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; and

a transmitter for transmitting a plurality of substreams of a datastream on an assigned channel or slot of a multiple access protocol, the transmitter 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. 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 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 .

3. A unit for use in a communications network that delivers DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) service to customers, the unit comprising:

a head end DSL modem to communicate with a remotely located DSL modem using a DSL protocol; and

a wireless access unit to receive a datastream from the head end DSL modem, the wireless access unit including, a plurality of spatially separate antennas and a transmitter for transmitting a plurality of substreams of the datastream on an assigned channel or slot of a multiple access protocol, the transmitter being to apply each substream to an associated one of the spatially separate antennas and to vary the number of applied substreams in response to a control signal.

4. A unit as recited in claim 3 wherein the unit is coupled to a terminal server in a POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) communications network such that a first link between remotely located DSL modem and the head end DSL modem takes the form of twisted pair wiring and a second link between the wireless access unit and a base station takes the form of a wireless link.

5. A unit for use in a communications network that delivers high speed data delivery service to customers, the unit comprising:

a head end cable modem unit to communicate with a remotely located cable modem over a cable;

a wireless access unit to receive a datastream from the head end cable modem, the wireless access unit including a plurality of spatially separate antennas and a transmitter for transmitting a plurality of substreams of the datastream on an assigned channel or slot of a multiple access protocol, the transmitter being to apply each substream to an associated one of the spatially separate antennas and to vary the number of applied substreams in response to a control signal.

6. A unit as recited in claim 5 wherein the cable is one selected from the group consisting of a hybrid fiber co-axial cable, a co-axial cable and a fiber cable.

7. A method of communicating between a remote location and one or more base stations in a cellular network, the method comprising:

transmitting a datastream from the remote location to a wireless access unit over a wired connection using a communications protocol selected from the group consisting of an xDSL protocol, a cable modem protocol and a networking protocol;

forming a plurality of substreams from the datastream, the number of substreams being varied in response to a received control signal; and

transmitting the substreams to the one or more base stations in parallel from spatially separate antennas on an assigned channel or slot using a multiple access protocol.

8. A basestation comprising:

a plurality of spatially separate antennas; and

a transmitter for transmitting two or more substreams of a datastream on an assigned communication channel, the transmitter to apply each substream to an associated one of the spatially separate antennas, the transmitter further being responsive to a control signal to vary the number of applied substreams.

9. A basestation according to claim 8 , wherein the control signal is received from a remote basestation.

10. A basestation according to claim 9 , wherein the remote basestation is a master basestation.

11. A basestation according to claim 8 , wherein the communication channel is embodied as a slot in a multiple access wireless communication protocol.

12. A basestation according to claim 11 , wherein the multiple access wireless communication protocol is one or more of a code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), spatial division multiple access (SDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDM), wavelength division multiple access (WDMA), wavelet division multiple access, orthogonal division multiple access (ODMA) and quasi-orthogonal division multiple access techniques.

13. A basestation according to claim 8 , the transmitter further comprising:

a parser, responsive to a controller, to parse the data stream into a variable number of substreams.

14. A basestation according to claim 13 , wherein the controller is an element of a mobile switching center (MSC).

15. A basestation according to claim 13 , wherein the controller is an element of a basestation controller (BSC).

16. A basestation according to claim 13 , wherein the controller is an element of a mobile unit with which the basestation is communicating the datastream.

17. A basestation according to claim 8 , further comprising:

a mode detector, responsive to a controller, to determine on a per-substream basis whether the substream of a datastream is to be transmitted using spatial multiplexing processes.

18. A basestation according to claim 8 , wherein the basestation is responsive to a communicatively coupled headend, to receive signals therefrom and transmit such received signals to one or more remote units via the transmitter.

19. A method of establishing a downlink communication channel comprising:

receiving a datastream for transmission to a mobile unit; and

selectively parsing the datastream into a variable number of substreams for transmission to the mobile unit through up to a commensurate number of antennas based, at least in part, on a received control signal; and

transmitting the plurality of substreams of the datastream on an assigned channel.

20. A method according to claim 19 , wherein the datastream is received from a xDSL headend through an xDSL channel at a DSL modem.

21. A method according to claim 19 , wherein the control signal is received from one or more of a mobile switching center, a basestation controller, or a mobile unit destined to receive the downlink channel.