Ultrasound processing system, transceiver circuit, and method related to beamforming

1 . An ultrasound processing system, comprising:

a transducer, comprising transducer elements; and

a transceiver circuit, comprising:

a delay calculator, configured to:

be configured with a beamline initial location, a receiving ultrasound element location, and an angle-related parameter, wherein the beamline initial location is a location of a beamline on a baseline, the receiving ultrasound element location is a location of receiving an echo of an ultrasound signal on one of the transducer elements, and the angle-related parameter comprises a triangle function which includes a sine function and a cosine function of a steering angle;

determine location information according to the beamline initial location, the receiving ultrasound element location, and the angle-related parameter, wherein the location information comprises a distance between the receiving ultrasound element location and a location of a point on the beamline, and the location of the point on the beamline is determined according to the beamline initial location and the angle-related parameter; and

output the location information comprising the distance between the receiving ultrasound element location and the location of the point on the beamline at a timing determined by a built-in counter,

wherein the beamline, the steering angle, and a line between the beamline initial location and the receiving ultrasound element location form a reference triangle, and the delay calculator is further configured to:

determine the distance between the receiving ultrasound element location and the location of the point on the beamline corresponding to the beamline initial location and the steering angle according to the reference triangle, wherein the reference triangle comprises a first side formed between the beamline initial location and the receiving ultrasound element location, a second side formed between the beamline initial location of the beamline and the location of the point on the beamline, and a third side formed between the receiving ultrasound element location and the location of the point on the beamline.

2 . The ultrasound processing system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a plurality of the delay calculators, wherein each one of the plurality of the delay calculators corresponds to one of the transducer elements and one of the beamlines.

3 . The ultrasound processing system of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver circuit further comprises:

a beamformer, coupled to the delay calculator and configured to:

determine beamforming data according to the location information through a delay and sum calculation.

4 . The ultrasound processing system of claim 3 , further comprising:

a controller, coupled to the beamformer and configured to:

generate an ultrasound image according to the beamforming data.

5 . A transceiver circuit, comprising:

a delay calculator, configured to:

be configured with a beamline initial location, a receiving ultrasound element location, and a an angle-related parameter, wherein the beamline initial location is a location of a beamline on a baseline, the receiving ultrasound element location is a location of receiving an echo of an ultrasound signal on one of transducer elements, and the angle-related parameter comprises a triangle function which includes a sine function and a cosine function of a steering angle;

determine location information according to the beamline initial location, the receiving ultrasound element location, and the angle-related parameter, wherein the location information comprises a distance between the receiving ultrasound element location and a location of a point on the beamline, and the location of the point on the beamline is determined according to the beamline initial location and the angle-related parameter; and

output the location information comprising the distance between the receiving ultrasound element location and the location of the point on the beamline at a timing determined by a built-in counter,

wherein the beamline, the steering angle, and a line between the beamline initial location and the receiving ultrasound element location form a reference triangle, and the delay calculator is further configured to:

determine the distance between the receiving ultrasound element location and the location of the point on the beamline corresponding to the beamline initial location and the steering angle according to the reference triangle,

wherein the reference triangle comprises a first side formed between the beamline initial location and the receiving ultrasound element location, a second side formed between the beamline initial location of the beamline and the location of the point on the beamline, and a third side formed between the receiving ultrasound element location and the location of the point on the beamline.

6 . The transceiver circuit of claim 5 , further comprising:

a beamformer, coupled to the delay calculator and configured to:

determine beamforming data according to the location information through a delay and sum calculation.

7 . The transceiver circuit of claim 6 , wherein the beamformer is further configured to:

outputting the beamforming data, to generate an ultrasound image according to the beamforming data.

8 . The transceiver circuit of claim 5 , further comprising:

an analog-to-digital converter, configured to convert the echo into a digital signal.

9 . A method related to beamforming, comprising:

providing a transceiver circuit, wherein the transceiver circuit comprises a delay calculator;

configuring the delay calculator with a beamline initial location, a receiving ultrasound element location, and an angle-related parameter, wherein the beamline initial location is a location of a beamline on a baseline, the receiving ultrasound element location is a location of receiving an echo of an ultrasound signal on one of transducer elements, and the angle-related parameter comprises a triangle function which includes a sine function and a cosine function of a steering angle; and

determining, through the delay calculator, location information according to the beamline initial location, the receiving ultrasound element location, and the angle-related parameter, wherein the location information comprises a distance between the receiving ultrasound element location and a location of a point on the beamline, and the location of the point on the beamline is determined according to the beamline initial location and the angle-related parameter;

outputting the location information comprising the distance between the receiving ultrasound element location and the location of the point on the beamline at a timing determined by a built-in counter,

wherein the beamline, the steering angle, and a line between the beamline initial location and the receiving ultrasound element location form a reference triangle, and determining location information comprises:

determining the distance between the receiving ultrasound element location and the location of the point on the beamline corresponding to the beamline initial location and the steering angle according to the reference triangle, wherein the reference triangle comprises a first side formed between the beamline initial location and the receiving ultrasound element location, a second side formed between the beamline initial location of the beamline and the location of the point on the beamline, and a third side formed between the receiving ultrasound element location and the location of the point on the beamline.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

providing a plurality of the delay calculators, wherein each one of the plurality of the delay calculators corresponds to one of the transducer elements and one of the beamlines.

11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the transceiver circuit further comprises a beamformer, and the method further comprises:

determining, through the delay calculator, beamforming data according to the location information through a delay and sum calculation.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

providing a controller configured to generate an ultrasound image according to the beamforming data.