Patent ID: 8401660

Claim:
A method for operating a receiver in a medical implant system, the method comprising: in response to entering into an active state, searching for a signal for a duration of time; if the signal is not detected within the duration of time, entering into an inactive state for a time interval to reduce power consumption during the inactive state, and reentering into the active state in response to an end of the time interval; if the signal is detected within the duration of time, receiving the signal at the receiver, and checking for presence of information indicative of a polling schedule in the received signal; wherein the duration of time is: predefined if the information indicative of the polling schedule is not detected in the received signal; predefined if the information indicative of the polling schedule does not indicate the duration of time and otherwise altered as indicated in the polling schedule; and wherein the time interval is: predefined if the information indicative of the polling schedule is not detected in the received signal; predefined if the information indicative of the polling schedule does not indicate the time interval; and otherwise altered as indicated in the polling schedule.