Patent ID: 8260896

Claim:
A system for monitoring business machines using a mesh network, the system comprising: a plurality of field nodes comprising the mesh network, wherein at least a subset of the plurality of field nodes is each configured to: monitor usage of a selected one of a first plurality of business machines to generate a first set of monitoring data including location information; and transmit the first set of monitoring data through other field nodes of the mesh network; a base station node, in communication with the subset of the plurality of field nodes via the other field nodes; and configured to: receive the first set of monitoring data transmitted from the at least a subset of the plurality of field nodes via the other field nodes; monitor a routing table for the at least a subset of the field nodes; identify a change in the monitored routing table for one or more of the at least a subset of the field nodes; identify a change in location based at least in part on the identified change in the monitored routing table and the location information of the first set of monitoring data; and aggregate the received first set of monitoring data and the data comprising the identified change in location to generate an aggregated set of monitoring data; and a consolidating server, in communication with the base station node, and configured to: receive the aggregated set of monitoring data; collect a second set of monitoring data from a second plurality of business machines via a second network distinct from the mesh network; and transmit at least a subset of the first set of monitoring data, the data comprising the identified change in location, and the second set of monitoring data.