Patent ID: 8391256

Claim:
A Radio Frequency (RF) port adapted for a wireless communication system and for use with a cell controller which performs a second plurality of functions of a wireless communication standard protocol and that is at least partially housed in a first housing, comprising: a second housing that is physically separate and spatially remote from said first housing, and is removeably coupled to the first housing via an Ethernet cable; a RF receiver housed in said second housing, said RF receiver adapted to receive a first RF signal of a first Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) having a first coverage area and adapted to receive a second RF signal of a second WLAN having a second coverage area that at least partially overlaps said first coverage area, wherein the first WLAN and the second WLAN are accessible at the same time; and a processor housed in said second housing, said processor receptive of said first RF signal and said second RF signal from said RF receiver and adapted to perform a first plurality of functions of the a wireless communication standard protocol without performing the second plurality of functions of the wireless communication standard protocol during at least one an operational mode to produce a first data signal from said first RF signal and a second data signal from said second RF signal; wherein the first plurality of functions and the second plurality of functions each include at least one media access control (MAC) function of the wireless communication standard protocol.