Patent ID: 8896421

Claim:
A wide area radio frequency identification (RFID) system comprising: at least two RFID cells, wherein a first RFID cell includes a first reader and a first plurality of tags and a second RFID cell includes a second reader and a second plurality of tags, wherein the first reader is configured to access the first plurality of tags using ultra-wide band signaling and the second reader is configured to access the second plurality of tags using ultra-wide band signaling; and a network operations center having at least one communications interface in communication with at least one of the at least two RFID cells; wherein the first RFID cell and the second RFID cell each include a communications gateway operable to support direct communications between at least the first RFID cell and the second RFID cell; wherein, via the communications gateways of the first RFID cell and the second RFID cell, the first reader of the first RFID cell is configured to query data from, or write data to, a tag within the second plurality of tags of the second RFID cell; wherein the second RFID cell is configured to receive a security alarm from the first RFID cell via the direct communications that is arranged over a range of at least five hundred meters; and wherein the first reader of the first RFID cell is configured to query data from, or write data to, a tag within the second plurality of tags of the second RFID cell in an instance in which the network operations center is unavailable.