Home network of connected consumer devices

1. A method of associating a room purpose to a room within a home, the method comprising:

forming a mesh network in the home with a plurality of nodes, each node having a communication module capable of broadcasting a signal;

providing a computing device capable of receiving the signal from at least one of the plurality of nodes; the computing device:

receiving and analyzing the signal from the at least one of the plurality of nodes;

segmenting the nodes into rooms based on the signal from the at least one of the plurality of nodes;

obtaining an identity for at least one node in a room; and

using the identity to assign a purpose to the room.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a time of flight between at least two of the plurality of nodes.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication module comprises at least one of a room-transparent communication module and a room-limited communication module.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining the time of flight comprises determining the time of flight for signals from the room-transparent communication module and/or the room-limited communication module.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the identity for at least one node in a room comprises accessing a database of identifiers using an identifier for the at least one node.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein obtaining the identity for at least one node in a room comprises accessing a second database using the identifier and refining the assigned purpose to the room.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identity of the at least one node comprises one of a stock keeping unit, a network address, a bar code, and a presumed identity.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing a list of the nodes in each room based upon the segmenting.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the storing occurs in storage remote from the home on an external network.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the identity occurs on an external network.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein obtaining the identity comprises:

acquiring an identifier for the at least one node;

accessing a database populated by consumers; and

using information in the database to determine the purpose of the room.

12. A method of associating a purpose to a room within a home, comprising:

forming a mesh network in the home with a plurality of nodes, each node having a room-transparent communication module and a room-limited communication module;

determining a time of flight and signal strength for signals between nodes;

segmenting the nodes into rooms based upon the time of flight and signal strength;

obtaining an identity for at least one node in a room; and

using the identity to assign a purpose to the room based on one or more of a current room list, a historical room list, a current node function list, a historical node function list, current node location data, historical node location data, current sensor data, historical sensor data, user preference data, a external database of room functions, blueprints of the home, and external data related to the home.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein obtaining an identity for at least one node in a room comprises accessing a database of identifiers using an identifier for the at least one node.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the identity of the at least one node comprises one of a stock keeping unit, a network address, a bar code, and a presumed identity.

15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising storing a list of nodes in each room based upon the segmenting.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the storing occurs in storage remote from the home on an external network.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein obtaining the identity occurs on an external network.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein obtaining the identity comprises:

acquiring an identifier for the at least one node;

accessing a database populated by consumers; and

using information in the database to determine the purpose of the room.

19. An ad hoc wireless network in a home, comprising:

a plurality of nodes, each of the plurality of nodes being associated with a room; and

a database containing:

information about each of the plurality of nodes;

information about the rooms located in the home; and

information about the purpose of the rooms located in the home.

20. The ad hoc wireless network of claim 19 , wherein the database resides on a node in the wireless ad hoc network or external to the ad hoc wireless network.