Patent ID: 6856257

Claim:
A data collection system, comprising: (a) a plurality of telemetry devices, each configured to: generate a series of measurements; and transmit the measurements; (b) a plurality of collection devices, each configured to: receive measurements from one or more telemetry devices; transmit data based on the measurements received from a telemetry device in a first set of telemetry devices to a monitoring station; upon request from the monitoring station, transmit data based on measurements received from a telemetry device in a second set of telemetry devices to the monitoring station; and (c) a monitoring station, configured to: designate a collection device as a preferred collection device for a telemetry device and designate at least one other collection device as an alternate collection device for the telemetry device; receive data from the preferred collection device for the telemetry device; and based on the data received from the preferred collection device for the telemetry device, send a request to at least one alternate collection device for the telemetry device for missing data for the telemetry device.