Event-based keep alive times in communication networks

A method of communicating in a network having a plurality of nodes including a base node (BN) and a plurality of service nodes (SNs) including at least one switch node (SW) and at least one terminal node (TN), comprising:

• a first SN from said plurality of SNs receiving (i) a data /ALV_B/ACK frame from said BN or (ii) a beacon from said BN or said SW and restarting a first Keep Alive (KA) timer at said first SN node upon said (i) or said (ii);
• and
• restarting an Alive ALV_S timer at said BN for said first SN upon receiving a data/ ALV_S/ACK frame from said first SN;
• and
• setting a KA timeout (KA_TO) value for said first KA timer by transmitting an ALV.TIME field in an ALV_B frame, wherein said KA_TO value is set by said BN using an implementation specific algorithm, and wherein said BN uses an ALV_B timer to track a last sent data frame or said ALV_B frame to said first SN to ensure said BN sends at least some frames to said first SN during each time interval defined by said KA_TO value.

A modem, comprising:

• a processor implementing a Keep Alive (KA) timer communicably coupled to a non-transitory memory having stored instructions for implementing a KA loss reduction algorithm at a first node in a network having a plurality of nodes including a base node (BN), and a plurality of service nodes (SNs) having at least one switch node (SW) and at least one terminal node (TN), that, when executed, cause said processor to:
• when said modem is at a first SN from said plurality of SNs, restarting a first Keep Alive (KA) timer at said first SN node upon said first SN node receiving (i) a data /ALV_B/ACK frame from said BN or (ii) a beacon from said BN or said SW and
• when said modem is at said BN, restarting an ALV_S timer at said BN for said first SN upon receiving a data/ ALV_S/ACK frame from said first SN;
• and
• setting a KA timeout (KA_TO) value for said first KA timer by transmitting an ALV.TIME field in an ALV_B frame, wherein said KA_TO value is set by said BN using an implementation specific algorithm, and wherein said BN uses an ALV_B timer to track a last sent data frame or said ALV_B frame to said first SN to ensure said BN sends at least some frames to said first SN during each time interval defined by said KA_TO value.

A communications device, comprising:

• a modem, comprising:
• a processor implementing a Keep Alive (KA) timer communicably coupled to a non-transitory memory having stored instructions for implementing a KA loss reduction algorithm at a first node in a network having a plurality of nodes including a base node (BN), and a plurality of service nodes (SNs) having at least one switch node (SW) and at least one terminal node (TN), that, when executed, cause said processor to:
• when said modem is at a first SN from said plurality of SNs, restarting a first Keep Alive (KA) timer at said first SN node upon said first SN node receiving (i) a data /ALV_B/ACK frame from said BN or (ii) a beacon from said BN or said SW and
• when said modem is at said BN, restarting an ALV_S timer at said BN for said first SN upon receiving a data/ ALV_S/ACK frame from said first SN;
• setting a KA timeout (KA_TO) value for said first KA timer by transmitting an ALV.TIME field in an ALV_B frame, wherein said KA_TO value is set by said BN using an implementation specific algorithm, and wherein said BN uses an ALV_B timer to track a last sent data frame or said ALV_B frame to said first SN to ensure said BN sends at least some frames to said first SN during each time interval defined by said KA_TO value;
• and
• a transceiver communicably coupled to said modem.