Patent ID: 8761141

Claim:
A wide area transport network, comprising a plurality of network segments that comprise at least one wireline network and at least one wireless network communicatively coupled with one another, each of the plurality of network segments being configured to transmit at least one of a plurality of signals communicated between at least one baseband module and at least one wireless transceiver of a mobile wireless network, the plurality of signals corresponding to a digital fronthaul data flow between the at least one baseband module and the at least one wireless transceiver, at least one segment being configured to separate the fronthaul data flow into radio signal information, control protocol information, and user data flow and to transmit the radio signal information as radio frequency carrier signals and to transmit the control protocol information and the user data flow using digital communication methods, wherein the radio signal information is transmitted across the wide area transport network in an analog format while the control protocol information and user data flow are transmitted across the wide area transport network in a digitally encoded format.