# Term for data packet other than "keepalive" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 19, 2022, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684 "2022-05-19T13:57:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/21 "2022-05-19T15:54:34Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I just searched for “synonyms for death” and launched myself headfirst into a Monty Python sketch. “That server is no more.” For the OP’s purpose, how about another nod toward Monty Python: “NDY” standing for “Not dead yet”. ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/22 "2022-05-19T16:01:40Z")
Imadog? for “I’m a dog” = barking… 'the sensor suite stopped barking a few ticks ago… ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/23 "2022-05-19T16:09:03Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > I heartily endorse calling it a yopp. It can even be backronymed. Something like “your operational periodic packet.” There’s probably a better one. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/24 "2022-05-19T16:16:44Z")
Thinking about it a bit more, if it were me, I’d call it a _squawk_. (I have designed more than my fair share of distributed protocols, and this one sounds pretty much right.) It sounds as if you will have a flock of them being tracked, and they will be squawking away as you track them. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/25 "2022-05-19T16:20:10Z")
I was holding out for Horton, but the majority vote was to go with ping. In our system, the tags emit small data packets that are picked up by networked devices that forward the signal on to a server with our software on it. That software can be used to manage the configuration of all the networked devices (that we supply) and the tags and can be used to troubleshoot issues in addition to letting you know if a tag hasn’t checked in recently. And darn it, @Francis_Vaughan, I think “squawk” would have been perfect. [mourns] (I may float it as an idea, but I suspect we’ll stick to ping.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/26 "2022-05-19T17:01:55Z")
OK, serious suggestion: ahoy ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/27 "2022-05-19T17:06:21Z")
> [@vbob](#): > > Imadog? for “I’m a dog” = barking… In the PLC world we used to call it a “Lost Comm. Watchdog”. ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/28 "2022-05-19T17:27:59Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > It would be nouning a verb, but maybe Phone Home (as in ‘I can’t find a phone home signal’). And you could refer to it as an “ET.” ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/29 "2022-05-19T18:11:03Z")
telemetry, or telemetry signal seems like it would work ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/30 "2022-05-19T18:23:43Z")
If you want to avoid medical terms, telemetry wouldn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/31 "2022-05-19T19:00:28Z")
Watchdog? In our system if we don’t “kick” the watchdog timer in X seconds, the device will get rebooted. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/32 "2022-05-19T21:17:22Z")
I was going to suggest **watchdog** , as well - although that name is usually applied to the timer-based process that is monitoring for the incoming status packets. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/33 "2022-05-19T21:17:54Z")
Is it just informative, or is there a back-and-forth handshake required? “Keepalive” or similar suggests to me a two-way handshake to maintain the circuit open (in phone or computer sense, not electrical “open circuit”). So the two signals would be a _notify_ and _acknowledge_ , essentially. Perhaps _connection refresh_ is the better term for maintaining the connection, rather than _notify_ which implies it may be a first time signal. For a one-way signal (“I don’t care if I get a response”) a Ping or HAIL would be appropriate. (If the central server is the master, just still don’t call it a HEIL.) ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/34 "2022-05-19T21:31:53Z")
Motorola used **COPS** for computer operating properly signal. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/35 "2022-05-19T22:56:39Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > if we don’t “kick” the watchdog timer in X seconds, the device will get rebooted. In the days of DOS based operator interface computers (ie, not very robust), we’d hardwire a relay to the PLC that could kill power to the PC. Worked 99.9% of the time. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/36 "2022-05-19T22:58:15Z")
Considering the message includes the battery status and location I’d just call it an update or status message. ---
**Author:** ![QMatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/aeb1de/32.png) [@QMatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QMatic)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/37 "2022-05-20T04:54:47Z")
What about Cooee? From wikipedia: > **Cooee!** is a shout originated in Australia to attract attention, find missing people, or indicate one’s own location. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/38 "2022-05-20T09:37:04Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Heartbeat is the correct industry term for a message like that Yep, for SCADA systems we use “heartbeat tags”. There’s also “handshake”, but that’s two-way confirmation, not just listening to a broadcasting tag. I think either the aforementioned ahoy, or yopp, are both good. Horton isn’t, as he’s the listener. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/39 "2022-05-20T12:01:24Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I think either the aforementioned ahoy, or yopp, are both good. Horton isn’t, as he’s the listener. Technically true. But “Yopp” wasn’t instantly recognizable as a reference to “We’re here”, and “Horton” was. A coworker cleared up my misunderstanding. All the heartbeat message does is say that the tag still exists. The system figures out where it is based on what devices hear it. Several of my techie friends have started muttering something about trying to get Horton “into the lexicon”, which amuses me no end. ---
**Author:** ![WhyKickAMooCow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc29f/32.png) [@WhyKickAMooCow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyKickAMooCow)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684/40 "2022-05-20T12:23:26Z")
I really like the descriptive term “postcard” you’ve suggested! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-data-packet-other-than-keepalive/964684.md?page=3)