Inductively coupled data and power transfer system and apparatus

Abstract

The present invention provides a system and apparatus for transferring electronic data and / or power from one station to another by means of a transportable pod comprising a solid state memory device and further provided with an inductively linked, electrically insulated connector. The transportable pod comprises a battery which is used to power a remote host docking station, which may be used in an underwater environment for the collection of subsea data. The transportable pod can be transferred alternately from a home docking station, where it is charged up, and where it's stored data is uploaded and to a remote host docking station where is provides power, and where it collects and stores data collected by the remote host docking station.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of GB 0823436.1 filed Dec. 23, 2008, entitled Inductively Coupled Memory Transfer System, by Mark Rhodes and Brendan Hyland, which application is fully incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF USE[0002]The present invention relates to a system for transferring electronic data and / or power from one station to another by means of a transportable unit provided with a solid state memory device a portable energy source and an inductively coupled, electrically insulated connector.BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION[0003]Universal Serial Bus (USB) “memory sticks” have become an extremely convenient and practical method of transferring electronic data between computer systems. Recently the capacity supported by these small transportable devices has increased to many tens of Gigabytes and no doubt will continue to expand further over time. These devices typically consist of a USB interface device which supports several...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0028]According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a remote host docking station comprising multiple inductively coupled connectors each of which are pre-loaded with transportable pods, and system control circuitry which can detach a spent pod after its deployment period and which can switch to a fresh pod for data and power transfer to allow data collection without the need for a system to replace memory pods.

Problems solved by technology

Contamination of the electrically conductive terminals is another failure mechanism of the USB memory stick connector.

The connector relies on metal to metal conductive contact and this can fail due to contamination with insulating material, which prevents conductive contact, or contamination with conductive material, which can introduce a short circuit between adjacent pins.

Electrical connections are a challenging aspect of underwater electrical system design; the standard implementation of an electrical connector includes terminals or pins which make conductive electrical contact with each other.

Such terminals and pins are subject to corrosion and contamination; corrosion of the terminals produces poor or intermittent contact and failure of the connector.

Thus, wet mating connections present even greater challenges to overcome since water must be expelled from the conductive contacts during mating and since care must be taken to ensure an electrical signal is not applied to the connector while the contacts are exposed to the water and before the connection is made.

This requirement can be problematic in underwater applications, particularly where the connection point is not readily accessible by an operator such as when a connection is established by an autonomous system deep in the ocean.

The drawbacks of installing such a wired seismic motoring network are the cost of network deployment and the cost of maintenance thereof.

Images