Patent ID: 8160570

Claim:
A system for distributing cellular radio frequency signals, the system comprising: a hub unit configured to communicate with a first base station associated with a first cellular service provider and a second base station associated with a second cellular service provider, the first base station configured to use a first air interface and the second base station configured to use a second air interface; and a radio access node located at a location that is remote from the hub unit; wherein the radio access node is configured to digitize a first analog radio frequency signal in order to generate first digital data indicative of the first analog radio frequency signal, wherein the first analog radio frequency signal is broadcast from a first mobile unit associated with the first cellular service provider using the first air interface; wherein the radio access node is configured to digitize a second analog radio frequency signal in order to generate second digital data indicative of the second analog radio frequency signal, wherein the second analog radio frequency signal is broadcast from a second mobile unit associated with the second cellular service provider using the second air interface; wherein the first and second digital data are transported from the radio access node to the hub unit using a shared transport medium; wherein the hub unit comprises: a first digital-to-analog converter configured to reconstruct a version of the first analog radio frequency signal from the first digital data, and a second digital-to-analog converter configured to reconstruct a version of the second analog radio frequency signal from the second digital data, wherein the reconstructed version of the first analog radio frequency signal is provided to the first base station associated with the first cellular service provider and the reconstructed version of the second analog radio frequency signal is provided to the second base station associated with the second cellular service provider; and wherein the radio access node is configured to generate first data packets from a first data radio frequency signal, wherein the first data packets are communicated to the hub unit using the shared transport medium.