Method and apparatus for providing cellular telephone service to a macro-cell and pico-cell within a building using shared equipment
First Claim
1. An apparatus for providing cellular telephone service within a building comprising:
- means for establishing cellular telephone service in a pico-cell located within the building, wherein the pico-cell is allocated use of a first group of frequencies;
means for extending cellular telephone service from a macro-cell located outside the building to inside the building, wherein the macro-cell is allocated use of a second group of frequencies;
a shared antenna located within the building for transmitting and receiving signals both on the first group of frequencies for the pico-cell located within the building and on the second group of frequencies for the macro-cell; and
means for integrating the pico-cell and macro-cell cellular telephone service onto the shared antenna located within the building.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is an apparatus and method for providing cellular telephone service to a pico-cell located within a building and extending cellular telephone service from a macro-cell located outside the building to inside the building. A first set of transceivers provide cellular telephone service to the macro-cell and a second set of transceivers provide cellular telephone service to the pico-cell. A series of combiners which combine multiple radio frequency signals into a single radio frequency signal and splitters which replicate a single radio frequency signal into multiple copies of the same radio frequency signal are used to connect both sets of transceivers to a common plurality of antennas located within the building.
281 Citations
10 Claims
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1. An apparatus for providing cellular telephone service within a building comprising:
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means for establishing cellular telephone service in a pico-cell located within the building, wherein the pico-cell is allocated use of a first group of frequencies; means for extending cellular telephone service from a macro-cell located outside the building to inside the building, wherein the macro-cell is allocated use of a second group of frequencies; a shared antenna located within the building for transmitting and receiving signals both on the first group of frequencies for the pico-cell located within the building and on the second group of frequencies for the macro-cell; and means for integrating the pico-cell and macro-cell cellular telephone service onto the shared antenna located within the building. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An apparatus for transmitting to cellular telephones located inside and outside a building comprising:
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a first set of transceivers comprised of one or more transceivers connected to a cellular telephone network, each transceiver in the first set generating a transmitter output signal associated with a macro-cell located outside the building; a second set of transceivers comprised of one or more transceivers connected to the cellular telephone network, each transceiver in the second set generating a transmitter output signal associated with a pico-cell located within the building; a first combiner for combining the transmitter output signals from the first set to produce a first combined output signal; a splitter for replicating the first combined output signal and creating a first and second copy of the first combined output signal, the first copy of the signal output to an antenna for providing macro-cell coverage outside the building; and a second combiner for combining the transmitter output signals from the second set and the second copy of the first combined output signal to produce a second combined output signal output to an antenna located within the building for providing pico-cell coverage within the building and extending the macro-cell coverage into the building.
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6. An apparatus for receiving transmissions from cellular telephones located inside and outside a building comprising:
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an antenna located outside the building for receiving macro-cell transmissions from cellular telephones located outside the building; an antenna located within the building for receiving macro-cell and pico-cell transmissions from cellular telephones located inside the building; a combiner for combining the received transmissions from the antenna located outside the building and the received transmissions from the antenna located within the building, the combiner producing a combined output signal; a splitter for replicating the combined output signal and creating a first and second copy of the combined output signal; a first set of transceivers comprised of one or more transceivers connected to a cellular telephone network, the first set of transceivers receiving macro-cell transmissions from cellular telephones located outside and inside the building via the first copy of the combined output signal; and a second set of transceivers comprised of one or more transceivers connected to a cellular telephone network, the second set of transceivers receiving pico-cell transmissions from cellular telephones located within the building via the second copy of the combined output signal.
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7. An apparatus for transmitting to cellular telephones located inside a building comprising:
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a repeater connected to a cellular telephone network via a remotely located base station, the repeater generating an output signal associated with a macro-cell located outside the building; a set of transceivers comprised of one or more transceivers connected to a cellular telephone network, each transceiver in the set generating an output signal associated with a pico-cell located within the building; and a combiner for combining the output signals from the repeater and set of transceivers to produce a combined output signal output to an antenna located within the building for providing pico-cell coverage within the building and extending the macro-cell coverage into the building.
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8. An apparatus for receiving transmissions from cellular telephones located inside a building comprising:
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an antenna located within the building for receiving macro-cell and pico-cell transmissions from cellular telephones located inside the building; a splitter for reproducing the received transmissions from the antenna and creating a first and second copy of the received transmission; a repeater connected to a cellular telephone network via a remotely located base station, the repeater receiving macro-cell transmissions from cellular telephones located inside the building via the first copy of the received transmissions; and a set of transceivers comprised of one or more transceivers connected to a cellular telephone network, the set of transceivers receiving pico-cell transmissions from cellular telephones located within the building via the second copy of the combined output signal.
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9. A method for transmitting to cellular telephones located inside and outside a building comprising the steps of:
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combining transmitter outputs from each transceiver in a first set of transceivers associated with a macro-cell to produce a first combined output signal; replicating the first combined output signal to produce a first and second copy of the first combined output signal; transmitting the first copy of the first combined output signal to cellular telephones located outside the building associated with the macro-cell on an antenna located outside the building; combining transmitter outputs from each transceiver in a second set of transceivers associated with a pico-cell and the second copy of the first combined output signal to produce a second combined output signal; and transmitting the second combined output signal to cellular telephones located inside the building associated with the pico-cell and the macro-cell on an antenna located inside the building.
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10. A method for receiving transmissions from cellular telephones located inside and outside a building comprising the steps of:
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receiving macro-cell transmissions from cellular telephones located outside the building on an antenna located outside the building; receiving macro-cell and pico-cell transmissions from cellular telephones located inside the building on an antenna located inside the building; combining macro-cell transmissions received on the antenna located outside the building with macro-cell and pico-cell transmissions received on the antenna located inside the building to produce a combined output signal; and replicating the combined output signal to produce a copy of the combined output signal for each transceiver in a first set of transceivers associated with the macro-cell and for each transceiver in a second set of transceivers associated with the pico-cell.
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Specification