Calibration method of the time synchronization error of many data acquisition nodes in the chained system

Time synchronization is very important in a distributed chained seismic acquisition system with a large number of data acquisition nodes (DANs). The time synchronization error has two causes. On the one hand, there is a large accumulated propagation delay when commands propagate from the analysis and control system to multiple distant DANs, which makes it impossible for different DANs to receive the same command synchronously. Unfortunately, the propagation delay of commands (PDCs) varies in different application environments. On the other hand, the phase jitter of both the master clock and the clock recovery phase-locked loop, which is designed to extract the timing signal, may also cause the time synchronization error. In this paper, in order to achieve accurate time synchronization, a novel calibration method is proposed which can align the PDCs of all of the DANs in real time and overcome the time synchronization error caused by the phase jitter. Firstly, we give a quantitative analysis of the time synchronization error caused by both the PDCs and the phase jitter. Secondly, we propose a back and forth model (BFM) and a transmission delay measurement method (TDMM) to overcome these difficulties. Furthermore, the BFM is designed as the hardware configuration to measure the PDCs and calibrate the time synchronization error. The TDMM is used to measure the PDCs accurately. Thirdly, in order to overcome the time synchronization error caused by the phase jitter, a compression and mapping algorithm (CMA) is presented. Finally, based on the proposed BFM, TDMM and CMA, a united calibration algorithm is developed to overcome the time synchronization error caused by both the PDCs and the phase jitter. The simulation experiment results show the effectiveness of the calibration method proposed in this paper. (paper)