Decoupled Surface Software Plugins for Faster Drilling Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing oil and gas drilling operations face lengthy downtime due to time-consuming installations or updates of surface software, firmware, and hardware, which are often synchronized in a closed architecture, leading to compatibility issues.
Innovation Solution
A decoupled software computing architecture that modularizes features into independent plugins, maintaining dependency data to enable rapid installation and update of software and firmware components, allowing automated discovery and installation workflows upon hardware connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If surface software, firmware, and hardware are synchronized in a closed architecture, then compatibility between components is ensured, but installation and update processes become time-consuming and result in lengthy non-productive time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the software system into independent plugins that can be individually installed and updated without affecting other components. Each plugin is a self-contained module with specific functionality, allowing selective deployment and updating of only the necessary components rather than requiring full system synchronization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically discovers hardware components and automatically determines which software plugins are needed based on real-time hardware detection. This dynamic approach replaces static, pre-configured software-hardware pairings, enabling the system to adaptively load only required plugins when hardware is connected, reducing installation time while maintaining compatibility through automated dependency resolution.
2Stability of the object's composition
If software components are tightly coupled with hardware in a closed architecture, then system stability is maintained, but adaptability to new hardware or software features is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a hardware abstraction layer that acts as an intermediary between physical hardware and software plugins. This layer provides standardized interfaces and translation mechanisms, allowing diverse hardware to communicate with software through common protocols. The abstraction layer maintains system stability by enforcing interface contracts while enabling adaptability by supporting multiple hardware implementations behind the same interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs universal communication protocols and standardized interfaces that allow a single software plugin to work with multiple different hardware devices. The hardware abstraction layer defines universal interface standards that enable software components to be hardware-agnostic, increasing versatility while maintaining stability through consistent interaction patterns across different device types.
3Reliability
If full system updates are performed to ensure compatibility, then component interoperability is maintained, but productivity is reduced due to extended downtime
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the software update process into independent plugin updates rather than requiring full system updates. Only the specific plugins related to changed or new hardware components are installed or updated, leaving other plugins running unchanged. This segmented approach maintains interoperability for updated components while avoiding unnecessary downtime for the rest of the system, thereby preserving productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary hardware detection and automatically determines the minimal set of plugins required before initiating installation. By pre-identifying needed components and preparing installation packages in advance, the system minimizes the actual update execution time and reduces overall downtime, maintaining productivity while ensuring proper interoperability through targeted updates.
Data Source
AI summary
A computing system executing a surface software application as part of a decoupled software architecture includes detecting that an update is available for a software plugin component of the surface software application. Each software plugin component is associated with a respective feature of the surface software application and in communication with a respective firmware component and a respective hardware component. A dependency matrix mapping compatibilities with plugin components, hardware components, and firmware components is evaluated to determine whether the update is compatible with the respective hardware component. The update is installed upon a determination that the plugin is compatible.