Covert data delivery system for sub-surface oceanographic moorings
AssigneeMooring Systems Limited
InventorsJames A. Cappellini, William D. Watling, Jeffrey A. Kinder
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method for sending instrument data from a sub-surface activity, such as data collection by one or more sensors, to another location, e.g., a satellite, a ground-based location, a vessel, etc., with minimal time exposure and minimal visibility of any system components at the water surface. Exemplary embodiments include a motorized payout-and-retrieval system or device, an air injection device, and a water-level sensor with automation control that together can be used to move a vessel, connected to an antenna, from a position in the water column in which the antenna is below the surface to a higher position in which the antenna is at or above the surface for data transmission.
Claims20
A system for deploying a transmitter to a water surface from a sub-surface location, the system comprising:
- a main vessel having a main vessel housing having a longitudinal axis and an inner chamber;
- a sub-surface attachment point;
- a bellhousing having an open end and a sealed end, wherein the bellhousing is disposed within the chamber of the main vessel housing and configured to retain air in its sealed end when the main vessel housing is oriented in the water column with the longitudinal axis substantially vertical such that the sealed end of the bellhousing is closed to the water surface than the open end;
- a motorized payout-and-retrieval system disposed within the bellhousing for deploying and retracting a length of cable connecting the bellhousing to the sub-surface attachment point, wherein the cable comprises a jacketed wire rope and is operative as a data link connecting one or more sub-surface sensors to the main vessel;
- a surface transmitter operative to transmit electromagnetic signals and coupled to the main vessel housing by an electromechanical (EM) cable, wherein the EM cable is operative to transfer signals from the main vessel to the surface transmitter;
- and
- a system controller operative to control the motorized payout-and-retrieval system to raise and lower the main vessel within the water column from a first position in which the surface transmitter is below the water surface to a second position in which the surface transmitter is at the water surface.
A system for deploying a transmitter to a water surface from a sub-surface location, the system comprising:
- a main vessel having a main vessel housing;
- a bellhousing having an open end and a sealed end, wherein the bellhousing is disposed within the main vessel housing;
- means for payout-and-retrieval disposed within the bellhousing for deploying and retracting a length of jacketed wire rope connecting the bellhousing to a sub-surface attachment point, wherein the means for payout-and-retrieval comprises a data link between the bellhousing and one or more sub-surface sensors;
- a surface transmitter operative to transmit electromagnetic signals and coupled to the main vessel housing by an electromechanical (EM) cable;
- and
- a system controller operative to control the means for payout-and-retrieval to raise and lower the main vessel within the water column from a first position in which the surface transmitter is below the water surface to a second position in which the surface transmitter is at the water surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.