Patent ID: 8558699

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 includes an RF and analog block for receiving and transmitting an RFID reader signal, a data processing and controller block for digital information processing, a power management block for managing power requirements of the RF network node, and a memory store; and interconnecting the plurality of RF network nodes into a network topology with a communication bus to enable coordinating data communications between the plurality of RF network nodes to provide a coordinated power management facility that during operation of the RFID tag coordinates the power management blocks on any of the plurality of RF network nodes to dynamically control the distribution of power to and from any RF network node functional blocks of the plurality of RF network nodes to select between an extended operational time and an increase in available functionality based on at least one of (a) monitoring of the link quality from the RFID reader signal and (b) on monitoring the functional demands of commands received from an RFID reader.