Patent ID: 7389113

Claim:
A method, comprising: coupling a plurality of receivers to a first frequency reference to communicate with a first station over a corresponding plurality of signal paths, wherein the plurality of receivers comprises at least three receivers; selectively coupling one of the plurality of receivers to a second frequency reference to communicate with a second station over a signal path not included in the plurality of signal paths; and handing off communications with the plurality of receivers from the first station to the second station after determining that a quality of service provided by the second station is greater than a quality of service provided by the first station, wherein the plurality of receivers are configured to operate as a multiple-input multiple-output system, and wherein selectively coupling one of the plurality of receivers to the second frequency reference further includes decoupling the one of the plurality of receivers from operating as a part of the multiple-input multiple-output system, while continuing to operate at least two of the plurality of receivers as a multiple-input multiple-output system; coupling the one of the plurality of receivers to operate as a search receiver independent from the multiple-input multiple-output system; the search receiver using a new reference frequency different from the first frequency reference; and the search receiver communicating with the second station using the new reference frequency.