Patent ID: 8693385

Claim:
A repeater for relaying data communication between a base station and a mobile station, the repeater comprising: a donor unit operable to perform data communication with the base station; a remote unit operable to perform data communication with the mobile station, wherein the donor unit (i) receives a signal including a preamble from the base station, (ii) achieves synchronization with the base station in accordance with the received signal to determine start timing of each frame to be used in the data communication between the donor unit and the base station, and (iii) notifies the remote unit of timing serving as a reference for determination of start timing of each frame to be used in the data communication between the remote unit and the mobile station, the remote unit transmits a frame including a preamble at the start timing determined with reference to the notified reference timing so that the preamble reception by the donor unit is synchronized with the preamble transmission from the remote unit to the mobile station, the donor and the remote units operate in accordance with an identical clock signal, the reference timing notified from the donor unit to the remote unit equals timing of the preamble reception by the donor unit as measured in terms of the clock signal, and the start timing of each frame to be used in the data communication between the remote unit and the mobile station is determined so that the preamble is transmitted from the remote unit to the mobile station at the reference timing.