Multiple user base stations and methods for their operation

摘要

A telephone base station allows a wire telephone network to be accessed by multiple cellular terminals within the local region of the base station. The users are generally members of a specified group such as a family or business. The base station is connected to the wire telephone network by a single line so that the radio transceiver of the base station communicates with the multiple cellular terminals serially. Each of the cellular terminals is authenticated upon entry of the local area. During communication with a given terminal, the remaining terminals in the local area are prevented from accessing the base station. Upon receipt of an incoming call, a message is transmitted to the caller to identify the desired cellular terminal. The base station then communicates with the identified cellular terminal and prevents access by the remaining terminals.