Patent ID: 7508734

Claim:
A method of data transmission in an oil well environment, the oil well having a subterranean wellbore extending from the surface into the earth, the oil well having an acoustic transmission channel along which acoustic signals travel, the method comprising the steps of: providing an acoustic transmitter assembly at a downhole location in the wellbore, providing an acoustic receiver assembly at an uphole location in the wellbore, the transmitter and receiver assemblies spaced apart along an acoustic transmission channel and electrically isolated from one another; sending a transmitted signal, the transmitted signal being an acoustic signal, from the transmitter assembly at one or more chosen frequencies, along the acoustic channel, where it is joined by ambient noise traveling along the acoustic channel, the ambient noise distorting the acoustic signal; sensing the acoustic signal, as distorted, at a series of separate locations by providing a plurality of spaced apart receivers at the receiver assembly, the receivers provided along a length of the acoustic channel at a first and at least one subsequent location, the receivers electrically connected to one another; sensing the acoustic signal as distorted by the ambient noise at the plurality of receivers, the receivers providing corresponding receiver electrical output signals, the electrical output signals corresponding to the received distorted transmitted signal; and combining the receiver electrical output signals to provide a combined receiver signal, the combined receiver signal being less distorted than any one of the receiver electrical output signals.