Patent ID: 7394988

Claim:
A method of operating a communication system comprising: receiving information from a first communication link; transferring a free-space optical signal carrying the information and transferring a high-GHz wireless signal carrying the information; receiving the free-space optical signal carrying the information and receiving the high-GHz wireless signal carrying the information; selecting a first one of the free-space optical signal and the high-GHz wireless signal as a primary receive signal, wherein the remaining one of the free-space optical signal and the high-GHz wireless signal comprises a secondary receive signal, and wherein the primary receive signal initially provides the information to a second communication link; assessing communication performance for the primary receive signal and the secondary receive signal; while the primary receive signal provides the information to the second communication link, switching to the secondary receive signal based upon a first comparison between the communication performance for the primary receive signal and a first threshold, and a second comparison between the communication performance for the secondary receive signal and a second threshold; and while the secondary receive signal provides the information to the second communication link, switching to the primary receive signal based upon a third comparison between the communication performance of the primary receive signal and a third threshold, without considering the communication performance for the secondary receive signal.