Patent ID: 7853221

Claim:
A network bridge device linking devices on a wired network to devices on a wireless network, comprising: a wireless signal transceiver adapted to send and receive wireless signals to and from at least one wireless node using a first protocol; a wired signal transceiver adapted to send and receive wired signals to and from at least one wired node using a second protocol; a bridge controller programmed to receive operational signals from said wireless signal transceiver and said wired signal transceiver; convert said operational signals between said first and second protocols and the physical data associated therewith; and send operational signals in said converted protocols to said wired signal transceiver and said wireless signal transceiver so that said bridge controller forms a virtual abstraction of one of the wired network and the wireless network onto the other so that commands generated by one type of node can be passed to a specific node of the other type; a power supply system connected to said bridge controller, said power supply system adapted to receive line power for distribution to said bridge controller; and a battery connected to said bridge controller, said bridge controller receiving power from said battery as needed when the line power is not connected to said power supply system, wherein said wired nodes are plugged into line power, and said bridge controller learns identification codes associated with said wired nodes and only assigns identification codes to said wireless nodes when unplugged from line power and said bridge controller receives, converts and sends said operational signals when connected to line power.