Optical link management

• US 10,270,541 B2
• Filed: 10/06/2016
• Issued: 04/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fairfield Industries Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Magseis FF, LLC
• Inventors: Morris, Michael, O'Brien, Thomas, Navratil, Philip
• Primary Examiner(s): Shalaby, Mina M
• Application Number:
  US15/286,834
• Publication Number:
  US 20170317765A1
• Time in Patent Office: 929 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 1/226 Optoseismic systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 1/3808 Seismic data acquisition, e.g. survey design
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 23/04 using light waves, e.g. infrared
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/11 Arrangements specific to free-space transmission, i.e. transmission through air or vacuum
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/112 Line-of-sight transmission over an extended range
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/50 Transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/80 Optical aspects relating to the use of optical transmission for specific applications, not provided for in groups H04B10/03 - H04B10/70, e.g. optical power feeding or optical transmission through water
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 13/02 Transmission systems in which the medium consists of the earth or a large mass of water thereon, e.g. earth telegraphy
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0001 Systems modifying transmission characteristics according to link quality, e.g. power backoff adaptive data allocation for multicarrier modulation H04L5/0044; controlling transmission power for radio systems H04W52/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/08 by repeating transmission, e.g. Verdan system H04L1/1858 and H04L1/189 take precedence

Abstract

The present disclosure provides optical link management in a marine seismic environment. A first device can transmit, to a second device, a first optical transmission at a first output level. The first optical transmission can include a first packet corresponding to a network protocol. The first device can determine that the second device failed to receive the first packet via the first optical transmission. The first device can transmit, responsive to failure of the first optical transmission, a second optical transmission at a second output level different than the first output level. The second optical transmission can include a second packet corresponding to the network protocol. The first device can identify that the second packet was successfully received by the second link manager agent. The first device can establish, responsive to the identification that the second packet was successfully received, the second output level as a transmission output level for the first device.

Claims

1. A system to manage an optical link in free-space to communicate data via an aqueous medium, comprising:

a seismic data acquisition unit positioned on a seabed in the aqueous medium, the seismic data acquisition unit comprising;

one or more sensors to detect acoustic waves that indicate subsurface lithologic formations or hydrocarbon deposits;

a seismic data recorder to record seismic data corresponding to the acoustic waves detected by the one or more sensors; and

a first link manager agent of the seismic data acquisition unit to;

receive, through the aqueous medium from a second link manager agent of an underwater vehicle, a default optical transmission;

transmit, responsive to receipt of the default optical transmission, through the aqueous medium to the second link manager agent of the underwater vehicle, a first optical transmission at a first output level, the first optical transmission comprising a first packet corresponding to a network protocol, the network protocol comprising at least one of a user datagram protocol (UDP) and a transmission control protocol (TCP);

receive, subsequent to transmission of the first optical transmission at the first output level, one or more additional default transmissions from the underwater vehicle having a same parameter as the default optical transmission previously received from the underwater vehicle;

determine, responsive to receipt of the one or more additional default transmissions having the same parameter, that the second link manager agent failed to receive the first packet via the first optical transmission;

transmit, responsive to failure of the first optical transmission, a second optical transmission at a second output level different than the first output level, the second optical transmission comprising a second packet corresponding to the network protocol;

identify that the second packet was successfully received by the second link manager agent; and

establish, responsive to the identification that the second packet was successfully received, the second output level as a transmission output level for the seismic data acquisition unit.

2. The system of claim 1, comprising:

the first link manager agent configured to use a half-duplex communication technique to identify that the second packet was successfully received by the second link manager agent.

3. The system of claim 1, comprising:

the first link manager agent configured to identify that the second packet was successfully received by the second link manager agent prior to successful receipt by the first link manager agent of one or more data packets via one or more optical transmissions from the second link manager agent.

4. The system of claim 1, comprising:

the second link manager agent configured to disable an optical transmitter of the seismic data acquisition device responsive to the determination that the second link manager agent successfully received the second packet, the optical transmitter disabled to indicate to the first link manager agent that the second link manager agent successfully received the second packet.

5. The system of claim 1, comprising:

the first link manager agent of the seismic data acquisition unit to determine, based on one or more optical signals comprising at least a portion of at least one of the first optical transmission and the second optical transmission transmitted between the seismic data acquisition unit and the underwater vehicle, a distance between the seismic data acquisition unit and the underwater vehicle based on a phase error in the one or more optical signals encoded with a repetitive signal.

6. The system of claim 1, comprising:

the first link manager agent of the seismic data acquisition unit configured to;

determine that the second link manager agent failed to receive the first packet via the first optical transmission based on receipt by the seismic data acquisition unit of a first one or more optical transmissions from the underwater vehicle at a first predetermined time interval; and

identify that the second packet was successfully received by the second link manager agent based on receipt by the seismic data acquisition unit of a second one or more optical transmissions from the underwater vehicle at a second predetermined time interval, the second predetermined time interval different from the first predetermined time interval.

7. The system of claim 1, comprising:

an automatic gain control unit of the seismic data acquisition unit to adjust a gain level based on a measurement of at least one of an alternating current component or direct current component of one or more optical transmissions received by the seismic data acquisition unit.

8. The system of claim 1, comprising:

an automatic gain control unit of the seismic data acquisition unit to increase a gain level based on a measurement of at least one of an alternating current component or direct current component of one or more optical transmissions received by the seismic data acquisition unit;

an overdrive protection system of the seismic data acquisition unit to detect a signal level greater than or equal to a threshold and, responsive to detection of the signal level greater than or equal to the threshold, turn off a receiver of the seismic data acquisition unit.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the second packet comprises a structure that corresponds to a user datagram protocol.

10. The system of claim 1, comprising:

the first link manager agent configured to increase the first output level to the second output level in accordance with a triangle wave pattern.

11. The system of claim 1, comprising:

the second link manager agent of the underwater vehicle configured to;

transmit to the first link manager agent of the seismic data acquisition unit, a third optical transmission at a third output level, the third optical transmission comprising a third packet corresponding to the network protocol;

determine that the first link manager agent failed to receive the third packet via the third optical transmission;

transmit, responsive to failure of the third optical transmission, a fourth optical transmission at a fourth output level different than the third output level, the fourth optical transmission comprising a fourth packet corresponding to the network protocol;

identify that the fourth packet was successfully received by the first link manager agent; and

establish responsive to a determination of successful receipt of the second packet and the fourth packet, the optical link between the underwater vehicle and the seismic data acquisition unit.

12. The system of claim 1, comprising:

the first link manager agent and the second link manager agent configured to establish the optical link between the underwater vehicle and the seismic data acquisition unit; and

the first link manager agent configured to provide, for inclusion in a third optical transmission, status data used to maintain a level of quality of the optical link, the status data comprising at least one of an automatic gain control value, receiver control setting, transmitter control setting, receiver clock lock, framing error, bit error, bit error rate, network packet errors received, distance measurement, or packet retries.

13. The system of claim 1, comprising:

the first link manager agent and the second link manager agent configured to establish the optical link between the underwater vehicle and the seismic data acquisition unit;

the first link manager agent configured to provide, for inclusion in a third optical transmission, status data used to maintain a level of quality of the optical link, the status data comprising at least one of an automatic gain control value, receiver control setting, transmitter control setting, receiver clock lock, framing error, bit error, bit error rate, network packet errors received, distance measurement, or packet retries; and

the second link manager agent configured to adjust an output level of an optical transmitter of the underwater vehicle based on the level of quality of the optical link.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the underwater vehicle comprises one of a remotely operated underwater vehicle or an autonomous underwater vehicle.

15. A method of managing an optical link in free-space to communicate data via an aqueous medium, comprising:

providing a seismic data acquisition unit on a seabed in the aqueous medium, the seismic data acquisition unit comprising one or more sensors to detect acoustic waves that indicate subsurface lithologic formations or hydrocarbon deposits, and a seismic data recorder to record seismic data corresponding to the acoustic waves detected by the one or more sensors;

receiving, by a first link manager agent of the seismic data acquisition unit, through the aqueous medium from a second link manager agent of an underwater vehicle, a default optical transmission;

transmitting, by the first link manager agent of the seismic data acquisition unit responsive to receipt of the default optical transmission, through the aqueous medium, to the second link manager agent of the underwater vehicle, a first optical transmission at a first output level, the first optical transmission comprising a first packet corresponding to a network protocol, the network protocol comprising at least one of a user datagram protocol (UDP) and a transmission control protocol (TCP);

receiving, by the first link manager agent of the seismic data acquisition unit subsequent to transmission of the first optical transmission at the first output level, one or more additional default transmissions from the underwater vehicle having a same parameter as the default optical transmission previously received from the underwater vehicle;

determining, by the first link manager agent, responsive to receipt of the one or more additional default transmissions having the same parameter, that the second link manager agent failed to receive the first packet via the first optical transmission;

transmitting, by the first link manager agent responsive to failure of the first optical transmission, a second optical transmission at a second output level different than the first output level, the second optical transmission comprising a second packet corresponding to the network protocol;

identifying, by the first link manager agent, that the second packet was successfully received by the second link manager agent; and

establishing, by the first link manager agent responsive to determining that the second packet was successfully received, the second output level as a transmitting output level for the seismic data acquisition unit.

16. The method of claim 15, comprising:

using a half-duplex communication technique to identify that the second packet was successfully received by the second link manager agent.

17. The method of claim 15, comprising:

identifying, by the first link manager agent, that the second packet was successfully received by the second link manager agent prior to the first link manager agent successfully receiving one or more data packets via one or more optical transmissions from the second link manager agent.

18. The method of claim 15, comprising:

turning off, by the second link manager agent, an optical transmitter of the underwater vehicle responsive to determining that the second link manager agent successfully received the second packet, the second link manager agent disabling the optical transmitter to indicate to the first link manager agent that the second link manager agent successfully received the second packet.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the underwater vehicle comprises one of a remotely operated underwater vehicle or an autonomous underwater vehicle.

20. A method of managing an optical link in free-space to communicate data via an aqueous medium, comprising:

providing a seismic data acquisition unit on a seabed in the aqueous medium, the seismic data acquisition unit comprising one or more sensors to detect acoustic waves that indicate subsurface lithologic formations or hydrocarbon deposits, and a seismic data recorder to record seismic data corresponding to the acoustic waves detected by the one or more sensors;

identifying, by a first link manager agent of an underwater vehicle, the optical link established in free-space through the aqueous medium with a first output level between the underwater vehicle and a second link manager agent of the seismic data acquisition unit;

receiving, by the first link manager agent of the underwater vehicle, through the aqueous medium from a second link manager agent of seismic data acquisition unit, a default optical transmission;

transmitting, by the first link manager agent, to the second link manager agent of the seismic data acquisition unit, a first optical transmission at the first output level, the first optical transmission comprising a first packet corresponding to a network protocol, the network protocol comprising at least one of a user datagram protocol (UDP) and a transmission control protocol (TCP);

receiving, by the first link manager agent of the underwater vehicle subsequent to transmission of the first optical transmission at the first output level, one or more additional default transmissions from the seismic data acquisition unit having a same parameter as the default optical transmission previously received from the seismic data acquisition unit;

determining, by the first link manager agent, responsive to receipt of the one or more additional default transmissions having the same parameter, that the second link manager agent failed to receive the first packet via the first optical transmission;

transmitting, by the first link manager agent responsive to failure of the first optical transmission, a second optical transmission at a second output level different than the first output level, the second optical transmission comprising a second packet corresponding to the network protocol;

identifying, by the first link manager agent, that the second packet was successfully received by the second link manager agent; and

adjusting, by the first link manager agent responsive to a determination of successful receipt of the second packet, the optical link to use the second output level for optical transmissions between the underwater vehicle and the seismic data acquisition unit.

21. The method of claim 20, comprising:

providing, by the second link manager agent, for inclusion in a third optical transmission to the first link manager agent, status data used to maintain a level of quality of the optical link, the status data comprising at least one of an automatic gain control value, receiver control setting, transmitter control setting, receiver clock lock, framing error, bit error, bit error rate, network packet errors received, distance measurement, or packet retries.

22. The method of claim 20, comprising:

providing, by the first link manager agent, for inclusion in a third optical transmission to the second link manager agent, status data used to maintain a level of quality of the optical link, the status data comprising at least one of an automatic gain control value, receiver control setting, transmitter control setting, receiver clock lock, framing error, bit error, bit error rate, network packet errors received, distance measurement, or packet retries; and

adjusting, by the second link manager agent, output level of an optical transmitter of the seismic data acquisition device based on the level of quality of the optical link.