Patent ID: 8576709

Claim:
A method for communications device operations, the method comprising: receiving a sequence of packets from a transmitting station, wherein each packet in the sequence of packets comprises a protocol layer packet for each protocol layer of multi-layered network; and determining, with the communications device, if a packet in the sequence of packets has been dropped by the transmitting station in accordance with at least two sets of sequence numbers associated with different protocol layers of packets in the sequence of packets, wherein the at least two sets of sequence numbers comprise a first set of sequence numbers and a second set of sequence numbers; processing, with the communications device, the packet in accordance with the determining if a packet in the sequence of packets has been dropped by the transmitting station; determining if there is a first discontinuity in the first set of sequence numbers, wherein the first set of sequence numbers is associated with first protocol layer packets of the sequence of packets; and determining if there is a corresponding first discontinuity in the second set of sequence numbers, wherein the second set of sequence numbers is associated with second protocol layer packets of the sequence of packets, wherein the first protocol layer packets belong to an higher protocol layer than the second protocol layer packets, and wherein a corresponding first discontinuity comprises a discontinuity in the second set of sequence numbers that occurs at a same time mark as the first discontinuity in the first set of sequence numbers.