Patent ID: 8860551

Claim:
A network component comprising: a microcontroller having access to computer readable memory and computer readable storage, the microcontroller operating at a first nonfiducial network component of a local area network; and, an antenna in communication with the microcontroller, the antenna configured to at least transmit or receive radio frequency electro-magnetic waves, wherein the microcontroller is configured to spatially locate one or more fiducial network components in the local area network in which the microcontroller is a member, wherein the microcontroller is further configured to determine the spatial location of one or more fiducial network components by: receiving a unique identifier for a first fiducial network component from the one or more fiducial network components, receiving a wireless signal from the first fiducial network component, using a plurality of received wireless signal responses to a previously sent wireless signal, the received responses from two or more fiducial network components in the local area network, to determine, using radio frequency telemetry, the physical distance between each fiducial network component for which a response was received, and wherein the microcontroller is further configured to exchange with other components of the local area network, distances between fiducial network components calculated by other components of the local area network, and verify the accuracy of these calculated distances between fiducial network components.