the present invention provides a wireless radio frequency communications interface between peripherals and the host personal computer or workstation . in one embodiment , the present invention provides a wireless electronic mouse which uses an rf transmitter to transmit information unidirectionally to a receiver which is coupled to a host computer . this arrangement eliminates the need for a cable connection between the mouse and the receiver , while at the same time permitting continuous communication therebetween . the present invention also provides a method and apparatus to allow the receiver to differentiate between multiple rf wireless mice operating within the same transmission zone by a combination of providing a unique identification code to each transmitting mouse and allowing the user to choose from a plurality of transmission channels . the receiver then automatically switches to the channel selected by the user . the present invention can further receive transmissions from either one or two peripheral devices . in one device mode , the receiver filters out stray frequencies from other rf peripherals . in two device mode , the receiver has the ability to receive information from two rf peripherals , while filtering out other stray rf peripherals operating in the same transmission zone . this allows a user to use the same receiver for one peripheral , such as a mouse , for detailed work and another peripheral for other types of special applications , such as a pointing device for software presentations . the present invention further provides for a power consumption minimization method in the wireless peripheral .