Patent ID: 7742430

Claim:
A system for managing meters migrating from a first communication path to a second communication path in a wireless network, the system comprising: a first collector and a plurality of meters that communicate wirelessly with said first collector disposed within said first communication path, a second collector and a plurality of meters that communicate wirelessly with said second collector disposed within said second communication path, wherein each meter has a communication path to a respective collector that is either direct or indirect through one or more intermediate meters that serve as repeaters, the wireless communication paths between each meter and a respective collector defining a layout of the network; a network management server that determines a network state; and a network management system that maintains a database of said network state, wherein when said network management server detects that a meter has migrated from said first communication path to said second communication path, information associated with said meter is retrieved from said network management server and downloaded to said second collector; wherein said information associated with said meter comprises first collected data collected by said first collector from said meter; wherein second collector data collected by the second collector from said meter is merged at the second collector with the first collected data, and wherein said first collected data and said second collected data comprise metering information representative of usage of a service or commodity.