NETWORK TELEMETRY SYSTEM AND METHOD

1 . A wireless telemetry network system, which includes:

multiple network nodes;

a sensor associated with one or more of said nodes and adapted for providing output comprising signal data corresponding to an operating or status condition;

a transmitter associated with one of said nodes for propagating said signal data between nodes;

a receiver associated with one of said nodes for receiving signals from other nodes;

multiple network nodes adapted for receiving said signal data; and

said system being adapted for transmitting telemetry signals across multiple network links simultaneously.

2 . A linear wireless telemetry network system for a well including a wellbore structure extending subsurface downwardly from the surface, which telemetry network system includes:

multiple network nodes distributed along the wellbore;

at least one said node including a sensor adapted for providing a signal data set output corresponding to a downhole condition;

a transmitter for propagating said signal between nodes;

a receiver for receiving said signal from other nodes; and

said system being adapted for transmitting telemetry signals across multiple network links simultaneously.

3 . The telemetry system according to claim 2 , which includes:

said telemetry signals being chosen from among the group comprising acoustic, electromagnetic (EM), mud pulse (MP) and optical.

4 . The telemetry system according to claim 2 wherein said signal sets comprise orthogonal (low interference/cross-correlation) signal sets assigned to network nodes so as to reduce interference at adjacent nodes.

5 . The telemetry system according to claim 4 wherein said telemetry signals are located in multiple, minimally-interfering frequency channels within a medium and/or separate mediums chosen from among the group comprising acoustic, EM and MP.

6 . The telemetry system according to claim 2 wherein:

said nodes have predefined separations (and therefore a signal propagation associated attenuation level) and/or transmission power levels adapted so as to maintain interference at receiver locations within a tolerable range.

7 . The telemetry system according to claim 6 , which includes:

an update interval rate and network throughput being fixed regardless of the number of network nodes.

8 . The telemetry system according to claim 2 , which includes:

a respective node including a transmitter and a receiver; and

the respective node simultaneously transmitting and receiving.

9 . The telemetry system according to claim 8 , which includes a filter adapted to an approximation of the channel between the respective node's transmitter and receiver.

10 . The telemetry system according to claim 8 , which includes said receiver being adapted for receiving with mitigated self-interference during transmission.

11 . The telemetry system according to claim 9 , which includes an estimation function including:

a transmitter-to-receiver intranode channel providing an output;

said adaptive filter having the signal destined for transmission as a reference input;

a summer receiving outputs from said receiver channel and said adaptive filter;

said summer providing an error signal as a feedback output to said adaptive filter; and

said adaptive filter being adjusted so as to minimize error signal.

12 . The telemetry system according to claim 9 , which includes a receiver signal isolation function including:

an estimated intranode transmitter-to-receiver channel filter having the signal destined for transmission as an input from the transmitter and providing an output that is the estimated transmitter signal as perceived by the receiver;

a summer receiving inputs from said adaptive filter and the receiver signal output that are synchronized in time; and

said summer providing an output comprising the received signal with reduced transmitter signal content.

13 . The telemetry system according to claim 2 , which includes:

said transmitter and said receiver operating in the same channel;

said received signals being isolated from each other;

said receiver being configured to receive with minimized self-interference during transmission; and

said control system including a function for favoring a desired signal over an interferer signal.

14 . The telemetry system according to claim 2 which includes:

said control system function coordinating network timing whereby a desired signal precedes in time an anticipated, overlapping interferer signal creating an interference-free time period at a node for reception of a portion of the desired signal, thereby allowing the node receiver to lock onto the desired signal.

15 . The telemetry system according to claim 2 , which includes:

multiple receivers within a node with signal outputs which are phased and combined in such a manner to form a phased array that gives rise to directional discrimination of incoming signals to minimize interference from an undesired node transmissions arriving from another direction.

16 . The telemetry system according to claim 2 , which includes:

multiple transmitters within a node with output signals phased in such a manner so as to propagate outgoing signals in one direction only and minimizing interference at another node.

17 . The telemetry system according to claim 2 , which includes:

said directional receivers being adapted to suppress undesired interfering signals arriving at the receiver from one direction, while receiving desired signals from another direction.

18 . A method of transmitting acoustic telemetry signals in a well including a wellbore structure extending subsurface downwardly from the surface, which method includes the steps of:

defining with said structure a linear/daisy-chain network;

providing multiple network nodes positioned along said structure;

transmitting said signals in signal sets comprising orthogonal (low interference) signal sets assigned to network nodes to reduce inter-node interference;

pre-defining node separations and/or transmission power levels;

predefining tolerable interference ranges for said receivers;

maintaining interference at receiver locations within tolerable, predefined ranges through signal propagation attenuation;

providing a sensor associated with one or more of said nodes and adapted for providing output comprising signal data corresponding to an operating, status, or wellbore condition;

providing a transmitter associated with one of said nodes for propagating said signal data between nodes;

providing a receiver associated with one of said nodes;

receiving with said receiver signals from other nodes;

receiving said signal data with said multiple network nodes; and

transmitting telemetry signals across multiple network links simultaneously.

19 . The method according to claim 18 , which includes the additional step of:

providing said well with a node located at said surface and a bottom hole assembly (BHA) located at the bottom of said well;

providing sensors configured to monitor operating conditions near or at the BHA;

generating said signals with data corresponding to said BHA operating stations;

transmitting said BHA operating condition data signals to said surface node; and

exporting said BHA operating condition data signals to a remote data processing system configured to monitor operating conditions at said well.

20 . The method according to claim 18 , which includes the additional step of generating said telemetry signals using a signal type chosen from among the group comprising: acoustic; electromagnetic (EM); mud pulse (MP); and optical.