Patent ID: 8294579

Claim:
A method, comprising: providing a single radio frequency identification (RFID) tag substrate; mounting a plurality of RF network nodes on the single RFID tag substrate wherein each of the plurality of RF network nodes have an RF and analog block for receiving and transmitting an RFID reader signal, a data processing and controller block for digital information processing, a memory, and a power management block for managing power requirements of the RF network node; interconnecting the plurality of RF network nodes into a network topology with a communication bus for coordinating data communication among the plurality of RF network nodes to provide a coordinated storage facility from the at least one memory location of each of the plurality of RF network nodes wherein the coordinated storage facility is capable of responding to an interrogation by an RFID reader; converting a received RFID reader signal into electrical power using the power management block of at least one of the plurality of RF network nodes, thereby providing a power signal; using the power management block to manage a distribution of the power signal among the plurality of RF network nodes; and coordinating the operation of the plurality of RF network nodes with a master RF network node coupled to the communication bus.