Patent ID: 8379569

Claim:
A distribution network for coupling wireless local area network signals between an internetworking device and a plurality of remotely located access points, to provide wireless local area network service within a geographic coverage area composed of microcells, the distribution network making use of available optical transport cabling of a fiber optic network, comprising: (a) a plurality of cable access points, each deployed within a respective one of the microcells, the cable access points each further comprising: i) a wireless local area network access point, for receiving wireless local area network (WLAN) format signals from computing equipment located within the respective microcell, and converting the WLAN format signals to wired local area network format compatible signals; ii) an access point remote optical converter, for receiving the wired local area network format compatible signals from the wireless local area network access point and converting the wired local area network format signals to optical frequency signals for transmission over the available optical transport cabling; (b) a head end access point, comprising: i) a head end remote converter, connected to receive the optical signals from the optical transport cabling and to convert the optical signals to network compatible signals.