Patent ID: 8909295

Claim:
A base station comprising: an interface configured to: establish a plurality of wired connections between a plurality of nodes that are each located in a distinct cell and associated with a distinct cell identifier, the plurality of nodes including the base station and a plurality of remote transceivers; and a processor coupled to the interface and configured to: assign the base station to a first set of a plurality of sets; assign the base station and a first remote transceiver of the plurality of remote transceivers to a second set of the plurality of sets; configure the base station of the first set to wirelessly transmit a first channel reference signal; configure the base station and the first remote transceiver of the second set to wirelessly transmit a second channel reference signal using a first wireless signal that is orthogonal with respect to a second wireless signal used by the first set to transmit the first channel reference signal; receive signal quality feedback from an endpoint for the first set and the second set, the signal quality feedback for the first set including a measurement of the strength of the first channel reference signal, the signal quality feedback for the second set including a measurement of the strength of the second channel reference signal; select one of the first set or the second set to use for transmitting data traffic from the base station to the endpoint, the selection based on the signal quality feedback; wherein the interface is further configured to transmit data traffic from the base station to the endpoint using at least one wireless connection between the endpoint and each node of the selected set; and wherein the first set is selected unless the signal quality feedback indicates that the strength of the second channel reference signal is greater than the strength of the first channel reference signal by a predetermined amount, the predetermined amount equal to or greater than 0.5 percent of the strength of the first channel reference signal.