Patent ID: 7162307

Claim:
A method for maintaining a communication session between an external programmer device and an implantable medical device (IMD) to reduce the potential for conflict with other external programmer devices, comprising: communicating data from a first external IMD programmer device to an IMD via a communication channel controlled by a control unit; and transmitting idle messages from the external device via the communication channel during gaps within the data communication to reduce the potential for conflict with one or more other external IMD programmer devices establishing a communication session accordance with a frame-based protocol in which each frame has a downlink communication and an uplink communication to communication the data from the external device to the implantable medical device; communicating the idle messages during the downlink communications of the frames; transmitting the downlink communications of the frames with the medical device at a first rate; and receiving the downlink communications with the implantable medical device at a second rate slower than the first rate to receive only the downlink communications carrying data and not the idle messages.