Patent ID: 7298288

Claim:
A method of operating an RF communicator adapted for an automatic meter reading (AMR) system, the method comprising: maintaining the RF communicator in a low-power standby mode; automatically responding to bubble-up events that are spaced apart by time durations, wherein the step-of responding includes initiating the RF communicator to exit the standby mode and enter into an active operating mode, and thereafter return to the standby mode; automatically generating a new prediction of a time of occurrence of a future AMR system communication attempt with the RF communicator based on past communication activity; automatically adjusting a time duration between successive bubble-up events based on the new prediction such that: the time duration is made relatively shorter when the future AMR system communication attempt is predicted to occur close in time to the present time; and the time duration is made relatively longer when the future AMR system communication attempt is not predicted to occur close in time to the present time.