Patent ID: 7373104

Claim:
An apparatus for relaying signals in a wireless communication network, comprising: a plurality of devices for relaying signals to and from respective distant nodes in the wireless communication network, said plurality of devices including at least one antenna device; a receiver for receiving a first signal through one of said devices and selectively demodulating said first signal; a transmitter for selectively modulating a second signal and transmitting said second signal through another one of said devices; and an intermediate unit for receiving the first signal from the receiver and supplying the first signal as the second signal to the transmitter; wherein said intermediate unit includes an amplifier and a buffer; and a control unit for controlling the intermediate unit to operate in a first mode in which the amplifier is used to amplify the first signal at its received frequency, without demodulation in the receiver, thereby producing the second signal, which is transmitted without modulation in the transmitter, and a second mode in which the buffer is used to store the first signal after demodulation in the receiver, and the transmitter generates a carrier signal as the second signal, modulates the carrier signal according to the demodulated and stored first signal, and transmits the modulated carrier signal.