Patent ID: 7941095

Claim:
A network including, a plurality of wireless reader tags (WRTs), each WRT comprising, a transceiver of electromagnetic energy configured to transmit and receive data signals between other of the plurality of WRTs, a reader component for reading radio-frequency identification signals from wireless tags (WTs), a detector for producing data signals representative of motion of an object proximate the WRT, and a processor coupled to the reader component and to the detector and to the transceiver for forming signals indicative of radio-frequency identification signals read from WTs and data signals for transmission by the transceiver to other of the plurality of WRTs, wherein each WRT is configured to (i) maintain at least one common designation for purposes of filtering received data signals, the at least one maintained common designation comprising at least one maintained class designation, and (ii) determine whether specific data in a received data signal corresponds to at least one maintained common designation, wherein the specific data is found to correspond to at least one maintained common designation when the identified specific data matches an abstracted class of a maintained class designation of that WRT; and a gateway configured to receive and transmit signals between the gateway and at least one of the plurality of WRTs.