Patent ID: 6975206

Claim:
A method of communicating information from first and second transponders to a central monitoring device, the method comprising: receiving a starting indication at the first and second transponders; determining first and second start times for the first and second transponders, respectively, in response to the starting indication; and transmitting a first set of bursts from the first transponder and a second set of bursts from the second transponder, wherein the bursts of the first set respectively occur at at least some of a first set of potential transmission times within an interrogation time period; wherein the bursts of the second set respectively occur at at least some of a second set of potential transmission times within the interrogation time period; wherein each of the potential transmission times of the first set are determined in relation to the first start time, and each of the potential transmission times of the second set are determined in relation to the second start time; and wherein the potential transmission times of the first set are separated from one another by one of a bit-cell period and a multiple of the bit-cell period, and the potential transmission times of the second set are separated from one another by one of the bit-cell period and a multiple of the bit-cell period.