Design of a residue number system digital correlator for real-time processing in ultrasonic blood flow measurements

Abstract

The design of a high-speed digital correlator for implementing the real-time correlation function required in an ultrasonic blood flowmeter is presented. In order to achieve the necessary real-time processing rates, a residue number system (RNS) architecture was selected for the correlator hardware. An RNS architecture not only allows the required high-speed real-time processing rates to be achieved for clinical applications, but it also facilitates the design, construction, and testing of the hardware. The hardware correlator is controlled by a personal computer and is designed so that it can eventually be implemented in VLSI circuits for operation to minimize power consumption and to assure the reliability necessary in medical environments.