Systems and methods for communicating data at radio base station nodes

A method for communicating data between a plurality of radio base station nodes, the method comprising:

• communicating carrier data between a carrier interface of a first radio base station node and a mobile switching center over a carrier bus according to a carrier protocol;
• and
• communicating bus data between a first bus interface of the first radio base station node and a second bus interface of a second radio base station node over a radio base station bus according to a radio base station protocol that is different from the carrier protocol.

A radio base station node comprising:

• a carrier interface that is configured to communicate carrier data between the radio base station node and a mobile switching center over a carrier bus according to a carrier protocol;
• and
• a bus interface that is configured to communicate bus data between the radio base station node and a second radio base station node over a radio base station bus according to a radio base station protocol that is different from the carrier protocol.

A radio communications system comprising:

• a first radio base station node including a first carrier interface and a first bus interface wherein the first carrier interface is configured to communicate carrier data between the first radio base station node and a mobile switching center over a carrier bus according to a carrier protocol, and wherein the bus interface is configured to communicate over a radio base station bus according to a radio base station protocol that is different from the carrier protocol;
• and
• a second radio base station node including a second bus interface wherein the second bus interface is configured to communicate over the radio base station bus according to the radio base station protocol.