Patent ID: 8040238

Claim:
An Enhanced-Accuracy Enterprise-Wide Real-Time Locating System (RTLS), the system comprising: a plurality of tags, each of the plurality of tags representing a mobile object, each of the plurality of tags transmitting a periodic signal using a first wireless communication format; a mesh network comprising a plurality of sensors located within a facility, each sensor of the plurality of sensors communicating with other sensors of the plurality of sensors utilizing the first wireless communication format; and a plurality of end points in the mesh network that operate as healthcare devices using a second wireless communication format selected from one of ultrasound, infrared, and a radiofrequency medium, wherein each of the plurality of end points transmit only to at least one of a plurality of sensors in the mesh network utilizing the second wireless communication format to backhaul information over the mesh network; wherein the mesh network routes RTLS information from each of the plurality of end points and each of the plurality of tags to an information engine for processing to track each mobile object represented by each of the plurality of tags and to collect data on each of the healthcare devices from the backhaul information transmitted over the mesh network, the data comprising at least one of a status of a healthcare device, a healthcare device service date, a chemical in the healthcare device, a temperature of the healthcare device, a chemical level of the healthcare device, a motion signature of a healthcare device, and a last person that accessed a healthcare device; wherein each of the plurality of end points in the mesh network that operate as a healthcare device has a priority of operating as a healthcare device and the backhauling of information over the second wireless communication format allows for real-time communication from the healthcare device to the information engine.