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EP0308222A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Point location determination at or close to the surface of the sea
Assignee: Horizon Exploration Ltd
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Filing: 1988-09-15
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2008-09-15
Abstract
Abstract This application discloses a method of determining the relative positions of a plurality of points located substantially in a common plane at or close to the surface of the sea, which method comprises deploying at each of said points an acoustic element comprising an acoustic transmitter and/or an acoustic receiver; sequentially actuating at predetermined time intervals at least a predetermined number of the acoustic transmitters and observing the responses of at least a predetermined number of the acoustic receivers in response thereto, such that all of the acoustic elements are operated at least once, whether in the transmit or receive mode or in both said modes; and subjecting the observed responses to signal processing to derive the spacing between each receiving element and each transmitting element, and hence to derive the relative positions of said points.
Inventors
- 👤 John Philemon Norton Jr.
- 👤 Ian Nigel Court
- 👤 Michael Anthony Hall
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 20:44
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01V; G01V1/00; G01V1/38; G01V1/3817; G01V1/3835; G01S; G01S5/00; G01S5/18; G01S5/30
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim
133 words
A method of determining the relative positions of a plurality of points located substantially in a common plane at or close to the surface of the sea, which method comprises deploying at each of said points an acoustic element comprising an acoustic transmitter and/or an acoustic receiver; sequentially actuating at predetermined time intervals at least a predetermined number of the acoustic transmitters and observing the responses of at least a predetermined number of the acoustic receivers in response thereto, such that all of the acoustic elements are operated at least once, whether in the transmit or receive mode or in both said modes; and subjecting the observed responses to signal processing to derive the spacing between each receiving element and each transmitting element, and hence to derive the relative positions of said points.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
133 words
A method of determining the relative positions of a plurality of points located substantially in a common plane at or close to the surface of the sea, which method comprises deploying at each of said points an acoustic element comprising an acoustic transmitter and/or an acoustic receiver; sequentially actuating at predetermined time intervals at least a predetermined number of the acoustic transmitters and observing the responses of at least a predetermined number of the acoustic receivers in response thereto, such that all of the acoustic elements are operated at least once, whether in the transmit or receive mode or in both said modes; and subjecting the observed responses to signal processing to derive the spacing between each receiving element and each transmitting element, and hence to derive the relative positions of said points.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
21 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein the acoustic elements are constituted by the acoustic transducers of a streamer (hydrophone) array.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each acoustic transmitter is arranged to emit a series of tonebursts covering a wide frequency range.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method according to claim 3, wherein the tonebursts of each transmitter are different from those of the other transmitters to constitute thereby an acoustic signature.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
31 words
A method according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of the acoustic transmitters use a common frequency or frequency band but are arranged to emit their signals in different time slots.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
22 words
A method according to preceding claim, wherein each of the acoustic elements can operate both as a transmitter and as a receiver.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
36 words
A method according to claim 2, wherein said signal processing step is performed in conjunction with data indicative of the distance between at least one of said points and a fixed point on the survey vessel.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
139 words
A method of determining the shape of two or more streamers deployed behind a seismic survey vessel, each of which streamers carries a plurality of acoustic elements capable of operating in the transmit mode and/or in the receive mode, which method comprises sequentially actuating at predetermined time intervals at least a predetermined number of the acoustic elements in the transmit mode and observing the responses of at least a predetermined number of the acoustic elements operating in the receive mode in response thereto, such that all of the acoustic elements are operated at least once, whether in the transmit or receive mode or in both said modes; and subjecting the observed responses to signal processing to derive the spacing between each receiving element and each transmitting element, and hence to determine the shape of said two or more streamers.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
139 words
A method of determining the shape of two or more streamers deployed behind a seismic survey vessel, each of which streamers carries a plurality of acoustic elements capable of operating in the transmit mode and/or in the receive mode, which method comprises sequentially actuating at predetermined time intervals at least a predetermined number of the acoustic elements in the transmit mode and observing the responses of at least a predetermined number of the acoustic elements operating in the receive mode in response thereto, such that all of the acoustic elements are operated at least once, whether in the transmit or receive mode or in both said modes; and subjecting the observed responses to signal processing to derive the spacing between each receiving element and each transmitting element, and hence to determine the shape of said two or more streamers.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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