Patent ID: 8096951

Claim:
An ultrasound system comprising: a probe comprising a two-dimensional (2D) array of transducer elements that form an aperture having a plurality of receive elements that are configured to receive ultrasound signals, the transducer elements forming at least one transmit sub-aperture that is configured to be interconnected with a fixed group of the transducer elements within the aperture; transmitters for generating electrical transmit signals; at least one transmit sub-aperture processor (tx SAP) configured to map the transducer elements within the fixed group of the transducer elements to the transmitters in a transmit configuration based on a beam steering direction, the at least one tx SAP comprising a cross-point switch: system channels interconnected with the transmitters and the cross-point switch for conveying the transmit signals therebetween; and a SAP controller configured to control the cross-point switch to select the transducer elements within the fixed group of the transducer elements to be driven by one of the system channels based on the transmit configuration, wherein individual transducer elements within the fixed group of the transducer elements may be connected to any of the system channels using the cross-point switch.