Reuse of rf receive chain for hand-in assistance

Abstract

A radio frequency receive chain of an access point is reused for different functions. For example, the same RF receive chain may be used to receive on a downlink at certain points in time and on an uplink at other points in time. An RF receive chain that is used to derive synchronization from downlink signals received from a macro system also may be used to receive uplink signals from an access terminal to provide assistance for hand-in of the access terminal. Accelerated searching for hand-in may be provided through the use of a relatively small search window for hand-in of an access terminal to a small coverage access point. In some aspects, the search window may be defined based on the distance between access points or calibration of synchronization error between access points.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of communication, comprising:
 receiving downlink signals on a downlink band at a radio frequency receive chain of a first access point;   reconfiguring the radio frequency receive chain to receive on an uplink band as a result of receiving an indication of hand-in from a second access point; and   receiving uplink signals on the uplink band at the radio frequency receive chain as a result of the reconfiguration.