Synchronization of distributed measurements in a borehole
First Claim
1. A system to synchronize distributed measurements in a borehole, the system comprising:
- a plurality of wired segments coupled together by couplers;
a plurality of nodes configured to measure, process, or relay information obtained in the borehole to a surface processing system, each of the plurality of nodes comprising a local clock and being disposed at one of the couplers or between couplers; and
the surface processing system coupled to a master clock and configured to determine a time offset between the master clock and the local clock of an nth node among the plurality of nodes based on a downhole generated synchronization signal, wherein the surface processing system determines the time offset associated with the local clock of the nth node based on a subtracting a first value from a second value, the first value including the master clock time and the second value including a sum of components that include the local clock time of the nth node, an aggregate of a delay associated with every node from the surface processing system to the nth node, an aggregate of a delay associated with every wired segment from the surface processing system to the nth node, and an aggregate of a delay associated with every coupler from the surface processing system to the nth node.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method to synchronize distributed measurements in a borehole are described. The system includes a plurality of wired segments coupled together by couplers and a plurality of nodes configured to measure, process, or relay information obtained in the borehole to a surface processing system, each of the plurality of nodes comprising a local clock and being disposed at one of the couplers or between couplers. The system also includes a surface processing system coupled to a master clock and configured to determine a time offset between the master clock and the local clock of an nth node among the plurality of nodes based on a downhole generated synchronization signal.
116 Citations
19 Claims
-
1. A system to synchronize distributed measurements in a borehole, the system comprising:
-
a plurality of wired segments coupled together by couplers; a plurality of nodes configured to measure, process, or relay information obtained in the borehole to a surface processing system, each of the plurality of nodes comprising a local clock and being disposed at one of the couplers or between couplers; and the surface processing system coupled to a master clock and configured to determine a time offset between the master clock and the local clock of an nth node among the plurality of nodes based on a downhole generated synchronization signal, wherein the surface processing system determines the time offset associated with the local clock of the nth node based on a subtracting a first value from a second value, the first value including the master clock time and the second value including a sum of components that include the local clock time of the nth node, an aggregate of a delay associated with every node from the surface processing system to the nth node, an aggregate of a delay associated with every wired segment from the surface processing system to the nth node, and an aggregate of a delay associated with every coupler from the surface processing system to the nth node. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A method of synchronizing distributed measurements in a borehole, the method comprising:
-
disposing a known number of wired segments coupled together by couplers in the borehole; disposing nodes along the wired segments, the nodes being disposed at two or more of the couplers or between couplers and each node comprising a local clock and configured to measure or relay information obtained in the borehole to a surface processing system; generating a time-stamped signal at an nth node based on the local clock of the nth node; receiving the time-stamped signal at the surface processing system; and the surface processing system computing a time offset between a master clock associated with the surface processing system and the local clock of the nth node, wherein the surface processing system computing the time offset associated with the local clock of the nth node is based on subtracting a first value from a second value, the first value including the master clock time and the second value including a sum of components that include the local clock time of the nth node, an aggregate of a delay associated with every node from the surface processing system to the nth node, an aggregate of a delay associated with every wired segment from the surface processing system to the nth node, and an aggregate of a delay associated with every coupler from the surface processing system to the nth node. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
Specification