Patent ID: 7779099

Claim:
A system comprising: one or more flow meter devices at one or more nodes of a distributed flow meter network, each of the one or more flow meter devices for directly measuring flow of a fluid through the flow meter device when the fluid is dispensed, the one or more nodes to transmit flow meter data autonomously or in response to a request, the flow meter data comprising at least one of a fluid flow rate and a fluid flow total; and at least one server to receive the flow meter data from the one or more nodes of the distributed flow meter network, wherein the at least one server is at a location different than the one or more nodes; wherein the at least one server is to communicate with at least one subscriber station via a communication network; wherein when the one or more nodes transmit flow meter data in response to a request, the request is to be transmitted by the at least one server at a frequency that is adaptively changed based on a characteristic of the flow meter data; and wherein the at least one server is to selectively distribute the received flow meter data to the at least one subscriber station when criteria of a policy implemented by the at least one server is satisfied, criteria of the policy defining a data need of the at least one subscriber station based on at least one of: a type of the fluid; a brand of the fluid; a geographic location of the one or more nodes; and a condition based on flow of the fluid.