Patent ID: 7522568

Claim:
A method of forming wireless data communication networks among a population of wireless data communication devices, wherein each of the wireless data communication devices includes a transceiver; a digital processor; a machine-readable memory; and machine-executable instructions stored in the machine-readable memory and executable by the digital processor for performing a network routine, the method comprising the steps of: (a) storing (i) a first common designation in the memory of each of a first plurality of data communication devices and (ii) a second common designation in the memory of each of a second plurality of data communication devices, the population including the first plurality of data communication devices and the second plurality of data communication devices; and (b) initiating, in each of the first plurality of data communication devices and in each of the second plurality of data communication devices, performance of the network routine to automatically propagate (i) a first ad hoc network among the first plurality of data communication devices and (ii) a second ad hoc network among the second plurality of data communication devices; (c) wherein performance of the network routine by each respective one of the data communication devices includes the steps of, (i) screening communications from the population of data communication devices for a common designation that corresponds to the common designation of the respective data communication device, and (ii) processing only those communications that include a common designation that corresponds to the common designation of the respective data communication device, whereby the first and second ad hoc networks formed by the first and second pluralities of data communication devices are distinct and separate from each other.