Patents by Inventor Thomas E. Shirley

Thomas E. Shirley 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).

  • Publication number: 20030140339
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for maintaining service interoperability in a communications network during software replacement in a component of the communications network having a cluster of devices. The method and apparatus generally involve the use of a name service in the devices to control the binding of client applications requesting logically de-centralized services to corresponding local services on the devices operating under the same software version. The name services utilize a database or registry of information relating to the logically de-centralized local services and logically centralized global services to determine the appropriate local or global service to which to bind the requesting client application. The database or registry may include information indicating the software release under which a local service is operating for use in binding the requesting client application to the appropriate local service.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 18, 2002
    Publication date: July 24, 2003
    Inventors: Thomas E. Shirley, Brian J. Moore, Paul D. Steinberg
  • Publication number: 20030092438
    Abstract: A method of ensuring stability of wireless communications that are in danger of suffering a service disconnect due to a processor software upgrade or downgrade. The method includes the use of a control block which contains the version number of the application operating on both the primary and secondary processors. The primary controller writes state data to its control block and a checkpointing service replicates the data to the control block of the updated secondary processor. The control block coordinates appropriate version format conversions and allows the secondary processor to read the saved state data and assume control of the wireless communications with little or no loss of service.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2001
    Publication date: May 15, 2003
    Inventors: Brian J. Moore, Thomas E. Shirley, Kevin Kruse, Thomas J. Weiss
  • Patent number: 5191526
    Abstract: Method for removing coherent noise from a series of seismic traces. Each seismic trace included in the series is Fast Fourier Transformed into the frequency domain. For each frequency of the resultant f-x representation, a series of N complex numbers, one corresponding to each trace, is selected. The selected series of complex numbers corresponding to each frequency are processed to produce autoregressive model coefficients from which a polynomial rooting provides complex roots related to wavenumbers and decay constants. Amplitudes and phases for complex non-stationary spatial sinusoids associated with the estimated wavenumbers are then determined. For all frequencies f, the collection of determined wavenumbers, decay constants, amplitudes and phases constitute an f-k representation of the seismic traces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 1990
    Date of Patent: March 2, 1993
    Assignee: Mobil Oil Corporation
    Inventors: Stanley J. Laster, Robert A. Meek, Thomas E. Shirley
  • Patent number: 5010526
    Abstract: An improved method for filtering noise bands from seismic data is described. The data is analyzed to determine the frequency component of the undesired noise, and a precise autocorrelation function is generated and used to design a filter to remove the undesired frequency component from the data. The filter can be band pass, band reject, notch, low pass, or high pass, and multiple bands of noise can be removed from the seismic data in a single filtering operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 1990
    Date of Patent: April 23, 1991
    Assignee: Mobil Oil Corporation
    Inventors: Andrew F. Linville, Jr., Thomas E. Shirley
  • Patent number: 4953139
    Abstract: A seismic record is enhanced through trace restoration and extrapolation. A set of traces surrounding a missing trace or adjacent an edge of the seismic record are transformed into the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform. Each frequency of the resultant x-f representation a series of complex numbers, one corresponding to each trace, is selected. Autoregressive model coefficients are estimated for this complex series using a recursive least squares method. A complex number is estimated for trace restoration and extrapolation from the series of complex numbers and autoregressive coefficients. After all frequency components are thus processed restored or extrapolated traces are obtained by an inverse Fourier transform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 1990
    Date of Patent: August 28, 1990
    Assignee: Mobil Oil Corporation
    Inventors: Stanley J. Laster, Robert A. Meek, Thomas E. Shirley
  • Patent number: 4887244
    Abstract: Method of interpolating additional seismic traces between existing seismic traces obtained during the exploration of a subsurface formation. Seismic traces are recorded upon a datum surface in accordance with standard seismic data acquistion methods. Forward and backward wave equation datuming of the data set at the same velocity estimates new measurements for originally acquired data deemed unsatisfactory by propagating measured seismic traces to a fictitious datum plane using wave theory to create a second set of seismic traces and datuming the second set of seismic traces, again using wave theory, back to the original datum plane to create a third set of seismic traces. The third set of seismic traces will include new seismic traces to be used in place of the originally acquired unsatisfactory data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 1988
    Date of Patent: December 12, 1989
    Assignee: Mobil Oil Corporation
    Inventors: Mark E. Willis, Rambabu P. Ranganayaki, Thomas E. Shirley, Stan Y. C. Lee
  • Patent number: 4884248
    Abstract: Method for restoring seismic data to missing or severely noise contaminated traces included in a seismic section. The seismic section is transformed into a data localizing space and muted to retain only the localized data components of the seismic section. The muted transform space is inverse-transformed into the x-t domain to produce first estimates of the seismic data to be restored. The first estimates of the restored data are substituted for the corresponding traces in the original seismic section. Fully restored traces corresponding to the missing or severly noise contaminated traces are determined from the single estimate of the restored traces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 1989
    Date of Patent: November 28, 1989
    Assignee: Mobil Oil Corporation
    Inventors: Stanley J. Laster, Robert A. Meek, Thomas E. Shirley
  • Patent number: 4860265
    Abstract: Method of restoring null traces in seismic records. The seismic record is transformed from the x-t domain to the f-k domain by a series of fast Fourier transforms. The f-k transform of the seismic record is filtered to retain only coherent events and the filtered f-k transform is inverse-transformed back to the x-t domain. A first determination of the restored trace corresponding to the null trace is selected and substituted for the null trace. The first determination of the restored trace is used to determine a fully restored trace.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 1988
    Date of Patent: August 22, 1989
    Assignee: Mobil Oil Corporation
    Inventors: Stanley J. Laster, Robert A. Meek, Thomas E. Shirley
  • Patent number: 4853903
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for removing sinusoidal noise from seismic traces comprised of a seismic data component and a sinusoidal noise component. Seismic traces acquired by conventional seismic exploration of a subsurface formation are utilized to produce a frequency domain amplitude spectrum of the traces. The amplitude spectrum is analyzed to determine a line frequency equivalent to the sinusoidal noise frequency to be removed. A filter order N (number of filter weights) is selected and the exact autocorrelation function of the selected sinusoidal frequency is determined for lags 0, 1, . . . , N-1. An autocorrelation matrix is produced utilizing the determined autocorrelation values and predictive deconvolution techniques are applied to the autocorrelation matrix to produce a convolutional filter which will remove sinusoidal noise at the determined frequency while leaving other frequencies minimally attenuated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 1988
    Date of Patent: August 1, 1989
    Assignee: Mobil Oil Corporation
    Inventors: Andrew F. Linville, Jr., Thomas E. Shirley, Paul G. Griffith
  • Patent number: 4616349
    Abstract: An analog-to-digital converter for use in seismic data processing applications is disclosed which features variants on delta modulation and delta-sigma modulation methods. A series of single bits is output by an analog-to-digital converter based on comparison of a predicted analog signal with the actual analog signal. A low pass filter and subsampling operation is applied to the output digital bits to provide digital words corresponding to the analog signal amplitude. Plural integrator stages are shown which allow reduction of quantization error.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 1982
    Date of Patent: October 7, 1986
    Assignee: Mobil Oil Corporation
    Inventor: Thomas E. Shirley