Method of increasing the data throughput in a communication system

A method of communicating in a communication system configured for bidirectional information exchange between a single master terminal unit and a number of slave terminal units on the basis of data packets, wherein:

• a communication channel of the communication system has a predetermined timeslot structure with timeslots for transmitting either information from the master terminal unit to one or more of the slave terminal units or for transmitting information from a slave terminal unit to the master terminal unit;
• and
• wherein, at least in a first type of link:
• the master terminal unit addresses each slave terminal unit, to which an already existing connection is set up, by repeatedly sending to the slave terminal unit a data packet, addressed to the corresponding slave terminal unit, in accordance with a suitable addressing schedule;
• the slave terminal unit is enabled to send back a limited number of data packets carrying useful information to the master terminal unit only on having been addressed by the master terminal unit by receiving a data packet;
• and
• the slave terminal unit responds to an error-free receipt of a data packet carrying useful data from the master terminal unit by sending back to the master terminal unit a data packet confirming the error-free receipt of the data packet;
• the method which comprises the following steps, carried out during an existing link:
• monitoring the communication system for an occurrence of a given operating condition associated with a slave terminal unit, the predetermined operating condition with respect to the slave terminal unit occurring if no acknowledgement of the error-free receipt of the useful data is received at the master terminal unit in the data packet sent back from the slave terminal unit in response to a data packet addressed to the slave terminal unit;
• and
• updating the addressing schedule by inserting additional addressing times for the slave terminal unit, on verifying that the given operating condition exists for the slave terminal unit.