diff --git a/ofagent/connection_mgr.py b/ofagent/connection_mgr.py
index 13ce2a0..2496dd5 100644
--- a/ofagent/connection_mgr.py
+++ b/ofagent/connection_mgr.py
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@
 from grpc_client import GrpcClient
 
 from agent import Agent
-from google.protobuf.empty_pb2 import Empty
 from common.utils.dockerhelpers import get_my_containers_name
 
 
@@ -40,8 +39,8 @@
 # _ = third_party
 
 class ConnectionManager(object):
-    def __init__(self, consul_endpoint, vcore_endpoint, controller_endpoints,
-                 instance_id,
+    def __init__(self, consul_endpoint, vcore_endpoint, vcore_grpc_timeout,
+                 controller_endpoints, instance_id,
                  enable_tls=False, key_file=None, cert_file=None,
                  vcore_retry_interval=0.5, devices_refresh_interval=5,
                  subscription_refresh_interval=5):
@@ -51,6 +50,7 @@
         self.controller_endpoints = controller_endpoints
         self.consul_endpoint = consul_endpoint
         self.vcore_endpoint = vcore_endpoint
+        self.grpc_timeout = vcore_grpc_timeout
         self.instance_id = instance_id
         self.enable_tls = enable_tls
         self.key_file = key_file
@@ -160,8 +160,10 @@
 
                 # Send subscription request to register the current ofagent instance
                 container_name = self.instance_id
-                stub = voltha_pb2.VolthaLocalServiceStub(self.channel)
-                subscription = stub.Subscribe(OfAgentSubscriber(ofagent_id=container_name))
+                if self.grpc_client is None:
+                    self.grpc_client = GrpcClient(self, self.channel, self.grpc_timeout)
+                subscription = yield self.grpc_client.subscribe(
+                    OfAgentSubscriber(ofagent_id=container_name))
 
                 # If the subscriber id matches the current instance
                 # ... then the subscription has succeeded
@@ -170,7 +172,7 @@
                         # Keep details on the current GRPC session and subscription
                         log.debug('subscription-with-vcore-successful', subscription=subscription)
                         self.subscription = subscription
-                        self.grpc_client = GrpcClient(self, self.channel).start()
+                        self.grpc_client.start()
 
                     # Sleep a bit in between each subscribe
                     yield asleep(self.subscription_refresh_interval)
@@ -204,16 +206,16 @@
         while self.running:
             log.info('retrieve-logical-device-list')
             try:
-                stub = voltha_pb2.VolthaLocalServiceStub(self.channel)
-                devices = stub.ListLogicalDevices(Empty()).items
+                devices = yield self.grpc_client.list_logical_devices()
                 for device in devices:
                     log.info("logical-device-entry", id=device.id, datapath_id=device.datapath_id)
 
                 returnValue(devices)
 
             except _Rendezvous, e:
-                log.error('vcore-communication-failure', exception=e, status=e.code())
-                if e.code() == StatusCode.UNAVAILABLE:
+                status = e.code()
+                log.error('vcore-communication-failure', exception=e, status=status)
+                if status == StatusCode.UNAVAILABLE or status == StatusCode.DEADLINE_EXCEEDED:
                     os.system("kill -15 {}".format(os.getpid()))
 
             except Exception as e:
@@ -287,7 +289,8 @@
             # see https://jira.opencord.org/browse/CORD-821
 
             try:
-                if self.channel is not None and self.grpc_client is not None:
+                if self.channel is not None and self.grpc_client is not None and \
+                                self.subscription is not None:
                     # get current list from Voltha
                     devices = yield self.get_list_of_logical_devices_from_voltha()