Coordinated satellite-terrestrial frequency reuse
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of at least one of assigning, reusing and borrowing frequencies between one or more communications systems, comprising the steps of:
- configuring a first satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a first set of frequencies associated therewith and comprising a first substantially central portion and a first substantially peripheral portion;
configuring a second satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a second set of frequencies associated therewith;
configuring at least one terrestrial cell for providing terrestrial communications comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region of the first satellite spot beam, the at least one terrestrial cell having a third set of frequencies associated therewith;
at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the third set of frequencies;
detecting a signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies;
determining, in response to the detecting, whether a handoff should be made from the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies to at least one alternate frequency, other than the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, the at least one alternate frequency comprising a signal that is weaker than the signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies; and
selectively handing off communications for the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies to the at least one alternate frequency, in response to the determining.
23 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method of operation for efficiently reusing and/or sharing at least a portion of the frequency spectrum between a first satellite spot beam and a second satellite spot beam, and/or an underlay terrestrial network associated with a second satellite spot beam. The spectrum is efficiently reused and/or shared between respective spot beams and/or associated underlay terrestrial systems in a manner minimizes interference between the respective satellite and terrestrial systems.
337 Citations
154 Claims
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1. A method of at least one of assigning, reusing and borrowing frequencies between one or more communications systems, comprising the steps of:
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configuring a first satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a first set of frequencies associated therewith and comprising a first substantially central portion and a first substantially peripheral portion; configuring a second satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a second set of frequencies associated therewith; configuring at least one terrestrial cell for providing terrestrial communications comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region of the first satellite spot beam, the at least one terrestrial cell having a third set of frequencies associated therewith; at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the third set of frequencies; detecting a signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies; determining, in response to the detecting, whether a handoff should be made from the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies to at least one alternate frequency, other than the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, the at least one alternate frequency comprising a signal that is weaker than the signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies; and selectively handing off communications for the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies to the at least one alternate frequency, in response to the determining. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of establishing communications using a space-based system that is configured to provide communications based upon at least one cellular terrestrial technology, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining that communications cannot be established because of unavailability of a first set of frequencies associated with a first antenna pattern of the space-based system; establishing communications by assigning to, allowing reuse by and/or allowing borrowing by, the first antenna pattern, at least one frequency of a second set of frequencies associated with a second antenna pattern; detecting a signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies; determining, in response to the detecting, whether a handoff should be made from the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies to at least one alternate frequency, other than the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies, the at least one alternate frequency comprising a signal that is weaker than the signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies; and selectively handing off communications for the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies to the at least one alternate frequency, in response to the determining.
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20. A method of at least one of assigning, reusing and borrowing frequencies between two or more communications areas, comprising the steps of:
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configuring a first communications area for providing space-based communications having a first set of frequencies associated therewith and comprising a first substantially central portion and a first substantially peripheral portion; configuring a second communications area for providing space-based communications having a second set of frequencies associated therewith; configuring at least one third communications area for providing terrestrial communications, the at least one third communications area comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region of the first communications area and having a third set of frequencies associated therewith; at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one third communications area, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the third set of frequencies; detecting a signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies; determining, in response to the detecting, whether a handoff should be made from the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies to at least one alternate frequency, other than the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, the at least one alternate frequency comprising a signal that is weaker than the signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies; and selectively handing off communications for the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies to the at least one alternate frequency, in response to the determining. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A method of at least one of assigning, reusing and borrowing frequencies between one or more communications systems, comprising the steps of:
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configuring a first satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a first set of frequencies associated therewith; configuring at least one second satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a second set of frequencies associated therewith; configuring at least one terrestrial cell for providing terrestrial communications having a third set of frequencies associated therewith; at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one second satellite spot beam, at least one frequency of the third set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies responsive to at least one predetermined criterion; detecting a signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the third set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies; determining, in response to the detecting, whether a handoff should be made from the at least one frequency of the third set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies to at least one alternate frequency, other than the at least one frequency of the third set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, the at least one alternate frequency comprising a signal that is weaker than the signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the third set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies; and selectively handing off communications for the at least one frequency of the third set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies to the at least one alternate frequency, in response to the determining.
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37. A method of at least one of assigning, reusing and borrowing frequencies between one or more communications systems, comprising the steps of:
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configuring a first satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a first set of frequencies associated therewith and comprising a first substantially central portion and a first substantially peripheral portion; configuring a second satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a second set of frequencies associated therewith; configuring at least one terrestrial cell for providing terrestrial communications comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region of the first satellite spot beam, the at least one terrestrial cell having a third set of frequencies associated therewith; at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the third, second and/or first set of frequencies; detecting a signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies; determining, in response to the detecting, whether a handoff should be made from the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies to at least one alternate frequency, other than the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, the at least one alternate frequency comprising a signal that is weaker than the signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies; and selectively handing off communications for the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies to the at least one alternate frequency, in response to the determining. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A method of assigning, reusing and/or borrowing at least one frequency between a space-based system and a terrestrial wireless system;
- the space-based and terrestrial wireless systems providing space-based and terrestrial communications based upon at least one cellular terrestrial technology using frequencies of a satellite frequency band, the method comprising;
assigning, reusing and/or borrowing by the terrestrial wireless system at least one frequency associated with the space-based system responsive to at least one first predetermined criterion and/or assigning, reusing and/or borrowing by the space-based system at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless system responsive to at least one second predetermined criterion; detecting a signal that is associated with the at least one frequency associated with the space-based system and/or the at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless system; determining, in response to the detecting, whether a handoff should be made from the at least one frequency associated with the space-based system and/or the at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless system to at least one alternate frequency, other than the at least one frequency associated with the space-based system and/or the at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless system, the at least one alternate frequency comprising a signal that is weaker than the signal that is associated with the at least one frequency associated with the space-based system and/or the at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless system; and selectively handing off communications for the at least one frequency associated with the space-based system and/or the at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless system to the at least one alternate frequency, in response to the determining. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67)
- the space-based and terrestrial wireless systems providing space-based and terrestrial communications based upon at least one cellular terrestrial technology using frequencies of a satellite frequency band, the method comprising;
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68. A system for at least one of assigning, reusing and borrowing frequencies between one or more communications systems, the system comprising:
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at least one satellite capable of configuring a first spot beam for providing space-based communications having a first set of frequencies associated therewith, the first spot beam comprising a first substantially central portion and a first substantially peripheral portion, the at least one satellite also capable of configuring a second spot beam for providing space-based communications having a second set of frequencies associated therewith; at least one terrestrial base station for providing terrestrial communications having a third set of frequencies associated therewith and comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region associated with the first spot beam; a controller for at least one of assigning to, allowing reuse by and allowing borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial base station at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the third set of frequencies; for detecting a signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies; for determining, in response to the detecting, whether a handoff should be made from the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies to at least one alternate frequency, other than the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, the at least one alternate frequency comprising a signal that is weaker than the signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies; and for selectively handing off communications for the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies to the at least one alternate frequency, in response to the determining. - View Dependent Claims (69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85)
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86. A space-based system for providing space-based communications based upon at least one cellular terrestrial technology;
- the space-based system comprising;
a controller configured to determine that communications cannot be established because of unavailability of a first set of frequency associated with a first antenna pattern of the space-based system and establishing communications by assigning to, allowing reuse by and/or allowing borrowing by, the first antenna pattern, at least one frequency of a second set of frequencies associated with a second antenna pattern; the controller further configured to; detect a signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies; determine, in response to the signal that is detected, whether a handoff should be made from the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies to at least one alternate frequency, other than the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies, the at least one alternate frequency comprising a signal that is weaker than the signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies; and selectively hand off communications for the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies to the at least one alternate frequency, in response to the determination whether a handoff should be made.
- the space-based system comprising;
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87. A system for use in at least one of assigning, reusing and borrowing frequencies, comprising:
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at least one satellite for configuring a first communications area for providing space-based communications having a first set of frequencies associated therewith and comprising a first substantially central portion and a first substantially peripheral portion, and for configuring a second communications area for providing space-based communications having a second set of frequencies associated therewith; at least one terrestrial base station for configuring a third communications area for providing terrestrial communications, the at least one terrestrial base station comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region of the first communications area, the at least one terrestrial base station and/or the third communications area having a third set of frequencies associated therewith; a controller that at least one of assigns to, allows reuse by and allows borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial base station and/or the third communications area, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the third set of frequencies; the controller further configured to; detect a signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies; determine, in response to the signal that is detected, whether a handoff should be made from the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies to at least one alternate frequency, other than the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, the at least one alternate frequency comprising a signal that is weaker than the signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies; and selectively hand off communications for the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies to the at least one alternate frequency, in response to the determination whether a handoff should be made. - View Dependent Claims (88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102)
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103. A system for at least one of assigning, reusing and borrowing frequencies between one or more communications systems, the system comprising:
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at least one satellite capable of configuring a first satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a first set of frequencies associated therewith, the at least one satellite also capable of configuring at least one second satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a second set of frequencies associated therewith; at least one terrestrial base station for providing terrestrial communications having a third set of frequencies associated therewith; a controller for at least one of assigning to, allowing reuse by and allowing borrowing by, the at least one second satellite spot beam, at least one frequency of the third set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies responsive to at least one predetermined criterion; for detecting a signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the third set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies for determining, in response to the detecting, whether a handoff should be made from the at least one frequency of the third set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies to at least one alternate frequency, other than the at least one frequency of the third set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, the at least one alternate frequency comprising a signal that is weaker than the signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the third set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies; and for selectively handing off communications for the at least one frequency of the third set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies to the at least one alternate frequency, in response to the determining.
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104. A system for at least one of assigning, reusing and borrowing frequencies between one or more communications systems, the system comprising:
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at least one satellite capable of configuring a first satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a first set of frequencies associated therewith and comprising a first substantially central portion and a first substantially peripheral portion, the at least one satellite also capable of configuring at least one second satellite spot beam for providing space-based communications having a second set of frequencies associated therewith; at least one terrestrial base station for providing terrestrial communications comprising a service region that at least partially overlaps with a service region of the first satellite spot beam, the at least one terrestrial base station having a third set of frequencies associated therewith; a controller for at least one of assigning to, allowing reuse by and allowing borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial base station, at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the third, second and/or first set of frequencies; for detecting a signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies; for determining, in response to the detecting, whether a handoff should be made from the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies to at least one alternate frequency, other than the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies, the at least one alternate frequency comprising a signal that is weaker than the signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies; and for selectively handing off communications for the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies and/or the at least one frequency of the first set of frequencies to the at least one alternate frequency, in response to the determining. - View Dependent Claims (105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118)
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119. A system for assigning, reusing and/or borrowing frequencies between a space-based system and a terrestrial wireless system;
- the space-based and terrestrial wireless systems providing space-based and terrestrial communications based upon at least one cellular terrestrial technology using frequencies of a satellite frequency band, the system comprising;
a controller for assigning to, allowing reuse by and/or allowing borrowing by, the terrestrial wireless system at least one frequency associated with the space-based system responsive to at least one first predetermined criterion and/or assigning to, allowing reuse by and/or allowing borrowing by, the space-based system at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless system responsive to at least one second predetermined criterion; for detecting a signal that is associated with the at least one frequency associated with the space-based system and/or the at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless system; for determining, in response to the detecting, whether a handoff should be made from the at least one frequency associated with the space-based system and/or the at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless system to at least one alternate frequency, other than the at least one frequency associated with the space-based system and/or the at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless system, the at least one alternate frequency comprising a signal that is weaker than the signal that is associated with the at least one frequency associated with the space-based system and/or the at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless system; and for selectively handing off communications for the at least one frequency associated with the space-based system and/or the at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless system to the at least one alternate frequency, in response to the determining. - View Dependent Claims (120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134)
- the space-based and terrestrial wireless systems providing space-based and terrestrial communications based upon at least one cellular terrestrial technology using frequencies of a satellite frequency band, the system comprising;
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135. A controller comprising a system for dynamically assigning frequencies to a plurality of elements of one or more communications system(s);
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the plurality of elements providing space-based and terrestrial wireless communications using frequencies of a satellite frequency band, wherein the communications are provided based upon at least one cellular terrestrial technology; the system further configured to; detect a signal that is associated with at least one frequency associated with the space-based wireless communications and/or at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless communications; determining, in response to the signal that is detected, whether a handoff should be made from the at least one frequency associated with the space-based wireless communications and/or the at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless communications to at least one alternate frequency, other than the at least one frequency associated with the space-based wireless communications and/or the at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless communications, the at least one alternate frequency comprising a signal that is weaker than the signal that is associated with the at least one frequency associated with the space-based wireless communications and/or the at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless communications; and selectively handing off communications for the at least one frequency associated with the space-based wireless communications and/or the at least one frequency associated with the terrestrial wireless communications to the at least one alternate frequency, in response to the determination whether a handoff should be made.
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136. A method of at least one of assigning and reusing frequencies between one or more communication systems, comprising the steps of:
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configuring a first satellite spot beam having a first set of frequencies associated therewith and comprising a first substantially central portion; configuring a second satellite spot beam having a second set of frequencies associated therewith; configuring at least one terrestrial cell within the first satellite spot beam having a third set of frequencies associated therewith and having at least partially overlapping coverage with the first satellite spot beam; at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the at least one terrestrial cell, at least one of a portion of the second set of frequencies and a portion of the first set of frequencies, responsive to at least one predetermined criterion associated with the third set of frequencies; detecting a signal that is associated with the portion of the second set of frequencies and/or the portion of the first set of frequencies; determining, in response to the detecting, whether a handoff should be made from the portion of the second set of frequencies and/or the portion of the first set of frequencies to at least one alternate frequency, other than the portion of the second set of frequencies and/or the portion of the first set of frequencies, the at least one alternate frequency comprising a signal that is weaker than the signal that is associated with the portion of the second set of frequencies and/or the portion of the first set of frequencies; and selectively handing off communications for the portion of the second set of frequencies and/or the portion of the first set of frequencies to the at least one alternate frequency, in response to the determining. - View Dependent Claims (137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153)
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154. A method of establishing communications based upon a cellular terrestrial technology using a satellite communications system that assigns and/or reuses frequencies between a first satellite spot beam and a second satellite spot beam, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining that a communications cannot be established due to an unavailability of a first set of frequencies associated with the first satellite spot beam; establishing the communications by at least one of assigning to, reusing by and borrowing by, the first satellite spot beam, at least one frequency of a second set of frequencies associated with the second satellite spot beam; detecting a signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies; determining, in response to the detecting, whether a handoff should be made from the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies to at least one alternate frequency, other than the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies, the at least one alternate frequency comprising a signal that is weaker than the signal that is associated with the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies; and selectively handing off communications for the at least one frequency of the second set of frequencies to the at least one alternate frequency, in response to the determining.
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Specification