Reconfiguration of a communication system
First Claim
1. A routing system for enhancing mobility of a mobile station, comprising:
- a switch having a switch media access control (MAC) sublayer, the switch MAC sublayer being configured to perform a first portion of a wireless communication protocol;
a first repeater having a first repeater MAC sublayer, the first repeater MAC sublayer being configured to perform a second portion of the wireless communication protocol, the switch MAC sublayer and the first repeater MAC sublayer functionally cooperating to form a first MAC layer in a first distributed manner; and
a second repeater having a second repeater MAC sublayer, the switch MAC sublayer and the second repeater MAC sublayer functionally cooperating to form a second MAC layer in a second distributed manner,wherein the switch MAC sublayer is further configured to handoff the mobile station from the first MAC layer to the second MAC layer when the switch determines a first received signal strength of a first packet received by the first repeater is less than a second received signal strength of a second packet received by the second repeater, the first packet being a duplicate of the second packet.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A communication system is described. In one embodiment, the communication system comprises a mobile station having a transmitter to transmit packets wirelessly according to a protocol and multiple repeaters communicably coupled with the mobile station. Each of the plurality of repeaters receives one or more packets of the wirelessly transmitted packets from the mobile station. Each of the repeaters receives an indication of which of the wirelessly transmitted packets were received without errors by other repeaters and a received signal strength for those packets. The communication system also includes a switch coupled to the repeaters. Each of the repeaters forwards to the switch each packet of the wirelessly transmitted packets that each repeater had received without errors at a received signal strength higher than any other repeater.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A routing system for enhancing mobility of a mobile station, comprising:
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a switch having a switch media access control (MAC) sublayer, the switch MAC sublayer being configured to perform a first portion of a wireless communication protocol; a first repeater having a first repeater MAC sublayer, the first repeater MAC sublayer being configured to perform a second portion of the wireless communication protocol, the switch MAC sublayer and the first repeater MAC sublayer functionally cooperating to form a first MAC layer in a first distributed manner; and a second repeater having a second repeater MAC sublayer, the switch MAC sublayer and the second repeater MAC sublayer functionally cooperating to form a second MAC layer in a second distributed manner, wherein the switch MAC sublayer is further configured to handoff the mobile station from the first MAC layer to the second MAC layer when the switch determines a first received signal strength of a first packet received by the first repeater is less than a second received signal strength of a second packet received by the second repeater, the first packet being a duplicate of the second packet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 32, 33)
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10. A routing method for enhancing mobility of a mobile station, comprising:
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(a) communicating with the mobile station using a first repeater media access control (MAC) sublayer of a first repeater, the first repeater being communicatively coupled to a switch MAC sublayer of a switch, the switch MAC sublayer and the first repeater MAC sublayer functionally cooperating to form a first MAC layer in a first distributed manner, the switch MAC sublayer and the first repeater MAC sublayer being configured to perform a first portion and a second portion, respectively, of a wireless communication protocol; and (b) handing off the mobile station from the first MAC layer to a second MAC layer when the switch determines a first received signal strength of a first packet received by the first repeater is less than a second received signal strength of a second packet received by the second repeater, the first packet being a duplicate of the second packet, the switch MAC sublayer and a second repeater MAC sublayer of a second repeater functionally cooperating to form the second MAC layer in a second distributed manner. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A routing system for enhancing mobility of a mobile station, comprising:
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a switch having a switch media access control (MAC) sublayer, the switch MAC sublayer being configured to perform a first portion of a wireless communication protocol; a first repeater having a first repeater MAC sublayer, the first repeater MAC sublayer being configured to perform a second portion of the wireless communication protocol, the switch MAC sublayer and the first repeater MAC sublayer functionally cooperating to form a first MAC layer in a first distributed manner, the first repeater being configured to receive a first packet from the mobile station using the first repeater MAC sublayer, the first packet being characterized by a first indicator; and a second repeater having a second repeater MAC sublayer, the switch MAC sublayer and the second repeater MAC sublayer functionally cooperating to form a second MAC layer in a second distributed manner, the second repeater being configured to receive a second packet from the mobile station using the second repeater MAC sublayer, the second packet being a duplicate of the first packet and characterized by a second indicator, wherein the switch MAC sublayer is configured to handoff the mobile station from the first repeater to the second repeater when the first indicator is less than the second indicator. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35)
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Specification