Wellsite Information Transfer Specification
Wellsite Information Transfer Specification
Wellsite Information Transfer Specification
Summary. Information of many kinds, including drilling and mud-logging parameters, is transmitted electronically from rigs to central
sites. The format of the transmitted information depends, at present, on the business entities involved in the information-transfer transac-
tion. Many different formats exist, decreasing the overall utility of information obtained at the rig site and increasing processing costs
for the industry. Standardization of formats for information content and telecommunication requirements was attempted by the Informa-
tion Transfer Committee (lTC), a subcommittee of the IntI. Assn. of Drilling Contractors' (IADC' s) Rig Instrumentation and Measure-
ment (RIM) Committee, which formulated a set of guidelines addressing the broad needs of the industry. This paper explains the rationale
for the standardization effort; outlines the process by which the specification was established; and describes the requirements, concept,
components, and benefits of the resulting WITS.
Introduction
Different service and operating companies have proprietary for- discussed in this paper. The formatting and content of data and data
mats for electronic data transmission-e.g., tape, direct line, micro- telecommunications are discussed separately.
wave, commercial telephone service, or satellite-that are used
depending on the companies involved and the agreements reached Process
between them. Many digital formats were created and are main- The SSS was initially formed by a group of representatives of service
tained, each at substantial cost, by service companies and opera- and operating companies, primarily computer-software-system de-
tors. When a new relationship is established between a service velopers and drilling engineers, who had acute problems with the
company and an operator, modifications and adaptations of formats profusion and mismatch of rig-data formats. Most were involved
often must be made to allow the data collection and analysis sys- in the process of either writing new formats or constructing sys-
tems of the two entities to "talk" to each other, again at signifi- tems to translate existing formats.
cant cost. To ensure that any proposed standard was complete and accept-
The result is that a great deal of rig data that might be useful able to the industry as a whole, an extreme effort was made to in-
to operators in evaluating rig performance and in monitoring and volve representatives from as many operating and service companies
controlling drilling is often not collected or transmitted because of as possible. A great majority of major operators and service com-
the cost and complexity of format matching and modification. Costs panies, as well as many smaller specialty service companies, were
in dollars of this "failure to communicate" are difficult to meas- represented on the SSS. In addition, electronic-communication ex-
ure; there is, however, no disagreement within the drilling indus- perts were recruited. The effort, which continued through the life
try that they are quite large. of the SSS, extended to Europe, Australia, and Asia. Liaison was
A solution to the information-transfer format and telecommuni- maintained with several European companies and organizations,
cation standard problem has thus been the overriding goal of the and progress of the SSS was reported regularly to several Asian
ITC. Creation of a standard that can be implemented easily by both industry organizations.
operating and service companies should allow information trans- The goal of the standardization effort was broad but concrete:
fer to be established quickly and economically between rig and cen- To define the information content and format of the data stream
tral sites. The lTC's work was divided between the Software transmitted from a rig to a central site either by telecommunica-
Standards Subcommittee (SSS), which was responsible for format- tions facilities or by hard media. To avoid omissions in the specifi-
ting of the digital data, and the Telecommunication Data Trans- cation, we needed an inventory of parameters currently in use in
mission Subcommittee (TDTS), which was responsible for file the following areas: (1) geology and drilling, (2) operating, (3) meas-
transfer, or telecommunication, of the data. Both subcommittees urement while drilling (MWD), (4) wireline, (5) rig, (6) cementa-
followed the guidelines of the IntI. Standards Organization (ISO) 1 tion, (7) drillstem testing, and (8) miscellaneous free-format forms
(Fig. 1). The ISO model creates a framework for defining stan- and two-way message transmission. Companies providing data col-
dards for linking all communication and computing functions in an lection services in these areas were polled for descriptive lists of
"open-architecture" fashion. "Open" refers to the ability of an the parameters currently in use.
end system of one company to connect with the end system of We also conducted a seminar to familiarize the industry represen-
another company that conforms to the reference model and associat- tatives op the SSS with the major existing formats and data-
ed protocols. This is particularly important for the drilling indus- transmission systems. The seminar presented information on general
try, which is composed of large numbers of diverse operating and methods of data transmission and formatting, different hard-
service companies, each of which may need to exchange increas- ware/software systems currently in use, and the nature and con-
ingly more data in the future. The model is partitioned into seven tent of several specific formats. The seminar also included site visits
layers, each of which is composed of a group of logically connect- and presentations at the Amoco Production Co., Arco Oil & Gas
ed functions. Co., Mobil E&P Services, and Tenneco Oil & Gas Co. data centers.
The TDTS fundamentally addressed the physical and data link After the inventory of data parameters was accumulated and
functions (Layers 1 and 2, respectively, of Fig. 1), and the SSS representatives were familiar with the current status of formats,
addressed the session, presentation, and application functions (Lay- the SSS produced a set of requirements that, when implemented
ers 5 through 7, respectively, of Fig. 1). The ISO's open-system in the WITS, would satisfy the present and future needs of the serv-
interconnection (OSI) standard, 1 which was used as a guideline to ice and operating companies. The requirements were used to con-
develop a standard for the particular requirements of the drilling struct a logical framework, or concept, for the specification. Once
environment, forms the underlying structure of the specifications the concept for WITS was complete, special work groups of ex-
perts formulated the specific components of the specification.
The specification is now complete, and WITS will be published
'Now at INFOSTAT Systems Inc.
by the API as a recommended practice. This paper reviews and
Copyright 1989 Society of Petroleum Engineers summarizes the key points of the WITS. A review board under the
SPE Drilling Engineering, December 1989 291
TABLE 1-COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN LAYERS OF WITS
IS~ H~DEL WELLSITE INFORMATION MULTILAYERED STANDARD
LAYERS TRANSFER SPECIFICATION (WITS]
Computer Reader
} PRE-DEFINED RECORDS
7 APPlICATI~N NNENONICS Layer Transmission Layers
1 and 2 (throw-away
6 PRESENTRTI~N customization)
} "'". '''',.,,''""'' . . .00 2 1 and 2
5 SESSION t SOfTWARE SlANDAI'D t 3 1 through 3 (will
read some E-Log
4 TRRNSP~RT
~ TELECONNUNICATUlNS' ~ tapes)
DATA TRANSNISSION STANDARD
4 1 through 4 (LIS
3 NETWORK ERROR DETECTION 1979/L1S 1)
ERROR CORRECTION 5 1 through 5 (LIS
"ENCRYPTION
2 DRTA LINK PHYSICAL SYNCHRONIZATION 1984/L1S 2)
1 PHYSICAL
8. WITS should provide a good technological entry point for users
·US.LOG INFORMATION STANDARD (FROM REF. 2).
"ENCRYPTION TO BE HANDLED BY INDIVIDUAL COMPANIES. without existing data systems.
9. WITS should provide a good migration path for existing
Fig. 1-Relatlonshlp between ISO OSI model for communi- systems.
cations and WITS standard. 10. Most rig-to-central-site data-communication needs should be
satisfied by WITS.
11. Existing standards (official or de/acto) should be used wher-
ever possible.
12. The specification should be international.
8. MYJV formation evaluation records contain the formation eval- 14. Lagged, continuous mud-property records contain the sensor-
uation variables measured by MWD tools, including gamma ray, derived properties of the drilling fluid-e.g., density, temperature,
formation-resistivity, and porosity-tool data. Frequency of gener- conductivity, and gas. The records are generated automatically with
ation is normally on a regular time basis, such as once per minute. an incremental change in depth of returns. To permit comp"lrison
9. MYJV mechanical-property records contain mechanical param- of "in" and "out" properties of the drilling fluid, the "lagged in"
eters measured by MWD tools, including downhole weight on bit and "lagged out" values are also recorded. Frequency of genera-
(WOB) and downhole torque. Frequency of generation is on a regu- tion corresponds to the frequency selected for the depth-based drill-
lar time basis, such as once per minute. ing records.
10. Formation-pressure-evaluation records predominantly con- 15. Cuttings/lithology records contain details of the microscopic
tain computed information relating to the formation-pressure eval- examination of cuttings from the wellbore, including lithological
uation performed at the wellsite, including pore pressure, fracture type and description, as well as test results from the cuttings, such
pressure, kick tolerance, and overburden pressure. Frequency of as bulk density and calcimetry. The records are generated for each
generation is on either a depth or a time basis. sample examined, as determined by the sampling requirements for
11. Mud-tank volume records permit detailed monitoring and re- the well.
cording of the drilling-fluid tank system. Frequency of generation 16. Hydrocarbon-show records serve as "addenda" to the cut-
is on a time basis, determined by the degree of detail required. tings/lithology records and are generated when hydrocarbon shows
12. Cycle-based chromatographs contain the results of chromat- are indicated. Record content includes such items as fluorescence,
ographic separation of the gas drawn from the returning mud stream. solvent cut, and oil stain.
Frequency of generation is one record per cycle of the chromat- 17. Cementing records contain data relating to cementing activi-
ograph. ty at the wellsite-e.g., pressures, flow rates, and volumes pumped.
13. Depth-based chromatographs serve as depth-based summaries They are generated on a time basis, with the interval determined
of chromatographic analyses, featuring average and maximum read- by the required degree of detail.
ings for individual gas constituents over the depth intervals. Fre- 18. Drillstem-testing records contain data relating to well test-
quency of generation is at regular intervals-e.g., each foot, and ing activity and are generated on a time basis consistent with the
is based on a change in the chromatograph sample depth. required degree of detail.
294 SPE Drilling Engineering, December 1989
lADe TAPE FCIRHAT
DATA DATA
REEL TAPE fllE HIRMAT FORMAT FU TAPE
HERDE"R HERDER HERDER SPEC· SPEC. DATA TRAILER TRRILER
RECORD RECORD RECORD RECORD RECORD RECORD RECORD
tON
/
/
DATA FORHAT "-
"-
SPECIFlCATlON RECORD
,..-~
DRTUtI
ENTlIl SPEC.
BLOCKS BLOCK -I
-- -- ----
!l'ARA. -U -II
..........-
- ..........-
__ DATUM SPECIFICATION BLOCK (TYPE rI. SUBTYPE 11 (RECCAO 1. PARAH.
11 __
IVfEMQNIC
SERVICE
ID
SERVICE
IIRDER -
UNITS API
CCIOES .
FIlE
~ • -
SAMPLES
IW::...
gmf..
PRIICESS
INDICA-
TilliS
t t
I I
PA~EFlNEO "IECOAO
R CORD -.L
- . sm..
P'ANIIIETElI
I)ESCRPTJOII (EMClNlC UIIJT~ ''i''
REP. CIIOE
1
;z
II I t f I
Fig. 3-Example of DFS of predefined record.
19, Configuration records contain details of the drillstring ge- Documentation of Predefined Records. The content of predefined
ometry, wellbore geometry, pump specifications, vendor identifi- records was established to facilitate a simple implementation into
cation, etc. These records are used to provide the data base with the LIS format. Within LIS, each predefined reCord is described
descriptions of the environments in which other data are collected. by a DFS record. Each parameter block within the DFS describes
A new record is generated after one or more data items in the record an item of the predefined record. A DFS parameter block (Fig.
are changed. 3) has the following entries: data-item mnemonic, service identifi-
20. Mud-report records contain information normally measured cation, service-order number, unit mnemonic, API codes, file num-
and recorded at the well site on the drilling-fluid report. A record ber, size, null, number of samples, representation code, and process
is generated for each new report. indicators. Of these, the following are documented for each item
21. Bit-report records contain information pertaining to the drill in the record: the data item and unit mnemonic (from the data dic-
bit-e.g., type, manufacturer, size, and jets. Frequency of gener- tionary), the representation code (the binary format of the data),
ation is once per trip in or trip out for a bit (i.e., two records per bit). and size (the number of bytes taken up by the data, as determined
22. Comment records permit descriptive information to be in- by the representation code in the case of numerical data).
cluded within the data stream or data tape and can be generated Table 2 shows the general layouts of a predefined record. In the
at any time. case of unit-mnemonic definition, two alternatives are supplied. The
23. Well-identification records contain such information as oper- first set of units is SI metric; the second is FPS (i.e., Imperial, or
ator, well name, well location, and elevations. In addition, custom English, units). For any particular application, the set of units to
field identifiers indicate where customization of spare fields in prede- be used should be decided in advance because no switching between
fined records was milde. The record is normally generated only sets can occur.
at the beginning and end of tapes or at the beginning of a data As a further definition of a particular item, the service identifi-
transfer. cation entry of the DFS parameter block was adopted for identifY-
24. Vessel-motionlmooring-status records are used with floating ing the sources of certain parameters. For example, if the data item
rigs and are generated at time intervals determined by prevalent is fluid density, the service identification might contain the mud-
weather conditions and the degree of detail required by the operator. balance, differential-pressure, nuclear, or buoyancy measurement.
This may prove useful in later analysis, where the degree of data
25. Weatherlseastate records provide environmental information
accuracy may be questionable.
to the operator. The frequency of generation is on a time basis,
determined by prevalent weather conditions and the degree of de- Standard Null-Value Usage. Two standard null values are used
tail required by the operator. within the records in the place of missing numerical data. (1) When
0812.97 CR LF DATA SET 1 Character Set. A full ASCII character set or alphabet is im-
08173565. 13 CR LF plemented in WITS.
081897.1 CR LF Data Flow Control. This method of controlling the flow of data
&& CR LF between equipment prevents one device from being overloaded with
08113561.61 CR LF data from another device. There are two ways of achieving this,
08121.02 CR LF DATA SET 1 and both are supported in WITS. The hardware method uses Pins
08173565.39 CR LF 6, "data set ready" (DSR), and 20, "data terminal ready" (DTR),
0818100.4 CR LF on the RS232C Connector D interface. 4 When the DTR pin has
!! CR LF a signal, data can be transferred. When this signal is turned off
by the receiver, however, the sender will stop sending data.
Telecommunications and Data Transmission The second method uses software to control data flow. A special
With the concept of a multilayered approach and the knowledge XOFF character sequence is sent to the sending device, indicating
of the data type and format, the telecommunication subcommittee that the receiving system cannot accept more data. When the receiver
established the file-transfer pathway to move the digital data from can accept more data, it sends an XON signal to the sender. This
the rig site to a central site. Referring again to the model in Ref. method does not require the use of Pins 6 and 20 on Connector D.
1 and Fig. I, the physical and data-link layers were related to a Byte Structure. Bytes consist of seven data bits, two stop bits,
drilling environment. When specifications are recommended in a and one start bit for 300 baud, and eight data bits, one stop bit,
field as large and diverse as telecommunications, compromises are and one start bit for 1,200 baud and higher. Mark parity is used
necessary. The IADC's RIM committee developed these specifi- on the transmitting end with no parity at the receiver.
cations in anticipation of industry requirements. Device Interface. The RIM committee recommendation also calls
for the standard use of the ISO 211 0-1980E connector, commonly
known as the 25-pin D connector. The following signal configura-
Physical Layer_ The physical layer provides for the transparent tion is specified:
transmission of the bit stream between the connected physical trans-
mission media. It can also be described as the electrical interface. Pin Signal
Although this layer includes communication between a computer
and a peripheral device, the RIM committee decided to deal with 1 Frame ground
computer-to-computer interface only. 2 Transmit data
Before the committee recommended the physical-layer standard, 3 Receive data
three baud-rate scenarios were reviewed: 300, 1,200, and > 1,200. 7 Signal ground
Table 4 summarizes the recommendations, which call for use of For hardware flow control, Pins 6 (DSR) and 20 (DTR) may be
a subset of the Electronic Industries Assn.'s electrical interface. 4 used. The RS232C standard has some shortcomings, most of which
This is by far the most popular standard for serial binary data in- are associated with electrical interference. It is a single-ended
terchange in use today. This American standard has an international interface-i.e., all signal changes are relative to a single ground
equivalent known as CCITT V.21 produced by the Consultative or reference point. Electrical conditioning problems or interference
Committee for IntI. Telephone and Telegraph. 5 can thus result in data errors, which can be minimized by observ-
ing the RS232C standard for cable length (15 m [49 ftD or by using
Technical Considerations_ Five technical areas were addressed in a shielded cable in an electrically noisy environment.
the evaluation of the drilling industry's needs for the physical lay- Medium Interface. WITS recommends the use of Bell 103 mo-
er (Table 4). dems, which are equivalent to CCITT V.21 moderns, for a 300-baud
SPE Drilling Engineering, December 1989 297
transmission rate and the use of Bell 212 modems, which are equiva- Although KERMIT fulfills many of the lTC's selection criteria
lent to CCITT V.23 modems, for baud rates of 1,200. These stan- for an international standard, there are some negative aspects to
dards are common in the telecommunication industry and account its use.
for virtually all data-communication modems in use for baud rates 1. The KERMIT FTP requires a full duplex communication
up to 1,200. channel.
2. It is not a true real-time, bidirectional protocol, but a protocol
Data-Link Layer. The data-link layer of the ISO model handles that deals with discrete fIles.
the transfer of a unit or fIle of information between the host devices 3. It does not establish the communication link.
at either end of the physical link. This function can be accomplished 4. The FTP does not monitor the communication line.
by either hardware or software systems. There was considerable 5. Efficiency deteriorates when eight Big Binary fIles (e.g., the
discussion about which approach would best suit the needs of the WITS-restricted LIS format) are handled or when communication
drilling industry. Several committee members favored the use of is delayed (e.g., in single- and double-satellite hops).
such hardware systems as modems or statistical multiplexors. These Even though there are some negative aspects to this FTP, the
are essentially off-the-shelf black-box devices that, when placed overall advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Thus, the ITC adopt-
at either end of a short- or long-haul communication link, will al- ed the KERMIT FTP to fulfIll the requirements for the ISO OSI
low data transfer. Some models come with error-correction capa- data-link layer in a drilling environment.
bilities, which ensure that corrupt data will not be received. Despite
the relative ease of implementation of this solution, this approach Conclusions
has some serious shortcomings. First, a specific device will nor- The greatest and most easily visualized benefits of using WITS are
mally communicate only with a similar model at the other end of the cost and time savings. Most rig data can be handled adequately
the link. This could lead to a multiplicity of hardware in an opera- by Layer I of the specification, and WITS documents can be used
tor's office. Second, for competitive reasons, the committee did to construct programs that easily implement the specification.
not recommend particular brands of hardware. Third, although WITS provides a common language for information exchange
deregulated in the U.S., the use of communication hardware is tight- between service and operating companies. When service is to be-
ly regulated in almost every other country. This could lead to se- gin, the two companies simply decide which layer of WITS is to
vere operational problems in getting hardware approved for use be used in information transfer (depending on the requirements and
in certain countries. Because the goal of the ITC was to recom- limitations of the current situation), and transmission begins when
mend an international standard, the use of certain hardware that a communication link and an FTP are established. As long as the
is not internationally accepted is not appropriate. The ITC is aware two companies know that they have data formatting and reading
that certain operators may choose a hardware solution to the fIle- programs that correctly implement the WITS layer, no lengthy
transfer problem for domestic application. For an international stan- reprogramming, testing, or debugging will have to occur.
dard, however, a software solution is recommended. We anticipate that as WITS is implemented by a wide range of
operating and service companies, third-party vendors will produce
File-Transfer Protocol. A review of the potential software solu- implementations of all specification layers that will be available as
tions to this problem revealed the existence of several fIle-transfer off-the-shelf software or hardware/software components, making
protocols (FTP's) designed to transfer data over a communication additional cost and time savings available. Many third-party soft-
link. An FTP is a formal set of conventions that governs the for- ware vendors are eager to enter the market for rig-to-central-site
matting and transferring of sequential information fIles over an asyn- information-transfer systems, but have been reluctant to do so in
chronous communication link. This section addresses the data-link the past because of the large number of incompatible formats in
layer (Layer 2) and the transport layer (Layer 4) (Fig. 1). The net- use. WITS should encourage competition between vendors.
work layer (Layer 3) is not applicable. The existence of standardized data formatting and reading pro-
The purpose of this layer in the communication link is to trans- grams not only makes rig-to-central-site data transfer easier, but
fer a unit of data between host devices at either end of the physical also makes possible the transfer of pertinent information between
link, particularly to transfer rig-site data from a sender at the rig service companies at a site or between operator central sites. The
site to a remote receiver. This function can be accomplished by capability for data transfer between service companies promotes
hardware, software, or combination systems. the use of advanced analysis methods that use data from diverse
The five requirements for the transmission of digital rig-site data sources to make inferences and decisions. The capability for trans-
are bidirectional communication, error correction, the ability to han- fer between operators allows easy sharing of information in part-
dle 8-bit binary data, hardware or software flow control, and the nerships or in other joint efforts.
ability to operate with no knowledge of data or data formats. Additional issues that will be addressed in the final standards but
Several FTP's were evaluated. Many were specific to certain that are not presented in this paper are the standardization of oper-
hardware systems, but the one that most closely met the lTC's criter- ator drilling forms and the multiplexing of mUltiple rig-site con-
ia was called KERMIT. 6 The KERMIT FTP was developed at tractors' data to a communication operator, perhaps a data-logger
Columbia U. to connect an ever-growing number of micro- and unit. This networking of independent data sources is necessary to
personal-computer users with various large mainframes. Although avoid excessive communication costs and complications.
not in the public domain, use of KERMIT does not require a license,
and it is freely distributed by Columbia U., which requires that Acknowledgments
anyone implementing the protocol follow their liberal policy on com- L.H. Robinson, chairman of the RIM committee, was instrumen-
mercial use. 7 tal in establishing and coordinating the RIM subcommittees. L.
The KERMIT FTP has many advantages. Fluornoy initiated the original ITC. R.L. Graff assisted in the or-
1. It ensures error-free transfer of ASCII and binary data fIles. ganization and planning of committee activities. The IADC's RIM
2. The FTP is well-documented and includes protocol and users committee is indebted to the many operating and service compa-
manuals. nies that provided staff and logistical support for this project: Amoco
3. It is widely used and can be implemented on more than 200 Production Co., Anadrill/Schlumberger, Arco Oil & Gas Co., BP
different machines and operating systems, including personal com- Exploration Inc., Datalog Inc., Digitran, Exploration Logging
puters. U.S.A. Inc., Exxon Production Research Co., Gearhart Industries
4. The system is well supported by Columbia U., which oper- Inc., Geoservices Inc., Halliburton Services, Martin-Decker, Mobil
ates a users hotline. E&P Services Inc., NL Baroid Logging Systems, Petrolog, Schlum-
5. KERMIT distribution centers are located in the U.S., the U.K., berger, Shell Oil Co., Sonat Exploration, Stratagraph, Teleco Oil-
France, and Germany. field Services, and Tenneco Oil Co.
6. The FTP satisfies the efficiency requirements of the explora- We are indebted to the many people who contributed their ef-
tion industry. forts and skills to the information-transfer working subcommittees.