Patent ID: 9572992
Date: 2017-02-21
CPC Classifications: A61N,G16H

Claim:
1. A method for establishing a communications session with an implantable medical device (IMD), the method comprising: configuring an IMD and an external device to communicate with one another through a protocol that utilizes a dedicated advertisement channel; periodically transmitting, from the IMD, advertisement notices over the dedicated advertisement channel according to the protocol, the advertisement notices being transmitted periodically at an advertisement period over multiple cycles; repeatedly scanning the advertisement channel, by the external device, for select scanning intervals in search of the advertisement notices, the scanning operation being repeated periodically at a scan period over multiple cycles, wherein the advertisement period and scan period are independent of one another such that the advertisement and scan periods at least partially overlap intermittently after a number of cycles, wherein (i) the advertising notices have a first length and each of the scanning operations have a second length that is shorter than the first length, and (ii) the advertising and scan periods differ to cause a respective scan operation in a plurality of cycles to begin before and overlap with a corresponding advertising notice during the plurality of cycles; and when the external device detects one of the advertisement notices, establishing a communications link between the external device and the IMD.