Distributed antenna system using antenna ports

A communication system comprising:

• at least one base station entity;
• a central access node (CAN) of a distributed antenna system (DAS), the CAN including, a plurality of donor cards, each donor card having select resources that include a plurality of antenna ports, each donor card of the CAN in communication with a base station entity of the at least one base station entity, the base station entity of the at least one base station entity configured to use antennas ports of more than one donor card of the plurality of donor cards when a donor card of the plurality of donor cards does not have enough resources to accommodate a data stream from the base station entity of the at least one base station entity, one of the CAN and the at least one base station entity configured to convey system-plane data associated with the data stream to each donor card that receives a data sub-stream of the data stream from the base station entity;
• and
• a plurality of access points in communication with the CAN, each access point configured to be in wireless communication with user equipment.