Patent attributes
In a (5G CBRS) network having a (CBSD) base station communicating with a (SAS) bandwidth manager via a cable modem (CM), the CM maintains a long timer and a short timer for each bandwidth allocation to the CBSD. When the CM receives a heartbeat message from the CBSD, the CM re-starts the long and short timers and transmits the heartbeat message to the SAS. When the short timer expires, the CM re-starts the short timer and transmits a copy of the stored heartbeat message to the SAS. When the long timer expires, the CM stops transmitting a copy of the stored heartbeat message to the SAS. In this way, the CM effectively extends the time limit before the SAS will de-allocate bandwidth from the CBSD to handle situations where the CBSD is temporarily unable to send heartbeat messages to the SAS even though the CBSD still needs the allocated bandwidth.