Subscriber unit in a hybrid link incorporating spatial multiplexing

1. A repeater base station suitable for use in conjunction with a master base station that is part of a cellular network, the repeater base station including:

a slave base station; and

a wireless interface unit comprising,

a plurality of spatially separate antennas;

a parser for selectively parsing a received datastream into a plurality of substreams; and

a transmitter to transmit the plurality of substreams on an assigned channel or slot of a multiple access protocol, the transmitter being arranged to apply each substream to an associated one of the spatially separate antennas, the transmitter further being responsive to a control signal from the master base station to vary the number of applied substreams.

2. The repeater base station of claim 1 , wherein the multiple access protocol is selected from at least one of a group of multiple access protocols consisting of:

code-division multiple access,

frequency-division multiple access,

time-division multiple access,

space-division multiple access,

orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA),

wavelength division multiple access (WDMA),

wavelet division multiple access,

orthogonal division multiple access (ODMA) and

quasi-orthogonal division multiple access techniques.

3. The repeater base station of claim 1 , wherein the assigned channel or slot comprises, within a transmission bandwidth, at least one of:

a frequency-division, a time-division,

a spatial-division, a code-division,

orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA),

wavelength division multiple access (WDMA),

wavelet division multiple access or

any other orthogonal division multiple access (ODMA)/quasi-orthogonal division multiple access techniques.

4. The repeater base station of claim 1 , further comprising:

a detector to detect a mode of the datastream and to generate a corresponding mode signal; and

a parser responsive to the mode signal to parse the datastream into a variable number of substreams and to avoid parsing of the datastream.

5. The repeater base station of claim 4 , wherein the modes of the datastream include voice mode and data mode and further wherein the parser responsive to a voice mode signal avoids parsing of the datastream, and responsive to a data mode signal parses the datastream into a variable number of substreams.

6. The repeater base station of claim 4 , wherein the modes of the datastream include high bit rate and low bit rate and further wherein the parser avoids parsing of a low bit rate datastream, and parses a high bit rate datastream into a variable number of substreams.

7. The repeater base station of claim 4 , wherein the modes of the datastream includes QoS requirement and high QoS requirement and further wherein the parser avoids parsing a datastream with a low QoS requirement, and parses a datastream with a high QoS requirement into a variable number of substreams.

8. The repeater base station of claim 1 , further comprising:

a receiver including a spatial processor arranged to separate a composite downlink signal received by the spatially separate antennas into estimated substreams; and

a combiner for combining the estimated substreams into a corresponding subscriber datastream,

the receiver being arranged to signal the base stations when a change of a spatial transmission configuration is required in order to resolve the composite signals into estimated substreams.

9. A communications network comprising:

a master station controller;

at least one base station controller that communicates with the master station controller;

a plurality of base stations, each base station being arranged to communicate with an associated one of the base station controllers, wherein at least one of the base stations is designated as a master base station; and

a repeater base station as recited in claim 1 .

10. The communications network of claim 9 wherein at least one of the base stations communicates with a first network to provide the first network with access to the cellular network.

11. The communications network of claim 10 wherein the first network is one selected from the group consisting of a home network, a vehicle based network and a local area network.

12. The communications network of claim 9 further comprising a the subscriber unit incorporated into a bridge or router to provide a wireless bridge or router.

13. The communications network of claim 12 , wherein the subscriber unit is fixed.

14. The communications network of claim 12 , wherein the subscriber unit is mobile.

15. The communications network of claim 12 , wherein the subscriber unit further comprises transmit processes from at least one of a group of transmit processes consisting of diversity, space coding, space-time coding, space frequency coding, beam forming and interference canceling.

16. The communications network of claim 9 , wherein the parser is responsive to a mode signal to parse the datastream into a variable number of substreams and to avoid parsing of each datastream.

17. The communications network of claim 9 , wherein the parser is responsive to a modulation rate of each substream.

18. The communications network of claim 9 , wherein the at least one base station takes the form of a network access unit that is a node in a network that facilitates communication outside of the network.

19. A method for use in a wireless interface unit of a repeater base station that includes a slave base station, the repeater base station being suitable for use in conjunction with a master base station that is part of a cellular network, the method comprising:

transmitting a plurality of substreams of a datastream on an assigned channel or slot of a multiple access protocol, by applying apply each substream to an associated one of a plurality of spatially separate antennas; and

in response to a control signal from a master base station, varying the number of applied substreams.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

detecting a mode of the datastream;

generating a corresponding mode signal; and

responsive to the mode signal, parsing the datastream into a variable number of sub streams and avoiding parsing of the datastream.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the modes of the datastream include voice mode and data mode and further wherein the parser responsive to a voice mode signal avoids parsing of the datastream, and responsive to a data mode signal parses the datastream into a variable number of substreams.

22. The method of claim 20 , wherein the modes of the datastream include high bit rate and low bit rate and further wherein the parsing avoids parsing of a low bit rate datastream, and parses a high bit rate datastream into a variable number of substreams.

23. The method 20 , wherein the modes of the datastream includes QoS requirement and high QoS requirement and further wherein the parsing avoids parsing a datastream with a low QoS requirement, and parses a datastream with a high QoS requirement into a variable number of substreams.

24. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

separating a composite downlink signal received by the spatially separate antennas into estimated substreams;

combining the estimated substreams into a corresponding subscriber datastream; and

signaling at least one base station when a change of a spatial transmission configuration is required in order to resolve the composite signals into estimated substreams.

25. A repeater base station suitable for use in conjunction with a master base station that is part of a cellular network, the repeater base station including:

a slave base station; and

a wireless interface unit comprising,

a plurality of spatially separate antennas;

transmission means for transmitting a plurality of substreams of a datastream on an assigned channel or slot of a multiple access protocol, the transmission means being arranged to apply each substream to an associated one of the spatially separate antennas; and

means responsive to a control signal from the master base station for selectively parsing the datastream into a plurality of substreams and for varying the number of applied substreams.

26. The repeater base station of claim 25 , further comprising:

receiving means for separating a composite downlink signal received by the spatially separate antennas into estimated substreams, and combining the estimated substreams into a corresponding subscriber datastream; and

means for signaling at least one base station when a change of a spatial transmission configuration is required in order to resolve the composite signals into estimated substreams.