DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-4, 9-11, and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (US 20130075161 A1, “Yang”) in view of Gao et al. ("An Analysis Method for Time‐, Frequency‐, and Energy‐Domain Characteristics of Downhole Microseismic Signals and Its Application." Shock and Vibration 2021.1 (2021): 6699221., “Gao”) and Brie et al. (US 4888740 A, “Brie”).
Regarding claim 1, Yang discloses a method comprising: obtaining a first acoustic signal ([0044], drilling acoustic signals are picked up by the acoustic sensors); transforming the first acoustic signal into a first frequency spectrum using, in part, a frequency transformer, wherein the first frequency spectrum comprises a first plurality of frequency data points([0049], digitized drilling acoustic signals are transformed into frequency spectrum using an FFT to create FFT data)([0050], FFT data is filtered to illustrate the frequency distribution, which illustrates the frequency and amplitude data of the sampled acoustic signal); determining a representative frequency for each of the first plurality of energy bands; determining a representative amplitude for each of the first plurality of energy bands, wherein the representative amplitude is determined based on an energy conservation principle and the representative frequency([0053], acoustic characteristics evaluation algorithm evaluates the filtered FFT data for select acoustic characteristic such as mean amplitude and mean frequency)(it is the examiner’s interpretation that the mean amplitude and mean frequency would implicitly be representative of the energy band as the energy band is simply a transformation of the FFT data, therefore the mean frequency and amplitude of the filtered FFT data would correspond to it).
Yang may not explicitly teach partitioning the first plurality of frequency data points into a first plurality of energy bands using an energy band partitioning function, wherein the energy band partitioning function determines the first plurality of energy bands based on a predetermined energy band criteria; determining a first energy band series, wherein the first energy band series comprises the representative amplitude and the representative frequency for each of the first plurality of energy bands; and determining, using the first energy band series, an acoustic signal characteristic.
Gao teaches partitioning the first plurality of frequency data points into a first plurality of energy bands using an energy band partitioning function, wherein the energy band partitioning function determines the first plurality of energy bands based on a predetermined energy band criteria; determining a first energy band series, wherein the first energy band series comprises the representative amplitude and the representative frequency for each of the first plurality of energy bands ([pg. 2-3, 2.3 Transformation between the frequency and energy domain curves], if the microseismic signals are partitioned into n frequency bands, the relative energy within each frequency band may be calculated by the transformation in EQ. 7)(it is the examiner’s interpretation that as the energy bands directly correspond to the frequency band distributions, the mean amplitude and frequency values calculated by Yang would also belong to the energy bands of Gao);
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of downhole acoustics, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method of Yang, to include the energy domain transformation of Gao with a reasonable expectation of success, with the motivation of leveraging observed changes in energy dissipation to predict and detect large-scale structural plane positions [pg. 3, 2.3 Transformation between the frequency and energy domain curves].
Yang, as modified in view of Gao may not explicitly teach and determining, using the first energy band series, an acoustic signal characteristic.
Brie teaches and determining, using the first energy band series, an acoustic signal characteristic ([column 8, lines 37-43] comparing energy curves with lithology interpretation allows for variations in the energy curves to be associated with lithological features associated with various depths).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of downhole acoustics, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method of Yang, as modified in view of Gao to include the energy attributed acoustic parameter identification of Brie with a reasonable expectation of success, with the motivation of identifying lithological changes at various depths through interpretation of energy curves [column 8, lines 37-43].
Regarding claim 2, Yang, as modified in view of Gao and Brie teaches the method of claim 1. Yang further comprising: obtaining a second acoustic signal, wherein the second acoustic signal is ordered after the first acoustic signal([0044], drilling acoustic signals are picked up by the acoustic sensors)(Implicit, [0042] information about lithology from the cutting surface of a drill bit can be provided to an operator steering the drill bit in real time)(it is the examiner’s interpretation that using the drill-bit cutting information pertaining to lithological parameters in real time implicitly means that multiple measurements will be taken over the course of the well being drilled); transforming the second acoustic signal into a second frequency spectrum using, in part, the frequency transformer, wherein the second frequency spectrum comprises a second plurality of frequency data points([0049], digitized drilling acoustic signals are transformed into frequency spectrum using an FFT to create FFT data)([0050], FFT data is filtered to illustrate the frequency distribution, which illustrates the frequency and amplitude data of the sampled acoustic signal); partitioning the second plurality of frequency data points into a second plurality of energy bands using the energy band partitioning function; determining a representative frequency for each of the second plurality of energy bands; determining a representative amplitude for each of the second plurality of energy bands, wherein the representative amplitude is determined based on the energy conservation principle and the representative frequency; ([0053], acoustic characteristics evaluation algorithm evaluates the filtered FFT data for select acoustic characteristic such as mean amplitude and mean frequency)(it is the examiner’s interpretation that the mean amplitude and mean frequency would implicitly be representative of the energy band as the energy band is simply a transformation of the FFT data, therefore the mean frequency and amplitude of the filtered FFT data would correspond to it);
Gao further teaches determining a second energy band series, wherein the second energy band series comprises the representative amplitude and the representative frequency for each of the second plurality of energy bands([pg. 2-3, 2.3 Transformation between the frequency and energy domain curves], if the microseismic signals are partitioned into n frequency bands, the relative energy within each frequency band may be calculated by the transformation in EQ. 7)(it is the examiner’s interpretation that as the energy bands directly correspond to the frequency band distributions, the mean amplitude and frequency values calculated by Yang would also belong to the energy bands of Gao)
Brie further teaches determining a plurality of signal traces by comparing the first energy band series and the second energy band series; and determining, using, at least in part, the plurality of signal traces, a relative contribution of a plurality of parameters in the first acoustic signal and the second acoustic signal ([column 8, lines 56-65], measurements are taken between pairs of receivers by measuring the difference in energy detected by them in response to acoustic pulses from the transmitter. Differential energy measurements may be taken as a ratio of the energies)([column 9, lines 7-21] measurement is normalized to allow one to compare the fracture caused variations in the differential energy measurements across receiver pairs)([column 9, lines 52-63], different pairs of receivers reach an equivalent depth at different times due to their spacings, so successive firings which are read by respective positions will experience differences in the differential measurement).
Regarding claim 3, Yang, as modified in view of Gao and Brie teaches the method of claim 2. Yang further teaches wherein the first acoustic signal is a drill bit sound and the second acoustic signal is a drill bit sound ([0043], drilling acoustic signals are generated when the drill bit bites rock at the bottom of a borehole during the drilling process).
Regarding claim 4, Yang, as modified in view of Gao and Brie teach the method of claim 3. Yang further teaches wherein the acoustic signal characteristic indicates a petrophysical property of rock ([0066], petrophysical properties evaluation algorithm is comprised of datasets pertaining to petrophysical properties of rock formations based on correspondent digitized acoustic data for a given type of drill bit).
Regarding claim 9, Yang, as modified in view of Gao and Brie teaches the method of claim 1. Brie further teaches determining the representative frequency for each of the first plurality of energy bands comprises selecting a frequency of a frequency peak data point or a median of frequencies from each frequency data point within each energy band of the first plurality of energy bands ([column 8, lines 12-23] determining energies may be achieved using the “peak frequency” method such that upper and lower frequencies are selected for a given band and the peak frequency associated with the amplitude peak is located by the processor).
Regarding claim 10, the claim is a CRM claim corresponding to claim 1 and is therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 11, the claim is a CRM claim corresponding to claim 4 and is therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 15, the claim is a CRM claim corresponding to claim 9 and is therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Claim(s) 5-6, 12, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang in view of Gao, Brie, and Kumar (US 20130308424 A1, “Kumar”).
Regarding claim 5, Yang, as modified in view of Gao and Brie teaches the method of claim 3. Yang as modified in view of Gao and Brie may not explicitly teach the plurality of parameters comprises a lithology and a drill bit rotation rate.
Kumar teaches the plurality of parameters comprises a lithology and a drill bit rotation rate ([0018] surface control unit provides information related to the drilling operations based on received data and signals such as drilling parameters like drill bit RPM and formation parameters).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of downhole acoustics, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method of Yang, as modified in view of Gao and Brie to include the lithological and RPM data parameters of Kumar with a reasonable expectation of success, with the motivation of controlling one or more aspects of drilling system including drilling the wellbore along a desired profile.
Regarding claim 6, Yang, as modified in view of Gao and Brie teaches the method of claim 3. Yang, as modified in view of Gao and Brie may not explicitly teach geosteering a wellbore within a production zone of hydrocarbons using a geosteering system based, at least in part, on the acoustic signal characteristic.
Kumar teaches geosteering a wellbore within a production zone of hydrocarbons using a geosteering system based, at least in part, on the acoustic signal characteristic([0018] surface control unit provides information related to the drilling operations based on received data and signals such as drilling parameters like drill bit RPM and formation parameters to control one or mor aspects of drilling system including drilling the wellbore along a desired profile (geosteering)).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of downhole acoustics, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method of Yang, as modified in view of Gao and Brie to include the geosteering application of Kumar with a reasonable expectation of success, with the motivation of controlling one or more aspects of drilling system including drilling the wellbore along a desired profile.
Regarding claim 12, the claim is a CRM claim corresponding to claim 6 and is therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 18, the claim is a system claim corresponding to claim 6 and is therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Claim(s) 16-17 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang in view of Kumar, Gao, and Brie.
Regarding claim 16, Yang discloses a system comprising: a drilling system comprising: a drill bit configured to cut a rock (Fig. 1 (101), [0043], drilling acoustic signals are generated when the drill bit bites rock at the bottom of a borehole during the drilling process); an acoustic signal recording system configured to receive and record an acoustic signal, comprising: an acoustic sensor, a receiver, and a data acquisition unit (Fig. 1, [0044] acoustic sensors (102) may include microphones which pick up acoustic signals which are then transmitted to the downhole data interface (103)); and a computer, comprising: one or more processors, and a non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions executable by the one or more computer processors (Fig. 1 and 2, [0047], digitized data is read by computer program (112) which is stored in memory (122) which is accessible by processor (123) of computer (124)); transforming the acoustic signal into a frequency spectrum using, in part, a frequency transformer, wherein the frequency spectrum comprises a plurality of frequency data points; determining a representative frequency for each of the plurality of energy bands; determining a representative amplitude for each of the plurality of energy bands, wherein the representative amplitude is determined based on an energy conservation principle and the representative frequency;.
Yang may note explicitly teach an operations system configured to monitor and control drilling operations, the operations system configured to measure and record, at least, a rotation speed of the drill bit and a depth of the drill bit; partitioning the plurality of frequency data points into a plurality of energy bands using an energy band partitioning function, wherein the energy band partitioning function selects the plurality of energy bands based on a predetermined energy band criteria; determining an energy band series, wherein the energy band series comprises the representative amplitude and the representative frequency for each for each of the plurality of energy bands; and determining, using the energy band series, an acoustic signal characteristic.
Kumar teaches an operations system configured to monitor and control drilling operations, the operations system configured to measure and record, at least, a rotation speed of the drill bit and a depth of the drill bit (Implicit, [0018] surface control unit provides information related to the drilling operations based on received data and signals such as drilling parameters like drill bit RPM and formation parameters to control one or mor aspects of drilling system including drilling the wellbore along a desired profile (geosteering))(it is the examiner’s interpretation that the surface control unit would also record depth measurements in order to determine if the wellbore is following the desired trajectory. Additional lithological markers would provide depth indicators).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of downhole acoustics, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Yang to include the surface control unit of Kumar with a reasonable expectation of success, with the motivation of controlling one or more aspects of drilling system including drilling the wellbore along a desired profile.
Yang, as modified in view of Kumar may not explicitly teach partitioning the plurality of frequency data points into a plurality of energy bands using an energy band partitioning function, wherein the energy band partitioning function selects the plurality of energy bands based on a predetermined energy band criteria; determining an energy band series, wherein the energy band series comprises the representative amplitude and the representative frequency for each for each of the plurality of energy bands; and determining, using the energy band series, an acoustic signal characteristic.
Gao teaches partitioning the plurality of frequency data points into a plurality of energy bands using an energy band partitioning function, wherein the energy band partitioning function selects the plurality of energy bands based on a predetermined energy band criteria; determining an energy band series, wherein the energy band series comprises the representative amplitude and the representative frequency for each for each of the plurality of energy bands([pg. 2-3, 2.3 Transformation between the frequency and energy domain curves], if the microseismic signals are partitioned into n frequency bands, the relative energy within each frequency band may be calculated by the transformation in EQ. 7)(it is the examiner’s interpretation that as the energy bands directly correspond to the frequency band distributions, the mean amplitude and frequency values calculated by Yang would also belong to the energy bands of Gao);
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of downhole acoustics, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Yang, as modified in view of Kumar, to include the energy domain transformation of Gao with a reasonable expectation of success, with the motivation of leveraging observed changes in energy dissipation to predict and detect large-scale structural plane positions [pg. 3, 2.3 Transformation between the frequency and energy domain curves].
Yang, as modified in view of Kumar and Gao may not explicitly teach determining, using the energy band series, an acoustic signal characteristic.
Brie teaches determining, using the energy band series, an acoustic signal characteristic([column 8, lines 37-43] comparing energy curves with lithology interpretation allows for variations in the energy curves to be associated with lithological features associated with various depths).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of downhole acoustics, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the sytem of Yang, as modified in view of Kumar and Gao to include the energy attributed acoustic parameter identification of Brie with a reasonable expectation of success, with the motivation of identifying lithological changes at various depths through interpretation of energy curves [column 8, lines 37-43].
Regarding claim 17, Yang, as modified in view of Kumar, Gao, and Brie teaches the system of claim 16. Yang further teaches the acoustic signal characteristic indicates a petrophysical property of rock([0066], petrophysical properties evaluation algorithm is comprised of datasets pertaining to petrophysical properties of rock formations based on correspondent digitized acoustic data for a given type of drill bit)
.
Regarding claim 20, Yang, as modified in view of Kumar, Gao, and Brie teaches the system of claim 16. Brie further teaches determining the representative frequency for each of the plurality of energy bands comprises selecting a frequency of a frequency peak data point or a median of frequencies from each frequency data point within each energy band of the plurality of energy bands([column 8, lines 12-23] determining energies may be achieved using the “peak frequency” method such that upper and lower frequencies are selected for a given band and the peak frequency associated with the amplitude peak is located by the processor).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-8, 13-14, and 19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 7, Yang, as modified in view of Gao and Brie teaches the method of claim 1. Brie further teaches wherein the predetermined energy band criteria comprises: identifying peak data points, wherein a peak data point has a higher amplitude than an adjacent data point on either side of the peak data point([column 8, lines 12-23] determining energies may be achieved using the “peak frequency” method such that upper and lower frequencies are selected for a given band and the peak frequency associated with the amplitude peak is located by the processor); selecting the peak data points with a predetermined minimum number of data points around the peak data point; determining energy bands, wherein each energy band contains a single selected peak data point and the predetermined minimum number of data points around the peak data point and wherein adjacent energy bands are separated by a lowest data point that has a lower amplitude than an adjacent data point on either side the lowest data point, and wherein any data point that has an amplitude of zero is excluded (Yang, Gao, Brie, nor any other identified prior art teaches the required limitations with respect to the peak data point being selected based on the criteria of having a minimum number of surrounding data points, as well as the energy bands being separated by a lowest data point having a lower amplitude on either side along with data points having an amplitude of zero being omitted. Additionally, no identified prior art teaches these limitations in part with sufficient motivation to combine).
Regarding claim 8, the claim is indicated as containing allowable subject matter due to its respective dependence upon a claim which has been indicated as containing allowable subject matter.
Regarding claims 13 and 19, the claims are a CRM claim and a system claim (respectively), corresponding to claim 7 and are therefore indicated as containing allowable subject matter for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 14, the claim is indicated as containing allowable subject matter due to its respective dependence upon a claim which has been indicated as containing allowable subject matter.
Conclusion
Prior art made of record though not relied upon in the present basis of rejection are noted in the attached PTO 892 and include:
Georgi et al. (US 20150159478 A1, “Georgi”) which teaches methods and systems for geosteering boreholes using distributed acoustic sensing
Flanagan et al. (US 20200109618 A1, “Flanagan”) which discloses systems and methods for geosteering during well drilling
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER RICHARD WALKER whose telephone number is (571)272-6136. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30 am - 5:00 pm.
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/CHRISTOPHER RICHARD WALKER/ Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/YUQING XIAO/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645