Patent ID: 8619497

Claim:
A method for generating an excitation signal for a first vibratory seismic source so that the first vibratory seismic source is driven with no listening time, the method comprising: determining a first target spectrum for the first vibratory seismic source; setting a first group of constraints for the first vibratory seismic source; and generating a first excitation signal for the first vibratory seismic source based on the first group of constraints and the first target spectrum, wherein the step of generating comprises, generating a first pseudorandom sequence in the time-frequency domain, applying a fast Fourier transform to the first pseudorandom sequence to obtain a first Fourier transform pseudorandom sequence, convolving the first Fourier transform pseudorandom sequence with one or more constraint reciprocal filters to obtain corresponding constraint signals (LD, LC, LV), wherein the one or more constraint reciprocal filters corresponds to a constraint that is a member of the first group of constraints, rescaling the first Fourier transform pseudorandom sequence based on the constraint signals, and applying an inverse fast Fourier transform to the rescaled first Fourier transform pseudorandom sequence to create the first excitation signal, and wherein first seismic traces recorded with plural receivers can be identified when the first vibratory seismic source is driven with no listening time, based on the first excitation signal.