Wireless communications systems in harsh and hostile environments

Wireless communications in harsh and hostile environments are of great practical importance in terms of applications, and a significant challenge for the electronics designer. For instance, in oil industry the well temperature increases of about 3°C for each 100 m depth. Deeper than 6000 m, the well temperature can easily reach 175°C thus making High Temperature Electronics needed to acquire well measurements and to transmit them to the surface. In such extreme conditions, several factors limit the reliability of electronic devices and circuits: although temperature itself is the most important, other demanding issues are posed by shocks and vibrations. Taking all this into account, experience showed that exploiting integration techniques, either monolithic or hybrid, is the best choice to improve the system lifetime. Furthermore, at the device level the choice of the device technology also is extremely important to assure reliable operation. Another example is the wireless communication to and from thick metallic enclosures, as for example gear or aisle boxes. In this case, low frequency magnetic coupling can be exploited to exchange kHz-range data through the enclosure metallic walls.

ERC Sector:

  • PE7_6 Communication technology, high-frequency technology

Keywords:

  • Well logging

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