Top-side sonar units do some signal processing on the acoustic returns.
Sonar Unit
The image above is the top-side unit of the Knudsen Chirp, courtesy of Knudsen Engineering Limited. Download image (jpg, 28 KB).

None of the sonars on the ship are standalone units, they all have transducers mounted on the hull of the ship and then a top-side unit located within the ship. The top-side unit does some signal processing on the acoustic returns. The top-side units are connected to computers that run data acquisition software.

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