Patent ID: 7555261

Claim:
A repeater for a 2-way mobile communication system having a plurality of base stations and subscriber units that communicate via RF signals, comprising: a base-side antenna that is directed toward at least one of the base stations to receive transmitted RF signals from the base station, the base-side antenna generating a received downlink signal therefrom; an amplifier receptive of the received downlink signal, the amplifier amplifying the level of the received downlink signal to generate an amplified downlink signal; and a subscriber-side antenna located proximate to the base-side antenna, the subscriber-side antenna being receptive of the amplified downlink signal, the subscriber-side antenna transmitting RF signals representative of the amplified downlink signal within a local area to subscriber units located nearby, and in an uplink direction, said subscriber-side antenna receiving RF signals with in the local area from subscriber units located nearby, the subscriber-side antenna generating an uplink received signal therefrom; wherein the repeater operates in the downlink direction between the base station and the subscriber units near the repeater, wherein said repeater further comprises amplification in the uplink direction that is substantially less than the amplification used in the downlink; wherein, the amplifier is receptive of the received uplink signal, the amplifier amplifying the received uplink signal by a substantially smaller level then used in the downlink, to generate an amplified uplink signal; wherein the base-side antenna being receptive of the amplified uplink signal, transmits RF signals representative of the amplified uplink signal to the base station; and wherein the repeater operates in the uplink direction between the subscriber and the base station units near the repeater and the presence of the repeater in the downlink and uplink directions causes an intentional imbalance in total losses between the downlink and the uplink, in order to provide for signal enhancement in both uplink and downlink over an equivalent coverage area.