The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 20, 2010
Filed:
Jun. 01, 2005
Clifton W. Wood, Jr., Boise, ID (US);
Clifton W. Wood, Jr., Boise, ID (US);
Keystone Technology Solutions, LLC, Boise, ID (US);
Abstract
In one among many embodiments, the invention provides a system including an interrogator communicating to a selected one or more of a number of communications devices. A plurality of communications devices select random values independently of random values selected by other devices. The interrogator transmits a first signal requesting devices within a specified group of devices to respond, the specified group being less than or equal to all of the devices within a field of the interrogator. Devices receiving the first signal respectively determine if the respective device falls within the specified group and, if so, send a reply including a respective random value to the interrogator within a randomly selected time slot of a number of slots; and, if not, do not send a reply. The interrogator determines if a collision occurred between devices that sent a reply. The interrogator also creates a new, different specified group.