Patent ID: 8451098

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag; a battery coupled to the RFID tag; a switch coupled between the RFID tag and the battery to engage an active mode of operation; and an object coupled to the RFID tag, the battery, and the switch; wherein the RFID tag is configured to: operate in a passive mode of operation to identify the object upon an interrogation from an RFID reader by wirelessly sending the RFID reader an identification number of the RFID tag, the identification number including one or more bits set to a first value that indicates that the RFID tag is operating in the passive mode; and responsive to detecting an alert condition associated with the object, the RFID tag is operable to close the switch to engage the active mode of operation and initiate communication with the RFID reader and wirelessly transmit out an alert to the RFID reader, the alert pertaining to the object and comprising the identification number of the RFID tag which includes the one or more bits set to a second value that indicate that the RFID tag is operating in the active mode; wherein the RFID tag is configured for a single use of the active mode of operation, wherein the battery is effectively drained in response to closing the switch to engage the active mode of operation, to prevent further uses of the active mode of operation; wherein the RFID tag is configured for multiple uses of the passive mode of operation, wherein the RFID reader sends the identification number including the one or more bits set to the first value to the RFID reader in response to a passive use of the RFID tag subsequent to the transmission of the alert in the active mode.