Patent ID: 8757495

Claim:
An encoded information reading (EIR) terminal comprising: a microprocessor; a memory communicatively coupled to said microprocessor; an EIR device comprising an imaging-based bar code reading device and/or a laser-based bar code reading device, said EIR device configured to perform at least one of: outputting raw message data comprising an encoded message and outputting decoded message data corresponding to an encoded message; a multi-band antenna comprised of metamaterial (MTM); and a wireless communication interface configured to support at least two wireless communication protocols; wherein said multi-band metamaterial (MTM) antenna is configured to simultaneously receive two or more radio signals in two or more frequency regulatory domains, wherein each one of said two or more radio signals is received by said multi-band metamaterial (MTM) antenna over at least one of: a distinct wireless communication network, and a distinct wireless communication protocol; and wherein said EIR terminal is configured to dynamically select at least one of: a wireless communication network and a wireless communication protocol by optimizing a value of a wireless communication protocol selection criterion, said wireless communication protocol selection criterion based on said two or more radio signals.