Patent ID: 8170050

Claim:
A self-assignment method for assigning detector and working devices among a plurality of access devices in a wireless network, the method comprising: performing wireless data collection with the access devices during an automated calibration period, wherein each of the access devices receives beacons from one or more transmitting access devices; recording radio frequency (RF) data associated with beacons received during the wireless data collection; and automatically designating at least one of the access devices as a detector device, based upon the recorded RF data; wherein for a given access device, the recording step comprises: recording a sender count corresponding to the number of access devices from which the given access device received a beacon; and recording a sensor count corresponding to the number of access devices that received a beacon from the given access device; and wherein the step of automatically designating comprises: advancing through a sorted list in an ordered manner, to analyze candidate access devices in the sorted list; and attempting to designate each candidate access device as either the detector device or a working device while advancing through the sorted list.