Patent ID: 7689228

Claim:
A method for providing in-band wireless backhaul connectivity, the method comprising the steps of: transmitting and receiving traffic, by wireless network equipment (WNE) of a collector cell, to and from remote units within a wireless coverage area of the collector cell using a user portion of at least one frequency band; wherein the wireless coverage area of the collector cell comprises a first, a second and a third sector of the collector cell, wherein traffic is transmitted and received to and from remote units within the first sector of the collector cell using a user portion of a first frequency band of the at least one frequency band, wherein traffic is transmitted and received to and from remote units within the second sector of the collector cell using a user portion of a second frequency band of the at least one frequency band, and wherein traffic is transmitted and received to and from remote units within the third sector of the collector cell using a user portion of a third frequency band of the at least one frequency band; and transmitting and receiving traffic, by the WNE of the collector cell, to and from WNE of a neighbor cell using a backhaul portion of the at least one frequency band.