Downhole Tool with Integrated Circuit

Abstract

A downhole tool has a tubular body with an end, an exterior wall, and a bore. A mating surface is formed intermediate the exterior wall and the bore in the end of the tubular body. The mating surface is adapted to couple to a second downhole tool and has an integrated circuit. In several embodiments, the integrated circuit is an RFID circuit in communication with a downhole network through an inductive coupler. A tool identification system has surface equipment with RFID interrogating circuitry connected to a protected integrated RFID circuit in a downhole tool string component through a downhole network. A method for identifying a tool in a downhole tool string includes transmitting signals between surface equipment and identification circuitry in the tool through the downhole network.

1 . A downhole tool comprising: 
 a tubular body having an end, an exterior wall, and a bore; and    a mating surface formed intermediate the exterior wall and the bore in the end of the tubular body;    wherein the mating surface is adapted to receive an integrated circuit and to couple to a second downhole tool.    
     
     
         2 . The downhole tool of  claim 1 , wherein the integrated circuit is disposed within a recess formed in the mating surface.  
     
     
         3 . The downhole tool of  claim 2 , wherein the recess is a groove.  
     
     
         4 . The downhole tool of  claim 2 , wherein the mating surface is a shoulder.  
     
     
         5 . The downhole tool of  claim 2 , comprising a plurality of mating surfaces having recesses in the end of the tubular body and a plurality of integrated circuits disposed within the recesses.  
     
     
         6 . The downhole tool of  claim 2 , wherein the integrated circuit is encapsulated in a protective material.  
     
     
         7 . The downhole tool of  claim 6 , wherein the protective material substantially conforms to the dimensions of the recess.  
     
     
         8 . The downhole tool of  claim 1 , wherein the mating surface is adapted to receive a plurality of integrated circuits.  
     
     
         9 . The downhole tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a power source for the integrated circuit.  
     
     
         10 . The downhole tool of  claim 1 , wherein the integrated circuit comprises passive circuitry.  
     
     
         11 . The downhole tool of  claim 1 , wherein the integrated circuit comprises radio frequency identification (RFID) circuitry.  
     
     
         12 . A downhole tool comprising: 
 a tubular body comprising an end having a shoulder;    an inductive coupler disposed within a groove in the shoulder; and    an integrated radio frequency identification (RFID) circuit also disposed within the groove;    wherein the inductive coupler and the integrated circuit are in electromagnetic communication.    
     
     
         13 . The downhole tool of  claim 12 , wherein the downhole tool is in communication with a downhole network through the inductive coupler.  
     
     
         14 . The downhole tool of  claim 12 , further comprising a direct electrical connection between the integrated circuit and the inductive coupler.  
     
     
         15 . The downhole tool of  claim 14 , wherein the inductive coupler acts as an external antenna for the RFID circuit.  
     
     
         16 . The downhole tool of  claim 12 , wherein the integrated circuit is in communication with surface equipment through the inductive coupler.  
     
     
         17 . The downhole tool of  claim 12 , wherein the inductive coupler and the integrated circuit are encapsulated in a protective material.  
     
     
         18 . The downhole tool of  claim 12 , wherein the inductive coupler comprises an electrically conducting coil lying in a magnetically conductive electrically insulating trough.  
     
     
         19 . The downhole tool of  claim 12 , wherein the RFID circuitry is selected from the group consisting of active RFID tags, passive RFID tags, low-frequency RFID circuitry, high-frequency RFID circuitry, ultra-high frequency RFID circuitry, and combinations thereof.  
     
     
         20 . A tool identification system comprising: 
 surface equipment comprising radio frequency identification (RFID) interrogating circuitry;    a downhole tool comprising a protected integrated RFID circuit;    wherein the RFID interrogating circuitry and the protected integrated RFID circuit are in electromagnetic communication through a downhole network.    
     
     
         21 . The tool identification system of  claim 20 , wherein the protected integrated RFID circuit comprises a first electrical connection to a data coupler in the downhole tool and a second electrical connection to ground.  
     
     
         22 . The tool identification system of  claim 21 , wherein the data coupler is selected from the group consisting of inductive couplers, direct electrical couplers, and combinations thereof.  
     
     
         23 . The tool identification system of  claim 21 , wherein the protected integrated RFID circuit is disposed between the data coupler and a data transmission cable.  
     
     
         24 . The tool identification system of  claim 22 , wherein the first electrical connection is in electrical communication with an inner conductor of the data transmission cable.  
     
     
         25 . The tool identification system of  claim 21 , wherein the second electrical connection is in electrical communication with an outer conductor of a data transmission cable.  
     
     
         26 . A method for identifying a downhole tool in a tool string comprising: 
 transmitting an interrogating signal from surface equipment to the downhole tool through a downhole network;    receiving the interrogating signal in identification circuitry disposed within a shoulder of the downhole tool;    transmitting an identification signal modulated with identification data from the identification circuitry to the surface equipment through the downhole network;    demodulating the identification data from the identification signal to identify the downhole tool.    
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the identification circuitry comprises RFID circuitry.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the interrogating signal is transmitted at a frequency of about 13.56 MHz.  
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising the step of comparing the identification data with a database record.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the identification data is a serial number.