OVERLAY MICRO CELL STRUCTURE FOR UNIVERSAL MOBILE TELEPHONE SYSTEM NETWORK

摘要

A wireless telephony communications system includes at least one macro cell (14) for communicating both voice and data with a mobile communications device (16) across a first wireless link and at least one micro cell (30>1<-30>2<) for communicating data with the mobile communications device across a second wireless communication link (33). Each micro cell communicates signaling information through the macro cell via a wireless link (50) to a control element (22) that manages the micro cells. Using a wireless link (50) to communicate signaling between each micro cell and the control element in the UMTS system eliminates the need for a wired back haul link, thereby reducing access costs.