System and method for generating images of subsurface structures

A computer-implemented method of generating images related to a subsurface region of interest, comprising:

• accessing, via a central processing unit (CPU), seismic data and an earth model related to the subsurface region of interest;
• forward propagating a source wavefield using the earth model at a first time interval via at least one external co-processor coupled to the CPU;
• transferring, at a second time interval, the forward propagated source wavefield to the CPU for compression and external storage;
• backward propagating the seismic data at the first time interval via the external co-processor to derive backward propagated receiver wavefield;
• transferring, at the second time interval, the backward propagated receiver wavefield to the CPU;
• retrieving the stored forward propagated source wavefield;
• decompressing the retrieved forward propagated source wavefield via the CPU;
• and
• via the CPU, applying imaging conditions to the decompressed forward propagated source wavefield and backward propagated receiver wavefield to construct image data representative of the subsurface region of interest.

A method for propagating seismic wavefields, comprising:

• initiating, via a central processing unit (CPU), a plurality of computational blocks in at least one external co-processor coupled to the CPU for coordinating computational functions related to the wavefield in the external co-processor;
• initiating, via a central processing unit (CPU), a plurality of data transfer blocks in the external co-processor to coordinate data transfer functions related to the wavefield between the CPU and external co-processor;
• controlling the propagating of the wavefield via a central processing unit (CPU) via a CPU subthread;
• and
• concurrently performing, asynchronously, the computational and data transfer functions via corresponding streams without interfering with the CPU subthread.