Subsea contactless connector system and method with extremely high data transfer rate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10128909-B2
Application number	US-201615375250-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 12, 2016
Priority date	Dec 11, 2015
Publication date	Nov 13, 2018
Grant date	Nov 13, 2018

Abstract

A pinless connector for subsea data communications comprises contactless connectivity data transmitter coupler, comprising one or more first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitters, and contactless connectivity data receiver coupler, comprising one or more first solid state contactless connectivity data receivers, which can allow for rapid collection and/or download data from subsea vehicles or sensors without having to plug in an external connector or physically remove the data recorder from the unit. Typically, these are operative at a low power level, e.g. less than or around 50 milliwatts, at an extremely high data transfer rate or around 5 GBits/second. The connectors may be incorporated into a subsea system comprising two subsea devices. A slip ring system may similarly comprise one or more first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitters and one or more first solid state contactless connectivity data receivers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A pinless connector for subsea data communications, comprising:
a. a contactless connectivity data transmitter coupler, comprising:
i. a first environmentally sealed housing with no exposed metal, the first environmentally sealed housing comprising a first material suitable for use subsea; and
ii. a first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter at least partially disposed within the first environmentally sealed housing, the first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter configured to be operative at a low power level of less than around 50 milliwatts at an extremely high data transfer rate of at least around 5 Gbits/second; and

b. a contactless connectivity data receiver coupler, comprising:
i. a second environmentally sealed housing with no exposed metal, the second environmentally sealed housing comprising a second material suitable for use subsea; and
ii. a first solid state contactless connectivity data receiver disposed at least partially within the second environmentally sealed housing, the first solid state contactless connectivity data receiver configured to be operative at the low power level and at the extremely high data transfer rate when the first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter is disposed proximate the first housing disposed at a distance of no more than around 1 meter from the first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter.

2. The pinless connector for subsea data communications of claim 1 , wherein the first material suitable for use subsea and/or the second material suitable for use subsea comprises a plastic.

3. The pinless connector for subsea data communications of claim 1 , wherein the first environmentally sealed housing and the second environmentally sealed housing are configured for use subsea at depths of up to around 12000 feet.

4. The pinless connector for subsea data communications of claim 1 , wherein the first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter and the first solid state contactless connectivity data receiver are adapted to exchange data using a point to point data communications pathway.

5. The pinless connector for subsea data communications of claim 1 , wherein the first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter and the first solid state contactless connectivity data receiver are adapted to exchange data without requiring critical alignment of the first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter and the first solid state contactless connectivity data receiver.

6. The pinless connector for subsea data communications of claim 1 , wherein:
a. the first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter comprises a first transceiver; and
b. the first solid state contactless connectivity data receiver comprises a second transceiver.

7. The pinless connector for subsea data communications of claim 1 , wherein the first environmentally sealed housing and the second environmentally sealed housing are configured to mate cooperatively.

8. The pinless connector for subsea data communications of claim 1 , wherein the first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter and the first solid state contactless connectivity data receiver are operative to transfer data without being in physical contact with each other.

9. The pinless connector for subsea data communications of claim 1 , wherein the first environmentally sealed housing and the second environmentally sealed housing are configured to allow the first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter and the first solid state contactless connectivity data receiver to come into physical contact with each other.

10. A subsea system, comprising:
a. a first subsea device comprising:
i. a first data collector; and
ii. a contactless connectivity data transmitter coupler, comprising:
1. a first environmentally sealed housing with no exposed metal, the first environmentally sealed housing comprising a first material suitable for use subsea; and
2. a plurality of first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitters at least partially disposed within the first environmentally sealed housing, each first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter configured to be operative at a low power level of less than around 50 milliwatts and at an extremely high data transfer rate of at least around 5 Gbits/second; and

b. a second subsea device, comprising a contactless connectivity data receiver coupler, the contactless connectivity data receiver coupler comprising:
i. a second environmentally sealed housing with no exposed metal, the first environmentally sealed housing comprising a second material suitable for use subsea; and
ii. a plurality of first solid state contactless connectivity data receivers disposed at least partially within the second environmentally sealed housing, each first solid state contactless connectivity data receiver operatively coupled to a corresponding first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter of the the plurality of first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitters without requiring critical alignment between the plurality of first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitters and the first solid state contactless connectivity receivers, each first solid state contactless connectivity data receiver configured to be operative at the low power level and at the extremely high data transfer rate when its corresponding first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter is disposed at a distance of no more than one meter from that first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter.

11. The subsea system of claim 10 , wherein the first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter and the first solid state contactless connectivity data receiver are operative to exchange data without requiring physical contact between the first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter and the first solid state contactless connectivity data receiver.

12. The subsea system of claim 10 , wherein each of the first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter and the first solid state contactless connectivity data receiver comprises a transceiver.

13. The subsea system of claim 10 , wherein the first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter and the first solid state contactless connectivity data receiver are adapted to exchange data without requiring critical alignment of the first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter and the first solid state contactless connectivity data receiver.

14. The subsea system of claim 10 , wherein the first solid state contactless connectivity data transmitter and the first solid state contactless connectivity data receiver are adapted to exchange data when physical contact exists between the first environmentally sealed housing and the second environmentally sealed housing.

15. The subsea system of claim 10 , wherein the first environmentally sealed housing and the second environmentally sealed housing each comprises a plastic.

16. The subsea system of claim 10 , wherein the first environmentally sealed housing and the second environmentally sealed housing are configured for use subsea at depths of up to around 12000 feet.

17. The subsea system of claim 10 , wherein the first environmentally sealed housing is configured to cooperatively mate with the second environmentally sealed housing.

18. The subsea system of claim 10 , wherein the extremely high data transfer rate is around 5 Gbits per se

Assignees

• Oceaneering Int Inc

Inventors

• Weaver David Wesley
• Tolman Thomas Knight

Classifications

• H02J50/12 Primary

  of the resonant type · CPC title

• H04B13/02

  Transmission systems in which the medium consists of the earth or a large mass of water thereon, e.g. earth telegraphy · CPC title

• G07C5/008 Primary

  communicating information to a remotely located station (transmission systems for measured values G08C) · CPC title

• H04B5/0037

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04W52/30

  using constraints in the total amount of available transmission power · CPC title