The computational load is prohibitive for real-time image generation in 3-D sonar systems, particularly when the steering angle approximation is required. In this paper, a novel multiple Chirp Zeta Transforms (MCZT) beamforming method in frequency domain is being proposed. The single long-length Chirp Zeta Transform (CZT) in the original CZT beamforming is replaced by several CZTs with smaller lengths for different partitions along each dimension. The implementing routine of the algorithm is also optimized. Furthermore, an avenue to evaluate the estimating error for the angle approximation in 3-D imaging applications is presented, and an approach to attain valid partitions for the steering angles is also illustrated. This paper demonstrates a few advantages of the proposed frequency-domain beamforming method over existing methods in terms of the computational complexity.
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