Case Study: Sandia National Laboratories achieves high-temperature high-speed geothermal data transfer with MathWorks Consulting Services

Developing a Transmitter for High-Temperature, High-Speed Geothermal Data Transfer

Sandia National Laboratories worked with MathWorks to develop a reliable downhole data link for geothermal wells, where sensors must transmit weak signals from depths of thousands of feet under extreme heat. The team needed a fast way to design and deploy transmitter software that could run on a high-temperature microcontroller, while meeting tight project timelines.

MathWorks helped Sandia National Laboratories optimize the transmitter in MATLAB and Communications Toolbox, then deploy it using Simulink, Embedded Coder, and the Embedded Coder Support Package for TI C2000. The solution enabled successful transmission at 30 kbps through 5,000 feet of wireline up to 170 °C, and direct microcontroller-to-oscilloscope transmission up to 210 °C, accelerating development and supporting future work toward even higher-temperature, higher-data-rate designs.

Sandia National Laboratories