Patent ID: 8571678

Claim:
A method of adapting communications between an implantable medical device and an external instrument, comprising: transferring communication signals using a first initial modulation parameter setting over a telemetry link between the implantable medical device and the external instrument; listening during a period of time when no communication signals are being transferred between the external device and the implantable medical device to obtain a signal strength reference; analyzing a quality metric of the communication signals that have been transferred, the analyzing comprising comparing the signal strength reference to a signal strength of the communication signals to obtain a signal-to-noise ratio for the telemetry link; selecting a second modulation parameter setting as a replacement for the first initial modulation parameter setting in response to the analysis, wherein selecting the second modulation parameter setting comprises performing a look-up of a link quality in a stored table that associates link quality to at least one modulation parameter setting; and transferring communication signals using the second modulation parameter setting over the telemetry link between the implantable medical device and the external instrument.