Patent ID: 8009651

Claim:
A method for receiving, from a server in a network, a set of data at a first wireless communication device via a base station connected to the network, the method comprising: detecting, via a Bluetooth-enabled or infrared-enabled interface of the first wireless communication device, at least one second wireless communication device within a communication area associated with the base station; sending, via the Bluetooth-enabled or infrared-enabled interface, a request to the at least one second wireless communication device to obtain the set of data from the server via the base station; receiving, via the Bluetooth-enabled or infrared-enabled interface, an acceptance of the request, by a number of the at least one second communication device; sending, over the network, an indication of the number of the at least one second communication device to obtain the set of data from the server via the base station; sending link quality data over a wireless network interface indicating a link quality based on the number of the at least one second communication device, where the indicated link quality is different than a link quality associated with the wireless network interface; receiving, first data, of the set of data, transferred from the base station, via the wireless network interface of the first wireless communication device, wherein a transfer rate associated with the first data is based on the indication of the number of the at least one second communication device, and where the received first data is transferred from the base station with a quality corresponding to the indicated link quality; determining that the first data does not include an entirety of the set of data; receiving at least second data, of the set of data, forwarded from the number of the at least one second wireless communication device via the Bluetooth-enabled or infrared-enabled interface; and combining the first data with the second data to obtain the entirety of the set of data.