Radio frequency waveguide system nodes

A system for a machine, the system comprising:

• a network of a plurality of nodes distributed throughout the machine, each of the nodes associated with at least one sensor and/or actuator of the machine and operable to communicate through one or more radio frequencies, wherein the at least one of the nodes comprises:
• a signal splitter configured to split a radio frequency transmission between a power path and a communications path within the node;
• a power rectifier and conditioner configured to produce a conditioned power signal based on power received through the power path;
• a communication filter of the communications path configured to produce a filtered communication signal;
• and
• a network processor powered by the conditioned power signal and configured to extract encoded information from the filtered communication signal.

A method comprising:

• receiving a radio frequency transmission at a node in a radio frequency system comprising a plurality of nodes;
• splitting the radio frequency transmission between a power path and a communications path within the node;
• applying power rectification and conditioning to power received through the power path to produce a conditioned power signal;
• providing power to a network processor of the node based on the conditioned power signal;
• applying a communication filter to a communications path signal of the communications path to produce a filtered communication signal;
• and
• providing the filtered communication signal to the network processor of the node to extract encoded information.