Method and system for a channel selective repeater with capacity enhancement in a spread-spectrum wireless network

An intelligent radio frequency (RF) signal repeater comprising:

• a first antenna subsystem that receives a first RF signal;
• a first subsystem that converts the received first RF signal into a digital stream;
• a second subsystem that demodulates the digital stream to retrieve communication information in the received first RF signal;
• a third subsystem that reconstructs data and control channels from the retrieved communication information;
• a fourth subsystem that selects one of the data channels and amplifies information therein;
• a fifth subsystem that converts the amplified information into a second RF signal;
• and
• a second antenna subsystem that transmits the second RF signal.

A method for receiving and repeating RF signals, comprising:

• receiving a first RF signal;
• processing the first RF signal to discern data channels from control channels;
• selecting one of the data channels based on predetermined criteria;
• amplifying and converting the selected data channel into a first output RF signal;
• and
• transmitting the first output RF signal in-band.

A method for selectively repeating RF signals communicated between a plurality of base stations and a plurality of UEs in a wireless communication network, comprising:

• receiving a RF signal transmitted from a first base station to the plurality of UEs;
• identifying received communication channels embedded in the received RF signal;
• identifying a first UE from the plurality of UEs that is in soft handoff with a base station other than the first base station;
• associating a first one of the received communication channels with the identified UE in soft handoff;
• and
• applying a predetermined gain value to the received first communication channel.

A method for selectively repeating RF signals communicated between a base station and a plurality of UEs in a wireless network, comprising:

• receiving an RF signal transmitted from the base station;
• identifying initial communication channels embedded in the RF signal used for downlink communication from the base station to the plurality of UEs, wherein each of the initial communication channels is applied with an associated base gain provided by the base station;
• monitoring a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of each of the communication channels;
• upon detecting the SINR of a first one of the initial communication channels reaching a first predetermined threshold, selecting the first initial communication channel and an associated first one of the UEs, and applying a selected gain value to the selected first initial communication channel to generate an amplified version of the first initial communication channel for repetition;
• and
• firstly determining whether the SINR of the amplified version of the first initial communication channel reaches a second predetermined threshold;
• secondly determining whether the first initial communication channel dominates the amplified version of the first initial communication channel at the associated first UE;
• and
• varying the associated base gain and/or the selected gain value to maintain a desired value of the SINR at the associated first UE of the dominating one of the first initial communication channel and the amplified version of the first initial communication channel.