Patent ID: 8577286

Claim:
A system for use with a coverage area in which one or more wireless units wirelessly transmit using a wireless radio frequency spectrum, the system comprising: a first unit; and a plurality of second units communicatively coupled to the first unit using at least one communication medium, wherein each of the plurality of second units is associated with a portion of the coverage area; wherein each of the plurality of second units receives a respective analog wireless signal comprising the radio frequency spectrum and any transmissions from any of the wireless units that are within the portion of the coverage area associated with that second unit; wherein each of the plurality of second units generates respective digital RF samples indicative of the respective analog wireless signal received at that second unit; wherein each of the plurality of second units communicates the respective digital RF samples generated by that second unit to the first unit using the at least one communication medium; wherein the first unit digitally sums corresponding digital RF samples received from the plurality of second units to produce summed digital RF samples; and wherein the system is configured so that an input used for base station processing is derived from the resulting summed digital RF samples.