Patent ID: 8498278

Claim:
A wireless data communications system operating according to a wireless communication standard protocol, comprising: a first housing; a second housing physically separate and spatially remote from said first housing, and removeably coupled to the first housing via an Ethernet cable; a RF receiver housed in said first housing, said RF receiver adapted to receive a first RF signal of a first Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) having a first coverage area and adapted to receive a second RF signal of a second WLAN having a second coverage area that at least partially overlaps said first coverage area; a first processor housed in said first housing, said first processor receptive of said first RF signal and said second RF signal from the RF receiver and adapted to perform a first plurality of functions of the wireless communication standard protocol to simultaneously produce a first data signal from said first RF signal and a second data signal from said second RF signal; and a second processor housed in said second housing, said second processor communicatively coupled to the first processor via a wired network connection and receptive of said first data signal and said second data signal produced by said first processor and adapted to perform a second plurality of functions of the wireless communication standard protocol, different from said first plurality of functions during an operational mode, for said first data signal and said second data signal, wherein said second plurality of functions includes at least one media access control (MAC) function, and said first plurality of functions includes at least one MAC function.