Patent ID: 7416123

Claim:
An apparatus for locating an item at a node, comprising: a. an item-specific location device disposed in association with the item and that includes a circuit that uniquely identifies the item; b. at lease one fixed mesh network communication device disposed in an item storage portion of the node; and c. a computer, in communication with the fixed mesh network communication device and in communication with a global computer network, the computer programmed to execute the following steps: i. if an item identification request is received from a requester via the global computer network that includes a requested item identification, then send an item identification message to the fixed mesh network communication device; and ii. if an item identified message is received from the fixed mesh network communication device in response to the item identification message indicating that the item-specific location device corresponds to the requested item identification, then transmit to the requester, via the global computer network, an item identified notification and a location identification that identifies the node.