HIGH-SPEED DOWNHOLE SENSOR AND TELEMETRY NETWORK
First Claim
1. A downhole signal transmission system for communicating data along a string of down-hole components comprising a plurality of interconnected downhole components, comprising:
- one or more communications lines that carry radiofrequency signals along the string of downhole components;
at least one communications master selected from the group;
a surface interface, a down-hole interface, and a node; and
a plurality of low-power signal repeaters spaced along said string of downhole components, said signal repeaters being receptive to radiofrequency signals,wherein said at least one communications master communicates over said communication line(s) by modulating data onto pulses of radiofrequency energy, andwherein at least one of said plurality of signal repeaters regenerates said pulses of radiofrequency energy without decoding all of said data modulated onto said pulses.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A downhole data transmission system communicates data along a downhole string including a communications master selected from the group including a surface interface, a down-hole interface, and a node, and including a communications line including a plurality of trans-mission segments that carry signals along the downhole string, and a plurality of repeaters that periodically refresh and restore signals transmitted along the downhole string. To minimize power consumption and to improve communications efficiency, the surface interface, the node, and the downhole interface communicate over the communications line(s) using pulses of radiofrequency energy. These pulses may be organized in data frames that may include one or more wake-up pulses. The data transmission system may be further characterized in that the repeaters and/or the communications master are connected to the communications line in a fail-safe fashion wherein the pulses of radiofrequency energy bypass or pass through the signal repeater and/or the communications master without amplification when the signal repeater and/or the communications master fails.
127 Citations
52 Claims
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1. A downhole signal transmission system for communicating data along a string of down-hole components comprising a plurality of interconnected downhole components, comprising:
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one or more communications lines that carry radiofrequency signals along the string of downhole components; at least one communications master selected from the group;
a surface interface, a down-hole interface, and a node; anda plurality of low-power signal repeaters spaced along said string of downhole components, said signal repeaters being receptive to radiofrequency signals, wherein said at least one communications master communicates over said communication line(s) by modulating data onto pulses of radiofrequency energy, and wherein at least one of said plurality of signal repeaters regenerates said pulses of radiofrequency energy without decoding all of said data modulated onto said pulses. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A downhole signal transmission system for communicating along a string of downhole components comprising a plurality of interconnected downhole components, comprising:
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one or more communications lines that carry radiofrequency signals along the string of downhole components; at least one communications master selected from the group;
a surface interface, a down-hole interface, and a node; anda plurality of failsafe signal repeaters spaced along said string of downhole components, said signal repeaters being receptive to radiofrequency signals, wherein said at least one communications master communicates over said communication line(s) by modulating data onto pulses of radiofrequency energy, and wherein said pulses of radiofrequency energy bypass a failsafe signal repeater or pass through the failsafe signal repeater when said failsafe signal repeater fails. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method for communicating data along a string of downhole components comprising a plurality of interconnected downhole components including at least one communications master selected from the group:
- a surface interface, a downhole interface, and a node, and a plurality of low-power signal repeaters spaced along said string of downhole components, comprising the steps of;
said communications master modulating data onto pulses of radiofrequency energy for transmission through one or more communications lines connecting the string of downhole components; at least one of said signal repeaters being receptive to said pulses of radiofrequency energy and regenerating said pulses of radiofrequency energy without decoding all of said data modulated onto said pulses. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
- a surface interface, a downhole interface, and a node, and a plurality of low-power signal repeaters spaced along said string of downhole components, comprising the steps of;
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45. A method for communicating data along a string of downhole components comprising a plurality of interconnected downhole components including at least one communications master selected from the group:
- a surface interface, a downhole interface, and a node, and a plurality of low-power signal repeaters spaced along said string of downhole components, comprising the steps of;
said communications master modulating data onto pulses of radiofrequency energy for transmission through one or more communications lines connecting the string of downhole components; at least one of said signal repeaters being receptive to said pulses of radiofrequency energy and regenerating said pulses of radiofrequency energy without decoding all of said data modulated onto said pulses; and said pulses of radiofrequency energy bypassing a signal repeater or passing through said signal repeater when said signal repeater fails. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
- a surface interface, a downhole interface, and a node, and a plurality of low-power signal repeaters spaced along said string of downhole components, comprising the steps of;
Specification