Patent ID: 8301940

Claim:
A method for monitoring availability of a data processing system, including at least one local unit and a central unit, for running an application involving repeated transmissions of blocks of data from the at least one local unit to the central unit, wherein for each local unit the method includes the steps of: providing a block of data to be transmitted to the central unit; determining expected transmission delay of a next block of data with respect to the block of data; updating the block of data by attaching an indication of the expected transmission delay; transmitting the updated block of data to the central unit, the updated block of data providing the indication of the expected transmission delay such that not receiving the next block of data within an expected receiving time corresponding to the expected transmission delay causes a detection of a failure of the local unit; receiving a refresh request to the local unit in response to an approaching of the expected receiving time; determining an indication of a new expected transmission delay of the next block of data in response to the refresh request; and transmitting the indication of the new expected transmission delay from the local unit to the central unit, the new expected transmission delay providing a basis for an update for the expected receiving time.