Digital Beam-forming asic's

[detectormods]

I have been looking into ways to obtain better signal to noise and sensitivity by using digital delay and storage. Basically feeding ADC into a FIFO array and into a digital adder. Digital beam-forming has the advantage that once data is acquired, digital storage and summing is ideal as digital domain matching is near perfect.
Anyone else experimenting with this type of arrangement?

[Davor]

In what technology?

If you are talking about metal detectors you lost me completely.

I can't see any application for beam forming in GPR, as by the virtue of antenna complexity - you surely lose resolution.

In mobile communications, my good colleague did her MS dissertation on beam forming antennas, and leaving the logical board aside, those antennas are HUGE. MIMO isfar more useful in urban environments, and for rural - who gives a ... there is no need for optimising antenna output because there is not enough traffic to ever generate any need for beam forming.

Radars ... OK it makes sense.

[detectormods]

For sure beam-forming is used in HF communications, Radar, ultrasound, Microwave Sat coms and Soanar systems. I am talking about constructing synthetic apertures by digital means taking into account time delay and phase shift to obtain greater sensitivity and depth. There are many ways to do this using a standard coil.

[Davor]

I won't dismiss your idea on the basis of my ignorance (as most people do with new ideas) so when you are up to it please share your view in more detail.