Method and system for transmission of seismic data

• US 8,873,335 B1
• Filed: 04/22/2014
• Issued: 10/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Magseis FF, LLC
• Original Assignee: Fairfield Industries Incorporated
• Inventors: Ray, Clifford H., Fisseler, Glenn D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Alsomiri, Isam
• Assistant Examiner(s): HULKA, JAMES R
• Application Number:
  US14/258,620
• Time in Patent Office: 189 Days
• Field of Search: 367/77
• US Class Current: 367/77
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 1/00 Seismology; Seismic or acoustic prospecting or detecting
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 1/003 Seismic data acquisition in general, e.g. survey design G01V1/3808, G01V1/42 take precedence
• 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: G01V 1/226 Optoseismic systems

Abstract

The transmission method utilizes multiple seismic acquisition units within an array as intermediate short range radio receivers/transmitters to pass collected seismic data in relay fashion back to a control station. Any one seismic unit in the array is capable of transmitting radio signals to several other seismic units positioned within radio range of the transmitting unit, thus allowing the system to select an optimal transmission path. Utilizing an array of seismic units permits transmission routes back to a control station to be varied as needed. In transmissions from the most remote seismic unit to the control station, each unit within a string receives seismic data from other units and transmits the received seismic data along with the receiving unit'"'"'s locally stored seismic data. Preferably, as a transmission is passed along a chain, it is bounced between seismic units so as to be relayed by each unit in the array.

Claims

1. A seismic data transmission system, comprising:

a plurality of seismic data acquisition units that acquire seismic data reflected by subsurface lithologic formations or fluid layers responsive to an acoustic signal that propagates into earth, each of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units comprising;

a transmitter;

a receiver;

a local clock;

a local memory;

a processor; and

the system further comprising;

a seismic sensor associated with each of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

a control station;

a plurality of concentrators that are different types of devices than each of the plurality seismic data acquisition units, each of the plurality of concentrators comprising a transmitter, a receiver, mass memory, a local clock, and a processor, at least one of the plurality of concentrators connected to the control station by a data communications cable;

each of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units in radio transmission and reception communication with at least two other of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

each of the plurality of concentrators in a transmission range of at least one of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

the plurality of seismic data acquisition units transmit the seismic data to the control station via;

a first short range wireless transmission, in a time period, with a first transmission parameter, of at least a first portion of the seismic data from a first of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units to a second of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

a second short range wireless transmission, in the time period, with a second transmission parameter, of at least a second portion of the seismic data from a third of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units to a fourth of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units, wherein the third of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units and the fourth of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units are different data acquisition units than the first of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units and the second of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

the first transmission parameter and the second transmission parameter substantially prevent communication interference between the first short range wireless transmission and the second short range wireless transmission in the time period; and

a third short range wireless transmission of at least the first portion of the seismic data from the second of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units to a first of the plurality of concentrators; and

the first of the plurality of concentrators transmits at least the first portion of the seismic data to the control station via the data communications cable.

2. The seismic data transmission system of claim 1, comprising:

the receiver of the second of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units constructed as a short range receiver to receive the seismic data from the first of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units; and

the second of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units having a long range receiver that receives data from at least one of the control station and one of the plurality of concentrators.

3. The seismic data transmission system of claim 1, comprising:

each of the plurality of concentrators constructed for short range wireless reception of the seismic data from at least one of the plurality of wireless seismic data acquisition units; and

at least one of the plurality of concentrators constructed for wired cabled communication of the seismic data with the control station via the data communications cable.

4. The seismic data transmission system of claim 1, comprising:

each of the plurality of concentrators having a long range transmitter that transmits a control signal directly to at least some of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units.

5. The seismic data transmission system of claim 1, comprising:

the first seismic data acquisition unit out of short range communication with the first of the plurality of concentrators.

6. The seismic data transmission system of claim 1, comprising:

the receiver and the transmitter of a first two of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units having a first set of transmission parameters, the first two of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units including the first of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units and the second of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

the receiver and the transmitter of a second two of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units having a second set of transmission parameters different than the first set of transmission parameters, the second two of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units including the third of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units and the fourth of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

the first of the plurality of concentrators that receives the first portion of the seismic data responsive to the acoustic signal from one of the first two of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units using the first set of transmission parameters; and

a second of the plurality of concentrators that receives the second portion of the seismic data responsive to the acoustic signal from one of the second two of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units using the second set of transmission parameters, the first portion of the seismic data and the second portion of the seismic data relating to the subsurface lithologic formations or fluid layers of a portion of the earth.

7. The seismic data transmission system of claim 1, comprising:

a first two of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units having a first set of transmission parameters for short range transmission of a portion of the seismic data between the first two of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

a second two of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units having the first set of transmission parameters to receive, by at least one of the second two of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units, the portion of the seismic data from one of the first two of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units.

8. The seismic data transmission system of claim 7, comprising:

the first concentrator of the plurality of concentrators to receive the portion of the seismic data from one of the second two of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units via short range wireless communication; and

a second of the plurality of concentrators within a transmission range of the first concentrator to receive the portion of the seismic data from the first concentrator.

9. The seismic data transmission system of claim 1, comprising:

a second of the plurality of concentrators within a transmission range of the first of the plurality of concentrators and that receives at least some of the first portion of the seismic data from the first of the plurality of concentrators.

10. The seismic data transmission system of claim 9, comprising:

the control station receiving the at least some of the first portion of the seismic data from the second concentrator via the data communications cable.

11. The seismic data transmission system of claim 9, comprising:

the control station receiving the at least some of the first portion of the seismic data from the second concentrator via a wireless data communication.

12. The seismic data transmission system of claim 1, comprising:

the control station in communication with each of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units to transmit control data to each of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units and to receive the seismic data from each of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units via at least;

the data communication cable between the control station and the first of the plurality of concentrators;

short range radio transmission between at least the first and the second of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units; and

short range radio transmission between at least a fifth of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units and a second of the plurality of concentrators.

13. The seismic data transmission system of claim 12, comprising:

the control station in communication with at least the first of the plurality of concentrators via the data communications cable to transmit the control data and to receive the seismic data.

14. The seismic data transmission system of claim 12, comprising:

the control station in wireless communication with at least one of the plurality of concentrators via at least the transmitter of the at least one of the plurality of concentrators.

15. The seismic data transmission system of claim 1, comprising:

the first of the plurality of concentrators to receive at least some of the seismic data from one of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units via short range wireless communication; and

a second of the plurality of concentrators within transmission range of the first of the plurality of concentrators to receive the at least some of the seismic data from the first of the plurality of concentrators via a wireless data communication, wherein the one of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units is a different type of device than the first of the plurality of concentrators and the second of the plurality of concentrators, the seismic data relating to the subsurface lithologic formations or fluid layers of a portion of the earth.

16. The seismic data transmission system of claim 1, comprising:

first of the plurality of concentrators to relay control data from the control station to one or more of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units via the data communications cable, and to relay the seismic data from at least some of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units to the control station.

17. The seismic data transmission system of claim 16, wherein:

the at least some of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units acquire the seismic data responsive to the acoustic signal, wherein the seismic data indicates a subsurface seismic survey of a portion of the earth.

18. The seismic data transmission system of claim 17, comprising:

a first set of at least two of the at least some of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units configured to communicate using a first set of transmission path parameters; and

a second set of at least two of the at least some of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units configured to communicate using a second set of transmission path parameters, the second set of transmission path parameters different from the first set of transmission path parameters.

19. The seismic data transmission system of claim 1, comprising:

a first string of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units that transmit, using first transmission parameters including a first carrier modulation scheme, the seismic data via a first communications path to the control station via the first of the plurality of concentrators; and

a second string of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units transmit, using second transmission parameters including a second carrier modulation scheme, the seismic data via a second communications path to the control station via a second of the plurality of concentrators.

20. The seismic data transmission system of claim 19, wherein:

the first string of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units and the second string of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units acquire the seismic data responsive to the acoustic signal, the seismic data indicating the subsurface lithologic formations or fluid layers of a portion of the earth.

21. The seismic data transmission system of claim 20, wherein the first transmission parameters and the second transmission parameters are non-interfering parameters.

22. The seismic data transmission system of claim 21, wherein the first carrier modulation scheme and the second carrier modulation scheme each include at least one of a complementary code keying scheme, a packet binary convolution scheme, a direct sequence spread spectrum scheme, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing scheme, a code division multiple access scheme.

23. The seismic data transmission system of claim 1, wherein:

the receiver of one of the plurality of concentrators receives the seismic data from one of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units via a short range wireless transmission; and

the mass memory of the one of the plurality of concentrators provides long term storage of the seismic data.

24. The seismic data transmission system of claim 1, comprising:

each of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units including a long range radio receiver to receive control data from at least one of the control station and one of the plurality of concentrators; and

wherein

the mass memory of one of the plurality of concentrators stores the seismic data for long term storage.

25. The seismic data transmission system of claim 1, wherein:

each of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units acquires the seismic data responsive to the acoustic signal, the seismic data including information relating to the subsurface lithologic formations or fluid layers of a portion of the earth; and

the control station in communication with each of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units via at least one of the plurality of concentrators to transmit control data and to receive the seismic data.

26. The seismic data transmission system of claim 1, wherein the system transmits quality control data from at least one of the seismic data acquisition units to at least the first of the plurality of concentrators.

27. The seismic data transmission system of claim 1, wherein the system transmits quality control data from at least the first of the plurality of concentrators to at least one of the seismic data acquisition units.

28. A seismic data transmission system, comprising:

a plurality of seismic data acquisition units that acquire seismic data reflected by subsurface lithologic formations or fluid layers responsive to an acoustic signal that propagates into earth, the plurality of seismic data acquisition units in an array on the earth, the array formed by a plurality of lines of seismic data acquisition units, at least some of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units comprising;

a transmitter;

a receiver;

a local clock;

a local memory;

a processor and

a geophone connector; and

the system further comprising;

a geophone externally connected to each of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units via the geophone connector;

a control station;

a plurality of concentrators, each comprising a transmitter, a receiver, mass memory, a local clock, and a processor, at least one of the plurality of concentrators connected to the control station by a data communications cable;

at least one of the plurality of concentrators communicates with the control station via the data communications cable;

each of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units in wireless transmission and reception communication with at least two other of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units; and

each of the plurality of concentrators in a transmission range of at least one of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units; and

the plurality of seismic data acquisition units form a first string of seismic data acquisition units and a second string of different seismic data acquisition units, the first string and the second string define a respective transmission path to the control station, the plurality of seismic data acquisition units transmit at least some of the seismic data to the control station via;

a first short range wireless transmission through the first string that defines a first transmission path, in a time period, with a first transmission parameter, of at least a first portion of the seismic data from a first of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units to a second of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

a second short range wireless transmission through the second string that defines a second transmission path, in the time period, with a second transmission parameter, of at least a second portion of the seismic data from a third of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units to a fourth of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units, wherein the third of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units and the fourth of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units are different data acquisition units than the first of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units and the second of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

the first transmission parameter and the second transmission parameter substantially prevent communication interference between the first short range wireless transmission and the second short range wireless transmission during the time period;

a third short range wireless transmission of at least the first portion of the seismic data from the second of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units to a first of the plurality of concentrators; and

the first of the plurality of concentrators transmits at least the first portion of the seismic data to the control station via the data communications cable.

29. A seismic data transmission system, comprising:

a plurality of seismic data acquisition units that acquire seismic data reflected by subsurface lithologic formations or fluid layers responsive to an acoustic signal that propagates into earth, the seismic data related to lithologic subsurface formation boundaries, the plurality of seismic data acquisition units in an array on the earth, the array formed by a plurality of lines of seismic data acquisition units, at least some of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units comprising;

a transmitter;

a receiver;

a local clock;

a local memory;

a processor; and

the system further comprising;

a seismic sensor associated with each of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

a control station;

a plurality of concentrators, each comprising mass memory, and a processor, at least one of the plurality of concentrators connected to the control station by a data communications cable;

each of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units in radio transmission and reception communication with at least two other of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

each of the plurality of concentrators in a transmission range of at least one of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

the control station operational to obtain at least a portion of the seismic data from the plurality of seismic data acquisition units via the plurality of concentrators and via the data communications cable; and

the control station operational to provide control data to the plurality of seismic data acquisition units via the data communications cable and via the plurality of concentrators; and

the plurality of seismic data acquisition units include a first string of seismic data acquisition units and a second string of different seismic data acquisition units, the first string and the second string define a respective transmission path to the control station preset prior to operation of the seismic data transmission system, the plurality of seismic data acquisition units transmit at least some of the seismic data to the control station via;

a first short range wireless transmission through the first string that defines a first transmission path, in a time period, with a first transmission parameter, of at least a first portion of the seismic data from a first of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units to a second of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

a second short range wireless transmission through the second string that defines a second transmission path, in the time period, with a second transmission parameter, of at least a second portion of the seismic data from a third of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units to a fourth of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units, wherein the third of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units and the fourth of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units are different data acquisition units than the first of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units and the second of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

the first transmission parameter and the second transmission parameter substantially prevent communication interference between the first short range wireless transmission and the second short range wireless transmission during the time period;

a third short range wireless transmission of at least the first portion of the seismic data from the second of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units to a first of the plurality of concentrators; and

the first of the plurality of concentrators transmits at least the first portion of the seismic data to the control station via the data communications cable.

30. A seismic data transmission system, comprising:

a plurality of seismic data acquisition units that collect and transmit seismic data reflected by subsurface lithologic formations or fluid layers responsive to an acoustic shot signal that propagates into earth, the seismic data related to a subsurface seismic survey, the plurality of seismic data acquisition units comprising;

a battery;

a transmitter;

a receiver;

a local clock;

a local memory;

a processor and

the system further comprising;

a seismic sensor associated with each of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

a control station;

a plurality of concentrators, each comprising a power source, mass memory, and a processor, at least one of the plurality of concentrators connected to the control station by a data communications cable;

each of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units in wireless communication with at least two other of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units to transmit at least a portion of the seismic data acquired by at least one of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

each of the plurality of concentrators in a transmission range of at least one or more of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units; and

at least two of the plurality of concentrators configured to relay control signals from the control station to at least one of the seismic data acquisition units via the data communications cable between at least one of the at least two of the plurality of concentrators and the control station;

the plurality of seismic data acquisition units transmit the seismic data to the control station via at least two transmission paths preset prior to operation of the seismic data transmission system, the plurality of seismic data acquisition units transmit at least some of the seismic data to the control station via;

a first short range wireless transmission through a first transmission path, in a time period, with a first transmission parameter, of at least a first portion of the seismic data from a first of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units to a second of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

a second short range wireless transmission through a second transmission path, in the time period, with a second transmission parameter, of at least a second portion of the seismic data from a third of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units to a fourth of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units, wherein the third of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units and the fourth of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units are different data acquisition units than the first of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units and the second of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units;

the first transmission parameter and the second transmission parameter substantially prevent communication interference between the first short range wireless transmission and the second short range wireless transmission during the time period;

a third short range wireless transmission of at least the first portion of the seismic data from the second of the plurality of seismic data acquisition units to a first of the plurality of concentrators; and

the first of the plurality of concentrators transmits at least the first portion of the seismic data to the control station via the data communications cable.