Claims:1. Switched mode power-amplifier for multi-beam sonar device comprising:
a plurality of power amplifiers configured to receive and amplify an input acoustic signal to a pre-determined voltage level based on a distance associated with a Region of Interest (ROI),
the plurality of power amplifiers in communication with a matrix of transducer elements arranged in a plurality of substantial parallel rows and columns, and configured to drive the matrix of transducers at their resonant frequency with respect to characterized impedance to facilitate each of the transducer to operate independent of other transducer elements, and thereby provide a digital gain control of each of the transducer.
2. The switched mode power amplifier as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of power amplifiers comprise Class-D digital switched mode power amplifiers.
3. The switched mode power amplifier as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of power amplifiers comprises:
a microcontroller configured to convert the input acoustic signal to a switching sine modulated signal;
a full bridge amplifier power circuit comprising SiC MOSFETs operatively coupled to the microcontroller, the full bridge amplifier power circuit configured to transform the switching sine modulated signal to high voltage switching sine modulated pulses; and
a LC low pass filter operatively coupled to the full bridge amplifier power circuit, the LC low pass filter filters the transformed high voltage switching sine modulated pulses by matching with output impedance and output phase of each of the transducers.
4. The switched mode power amplifier as claimed in claim 3, wherein the microcontroller is configured to modulate the input acoustic signal by sampling said acoustic signal.
5. The switched mode power amplifier as claimed in claim 3, wherein the switched mode power amplifier comprises an acoustic signal receiver operatively coupled to the microcontroller, and configured to receive and collect the input acoustic signal and feed it as an input to Analog-to-Digital (ADC) port of the microcontroller.
6. The switched mode power amplifier as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of power amplifiers is assigned a unique node id, wherein the amplified acoustic signal transmitted by each of the one or more power amplifiers is assigned with respective node id for identification.
7. The switched mode power amplifier as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of power amplifiers are communicatively coupled with each other and with a single board computer (SBC) and the matrix of transducers through a controlled area network (CAN) bus.
8. The switched mode power amplifier as claimed in claim 7, wherein the CAN bus allows burst mode communication between the plurality of power amplifiers.
9. The switched mode power amplifier as claimed in claim 1, wherein the switched mode power amplifier comprises one or more channels, wherein each of the one or more channels configured between the plurality of power amplifiers and the transducers;
the one or more channels equipped with a plurality of protection elements configured to protect the plurality of power amplifiers and the matrix of transducer from over voltage and over current.
10. The switched mode power amplifier as claimed in claim 9, wherein the switched mode power amplifier facilitates continuous monitoring of output voltage and output current of the plurality of power amplifiers, wherein when the output voltage and the output current of at least one of the plurality of power amplifiers resemble with any or a combination of the over voltage and over current, at least one of the plurality of protective elements facilitates in switching off respective power amplifier.
, Description:TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure relates to the devices and systems used for navigation and detection of objects. In particular, the present disclosure provides switched mode power amplifier for multi-beam sonar device for facilitating efficient and accurate navigation and detection of objects and for communicating with vessels.

BACKGROUND
[0002] The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
[0003] Sonar (sound navigation ranging) is a technique that uses acoustic signals to navigate, communicate with or detect objects on or under surface of the water (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation). Sonar can be utilized for seabed mapping, detecting cliffs lying under the water, finding and/ or communicating with vessels.
[0004] Generally, linear power amplifiers are used in conventional devices. Although the linear regulators are ideal for many low-power applications, however they are not suitable when a higher power is needed. The disadvantages associated with the linear power supplies include size, high heat loss, and lower efficiency levels. Moreover, if linear power amplifiers are used in a high power application, it may require a large transformer and other large components to handle the power. Usage of such larger components increases the overall size and weight of the power supply and can pose a challenge for weight distribution within a given application.
[0005] Another downside of linear power amplifiers is the high heat loss that occurs when regulating a high power load. High thermal stress demands that linear power amplifiers should be used along with a heat sink to dissipate the energy loss. Moreover, one more setback of the linear power amplifiers is that it is not efficient when a large difference between the input and output voltage is there.
[0006] Patent Document US2016/0047906A1 discloses a marine multi-beam sonar device with array of transmit and receive transducers. The transmit section further includes a linear power amplifier and variable gain amplifier. However, it is very bulky and not suitable when the space, weight and efficiency is a concern.
[0007] There is, therefore, a need in the art to provide a solution that obviates above-mentioned limitations and is efficient, accurate, precise, and compact.

OBJECTS OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE
[0008] Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies are as listed herein below.
[0009] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide switched mode power amplifier for a sonar device to facilitate multi beam operation.
[0010] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide switched mode power amplifier for a sonar device that is equipped with multiple channels to allow high efficiency and suitable for driving transducers connecting in an array.
[0011] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide switched mode power amplifier for a sonar device that transmits a percentage of power level required by the device to target an object.
[0012] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide switched mode power amplifier for a sonar device that provides digital power level adjustment corresponding to a depth to be measured.
[0013] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide switched mode power amplifier for a sonar device configured to protect transducers from voltage peaking and protect the power amplifiers from delivering unintended power to transducers.
[0014] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide an efficient, accurate, precise, and compact switched mode power amplifier for sonar device.
[0015] These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

SUMMARY
[0016] The present disclosure relates to the devices and systems used for navigation and detection of objects. In particular, the present disclosure provides switched mode power amplifier for multi-beam sonar device for facilitating efficient and accurate navigation and detection of objects and for communicating with vessels.
[0017] An aspect of the present disclosure pertains to switched mode power-amplifier for multi-beam sonar device comprising: a plurality of power amplifiers configured to receive and amplify an input acoustic signal to a pre-determined voltage level based on a distance associated with a Region of Interest (ROI), the plurality of power amplifiers in communication with a matrix of transducer elements arranged in a plurality of substantial parallel rows and columns, and configured to drive the matrix of transducers at their resonant frequency with respect to characterized impedance to facilitate each of the transducer to operate independent of other transducer elements, and thereby provide a digital gain control of each of the transducer.
[0018] In an aspect, the plurality of power amplifiers may comprise Class-D digital switched mode power amplifiers.
[0019] In another aspect, each of the plurality of power amplifiers may comprise: a microcontroller configured to convert the input acoustic signal to a switching sine modulated signal; a full bridge amplifier power circuit comprising SiC MOSFETs operatively coupled to the microcontroller, the full bridge amplifier power circuit configured to transform the switching sine modulated signal to high voltage switching sine modulated pulses; and a LC low pass filter operatively coupled to the full bridge amplifier power circuit, the LC low pass filter filters the transformed high voltage switching sine modulated pulses by matching with output impedance and output phase of each of the transducers.
[0020] In an aspect, the microcontroller may be configured to modulate the input acoustic signal by sampling said acoustic signal.
[0021] In an aspect, the switched mode power amplifier may comprise an acoustic signal receiver operatively coupled to the microcontroller, and configured to receive and collect the input acoustic signal and feed it as an input to Analog-to-Digital (ADC) port of the microcontroller.
[0022] In one aspect, each of the plurality of power amplifiers may be assigned a unique node id, wherein the amplified acoustic signal transmitted by each of the one or more power amplifiers may be assigned with respective node id for identification.
[0023] In other aspect, each of the plurality of power amplifiers may be communicatively coupled with each other and with a single board computer (SBC) and the matrix of transducers through a controlled area network (CAN) bus.
[0024] In another aspect, the CAN bus may allow burst mode communication between the plurality of power amplifiers and the matrix of transducers.
[0025] In an aspect, the switched mode power amplifier comprises one or more channels, wherein each of the one or more channels configured between the plurality of power amplifiers and the transducers; the one or more channels equipped with a plurality of protection elements configured to protect the plurality of power amplifiers and the matrix of transducer from over voltage and over current.
[0026] In another aspect, the switched mode power amplifier may facilitate continuous monitoring of output voltage and output current of the plurality of power amplifiers, wherein when the output voltage and the output current of at least one of the plurality of power amplifiers resemble with any or a combination of the over voltage and over current, at least one of the plurality of protective elements may facilitate in switching off respective power amplifier.
[0027] Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0028] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure.
[0029] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary structure of the proposed switched mode power amplifier for multi-beam sonar device to illustrate its overall working, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0030] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of the proposed switched mode power amplifier for multi-beam sonar device, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0031] FIG. 3 illustrates a circuit diagram of an acoustic signal receiver associated with the proposed switched mode power amplifier for multi-beam sonar device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0032] FIG. 4 illustrates a circuit diagram of a driver associated with the proposed switched mode power amplifier, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0033] FIG. 5 illustrates a circuit diagram of a power block associated with the proposed switched mode power amplifier, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0034] FIG. 6 illustrates a circuit diagram of a LC low pass filter configured in the proposed power amplifier, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0035] FIG. 7 illustrates a circuit diagram of an output voltage feedback scheme of the proposed switched mode power amplifier, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0036] FIG. 8 illustrates a circuit diagram of a current feedback scheme of the proposed switched mode power amplifier, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0037] In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details.
[0038] The present disclosure relates to the devices and systems used for navigation and detection of objects. In particular, the present disclosure provides switched mode power amplifier for multi-beam sonar device for facilitating efficient and accurate navigation and detection of objects and for communicating with vessels.
[0039] According to an aspect, the present disclosure pertains to switched mode power-amplifier for multi-beam sonar device comprising: a plurality of power amplifiers configured to receive and amplify an input acoustic signal to a pre-determined voltage level based on a distance associated with a Region of Interest (ROI), the plurality of power amplifiers in communication with a matrix of transducer elements arranged in a plurality of substantial parallel rows and columns, and configured to drive the matrix of transducers at their resonant frequency with respect to characterized impedance to facilitate each of the transducer to operate independent of other transducer elements, and thereby provide a digital gain control of each of the transducer.
[0040] In an embodiment, the plurality of power amplifiers can include Class-D digital switched mode power amplifiers.
[0041] In another embodiment, each of the plurality of power amplifiers can include: a microcontroller configured to convert the input acoustic signal to a switching sine modulated signal; a full bridge amplifier power circuit comprising SiC MOSFETs operatively coupled to the microcontroller, the full bridge amplifier power circuit configured to transform the switching sine modulated signal to high voltage switching sine modulated pulses; and a LC low pass filter operatively coupled to the full bridge amplifier power circuit, the LC low pass filter filters the transformed high voltage switching sine modulated pulses by matching with output impedance and output phase of each of the transducers.
[0042] In an embodiment, the microcontroller can be configured to modulate the input acoustic signal by sampling said acoustic signal.
[0043] In an embodiment, the switched mode power amplifier can include an acoustic signal receiver operatively coupled to the microcontroller, and configured to receive and collect the input acoustic signal and feed it as an input to Analog-to-Digital (ADC) port of the microcontroller.
[0044] In one embodiment, each of the plurality of power amplifiers can be assigned a unique node id, wherein the amplified acoustic signal transmitted by each of the one or more power amplifiers can be assigned with respective node id for identification.
[0045] In other embodiment, each of the plurality of power amplifiers can be communicatively coupled with each other and with a single board computer (SBC) through a controlled area network (CAN) bus.
[0046] In another embodiment, the CAN bus can allow burst mode communication between the plurality of power amplifiers.
[0047] In an embodiment, the switched mode power amplifier can include one or more channels, wherein each of the one or more channels configured between the plurality of power amplifiers and the transducers; the one or more channels equipped with a plurality of protection elements configured to protect the plurality of power amplifiers and the matrix of transducer from over voltage and over current.
[0048] In another embodiment, the switched mode power amplifier can facilitate continuous monitoring of output voltage and output current of the plurality of power amplifiers, wherein when the output voltage and the output current of at least one of the plurality of power amplifiers resemble with any or a combination of the over voltage and over current, at least one of the plurality of protective elements can facilitate in switching off respective power amplifier.
[0049] Referring to FIG. 1, the stacked array of power amplifiers includes power amplifier 50-1, power amplifier 50-2… power amplifier 50-N, power amplifier 50-(N+1)… power amplifier 50-X (collectively referred to as a plurality of power amplifiers 50/ power amplifiers 50, and individually referred to as power amplifier 50, hereinafter) that can be configured to operate on one or more distinct frequencies. In an exemplary embodiment, the switched power amplifier module 100 can include ‘m’ arrays of power amplifiers, where a first array (Array 1) can include power amplifier 50-1, power amplifier 50-2… power amplifier 50-N that can be operated at a first frequency (F1), and a mth array (Array m) can include power amplifier 50-(N+1)… power amplifier 50-X that can be operated at a first frequency (F2).
[0050] In another embodiment, all the power amplifiers 50 can receive independent transmit enable signal to distinguish between transmit and receive time of pulse length and input acoustic signal (interchangeably, referred to audio sine wave signal, hereinafter) of a particular audio frequency that is to be amplified.
[0051] In one embodiment, data from the power amplifiers 50 can be transmitted to a Single Board Computer (SBC) on receiving certain commands. In an exemplary embodiment, Ethernet can be used as a communication protocol to provide interface between the power amplifiers 50 and the SBC. In another exemplary embodiment, controlled area network (CAN) can forma network of communication for array of power amplifiers 50. The data transmission between the two protocols CAN and LAN can be executed through an intermediary CAN to LAN card.
[0052] In an embodiment, the switched mode power amplifier for a multi-bean sonar device 100 can be utilized to map various locations on sea bed/ ocean floor with a single ping and with higher resolution than those of conventional sonar. Directed pulses can be used to ensonify specific areas on the ocean floor, causing stronger echoes from these locations. A group of transducer arrays, for example, 62-1 and 62-2, can be used to transmit sound waves whose amplitude varies as a function of angular location, allowing projected pulses to have a degree of directivity. As a result of wave interference and through the use of beam forming techniques, the switched power amplifier for multi-beam sonar device 100 may form a sonar beam whose direction in the body of water can be controlled. The power amplifier array can drive the transducers. Generally, a sonar transmitter demands high power levels across complex loads with minimum hardware and size. For this purpose, Class-D switching power amplification is selected.
[0053] In an embodiment, the switched mode power amplifier 100 can include multichannel, high efficiency and reliable power amplifiers suitable for driving transducers connecting in an array. Multiple power amplifiers are required to drive the array. The array of power amplifiers can be controlled and monitored for their health and transmitting output power. In another embodiment, transmitting power level adjustment corresponding to the depth to be measured can be controlled digitally for all the power amplifiers of the array.
[0054] In an implementation, a percentage of power level required to be transmitted for the measuring depth can be sent through the CAN line and pulse width of sine PWM can be adjusted accordingly. A message/ signal carrying the percentage of power level is assigned a unique message ID. As CAN may facilitate message based burst communication all the power amplifiers can be programmed to receive the message carrying power level setting and hence the transducer array power can be controlled on single message.
[0055] The switched mode power amplifier 100 can facilitate protection of the transducers from voltage peaking and can protect the power amplifiers from delivering unintended power to transducers.
[0056] In an exemplary embodiment, a multichannel approach can be implemented as 2 channels per board for F1 frequency, 4 channels per board for 4 x F1 frequency and 8 channels per board for 16 x F1 frequency. Hence driving more than one transducer from one power amplifier card results in compact array size of power amplifiers driving array of transducers.
[0057] Referring to FIG. 2, the block diagram of the power amplifier includes a transmit enable signal generator 51 (transmit enable 51) for receiving a transmit enable signal, for example, RS422 signal, to enable burst mode of operation of the switched power amplifier 100. The audio sine wave signal that is to be amplified is fed to the power amplifier cards.
[0058] In an embodiment, the switched power amplifier 100 can include separate low voltage and high voltage power supplies as input sources. In another embodiment, the power amplifier 50 can include a microcontroller 52 that provides intelligence to the power amplifier cards. The microcontroller 52 also facilitates sine PWM signal generation to implement class D power amplifier. In yet another embodiment, monitoring of feedback voltages and currents 58 and 59 associated with output voltages and currents, and then communicating corresponding results to the computer are all performed by the microcontroller 52. Further, in yet another embodiment, the microcontroller 52 can convert the sine PWM signal to high voltage switching sine modulated pulses.
[0059] In an embodiment, the switched power amplifier 100 can include a driver stage 54 (also referred to as driver 54, herein)that can be configured to isolate the generated sine PWM signal, from the microcontroller 52, corresponding to a microcontroller reference ground, and thereby can facilitate driving of switching devices with their compatible voltage source terminals.
[0060] In another embodiment, the switched power amplifier 100 can include a power block 55, such that the amplification of the audio signal is executed at the power block 55. In an embodiment, the amplified sine modulated pulses of high voltage can be filtered using a low pass LC filter 56 to regenerate the sine waves of audio frequency. In an exemplary embodiment, amplification factor can be dependent on amplitude of the input audio signal, pulse width of the PWMs, and DC bus voltage being applied to the power block 55.
[0061] Referring to FIG.3, the acoustic signal receiver 61 (also referred to as audio signal 61, herein) can receive and collect differential audio sine waves of desired frequency. In an embodiment, one audio sine wave can be received by each channel, the received audio sine waves can act as inputs to the microcontroller 52, where the differential audio sine wave can be converted to a single ended wave/ signal using differential topology of op-amp, and then feed it as input to the microcontroller 52. The single ended signal can further be superimposed using resistor network R1 and R2 to VDDA, i.e., the power supply for ADC of the microcontroller 52, to make the sine wave ride over fixed DC voltage wave of .
[0062] In an exemplary embodiment, the microcontroller 52 can be a TI microcontroller with 16 single ended ADC channels. A DC shifted input sine wave obtained from the acoustic signal receiver 61 can be connected as input to an ADC channel of the microcontroller 52.
[0063] In another exemplary embodiment, the ADC can be programmed to sample the audio sine wave at 6-7 times the Nyquist sampling rate. In an implementation, the ADC takes a conversion time to provide the digital data. For example, the conversion time taken can correspond to minimum of 63 nanoseconds, hence making the modulation of pulses possible for adopted sampling rate swinging from minimum to maximum pulse widths according to converted data. The conversion time can be calculated using the following equation -
ADC Conversion time = Sampling time + Controller processing time -- Equation 1Sine PWM modulation is performed inside the microcontroller by generating interrupt on every start of PWM pulse and updating the tripping value of pulse with the ADC converted data. This enables the PWM pulses to be modulated in correlation to frequency and amplitude of input audio sine wave. The PWM pulses hence generated are available at the respective configured PWM GPIOs.
[0064] Referring to FIG. 4, the driver stage 54 for driving switching devices is illustrated. Considering the benefits, SiC MOSFETs can be chosen for switching at higher frequency and high voltage. PWM pulses generated by the microcontroller 52 at controller reference ground are inputs to isolated drivers which drive the gate terminal of MOSFETs with their respective source terminal. Isolated DC/DC modules are used to generate +15V/-3V output to power an isolated side of the driver 54, thereby making gate pulse compatible to drive the SiC MOSFETs.
[0065] Referring to FIG. 5, a full bridge switching scheme with unipolar switching technology is adopted for the power block 55. Output voltage of the bridge can swings from -VBUS to +VBUS on every PWM cycle. To enable this swing of 2 times VBUS voltage to happen in few nanoseconds of pulse width Qg of MOSFET plays a very important role. In an exemplary embodiment, a MOSFET with Qg of 30.4nC is selected.
[0066] Referring to FIG. 6, the LC Filter 56 can be utilized for regenerating the sine wave from amplified full bridge sine PWM outputs. In an exemplary embodiment, a hybrid 2 stage LC filter 56 can be employed to filter out audio frequency sine wave from carrier of the respective channel. First stage of low pass LC filter with cut off frequency of 2-3 times the interested audio frequency can be responsible for filtering out the audio frequency from their carries then the combination of both stages effectively a 4th order filter, can filter out the high frequency harmonics of the carrier wave from the output. In an embodiment, impedance of first stage of LC filter can be matched to its second stage for maximum power transfer. In another embodiment, effectively the impedance of LC filter is matched to the high value of impedance of transducer.
[0067] Referring to FIG. 7, protection and monitoring for each channel can be implemented in the switched power amplifier 100. In an embodiment, filtered output voltage of each channel can be sensed using high impedance path of 10MΩ of an isolated amplifier. The sensed low voltage signal can then be passed through a low pass filter to obtain DC equivalent of sensed audio frequency sine wave.
[0068] In an embodiment, full bridge current can be sensed using sense resistor in return path of bridge as shown in the FIG. 5. Then a voltage equivalent to the current can be sensed, and the sensed voltage can be isolated using amplifier similar to voltage sensing as shown in FIG. 8. Then the sensed AC signal can be passed through low pass filter to obtain its DC equivalent.
[0069] In an embodiment, the filtered DC signals can then be used by Power Manager IC 60 to compare values of the filtered DC signals to the referenced fault data and indicate health state to the microcontroller 52. The sensed voltage and current can also be used by the microcontroller 52 to continuously monitor the output voltage and the output current. The health status of the power amplifiers, and analog output voltage and current of each channel can be continuously transmitted on CAN bus. In an embodiment, the faults occurred can be cleared on receiving a RESET command after the fault state of the power amplifier 50 is resolved.
[0070] In an embodiment, digital power level setting can be implemented on the board. A percentage of power determined to be transmitted can be sent through the CAN bus with a unique message ID. The message ID is unique for every array of power amplifiers. All the power amplifiers of array with one specific frequency can be programmed to receive the CAN message data of power variation matching with unique message ID of that respective array.
[0071] In an embodiment, data related to health status monitoring can be sent from the power amplifiers 50 on receiving request commands. In an exemplary embodiment, each power amplifier of the ‘n’ number of arrays can have a unique node ID, and all the monitored data can be sent on the CAN bus with the respective node ID of the card. The data received can be distinguished based on the node IDs.
[0072] Thus, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the diagrams, schematics, illustrations, and the like represent conceptual views or processes illustrating systems and methods embodying this invention. The functions of the various elements shown in the figures may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing associated software. Similarly, any switches shown in the figures are conceptual only. Their function may be carried out through the operation of program logic, through dedicated logic, through the interaction of program control and dedicated logic, or even manually, the particular technique being selectable by the entity implementing this invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art further understand that the exemplary hardware, software, processes, methods, and/or operating systems described herein are for illustrative purposes and, thus, are not intended to be limited to any particular named.
[0073] While embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it will be clear that the invention is not limited to these embodiments only. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions, and equivalents will be apparent to those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as described in the claim.
[0074] As used herein, and unless the context dictates otherwise, the term "coupled to" is intended to include both direct coupling (in which two elements that are coupled to each other contact each other)and indirect coupling (in which at least one additional element is located between the two elements). Therefore, the terms "coupled to" and "coupled with" are used synonymously. Within the context of this document terms "coupled to" and "coupled with" are also used euphemistically to mean “communicatively coupled with” over a network, where two or more devices are able to exchange data with each other over the network, possibly via one or more intermediary device.
[0075] It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims. Moreover, in interpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced. Where the specification claims refers to at least one of something selected from the group consisting of A, B, C …. and N, the text should be interpreted as requiring only one element from the group, not A plus N, or B plus N, etc.
[0076] While the foregoing describes various embodiments of the invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof. The scope of the invention is determined by the claims that follow. The invention is not limited to the described embodiments, versions or examples, which are included to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention when combined with information and knowledge available to the person having ordinary skill in the art.

ADVANTAGES OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE
[0077] The present disclosure provides switched mode power amplifier for a sonar device to facilitate multi beam operation.
[0078] The present disclosure provides switched mode power amplifier for a sonar device that is equipped with multiple channels to allow high efficiency and suitable for driving transducers connecting in an array.
[0079] The present disclosure provides switched mode power amplifier for a sonar device that transmits a percentage of power level required by the device to target an object.
[0080] The present disclosure provides switched mode power amplifier for a sonar device that provides digital power level adjustment corresponding to a depth to be measured.
[0081] The present disclosure provides switched mode power amplifier for a sonar device configured to protect transducers from voltage peaking and protect the power amplifiers from delivering unintended power to transducers.
[0082] The present disclosure provides an efficient, accurate, precise, and compact switched mode power amplifier for sonar device.