Patent ID: 8345097

Claim:
A surveillance system, comprising: an unattended sensor including an event module that receives an event detection signal that indicates an event external to the surveillance system; a power control module that selectively operates a data recording device at least partially concurrent with said event based on said event detection signal; a selection module that selects a portion of data recorded by said data recording device based on content of said data; and a data transmission module that transmits said portion of data over a wireless radio link; a channel access mechanism operable to negotiate access to the radio link in accordance with an access protocol; an encryption module interposed between the event module and the channel access mechanism and operable to encrypt said portion of data received from the selection module before negotiating access to the radio link; and a remote command node configured to receive said portion of data via the radio link from the unattended sensor and transmit a request for the data recorded by said data recording device to the unattended sensor, wherein the selection module cooperatively operates with the data transmission module to send the data recorded by said data recording device via the radio link to the remote command node in response to the request for the data.