Patent ID: 8279803

Claim:
A computing unit comprises: a processing module for operating in femtocell access point (AP) mode when the computing unit is coupled to an extended computing unit and in a cellular (CELL) mode when the computing unit is not coupled to the extended computing unit, the processing module operably coupled to: in the femtocell AP mode: perform at least a portion of a Medium Access Control (MAC) function to facilitate conversion of: a downstream radio interface (RI) signal into a downstream physical layer (PHY) AP signal; and an upstream PHY AP signal into an upstream RI signal; and in the CELL mode: convert downstream data into a downstream PHY CELL signal; and convert an upstream PHY CELL signal into upstream data; a baseband processing module operably coupled to: in the femtocell AP mode: convert the downstream PHY AP signal into a downstream AP symbol stream; and convert an upstream AP symbol stream into the upstream PHY AP signal; and in the cellular mode: convert the downstream PHY CELL signal into a downstream CELL symbol stream; and convert an upstream CELL symbol stream into the upstream PHY CELL signal; and a radio frequency (RF) section operably coupled to: in the femtocell AP mode: convert the downstream AP symbol stream into a downstream RF AP signal; and convert an upstream RF AP signal into the upstream AP symbol stream; and in the CELL mode: convert the downstream CELL symbol stream into a downstream RF CELL signal; and convert an upstream RF CELL signal into the upstream CELL symbol stream; wherein the computing unit is a handheld computing unit.