Deconvolution-Based Target Echo High-Resolution Time Delay Estimation Technique Using Active Sonar

In view of enhancing the time delay estimation resolution for the target echo in a complex shallow-water environment, thus improving the target detection ability of the active sonar system. A high-resolution time delay estimation technique is proposed to detect the underwater target based on sparse representation theory and deconvolution framework. Firstly, the Toeplitz operator is introduced here to construct a dictionary matrix using the various time delayed replicing of the transmitting signal. The estimated time-delay value can be found in the desired sparse vector solution. Secondly, the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) is implemented to calculate the optimal solution globally. Thirdly, the reweighted iteration approach is explored to control the regularization parameter, thus suppressing the impact of the multipath channel. The arrival time of the echo can be decoupled to obtain a high-resolution time delay result. The simulated and experimental data verify that the proposed deconvolution-based time delay estimation technique can be used to detect the underwater target in shallow-water acoustic multipath channels. The resolution of the estimated time-delay result can achieve 0.056 ms.