Arrangement for and method of providing radio frequency access to a ...

[54] ARRANGEMENT FOR AND METHOD OF PROVIDING RADIO FREQUENCY ACCESS TO A SWITCHING SYSTEM

[75] Inventors: Thomas E. Darcie, Middletown; Mary R. Phillips, Red Bank; Nemmara K. Shankaranarayanan, Rosclle Park, all of N.J.

[73] Assignee: AT&T Corp., Murray Hill, N.J.

[21] Appl. No.: 253,464
[22] Filed: Jun. 3,1994

[51] Int. CI.6 H04J 13/00

[52] U.S. CI 370/18; 370/69.1; 370/95.1;

370/95.3

[58] Field of Search 370/69.1,85.7,

370/95.1, 95.3, 17, 18, 85.6, 94.3; 340/825.03, 825.01; 455/17, 33.1, 33.2, 34.1, 34.2, 54.1, 54.2; 375/1

[56] References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

4,870,408 9/1989 Zdunek et al 370/95.1

5,233,643 8/1993 Naeini et al 379/59

5,276,730 1/1994 Cimini, Jr. et al 379/60

5,276,907 1/1994 Meidan 455/33.3

5,280,630 1/1994 Wang 379/61

5,327,573 7/1994 Lenchiketal 455/34.2

5,351,240 9/1994 Highsmith 370/95.1

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

0526285A2 2/1993 European Pat. Off. H04H 1/02

2242806 10/1991 United Kingdom H04Q 7/00

A cellular communication system provides dynamic allocation of hardware resources and frequency spectrum. The cellular system includes a server which dynamically controls the assignment of radio ports to a first and second group; each group shares hardware resources. Radio ports assigned to a first group may be reassigned by the server to a second radio port group in response to a predetermined condition, such as when the number of active users in the first group approaches the maximum user capacity of the first group. The transceiver hardware of each radio port is pooled on a group basis at the server location. This increases the user capacity of any radio port of a group to equal the total user capacity available at that group, as well as making more efficient use of transceiver resources.

59 Claims, 11 Drawing Sheets