Method and system for transmission of seismic data

• US 8,681,584 B2
• Filed: 06/22/2012
• Issued: 03/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Magseis FF, LLC
• Original Assignee: Fairfield Inn (Marriott International Incorporated)
• Inventors: Ray, Clifford H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lobo, Ian J
• Application Number:
  US13/531,187
• Publication Number:
  US 20120275269A1
• Time in Patent Office: 641 Days
• Field of Search: 367/77
• US Class Current: 367/77
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 1/22 Transmitting seismic signals to recording or processing apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 1/223 Radioseismic systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/43 using wireless personal area networks [WPAN], e.g. 802.15, 802.15.1, 802.15.4, Bluetooth or ZigBee
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom

Abstract

The transmission system combines a self-contained, wireless seismic acquistion unit and a wireless, line of site, communications unit to form a plurality of individual short-range transmission networks and also a mid-range, line of sight transmission network.

Claims

1. A transmission method for seismic data acquisition units, said method comprising the steps of:

A. Providing a self-contained wireless seismic acquisition unit, said seismic acquisition unit comprising a casing;

a power source for said seismic acquisition unit within said casing;

a transceiver with short-range transmission capabilities disposed within said casing such that no portion of the transceiver module extends beyond said casing; and

a geophone;

B. Providing a wireless transmission communications unit comprising an elongated support structure having a first end and a second end;

a power source for said communications unit, wherein one of the first end or the second end is mounted in the ground surface a distance from the casing such that the communications unit does not interfere with the seismic acquisition unit;

a transceiver with short-range transmission capabilities mounted on said support structure and configured to wirelessly communicate with the short-range transceiver within said casing; and

a radio transceiver with mid-range transmission capabilities mounted on said support structure;

C. Deploying said self-contained wireless seismic acquisition unit at a desired location fully buried in the ground;

D. Deploying said communications unit adjacent to said seismic acquisition unit, wherein a distance that the elongated support structure is mounted in the ground surface from the casing is sufficient to permit short-range transmissions between the short-range transmitter in the communications unit and the short-range receiver module in the seismic acquisition unit;

E. Wirelessly coupling said seismic acquisition unit and said communications unit to create a short-range transmission network therebetween;

F. Receiving a control signal over a mid-range radio network utilizing said mid-range radio transceiver mounted on said support structure; and

G. Transmitting the control signal between said communications unit and said seismic unit utilizing said short-range transmission network.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

repeating steps A-F for at least three spaced apart seismic acquisition units and associated communications units deployed in an array, wherein each of said communications units is capable of receiving a mid-range radio transmission and transmitting a mid-range radio transmission;

providing a transmission station for communicating via a mid-range radio transmission with at least one communications unit within said array;

subsequent to deployment, identifying at least two separate transmission paths between the transmission station and a communications unit, wherein a transmission path is defined as a chain of at least two communications units and the transmission station, each capable of communicating in series via mid-range radio transmission;

selecting a transmission path from among the identified transmission paths based on a set of transmission path criteria; and

transmitting a mid-range radio signal along said selected transmission path.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

repeating steps A-F for a plurality of spaced apart seismic acquisition units and associated wireless communications units deployed in an array, wherein each of said wireless communications units is capable of receiving a mid-range radio transmission and transmitting a mid-range radio transmission and wherein each of said seismic acquisition units is capable of acquiring seismic data;

utilizing at least two of said wireless communications units to transmit a control signal via mid-range radio transmission to another communications unit in the array;

utilizing at least two of said wireless communications units to receive a control signal via mid-range radio transmission from another wireless communications unit in the array;

partitioning said plurality of wireless communications units and associated seismic acquisition units into at least two sub-sets of units; and

using a mid-range radio transmission technique having parameters set so that non-interfering radio transmission may be effected in each sub-set.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of deploying said self-contained wireless seismic acquisition unit comprises burying said seismic acquisition unit in the ground below the surface of the ground.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of deploying said communications unit adjacent to said seismic acquisition unit comprises the step of engaging the first end of said elongated support structure with the ground such that said support structure projects up from the ground.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of deploying said communications unit adjacent to said seismic acquisition unit comprises the step of engaging the first end of said elongated support structure with the ground and orienting said support structure to be substantially vertical relative to the ground.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of transmitting a first signal along one transmission path and transmitting a second signal along the other transmission path.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said control signal is a timing signal, said method further comprising the steps of utilizing said control signal transmitted to the seismic unit to discipline a local clock of said seismic unit based on a master control clock.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said control signal is a timing signal, said method further comprising the steps of utilizing said control signal transmitted to the seismic unit to time stamp seismic data acquired by said seismic unit.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the radio transceiver with mid-range transmission capability also has short-range transmission capability.

11. The method of claim 10, said method further comprising the step of toggling the transceiver between mid-range transmission capability and short-range transmission capability.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein at least two wireless communication units fall within the mid-range radio transmission range of another wireless communication unit.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein at least two seismic acquisition units fall within the short-range transmission range of a wireless communication unit.

14. The method of claim 6, wherein the radio transmission range of at least one of the wireless communication units is omnidirectional.

15. The method of claim 6, wherein the radio transmission range of at least one of the wireless communication units is unidirectional.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

repeating steps A-F for a plurality of spaced apart seismic acquisition units and associated communications units deployed in an array, wherein each of said communications units is capable of receiving a mid-range radio transmission and transmitting a mid-range radio transmission;

subsequent to deployment, identifying at least two separate transmission paths from a first point to a second point in the array from among the plurality of wireless communications units, wherein a transmission path is defined as a chain of at least three communications units, each capable of communicating in series via mid-range radio transmission;

selecting a transmission path from among the identified transmission paths based on a set of transmission path criteria; and

transmitting a mid-range radio signal along said selected transmission path.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said transmission chains include each wireless communication unit in the array.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of adjusting the transmission range of a wireless communication unit so as to alter the number of other wireless communication units within radio transmission range of the adjusted wireless communication unit.

19. The method of claim 2, wherein said transmission station is within mid-range radio range of at least two wireless communication units.

20. The method of claim 2, wherein said transmission station is within mid-range radio range of at least three wireless communication units.

21. The method of claim 2, wherein a transmission station receives seismic data from said seismic acquisition units and said seismic data is transmitted over the same transmission chain utilized to transmit control signals to said seismic acquisition units from the transmission station.

22. The method of claim 2, wherein a transmission station receives seismic data from said seismic acquisition units and said seismic data is transmitted over a different transmission chain than that utilized to transmit control signals to said seismic acquisition units from the transmission station.

23. The method of claim 2, wherein the transmissions between said seismic acquisition units and the transmission station are made utilizing different transmission chains.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of transmitting quality control data from a seismic acquisition unit to its associated wireless communication unit over the short-range network established therebetween and subsequently transmitting said quality control data from the wireless communication unit to another wireless communication unit over the mid-range network established between a plurality of wireless communication units in the array.

25. The method of claim 2, wherein said transmission path is preset among the wireless communication units.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein a second alternate transmission path is preset among the wireless communication units.

27. The method of claim 2, wherein multiple transmission paths are identified.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising the step of selecting a transmission path among the multiple transmission paths prior to transmitting.

29. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of determining the number of other wireless communication units within mid-range transmission range of a wireless communication unit.

30. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of determining the signal strength for other wireless communication units within transmission range of a wireless communication unit.

31. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of generating a beacon signal and transmitting the beacon signal along the transmission path.

32. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of verifying the transmission path by generating a beacon signal.

33. The method of claim 31, further comprising the step of utilizing said beacon signal to establish a synchronized recording time among the seismic acquisition units.

34. The method of claim 31, further comprising the step of simultaneously initiating recording of seismic data by said seismic acquisition units.

35. The method of claim 21, wherein seismic data transmitted from a seismic acquisition unit is time stamped prior to transmission.

36. The method of claim 1, wherein said short-range transmission network utilizes IEEE 1902.1 protocol.

37. The method of claim 1, wherein said short-range transmission network operates in the 2.4 GHz radio frequency band.

38. The method of claim 8, wherein said step of disciplining is repeated on a period basis as the seismic unit is acquiring seismic data.

39. The method of claim 9, wherein said step of time stamping is repeated on a period basis as the seismic unit is acquiring seismic data.

40. A method for transmission of control signals among an array of seismic data acquisition units, said method comprising the steps of:

A. Establishing a plurality of short-range transmission networks within a seismic data acquisition unit array, wherein each short-range transmission network is comprised of

a self-contained wireless seismic acquisition unit having a casing that is fully buried below a ground surface;

a power source for said seismic acquisition unit within said casing;

a short-range radio transmission transceiver completely disposed within said casing such that no portion of the short-range transmission transceiver extends from said casing;

a geophone disposed within said casing and

a wireless communication unit positioned in close proximity to said seismic data acquisition unit, said wireless communication unit having an elongated support structure having a first end and a second end and where one of the first end or the second end is mounted in the ground surface at a distance from the casing such that the communications unit does not interfere with a respective seismic acquisition unit;

a power source for said communications unit separate from said acquisition unit;

a radio transceiver mounted on said support structure and configured in a first state to wirelessly communicate with the short-range radio transceiver within said casing, wherein a distance that the elongated support structure is mounted in the ground surface from the respective casing is sufficient to permit short-range transmissions between the radio transceiver mounted on said support structure and the short-range transmission transceiver in the seismic acquisition unit;

said transceiver further configured in a second state to transmit and receive mid-range radio transmissions;

B. Transmitting a timing signal between a plurality of mid-range radio transceivers each mounted on a support structure via a mid-range radio network; and

C. Transmitting the timing signal to a seismic unit from a wireless communication unit via the short-range transmission network.

41. The method of claim 40, comprising:

Deploying the self-contained wireless seismic acquisition unit;

Deploying a plurality of wireless communication units, the plurality of wireless communication units comprising the wireless communication unit and a second wireless communication unit;

Establishing a wireless magnetic transmission network between the wireless communication unit of the plurality of wireless communication units and the self-contained wireless seismic acquisition unit utilizing Long Wave (LW) magnetic signals; and

Establishing a wireless radio transmission network between the wireless communication unit and the second wireless communication unit utilizing radio signals.

42. The method of claim 41, further comprising:

Receiving, by the wireless communication unit, a timing signal over a radio transmission network; and

Transmitting, by the wireless communication unit, the received timing signal over the magnetic transmission network to the self-contained wireless seismic acquisition unit.

43. The method of claim 42, comprising:

Receiving, by the wireless communication unit a GPS timing signal from a GPS satellite; and

Transmitting, by the wireless communication unit, said GPS timing signal to the self-contained wireless seismic acquisition unit utilizing said wireless magnetic transmission network.