Dual mode subscriber unit for short range, high rate and long range, lower rate data communications

The present invention relates to a subscriber unit comprising: a first transmitter / receiver (140) configured to communicate with a cellular network through a layered cellular communication protocol, a second transmitter / receiver (240) configured to communicate with a wireless local area network, WLAN, via an IEEE802 layered communication protocol, a detection circuit (201) configured to detect a WLAN signal, a circuit (120, 211 A, 211 B) connected to the first transmitter / receiver (140) and the second transmitter / receiver (240) and configured to communicate using the second transmitter / receiver (240) in response to the signal. The cellular layered communication protocol includes multiple layers over a physical layer and multiple physical layer channels available for mapping to communicate with the cellular network. The subscriber unit also includes a first converter (130,132,134) configured to maintain a communication session over the physical layer when assigned physical layer channels have been deallocated. The present invention also encompasses a method of use in a subscriber unit.