Translator for time division multiple access wireless system having selective diversity circuits

A wireless communication system comprising a plurality of cells, the plurality of cells being located substantially adjacent one another, and the cellular communication system operating over a specified frequency range;

• the wireless communication system operating over a specified frequency range and making use of a frequency allocation plan that arranges the plurality of cells into clusters, each of said clusters of cells further comprising a centrally located home base station cell and at least one translator cell, the system comprising:
• a plurality of mobile stations located in a service area covered by said clusters of cells, each mobile station transmitting and receiving a radio signal;
• and
• home base station means located in said home base station cell, said home base station means including a broadband Base Transceiver System, BTS, for receiving and transmitting multiple radio signals on multiple respective carrier frequencies, including means for demodulating said received radio signals and for coupling demodulated signals to a switching means, and means for modulating signals received from the switching means and coupling them for radio transmission on the multiple carrier frequencies;
• a plurality of in band translator means, at least one of said plurality of in band translator means located in each one of the translator cells in the cluster, each in band translator means for communicating with said plurality of mobile stations and said home base station means, each in band translator means including an uplink portion comprising:
• first intermediate frequency, IF, receiving means for receiving a first ground signal from one of said plurality of mobile stations, and downconverting a carrier frequency of the first ground signal to a selected intermediate frequency to produce a first IF signal;
• second intermediate frequency, IF, receiving means for receiving a second ground signal from the one of said plurality of mobile stations and downconverting a carrier frequency of the second ground signal to the selected intermediate frequency to produce a second IF signal;
• selective diversity processing means, connected to receive the first and second IF signals, and for selecting one of the first and second IF as a selected signal;
• and
• upconversion means, connected to receive the selected signal, and for upconverting a carrier frequency of the selected signal to a radio frequency, to produce a backhaul signal.