Patent ID: 8258957

Claim:
A system for tracking a plurality of assets, comprising: a central computer system, said central computer system maintaining a plurality of records relating to said assets; a plurality of transponders, each of said transponders being associated with a respective one of said assets and storing an identifier identifying a particular asset with which the transponder is associated, wherein each of said transponders comprises: an electronic device, wherein said electronic device moveable between an inactive, sleep state and an active state; a power source in electronic communication with said electronic device, said power source providing power to said electronic device; and a switch having an antenna for receiving at least one RF signal, said at least one RF signal being generated at a direction of said central computer system, said switch converting said at least one RF signal into at least one DC signal; wherein said at least one DC signal causes said electronic device to move from said inactive, sleep state to said active state, wherein when said electronic device is in said active state the transponder generates and transmits a response signal including the identifier identifying the particular asset with which the transponder is associated, and wherein said response signal is used to update a particular one of the record maintained by the central computer system relating to the asset identified by the identifier in the response signal; a network, said central computer system being in electronic communication with said network; a plurality of wireless access points, each of said wireless access points being in electronic communication with said network; and a plurality of interface devices, each of said interface devices being adapted to (i) wirelessly communicate with at least one of said wireless access points, (ii) receive the response signal transmitted by a particular one or more of said transponders, and (iii) generate and transmit to the at least one of said wireless access points at least one second response signal that includes each identifier that was included in each response signal received by the interface device; wherein each at least one second response signal is transmitted to said central computer system through said network, and wherein said central computer system uses the at least one second response signal received from one or more of said interface devices to update one or more of said records.