# System and method for wireless sensor networks Patent number: US9167516B2 This patent describes wireless sensor networks based on 802.11 standard (which is commonly known as WiFi). A power management unit controls when the sensor module is active, thus allowing for extremely low power consumption over long time frames. Communications occur at coordinated times, which means that all data is received in a timely manner. The SoilSense-9000 may potentially infringe on this patent as it also uses a power control module and is aimed at achieving low power consumption while offering 802.11 compliant wireless networking. ## Detailed Discussion This patent makes 13 claims. Claim 1 describes how a power supply unit powers a power management unit. This unit periodically activates a sensor unit and adds the data it collects to a buffer. The sensor module is then powered down to save battery. At another time (not necessarily instantly) the power management system powers up a compute and memory unit which ## References 1. [System and method for wireless sensor networks](https://patents.google.com/patent/US9167516B2/en?q=(wireless+sensor+for+agriculture)&oq=wireless+sensor+for+agriculture&page=3) 2. ~\citearendas2015 # Footnotes