Loss of comms
These clauses require each vehicle's response to a dropped network, every timer behind it, and its recovery path in writing, so the wireless design is built on the vehicle's real numbers.
What a vehicle does when the network goes away is set by its maker, not by your access points. These clauses put that behavior, every timer behind it, how the fleet detects the loss, and how the vehicle recovers in writing, per vehicle and software version. They do not judge whether a behavior is adequate; that belongs to the machine builder's risk assessment and the applicable standards.
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Type your values, or work them out in the requirements translator. Blanks you leave empty stay marked in the text.
7.1 Behavior in writing for each vehicle shall
The maker of [Vehicle or machine] shall state in writing, for the software version supplied, what the vehicle does when it loses its link to the fleet manager: continue on the route it already holds, stop at the next decision point, stop, or power down. The answer shall say whether that changes while the vehicle carries a load, docks, waits at a door or lift, or works inside a guarded or enclosed area.
7.2 Every timer listed shall
The maker of [Vehicle or machine] shall list every timer that starts a loss-of-comms response, with its default, its range, and who can change it, and shall state the longest gap the vehicle tolerates without starting any response. The shortest of these timers shall be an input to the outage budget.
7.3 Stops carried over the network declared shall
The maker of [Vehicle or machine] shall declare whether any stop command, interlock, or safety data reaches the vehicle over the wireless link, and the timeout of each such connection. A vehicle that needs a message over the network in order to stop shall be referred to the machine builder's risk assessment before the wireless design proceeds.
7.4 Fleet detection time stated shall
The fleet manager supplier shall state how the fleet detects a lost vehicle and how long detection takes, including any heartbeat or keep alive period, and what happens to the vehicle's reserved path and zones until it does.1
7.5 Vehicle Wi-Fi watchdogs declared shall
The maker of [Vehicle or machine] shall declare any Wi-Fi watchdog or forced reconnect the vehicle runs, what triggers it, and what it monitors, and shall show that a fault elsewhere on the network cannot trigger it.
7.6 Recovery path stated shall
The maker of [Vehicle or machine] shall state whether the vehicle resumes on its own when the link returns or needs a reset, a restart, or a person, where that person has to be, and what the vehicle logs about the drop, with timestamps on which clock.
About this page
Built from 9 sources: 2 standards bodies and labs, 2 protocol owners and alliances and 5 vendor documents. Researched and drafted with AI assistance, then reviewed and approved by Ben Rutter on . How pages are made
- First published
- Last updated
Change history (1)
- First published
Cite this page
Plain
Ben Rutter. "Loss of comms." OT Wireless, published October 6, 2026, updated October 5, 2026. https://otwireless.com/clauses/loss-of-comms/
APA 7
Rutter, B. (2026, October 6). Loss of comms. OT Wireless. https://otwireless.com/clauses/loss-of-comms/
BibTeX
@misc{rutter2026lossofcomms,
author = {Rutter, Ben},
title = {{Loss of comms}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://otwireless.com/clauses/loss-of-comms/}},
organization = {OT Wireless},
}