| US 7,532,119 B2 | ||
| Multi-tiered network for gathering detected condition information | ||
| Alexandre M. Bratkovski, Mountain View, Calif. (US); Zhiyong Li, Palo Alto, Calif. (US); Geoffrey Lyon, Menlo Park, Calif. (US); Philip Kuekes, Menlo Park, Calif. (US); Shih Yuang Wang, Palo Alto, Calif. (US); and R. Stanley Williams, Portola Valley, Calif. (US) | ||
| Assigned to Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., Houston, Tex. (US) | ||
| Filed on Nov. 08, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/269,237. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2007/0103305 A1, May 10, 2007 | ||
| Int. Cl. G08B 13/14 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 340—572.1 [340/539.22] | 19 Claims |
| 1. A multi-tiered network for gathering detected condition information, said network comprising:
a first tier composed of a plurality of first tier nodes, wherein said plurality of first tier nodes comprises a radio frequency
identification device (RFID) circuit and a sensor for detecting a condition;
a second tier composed of at least one second tier node operable to receive the detected condition information from at least
one of the plurality of first tier nodes in a substantially autonomous manner, said at least one second tier node comprising
an RFID circuit, a power source, and circuitry for at least one of storing, processing, and transmitting the detected condition
information;
a hybrid node operable to function in multiple operating states, wherein one of said operating states includes functioning
as a first tier node and another of said operating states includes functioning as second tier node; and
a third tier composed of a third tier node, wherein the third tier node is configured to receive the detected condition information
from at least one second tier node, and wherein the third tier node comprises an RFID receiver and circuitry for at least
one of storing and processing the detected condition information.
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