Patent ID: 8228785

Claim:
A method for providing protection in a communication system, the method comprising: determining whether a periodic update timer will expire in a certain number of superframes; and responsive to determining that the periodic update timer will expire in the certain number of superframes, determining whether the periodic update timer has expired in a current superframe, responsive to determining that the periodic update timer has expired in the current superframe, determining, at a next-in-line protecting device, whether a non-acknowledgement message has been received from a primary protecting device in an immediately previous superframe, wherein the communication system includes a plurality of protecting devices protecting a number of licensed devices and wherein the plurality of protecting devices comprises the primary protecting device, a number of secondary protecting devices, and the next-in-line protecting device; and responsive to determining that the non-acknowledgement message has not been received from the primary protecting device in the immediately previous superframe, transmitting, at the next-in-line protecting device, a next-in-line protecting device (NPD) codeword to inform other protecting devices in the plurality of protecting devices that the next-in-line protecting device still exists in the communication system.