Overview

SIPS 2 (Seismic Integrated Positioning System) is the latest generation seismic source and streamer positioning system from Sonardyne designed to meet the operational requirements of modern survey vessels towing long, dense arrays.

Acoustic transceivers attached to each streamer, air gun and tailbuoy/navbuoy measure ranges between each other and the survey vessel, enabling both the shape of the towed array to be known and the position of the hydrophones, relative to the vessel to be precisely determined.

SIPS 2 is capable of handling large, complicated arrays with a high immunity to noise and bottom bounce. The Digital Signal Processing architecture offers a greater range resolution and allows many more ranges to be collected and processed in a single shot point.

An additional analogue ‘tone-burst’ modulation mode ensures reliable operation in the harshest of acoustic environments, as created by ship’s wakes and gun arrays. To improve the efficiency of streamer deployment and recovery operations, SIPS 2 can be integrated with Sonardyne’s radio frequency asset tracking system.

Features & Benefits

Positioning capacity for up to 20 streamers

Multiple signal modulation modes to suit operating conditions

High immunity to bottom and surface bounce

Long equipment battery life

Proven performance and reliability

Scalable for both small and large arrays

A Typical SIPS 2 System

A typical SIPS 2 system comprises acoustic positioning transceivers attached to the streamer, sources and tailbuoys, transceiver controller rack and a computer running Windows-based software.

XSRS
XSRS’ are streamer-mounted transceivers that measure acoustic ranges to adjacent XSRS’. The units are battery powered and are typically spaced at 100 metre intervals within the front, middle and tail sections of the array. A typical 6 x 8 kilometre long streamer spread, for example, will require 42 XSRS units to derive a position solution with range redundancy.

Each XSRS has 4 receive channels and 1 transmit channel allowing simultaneous ranging between transceivers and the capability to receive 4 of 60 unique digital signals. Range data is transmitted to the vessel via the inductive coils contained within each streamer.

Sound Velocity Option
Also available within the XSRS product range is the Acoustic Sound Velocity XSRS which incorporates a direct reading sound speed sensor. This ‘time of flight’ sensor provides superior accuracy and ease of use compared to the more traditional CTD methods, particularly in areas affected by fresh water and salt water mixing.

HGPS
The Head and Gun Positioning System (HGPS) comprises of shock-mounted acoustic transceivers designed to position the seismic sources and tailbuoys.
The units are able to withstand the hostile environment around airgun and can be supplied with different transducer arrangements to accommodate an operator’s preferred deployment method.

RTS
Where it is not possible to run a communications and power cable between an HGPS or XSRS and its vessel-based controller, a Radio Telemetry System (RTS) is available. This utilises a ruggedised marine radio in a splashproof enclosure to telemeter range data to the survey vessel.

Controller Rack
The Controller Rack is a 19" rack mounted unit that provides the interface between the in-wateracoustic devices and the user’s PC. As the slots of the rack are not designated for a particular board type, it can accommodate a total of 6 Controller Cards of any
combination (XSRS or HGPS).

Each XSRS Controller Card can support up to 4 streamers with a maximum of 30 XSRS transceivers per streamer. Each HGPS/RTS Controller Card can communicate and provide power to 8 transceivers