Patent ID: 8103316

Claim:
A field device comprising: a network interface module for communicating over a wireless network; a device interface module for operating a transducer; a power control for determining how available electrical power is shared by the network interface module and the device interface module, wherein the power control is configured to monitor a network state of the network interface module and independently control allocation of power between the network interface module and the device interface module, wherein a portion of the available electrical power allocated to one of the network interface module and the device interface module is not available to the other of the network interface module and the device interface module; and software or firmware utilized by the power control that provides a power allocation priority sequence as a function of the monitored network state of the network interface module, wherein the power allocation priority sequence prioritizes allocation of power by the power control to the network interface module when the network interface module is not connected to the wireless network, regardless of status of the device interface module, and the device interface module has an increased share of available electrical power after the network interface module has joined the wireless network.