as to an external storage device in a file format. The sonar information may be communicated to any device in communication with the network 20 and/or to a device in direct communication with the data recorder 38. Accordingly, large amounts of historical sonar data may be permanently stored.
Accordingly, blocks or steps of the flowchart support combinations of means for performing the specified functions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that one or more blocks or steps of the flowchart, and combinations of blocks or steps in the flowchart, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform the specified functions or steps, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
In this regard, one embodiment of a method of providing a sonar history, as shown in
The above described functions may be carried out in many ways. For example, any suitable means for carrying out each of the functions described above may be employed to carry out embodiments of the invention. In one embodiment, all or a portion of the elements of the invention generally operate under control of a computer program product. The computer program product for performing the methods of embodiments of the invention includes a computer-readable storage medium, such as the non-volatile storage medium, and computer-readable program code portions, such as a series of computer instructions, embodied in the computer-readable storage medium.
Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these embodiments pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
