Physical layer (PHY) packet design for power spectral density (PSD) limitation

Abstract

This disclosure provides systems, methods, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for physical layer (PHY) packet design for power spectral density (PSD) limitations. In some implementations, a wireless communication device generates a plurality of PHY Convergence Protocol (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) copies configured for transmission over a selected bandwidth, and transmits each of the plurality of PPDU copies over a corresponding one of a plurality of different frequency sub-bands. In some other implementations, the wireless communication device generates a PPDU for transmission on a set of replicated resource units (RUs) allocated to the wireless communication device, and transmits the PPDU on the allocated set of replicated RUs.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of a patent application with an international application date of March 10, 2021, an international application number of PCT / US2021 / 021645, a Chinese national application date of March 10, 2021, an application number of 202180019114.9, and an invention name of “Physical layer (PHY) grouping design for power spectral density (PSD) limitation”.

[0002] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0003] This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 989,588, filed on March 13, 2020, entitled “PHYSICAL LAYER (PHY) PACKET DESIGN FOR POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY (PSD) LIMITS,” U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 009,450, filed on April 13, 2020, entitled “PHYSICAL LAYER (PHY) PACKET DESIGN FOR POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY (PSD) LIMITS,” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 009,450, filed on March 9, 2021, entitled “PHYSICAL LAYER (PHY) PACKET DESIGN FOR POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY (PSD) LIMITS DENSITY (PSD) LIMITS" (Physical Layer (PHY) Packet Design for Power Spectral Density (PSD) Limits)", all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present application. The disclosures of all prior applications are considered part of and incorporated by reference into the present patent application. Technical Field

[0004] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to using replication in wireless transmissions.

[0005] Related technical description

[0006] A wireless local area network (WLAN) may be formed by one or more access points (APs) that provide a shared wireless communication medium for use by several client devices, also referred to as stations (STAs). The basic building block of a WLAN that complies with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards is a basic service set (BSS) managed by an AP. Each BSS is identified by a basic service set identifier (BSSID) announced by the AP. The AP periodically broadcasts beacon frames to enable any STA within the wireless range of the AP to establish or maintain a communication link with the WLAN. New WLAN communication protocols are being developed to implement enhanced WLAN communication features.

[0007] In some instances, APs and STAs may be subject to power spectral density (PSD) limitations, which may undesirably reduce transmit range. These PSD limitations may also degrade the packet detection and channel estimation capabilities of the APs and STAs.

[0008] Overview

[0009] The systems, methods, and devices of the disclosure each have several innovative aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for the desirable attributes disclosed herein.

[0010] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a method for wireless communication. The method may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device and may include generating a plurality of physical (PHY) layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) replicas configured for transmission over a selected bandwidth. The method also includes transmitting each of the plurality of PPDU replicas over a corresponding frequency subband of a plurality of different frequency subbands. In some implementations, each PPDU replica may be based on a replica of the entire PPDU except for any universal signal field (U-SIG).

[0011] In some implementations, the plurality of different frequency sub-bands may include one or more unlicensed channels in the 6 GHz spectrum, and the power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to the transmission may be based on a combined frequency bandwidth of the plurality of different frequency sub-bands. In some instances, the combined frequency bandwidth may be N times greater than the selected bandwidth over which the corresponding PPDU copy is transmitted.

[0012] The PPDU may include a physical layer preamble comprising an extremely high throughput (EHT) premodulation portion and an EHT modulation portion. The PPDU may also include one or more data fields. In some implementations, generating multiple PPDU copies includes copying the EHT premodulation portion of the preamble, the EHT modulation portion of the preamble, and the one or more data fields according to the same replication format. In some other implementations, generating multiple PPDU copies includes copying the EHT premodulation portion of the preamble according to a first replication format, copying the EHT modulation portion of the preamble according to a second replication format, and copying the one or more data fields according to a second replication format, wherein the second replication format is different from the first replication format. In some instances, the first replication format may be associated with a first multiple of a frequency bandwidth, and the second replication format may be associated with a second multiple of the frequency bandwidth, wherein the second multiple is at least twice the first multiple.

[0013] In some implementations, the PPDU includes a physical layer preamble and may be one of an EHT format or a single user (SU) extended range (ER) PPDU format. In some instances, generating multiple PPDU copies may include copying the preamble in each of a plurality of 20 MHz frequency sub-bands and copying a data portion of the PPDU in each of a plurality of 40 MHz frequency sub-bands, 80 MHz frequency sub-bands, or 160 MHz frequency sub-bands.

[0014] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a wireless communication device. The wireless communication device may include a processing system coupled to an interface. The processing system may be configured to generate multiple PPDU copies configured to be transmitted on a selected bandwidth. The interface may be configured to output each PPDU copy in the multiple PPDU copies on a corresponding frequency sub-band of a plurality of different frequency sub-bands. In some implementations, each PPDU copy may be based on a copy of the entire PPDU except any U-SIG.

[0015] In some implementations, the plurality of different frequency sub-bands may include one or more unlicensed channels in the 6 GHz spectrum, and the PSD limit applicable to the transmission may be based on a combined frequency bandwidth of the plurality of different frequency sub-bands. In some instances, the combined frequency bandwidth may be N times greater than the selected bandwidth over which the corresponding PPDU copy is transmitted.

[0016] The PPDU may include a physical layer preamble, which includes an EHT premodulation portion and an EHT modulation portion. The PPDU may also include one or more data fields. In some implementations, generating multiple PPDU copies includes copying the EHT premodulation portion of the preamble, the EHT modulation portion of the preamble, and the one or more data fields according to the same replication format. In some other implementations, generating multiple PPDU copies includes copying the EHT premodulation portion of the preamble according to a first replication format, copying the EHT modulation portion of the preamble according to a second replication format, and copying the one or more data fields according to a second replication format, wherein the second replication format is different from the first replication format. In some instances, the first replication format can be associated with a first multiple of a frequency bandwidth, and the second replication format can be associated with a second multiple of the frequency bandwidth, wherein the second multiple is at least twice the first multiple.

[0017] In some implementations, the PPDU includes a physical layer preamble and may be one of an EHT format or a SU ER PPDU format. In some instances, generating multiple PPDU copies may include copying the preamble in each of a plurality of 20 MHz frequency sub-bands and copying a data portion of the PPDU in each of a plurality of 40 MHz frequency sub-bands, 80 MHz frequency sub-bands, or 160 MHz frequency sub-bands.

[0018] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a method for wireless communication. The method may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device and may include generating a PPDU for transmission on a set of replicated resource units (RUs) allocated to the wireless communication device. The method may also include transmitting the PPDU on the allocated set of replicated RUs. In some implementations, the PPDU may be a SU PPDU. In some instances, the PSD limit applicable to the transmission may be based on the frequency bandwidth spanned by the allocated set of replicated RUs. The frequency bandwidth spanned may be at least twice the frequency bandwidth of the corresponding replicated RU.

[0019] In some implementations, the size of the duplicated RUs in the allocated set of duplicated RUs may be based at least in part on a PSD limit applicable to the frequency bandwidth of the wireless channel. In some instances, the set of duplicated RUs may be based on duplication of the number of RUs N times, where N is an integer greater than one. In some other instances, the PPDU may be transmitted on each RU in the allocated set of RUs.

[0020] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a wireless communication device. The wireless communication device may include a processing system coupled to an interface. The processing system may be configured to generate a PPDU for transmission on a set of duplicated RUs assigned to the wireless communication device. The interface may be configured to output the PPDU on the assigned set of duplicated RUs. In some implementations, the PPDU may be a SU PPDU. In some instances, the PSD limit applicable to the transmission may be based on the frequency bandwidth spanned by the assigned set of duplicated RUs. The frequency bandwidth spanned may be at least twice the frequency bandwidth of the corresponding duplicated RUs.

[0021] In some implementations, the size of the duplicated RUs in the allocated set of duplicated RUs may be based at least in part on a PSD limit applicable to the frequency bandwidth of the wireless channel. In some instances, the set of duplicated RUs may be based on duplication of the number of RUs N times, where N is an integer greater than one. In some other instances, the PPDU may be transmitted on each RU in the allocated set of RUs.

[0022] Details of one or more implementations of the subject matter described in the present disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the following description. Other features, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the description, drawings, and claims. It should be noted that the relative sizes of the following drawings may not be drawn to scale. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Figure 1 A block diagram of an example wireless communication network is shown.

[0025] Figure 2 Example protocol data units (PDUs) that may be used for communications between an access point (AP) and one or more wireless stations (STAs) are shown.

[0026] Figure 3A Example PDUs that may be used for communications between an AP and one or more STAs are shown.

[0027] Figure 3B Another example PDU that may be used for communication between an AP and one or more STAs is shown.

[0028] Figure 4 An example physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) that may be used for communications between an AP and one or more STAs is shown.

[0029] Figure 5A An example tone map for a 20 MHz bandwidth is shown.

[0030] Figure 5B An example tone map for a 40 MHz bandwidth is shown.

[0031] Figure 5C An example tone map for an 80 MHz bandwidth is shown.

[0032] Figure 6 A block diagram of an example wireless communication device is shown.

[0033] Fig. 7A A block diagram of an example AP is shown.

[0034] Figure 7B A block diagram of an example STA is shown.

[0035] Figure 8 A sequence diagram illustrating example communications to support transfer PPDU duplication is shown.

[0036] Fig.9A A sequence diagram illustrating example communications that support transmission of a PPDU using duplicated resource units (RUs) is shown.

[0037] Fig. 9B An example RU replication is shown.

[0038] Fig. 10A A sequence diagram is shown that supports example communications for transmitting a PPDU using tone mapping.

[0039] Fig. 10B An example mapping of tones is shown.

[0040] Fig. 10C An example mapping of tones is shown.

[0041] Fig.11 A flowchart illustrating example operations for wireless communications supporting transmission of PPDU duplication is shown.

[0042] Fig. 12A , 12B , 12C, and 12D show flow charts illustrating example operations for wireless communications supporting transmission of PPDU duplication.

[0043] Fig.13 A flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communications supporting RU duplication is shown.

[0044] Fig.14 A flow diagram illustrating example operations for supporting wireless communications for transmitting one or more PPDUs using tone mapping is shown.

[0045] Fig.15A and 15B A flow diagram illustrating example operations for supporting wireless communications for transmitting one or more PPDUs using tone mapping is shown.

[0046] Fig.16 A flow diagram illustrating example operations for supporting wireless communications for transmitting one or more PPDUs using tone mapping is shown.

[0047] Fig.17 A flow diagram illustrating example operations for supporting wireless communications for transmitting one or more PPDUs using tone mapping is shown.

[0048] Fig.18 A sequence diagram is shown that supports example communications for transmitting a PPDU using tone mapping.

[0049] Fig.19 An example mapping of tones is shown.

[0050] Fig. 20 A flow diagram illustrating example operations for supporting wireless communications for transmitting one or more PPDUs using tone mapping is shown.

[0051] Fig.21A , 21B , 21C, 21D, 21E, and 21F show flow charts illustrating example operations for supporting wireless communications using frequency mapping to transmit one or more PPDUs.

[0052] Fig. 22 A flow diagram illustrating example operations for supporting wireless communications for transmitting one or more PPDUs using tone mapping is shown.

[0053] Fig.23 A flow diagram illustrating example operations for supporting wireless communications for transmitting one or more PPDUs using tone mapping is shown.

[0054] Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements. Detailed Description

[0056] The following description is directed to certain implementations in order to describe the innovative aspects of the present disclosure. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in many different ways. The described implementations can be implemented in a manner that is capable of being implemented in accordance with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, the IEEE 802.15 standard, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), or the like. The described implementations may be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals in accordance with one or more of the Long Term Evolution (LTE), 3G, 4G, or 5G (New Radio (NR)) standards, or the like released by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The described implementations may be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of transmitting and receiving RF signals in accordance with one or more of the following technologies or techniques: code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), single user (SU) multiple input multiple output (MIMO), and multi-user (MU) MIMO. The described implementations may also be implemented using other wireless communication protocols or RF signals suitable for use in one or more of a wireless personal area network (WPAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless wide area network (WWAN), or an Internet of Things (IOT) network.

[0057] Various implementations generally involve increasing the allowed transmit power of APs and STAs. APs and STAs may be subject to power spectral density (PSD) limits that may undesirably reduce transmit range, degrade packet detection capabilities, and degrade channel estimation capabilities of APs and STAs. For example, recently proposed PSD limits for wireless communications in the 6 GHz band may limit the transmit power of APs to 5 dBm / MHz and may limit the transmit power of non-AP STAs to -1 dBm / MHz. Some implementations more specifically involve increasing the maximum allowed transmit power of APs and STAs by transmitting information over a wider frequency bandwidth, which may increase the PSD limits applicable to such transmissions.

[0058] In some implementations, packet duplication may be used to increase the frequency bandwidth over which information is exchanged between wireless communication devices. In some instances, a STA may prepare a physical layer (PHY) convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) for transmission over a selected bandwidth. The STA may generate multiple PPDU duplications based on duplication of the entire PPDU (except for any universal signal field (U-SIG) or any extremely high throughput (EHT) signal (SIG) field (EHT-SIG) present in the PPDU). The STA may transmit each of the PPDU duplications on a different frequency sub-band. For example, a PPDU may be formatted for a 20MHz frequency sub-band, and the STA may duplicate the PPDU N times to generate a number N of PPDU duplications. Each of the N PPDU duplications may be transmitted on a different 20MHz frequency sub-band so that the transmission of the N PPDU duplications spans a frequency band equal to N x20MHz, thereby increasing the applicable PSD limit by N times. For a PPDU including a U-SIG, the U-SIG may be replicated in each 20 MHz frequency sub-band of the N x 20 MHz frequency band used for UL PPDU transmission. For a PPDU including an EHT-SIG, the EHT-SIG may be replicated in each 80 MHz frequency sub-band according to its coding structure. In some instances, the content of the U-SIG and the EHT-SIG may be different for each of the generated PPDU copies.

[0059] In some implementations, duplicate resource units (RUs) may be used to increase the frequency bandwidth over which information is exchanged between wireless communication devices. In some instances, a STA may generate a PPDU for transmission on a set of duplicate resource units (RUs) allocated to a wireless communication device, and may transmit the PPDU on the allocated set of duplicate RUs. The frequency bandwidth spanned by the allocated set of duplicate RUs may be twice or more times wider than the frequency bandwidth of the corresponding duplicate RUs, which may increase the maximum transmit power allowed by the PSD limit by two or more times. That is, the PSD limit applicable to the transmission may be based on the frequency bandwidth spanned by the allocated set of duplicate RUs. In some instances, the size of the duplicate RUs in the allocated set of duplicate RUs may be based at least in part on the PSD limit applicable to the frequency bandwidth of the wireless channel.

[0060] In some other implementations, tone mapping may be used to increase the frequency bandwidth over which information is exchanged between wireless communication devices. In some instances, a STA may be assigned an RU including a set of contiguous tones for uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) transmission, and may prepare a PPDU based at least in part on a first frequency bandwidth. The STA may map the contiguous tone set of the assigned RU to a set of non-contiguous tones distributed across a second frequency bandwidth that is larger than the first frequency bandwidth, and may transmit the PPDU using the second set of tones spanning the second frequency bandwidth.

[0061] Specific implementations of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages. In some implementations, the described techniques may be used to increase the allowable transmit power of APs and STAs. Specifically, because the PSD limits imposed on wireless communications may be expressed as being bandwidth-dependent, the maximum transmit power allowed by such PSD limits may be increased by using a larger bandwidth for wireless communications without increasing the data rate for such communications. In some implementations, a STA preparing a PPDU for transmission on a 20 MHz frequency subband may replicate the PPDU a certain number of times and transmit the certain number of replicated PPDUs on a corresponding number of 20 MHz frequency subbands, for example, so that the applicable PSD limit is based on a combined number of 20 MHz frequency subbands (rather than on a single 20 MHz frequency subband). In some other implementations, a STA that is allocated one or more RUs for UL or DL ​​transmission may transmit UL or DL ​​data using replicated RUs across a wider frequency band, for example, so that the applicable PSD limit is based on the wider frequency band (rather than on the frequency subband corresponding to the allocated RU before replication). In some other implementations, a STA that is assigned an RU that includes a set of contiguous tones spanning a first frequency bandwidth may map the tones of the assigned RU to a set of non-contiguous tones distributed across a second frequency bandwidth that is larger than the first frequency bandwidth, and transmit data using the mapped tones distributed across the second frequency bandwidth, for example such that the applicable PSD limit is based on the second frequency bandwidth (rather than on the first frequency bandwidth). In this way, implementations of the subject matter disclosed herein may be used to increase the total transmit power of a wireless communication device. The ability to increase the transmit power of a wireless communication device may improve the signal quality of its wireless transmissions (such as by increasing one or more of a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a channel quality indicator (CQI), a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.), and may also increase the wireless range of the wireless communication device.

[0062] Figure 1A block diagram of an example wireless communication network 100 is shown. According to some aspects, the wireless communication network 100 may be an example of a wireless local area network (WLAN) such as a Wi-Fi network (and will be referred to as WLAN 100 hereinafter). For example, the WLAN 100 may be a network that implements at least one of the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards, such as the standards defined by the IEEE 802.11-2016 specification or its revisions, including but not limited to 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be. The WLAN 100 may include numerous wireless communication devices, such as an access point (AP) 102 and a plurality of stations (STAs) 104. Although only one AP 102 is shown, the WLAN network 100 may also include a plurality of APs 102.

[0063] Each STA 104 may also be referred to as a mobile station (MS), a mobile device, a mobile handset, a wireless handset, an access terminal (AT), a user equipment (UE), a subscriber station (SS), or a subscriber unit, among other possibilities. STA 104 may represent a variety of devices, such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), other handheld devices, netbooks, notebook computers, tablet computers, laptops, display devices (e.g., TVs, computer monitors, navigation systems, etc.), music or other audio or stereo equipment, remote control devices (“remote controls”), printers, kitchen or other home appliances, key fobs (e.g., for passive keyless entry and start (PKES) systems), and other possibilities.

[0064] A single AP 102 and the associated set of STAs 104 may be referred to as a basic service set (BSS), which is managed by the corresponding AP 102 . Figure 1Additionally shown is an example coverage area 106 of the AP 102, which may represent a basic service area (BSA) of the WLAN 100. The BSS may be identified to users by a service set identifier (SSID) and may also be identified to other devices by a basic service set identifier (BSSID), which may be a media access control (MAC) address of the AP 102. The AP 102 periodically broadcasts a beacon frame (“beacon”) including the BSSID to enable any STA 104 within the wireless range of the AP 102 to “associate” or reassociate with the AP 102 to establish or maintain a corresponding communication link 108 (hereinafter also referred to as a “Wi-Fi link”) with the AP 102. For example, the beacon may include an identification of a primary channel used by the corresponding AP 102 and a timing synchronization function for establishing or maintaining timing synchronization with the AP 102. The AP 102 may provide access to external networks to various STAs 104 in the WLAN via corresponding communication links 108 .

[0065] To establish a communication link 108 with the AP 102, each STA 104 is configured to perform passive or active scanning operations ("scanning") on frequency channels in one or more frequency bands (eg, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, or 60 GHz bands). To perform a passive scan, the STA 104 listens for beacons transmitted by the corresponding AP 102 at periodic time intervals, referred to as target beacon transmission times (TBTTs), measured in time units (TUs), where one TU may be equal to 1024 microseconds (μs). To perform an active scan, the STA 104 generates probe requests and transmits them sequentially on each channel to be scanned, and listens for probe responses from the AP 102. Each STA 104 may be configured to identify or select an AP 102 to associate with based on the scan information obtained through passive or active scanning, and to perform authentication and association operations to establish a communication link 108 with the selected AP 102. The AP 102 assigns an association identifier (AID) to the STA 104 at the end of the association operation, and the AP 102 uses the AID to track the STA 104.

[0066] As wireless networks become more and more common, STA 104 may have the opportunity to select one of many BSSs within the range of the STA or to select among multiple APs 102 that together form an extended service set (ESS) (including multiple connected BSSs). The extended network station associated with WLAN 100 may be connected to a wired or wireless distribution system that allows multiple APs 102 to be connected in such an ESS. In this way, STA 104 may be covered by more than one AP 102 and may be associated with different APs 102 at different times for different transmissions. Additionally, after associating with AP 102, STA 104 may also be configured to periodically scan its surroundings to find a more suitable AP 102 to associate with. For example, a STA 104 that is moving relative to its associated AP 102 may perform a "roaming" scan to find another AP 102 with more suitable network characteristics (such as a larger received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or a reduced traffic load).

[0067] In some cases, STA 104 may form a network without AP 102 or other equipment other than STA 104 itself. An example of such a network is an ad hoc network (or wireless ad hoc network). An ad hoc network may alternatively be referred to as a mesh network or a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. In some cases, an ad hoc network may be implemented within a larger wireless network (such as WLAN 100). In such an implementation, although STA 104 may be able to communicate with each other through AP 102 using a communication link 108, STA 104 may also communicate directly with each other via a direct wireless link 110. In addition, two STAs 104 may communicate via a direct communication link 110, regardless of whether the two STAs 104 are associated with the same AP 102 and served by the same AP 102. In such an ad hoc system, one or more STAs 104 may assume the role played by AP 102 in a BSS. Such STAs 104 may be referred to as group owners (GOs) and may coordinate transmissions within the ad hoc network. Examples of direct wireless link 110 include a Wi-Fi Direct connection, a connection established by using a Wi-Fi Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) link, and other P2P group connections.

[0068] The AP 102 and the STA 104 may function and communicate (via corresponding communication links 108) in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards, such as those defined by the IEEE 802.11-2016 specification or its revisions, including, but not limited to, 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be. These standards define WLAN radio and baseband protocols for the PHY and media access control (MAC) layers. The AP 102 and the STA 104 transmit and receive wireless communications (hereinafter also referred to as "Wi-Fi communications") to and from each other in the form of physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data units (PPDUs). The AP 102 and STA 104 in the WLAN 100 may transmit PPDUs on an unlicensed spectrum, which may be a portion of a spectrum that includes frequency bands traditionally used by Wi-Fi technology, such as the 2.4 GHz band, the 5 GHz band, the 60 GHz band, the 3.6 GHz band, and the 900 MHz band. Some implementations of the AP 102 and STA 104 described herein may also communicate in other frequency bands, such as the 6 GHz band, that may support both licensed and unlicensed communications. The AP 102 and STA 104 may also be configured to communicate on other frequency bands, such as shared licensed frequency bands, where multiple operators may have licenses to operate in one or more of the same or overlapping frequency bands.

[0069] Each frequency band may include multiple channels (which may be used as subchannels of a larger bandwidth channel as described below). For example, PPDUs compliant with IEEE 802.11n, 802.11ac, and 802.11ax standard revisions may be transmitted on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands, where each frequency band is divided into multiple 20 MHz channels. In this way, these PPDUs are transmitted on a physical channel with a minimum bandwidth of 20 MHz, but larger channels may be formed through channel bonding. For example, a PPDU may be transmitted on a physical channel with a bandwidth of 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz by bonding multiple 20 MHz channels (which may be referred to as subchannels) together.

[0070] Each PPDU is a composite structure including a PHY preamble and a payload in the form of a PLCP service data unit (PSDU). The information provided in the preamble can be used by the receiving device to decode subsequent data in the PSDU. In an instance where the PPDU is transmitted over a bonded channel, the preamble field can be copied and transmitted in each of a plurality of component channels. The PHY preamble may include both a first part (or "legacy preamble") and a second part (or "non-legacy preamble"). The first part can be used for packet detection, automatic gain control and channel estimation, and other purposes. The first part can also be used to maintain compatibility with legacy devices and non-legacy devices. The format, decoding, and information provided therein of the second part of the preamble are based on the specific IEEE 802.11 protocol to be used to transmit the payload.

[0071] Figure 2 An example protocol data unit (PDU) 200 that can be used for wireless communication between an AP and a number of STAs is shown. For example, the PDU 200 can be configured as a PPDU. As shown, the PDU 200 includes a PHY preamble 201 and a PHY payload 204. For example, the preamble 201 can include a first portion 202, which itself includes a legacy short training field (L-STF) 206 that can be composed of two BPSK symbols, a legacy long training field (L-LTF) 208 that can be composed of two BPSK symbols, and a legacy signal field (L-SIG) 210 that can be composed of one BPSK symbol. The first portion 202 of the preamble 201 can be configured according to the IEEE 802.11a wireless communication protocol standard. The preamble 201 may also include a second portion 203 including one or more non-legacy signal fields 212, for example, compliant with an IEEE wireless communication protocol such as IEEE 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11be, or a later wireless communication protocol standard.

[0072] L-STF 206 generally enables the receiving device to perform automatic gain control (AGC) and coarse timing and frequency estimation. L-LTF 208 generally enables the receiving device to perform fine timing and frequency estimation, and can also perform initial estimation of the wireless channel. L-SIG 210 generally enables the receiving device to determine the duration of the PDU and use the determined duration to avoid transmitting on the PDU. For example, L-STF 206, L-LTF 208 and L-SIG 210 can be modulated according to a binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation scheme. Payload 204 can be modulated according to a BPSK modulation scheme, an orthogonal BPSK (Q-BPSK) modulation scheme, an orthogonal amplitude modulation (QAM) modulation scheme, or another appropriate modulation scheme. Payload 204 may include a PSDU including a data field (DATA) 214, which in turn may carry, for example, a higher layer data in the form of a media access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU) or an aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU).

[0073] Figure 2 Also shown is an example L-SIG 210 in the PDU 200. The L-SIG 210 includes a data rate field 222, reserved bits 224, a length field 226, parity bits 228, and a tail field 230. The data rate field 222 indicates the data rate (note that the data rate indicated in the data rate field 222 may not be the actual data rate of the data carried in the payload 204). The length field 226 indicates the packet length, for example, in units of symbols or bytes. The parity bits 228 may be used to detect bit errors. The tail field 230 includes tail bits, which may be used by a receiving device to terminate the operation of a decoder (e.g., a Viterbi decoder). The receiving device may use the data rate and length indicated in the data rate field 222 and the length field 226 to determine the packet duration, for example, in microseconds (μs) or other time units.

[0074] Figure 3A An example PPDU 300 that can be used for wireless communication between an AP and one or more STAs is shown. The PPDU 300 can be used for SU, OFDMA, or MU-MIMO transmission. The PPDU 300 can be formatted as a high-efficiency (HE) WLAN PPDU according to the IEEE 802.11ax amendment to the IEEE 802.11 wireless communication protocol standard. The PPDU 300 includes a PHY preamble that includes a legacy portion 302 and a non-legacy portion 304. The PPDU 300 may further include a PHY payload 306 (e.g., in the form of a PSDU including a data field 324) after the preamble.

[0075] The legacy portion 302 of the preamble includes an L-STF 308, an L-LTF 310, and an L-SIG 312. The non-legacy portion 304 includes a repetition of the L-SIG (RL-SIG) 314, a first HE signal field (HE-SIG-A) 316, an HE short training field (HE-STF) 320, and one or more HE long training fields (or symbols) (HE-LTF) 322. For OFDMA or MU-MIMO communications, the second portion 304 further includes a second HE signal field (HE-SIG-B) 318 that is encoded separately from the HE-SIG-A 316. As with the L-STF 308, L-LTF 310, and L-SIG 312, in instances involving the use of bonded channels, the information in the RL-SIG 314 and HE-SIG-A 316 may be replicated and transmitted in each component 20 MHz channel. In contrast, the content in the HE-SIG-B 318 may be unique to each 20 MHz channel and targeted specific STA 104 .

[0076] The RL-SIG 314 may indicate to the HE-compatible STA 104 that the PPDU 300 is a HE PPDU. The AP 102 may use the HE-SIG-A 316 to identify multiple STAs 104 and inform the multiple STAs 104 that the AP has scheduled UL or DL ​​resources for them. For example, the HE-SIG-A 316 may include a resource allocation subfield indicating the resource allocation for the identified STA 104. The HE-SIG-A 316 may be decoded by each HE-compatible STA 104 served by the AP 102. For MU transmissions, the HE-SIG-A 316 further includes information that may be used by each identified STA 104 to decode the associated HE-SIG-B 318. For example, the HE-SIG-A 316 may indicate the frame format (including the location and length of the HE-SIG-B 318), the available channel bandwidth, and the modulation and coding scheme (MCS), among other examples. The HE-SIG-A 316 may also include HE WLAN signaling information that may be used by STAs 104 other than the identified STA 104 .

[0077] HE-SIG-B 318 may carry STA-specific scheduling information, such as, for example, STA-specific (or "user-specific") MCS values ​​and STA-specific RU allocation information. In the context of DL MU-OFDMA, such information enables the corresponding STA 104 to identify and decode the corresponding resource unit (RU) in the associated data field 324. Each HE-SIG-B 318 includes a common field and at least one STA-specific field. The common field may indicate RU allocations (including RU assignments in the frequency domain) to multiple STAs 104, indicating which RUs are allocated for MU-MIMO transmissions and which RUs correspond to MU-OFDMA transmissions, as well as the number of users in the allocation and other examples. The common field may be encoded with common bits, CRC bits, and tail bits. User-specific fields are assigned to a specific STA 104 and may be used to schedule a specific RU and indicate the scheduling to other WLAN devices. Each user-specific field may include multiple user block fields. Each user block field may include two user fields containing information for two corresponding STAs to decode their corresponding RU payloads in the data field 324 .

[0078] Figure 3B Another example PPDU 350 that can be used for wireless communication between an AP and one or more STAs is shown. The PPDU 350 can be used for SU, OFDMA, or MU-MIMO transmission. The PPDU 350 can be formatted as an extremely high throughput (EHT) WLAN PPDU according to the IEEE 802.11be amendment to the IEEE 802.11 wireless communication protocol standard, or can be formatted as a PPDU that complies with any future (post-EHT) version of a new wireless communication protocol (complying with a future IEEE 802.11 wireless communication protocol standard or other wireless communication standard). The PPDU 350 includes a PHY preamble that includes a legacy portion 352 and a non-legacy portion 354. The PPDU 350 may further include a PHY payload 356 (e.g., in the form of a PSDU including a data field 374) after the preamble.

[0079] The legacy portion 352 of the preamble includes an L-STF 358, an L-LTF 360, and an L-SIG 362. The non-legacy portion 354 of the preamble includes an RL-SIG 364 and a plurality of wireless communication protocol version-related signal fields following the RL-SIG 364. For example, the non-legacy portion 354 may include a universal signal field 366 (referred to herein as "U-SIG 366") and an EHT signal field 368 (referred to herein as "EHT-SIG 368"). One or both of the U-SIG 366 and the EHT-SIG 368 may be configured to be used for wireless communication protocol versions other than EHT and carry version-related information thereof. The non-legacy portion 354 further includes an additional short training field 370 (referred to herein as "EHT-STF 370", but may also be constructed to be used for and carry version-related information for other wireless communication protocol versions other than EHT) and one or more additional long training fields 372 (referred to herein as "EHT-LTF 372", but they may be constructed to be used for and carry version-related information for other wireless communication protocol versions other than EHT). As with the L-STF 358, L-LTF 360, and L-SIG 362, in instances involving the use of bonded channels, the information in the U-SIG 366 and the EHT-SIG 368 may be replicated and transmitted in each component 20 MHz channel. In some implementations, the EHT-SIG 368 may additionally or alternatively carry information in one or more non-primary 20 MHz channels that is different from the information carried in the primary 20 MHz channel.

[0080] The EHT-SIG 368 may include one or more jointly encoded symbols and may be encoded in a different block from the block in which the U-SIG 366 is encoded. The EHT-SIG 368 may be used by the AP to identify multiple STAs 104 and notify the multiple STAs 104 that the AP has scheduled UL or DL ​​resources for them. The EHT-SIG 368 may be decoded by each compatible STA 104 served by the AP 102. The EHT-SIG 368 may generally be used by the receiving device to interpret the bits in the data field 374. For example, the EHT-SIG 368 may include RU allocation information, spatial stream configuration information, and per-user signaling information (such as MCS) and other examples. The EHT-SIG 368 may further include a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) (e.g., 4 bits) and a tail (e.g., 6 bits) that may be used for a binary convolutional code (BCC). In some implementations, the EHT-SIG 368 may include one or more code blocks each including a CRC and a tail. In some aspects, each code block may be encoded separately.

[0081] The EHT-SIG 368 may carry STA-specific scheduling information, such as, for example, user-specific MCS values ​​and user-specific RU allocation information. The EHT-SIG 368 may generally be used by a receiving device to interpret bits in the data field 374. In the context of DL MU-OFDMA, such information enables the corresponding STA 104 to identify and decode the corresponding RU in the associated data field 374. Each EHT-SIG 368 may include a common field and at least one user-specific field. The common field may indicate the RU distribution to multiple STAs 104, indicate the RU assignment in the frequency domain, indicate which RUs are allocated for MU-MIMO transmission and which RUs correspond to MU-OFDMA transmission, and the number of users in the allocation and other examples. The common field may be encoded with common bits, CRC bits, and tail bits. The user-specific fields are assigned to a specific STA 104 and may be used to schedule a specific RU and indicate the scheduling to other WLAN devices. Each user-specific field may include multiple user block fields. Each user block field may include, for example, two user fields containing information for two corresponding STAs to decode their corresponding RU payloads.

[0082] The presence of the RL-SIG 364 and the U-SIG 366 may indicate to the EHT or future version compatible STA 104 that the PPDU 350 is an EHT PPDU or any future (post-EHT) version of a PPDU that complies with a new wireless communication protocol (complying with future IEEE 802.11 wireless communication protocol standards). For example, the U-SIG 366 may be used by a receiving device to interpret bits in one or more of the EHT-SIG 368 or the data field 374.

[0083] In the IEEE 802.11be revision of the IEEE 802.11 family of standards (or in future revisions), new fields may be used to carry signaling information. For example, new fields and signaling information may be included in U-SIG 366. Additionally, new fields and signaling information may be included in EHT-SIG 368. If additional training signals (such as additional training signals in L-SIG and RL-SIG in 11ax) are sent on other frequency modulations before U-SIG, each codeword in U-SIG may carry more usable data for feature signaling rather than training signals. In some implementations, U-SIG 366 includes two codewords, which can be jointly encoded together in a single block, and each can carry twenty-six usable data (or "information") bits. For example, the bits in U-SIG 366 may include signaling about the type or format of the additional signal field (such as EHT-SIG 368) following U-SIG 366. EHT-SIG 368 may have clear codeword boundaries. In some implementations, a fixed MCS may be used for the EHT-SIG 368. In some implementations, the MCS and DCM for the EHT-SIG 368 may be indicated in the U-SIG 366.

[0084] Figure 4 An example PPDU 400 is shown that can be used for communication between an AP 102 and each of a number of STAs 104. As described above, each PPDU 400 includes a PHY preamble 402, a PHY header 403, and a PSDU 404. Each PSDU 404 may carry one or more MAC protocol data units (MPDUs). For example, each PSDU 404 may carry an aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU) 408, which includes an aggregation of multiple A-MPDU subframes 406. Each A-MPDU subframe 406 may include a MAC delimiter 410 and a MAC header 412 preceding an accompanying MPDU 414 (which includes a data portion ("payload" or "frame body") of the A-MPDU subframe 406). The MPDU 414 may carry one or more MAC service data unit (MSDU) subframes 416. For example, the MPDU 414 may carry an aggregated MSDU (A-MSDU) 418, which includes multiple MSDU subframes 416. Each MSDU subframe 416 includes a corresponding MSDU 420 followed by a subframe header 422 .

[0085] Referring back to the A-MPDU subframe 406, the MAC header 412 may include: several fields containing information defining or indicating characteristics or attributes of the data encapsulated in the frame body 414. The MAC header 412 also includes several fields indicating the address of the data encapsulated in the frame body 414. For example, the MAC header 412 may include a combination of a source address, a transmitter address, a receiver address, or a destination address. The MAC header 412 may include: a frame control field containing control information. The frame control field specifies the frame type, for example, a data frame, a control frame, or a management frame. The MAC header 412 may further include a duration field, which indicates the duration from the end of the PPDU until the end of the acknowledgment (ACK) of the last PPDU to be transmitted by the wireless communication device (for example, a block ACK (BA) in the case of an A-MPDU). The use duration field is used to reserve the wireless medium for the indicated duration, thereby establishing a NAV. Each A-MPDU subframe 406 may also include a frame check sequence (FCS) field 424 for error detection. For example, the FCS field 424 may include a cyclic redundancy check (CRC).

[0086] The PHY header 403 includes a service field 430, as well as other fields not shown for simplicity. The service field 430 can store a scrambling initialization bit set, which can be used to seed a scrambler of a wireless communication device (not shown for simplicity). In some implementations, the service field 430 may include 16 bits (represented as bits 0-15), of which the first 7 bits (bits 0-6) may be used to store the scrambling initialization bit set, and the remaining 9 bits (bits 7-15) may be reserved. In some instances, bits 0-6 of the service field 430 transmitted first are set to 0 and are used to synchronize a descrambler in a receiver.

[0087] As described above, the AP 102 and the STA 104 may support multi-user (MU) communications; that is, concurrent transmissions from one device to each of multiple devices (e.g., multiple simultaneous downlink (DL) communications from the AP 102 to the corresponding STAs 104), or concurrent transmissions from multiple devices to a single device (e.g., multiple simultaneous uplink (UL) transmissions from the corresponding STAs 104 to the AP 102). To support MU transmissions, the AP 102 and the STA 104 may utilize multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) and multi-user orthogonal frequency division multiple access (MU-OFDMA) techniques.

[0088] In the MU-OFDMA scheme, the available spectrum of a wireless channel may be divided into multiple resource units (RUs), each of which includes several different frequency subcarriers ("tones"). Different RUs may be allocated or assigned to different STAs 104 by AP 102 at a specific time. The size and distribution of RUs may be referred to as RU allocation. In some implementations, RUs may be allocated in 2MHz intervals, and thus, the minimum RU may include 26 tones including 24 data tones and 2 pilot tones. Therefore, in a 20MHz channel, up to 9 RUs (such as 2MHz, 26 tones RU) may be allocated (because some tones are reserved for other purposes). Similarly, in a 160MHz channel, up to 74 RUs may be allocated. Larger RUs of 52 tones, 106 tones, 242 tones, 484 tones, and 996 tones may also be allocated. Adjacent RUs may be separated by a null subcarrier, such as a DC subcarrier, for example, to reduce interference between adjacent RUs, reduce receiver DC offset, and avoid transmit center frequency leakage.

[0089] For UL MU transmissions, the AP 102 may transmit a trigger frame to initiate and synchronize UL MU-OFDMA or UL MU-MIMO transmissions from multiple STAs 104 to the AP 102. Such a trigger frame may thereby enable multiple STAs 104 to send UL traffic concurrently in time to the AP 102. The trigger frame may address one or more STAs 104 by a corresponding association identifier (AID), and may assign one or more RUs to each AID (and thus each STA 104) that may be used to send UL traffic to the AP 102. The AP may also specify one or more random access (RA) RUs that unscheduled STAs 104 may contend for.

[0090] Figure 5AAn example tone map 500 for a 20 MHz bandwidth is shown. The 20 MHz bandwidth can be divided into different numbers of RUs based on the size of the RU. As shown, the tone map 500 includes four tone plans: a first tone plan 501 includes RUs spanning 26 tones, a second tone plan 502 includes RUs spanning 52 tones, a third tone plan 503 includes RUs spanning 106 tones, and a fourth tone plan 504 includes one RU spanning 242 tones. Specifically, the first tone plan 501 includes eight RUs, each spanning 26 tones; the second tone plan 502 includes four RUs, each spanning 52 tones; the third tone plan 503 includes two RUs, each spanning 106 tones; and the fourth tone plan 504 includes one RU spanning 242 tones (where the left half of the channel is used for single user (SU) operation). Each 26-frequency modulation RU may include 24 data subcarriers and 2 pilot subcarriers, each 52-frequency modulation RU may include 48 data subcarriers and 4 pilot subcarriers, each 106-frequency modulation RU may include 102 data subcarriers and 4 pilot subcarriers, and the 242-frequency modulation RU may include 234 data subcarriers and 8 pilot subcarriers.

[0091] Figure 5B An example tone map 510 for a 40 MHz bandwidth is shown. The 40 MHz bandwidth can be divided into different numbers of RUs based on the size of the RU. As shown, the tone map 510 includes five tone plans: a first tone plan 511 includes RUs across 26 tones, a second tone plan 512 includes RUs across 52 tones, a third tone plan 513 includes RUs across 106 tones, a fourth tone plan 514 includes RUs across 242 tones, and a fifth tone plan 515 includes a RU across 484 tones. Specifically, the first frequency modulation plan 511 includes eighteen RUs, each RU spanning 26 frequency modulations; the second frequency modulation plan 512 includes eight RUs, each RU spanning 52 frequency modulations; the third frequency modulation plan 513 includes four RUs, each RU spanning 106 frequency modulations; the fourth frequency modulation plan 514 includes two RUs, each RU spanning 242 frequency modulations; and the fifth frequency modulation plan 515 includes one RU, which spans 484 frequency modulations (where the left half of the channel is used for SU operation). Each 26 frequency modulation RU may include 24 data subcarriers and 2 pilot subcarriers, each 52 frequency modulation RU may include 48 data subcarriers and 4 pilot subcarriers, each 106 frequency modulation RU may include 102 data subcarriers and 4 pilot subcarriers, each 242 frequency modulation RU may include 234 data subcarriers and 8 pilot subcarriers, and 484 frequency modulation RU may include 468 data subcarriers and 16 pilot subcarriers.

[0092] Figure 5C An example tone map 520 for an 80 MHz bandwidth is shown. The 80 MHz bandwidth can be divided into different numbers of RUs based on the size of the RU. As shown, the tone map 520 includes six tone plans: a first tone plan 521 includes RUs across 26 tones, a second tone plan 522 includes RUs across 52 tones, a third tone plan 523 includes RUs across 106 tones, a fourth tone plan 524 includes RUs across 242 tones, a fifth tone plan 525 includes RUs across 484 tones, and a sixth tone plan 526 includes a RU across 996 tones. The first frequency plan 521 includes thirty-six RUs, each RU spanning 26 frequencies; the second frequency plan 522 includes eighteen RUs, each RU spanning 52 frequencies; the third frequency plan 523 includes eight RUs, each RU spanning 106 frequencies; the fourth frequency plan 524 includes four RUs, each RU spanning 242 frequencies; the fifth frequency plan 525 includes two RUs, each RU spanning 484 frequencies; and the sixth frequency plan 526 includes one RU, which spans 996 frequencies (where the left half of the channel is used for SU operation). Each 26-frequency modulation RU includes 24 data subcarriers and 2 pilot subcarriers, each 52-frequency modulation RU includes 48 data subcarriers and 4 pilot subcarriers, each 106-frequency modulation RU includes 102 data subcarriers and 4 pilot subcarriers, each 242-frequency modulation RU includes 234 data subcarriers and 8 pilot subcarriers, each 484-frequency modulation RU includes 468 data subcarriers and 16 pilot subcarriers, and the 996-frequency modulation RU includes 980 data subcarriers and 16 pilot subcarriers.

[0093] Each of the tone plans 521-526 is divided into a lower 40 MHz portion 501 and an upper 40 MHz portion 502. The lower 40 MHz portion 501 and the upper 40 MHz portion 502 of each of the tone plans 521-525 are separated by 23 DC tones, and the lower 40 MHz portion 501 and the upper 40 MHz portion 502 of the tone plan 526 are separated by 5 DC tones. Additionally, the lower 40 MHz portion 501 of each tone plan 521-525 is divided into first and second 20 MHz portions separated by 5 empty subcarriers, and the upper 40 MHz portion 502 of each tone plan 521-525 is divided into third and fourth 20 MHz portions separated by 5 empty subcarriers.

[0094] Figure 6 6 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device 600. In some implementations, the wireless communication device 600 may be a wireless communication device for a STA (such as the one described above with reference to FIG. Figure 1In some implementations, the wireless communication device 600 may be an example of a device in an AP (such as one of the STAs 104 described above). Figure 1 The wireless communication device 600 is an example of a device in the AP 102 described herein. The wireless communication device 600 is capable of transmitting (or outputting for transmission) and receiving wireless communications (e.g., in the form of wireless packets). For example, the wireless communication device may be configured to transmit and receive packets in the form of PPDUs and MPDUs that comply with the IEEE 802.11 standard (such as the standard defined by the IEEE 802.11-2016 specification or its revisions, including but not limited to 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be).

[0095] The wireless communication device 600 may be or may include a chip, system on chip (SoC), chipset, package, or device including one or more modems 602 (e.g., Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 compliant) modems). In some implementations, one or more modems 602 (collectively, "modems 602") additionally include a WWAN modem (e.g., a 3GPP 4G LTE or 5G compatible modem). In some implementations, the wireless communication device 600 also includes one or more radios 604 (collectively, "radios 604"). In some implementations, the wireless communication device 600 further includes one or more processors, processing blocks, or processing elements (collectively, "processors 606") and one or more memory blocks or elements 608 (collectively, "memory 608").

[0096] The modem 602 may include an intelligent hardware block or device (for example, such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)). The modem 602 is generally configured to implement the PHY layer. For example, the modem 602 is configured to modulate packets and output the modulated packets to the radio 604 for transmission on the wireless medium. Similarly, the modem 602 is configured to obtain modulated packets received by the radio 604 and demodulate the packets to provide demodulated packets. In addition to the modulator and demodulator, the modem 602 may further include a digital signal processing (DSP) circuit system, an automatic gain control (AGC), a decoder, a decoder, a multiplexer, and a demultiplexer. For example, when in the transmission mode, the data obtained from the processor 606 is provided to the decoder, which encodes the data to provide coded bits. The coded bits are mapped to points in the modulation constellation (using the selected MCS) to provide modulated symbols. The modulated symbols can be mapped to a number (N SS ) spatial streams or several (N STSThe modulated symbols in the corresponding spatial stream or space-time stream may be multiplexed, transformed via an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) block, and then provided to the DSP circuit system for Tx windowing and filtering. The digital signal may be provided to a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The resulting analog signal may be provided to an upconverter and ultimately to the radio 604. In an implementation involving beamforming, the modulated symbols in the corresponding spatial stream are precoded via a steering matrix before being provided to the IFFT block.

[0097] When in receive mode, a digital signal received from the radio 604 is provided to a DSP circuit system that is configured to acquire the received signal, for example, by detecting the presence of the signal and estimating the initial timing and frequency offset. The DSP circuit system is further configured to digitally condition the digital signal, for example, using channel (narrowband) filtering, analog impairment conditioning (such as correcting I / Q imbalance), and applying digital gain to ultimately obtain a narrowband signal. The output of the DSP circuit system may be fed to an AGC that is configured to use information extracted from the digital signal (e.g., in one or more received training fields) to determine an appropriate gain. The output of the DSP circuit system is also coupled to a demodulator that is configured to extract modulated symbols from the signal and, for example, calculate a log-likelihood ratio (LLR) for each bit position of each subcarrier in each spatial stream. The demodulator is coupled to a decoder that may be configured to process the LLRs to provide decoded bits. The decoded bits from all spatial streams are fed to a demultiplexer for demultiplexing. The demultiplexed bits may be descrambled and provided to the MAC layer (processor 606) for processing, evaluation, or interpretation.

[0098] The radio 604 generally includes at least one radio frequency (RF) transmitter (or "transmitter chain") and at least one RF receiver (or "receiver chain"), which can be combined into one or more transceivers. For example, the RF transmitter and receiver may include various DSP circuit systems, including at least one power amplifier (PA) and at least one low noise amplifier (LNA), respectively. The RF transmitter and receiver may in turn be coupled to one or more antennas. For example, in some implementations, the wireless communication device 600 may include or be coupled to multiple transmit antennas (each having a corresponding transmit chain) and multiple receive antennas (each having a corresponding receive chain). The codewords output from the modem 602 are provided to the radio 604, which transmits the codewords via the coupled antennas. Similarly, the codewords received via the antennas are obtained by the radio 604, which provides the codewords to the modem 602.

[0099] The processor 606 may include an intelligent hardware block or device designed to perform the functions described herein, such as, for example, a processing core, a processing block, a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD) (such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA)), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof. The processor 606 processes information received through the radio 604 and the modem 602, and processes information to be output by the modem 602 and the radio 604 for transmission over a wireless medium. For example, the processor 606 may implement a control plane and a MAC layer, which is configured to perform various operations related to the generation and transmission of MPDUs, frames, or packets. The MAC layer is configured to perform or facilitate the coding and decoding of frames, spatial multiplexing, space-time block coding (STBC), beamforming, and OFDMA resource allocation, and other operations or techniques. In some implementations, the processor 606 may generally control the modem 602 to cause the modem to perform the various operations described above.

[0100] The memory 608 may include a tangible storage medium, such as a random access memory (RAM) or a read-only memory (ROM) or a combination thereof. The memory 608 may also store non-transient processor or computer executable software (SW) code containing instructions that, when executed by the processor 606, cause the processor to perform various operations for wireless communication described herein, including generation, transmission, reception, and interpretation of MPDUs, frames, or packets. For example, the various functions of the various components disclosed herein or the various blocks or steps of the methods, operations, processes, or algorithms disclosed herein may be implemented as one or more modules of one or more computer programs.

[0101] Fig. 7A 702 is a block diagram of an example AP 702. For example, AP 702 may be a reference Figure 1 An example implementation of the AP 102 is described. The AP 702 includes a wireless communication device (WCD) 710. For example, the wireless communication device 710 may be a wireless communication device (WCD) 710. Figure 6An example implementation of the wireless communication device 600 described. The AP 702 also includes a plurality of antennas 720 coupled to the wireless communication device 710 to transmit and receive wireless communications. In some implementations, the AP 702 additionally includes an application processor 730 coupled to the wireless communication device 710, and a memory 740 coupled to the application processor 730. The AP 702 further includes at least one external network interface 750, which enables the AP 702 to communicate with a core network or a backhaul network to obtain access to an external network including the Internet. For example, the external network interface 750 may include one or both of a wired (e.g., Ethernet) network interface and a wireless network interface (such as a WWAN interface). Components of the aforementioned components may communicate directly or indirectly with other components of these components on at least one bus. The AP 702 further includes a housing that encloses the wireless communication device 710, the application processor 730, the memory 740, and encloses at least a portion of the antenna 720 and the external network interface 750.

[0102] Figure 7B 704. For example, STA 704 may be a reference Figure 1 104. STA 704 includes a wireless communication device 715. For example, the wireless communication device 715 may be a reference Figure 6 An example implementation of the wireless communication device 600 described. The STA 704 also includes one or more antennas 725 coupled to the wireless communication device 715 to transmit and receive wireless communications. The STA 704 additionally includes an application processor 735 coupled to the wireless communication device 715, and a memory 745 coupled to the application processor 735. In some implementations, the STA 704 further includes a user interface (UI) 755 (such as a touch screen or keyboard) and a display 765, which can be integrated with the UI 755 to form a touch screen display. In some implementations, the STA 704 may further include one or more sensors 775 (such as one or more inertial sensors, accelerometers, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, or altitude sensors, for example). Components of the aforementioned components can communicate directly or indirectly with other components of these components on at least one bus. The STA 704 further includes a housing that encloses the wireless communication device 715, the application processor 735, the memory 745, and at least portions of the antenna 725, the UI 755, and the display 765.

[0103] Figure 8 800 to support the transmission of PPDU duplication. In some implementations, the communication 800 can be performed between an AP 802 and one or more STAs 804 (for simplicity, the communication 800 can be performed between an AP 802 and one or more STAs 804). Figure 8Only one STA is shown in the figure). AP 802 may be Figure 1 AP 102 or Fig. 7A An example of an AP 702 and a STA 804 may be Figure 1 STA 104 or Figure 7B 8 is an example of a STA 704. In some other implementations, the communication 800 can be performed by any suitable wireless communication device.

[0104] In some implementations, the AP 802 may determine one or more UL transmission parameters and may indicate the one or more UL transmission parameters using any suitable frame, such as a control frame or a management frame, to the STA 804. The STA 804 receives the indication of the one or more UL transmission parameters and prepares a PPDU for transmission on the selected bandwidth.

[0105] For example, the STA 804 generates a plurality of PPDU copies based on duplication of the PPDU, such as to prepare each of the plurality of PPDU copies for transmission across the selected bandwidth. In some instances, each PPDU copy may be based on duplication of the entire PPDU except for any universal signal field (U-SIG). In some implementations, the number N of PPDU copies generated by duplicating the PPDU may be based at least in part on a power spectral density (PSD) limit for a combined frequency bandwidth applicable to a plurality of different frequency subbands, where N is an integer greater than one. Figure 8 In the example of , STA 804 generates N=4 PPDU copies, and each of the PPDU copies is formatted for a 20 MHz bandwidth.

[0106] STA 804 transmits each of the multiple PPDU copies on a corresponding frequency sub-band of the multiple different frequency sub-bands. As shown, each PPDU copy is transmitted on a 20 MHz frequency sub-band, and the resulting PPDU transmission spans an 80 MHz bandwidth. AP 802 receives the PPDU copies spanning the 80 MHz bandwidth.

[0107] As discussed, the number N of PPDU copies generated by the STA 804 may be based at least in part on a PSD limit applicable to a combined frequency bandwidth occupied by the number N of PPDU copies. In some instances, the combined frequency bandwidth may be N times greater than the selected bandwidth over which the corresponding PPDU copies are transmitted. Figure 8 In the example of , the applicable PSD limit is based on a combined frequency bandwidth of 80 MHz, rather than the 20 MHz bandwidth replicated for each PPDU, thereby increasing the maximum allowed transmit power of STA 804 by approximately four times.

[0108] Although not included in this article for simplicity Figure 8 , but the PPDU may include a physical layer preamble that includes a HE premodulation or EHT premodulation portion and a HE or EHT modulation portion. The PPDU may also include one or more data fields. In some implementations, the STA 804 may replicate the HE premodulation or EHT premodulation portion of the preamble, the HE or EHT modulation portion of the preamble, and the one or more data fields according to the same replication format. Figure 8 In the example of , the HE premodulation or EHT premodulation preamble portion, the HE or EHT modulation preamble portion, and the one or more data fields each span 20 MHz, and each is replicated N=4 times to span a larger frequency bandwidth of 80 MHz.

[0109] In some other implementations, the STA 804 may replicate the HE premodulation or EHT premodulation portion of the preamble according to a first replication format, and may replicate the HE or EHT modulation portion of the preamble and the one or more data fields according to a second replication format different from the first replication format. For example, in some instances, the HE premodulation or EHT premodulation preamble portion may span 20 MHz and may be replicated 4 times to span a larger frequency bandwidth of 80 MHz, and the HE or EHT modulation preamble portion and the one or more data fields may each span 40 MHz and may be replicated 2 times to span a larger frequency bandwidth of 80 MHz.

[0110] For another example, the selected bandwidth may be 20 MHz, duplicating the PPDU may generate eight PPDU copies, and the eight PPDU copies may be transmitted on different 20 MHz frequency sub-bands of a contiguous 160 MHz radio channel or a non-contiguous 80+80 MHz radio channel. For another example, the selected bandwidth may be 40 MHz, duplicating the PPDU may generate two PPDU copies, and the two PPDU copies may be transmitted on different 40 MHz frequency sub-bands of an 80 MHz radio channel. For another example, the selected bandwidth may be 40 MHz, duplicating the PPDU may generate four PPDU copies, and the four PPDU copies may be transmitted on different 40 MHz frequency sub-bands of a contiguous 160 MHz radio channel or a non-contiguous 80+80 MHz radio channel. For another example, the selected bandwidth may be 80 MHz, duplicating the PPDU may generate two PPDU copies, and the two PPDU copies may be transmitted on different 80 MHz frequency sub-bands of a contiguous 160 MHz radio channel or a non-contiguous 80+80 MHz radio channel. For another example, the selected bandwidth may be 80 MHz, duplicating the PPDU may generate four PPDU copies, and the four PPDU copies may be transmitted on different 80 MHz frequency sub-bands of a contiguous 320 MHz radio channel or a non-contiguous 160+160 MHz radio channel. Other configurations are possible.

[0111] In some implementations, the PPDU may be one of a high efficiency (HE) format, an extremely high throughput (EHT) format, or a single user (SU) extended range (ER) PPDU format. The U-SIG and the EHT-SIG may also be replicated in the time domain, for example, in a manner similar to the time domain replication of the HE-SIG-A of the HE ER SUPPDU. In some instances, the STA 804 may generate a PPDU replication by replicating the HE premodulation or EHT premodulation portion of the preamble in each of a plurality of 20 MHz frequency subbands and replicating the HE or EHT modulation portion of the preamble and one or more data portions in each of a plurality of 40 MHz frequency subbands, 80 MHz frequency subbands, or 160 MHz frequency subbands.

[0112] The HE premodulation or EHT premodulation portion of the preamble may include L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, RL-SIG, HE-SIG-A, and U-SIG (and may include HE-SIG-B in the HE premodulation portion, and EHT-SIG in the EHT premodulation portion). The HE or EHT modulation portion of the preamble may include several HE or EHT signal fields and several HE or EHT training fields (such as HE-STF, HE-LTF, EHT-STF, EHT-LTF, and one or more data fields). In some implementations, the signal field of each PPDU copy may be used to indicate the presence of a PPDU copy, indicate the frequency bandwidth of the PPDU copy, indicate the entire bandwidth across which multiple PPDU copies are transmitted, or any combination thereof. In some instances, the PPDU may be a HE PPDU, and the signal field may be one of a HE-SIG-A field or a HE-SIG-B field. In some other instances, the PPDU may be an EHT PPDU, and the signal field may be an EHT-SIG field or a U-SIG field.

[0113] Fig.9A 900 is a sequence diagram of an example communication 900 that supports the use of duplicate RUs to transmit PPDUs. In some implementations, the communication 900 can be performed between an AP 902 and one or more STAs 904 (for simplicity, the communication 900 can be performed between an AP 902 and one or more STAs 904). Fig.9A Only one STA is shown in the figure). AP 902 may be Figure 1 AP 102 or Fig. 7A An example of an AP 702, and a STA 904 may be Figure 1 STA104 or Figure 7B 900 is an example of a STA 704. In some other implementations, the communication 900 can be performed by any suitable wireless communication device.

[0114] In some implementations, the AP 902 may allocate groups of duplicate RUs for UL transmission to several different STAs. The AP 902 may transmit a trigger frame to solicit UL transmissions from several STAs identified by the trigger frame. In some aspects, the trigger frame may allocate a group of duplicate RUs to each of the STAs identified by the trigger frame.

[0115] The STA 904 may receive the trigger frame and may identify a set of duplicate RUs allocated by the trigger frame or select a set of duplicate RUs allocated by the trigger frame. The STA 904 may prepare a PPDU for transmission based on the duplicated RUs and may transmit the PPDU using the set of duplicated RUs allocated by the trigger frame. The AP 902 may receive the PPDU, which in some implementations may be transmitted as a UL TB PPDU.

[0116] The PSD limit applicable to communication 900 can be based on the frequency bandwidth spanned by the allocated set of replicated RUs, and the frequency bandwidth spanned can be at least twice the frequency bandwidth of the corresponding replicated RUs. In some aspects, each RU included in the allocated set of replicated RUs can include the same number of frequency tones. In some other instances, one or more RUs included in the allocated set of replicated RUs can include at least one non-contiguous frequency tone.

[0117] Fig. 9B An example resource unit (RU) replication 910 is shown. The RU replication 910 may include a first replicated resource unit (RU1), a second replicated resource unit (RU2), and a third replicated resource unit (RU3). The first replicated resource unit RU1 may be based on replicating a 26-tone RU (RU26) twice so that the resulting replicated resource unit RU1 spans three adjacent RU26, which may increase the frequency bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU by three times (compared to using a single RU26 to transmit the PPDU), and thus increase the allowable transmit power by three times. The second replicated resource unit RU2 may be based on replicating a 52-tone RU (RU52) once so that the resulting replicated resource unit RU2 spans two adjacent RU52, which may increase the frequency bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU by two times (compared to using a single RU52 to transmit the PPDU), and thus increase the allowable transmit power by two times. The third replicated resource unit RU3 can be based on replicating the 26-frequency modulation RU (RU26) twice so that the resulting replicated resource unit RU3 spans three non-adjacent RU26, which can increase the frequency bandwidth used to transmit the PPDU by three times (compared to using a single RU26 to transmit the PPDU) and thus increase the allowable transmission power by three times.

[0118] Fig. 10A 1 shows a sequence diagram of an example communication 1000 that supports transmitting a PPDU using tone mapping. In some implementations, the communication 1000 can be performed between an AP 1002 and one or more STAs 1004 (for simplicity, the Fig. 10A Only one STA is shown in the figure). AP 1002 may be Figure 1 AP 102 or Fig. 7A An example of an AP 702, and a STA 1004 may be Figure 1 STA 104 or Figure 7B 1000 is an example of a STA 704. In some other implementations, the communication 1000 can be performed by any suitable wireless communication device.

[0119] In some implementations, the AP 1002 may allocate RUs selected for UL transmission to each of the plurality of STAs. The AP 1002 may transmit a trigger frame to solicit UL transmissions from the STA identified by the trigger frame. In some aspects, the trigger frame may allocate RUs comprising a set of contiguous tones spanning a first frequency bandwidth for UL transmission to the STA 1004.

[0120] STA 1004 receives the trigger frame and identifies the frequency tone included in the allocated RU or selects the frequency tone included in the allocated RU. STA 1004 prepares a PPDU for transmission based on a first frequency bandwidth associated with the allocated RU and maps a contiguous frequency tone set of the allocated RU to a non-contiguous frequency tone set distributed across a second frequency bandwidth larger than the first frequency bandwidth. STA 1004 transmits the PPDU using the second frequency tone set spanning the second frequency bandwidth. AP1002 receives the PPDU, which in some implementations may be transmitted as a UL TB PPDU.

[0121] The PSD limit applicable to communication 1000 can be based on a second frequency bandwidth, and the second frequency bandwidth can be at least an order of magnitude larger than the first frequency bandwidth. In some implementations, the contiguous frequency tone set of the allocated RU includes 26 frequency tones across a 2 MHz frequency subband, includes 52 frequency tones across a 4 MHz frequency subband, includes 106 frequency tones across a 10 MHz frequency subband, or includes 242 frequency tones across a 20 MHz frequency subband, and each frequency tone in the non-contiguous frequency tone set is transmitted on a unique 1 MHz frequency subband. In some instances, the spacing between adjacent frequency tone pairs in the non-contiguous frequency tone set includes a number M of frequency tones that are not allocated to the wireless communication device, where M is an integer greater than one. The number M of unallocated frequency tones can be used for UL transmissions from one or more other STAs concurrent with the transmission of the UL TB PPDU from STA 1004.

[0122] In some implementations, the STA 1004 may transmit a first portion of the PPDU using a first group of 26 tones in a non-contiguous tone set, may transmit a second portion of the PPDU using the remaining 14 tones in the non-contiguous tone set, wherein the first and second portions of the PPDU are transmitted concurrently. In some instances, the STA 1004 may transmit one or more subsequent PPDUs using a non-contiguous tone set by repeatedly cycling through the tones in the non-contiguous tone set. In some other implementations, the STA 1004 may transmit a first portion of the PPDU using a first group of 26 tones in a non-contiguous tone set, may transmit a second portion of the PPDU using a second group of 26 tones in a non-contiguous tone set, may transmit a third portion of the PPDU using a third group of 26 tones in a non-contiguous tone set, and may transmit a fourth portion of the PPDU using the remaining 2 tones in the non-contiguous tone set, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth portions of the PPDU are transmitted concurrently and are cyclic copies of each other. In some examples, the STA 1004 may transmit one or more subsequent PPDUs using a non-contiguous set of tones by repeatedly cycling among the tones in the set of non-contiguous tones.

[0123] In some other implementations, the contiguous frequency tone set of the allocated RU may include 26 frequency tones across a 2 MHz frequency subband, and the non-contiguous frequency tone set may include 20 frequency tones across a 20 MHz frequency subband. In some instances, STA1004 may map the contiguous frequency tone set to the non-contiguous frequency tone set by determining an interval between adjacent frequency tones in the non-contiguous frequency tone set and distributing the frequency tones in the non-contiguous frequency tone set across the second frequency bandwidth based on the determined interval. STA 1004 may determine the interval by dividing the number of frequency tones in the non-contiguous frequency tone set by the number of frequency tones in the contiguous frequency tone set in the allocated RU, generating an integer quotient and a remainder based on the division, and selecting the integer quotient as the interval.

[0124] Fig. 10BAn example mapping 1010 of tones is shown. As shown, the tones allocated to the user (or STA) by the trigger frame may be mapped to a second set of tones distributed across the 80 MHz frequency band. In some instances, the tones included in the corresponding RU of the allocated RU (which may be referred to herein as "existing tones") may be contiguous tones associated with one of the RU26, RU52, RU106, RU242, RU484, or RU996 resource units of the tone plan adopted by the IEEE 802.11ax standard. In some other instances, when the corresponding RU is one of the RU26, RU52, RU106 resource units of the tone plan, the tones included in the corresponding RU may be distributed across a 20 MHz frequency segment. For example, during the resource allocation phase, each user (or STA) may be allocated a single RU or multiple RUs for UL transmission. When a user is allocated an RU or multiple RUs that is smaller than RU242 (which spans a 20 MHz frequency sub-band), the user may use contiguous tones of the allocated RUs to transmit UL data, or may extend contiguous tones of the allocated RUs across the 20 MHz frequency sub-band and use the extended tones to transmit UL data.

[0125] In some implementations, existing tones allocated to several users are mapped to corresponding sets of interleaved tones distributed across a wider frequency bandwidth (e.g., wider than 20 MHz). Fig. 10B As shown in the example of , existing tones are mapped one at a time from each allocated RU (or 20 MHz frequency segment) to corresponding tones in a second set of tones distributed across the 80 MHz frequency band. That is, the mapped tones occupy every Mth tone of the tone plan associated with the wider frequency bandwidth, where M=N+1, and N indicates the number of other non-contiguous tone sets. In this way, applicable PSD limits can be based on, for example, the wider frequency band spanned by the second set of mapped tones, rather than the frequency sub-bands spanned by the allocated RUs or 20 MHz frequency segments.

[0126] exist Fig. 10BIn the example of , the existing frequency tones in the first 20 MHz frequency sub-band are mapped to the first frequency tone, the fifth frequency tone, the ninth frequency tone, and so on in the frequency tone set distributed across the 80 MHz frequency band. The existing frequency tones in the second 20 MHz frequency sub-band are mapped to the second frequency tone, the sixth frequency tone, the tenth frequency tone, and so on in the frequency tone set distributed across the 80 MHz frequency band. The existing frequency tones in the third 20 MHz frequency sub-band are mapped to the third frequency tone, the seventh frequency tone, the eleventh frequency tone, and so on in the frequency tone set distributed across the 80 MHz frequency band. The existing frequency tones in the fourth 20 MHz frequency sub-band are mapped to the fourth frequency tone, the eighth frequency tone, the twelfth frequency tone, and so on in the frequency tone set distributed across the 80 MHz frequency band. In this way, the applicable PSD limit and total transmit power can be based on, for example, the 80 MHz frequency band, rather than on the 20 MHz frequency segment.

[0127] In some other implementations, the set of non-contiguous tones mapped from the allocated RU or 20 MHz frequency segment can be distributed across other frequency bands, such as, for example, the 20 MHz band, the 40 MHz band, the 160 MHz band, or the 320 MHz band. Also, implementations of the subject matter disclosed herein can be used with other sizes of allocated RUs, such as, for example, RU52, RU106, RU242, RU484, or RU996.

[0128] Fig. 10C An example mapping 1020 of tones is shown. As shown, the existing tones assigned to each user by the trigger frame can span the corresponding 20 MHz frequency sub-band and can be mapped to a second set of tones that spans the 80 MHz frequency band. In some implementations, the distributed tones mapped from the existing tones of each assigned RU (or each 20 MHz frequency segment) are interleaved with each other so that each distributed set of tones in the second set of distributed tones spans the entire 80 MHz frequency band. In this way, the applicable PSD limits and total transmit power can be based on, for example, the 80 MHz frequency band, rather than on the 20 MHz frequency segments.

[0129] exist Fig. 10CIn the example of , two tones are sequentially mapped from each allocated RU or frequency segment to a corresponding pair of tones in a second set of tones distributed across an 80 MHz frequency band. That is, the tones in the set of non-contiguous tones occupy every Mth and M+1th tone of the frequency tone plan associated with the second frequency bandwidth, where M=N+1, and N indicates the number of other non-contiguous sets of tones. In some other implementations, a group of more than two tones are sequentially mapped from each allocated RU or frequency segment to a corresponding group of more than two tones in a second set of tones distributed across an 80 MHz frequency band. In some other implementations, the set of non-contiguous tones mapped from the allocated RU or 20 MHz frequency segment may be distributed across other frequency bands, such as, for example, a 20 MHz band, a 40 MHz band, a 160 MHz band, or a 320 MHz band. Furthermore, implementations of the subject matter disclosed herein may be used with allocated RUs of other sizes, such as, for example, RU52, RU106, RU242, RU484, or RU996.

[0130] Fig.11 A flow chart illustrating example operations 1100 for wireless communication to support transmission of PPDU duplication is shown. In some implementations, operations 1100 may be performed by a STA such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, or Figure 8 The operations 1100 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as or within one of the STAs 804 of the STA. In some other implementations, the operations 1100 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as or within a network node.

[0131] At block 1102, the wireless communication device generates a plurality of PPDU copies configured for transmission over a selected bandwidth. At block 1104, the wireless communication device outputs each PPDU copy of the plurality of PPDU copies over a corresponding frequency subband of a plurality of different frequency subbands of a wireless channel. In some examples, each PPDU copy can be based on a copy of the entire PPDU excluding any universal signal field (U-SIG).

[0132] The PPDU may include a physical layer preamble, which includes an EHT premodulation portion and an EHT modulation portion. The PPDU may also include one or more data fields. In some implementations, generating multiple PPDU copies includes copying the EHT premodulation portion of the preamble, the EHT modulation portion of the preamble, and the one or more data fields according to the same replication format. In some other implementations, generating multiple PPDU copies includes copying the EHT premodulation portion of the preamble according to a first replication format, copying the EHT modulation portion of the preamble according to a second replication format, and copying the one or more data fields according to a second replication format, wherein the second replication format is different from the first replication format. In some instances, the first replication format can be associated with a first multiple of a frequency bandwidth, and the second replication format can be associated with a second multiple of the frequency bandwidth, wherein the second multiple is at least twice the first multiple.

[0133] In some implementations, the number N of generated PPDU copies may be based at least in part on a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to a combined frequency bandwidth of the plurality of different frequency sub-bands, where N is an integer greater than one. In some instances, the combined frequency bandwidth may be N times greater than a selected bandwidth over which the corresponding PPDU copies are transmitted. In some other implementations, the plurality of different frequency sub-bands may include one or more unlicensed channels in the 6 GHz spectrum, and the PSD limit applicable to the transmission may be based on a combined frequency bandwidth of the plurality of different frequency sub-bands.

[0134] Fig. 12A A flow chart illustrating example operations 1200 for wireless communication to support transmission of PPDU duplication is shown. In some implementations, the operations 1200 may be performed by a STA such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, or Figure 8 In some other implementations, operation 1200 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as a network node or operating within a network node. In some instances, operation 1200 is performed with reference to Fig.11 An example of generating multiple PPDU copies in block 1102 of described operations 1100. For example, at block 1202, the wireless communication device copies the EHT pre-modulated portion of the preamble, the EHT modulated portion of the preamble, and the one or more data fields according to the same replication format.

[0135] Fig. 12B A flow chart illustrating example operations 1210 for wireless communication supporting transmission of PPDU duplication is shown. In some implementations, operations 1210 may be performed by a STA such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, or Figure 8 In some other implementations, operation 1210 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as a network node or operating within a network node. In some instances, operation 1210 is performed with reference to Fig.11 An example of generating multiple PPDU copies in block 1102 of described operation 1100. For example, at block 1212, the wireless communication device copies the EHT pre-modulated portion of the preamble according to a first replication format. At block 1214, the wireless communication device copies the EHT modulated portion of the preamble according to a second replication format different from the first replication format. At block 1216, the wireless communication device copies the one or more data fields according to the second replication format. In some instances, the first replication format can be associated with a first multiple of a frequency bandwidth, and the second replication format can be associated with a second multiple of the frequency bandwidth, wherein the second multiple is at least twice the first multiple.

[0136] In this way, the EHT pre-modulation portion of the PPDU preamble may be replicated for transmission on a first frequency bandwidth, while the EHT modulation portion of the PPDU preamble and the one or more data fields of the PPDU may be replicated for transmission on a second frequency bandwidth that is larger than the first frequency bandwidth. For example, the EHT pre-modulation preamble portion may be replicated in 20 MHz blocks, while the EHT modulation preamble portion and the one or more data fields may be replicated in larger frequency blocks, such as 40 MHz blocks, 80 MHz blocks, or 160 MHz blocks.

[0137] Fig. 12C A flow chart illustrating example operations 1220 for wireless communication supporting transmission of PPDU duplication is shown. In some implementations, operations 1220 may be performed by a STA such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, or Figure 8 In some other implementations, operation 1220 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as a network node or operating within a network node. In some instances, operation 1220 is performed with reference to Fig.11An example of generating multiple PPDU copies in block 1102 of described operations 1100. For example, at block 1222, the wireless communication device copies the EHT pre-modulated portion of the preamble in each of a plurality of 20 MHz frequency sub-bands. At block 1224, the wireless communication device copies the EHT modulated portion of the preamble in each of a plurality of 40 MHz frequency sub-bands, 80 MHz frequency sub-bands, or 160 MHz frequency sub-bands. At block 1224, the wireless communication device copies the data portion of the PPDU in each of a plurality of 40 MHz frequency sub-bands, 80 MHz frequency sub-bands, or 160 MHz frequency sub-bands.

[0138] Fig.12D A flow chart illustrating example operations 1230 for wireless communication supporting transmission of PPDU duplication is shown. In some implementations, operations 1230 may be performed by a STA (such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, or Figure 8 In some other implementations, operation 1230 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as a network node or operating within a network node. In some instances, operation 1230 may be performed in conjunction with reference to Fig.11 The transmission of the plurality of PPDUs in block 1104 of the described operations 1100 may be performed by duplication. For example, at block 1232, the wireless communication device repeats the transmission of one or more data fields of the PPDU on each of the plurality of different frequency sub-bands.

[0139] Fig.13 A flow chart illustrating example operations 1300 for wireless communication supporting RU duplication is shown. In some implementations, the operations 1300 may be performed by a STA (such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, or Fig.9A The operation 1300 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as or within one of the STAs 904 of the STA. In some other implementations, the operation 1300 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as or within a network node.

[0140] At block 1302, the wireless communication device generates a physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) for transmission based at least in part on the allocated set of duplicate RUs. At block 1304, the wireless communication device outputs the PPDU using the allocated set of duplicate RUs.

[0141] In some implementations, a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to the transmission is based on a frequency bandwidth spanned by the allocated set of replicated RUs, and the frequency bandwidth spanned is at least twice the frequency bandwidth of the corresponding replicated RUs. The size of each RU in the allocated set of RUs may be based at least in part on the applicable PSD limit. In some instances, each RU included in the allocated set of replicated RUs may include the same number of frequency tones.

[0142] Fig.14 A flow diagram illustrating example operations 1400 for supporting wireless communications using tone mapping to transmit one or more PPDUs is shown. In some implementations, operations 1400 may be performed by a STA such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, or Fig. 10A In some other implementations, operation 1400 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as a network node or operating within a network node. In box 1402, the wireless communication device receives a trigger frame that allocates a resource unit (RU) for uplink (UL) transmission to the wireless communication device, the RU comprising a set of contiguous frequency tones spanning a first frequency bandwidth. In box 1404, the wireless communication device prepares a physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) for UL transmission based at least in part on the first frequency bandwidth. In box 1406, the wireless communication device maps the contiguous frequency tone set of the allocated RU to a set of non-contiguous frequency tones distributed across a second frequency bandwidth that is larger than the first frequency bandwidth. In box 1408, the wireless communication device transmits the PPDU using the second set of frequency tones.

[0143] In some implementations, the PPDU is a UL TB PPDU that spans a second frequency bandwidth. In some instances, the PSD limit applicable to the transmission is based on the second frequency bandwidth, and the second frequency bandwidth is at least an order of magnitude greater than the first frequency bandwidth.

[0144] In some implementations, each tone in the non-contiguous set of frequencies is interleaved with each tone in several other non-contiguous sets of frequencies, and the tones in each of the several other sets of frequencies are distributed across a second frequency bandwidth. In some instances, the tones in the non-contiguous set of frequencies occupy every Mth tone of the frequency tone plan associated with the second frequency bandwidth, where M=N+1, and N indicates the number of other non-contiguous sets of frequencies. In some other instances, the tones in the non-contiguous set of frequencies occupy every Mth and M+1th tone of the frequency tone plan associated with the second frequency bandwidth, where M=N+1, and N indicates the number of other non-contiguous sets of frequencies. Additionally, each of the several other sets of frequencies can be assigned to different wireless communication devices.

[0145] Fig.15A A flow chart illustrating example operations 1500 for supporting wireless communications using tone mapping to transmit one or more PPDUs is shown. In some implementations, operations 1500 may be performed by a STA such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, or Fig. 10A In some other implementations, operations 1500 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as or within a network node. In some instances, operations 1500 are performed with reference to Fig.14 An example of transmitting a PPDU in block 1408 of described operation 1400. For example, in block 1502, the wireless communication device transmits a first portion of the PPDU using a first group of 26 tones in the non-contiguous set of tones. In block 1504, the wireless communication device transmits a second portion of the PPDU using the remaining 14 tones in the non-contiguous set of tones, wherein the first and second portions of the PPDU are transmitted concurrently. In block 1506, the wireless communication device transmits one or more subsequent PPDUs using the non-contiguous set of tones by repeatedly cycling through the tones in the non-contiguous set of tones.

[0146] Fig. 15B A flow diagram illustrating example operations 1510 for supporting wireless communications using tone mapping to transmit one or more PPDUs is shown. In some implementations, operations 1510 may be performed by a STA such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, or Fig. 10AIn some other implementations, operation 1510 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as a network node or operating within a network node. In some instances, operation 1510 is performed with reference to Fig.14 An example of transmitting a PPDU in block 1408 of described operation 1400. For example, in block 1512, the wireless communication device transmits a first portion of the PPDU using a first group of 26 tones in the non-contiguous set of tones. In block 1514, the wireless communication device transmits a second portion of the PPDU using a second group of 26 tones in the non-contiguous set of tones. In block 1516, the wireless communication device transmits a third portion of the PPDU using a third group of 26 tones in the non-contiguous set of tones. In block 1518, the wireless communication device transmits a fourth portion of the PPDU using the remaining 2 tones in the non-contiguous set of tones, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth portions of the PPDU are transmitted concurrently. In block 1520, the wireless communication device transmits one or more subsequent PPDUs using the non-contiguous set of tones by repeatedly cycling through the tones in the non-contiguous set of tones.

[0147] Fig.16 A flow chart illustrating example operations 1600 for supporting wireless communications using tone mapping to transmit one or more PPDUs is shown. In some implementations, operations 1600 may be performed by a STA such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, or Fig. 10A In some other implementations, operation 1600 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as or within a network node. In some instances, operation 1600 is performed with reference to Fig.14 An example of the contiguous set of tones of the RUs assigned by the mapping in block 1406 of described operation 1400. For example, at block 1602, the wireless communication determines spacing between adjacent tones in the set of non-contiguous tones. At block 1604, the wireless communication device distributes the tones in the set of non-contiguous tones across a second frequency bandwidth based on the determined spacing.

[0148] In some implementations, the contiguous set of tones of the allocated RU includes 26 tones across a 2 MHz frequency subband, includes 52 tones across a 4 MHz frequency subband, includes 106 tones across a 10 MHz frequency subband, or includes 242 tones across a 20 MHz frequency subband. Each tone in the non-contiguous set of tones may be transmitted on a unique 1 MHz frequency subband. In some instances, the spacing between adjacent pairs of tones in the non-contiguous set of tones includes a number M of tones that are not allocated to a wireless communication device, where M is an integer greater than one.

[0149] Fig.17 A flow chart illustrating example operations 1700 for supporting wireless communications using tone mapping to transmit one or more PPDUs is shown. In some implementations, operations 1700 may be performed by a STA such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, or Fig. 10A In some other implementations, operations 1700 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as or within a network node. In some instances, operations 1700 are performed with reference to Fig.16 An example of determining an interval in block 1602 of described operation 1600. For example, in block 1702, the wireless communication device divides the number of tones in the non-contiguous set of tones by the number of tones in the contiguous set of tones. In block 1704, the wireless communication device generates an integer quotient and a remainder based on the division. In block 1706, the wireless communication device selects the integer quotient as the interval.

[0150] Fig.18 1800 is a sequence diagram of an example communication 1800 that supports transmitting one or more PPDUs using tone mapping. In some implementations, the communication 1800 can be performed between an AP 1802 and one or more STAs 1804 (for simplicity, the communication 1800 can be performed between an AP 1802 and one or more STAs 1804). Fig.18 Only one STA is shown in the figure). AP 1802 may be Figure 1 AP 102 or Fig. 7A An example of an AP 702, and a STA 1804 may be Figure 1 STA 104 or Figure 7B 18 is an example of a STA 704. In some other implementations, the communication 1800 can be performed by any suitable wireless communication device.

[0151] AP 1802 may allocate RUs selected for UL transmission to each of the plurality of STAs. In some implementations, AP 1802 may transmit a trigger frame to solicit UL transmissions from the STAs. The trigger frame may also allocate RUs for UL transmission to STA 1804. In some aspects, the RUs allocated by the trigger frame may include a set of contiguous tones across the RU bandwidth. For example, RU26 may include 26 frequency tones across 2 MHz frequency subbands (24 frequency tones available for UL transmission and 2 frequency tones available for use as pilots), RU52 may include 52 frequency tones across 4 MHz frequency subbands (48 frequency tones available for UL transmission and 4 frequency tones available for use as pilots), RU106 may include 106 frequency tones across 10 MHz frequency subbands (102 frequency tones available for UL transmission and 4 frequency tones available for use as pilots), and RU242 may include 242 frequency tones across 20 MHz frequency subbands (234 frequency tones available for UL transmission and 8 frequency tones available for use as pilots).

[0152] STA 1804 receives the trigger frame and identifies the tones included in the allocated RU. STA 1804 may extend the set of contiguous tones of the allocated RU across the first frequency bandwidth, for example, to increase the transmission bandwidth.

[0153] STA 1804 prepares a PPDU for transmission based on a first frequency bandwidth associated with the allocated RU, and maps the contiguous frequency tone set in the allocated RU to a non-contiguous frequency tone set distributed across a second frequency bandwidth based on a frequency tone mapping scheme. In some implementations, the second frequency bandwidth may be larger than the first frequency bandwidth, and the first frequency bandwidth may be larger than the RU bandwidth. In some instances, the first frequency bandwidth is 20 MHz, and the second frequency bandwidth is one of 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz. In some other instances, the second frequency bandwidth may be an order of magnitude (or more) larger than the RU bandwidth.

[0154] STA 1804 transmits the PPDU using a second set of tones spanning a second frequency bandwidth. In some implementations, STA 1804 may transmit a first portion of the PPDU using a first group of 26 tones in the non-contiguous set of tones and may transmit a second portion of the PPDU using the remaining 14 tones in the non-contiguous set of tones, wherein the first and second portions of the PPDU are transmitted concurrently. In some instances, STA 1804 may transmit one or more subsequent PPDUs using the non-contiguous set of tones by repeatedly cycling through the tones in the non-contiguous set of tones.

[0155] In some other implementations, STA 1804 may transmit a first portion of the PPDU using a first group of 26 tones in a non-contiguous tone set, may transmit a second portion of the PPDU using a second group of 26 tones in a non-contiguous tone set, may transmit a third portion of the PPDU using a third group of 26 tones in a non-contiguous tone set, and may transmit a fourth portion of the PPDU using the remaining 2 tones in the non-contiguous tone set, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth portions of the PPDU are transmitted concurrently and are cyclic copies of each other. In some instances, STA 1804 may transmit one or more subsequent PPDUs using the non-contiguous tone set by repeatedly cycling through the tones in the non-contiguous tone set.

[0156] The AP 1802 receives the PPDU. In some implementations, the PPDU may be an uplink (UL) triggered (TB) PPDU spanning the second frequency bandwidth.

[0157] The PSD limit applicable to communication 1800 can be based at least in part on the second frequency bandwidth. In some instances, the second frequency bandwidth can be at least an order of magnitude larger than the first frequency bandwidth. In some implementations, the contiguous frequency tone set of the allocated RU includes 26 frequency tones across 2MHz frequency subbands, 52 frequency tones across 4MHz frequency subbands, 106 frequency tones across 10MHz frequency subbands, or 242 frequency tones across 20MHz frequency subbands, and each frequency tone in the non-contiguous frequency tone set is transmitted on a unique 1MHz frequency subband. In some instances, the interval between adjacent frequency tone pairs in the non-contiguous frequency tone set includes a number M frequency tones that are not allocated to the wireless communication device, where M is an integer greater than one. The number M unallocated frequency tones can be used for UL transmissions from one or more other STAs concurrent with the transmission of the UL TB PPDU from STA 1804.

[0158] In some other implementations, the contiguous set of tones of the allocated RU may include 26 tones across a 2 MHz frequency subband, and the non-contiguous set of tones may include 20 tones across a 20 MHz frequency subband. In some instances, STA 1804 may map the contiguous set of tones to the non-contiguous set of tones by determining an interval between adjacent tones in the non-contiguous set of tones, and distributing the tones in the non-contiguous set of tones across a second frequency bandwidth based on the determined interval. STA 1804 may determine the interval by dividing the number of tones in the non-contiguous set of tones by the number of tones in the contiguous set of tones in the allocated RU, generating an integer quotient and a remainder based on the division, and selecting the integer quotient as the interval.

[0159] In some implementations, each tone in the non-contiguous tone set is interleaved with each tone in one or more other non-contiguous tone sets across the entire second frequency bandwidth. In some instances, each of the one or more other non-contiguous tone sets may be assigned to a different wireless communication device. In some other implementations, the tones in the non-contiguous tone set occupy every Mth tone index of the tone plan for the second frequency bandwidth, where M is an integer greater than one. In some other implementations, the tones in the contiguous tone set are mapped to corresponding distributed tones of the tone plan associated with the second frequency bandwidth in groups of N tones, where N is an integer greater than one.

[0160] Fig.19 An example mapping 1900 of tones is shown. As shown, the tones allocated to the user (or STA) by the trigger frame may be mapped to a second set of tones distributed across the 80 MHz frequency band. In some instances, the tones included in the corresponding RU of the allocated RU (which may be referred to herein as "existing tones") may be contiguous tones associated with one of the RU26, RU52, RU106, RU242, RU484, or RU996 resource units of the tone plan adopted by the IEEE 802.11ax standard. In some other instances, when the corresponding RU is one of the RU26, RU52, or RU106 resource units of the tone plan, the tones included in the corresponding RU may be distributed across a 20 MHz frequency segment. For example, during the resource allocation phase, each user (or STA) may be allocated a single RU or multiple RUs for UL transmission. When a user is allocated an RU or multiple RUs that is smaller than RU242 (which spans a 20 MHz frequency sub-band), the user may use contiguous tones of the allocated RUs to transmit UL data, or may extend contiguous tones of the allocated RUs across the 20 MHz frequency sub-band and use the extended tones to transmit UL data.

[0161] In some implementations, STA 1804 may determine the mapped tone index for each tone in the non-contiguous tone set based on multiplying the tone index of the corresponding tone in the contiguous tone set by a number M, where M is an integer greater than one. Fig.19 In the example of, for example, M=13 so that adjacent mapped frequency tone pairs in the second frequency bandwidth are separated by intervals of 13 frequencies. In some implementations, the set of non-contiguous frequencies mapped from the allocated RU or 20MHz frequency segment can be distributed across other frequency bands (such as, for example, 20MHz band, 40MHz band, 160MHz band, or 320MHz band). Furthermore, implementations of the subject matter disclosed herein can be used in conjunction with other sizes of allocated RUs (such as, for example, RU52, RU106, RU242, RU484, or RU996).

[0162] Fig. 20 A flow diagram illustrating example operations 2000 for supporting wireless communications using tone mapping to transmit one or more PPDUs is shown. In some implementations, operations 2000 may be performed by a STA such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, Figure 8 STA 804, or Fig.18 The operations 2000 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as or within one of the STAs 1804 of the STA. In some other implementations, the operations 2000 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as or within a network node.

[0163] In box 2002, the wireless communication device receives a trigger frame that allocates a resource unit (RU) for uplink (UL) transmission to the wireless communication device, the allocated RU including a set of contiguous frequency tones spanning the RU bandwidth. In box 2004, the wireless communication device spreads the frequency tones in the contiguous frequency tone set of the allocated RU across a first frequency bandwidth. In box 2006, the wireless communication device prepares a physical (PHY) layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) for UL transmission based at least in part on the first frequency bandwidth. In box 2008, the wireless communication device maps the contiguous frequency tone set in the allocated RU to a set of non-contiguous frequency tones distributed across a second frequency bandwidth based on a frequency tone mapping scheme. In box 2010, the wireless communication device transmits the PPDU using the mapped set of non-contiguous frequency tones distributed across the second frequency bandwidth.

[0164] In some implementations, the second frequency bandwidth may be larger than the first frequency bandwidth, and the first frequency bandwidth may be larger than the RU bandwidth. In some instances, the first frequency bandwidth is 20 MHz, and the second frequency bandwidth is one of 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz. In some other instances, the second frequency bandwidth may be an order of magnitude (or more) larger than the RU bandwidth. In some other instances, the second frequency bandwidth may be one or more subbands of the PPDU bandwidth.

[0165] The PPDU may be an uplink (UL) triggered (TB) PPDU spanning at least a second frequency bandwidth. In some implementations, a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to transmission of the PPDU may be based at least in part on the second frequency bandwidth. In some other implementations, a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to transmission of the PPDU is based on a PSD limit corresponding to the first frequency bandwidth multiplied by a number N, where N is equal to the second frequency bandwidth divided by the first frequency bandwidth.

[0166] In some implementations, the tones in the non-contiguous set of tones are interleaved with tones in one or more other non-contiguous sets of tones across the entire second frequency bandwidth. In some instances, each of the one or more other non-contiguous sets of tones is assigned to a different wireless communication device.

[0167] In some implementations, the contiguous set of tones of the allocated RU includes one of: 26 tones across a 2 MHz frequency subband, 52 tones across a 4 MHz frequency subband, 106 tones across a 10 MHz frequency subband, or 242 tones across a 20 MHz frequency subband. In some instances, the tones in the contiguous set of tones of the allocated RU are spread across the 20 MHz frequency band, regardless of the number of tones in the allocated RU.

[0168] In some implementations, the tones in the non-contiguous set of tones occupy every Mth tone index of the tone plan for the second frequency bandwidth, where M is an integer greater than one. In some other implementations, the tones in the contiguous set of tones are mapped to corresponding distributed tones of the tone plan associated with the second frequency bandwidth in groups of N tones, where N is an integer greater than one.

[0169] In some implementations, each of the first number of tones in the set of non-contiguous tones occupies a unique 1 MHz frequency subband. In some instances, each of the second number of tones in the set of non-contiguous tones shares a unique 1 MHz frequency subband occupied by a corresponding tone in the first number of tones.

[0170] Fig.21A A flow diagram illustrating example operations 2100 for supporting wireless communications using tone mapping to transmit one or more PPDUs is shown. In some implementations, operations 2100 may be performed by a STA such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, Figure 8 STA 804, or Fig.18 In some other implementations, operation 2100 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as or within a network node. In some instances, operation 2100 is performed with reference to Fig. 20 An example of mapping a contiguous set of tones of an allocated RU to a non-contiguous set of tones in block 2008 of operations 2000 is described.

[0171] For example, at block 2102, the wireless communication device determines a mapped tone index for each tone in the set of non-contiguous tones based on multiplying the tone index of the corresponding tone in the set of contiguous tones by a number M, where M is an integer greater than one. In some other implementations, the mapped tone index (IDX) for a group of M tones in the second frequency bandwidth is mapped_tone_k(经映射_频调_k),1 ) is IDX mapped_tone(经映射_频调) =mod(13*(k–1)+1,N tone(频调) ), where IDX local_tone(本地_频调) is the tone index of the corresponding tone in the contiguous tone set, M is an integer greater than one, and N tone is the number of tones in the second frequency bandwidth. In some examples, M=13.

[0172] Fig.21B A flow diagram illustrating example operations 2110 for supporting wireless communications using tone mapping to transmit one or more PPDUs is shown. In some implementations, operations 2110 may be performed by a STA such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, Figure 8 STA 804, or Fig.18 In some other implementations, operation 2110 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as a network node or operating within a network node. In some instances, operation 2110 is performed with reference to Fig. 20 An example of mapping the contiguous set of tones in the allocated RU to a non-contiguous set of tones in block 2008 of operations 2000 is described.

[0173] For example, in box 2112, the wireless communication device maps each of the number N1 of allocated RUs to a corresponding tone in a first set of N1 tones distributed across the entire second frequency bandwidth, where N1 is an integer greater than one. In box 2114, the wireless communication device maps each of the remaining number N2 of allocated RUs to a corresponding tone in a second set of N2 tones distributed across subbands of the second frequency bandwidth, where N2 is an integer greater than one.

[0174] In some implementations, a first set of N1 tones occupies a first tone and every Pth subsequent tone of a second frequency bandwidth, where P is an integer greater than one. Moreover, for N2-1 subsequent tones, a second set of N2 tones may occupy the Ith tone and every Pth subsequent tone of the second frequency bandwidth, where I is an integer greater than one. In some instances, P=13 and I is less than P. In some implementations, each tone in the second set of N2 tones and each tone in the first set of N1 tones located in a subband of the second frequency bandwidth are interleaved with each other. In some other implementations, each tone in the first set of N1 tones located outside the subband of the second frequency bandwidth occupies a unique 1 MHz frequency subband. In some instances, each tone in the second set of N2 tones shares a unique 1 MHz frequency subband with a corresponding tone in the first set of N1 tones located in a subband of the second frequency bandwidth.

[0175] Fig. 21C A flow diagram illustrating example operations 2120 for supporting wireless communications using tone mapping to transmit one or more PPDUs is shown. In some implementations, operations 2120 may be performed by a STA such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, Figure 8 STA 804, or Fig.18 In some other implementations, operation 2120 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as a network node or operating within a network node. In some instances, operation 2120 is performed with reference to Fig. 20 An example of mapping the contiguous set of tones in the allocated RU to a non-contiguous set of tones in block 2008 of operations 2000 is described.

[0176] For example, at block 2122, the wireless communication device maps each of the first 75 tones of the allocated RU 106 to a corresponding tone in a first set of 75 tones distributed across the entire second frequency bandwidth. At block 2124, the wireless communication device maps each of the remaining 31 tones of the allocated RU 106 to a corresponding tone in a second set of 31 tones distributed across a first portion of the second frequency bandwidth.

[0177] Fig.21D A flow diagram illustrating example operations 2130 for supporting wireless communications using tone mapping to transmit one or more PPDUs is shown. In some implementations, operations 2130 may be performed by a STA such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7BSTA 704, Figure 8 STA 804, or Fig.18 In some other implementations, operation 2130 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as a network node or operating within a network node. In some instances, operation 2130 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as a network node or operating within a network node. Fig. 20 An example of transmitting a PPDU in block 2010 of the operation of . For example, at block 2132, the wireless communication device transmits all tones in a first set of N1 tones and a second set of N2 tones at the same power level.

[0178] Fig.21E A flow diagram illustrating example operations 2140 for supporting wireless communications using tone mapping to transmit one or more PPDUs is shown. In some implementations, operations 2140 may be performed by a STA such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, Figure 8 STA 804, or Fig.18 In some other implementations, operation 2140 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as a network node or operating within a network node. In some instances, operation 2140 is performed with reference to Fig. 20 An example of transmitting a PPDU in block 2010 of operations 2000 is described.

[0179] For example, at block 2142, the wireless communication device transmits each tone in a first set of N1 tones outside of a sub-band of a second frequency bandwidth at a first power level. At block 2144, the wireless communication device transmits each tone in a second set of N2 tones and each tone in the first set of N1 tones in a sub-band of the second frequency bandwidth at a second power level different from the first power level.

[0180] Fig.21F A flow diagram illustrating example operations 2150 for supporting wireless communications using tone mapping to transmit one or more PPDUs is shown. In some implementations, operations 2150 may be performed by a STA such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, Figure 8 STA 804, or Fig.18In some other implementations, operation 2150 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as a network node or operating within a network node. In some instances, operation 2150 is performed with reference to Fig. 20 An example of transmitting a PPDU in block 2010 of operations 2000 is described.

[0181] For example, at block 2152, the wireless communication device transmits one or more subsequent PPDUs using the mapped set of non-contiguous tones by repeatedly cycling through the tones in the mapped set of non-contiguous tones across the second frequency band.

[0182] Fig. 22 A flow diagram illustrating example operations 2200 for supporting wireless communications using tone mapping to transmit one or more PPDUs is shown. In some implementations, operations 2200 may be performed by a STA such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, Figure 8 STA 804, or Fig.18 The operation 2200 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as or within one of the STAs 1804 of the STA. In some other implementations, the operation 2200 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as or within a network node.

[0183] In box 2202, the wireless communication device receives a trigger frame that allocates a resource unit (RU) for uplink (UL) transmission to the wireless communication device, and the allocated RU includes a set of contiguous frequency tones across the RU bandwidth. In box 2204, the wireless communication device extends the contiguous frequency tone set of the allocated RU across a first frequency bandwidth. In box 2206, the wireless communication device prepares a physical (PHY) layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) for UL transmission based at least in part on the first frequency bandwidth. In box 2208, the wireless communication device maps the contiguous frequency tone set in the allocated RU to one or more first non-contiguous frequency tone groups distributed across a second frequency bandwidth based on a frequency tone mapping scheme. In box 2210, the wireless communication device transmits the PPDU using one or more first non-contiguous mapped frequency tone groups distributed across the second frequency bandwidth. In some instances, each frequency tone group spans an 80MHz band.

[0184] In some implementations, the second frequency bandwidth also includes one or more second non-contiguous frequency tone groups that are distributed across the second frequency bandwidth and are allocated for unmapped frequency tones of the allocated RU. Each of the first and second non-contiguous frequency tone groups of the second frequency bandwidth may occupy or span any suitable frequency sub-band. For example, in an implementation where the first non-contiguous frequency tone group is 80 MHz wide and the second non-contiguous frequency tone group is also 80 MHz wide, a first number of 80 MHz portions or "chunks" of non-contiguous frequency tones in the second frequency bandwidth may be used for distributed transmissions, and a second number of 80 MHz portions or "chunks" of non-contiguous frequency tones in the second frequency bandwidth may be used for local transmissions. That is, while some 80 MHz portions of the second frequency bandwidth may be used for distributed transmissions that may increase applicable PSD limits, other portions of the second frequency bandwidth may be reserved for UL transmissions based on frequency resources associated with one or more RUs allocated by the trigger frame. In some instances, the second frequency bandwidth is larger than the first frequency bandwidth, and the first frequency bandwidth is larger than the RU bandwidth.

[0185] In some implementations, a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to the PPDU transmission is based at least in part on the second frequency bandwidth. In some other implementations, a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to the PPDU transmission is based on a PSD limit corresponding to the first frequency bandwidth multiplied by a number N, where N is equal to the second frequency bandwidth divided by the first frequency bandwidth.

[0186] Fig.23 A flow diagram illustrating example operations 2300 for supporting wireless communications using tone mapping to transmit one or more PPDUs is shown. In some implementations, operations 2300 may be performed by a STA such as Figure 1 STA104, Figure 7B STA 704, Figure 8 STA 804, or Fig.18 The operation 2300 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as or within one of the STAs 1804 of the STA. In some other implementations, the operation 2300 may be performed by an apparatus of a wireless communication device operating as or within a network node.

[0187] In box 2302, the wireless communication device receives a trigger frame that allocates a resource unit (RU) for uplink (UL) transmission to the wireless communication device, and the allocated RU includes a contiguous frequency tone set spanning the RU bandwidth. In box 2304, the wireless communication device extends the contiguous frequency tone set of the allocated RU across a first frequency bandwidth. In box 2306, the wireless communication device prepares a physical (PHY) layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) for UL transmission based at least in part on the first frequency bandwidth. In box 2308, the wireless communication device maps the contiguous frequency tone set extended across the first frequency bandwidth to one or more non-contiguous frequency tone sets based on a frequency tone mapping scheme, each of the one or more non-contiguous frequency tone sets being distributed across an 80 MHz frequency band. In box 2310, the wireless communication device maps each non-contiguous frequency tone set from a corresponding 80 MHz frequency band to one of a 160 MHz frequency band or a 320 MHz frequency band based on the frequency tone mapping scheme. At block 2312, the wireless communication device transmits the PPDU using a mapped set of non-contiguous tones distributed across a second frequency bandwidth.

[0188] Various implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0189] 1. A method for wireless communication by an apparatus of a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

[0190] generating a plurality of physical (PHY) layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) replicas configured for transmission over a selected bandwidth; and

[0191] Each PPDU copy of the plurality of PPDU copies is transmitted on a corresponding frequency sub-band of the plurality of different frequency sub-bands.

[0192] 2. The method of clause 1, wherein each PPDU copy is based on copying the entire PPDU excluding any Universal Signal Field (U-SIG).

[0193] 3. A method as in any one or more of clauses 1-2, wherein the plurality of different frequency sub-bands comprise one or more unlicensed channels in the 6 GHz spectrum, and a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to the transmission is based on a combined frequency bandwidth of the plurality of different frequency sub-bands.

[0194] 4. The method of clause 3, wherein the combined frequency bandwidth is N times greater than a selected bandwidth over which corresponding PPDU copies are transmitted.

[0195] 5. The method of any one or more of clauses 1-4, wherein the PPDU comprises an extremely high throughput (EHT) PPDU, the EHT PPDU comprising a physical layer preamble and one or more data fields, wherein generating the plurality of PPDU copies comprises:

[0196] The EHT pre-modulated portion of the preamble, the EHT modulated portion of the preamble, and the one or more data fields are replicated according to the same replication format.

[0197] 6. The method of any one or more of clauses 1-5, wherein the PPDU comprises an extremely high throughput (EHT) PPDU, the EHT PPDU comprising a physical layer preamble and one or more data fields, wherein generating the plurality of PPDU copies comprises:

[0198] replicating the EHT premodulated portion of the preamble according to a first replica format;

[0199] replicating the EHT modulated portion of the preamble according to a second replica format different from the first replica format; and

[0200] The one or more data fields are replicated according to a second replication format.

[0201] 7. The method of clause 6, wherein the first replication format is associated with a first multiple of a frequency bandwidth and the second replication format is associated with a second multiple of the frequency bandwidth, wherein the second multiple is at least twice the first multiple.

[0202] 8. The method of any one or more of clauses 1-7, further comprising:

[0203] Transmission of one or more data fields of the PPDU is repeated on each frequency sub-band of the plurality of different frequency sub-bands.

[0204] 9. The method of any one or more of clauses 1-8, wherein the PPDU comprises a physical layer preamble and comprises one of an Extremely High Throughput (EHT) format or a Single User (SU) Extended Range (ER) PPDU format, wherein generating the plurality of PPDU copies comprises:

[0205] duplicating the preamble in each of a plurality of 20 MHz frequency sub-bands; and

[0206] A data portion of the PPDU is replicated in each of a plurality of 40 MHz frequency sub-bands, 80 MHz frequency sub-bands, or 160 MHz frequency sub-bands.

[0207] 10. A method as in any one or more of clauses 1-9, wherein the corresponding PPDU copy includes a physical layer preamble, which includes a compressed mode field indicating a non-orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission and a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field in a user field, which MCS field indicates an MCS14 value.

[0208] 11. A wireless communication device, comprising:

[0209] A processing system, the processing system being configured to:

[0210] generating a plurality of physical (PHY) layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) replicas configured for transmission over a selected bandwidth; and

[0211] interface, which is configured as:

[0212] Each PPDU copy of the plurality of PPDU copies is output on a corresponding frequency sub-band of a plurality of different frequency sub-bands.

[0213] 12. The wireless communication device of clause 11, wherein each PPDU duplication is based on duplication of the entire PPDU excluding any universal signal field (U-SIG).

[0214] 13. A wireless communication device as in any one or more of clauses 11-12, wherein the plurality of different frequency sub-bands include one or more unlicensed channels in the 6 GHz spectrum, and a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to the transmission is based on a combined frequency bandwidth of the plurality of different frequency sub-bands.

[0215] 14. The wireless communication device of any one or more of clauses 11-13, wherein the PPDU comprises an extremely high throughput (EHT) PPDU, the EHT PPDU comprising a physical layer preamble and one or more data fields, wherein generating the plurality of PPDU copies comprises:

[0216] The EHT pre-modulated portion of the preamble, the EHT modulated portion of the preamble, and the one or more data fields are replicated according to the same replication format.

[0217] 15. The wireless communication device of any one or more of clauses 11-14, wherein the PPDU comprises an extremely high throughput (EHT) PPDU, the EHT PPDU comprising a physical layer preamble and one or more data fields, wherein generating the plurality of PPDU copies comprises:

[0218] replicating the EHT premodulated portion of the preamble according to a first replica format;

[0219] replicating the EHT modulated portion of the preamble according to a second replica format different from the first replica format; and

[0220] The one or more data fields are replicated according to a second replication format.

[0221] 16. The wireless communication device of clause 15, wherein the first replication format is associated with a first multiple of a frequency bandwidth and the second replication format is associated with a second multiple of the frequency bandwidth, wherein the second multiple is at least twice the first multiple.

[0222] 17. A method for wireless communication by an apparatus of a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

[0223] generating a physical (PHY) layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) for transmission on a set of replicated resource units (RUs) allocated to the wireless communication device; and

[0224] The PPDU is transmitted on the allocated set of duplicate RUs.

[0225] 18. The method of clause 17, wherein the PPDU comprises a single user (SU) PPDU.

[0226] 19. A method as in any one or more of clauses 17-18, wherein a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to the transmission is based on a frequency bandwidth spanned by the allocated set of replicated RUs.

[0227] 20. The method of clause 19, wherein the frequency bandwidth spanned is at least twice the frequency bandwidth of the corresponding replicated RU.

[0228] 21. The method of any one or more of clauses 17-20, wherein the size of the replicated RUs in the allocated set of replicated RUs is based at least in part on a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to a frequency bandwidth of the wireless channel.

[0229] 22. The method of any one or more of clauses 17-21, wherein the set of replicated RUs is based on replicating a number N of RUs, where N is an integer greater than one.

[0230] 23. The method of any one or more of clauses 17-22, wherein the PPDU is transmitted on each RU in the allocated set of RUs.

[0231] 24. A wireless communication device, comprising:

[0232] A processing system, the processing system being configured to:

[0233] generating a physical (PHY) layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) for transmission on a set of replicated resource units (RUs) allocated to the wireless communication device; and

[0234] interface, which is configured as:

[0235] The PPDU is output on an allocated set of duplicate RUs.

[0236] 25. The wireless communication device of clause 24, wherein the PPDU comprises a single user (SU) PPDU.

[0237] 26. The wireless communication device of clause 25, wherein a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to the transmission is based on a frequency bandwidth spanned by the allocated set of replicated RUs.

[0238] 27. The wireless communication device of clause 26, wherein the frequency bandwidth spanned is at least twice the frequency bandwidth of the corresponding replicated RU.

[0239] 28. A wireless communication device as recited in any one or more of clauses 24-27, wherein a size of a replicated RU in the allocated set of replicated RUs is based at least in part on a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to a frequency bandwidth of the wireless channel.

[0240] 29. The wireless communication device of any one or more of clauses 24-28, wherein the set of replicated RUs is based on replicating a number N of RUs, wherein N is an integer greater than one.

[0241] 30. The wireless communication device of any one or more of clauses 24-29, wherein the PPDU is transmitted on each RU in the allocated set of RUs.

[0242] 31. A method for wireless communication by an apparatus of a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

[0243] receiving a trigger frame that allocates a resource unit (RU) for uplink (UL) transmission to the wireless communication device, the RU comprising a set of contiguous tones spanning a first frequency bandwidth;

[0244] preparing a physical (PHY) layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) for UL transmission based at least in part on the first frequency bandwidth;

[0245] mapping the contiguous set of tones of the allocated RU to a non-contiguous set of tones distributed across a second frequency bandwidth that is larger than the first frequency bandwidth; and

[0246] The PPDU is transmitted using a second set of tones.

[0247] 32. The method of clause 31, wherein the PPDU comprises an uplink (UL) triggered (TB) PPDU spanning the second frequency bandwidth.

[0248] 33. The method of any one or more of clauses 31-32, wherein a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to the transmission is based on a second frequency bandwidth.

[0249] 34. The method of any one or more of clauses 31-33, wherein the second frequency bandwidth is at least an order of magnitude greater than the first frequency bandwidth.

[0250] 35. A method as in any one or more of clauses 31-34, wherein the contiguous frequency tone set of the allocated RU includes 26 frequency tones across a 2 MHz frequency subband, includes 52 frequency tones across a 4 MHz frequency subband, includes 106 frequency tones across a 10 MHz frequency subband, or includes 242 frequency tones across a 20 MHz frequency subband, and each frequency tone in the non-contiguous frequency tone set is transmitted on a unique 1 MHz frequency subband.

[0251] 36. The method of clause 35, wherein the spacing between adjacent pairs of tones in the set of non-contiguous tones includes a number M of tones that are not allocated to wireless communication devices, where M is an integer greater than one.

[0252] 37. The method of clause 36, wherein the number M of unallocated tones are configured for UL transmissions from one or more other wireless communication devices.

[0253] 38. The method of any one or more of clauses 35-37, wherein the set of non-contiguous tones comprises 40 tones spanning a 40 MHz frequency sub-band.

[0254] 39. The method of clause 38, wherein transmitting the PPDU comprises:

[0255] transmitting a first portion of the PPDU using a first group of 26 tones in the set of non-contiguous tones; and

[0256] A second portion of the PPDU is transmitted using the remaining 14 tones in the set of non-contiguous tones, wherein the first and second portions of the PPDU are transmitted concurrently.

[0257] 40. The method of clause 39, further comprising:

[0258] One or more subsequent PPDUs are transmitted using the non-contiguous set of tones by repeatedly cycling among the tones in the set of non-contiguous tones.

[0259] 41. The method of any one or more of clauses 35-40, wherein the set of non-contiguous tones comprises 80 tones spanning an 80 MHz frequency sub-band.

[0260] 42. The method of clause 41, wherein transmitting the PPDU comprises:

[0261] transmitting a first portion of the PPDU using a first group of 26 tones in the set of non-contiguous tones;

[0262] transmitting a second portion of the PPDU using a second group of 26 tones in the set of non-contiguous tones;

[0263] transmitting a third portion of the PPDU using a third group of 26 tones in the set of non-contiguous tones; and

[0264] The fourth portion of the PPDU is transmitted using the remaining 2 tones in the set of non-contiguous tones, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth portions of the PPDU are transmitted concurrently.

[0265] 43. The method of clause 42, further comprising:

[0266] One or more subsequent PPDUs are transmitted using the non-contiguous set of tones by repeatedly cycling among the tones in the set of non-contiguous tones.

[0267] 44. The method of any one or more of clauses 42-43, wherein the set of contiguous tones of the allocated RU comprises 26 tones across a 2 MHz frequency sub-band and the set of non-contiguous tones comprises 20 tones across a 20 MHz frequency sub-band.

[0268] 45. The method of clause 44, wherein mapping the set of contiguous tones to the set of non-contiguous tones comprises:

[0269] determining a spacing between adjacent tones in the set of non-contiguous tones; and

[0270] Based on the determined spacing, the tones in the set of non-contiguous tones are distributed across a second frequency bandwidth.

[0271] 46. ​​The method of clause 45, wherein determining the interval comprises:

[0272] dividing the number of tones in the non-contiguous set of tones by the number of tones in the contiguous set of tones;

[0273] generating an integer quotient and a remainder based on the division; and

[0274] The integer quotient is selected as the interval.

[0275] 47. The method of any one or more of clauses 44-45, wherein the tones in the set of non-contiguous tones are interleaved with tones in a plurality of other sets of non-contiguous tones.

[0276] 48. The method of clause 47, wherein the tones in each of the plurality of other sets of non-contiguous tones are distributed across the second frequency bandwidth.

[0277] 49. The method of clause 48, wherein each of the plurality of other sets of non-contiguous tones is assigned to a different wireless communication device.

[0278] 50. The method of clause 49, wherein the tones in the set of non-contiguous tones occupy every Mth tone of the tone plan associated with the second frequency bandwidth, where M=N+1 and N indicates the number of other non-contiguous tone sets.

[0279] 51. The method of clause 49, wherein the tones in the non-contiguous set of tones occupy every Mth and M+1th tone of the tone plan associated with the second frequency bandwidth, where M=N+1 and N indicates the number of other non-contiguous sets of tones.

[0280] 52. A wireless communication device, comprising:

[0281] at least one modem;

[0282] at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one modem; and

[0283] At least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor in conjunction with the at least one modem, is configured to perform the method of any of clauses 1-51.

[0284] 53. A mobile station comprising:

[0285] A wireless communication device as claimed in clause 52,

[0286] at least one transceiver coupled to the at least one modem;

[0287] at least one antenna coupled to the at least one transceiver to wirelessly transmit signals output from the at least one transceiver and to wirelessly receive signals to be input into the at least one transceiver; and

[0288] A housing encloses at least a portion of the at least one modem, the at least one processor, the at least one memory, the at least one transceiver, and the at least one antenna.

[0289] 54. A method for wireless communication by an apparatus of a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

[0290] receiving a trigger frame that allocates a resource unit (RU) for uplink (UL) transmission to the wireless communication device, the allocated RU comprising a set of contiguous tones spanning a bandwidth of the RU;

[0291] extending the contiguous tone set of the allocated RUs across a first frequency bandwidth;

[0292] preparing a physical (PHY) layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) for UL transmission based at least in part on the first frequency bandwidth;

[0293] mapping the set of contiguous tones in the allocated RU to a set of non-contiguous tones distributed across a second frequency bandwidth based on a tone mapping scheme; and

[0294] The PPDU is transmitted using a mapped set of non-contiguous tones distributed across a second frequency bandwidth.

[0295] 55. The method of clause 54, wherein the PPDU comprises an uplink (UL) triggered (TB) PPDU spanning the second frequency bandwidth.

[0296] 56. The method of any one or more of clauses 54-55, wherein the second frequency bandwidth is greater than the first frequency bandwidth, and the first frequency bandwidth is greater than the RU bandwidth.

[0297] 57. The method of any one or more of clauses 54-56, wherein a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to the PPDU transmission is based on a second frequency bandwidth.

[0298] 58. The method of any one or more of clauses 54-56, wherein a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to the PPDU transmission is based on a PSD limit corresponding to the first frequency bandwidth multiplied by a number N, wherein N is equal to the second frequency bandwidth divided by the first frequency bandwidth.

[0299] 59. The method of any one or more of clauses 54-58, wherein the tone mapping scheme comprises an arithmetic operation.

[0300] 60. The method of any one or more of clauses 54-59, wherein the mapping comprises:

[0301] A mapped tone index for each tone in the non-contiguous set of tones is determined based on multiplying the tone index of the corresponding tone in the contiguous set of tones by a number M, where M is an integer greater than one.

[0302] 61. The method of clause 60, wherein the mapped tone index (IDX mapped_tone ) is IDX mapped_tone=mod((IDX local_tone –1)*M+1,N tone ), where IDX local_tone is the tone index of the corresponding tone in the contiguous tone set, M is an integer greater than one, and N tone is the number of tones in the second frequency bandwidth.

[0303] 62. The method of any one or more of clauses 60-61, wherein spacing between adjacent pairs of tones in the set of non-contiguous tones comprises M tones allocated for UL transmissions from one or more other wireless communication devices.

[0304] 63. The method of any one or more of clauses 60-62, wherein M=13.

[0305] 64. The method of any one or more of clauses 54-63, wherein the tones in the set of non-contiguous tones are interleaved with tones in one or more other sets of non-contiguous tones across the entire second frequency bandwidth.

[0306] 65. The method of clause 64, wherein each of the one or more other sets of non-contiguous tones is assigned to a different wireless communication device.

[0307] 66. A method as in any one or more of clauses 54-65, wherein the set of contiguous frequency tones of the allocated RU comprises one of: 26 frequency tones across a 2 MHz frequency subband, 52 frequency tones across a 4 MHz frequency subband, 106 frequency tones across a 10 MHz frequency subband, or 242 frequency tones across a 20 MHz frequency subband.

[0308] 67. The method of clause 66, wherein the tones in the set of contiguous tones of the allocated RU are spread across a 20 MHz band regardless of the number of tones in the allocated RU.

[0309] 68. The method of any one or more of clauses 54-67, wherein the tones in the set of non-contiguous tones occupy every Mth tone index of the tone plan for the second frequency bandwidth, wherein M is an integer greater than one.

[0310] 69. The method of clause 68, wherein the tones in the set of contiguous tones are mapped in groups of N tones to corresponding distributed tones of the tone plan associated with the second frequency bandwidth, where N is an integer greater than one.

[0311] 70. The method of any one or more of clauses 54-69, wherein the mapping comprises:

[0312] A group of mapped tone indices for each group of tones in the second frequency bandwidth is determined based on multiplying the tone index of the corresponding group of tones in the first frequency bandwidth.

[0313] 71. The method of clause 70, wherein the mapped tone index (IDX mapped_tone_k,1 ) is IDX mapped_tone =mod(13*(k–1)+1,N tone ), where IDX local_tone is the tone index of the corresponding tone in the contiguous tone set, M is an integer greater than one, and N tone is the number of tones in the second frequency bandwidth.

[0314] 72. The method of any one or more of clauses 54-71, wherein each of the first number of tones in the set of non-contiguous tones occupies a unique 1 MHz frequency sub-band.

[0315] 73. The method of clause 72, wherein each tone of the second number of tones in the set of non-contiguous tones shares a unique 1 MHz frequency sub-band occupied by a corresponding tone of the first number of tones.

[0316] 74. The method of any one or more of clauses 54-71, wherein the mapping comprises:

[0317] mapping each tone of the allocated number N1 of RUs to a corresponding tone of a first set of N1 tones distributed across the entire second frequency bandwidth, where N1 is an integer greater than one; and

[0318] Each of the remaining number N2 tones of the allocated RU is mapped to a corresponding tone in a second set of N2 tones distributed across sub-bands of a second frequency bandwidth, where N2 is an integer greater than one.

[0319] 75. The method of clause 74, wherein the first set of N1 tones occupies a first tone and every Pth subsequent tone of the second frequency bandwidth, where P is an integer greater than one.

[0320] 76. The method of clause 75, wherein, for thirty subsequent frequency tones, the second set of N2 frequency tones occupies the Ith frequency tone and every Pth subsequent frequency tone of the second frequency bandwidth, where I is an integer greater than one.

[0321] 77. The method of any one or more of clauses 75-76, wherein P=13 and I is less than P.

[0322] 78. The method of clause 77, wherein the tones in the second set of N2 tones and the tones in the first set of N1 tones are interleaved with each other in a sub-band of the second frequency bandwidth.

[0323] 79. The method of clause 78, wherein each tone in the first set of N1 tones that is outside a sub-band of the second frequency bandwidth occupies a unique 1 MHz frequency sub-band.

[0324] 80. The method of clause 79, wherein each tone of the second set of N2 tones shares a unique 1 MHz frequency sub-band with a corresponding tone of the first set of N1 tones located in a sub-band of the second frequency bandwidth.

[0325] 81. The method of any one or more of clauses 74-80, wherein transmitting the PPDU comprises:

[0326] transmitting each tone in a first set of N1 tones outside of a sub-band of a second frequency bandwidth at a first power level; and

[0327] Each tone in the second set of N2 tones and each tone in the first set of N1 tones located in a subband of the second frequency bandwidth are transmitted at a second power level different from the first power level.

[0328] 82. The method of clause 81, wherein the second power level is less than the first power level.

[0329] 83. The method of any one or more of clauses 74-82, wherein transmitting the PPDU comprises:

[0330] All tones in the first set of N1 tones and the second set of N2 tones are transmitted at the same power level.

[0331] 84. The method of clause 83, wherein the same power level is based on a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to pairs of tones from the first and second sets of corresponding tones transmitted using a 1 MHz frequency sub-band.

[0332] 85. The method of clause 84, wherein the allocated RU includes 106 tones, the second frequency bandwidth is 80 MHz, and the second frequency bandwidth includes 968 tones for carrying UL data.

[0333] 86. The method of clause 85, wherein the mapping comprises:

[0334] Each of the first 75 tones of the allocated RU is mapped to a corresponding tone in a first set of 75 tones distributed across the entire second frequency bandwidth; and

[0335] Each of the remaining 31 tones of the allocated RU is mapped to a corresponding tone in a second set of 31 tones distributed across a first portion of a second frequency bandwidth.

[0336] 87. The method of clause 86, wherein the first set of 75 tones occupies the first tone and every 13th subsequent tone of the second frequency bandwidth.

[0337] 88. The method of any one or more of clauses 86-87, wherein for thirty subsequent tones, the second set of thirty-one tones occupies the eighth tone and every 13th subsequent tone of the second frequency bandwidth.

[0338] 89. The method of any one or more of clauses 54-88, further comprising:

[0339] One or more subsequent PPDUs are transmitted using the mapped set of non-contiguous tones by repeatedly cycling through the tones in the mapped set of non-contiguous tones across the second frequency band.

[0340] 90. A wireless communication device comprising:

[0341] at least one modem;

[0342] at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one modem; and

[0343] At least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor in conjunction with the at least one modem, is configured to perform the method of any of clauses 54-89.

[0344] 91. A non-transitory computer readable memory comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a base station, cause the base station to perform the operations of any one or more of clauses 54-89.

[0345] 92. A wireless communication device comprising means for performing the operations of any one or more of clauses 54-89.

[0346] 93. A method for wireless communication by an apparatus of a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

[0347] receiving a trigger frame that allocates a resource unit (RU) for uplink (UL) transmission to the wireless communication device, the allocated RU comprising a set of contiguous tones spanning a bandwidth of the RU;

[0348] extending the contiguous tone set of the allocated RUs across a first frequency bandwidth;

[0349] preparing a physical (PHY) layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) for UL transmission based at least in part on the first frequency bandwidth;

[0350] mapping the set of contiguous tones in the allocated RU to one or more first non-contiguous groups of tones distributed across a second frequency bandwidth based on a tone mapping scheme; and

[0351] The PPDU is transmitted using one or more first non-contiguous mapped tone groups distributed across a second frequency bandwidth.

[0352] 94. The method of clause 93, wherein the second frequency bandwidth comprises one or more second non-contiguous tone groups distributed across the second frequency bandwidth and allocated for unmapped tones of the allocated RU.

[0353] 95. The method of any one or more of clauses 93-94, wherein each tone group spans an 80 MHz frequency band.

[0354] 96. The method of any one or more of clauses 93-95, wherein the PPDU comprises an uplink (UL) triggered (TB) PPDU spanning a second frequency bandwidth, wherein the second frequency bandwidth is larger than the first frequency bandwidth.

[0355] 97. The method of any one or more of clauses 93-96, wherein the second frequency bandwidth is greater than the first frequency bandwidth, and the first frequency bandwidth is greater than the RU bandwidth.

[0356] 98. The method of any one or more of clauses 93-97, wherein a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to the PPDU transmission is based on a second frequency bandwidth.

[0357] 99. A method as in any one or more of clauses 93-97, wherein a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to the PPDU transmission is based on a PSD limit corresponding to the first frequency bandwidth multiplied by a number N, where N is equal to the second frequency bandwidth divided by the first frequency bandwidth.

[0358] 100. A wireless communication device, comprising:

[0359] at least one modem;

[0360] at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one modem; and

[0361] At least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor in combination with the at least one modem, is configured to perform the method of any of clauses 93-99.

[0362] 101. A non-transitory computer-readable memory comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a base station, cause the base station to perform operations as any one or more of clauses 93-99.

[0363] 102. A wireless communication device comprising means for performing the operations of any one or more of clauses 93-99.

[0364] 103. A method for wireless communication by an apparatus of a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

[0365] receiving a trigger frame that allocates a resource unit (RU) for uplink (UL) transmission to the wireless communication device, the allocated RU comprising a set of contiguous tones spanning a bandwidth of the RU;

[0366] extending the contiguous tone set of the allocated RUs across a first frequency bandwidth;

[0367] preparing a physical (PHY) layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) for UL transmission based at least in part on the first frequency bandwidth;

[0368] mapping a set of contiguous tones extending across a first frequency bandwidth to one or more sets of non-contiguous tones based on a tone mapping scheme, each of the one or more sets of non-contiguous tones being distributed across an 80 MHz frequency band such that adjacent pairs of tones are separated by 13 unallocated tones;

[0369] mapping each non-contiguous set of tones from a corresponding 80 MHz frequency band to one of a 160 MHz frequency band or a 320 MHz frequency band based on the tone mapping scheme; and

[0370] The PPDU is transmitted using mapped tones in one of the 160 MHz band or the 320 MHz band.

[0371] 104. The method of clause 103, wherein the PPDU comprises an uplink (UL) triggered (TB) PPDU spanning the second frequency bandwidth.

[0372] 105. The method of clause 103 or clause 104, wherein adjacent ones of the mapped tones in one of the 160 MHz band or the 320 MHz band are separated by 2 or 4 unallocated tones.

[0373] 106. A wireless communication device comprising:

[0374] at least one modem;

[0375] at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one modem; and

[0376] At least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor in conjunction with the at least one modem, is configured to perform the method of any of clauses 103-105.

[0377] 107. A non-transitory computer-readable memory comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a base station, cause the base station to perform the operations of any one or more of clauses 103-105.

[0378] 108. A wireless communication device comprising means for performing the operations of any one or more of clauses 103-105.

[0379] As used herein, a phrase referring to "at least one of" or "one or more of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. For example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to cover the following possibilities: only a, only b, only c, a combination of a and b, a combination of a and c, a combination of b and c, and a combination of a, b, and c.

[0380] The various illustrative components, logic, logic blocks, modules, circuits, operations, and algorithmic processes described in conjunction with the implementations disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, firmware, software, or a combination of hardware, firmware, or software, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents. This interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software has been generally described in terms of their functionality and illustrated in the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and operations described above. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware, firmware, or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0381] Various modifications to the implementations described in this disclosure may be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the universal principles defined herein may be applied to other implementations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the implementations shown herein, but should be granted the widest scope consistent with the disclosure, the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

[0382] In addition, various features described in this specification in the context of separate implementations may also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single implementation may also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination. Thus, while features may be described above as functioning in a particular combination and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination may in some cases be removed from the combination, and a claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination, or a variation of a subcombination.

[0383] Similarly, although operations are depicted in a particular order in the accompanying drawings, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order shown or in a sequential order, or to perform all the operations described in order to achieve the desired result. In addition, the accompanying drawings may schematically depict one or more example operations in the form of a flow chart or a flow diagram. However, other operations not depicted may be incorporated into the example operations schematically illustrated. For example, one or more additional operations may be performed before, after, simultaneously or between any of the illustrated operations. In some environments, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. In addition, the separation of various system components in the implementation described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication by an apparatus of a wireless communication device, comprising: generating a physical PHY layer convergence protocol PLCP protocol data unit PPDU, wherein the PPDU is a very high throughput EHT PPDU, the EHT PPDU comprising: a pre-EHT part including a universal signal U-SIG field and an EHT part including a data field, wherein the U-SIG field is replicated in a first frequency bandwidth according to a first replication format corresponding to replication of the data field, wherein the data field is replicated according to a second replication format corresponding to a second frequency bandwidth, and wherein the second frequency bandwidth is greater than the first frequency bandwidth by an integer multiple of 1; and The PPDU is transmitted via a group of resource units RU, each RU in the group of RUs includes a copy of the data field of the PPDU.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the PPDU comprises a single-user SU PPDU.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to transmission of the PPDU is associated with a total frequency bandwidth spanned by the set of RUs.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the total frequency bandwidth is at least twice the corresponding frequency bandwidth of the corresponding RU.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the size of a corresponding RU in the set of RUs is associated with a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to a frequency bandwidth of a wireless channel. 6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of RUs is obtained by replicating the RU a number N times, where N is an integer greater than 1.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the data field of the PPDU is replicated in frequency and the PPDU is transmitted on each RU of the group of RUs.

8. A wireless communication device, comprising: A processing system, the processing system being configured to: generating a physical PHY layer convergence protocol PLCP protocol data unit PPDU, wherein the PPDU is a very high throughput EHT PPDU, the EHT PPDU comprising: a pre-EHT part including a universal signal U-SIG field and an EHT part including a data field, wherein the U-SIG field is replicated in a first frequency bandwidth according to a first replication format corresponding to replication of the data field, wherein the data field is replicated according to a second replication format corresponding to a second frequency bandwidth, and wherein the second frequency bandwidth is greater than the first frequency bandwidth by an integer multiple of 1; and interface, the interface being configured to: The PPDU is transmitted via a group of resource units RU, each RU in the group of RUs includes a copy of the data field of the PPDU.

9. The wireless communication device of claim 8, wherein the PPDU comprises a single-user SU PPDU.

10. The wireless communication device of claim 9, wherein a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to transmission of the PPDU is associated with a total frequency bandwidth spanned by the set of RUs.

11. The wireless communication device of claim 10, wherein the total frequency bandwidth is at least twice the corresponding frequency bandwidth of the corresponding RU.

12. The wireless communication device of claim 8, wherein a size of a corresponding RU in the set of RUs is associated with a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to a frequency bandwidth of a wireless channel.

13. The wireless communication device of claim 8, wherein the set of RUs is obtained by replicating the RU a number N times, N being an integer greater than 1.

14. The wireless communication device of claim 8, wherein the data field of the PPDU is replicated in frequency and the PPDU is transmitted on each RU of the group of RUs.

15. A wireless communication device, comprising: An apparatus for generating a physical PHY layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU), wherein the PPDU is a very high throughput (EHT) PPDU, the EHT PPDU comprising: a pre-EHT portion comprising a universal signal (U-SIG) field and an EHT portion comprising a data field, wherein the U-SIG field is replicated in a first frequency bandwidth according to a first replication format corresponding to replication of the data field, wherein the data field is replicated according to a second replication format corresponding to a second frequency bandwidth, and wherein the second frequency bandwidth is greater than the first frequency bandwidth by an integer multiple of 1; and Means for transmitting the PPDU via a group of resource units RU, each RU in the group of RUs comprising a copy of the data field of the PPDU.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the PPDU comprises a single-user SU PPDU.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to transmission of the PPDU is associated with a total frequency bandwidth spanned by the set of RUs.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the total frequency bandwidth is at least twice the corresponding frequency bandwidth of the corresponding RU.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein a size of a corresponding RU in the set of RUs is associated with a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to a frequency bandwidth of a wireless channel.

20. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the set of RUs is obtained by replicating the RU a number N times, N being an integer greater than 1.

21. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the data field of the PPDU is replicated in frequency and the PPDU is transmitted on each RU of the group of RUs.

22. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a wireless communication device, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to: Generate a physical PHY layer convergence protocol PLCP protocol data unit PPDU, wherein the PPDU is an extremely high throughput EHT PPDU, and the EHT PPDU includes: a pre-EHT portion including a universal signal U-SIG field and an EHT portion including a data field, wherein the U-SIG field is replicated in a first frequency bandwidth according to a first replication format corresponding to replication of the data field, wherein the data field is replicated according to a second replication format corresponding to a second frequency bandwidth, and wherein the second frequency bandwidth is greater than the first frequency bandwidth by an integer multiple of 1; as well as The PPDU is transmitted via a group of resource units RU, each RU in the group of RUs includes a copy of the data field of the PPDU.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the PPDU comprises a single-user SU PPDU.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to transmission of the PPDU is associated with a total frequency bandwidth spanned by the set of RUs.

25. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the total frequency bandwidth is at least twice the corresponding frequency bandwidth of the corresponding RU.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein a size of a corresponding RU in the set of RUs is associated with a power spectral density (PSD) limit applicable to a frequency bandwidth of a wireless channel.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the set of RUs is obtained by replicating the RU a number N times, N being an integer greater than 1.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the data field of the PPDU is replicated in frequency and the PPDU is transmitted on each RU of the set of RUs.

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