Methods and apparatus of meshing and hierarchy establishment for tracking devices
First Claim
1. A method of communicating information among a plurality of tags, comprising:
- a) determining, within a first one of the plurality of tags, whether a pre-determined time for powering up and engaging in a route set-up operation has arrived;
b) powering up and listening for an access portal beacon if the determination of (a) is affirmative;
c) determining whether the access portal beacon has been detected by receiving a signal, and determining whether the strength of the received signal is above a pre-determined threshold;
d) identifying, if the determination of (c) is affirmative, the tag as a level 1 tag, and recording the level number;
e) determining whether a pre-determined time for broadcasting a level 1 announcement has arrived;
f) broadcasting, if the determination of (c) and (e) is affirmative, a level 1 announcement;
g) determining, if the determination of (c) is negative, whether a first time period has expired;
h) listening, if the determination of (g) is affirmative for the broadcast of a level 1 announcement;
i) determining a charge level of a battery that supplies power to the first tag; and
i) determining the transmit vower level required to transmit data to the access portal.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Devices, such as tracking devices, cooperate with one another to establish the routing necessary for a relay network in which a device having power-efficient and data-reliable communication with an access portal, operates to relay messages from devices which do not have an acceptable communication path to and/or from the access portal. In one aspect of the present invention, a plurality of devices synchronously determine whether an acceptable communication path can be established between themselves and one or more access portals by measuring the signal strength of an access portal beacon. In another aspect of the present invention, one or more devices, which have determined that an acceptable communication path can be established between themselves and an access portal, transmit information regarding their availability to relay messages on behalf of devices which have determined that an acceptable communication path cannot be established between themselves and an access portal.
190 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of communicating information among a plurality of tags, comprising:
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a) determining, within a first one of the plurality of tags, whether a pre-determined time for powering up and engaging in a route set-up operation has arrived; b) powering up and listening for an access portal beacon if the determination of (a) is affirmative; c) determining whether the access portal beacon has been detected by receiving a signal, and determining whether the strength of the received signal is above a pre-determined threshold; d) identifying, if the determination of (c) is affirmative, the tag as a level 1 tag, and recording the level number; e) determining whether a pre-determined time for broadcasting a level 1 announcement has arrived; f) broadcasting, if the determination of (c) and (e) is affirmative, a level 1 announcement; g) determining, if the determination of (c) is negative, whether a first time period has expired; h) listening, if the determination of (g) is affirmative for the broadcast of a level 1 announcement; i) determining a charge level of a battery that supplies power to the first tag; and i) determining the transmit vower level required to transmit data to the access portal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method comprising:
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listening for an access portal beacon at a tag; identifying the tag by the tag as a level 1 tag, if the access portal beacon is detected; recording the level number at the tag as level 1, if the tag is identified as a level 1 tag; broadcasting a level 1 announcement from the tag, if the tag is identified as a level 1 tag; listening for a broadcast of a level 1 announcement from a neighbor tag, if the tag is not identified as a level 1 tag. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A tag comprising:
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a wireless communication module to listen for an access portal beacon; a processor module coupled to the wireless communication module to identify the tag as a level 1 tag, if the access portal beacon is detected, and to record the level number as level 1, if the tag is identified as a level 1 tag; and an REID (Radio Frequency Identification) communication module coupled to the processor module to broadcast a level 1 announcement from the tag, if the tag is identified as a level 1 tag, and to listen for a broadcast of a level 1 announcement from a neighbor tag, if the tag is not identified as a level 1 tag. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification