Patent ID: 7554941

Claim:
A system for an access node coupled to a computer to wirelessly communicate with a plurality of radio nodes each coupled to a sensor, comprising: a first logical layer of one or more radio nodes within a communication range of the access node and configured to directly communicate with the access node; one or more additional logical layers each having one or more radio nodes that are outside the communication range of the access node and configured to indirectly communicate with the access node, wherein each radio node on the one or more additional logical layers selects a radio node on a logical layer that is logically closer to the access node to be a repeater radio node for wireless transmissions, the selection of the repeater radio node determined according to the logical layer number and power number of each radio node evaluated as a potential repeater radio node; and wherein the plurality of radio nodes communicate data to the access node corresponding to signals received from the sensors coupled to the plurality of radio nodes, wherein the power number includes a combination of a coefficient corresponding to available memory capacity of the radio node evaluated as a potential repeater radio node and a coefficient corresponding to the battery status of the radio node evaluated as a potential repeater radio node.