Telecommunications network

Abstract

The present invention relates generally to a cellular telecommunications network. Each cell has at least one base station for sending messages on a downlink of a Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) to end user equipments within the cell. Other end user equipment located within the cell which have no or only poor communication directly with the base station over the FDD communicate with the base station indirectly via an intermediate end user equipment, such as a mobile telephone. The intermediate end user equipment includes an FDD transceiver and a Time Division Duplex (TDD) transceiver and an FDD/TDD interface. The intermediate end user equipment receives and sends signals to/from the base station over the FDD using the FDD transceiver and relays them via the FDD/TDD interface and the TDD transceiver towards a relevant one of the other end user equipments over a TDD.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for communicating information wirelessly between a communication network and a first communication terminal, the system comprising:
 a first transceiver configured to communicate over a first communication channel with a base station coupled to the communication network, the first transceiver using a first multiplexing scheme;   a second transceiver configured to communicate over a second communication channel with the first communication terminal, the second transceiver using a second multiplexing scheme different from the first multiplexing scheme, the first communication channel and the second communication channel employing a common coding scheme and a common frame structure; and   an interface configured to interface the first communication channel with the second communication channel to establish a communication link between the base station and the first communication terminal.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first communication channel and the second communication channel employ a common modulation scheme. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first multiplexing scheme is frequency division multiplexing. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the first multiplexing scheme is frequency division duplexing. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the second multiplexing scheme is time division multiplexing. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the second multiplexing scheme is time division duplexing. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the interface is further configured:
 to prepare messages received by the first transceiver for re-transmission over the second communication channel and to forward such prepared messages over the second communication channel; and   to prepare messages received by the second transceiver for re-transmission over the first communication channel and to forward such prepared messages over the first communication channel.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the interface is further configured to synchronize transmission of frames over the second communication channel with transmission of frames over the first communication channel. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the interface is further configured to synchronize time slots in the first communication channel with time slots in the second communication channel. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the second transceiver is a transceiver selected from a group consisting of an infrared transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver and a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the second communication channel is a communication channel selected from a group consisting of an infrared channel, a Bluetooth channel and a wireless local area network (WLAN) channel. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a wireless transceiver coupled to the second transceiver, the wireless transceiver being selected from a group consisting of an infrared transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver and a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver, the wireless transceiver being configured to communicate with the first communication terminal. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising registration logic configured:
 to scan the second communication channel for a message from the first communication terminal; and   responsive to the message, to send a message to the base station over the first communication channel to request registration of the first communication terminal with the base station.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the registration logic is further configured to send an acknowledgement of the message to the first communication terminal. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first transceiver, the second transceiver and the interface are incorporated in a second communication terminal. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising the base station. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , further comprising a plurality of base stations, the plurality of base stations being coupled to the communication network. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of intermediate equipments, each intermediate equipment comprising:
 a respective first transceiver configured to communicate over a respective first communication channel with a respective base station coupled to the communication network, the respective first transceiver using a first multiplexing scheme;   a respective second transceiver configured to communicate over a respective second communication channel with at least one respective communication terminal, the respective second transceiver using a respective second multiplexing scheme different from the first multiplexing scheme, the respective first communication channel and the respective second communication channel employing a common coding scheme and a common frame structure; and   a respective interface configured to interface the respective first communication channel with the respective second communication channel to establish a respective communication link between the respective base station and the respective at least one communication terminal.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , further comprising the respective base stations. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , further comprising the respective communication terminals.