Patent ID: 8018888

Claim:
A network device, comprising: a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver that is associated with a mobile platform and that transmits and receives data packets over a WLAN; a cellular transceiver that is associated with the mobile platform and that transmits and receives data packets over a cellular network, wherein the cellular transceiver is different than the WLAN transceiver, and wherein the cellular network is different than the WLAN; and a control module that uses at least one of the WLAN transceiver and the cellular transceiver to provide a link between the mobile platform and at least one of a remote mobile platform and a distributed communication system, wherein the control module selectively configures the WLAN transceiver to operate over the WLAN in a client station mode, an access point mode, or a repeater mode, and selectively configures the cellular transceiver to operate over the cellular network in an access point mode or a client station mode compliant with one or more Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards, and wherein the WLAN transceiver is otherwise compliant with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard 802.11n.