Patents by Inventor Louis M. Houston

Louis M. Houston has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10216942
    Abstract: When data is stored for a significant amount of time or is transmitted through a noisy environment, it is not uncommon for pieces of that data to be lost or degraded. The disclosed method provides users with a new way of generating and then storing data to provide for easy recovery of said data when pieces of data are lost during storage or during transmission. Unlike the present art, which requires users to store or transmit redundant data, this method does not require redundancy. By removing that redundancy, space-costs of storing data can be reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: University of Louisiana at Lafayette
    Inventor: Louis M. Houston
  • Patent number: 5392213
    Abstract: A method for suppressing or removing coherent noise from seismic or borehole data is disclosed. The method requires horizontal alignment of the traces, comparison of the amplitude, phase and/or shape of neighboring traces, and subtraction of traces from neighboring traces only where the local correlation is high.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 1992
    Date of Patent: February 21, 1995
    Assignee: Exxon Production Research Company
    Inventors: Louis M. Houston, John R. Potter
  • Patent number: 5253219
    Abstract: A data collection and transmission system for gathering high count vertical seismic data is disclosed using a sequence of vertically aligned seismic receivers, the analog outputs from which are sequentially analog sampled and time multiplexed onto a common pair of data conductors in the support and transmission cable. The data is time demultiplexed at the surface and appears substantially as digital data because of the relatively short sampling times. Such data is converted into analog data with conventional digital-to-analog converter means.A clock signal activates counters for establishing non-overlapping data gates in the respective sondes, the operation of the gates supplying the cable with the respective receiver analog signals in a sequence from bottom to top, simultaneously switching off previously gated signals until a clock reset pulse resets the entire sonde string.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 12, 1993
    Assignee: Exxon Production Research Company
    Inventors: Louis M. Houston, Dennis E. Willen, James A. Rice, Roel Arevalo
  • Patent number: 5124956
    Abstract: A geophone configuration is disclosed that includes an elongated extension or spike that couples with the soil in the hole made by the spike in the region near the end of the spike without hard or firm coupling with the soil above that region. A bow spring or drill bit larger in diameter than the diameter of the spike can be used for achieving predominant contact for the coupled region compared to soil opposite the remainder of the spike. Alternately, a weighted tip can be employed to achieve relative superior coupling by weight compared with the less heavy region of the spike above such weighted tip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 1991
    Date of Patent: June 23, 1992
    Assignee: Exxon Production Research Company
    Inventors: James A. Rice, Louis M. Houston, Roel Arevalo
  • Patent number: 5105391
    Abstract: A method for high-resolution seismic recording with increased bandwidth using detectors planted at shallow depths below the earth's surface. In one embodiment, an optimum depth where the amplitudes of high frequency signals increase relative to that of the noise during high-resolution recording is determined, geophones are then planted at that optimum depth and signals are recorded at that depth. To find this optimum depth, detectors are planted at various depths below the earth's surface in order to record the signals at those various depths. The frequency spectra for each detected signal is generated and a velocity profile of the depths covered by the detectors is also generated from the signals. The bandwidth of the frequency spectra and the velocity profile are used to determine a depth for planting the detectors that is closer to the earth's surface than the depths previously considered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 1990
    Date of Patent: April 14, 1992
    Assignee: Exxon Production Research Company
    Inventors: James A. Rice, Christine E. Krohn, Louis M. Houston