Patent ID: 8458527

Claim:
A method for maintaining reliable communication on a bidirectional communication link, comprising: detecting, by a receiver on the bidirectional communication link, an error; maintaining, by the receiver, a count of detected errors; polling the receiver, by a transmitter on the bidirectional communication link, in order to determine the count of detected errors; performing, by the transmitter, a downshift evaluation for the bidirectional communication link, wherein the downshift evaluation comprises: requiring transmission speed downshift if the difference between the count of detected errors and a stored count is greater than a predetermined value; and forgoing transmission speed downshift if the difference between the count of detected errors and the stored count is less than the predetermined value; in response to performing the downshift evaluation for the path, maintaining a transmission speed of the path if the downshift evaluation determines that forgoing transmission speed downshift is required for the bidirectional communication link; and reducing the transmission speed of the path if the downshift evaluation determines that transmission speed downshift is required for the bidirectional communication link.