Patent ID: 8552841

Claim:
A communication method comprising: selecting a first non-zero response signal strength level for a first subset of a plurality of transceivers and a second non-zero response signal strength level for a second subset of the plurality of transceivers, by a reader transmitting a signal having a command that identifies the respective selected non-zero response signal strength levels to the subsets of the plurality of transceivers, and operating on a single response communication channel, wherein the first non-zero response signal strength level is within a desired communication range of the reader and the second non-zero response signal strength level is not within the desired communication range of the reader, and the first non-zero response signal strength level is greater than the second non-zero response signal strength level; and establishing communication between the reader and the first subset of the plurality of transceivers at the selected first non-zero response signal strength level, wherein the communication method is performed simultaneously with an anti-collision method.