Radio-over-fiber (RoF) system for protocol-independent wired and/or wireless communication
First Claim
1. A wireless communication system, comprising:
- a head-end unit (HEU) having a switch bank; and
a plurality of cables configured to carry signal from the HEU to a plurality of remote access points, wherein a first one of the plurality of remote access points is configured to form a corresponding first coverage area, and a second one of the plurality of remote access points is configured to form a corresponding second, different coverage area,wherein the switch bank is configured to dynamically establish a link over at least one of the plurality of cables such that a first peer device in the first coverage area can communicate with a second peer device in the second coverage area,the HEU is further configured to receive a request from a first one of the first and second peer devices to communicate with a second one of the first and second peer devices via at least one Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point associated with at least one of the first and second peer devices,the first one of the plurality of remote access points is configured to wirelessly communicate with the first peer device; and
the second one of the plurality of remote access points is configured to wirelessly communicate with the second peer device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A switched wireless system is used to increase the range of peer-to-peer communications. The optically-switched fiber optic communication system includes a head-end unit (HEU) having a switch bank. Cables couple the HEU to one or more remote access points in different coverage areas. The switch bank in the HEU provides a link between the remote access points in the different coverage areas such that devices in the different cellular coverage areas communicate with each other. By using the switched communication system, the range and coverage of communication between devices may be extended such that devices in different coverage areas and devices using different communication protocols can communicate.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A wireless communication system, comprising:
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a head-end unit (HEU) having a switch bank; and a plurality of cables configured to carry signal from the HEU to a plurality of remote access points, wherein a first one of the plurality of remote access points is configured to form a corresponding first coverage area, and a second one of the plurality of remote access points is configured to form a corresponding second, different coverage area, wherein the switch bank is configured to dynamically establish a link over at least one of the plurality of cables such that a first peer device in the first coverage area can communicate with a second peer device in the second coverage area, the HEU is further configured to receive a request from a first one of the first and second peer devices to communicate with a second one of the first and second peer devices via at least one Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point associated with at least one of the first and second peer devices, the first one of the plurality of remote access points is configured to wirelessly communicate with the first peer device; and the second one of the plurality of remote access points is configured to wirelessly communicate with the second peer device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A wireless communication system, comprising:
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a head-end unit (HEU) having a switch bank; a plurality of cables each configured to carry a signal from the HEU to a plurality of remote access points, wherein a first one of the plurality of remote access points is configured to form a corresponding first coverage area, and a second one of the plurality of remote access points is configured to form a corresponding second, different coverage area, wherein the switch bank is configured to dynamically establish a link over at least one of the plurality of cables such that a first peer device in the first coverage area can communicate with a second peer device in the second coverage area at least in part over the link; and at least one Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point configured to receive a request from a device other than the first and second peer devices to establish communications between the first and second peer devices, wherein the first one of the plurality of remote access points is configured to wirelessly communicate with the first peer device using a different wireless communication protocol than a protocol used by the second one of the plurality of remote access points to wirelessly communicate with the second peer device. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of enabling communication between a first peer device in a first coverage area and a second peer device in a second, different coverage area, comprising:
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linking a plurality of remote access points to a head-end unit (HEU) via a plurality of cables, each of the plurality cables being configured to carry a signal from the HEU to the plurality of remote access points; forming a first coverage area associated with a first one of the plurality of remote access points; forming a second coverage area associated with a second one of the plurality of remote access points different from the first coverage area; dynamically establishing a link over at least one of the plurality of cables to allow the first peer device to communicate with the second peer device at least in part over the link; receiving a request to establish communications between the first peer device and the second peer device from a device other than one of the first and second peer devices; and the first one of the plurality of remote access points wirelessly communicating with the first peer device and the second one of the plurality of remote access points wirelessly communicating with the second peer device. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A method of enabling communication between a first peer device in a first coverage area and a second peer device in a second, different coverage area, comprising:
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linking a plurality of remote access points to a head-end unit (HEU) via a plurality of cables, each of the plurality of cables configured to carry signal from the HEU to the plurality of remote access points; forming a first coverage area associated with a first one of the plurality of remote access points; forming a second coverage area associated with a second one of the plurality of remote access points different from the first coverage area; dynamically establishing a link over at least one of the plurality of cables to allow the first peer device to communicate with the second peer device at least in part over the link; receiving a request to establish communications between the first peer device and the second peer device at a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point coupled to the HEU; and the first one of the plurality of remote access points wirelessly communicating with the first peer device using a different wireless communication protocol than a protocol used by the second one of the plurality of remote access points to wirelessly communicate with the second peer device. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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Specification