Trade magazines and review articles describe MWD in casual terms, e.g., positive versus negative pulsers, continuous wave systems, drilling channel noise and attenuation, in very simple terms absent of technical rigor. However, few truly scientific discussions are available on existing methods, let alone the advances necessary for high-data-rate telemetry. Without a strong foundation building on solid acoustic principles, rigorous mathematics, and of course, fast, inexpensive and efficient testing of mechanical designs, low data rates will impose unacceptable quality issues to real-time f.