Patent ID: 8717974

Claim:
A handheld computing unit that functions as a stand-alone battery operated unit comprises: a processing module operable coupled to: determine whether a femtocell access point (AP) mode is active; when the femtocell AP mode is active, determine whether at least one other handheld computing unit is supporting a femotcell; when the at least one other handheld computing unit is supporting the femtocell, enable a femtocell AP operation to utilize the handheld computing as a distributed unit to provide a femtocell AP function to support the femtocell along with the at least one other handheld computing unit, the femtocell AP operations IS distributed by at least: accessing a predetermined distributing mapping of the femtocell AP functions for a given number of handheld computing units; utilizing a coordinated communication protocol for the given number of handheld computing units to determine a distribution of the femtocell AP functions; and interpreting a femtocell AP signal to determine the femtocell AP function; a plurality of physical layer (PHY) units, wherein a PHY Unit of the plurality of PHY units is operably coupled to communicate with at least one other handheld computing unit.