Patent ID: 8675666

Claim:
A timing unit for a micro base station connected to a communication network over a wireline interface, said micro base station serving a wireless enabled user terminal over an air interface, said timing unit comprising: a synchronization unit that synchronizes micro base station circuitry at said micro base station with a global clock received over said wireline interface and inserts said global clock into a periodic bit sequence sent to said user terminal over said air interface; a micro base station message generator that generates a re-hello message in response to a hello message received from said user terminal; a time measurement unit that provides micro base station timing data and inserts said micro base station timing data into said re-hello message, the micro base station timing data accounting for a delay between a reception time at the micro base station for the hello message and a transmission time from the micro base station for the re-hello message; and a transceiver that transmits said re-hello message to said user terminal and receives said hello message from said user terminal to trigger said re-hello message generator.