Patent ID: 8559272

Claim:
An acoustic logging while drilling tool, comprising: a logging while drilling tool body including at least one blade; an acoustic transmitter configured to transmit an acoustic waveform into a subterranean formation; a linear array of acoustic receivers including a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart acoustic receivers, the acoustic receivers configured to receive said transmitted acoustic waveform, the linear array being longitudinally spaced apart from the acoustic transmitter; wherein at least one of the acoustic transmitter and the linear array of acoustic receivers is deployed on the blade; and wherein the linear array of acoustic receivers comprises at least first and second subarrays each of which includes a plurality of said acoustic receivers, at least a portion of the second subarray being interleaved with at least a portion of the first subarray so as to define an interarray distance that is less than one-half the spacing between consecutive receivers in the first subarray.