Patent ID: 7639727

Claim:
A method for selecting a wireless signal bandwidth for wireless communication with a wireless terminal in a system comprising a plurality of cells each including at least one regular layer frequency hopping transmitter and at least one super layer transmitter frequency hopping transmitter, wherein the regular layer frequency hopping transmitter and super layer frequency hopping transmitter use the same pool of frequencies, and wherein at least first and second transmission rates are available, the second transmission rate serving more calls using a single transmitter than the first transmission rate for the same transmitter, said method comprising the steps of: measuring signal strength of a received signal using the wireless terminal and producing a relative signal strength measurement based at least in part thereon; determining whether said relative signal strength measurement is within a predetermined threshold consistent with super layer operation; and if the relative signal strength measurement is not within said threshold, providing transmission to the wireless terminal at the first transmission rate using the at least regular layer transmitter, and if the relative signal strength measurement is within said threshold, providing transmission to the wireless terminal at a second transmission rate using the at least one super layer transmitter.