Patent ID: 8050240

Claim:
A method for operating a radio frequency (RF) port having a radio module, a digital processor, and a memory, comprising: storing a bootloader program in said memory; operating said digital processor to download instructions from a cell controller to said memory using said bootloader program, wherein the cell controller is separately housed from the RF port; and operating said RF port under said downloaded instructions to send and receive messages, in accordance with a wireless communication standard protocol, over at least two wireless local area subnetworks occupying common physical space using said radio module, wherein the two wireless local area subnetworks are accessible at substantially the same time, and wherein the cell controller performs functions of the wireless communication standard protocol related to addressing of the messages to the RF port, including at least one media access control function of the wireless communication standard protocol; wherein the bootloader program downloads the instructions from the cell controller over a wired network connection, and the downloaded instructions configure said RF port to operate as an access point for communication with mobile units such that the RF port performs at least one media access control function of the wireless communication standard protocol.