Extending the range of a hand-portable radio with short range of communication using on-board station receivers

摘要

A system and method for mobile radio communication is disclosed. The system includes (a) a network having one or more radio base stations and a central station, (b) an on-board radio station that has a relatively long range for communication with other stations, and (c) a portable radio station that has a relatively short range for communication with other stations. The on-board station receives messages from the portable station over a half duplex channel when the on-board station is within range of the network. When the portable station is out of range of the network, the portable station stores the messages, and forwards the messages to the network over a different radio channel.