Apparatus and method for controlling communications to and from fixed position communication devices over a fixed bandwidth communication link

A central controller operable to control transmission of messages in a system from a plurality of fixed position client devices to the central controller over a fixed bandwidth communication link, the central controller comprising:

• a client device manager operable to:
• establish a reporting period during which the messages are to be transmitted by the plurality of client devices;
• determine a plurality of transmission increments within the reporting period;
• allocate each transmission increment to a respective group of the plurality of client devices;
• determine transmission times for the messages based on (a) identifiers for the plurality of client devices, (b) respective durations of transmission increments allocated to respective groups of fixed position client devices, and (c) a quantity of client devices in each group of client devices;
• and
• generate at least one control message that includes indications of the transmission times;
• and
• a client device interface operably coupled to the client device manager and the communication link, the client device interface operable to communicate the at least one control message to the plurality of client devices over the communication link.

A system operable to control transmission of messages over a fixed bandwidth communication link, the system comprising:

• a plurality of fixed position client devices, each client device including:
• a communications interface operable to receive at least one control message indicating a transmission time for transmitting at least one report message;
• and
• a device control manager operably coupled to the communications interface, the device control manager operable to generate the at least one report message and supply the at least one report message to the communications interface for transmission at the transmission time;
• an central controller that includes:
• a client manager operable to:
• determine a transmission period during which report messages are to be transmitted by the plurality of client devices,
• determine a plurality of transmission increments within the transmission period,
• allocate each transmission increment to a respective group of the plurality of client devices,
• determine transmission times for the report messages based on (a) identifiers for the plurality of client devices, (b) respective durations of transmission increments allocated to respective groups of the plurality of client devices, and (c) a quantity of client devices in each group of client devices, and
• generate control messages that include indications of the transmission times;
• and
• a client interface operably coupled to the client manager and the communication link, the client interface being operable to communicate the control messages to the plurality of client devices over the communication link.