Patent Application
20240168192
Geophysical surveys are often used for oil and gas exploration in geophysical formations, which may be located below marine environments. Various types of signal sources and geophysical sensors may be used in different types of geophysical surveys. Seismic geophysical surveys, for example, are based on the use of acoustic waves. Electromagnetic geophysical surveys, as another example, are based on the use of electromagnetic waves. In marine geophysical surveys, a survey vessel may tow one or more sources (e.g., air guns, marine vibrators, electromagnetic sources, etc.) and one or more streamers along which a number of sensors (e.g., hydrophones and/or geophones and/or electromagnetic sensors) are located.
During the course of a geophysical survey, the various sensors may collect data indicative of geological structures, which may be analyzed, e.g., to determine the possible locations of hydrocarbon deposits. In 4D surveying techniques, surveys may be performed at a given location at different times, e.g., to determine changes to hydrocarbon deposits.
This specification includes references to various embodiments, to indicate that the present disclosure is not intended to refer to one particular implementation, but rather a range of embodiments that fall within the spirit of the present disclosure, including the appended claims. Particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner consistent with this disclosure.
Within this disclosure, different entities (which may variously be referred to as “units,” “circuits,” other components, etc.) may be described or claimed as “configured” to perform one or more tasks or operations. This formulation—[entity] configured to [perform one or more tasks]—is used herein to refer to structure (i.e., something physical, such as an electronic circuit). More specifically, this formulation is used to indicate that this structure is arranged to perform the one or more tasks during operation. A structure can be said to be “configured to” perform some task even if the structure is not currently being operated. An “apparatus configured to steer a streamer” is intended to cover, for example, a module that performs this function during operation, even if the corresponding device is not currently being used (e.g., when its battery is not connected to it). Thus, an entity described or recited as “configured to” perform some task refers to something physical, such as a device, circuit, memory storing program instructions executable to implement the task, etc. This phrase is not used herein to refer to something intangible.
The term “configured to” is not intended to mean “configurable to.” An unprogrammed mobile computing device, for example, would not be considered to be “configured to” perform some specific function, although it may be “configurable to” perform that function. After appropriate programming, the mobile computing device may then be configured to perform that function.
Reciting in the appended claims that a structure is “configured to” perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) for that claim element. Should Applicant wish to invoke Section 112(f), Applicant will recite claim elements using the “means for” [performing a function] construct.
As used herein, the term “based on” is used to describe one or more factors that affect a determination. This term does not foreclose the possibility that additional factors may affect the determination. That is, a determination may be solely based on specified factors or based on the specified factors as well as other, unspecified factors. Consider the phrase “determine A based on B.” This phrase specifies that B is a factor used to determine A or that affects the determination of A. This phrase does not foreclose that the determination of A may also be based on some other factor, such as C. This phrase is also intended to cover an embodiment in which A is determined based solely on B. As used herein, the phrase “based on” is synonymous with the phrase “based at least in part on.”
Referring to
In some embodiments, streamers 20 may include sensors 22 (e.g., hydrophones, geophones, electromagnetic sensors, etc.). In other embodiments, streamers 20 may further include streamer steering devices 24 (also referred to as “birds”) which may provide selected lateral and/or vertical forces to streamers 20 as they are towed through the water, typically based on wings or hydrofoils that provide hydrodynamic lift. In some embodiments, streamers 20 may further include tail buoys (not shown) at their respective back ends.
In some embodiments, survey vessel 10 may include equipment, shown generally at 12 and for convenience collectively referred to as a “recording system.” In some embodiments, recording system 12 may include devices such as a data recording unit (not shown separately) for making a record of signals generated by various geophysical sensors. Recording system 12 may also include navigation equipment (not shown separately), which may be configured to control, determine, and record the geodetic positions of: survey vessel 10, sources 32, streamers 20, sensors 22, etc., according to some embodiments. In the illustrated embodiment, streamers 20 are coupled to survey vessel 10 via cables 18.
In the figure, an xy-plane 40 is shown of the Cartesian coordinate system having three orthogonal, spatial coordinate axes labeled x, y and z. The coordinate system is used to specify orientations and coordinate locations within the body of water 11. The x-direction is parallel to the length of the streamer (or a specified portion thereof when the length of the streamer is curved) and/or the tow direction and is referred to as the “in-line” direction. The y-direction is perpendicular to the x-axis and substantially parallel to the surface of the body of water 11 and is referred to as the cross-line direction. The z-direction is perpendicular to the xy-plane (i.e., perpendicular to the surface of the body of water 11) with the positive z-direction pointing downward away from the surface of the body of water.
Collectively, the survey data that is recorded by recording system 12 may be referred to as “marine survey input data”, according to some embodiments. In embodiments where the survey being performed is a seismic survey, the recorded data may be more specifically referred to as “marine survey seismic data,” although the marine survey input data may encompass survey data generated by other techniques. In various embodiments, the marine survey input data may not necessarily include every observation captured by sensors 22 (e.g., the raw sensor data may be filtered before it is recorded). Also, in some embodiments, the marine survey input data may include data that is not necessarily indicative of subsurface geology, but may nevertheless be relevant to the circumstances in which the survey was conducted (e.g., environmental data such as water temperature, water current direction and/or speed, salinity, etc.). In some embodiments, geodetic position (or “position”) of the various elements of system 100 may be determined using various devices, including navigation equipment such as relative acoustic ranging units and/or global navigation satellite systems (e.g., a global positioning system (or “GPS”)).
Various data items relating to geophysical surveying (e.g., raw data collected by sensors and/or marine survey input data generally, or products derived therefrom by the use of post-collection processing such as the techniques discussed below, to the extent these differ in various embodiments), may be embodied in a “geophysical data product.” A geophysical data product may comprise a computer-readable, non-transitory medium having geophysical data stored on the medium, including, e.g., raw streamer data, processed streamer data, two- or three-dimensional maps based on streamer data, or other suitable representations. Some non-limiting examples of computer-readable media may include tape reels, hard drives, CDs, DVDs, flash memory, print-outs, etc., although any tangible computer-readable medium may be employed to create the geophysical data product. In some embodiments, raw analog data from streamers may be stored in the computer-readable media. In other instances, as noted above, the data may first be digitized and/or conditioned prior to being stored in the computer-readable medium. In yet other instances, the data may be fully processed into a two- or three-dimensional map of the various geophysical structures, or another suitable representation, before being stored in the computer-readable medium. The geophysical data product may be manufactured during the course of a survey (e.g., by equipment on a vessel) and then, in some instances, transferred to another location for geophysical analysis, although analysis of the geophysical data product may occur contemporaneously with survey data collection. In other instances, the geophysical data product may be manufactured subsequent to survey completion, e.g., during the course of analysis of the survey.
Traditionally, marine surveys have been performed with nominally uniform spacing between consecutive shot points for a given seismic energy source. Dithering actual shot points relative to nominal spacing, however, may facilitate improvements to deblending procedures that separate signals originating from different sources. In disclosed embodiments, dither values for consecutive shot points are randomly generated subject to one or more constraints. In some embodiments, recorded signals from surveys performed according to disclosed dither values may require less processing to de-blend, or provide better de-blending results, relative to surveys performed using dither values generated by other means.
In the illustrated embodiment, the nominal shot points for each source are equally spaced in both time and distance, while the distances between actual shot points for each source may differ depending on the dither values for the corresponding shots. As used herein, the difference between the dither values for consecutive shot points for a given source or among a set of sources may be referred to as a “dither difference.” Note that the distance between consecutive actual shot points may reflect this dither difference (e.g., may be determined as the sum of the nominal shot point interval and the dither difference). Note that dither differences may be determined for consecutive shots among various sets of sources. For example, in some embodiments, dither differences are considered for a single source (e.g., shots #1 and #4 of
In various embodiments, dither values, dither differences, distances between shot points, etc. may be measured using units of time and/or distance. Specific examples discussed herein (e.g., discussing dither differences in units of time with reference to
In some embodiments, constraints are applied when determining dither values for a survey. The constraints applied for dither values may include one or more of the following: a predetermined threshold absolute dither difference (e.g., the absolute value of the difference in dither values must be greater than the threshold), a non-duplication constraint for dither differences (e.g., among a set of dither values, at most a threshold number of dither differences between consecutive shots may fall within a given discrete range), and a predetermined standard deviation threshold for dither differences (e.g., the standard deviation for differences in dither values between consecutive shot points must be greater than a predetermined threshold value). Note that various dither constraints discussed herein may be utilized along or in combination with other constraints. Examples of shot points following multiple constraints are discussed below with reference to
For the threshold dither difference constraint, referring again to
For the non-duplication constraint, among a set of dither values, the constraint may specify that at most a threshold number of dither differences between consecutive shots may fall within a given discrete range.
For the standard deviation constraint, among a set of shot points, the constraint may specify that the dither differences must have a standard deviation greater than a threshold value. In some embodiments, this may improve the distribution of differences in dither values, which in turn may facilitate improvements to de-blending in processing recorded signals.
At 414, in the illustrated embodiment, a set of discrete ranges for differences between dither values for consecutive shot points is determined. For example, four discrete 100 ms ranges may include a first range of differences between dither values of 0-25 ms, a second range of 25-50 ms, a third range of 50-75 ms, and a fourth range of 75-100 ms. In some embodiments, at most a threshold number of dither differences (e.g., at most one) for the selected number of dither values are allowed to fall within each discrete range. Continuing the example above, for four dither values for consecutive shots, at most one difference between dither values for consecutive shot points may fall in the first range 0-25 ms. Example ranges are discussed in further detail below with reference to
At 416, a random dither value for shot N is selected (N indicates the current shot for which a dither value is being generated; the process may iterate through the selected number of dither values). The value may be specified in units of time or distance, for example. The random selection may be performed subject to a constraint that specifies a minimum difference in dither values between consecutive shot points, as shown. In some embodiments, the selection of a random dither value is performed from within some predefined range of a nominal shot point location. For example, dither values may be randomly generated within a 1000 millisecond (ms) time interval following the nominal shot point for shot N. In other embodiments, dithers may be allowed within intervals of various sizes and may fall on both sides of a nominal shot point, for example.
As used herein, the term “random” refers to values that satisfy one or more statistical tests for randomness. In some embodiments, the values are produced using a definite mathematical process, e.g., based on one or more seed values, which may be stored or generated by a computing system. The process for generating random values may ensure a particular distribution over the generated values. It is therefore to be understood that the term “random,” as used herein, includes both pseudo-random techniques and truly random techniques. As one example, for a given range of potential dither values, a process may be considered random if it has a threshold level of unpredictability in selecting dither values within the range. In some embodiments, the values are produced using quasi-random techniques, which includes generating random values subject to one or more distribution constraints. For example, the applied distribution may require a certain spread among randomly generated values.
At 418, the difference between the dither value of the previous shot and the dither value of the current shot is determined. These dither values may be for the same source or for different sources in a set of sources. In some embodiments, this difference is determined using the equation dither of shot[N]−dither of shot[N−1], wherein shot[N−1] is the dither of the immediately previous shot to shot[N]. Note that the sum of the determined difference and the nominal spacing between consecutive shot points corresponds to the difference between actual consecutive shot points. For example, if the nominal spacing between shot points is 5000 ms and the determined dither difference between two shots is 100 ms, then the actual distance between these two shots is 5100 ms.
At decision element 420, a determination is made whether a previously-selected dither difference already falls in the same discrete range. For example, consider an implementation where the ranges are 100 ms (e.g., 100-200 ms, 200-300 ms, 300-400 ms and so on), and a previous dither difference was 224 ms. In this example, a dither difference of 265 ms for the current shot point would not be acceptable because a previous dither difference already fell within the same range (200-300 ms). In the illustrated embodiment, if the range already contains a dither difference, the computing device discards the dither value at element 422 and proceeds to determine a new dither value for the current shot point by returning to element 416. In the illustrated embodiment, if the range is not already occupied, the computing device keeps (e.g., stores) the dither value selected at element 416.
At decision element 426, a determination is made whether the selected number of dither values to be generated for the set of shots has been reached. In the illustrated embodiment, if the selected number of shots has been reached, the process ends at element 428. In the illustrated embodiment, if the selected number of shots has not been reached, the process returns to element 416.
At 452, in the illustrated embodiment, a number of dither values to be generated for a set of shots is selected. For example, the selected number of dither values to be generated may be 1000.
At 454, a number of shots for the set of shots is determined. For example, the set of shots may be determined to include 10 shots. At 456 dither values for each shot in the set of shots are generated. For example, a set of 10 dither values may be generated for a set of 10 shots.
At 458 a statistical value for differences between the dither values for the set of shots is determined. In some embodiments, the statistical value is a standard deviation value for dither differences among the set of shots. In other embodiments, other statistical values may be used.
At 460 it is determined whether the determined statistical value equals or exceeds a threshold. For example, the threshold may be a minimum standard deviation value. If the threshold has been met, the flow proceeds to 464 where the dither values for the set of shots are kept. If the predetermined threshold has not been met, the flow proceeds to 462 where the dither values are discarded.
At 466 it is determined whether the selected number of dither values has been reached. If the number of dither values has been reached, the flow ends at 468. If the number of dither values has not been reached, the flow returns to 456 where the process is repeated. In other embodiments, any of various techniques for ending the procedure may be used, e.g., when a threshold number of sets that meet the predetermined threshold have been found.
In the illustrated embodiment, the distance between shots (e.g., between shots 2 and 3 as shown by the upper bracket in
In the illustrated embodiment, an applied constraint dictates that no non-duplicate dither differences, among a set of consecutive shot points, may occur within the same discrete range (e.g., within range 510, 512, 514, or 516). In the illustrated embodiment, the dither difference for shots 5 and 6 is acceptable, according to the applied constraint, because it falls in range 516 which is not occupied by another dithered shot point (assuming this range is not used by the shot points not explicitly shown).
In the illustrated embodiment, assuming the dither difference between shots 2 and 3 has already been assigned, the dither difference for shots 8 and 9 is not acceptable because it falls in the same range 514, according to the applied constraint. This may cause a tentative dither value for shot 9 to be discarded at element 465 of
Referring again to
As shown, each of the differences between consecutive dithers within the set of shot points falls within a distinct one of the 100 ms ranges for the set of 10 example shot points. In some embodiments, this technique is one specific way to achieve a desired standard deviation for dither differences for the set of shot points (although other techniques may be used to achieve desired standard deviation, in other embodiments). As one example of an alternative technique for achieving a desired standard deviation, in some embodiments multiple sets of dither values are randomly generated for a given survey, and only one or more sets that meet a standard deviation constraint for sets of shot points are actually selected for use in the survey. Note that a threshold absolute dither difference constraint may also be applied to each set for this random generation of multiple sets of dither values.
The difference between dither values for two consecutive shots in a survey may be calculated using various different techniques. As a first technique, the dither value for a first shot may be subtracted from the dither value of a second consecutive shot. As a second technique, the actual shot position for the first shot and the nominal distance between shots may be subtracted from the actual shot position of the second consecutive shot to achieve an equivalent result. Note that the dither values and shot positions may be specified in units of distance or time. The relationship between dither duration and distance may be based on the velocity of the sources relative to the ground. Various other types of calculations may also be performed to determine dither difference.
In some embodiments, multiple dither value tables (e.g., sets of dither values) are generated according to one or more of the constraints discussed above. Note that one or more of these dither value tables may be generated or selected based on a survey vessel velocity (e.g., a current velocity or a planned future velocity). A planned survey vessel velocity may be determined before or during the actual seismic survey. In other embodiments, multiple dither value tables are selected and used during the course of an actual seismic survey (e.g., when the vessel velocity varies for different portions of a survey pass).
Exemplary Plots with Dithering Constraints
In the example of
In
In the illustrated example, the dither difference constraint is subject to the same threshold (e.g., 50 ms) as in
In the illustrated example, this constraint specifies that there are no repeated/duplicate dither differences in discrete 100 ms ranges for 23 consecutive shot points. Said another way, in the illustrated example, for sets of 23 shot points there may only be one shot point within each 100 ms range. In some embodiments, application of one or more of the disclosed constraints may improve deblending performance during seismic imaging based on measured sensor data. For example, the disclosed techniques may avoid small differences in dither values and similar differences in dither values among shot points from a set of sources. The measured sensor data from a range of dither difference values may facilitate deblending relative to sensor data where dither differences overlap. In some embodiments, this may advantageously improve imaging performance and/or improve image accuracy.
In the example of
At 1110, in the illustrated embodiment, a survey vessel tows, in a body of water, a set of one or more marine seismic energy sources.
At 1120, in the illustrated embodiment, the survey vessel activates at least one of the marine seismic energy sources at a set of different locations, where the locations are based on dither values relative to nominal activation locations and where, for a set of discrete ranges corresponding to potential differences between dither values for consecutive locations, at most a threshold number of differences between dither values for consecutive locations fall in respective ones of the discrete ranges. In some embodiments, the threshold number of differences between dither values for consecutive locations is one.
At 1130, in the illustrated embodiment, the survey vessel records signals, using a plurality of seismic sensors, that are reflected from one or more geological structures in response to the activation of the marine seismic energy source.
In some embodiments, the absolute differences between dither values for consecutive locations in the set of locations meet a threshold value. In some embodiments, the computing device selects a set of dither values from among a plurality of available sets of dither values based on a velocity of the set of marine seismic energy sources relative to the ground. In some embodiments, ones of the available sets of dither values have at most a threshold number of differences between consecutive dither values within different sizes of discrete ranges. In some embodiments, the survey vessel stores the recorded signals on a tangible, computer-readable medium, thereby completing the manufacture of a geophysical data product.
At 1210, in the illustrated embodiment, a computing device determines a set of nominal shot points for set of one or more a marine seismic energy sources, wherein the nominal shot points are positioned along a planned sail line of the one or more seismic energy sources for a seismic survey.
At 1220, in the illustrated embodiment, the computing device determines a set of discrete ranges corresponding to potential differences between dither values for nominal shot points.
At 1230, in the illustrated embodiment, the computing device determines dither values for ones of the nominal shot points.
At 1240, in the illustrated embodiment, the computing device randomly generates dither values for shots in the set of nominal shot points, according to a constraint that at most a threshold number of differences between dither values for consecutive shot points fall in respective ones of the discrete ranges.
In some embodiments, the threshold number of differences between dither values for consecutive locations is one. In some embodiments, the computing device randomly generates dither values subject to a constraint that absolute differences between dither values for consecutive shot points are greater than a threshold value.
In some embodiments, the computing device determines the threshold value for the absolute differences between dither values for consecutive shot points based on a threshold signal frequency to be emitted by the set of one or more seismic energy sources. In some embodiments, the computing device generates a plurality of dither tables with different sizes of discrete ranges, where the plurality of dither tables are configured for different source velocities over the ground. In some embodiments, the computing device selects one or more of the generated dither tables based on a planned velocity within one or more survey passes of the seismic survey. In surveys with multiple sources, different sources may use the same table of dither values or different tables of dither values during operation.
In various embodiments, element 1230 alone, in combination with the other operations of
At 1240, in the illustrated embodiment, the computing device determines actual shot points for the planned sail line based on application of the determined dither values to the nominal shot points.
Note that, in some embodiments, a planned velocity for the sources is determined prior to performing the survey (e.g., planned on a computing device at a time prior to when the survey is performed). In other embodiment, the planned velocity for the survey vessel is a dynamic planned velocity, where the velocity is determined while the survey is being performed (e.g., during the survey).
As discussed above, the disclosed techniques may facilitate a de-blending procedure which may improve seismic imaging. Note, however, that facilitating a separate de-blending procedure does not require actually performing the de-blending procedure. For example, actual shot points for a sail line may be determined without performing the de-blending procedure for recorded signals. In some scenarios, however, the same entity may both determine actual shot points from the determined dither values and also perform the de-blending procedure for the survey.
Various operations described herein may be implemented by a computing device configured to execute program instructions that specify the operations. Similarly, various operations may be performed by circuitry designed or configured to perform the operations. In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable medium has program instructions stored thereon that are capable of causing various operations described herein. As used herein, the term “processor,” “processing unit,” or “processing element” refers to various elements or combinations of elements configured to execute program instructions. Processing elements include, for example, circuits such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), custom processing circuits or gate arrays, portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, individual processors, programmable hardware devices such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or the like, and/or larger portions of systems that include multiple processors, as well as any combinations thereof.
Turning now to
Computing device 1310 may be any suitable type of device, including, but not limited to, a personal computer system, desktop computer, laptop or notebook computer, mobile phone, mainframe computer system, web server, workstation, or network computer. As shown, computing device 1310 includes processing unit 1350, storage subsystem 1312, and input/output (I/O) interface 1330 coupled via interconnect 1360 (e.g., a system bus). I/O interface 1330 may be coupled to one or more I/O devices 1340. I/O interface 1330 may also be coupled to network interface 1332, which may be coupled to network 1320 for communications with, for example, other computing devices. I/O interface 1330 may also be coupled to computer-readable medium 1314, which may store various survey data such as sensor measurements, survey control parameters, etc.
As described above, processing unit 1350 includes one or more processors. In some embodiments, processing unit 1350 includes one or more coprocessor units. In some embodiments, multiple instances of processing unit 1350 may be coupled to interconnect system 1360. Processing unit 1350 (or each processor within processing unit 1350) may contain a cache or other form of on-board memory. In some embodiments, processing unit 1350 may be implemented as a general-purpose processing unit, and in other embodiments it may be implemented as a special purpose processing unit (e.g., an ASIC). In general, computing device 1310 is not limited to any particular type of processing unit or processor subsystem.
Storage subsystem 1312 is usable by processing unit 1350 (e.g., to store instructions executable by and data used by processing unit 1350). Storage subsystem 1312 may be implemented by any suitable type of physical memory media, including hard disk storage, floppy disk storage, removable disk storage, flash memory, random access memory (RAM—SRAM, EDO RAM, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, RDRAM, etc.), ROM (PROM, EEPROM, etc.), and so on.
Storage subsystem 1312 may consist solely of volatile memory in some embodiments. Storage subsystem 1312 may store program instructions executable by computing device 1310 using processing unit 1350, including program instructions executable to cause computing device 1310 to implement the various techniques disclosed herein. In at least some embodiments, storage subsystem 1312 may represent an example of a non-transitory computer-readable medium that may store executable instructions.
In the illustrated embodiment, computing device 1310 further includes non-transitory medium 1314 as a possibly distinct element from storage subsystem 1312. For example, non-transitory medium 1314 may include persistent, tangible storage such as disk, nonvolatile memory, tape, optical media, holographic media, or other suitable types of storage. In some embodiments, non-transitory medium 1314 may be employed to store and transfer geophysical data and may be physically separable from computing device 1310 to facilitate transport. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the geophysical data product discussed above may be embodied in non-transitory medium 1314. Although shown to be distinct from storage subsystem 1312, in some embodiments, non-transitory medium 1314 may be integrated within storage subsystem 1312.
I/O interface 1330 may represent one or more interfaces and may be any of various types of interfaces configured to couple to and communicate with other devices, according to various embodiments. In some embodiments, I/O interface 1330 is a bridge chip from a front-side to one or more back-side buses. I/O interface 1330 may be coupled to one or more I/O devices 1340 via one or more corresponding buses or other interfaces. Examples of I/O devices include storage devices (hard disk, optical drive, removable flash drive, storage array, SAN, or an associated controller), network interface devices, user interface devices or other devices (e.g., graphics, sound, etc.). In some embodiments, the geophysical data product discussed above may be embodied within one or more of I/O devices 1340.
This specification includes references to “one embodiment,” “some embodiments,” or “an embodiment.” The appearances of these phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner consistent with this disclosure.
It is to be understood the present disclosure is not limited to particular devices or methods, which may, of course, vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include singular and plural referents (such as “one or more” or “at least one”) unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. Furthermore, the word “may” is used throughout this application in a permissive sense (i.e., having the potential to, being able to), not in a mandatory sense (i.e., must). The term “include,” and derivations thereof, mean “including, but not limited to.” The term “coupled” means directly or indirectly connected.
Moreover, where flow charts or flow diagrams are used to illustrate methods of operation, it is specifically contemplated that the illustrated operations and their ordering demonstrate only possible implementations and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. It is noted that alternative implementations that include more or fewer operations, or operations performed in a different order than shown, are possible and contemplated.
Although specific embodiments have been described above, these embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure, even where only a single embodiment is described with respect to a particular feature. Examples of features provided in the disclosure are intended to be illustrative rather than restrictive unless stated otherwise. The above description is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as would be apparent to a person skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. Although various advantages of this disclosure have been described, any particular embodiment may incorporate some, all, or even none of such advantages.
The scope of the present disclosure includes any feature or combination of features disclosed herein (either explicitly or implicitly), or any generalization thereof, whether or not it mitigates any or all of the problems addressed herein. Accordingly, new claims may be formulated during prosecution of this application (or an application claiming priority thereto) to any such combination of features. In particular, with reference to the appended claims, features from dependent claims may be combined with those of the independent claims, and features from respective independent claims may be combined in any appropriate manner and not merely in the specific combinations enumerated in the appended claims.
This application is a continuation of prior U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 17/254,132, filed on Dec. 18, 2020, which is a 35 USC 371 national stage entry of and claims priority to International Application PCT/EP2019/066447, filed on Jun. 21, 2019, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/688,091, filed on Jun. 21, 2018 and to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/807,987, filed on Feb. 20, 2019. All of the aforementioned applications are hereby incorporated by reference as if entirely set forth herein. In the event of a conflict between the meaning of terms as used herein with the same or similar terms as used in any of the aforementioned applications, the meanings associated with this application will control.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62807987 | Feb 2019 | US | |
| 62688091 | Jun 2018 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 17254132 | Dec 2020 | US |
| Child | 18390415 | US |
