Patent ID: 8223730

Claim:
A system for monitoring objects within a group comprising: a plurality of radio nodes each of which is attached to a respective one of the objects in the group; at least one gateway that receives and transmits signals between the plurality of radio nodes and an information system, wherein each radio node has at least one computing unit, a short-range communications unit for wireless communication with other radio nodes of the plurality of radio nodes and with the at least one gateway, and an energy supply unit, wherein at least one of the radio nodes or the at least one gateway has a localization unit, wherein the computing unit contains at least one control program for processing predetermined tasks in the plurality of radio nodes, said control program controlling bi-directional communications between the plurality of radio nodes via the short-range communications unit for the formation of an ad hoc network and controlling bi-directional communications between the plurality of radio nodes and the at least one gateway via the short-range communications unit and controlling a tuning process between the plurality of radio nodes, said tuning process being executed at one of predetermined time intervals, predetermined times, according to a requirement received via the at least one gateway or by an event detected by one of the plurality of radio nodes in order to select one of the plurality of radio nodes for the processing of one of the predetermined tasks, where the selected radio node is best suited for the task according to predetermined criteria at the instant selection is made.