Patent ID: 7529215

Claim:
A radio base station comprising: a radio equipment controller (REC) situated at a main site; a radio equipment (RE) situated at a remote site; a remote unit configured to engage in direct communications with the radio equipment controller (REC); an internal interface connecting the radio equipment controller (REC) and the radio equipment (RE), the internal interface being Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI), and wherein in addition to carrying conventional Common Public Radio Interface communications the internal interface also encapsulates the direct communications between the radio equipment controller (REC) and the remote unit for providing an interface between the remote unit and the radio equipment controller (REC) for controlling the remote unit and thereby obviating a separate physical link between the radio equipment controller (REC) and the remote unit; and a physical link for transmitting, between the radio equipment (RE) and the remote unit, the direct communications between the radio equipment controller (REC) and the remote unit which are encapsulated over the internal interface.