Compression and timely delivery of well-test data

A downhole device comprising:

• one or more processors coupled to a downhole modem configured to:
• query one or more sensors for one or more sensor data at a first periodic interval;
• and receive the one or more sensor data from the one or more sensors,
• receive a request for transmission from a surface modem and transmit the one or more sensor data to the surface modem, in response to the request for transmission,
• wherein the one or more processors configured so that it queries the one or more sensors independent of receiving the request for transmission;
• and
• a buffer coupled to the downhole modem configured to store the one or more sensor data, wherein, in response to the one or more sensor data filling a storage space of the buffer so that it exceeds a threshold space, the one or more processors are configured to decimate the one or more sensor data in the buffer.

A system comprising:

• one or more sensors configured to take measurements in a wellbore and generate sensor data based at least in part on the measurements;
• one or more processors configured to query the one or more sensors for the sensor data;
• a transceiver assembly configured to send the sensor data to a surface controller;
• and a buffer comprising a first buffer and a second buffer, wherein the first buffer is configured to store the sensor data before the sensor data is sent to the surface controller, wherein the second buffer is configured to store the sensor data after the sensor data is sent to the surface controller, and wherein, in response to the second buffer being non-empty, the one or more processors are configured to decimate the sensor data in the first buffer to maintain a first amount of the sensor data in the first buffer less than a second amount of the sensor data in the second buffer.