$a=array (
  'v' =>
  array (
    0 =>
    array (
      0 => 'v0_0',
      1 => 'v0_1',
      2 => 'v0_2',
    ),
    1 =>
    array (
      0 => 'v1_0',
      1 => 'v1_1',
      2 => 'v1_2',
    ),
    2 =>
    array (
      0 => 'v2_0',
      1 => 'v2_1',
      2 => 'v2_2',
    ),
  ),
);

count($a,1); # <-- 13
although the desired output is 9