Ranging null data packets for wide bandwidth networks

Abstract

The present disclosure provides methods, components, devices, and systems for a ranging measurement procedure between two wireless devices communicating in a wide bandwidth network. More specifically, some aspects relate to null data packet (NDP) transmission over 320 MHz (MHz) bandwidth. In some examples, a first wireless device and a second wireless device may participate in a ranging measurement procedure and may exchange one or more NDPs to facilitate distance measurements, in some embodiments, a first wireless device and a second wireless device may be associated with a first wireless device, and one or both of the first wireless device and the second wireless device may indicate, via one or more bits of a preamble of an associated protocol data unit (PDU), that the PDU is a 320 MHz ranging NDP (e.g., a ranging-deformed NDP associated with a 320 MHz bandwidth). The one or more bits may be included in a generic signal (U-SIG) field of a preamble of the PDU.

Description

[0001] Cross-references

[0002] This patent application claims priority to U.S. patent application No. 18 / 054,531, filed by Shellhammer et al. on November 10, 2022, entitled “RANGING NULL DATA PACKETS FOR WIDE BAND WIDTH NETWORKS,” which is assigned to the assignee of this application. Technical Field

[0003] The following relates to wireless communications, including ranging Null Data Packets (NDPs) for wide bandwidth networks. Background Art

[0004] A wireless local area network (WLAN) can be formed by one or more wireless access points (APs) that provide a shared wireless communication medium for use by multiple client devices, also known as wireless stations (STAs). The basic building block of a WLAN that complies with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 series of standards is the basic service set (BSS), which is managed by the AP. Each BSS is identified by a basic service set identifier (BSSID) announced by the AP. The AP periodically broadcasts beacon frames so that any STA within the wireless range of the AP can establish or maintain a communication link with the WLAN.

[0005] In some WLANs, two or more wireless devices may exchange signaling to measure a distance between the two or more pairs of wireless devices. Summary of the invention

[0006] 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.

[0007] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a first wireless communication device. The first wireless communication device can include a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions can be executable by the processor to cause the first wireless communication device to perform the following operations: send a first physical layer protocol data unit (PDU), wherein the first physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 megahertz (MHz), and wherein a preamble of the first physical layer PDU includes a first bit set indicating that the first physical layer PDU is a first ranging null data packet (NDP); and receive a second physical layer PDU, wherein the second physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein the preamble of the second physical layer PDU includes a second bit set indicating that the second physical layer PDU is a second ranging NDP.

[0008] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communication executable at a first wireless communication device. The method may include: sending a first physical layer PDU, wherein the first physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein a preamble of the first physical layer PDU includes a first set of bits indicating that the first physical layer PDU is a first ranging NDP; and receiving a second physical layer PDU, wherein the second physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein the preamble of the second physical layer PDU includes a second set of bits indicating that the second physical layer PDU is a second ranging NDP.

[0009] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in an apparatus for wireless communication at a first wireless communication device. The apparatus may include: means for sending a first physical layer PDU, wherein the first physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein a preamble of the first physical layer PDU includes a first set of bits indicating that the first physical layer PDU is a first ranging NDP; and means for receiving a second physical layer PDU, wherein the second physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein the preamble of the second physical layer PDU includes a second set of bits indicating that the second physical layer PDU is a second ranging NDP.

[0010] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure can be implemented in a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a first wireless communication device. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to: send a first physical layer PDU, wherein the first physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein a preamble of the first physical layer PDU includes a first set of bits indicating that the first physical layer PDU is a first ranging NDP; and receive a second physical layer PDU, wherein the second physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein a preamble of the second physical layer PDU includes a second set of bits indicating that the second physical layer PDU is a second ranging NDP.

[0011] In some examples, the method and the wireless communication device may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for including the first set of bits in a universal signal (U-SIG) field of the preamble of the first physical layer PDU.

[0012] In some examples of the method and wireless communication device, including the first set of bits in the U-SIG field of the preamble code of the first physical layer PDU may include operations, features, units or instructions for the following items: using one or more reserved bits of the U-SIG field to indicate that the first physical layer PDU can be the first ranging NDP, the one or more reserved bits are within one or more of multiple parts of the U-SIG field, and are designated as one or more ignore bits or one or more verification bits for at least a first type of station (STA) that may be different from the type of the first wireless communication device.

[0013] In some examples of the method and wireless communication device, including the first set of bits in the U-SIG field of the preamble code of the first physical layer PDU may include one or more bits for using the type and compression mode fields of the U-SIG field to indicate that the first physical layer PDU may be an operation, feature, unit, or instruction of the first ranging NDP.

[0014] Details of one or more implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. 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

[0015] Figure 1 Schematic diagram showing a diagram of an example wireless communication network.

[0016] Figure 2 Example protocol data units (PDUs) that may be used for communications between a wireless access point and one or more wireless stations are shown.

[0017] Figure 3 An example physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU) that may be used for communications between a wireless access point (AP) and one or more wireless stations (STAs) is shown.

[0018] Figure 4 A layered format of an example PPDU that may be used for communications between a wireless AP and one or more wireless STAs is shown.

[0019] Figure 5 An example schematic diagram illustrating supporting ranging Null Data Packets (NDP) for wide bandwidth networks according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0020] Figures 6 to 9 An example segment diagram is shown supporting ranging NDP for wide bandwidth networks according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

[0021] Fig.10 An example signal diagram is shown to support ranging NDP for a wide bandwidth network according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figures 11 to 13 A flow chart illustrating an example process that may be performed by a wireless device to support ranging NDP for a wide bandwidth network is shown in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] Fig.14 A block diagram illustrating an example wireless communication device supporting ranging NDP for wide bandwidth networks in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

[0024] Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] For the purpose of describing the innovative aspects of the present disclosure, the following description is directed to some specific examples. However, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that the teachings herein can be applied in a variety of different ways. Some or all of the described examples may be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of sending and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals in accordance with one or more of the following: the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, the IEEE 802.15 standard, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) standard, the Bluetooth SIG ... Standards, or Long Term Evolution (LTE), 3G, 4G or 5G (New Radio (NR)) standards promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), and other standards. The described examples can be implemented in any device, system or network capable of sending and receiving RF signals according to one or more of the following technologies or methods: code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), space division multiple access (SDMA), rate split multiple access (RSMA), multi-user shared access (MUSA), single user (SU) multiple input multiple output (MIMO) and multi-user (MU)-MIMO. The described examples can also be implemented using other wireless communication protocols or RF signals suitable for use in one or more of the following items: wireless personal area network (WPAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), wireless wide area network (WWAN), wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN) or Internet of Things (IOT) network.

[0026] Various aspects generally relate to a ranging measurement process between two wireless devices communicating in a wide bandwidth network. More specifically, some aspects relate to null data packet (NDP) transmission via a 320 megahertz (MHz) bandwidth. In some examples, a first wireless device and a second wireless device may participate in a ranging measurement process and may exchange one or more NDPs to facilitate distance measurement or estimation between the first wireless device and the second wireless device. In some implementations, one or both of the first wireless device and the second wireless device may indicate via one or more bits of a preamble of an associated protocol data unit (PDU) that the PDU is a ranging NDP (e.g., a ranging-deformed NDP). For example, one or both of the first wireless device and the second wireless device may use one or more bits in a preamble of a PDU (such as a physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) PDU (PPDU)) to indicate that the PDU (which may be a 320 MHz PPDU or a PPDU otherwise associated with a bandwidth of 320 MHz) is a ranging NDP. In some implementations, the first wireless device or the second wireless device may use one or more bits in a universal signal (U-SIG) field of the PDU to indicate that the PDU is a 320 MHz ranging PDU. In such an implementation, the one or more bits may be located in a first portion of the U-SIG field (e.g., U-SIG-1) or in a second portion of the U-SIG field (e.g., U-SIG-2). The one or more bits may include one or more bits that may otherwise be used or interpreted as an ignore bit, a validation bit, or a bit of a type and compression mode field. Thus, the first wireless device and the second wireless device may support one or more interpretation rules associated with at least some PDU variants or types (e.g., exclusive or specific to at least some PDU variants or types). For example, for an extremely high throughput (EHT) PDU, the first wireless device and the second wireless device may support an interpretation rule according to which the first wireless device and the second wireless device may determine, identify, or otherwise ascertain that the PDU (associated with a 320 MHz bandwidth) is a ranging NDP based on one or more bits in the preamble of the PDU.

[0027] Certain aspects of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages. In some examples, by supporting an indication that a PDU is a ranging NDP within the preamble of the PDU itself, the described techniques may be used to support greater or more accessible system knowledge and greater feasibility of EHT ranging measurements. For example, based on including an indication that a PDU is a ranging PDU within the PDU itself, other wireless devices within the system (e.g., other stations (STAs) or sniffer devices) may detect or otherwise identify that the PDU is a ranging NDP, and such greater or more accessible system knowledge may be available to achieve greater system efficiency or lower signaling overhead. In addition, the described techniques simplify ranging measurements for EHT devices, which may lead to a greater deployment of EHT-capable devices within a given system. As a result, such systems may experience more accurate ranging (because wider bandwidth ranging signaling may provide more accurate ranging-related information), higher data rates, and greater spectral efficiency, among other benefits.

[0028] Figure 1 A 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 standard of the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards (such as the standards defined by the IEEE 802.11-2020 specification or its amendments, which include but are not limited to 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, 802.11bd, 802.11be, 802.11bf, and 802.11 amendments associated with Wi-Fi 8). The WLAN 100 may include numerous wireless communication devices, such as an AP 102 and a plurality of wireless STAs 104. Although in Figure 1 Only one AP 102 is shown in FIG. 1 , but the WLAN 100 may also include multiple APs 102 . Figure 1 The AP 102 shown in the figure can represent various different types of APs, including but not limited to enterprise-level APs, single-band APs, dual-band APs, independent APs, software-enabled APs (soft APs), and multi-link APs. The coverage area and capacity of cellular networks (such as LTE, 5G NR, etc.) can be further improved by small cells, which are supported by APs acting as micro base stations. In addition, private cellular networks can also be established by using wireless area networks of small cells.

[0029] Each of the STAs 104 may also be referred to as a mobile station (MS), a mobile device, a mobile phone, a wireless phone, an access terminal (AT), a user equipment (UE), a subscriber station (SS) or a subscriber unit, and other examples. The STAs 104 may represent various devices, such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), other handheld devices, netbooks, notebook computers, tablet computers, laptop computers, Google notebooks, extended reality (XR) headsets, wearable devices, display devices (e.g., TVs (including smart TVs), computer monitors, navigation systems, etc.), music or other audio or stereo equipment, remote control devices (“remote controls”), printers, kitchen appliances (including smart refrigerators) or other household appliances, remote control keys (e.g., for keyless passive entry and start (PKES) systems), Internet of Things (IoT) devices and vehicles, and other examples. The various STAs 104 in the network are able to communicate with each other via the AP 102.

[0030] 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 respective AP 102 . Figure 1 Also shown is an example coverage area 108 of the AP 102, which may represent a basic service area (BSA) of the WLAN 100. The BSS may be identified or indicated to a user by a service set identifier (SSID) and to other devices by a basic service set identifier (BSSID), which may be a medium access control (MAC) address of the AP 102. The AP 102 may periodically broadcast a beacon frame (“beacon”) including the BSSID to enable any STA 104 within the wireless range of the AP 102 to “associate” or re-associate with the AP 102 to establish or maintain a respective communication link 106 (hereinafter also referred to as a “Wi-Fi link”) with the AP 102. For example, the beacon may include an identification or indication of a primary channel used by the respective 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 the respective STAs 104 in the WLAN via the respective communication links 106.

[0031] To establish a communication link 106 with the AP 102, each of the STAs 104 is configured to perform passive or active scanning operations (“scans”) on frequency channels in one or more frequency bands (e.g., 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, or 60 GHz bands). To perform a passive scan, the STAs 104 listen to beacons transmitted by the respective APs 102 at periodic time intervals (measured in time units (TUs), where one TU may be equal to 1024 microseconds (μs)) called target beacon transmission times (TBTTs). To perform an active scan, the STAs 104 generate probe requests and sequentially transmit probe requests on each channel to be scanned, and listen for probe responses from the APs 102. Each STA 104 may identify, determine, ascertain, or select an AP 102 to associate with based on scan information obtained through the passive or active scan, and perform authentication and association operations to establish a communication link 106 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.

[0032] Due to the increasing popularity of wireless networks, 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 can be connected to a wired or wireless distribution system that can allow multiple APs 102 to be connected in such an ESS. As such, STA 104 can be covered by more than one AP 102, and can be associated with different APs 102 at different times for different transmissions. In addition, after associating with AP 102, STA 104 can also 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 can perform a "roaming" scan to find another AP 102 with a more desirable network characteristic (such as a larger received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or a reduced traffic load).

[0033] In some cases, STA 104 can form a network without AP 102 or other devices other than STA 104 itself. An example of such a network is a self-organizing network (or wireless self-organizing network). Self-organizing networks can be alternatively referred to as mesh networks or peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. In some cases, self-organizing networks can be implemented in larger wireless networks (such as WLAN 100). In such an example, although STA 104 may be able to communicate with each other through AP 102 using communication link 106, STA 104 can also communicate directly with each other via direct wireless communication link 110. In addition, two STA 104 can communicate via direct communication link 110, regardless of whether both STA 104 are associated with the same AP 102 and served by the same AP 102. In such a self-organizing system, one or more STA 104 in STA 104 can assume the role played by AP 102 in the BSS. Such STA 104 can be referred to as a group owner (GO), and can coordinate transmissions within the self-organizing network. Examples of direct wireless communication links 110 include Wi-Fi direct connections, connections established by using a Wi-Fi Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) link, and other P2P group connections.

[0034] The AP 102 and the STA 104 may operate and communicate (via respective communication links 106) in accordance with one or more of the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards. These standards define WLAN radio and baseband protocols for the physical (PHY) layer and the MAC layer. The AP 102 and the STA 104 send and receive wireless communications (hereinafter also referred to as "Wi-Fi communications" or "wireless packets") to and from each other in the form of PHY protocol data units (PPDUs). The AP 102 and the STA 104 in the WLAN 100 may send PPDUs on an unlicensed spectrum, which may be a portion of a spectrum including 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 examples of the AP 102 and the STA 104 described herein may also communicate in other frequency bands (such as the 5.9 GHz and 6 GHz bands), which may support both licensed and unlicensed communications. The AP 102 and STA 104 may also communicate on other frequency bands, such as shared licensed frequency bands where multiple operators may have licenses to operate in the same or overlapping frequency band or bands.

[0035] Each of the frequency bands may include multiple sub-bands or frequency channels. For example, a PPDU that complies with IEEE 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, and 802.11be standard revisions may be sent on a 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, or 6 GHz frequency band, each of which is divided into multiple 20 MHz channels. As such, the PPDUs are sent on a physical channel with a minimum bandwidth of 20 MHz, but larger channels may be formed by channel bonding. For example, a PPDU may be sent on a physical channel with a bandwidth of 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz by bonding multiple 20 MHz channels together.

[0036] Each PPDU is a composite structure including a PHY preamble and a payload in the form of a PHY 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 a PPDU is sent on a bonded channel, the preamble field can be copied and sent in each component channel in a plurality of component channels. The PHY preamble can include both a traditional part (or "traditional preamble") and a non-traditional part (or "non-traditional preamble"). Traditional preambles can be used for packet detection, automatic gain control, channel estimation, and other purposes. Traditional preambles can also be used to maintain compatibility with traditional devices. The format of the non-traditional part of the preamble, the encoding of the non-traditional part of the preamble, and the information provided in the non-traditional part of the preamble are associated with the specific IEEE 802.11 protocol to be used to send the payload.

[0037] According to an example implementation of the present disclosure, a first wireless device (e.g., AP 102 or STA 104) and a second wireless device (e.g., AP 102 or STA 104) may participate in a ranging measurement process and may exchange one or more NDPs to facilitate distance measurement or estimation between the first wireless device and the second wireless device, and in some implementations, one or both of the first wireless device and the second wireless device may indicate via one or more bits of a preamble of a PDU that the associated PDU is a ranging NDP (e.g., a ranging-deformed NDP). For example, one or both of the first wireless device and the second wireless device may use one or more bits in a preamble of a PDU (such as a PPDU) to indicate that the PDU (which may be a 320 MHz PPDU or a PPDU otherwise associated with a bandwidth of 320 MHz) is a ranging NDP. In some implementations, the first wireless device or the second wireless device may use one or more bits in a universal signal (U-SIG) field of the PDU. In such an implementation, one or more bits may be located in the first portion of the U-SIG field (eg, U-SIG-1) or in the second portion of the U-SIG field (eg, U-SIG-2).

[0038] Figure 2 An example PDU 200 that can be used for wireless communication between a wireless AP 102 and one or more wireless STAs 104 is shown. For example, the PDU 200 can be configured as a PPDU. As shown, the PDU 200 includes a PHY preamble 202 and a PHY payload 204. For example, the preamble 202 can include a legacy portion, which itself includes: a legacy short training field (L-STF) 206 that can include two symbols, a legacy long training field (L-LTF) 208 that can include two symbols, and a legacy signal field (L-SIG) 210 that can include two symbols. The legacy portion of the preamble 202 can be configured according to the IEEE 802.11a wireless communication protocol standard. The preamble 202 can also include a non-legacy portion, which includes, for example, one or more non-legacy fields 212 that conform to one or more standards in the IEEE 802.11 series of wireless communication protocol standards.

[0039] The L-STF 206 generally enables the receiving device to perform coarse timing and frequency tracking and automatic gain control (AGC). The L-LTF 208 generally enables the receiving device to perform fine timing and frequency tracking, and also performs an initial estimation of the wireless channel. The L-SIG 210 generally enables the receiving device to determine (e.g., obtain, select, identify, detect, ascertain, calculate or compute) the duration of the PDU, and use the determined duration to avoid sending over the PDU. The traditional portion of the preamble including the L-STF 206, L-LTF 208 and L-SIG 210 can be modulated according to a binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation scheme. The 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. The payload 204 may include a PSDU including a data field (DATA) 214, which in turn may carry higher layer data, for example, in the form of a MAC protocol data unit (MPDU) or an aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU).

[0040] According to example implementations of the present disclosure, a first wireless device (e.g., AP 102 or STA 104) and a second wireless device (e.g., AP 102 or STA 104) may participate in a ranging measurement process and may exchange one or more NDPs to facilitate distance measurement or estimation between the first wireless device and the second wireless device, and in some implementations, one or both of the first wireless device and the second wireless device may indicate that the associated PDU 200 is a ranging NDP (e.g., a ranging-deformed NDP) via one or more bits of a preamble 202 of the PDU 200. For example, one or both of the first wireless device and the second wireless device may use one or more bits in the preamble 202 of the PDU 200 to indicate that the PDU 200 is or includes a ranging NDP. In some implementations, the first wireless device or the second wireless device may use one or more bits in a U-SIG field of the preamble 202 of the PDU 200. In such an implementation, one or more bits may be located in a first portion of the U-SIG field (e.g., U-SIG-1) or in a second portion of the U-SIG field (e.g., U-SIG-2). The U-SIG field of the preamble 202 may be included in one or more non-legacy fields 212.

[0041] Figure 3Another example PPDU 350 that can be used for wireless communication between a wireless AP and one or more wireless STAs is shown. The PPDU 350 can be used for SU, OFDMA, or MU-MIMO transmission. The PPDU 350 can be formatted as an EHT WLAN PPDU according to the IEEE 802.11be amendment to the IEEE 802.11 series of wireless communication protocol standards, or can be formatted as a PPDU that conforms to any later (post-EHT) version of a new wireless communication protocol or another wireless communication standard, and the new wireless communication protocol conforms to future IEEE 802.11 wireless communication protocol standards (such as 802.11 amendments associated with Wi-Fi 8). The PPDU 350 includes a PHY preamble, which includes a legacy portion 352 and a non-legacy portion 354. The PPDU 350 may also include a PHY payload 356, for example in the form of a PSDU including a data field 374, after the preamble.

[0042] 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 a repetition of the L-SIG (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 (U-SIG) field 366 (referred to herein as "U-SIG 366") and an EHT signal field 368 (referred to herein as "EHT-SIG 368"). The presence of the RL-SIG 364 and the U-SIG 366 may indicate to the STA 104 compliant with the EHT or later versions that the PPDU 350 is an EHT PPDU or a PPDU compliant with any later (post-EHT) version of a new wireless communication protocol that complies with a future IEEE 802.11 wireless communication protocol standard. One or both of the U-SIG 366 and the EHT-SIG 368 may be constructed as other wireless communication protocol versions associated with revisions to the IEEE series of standards beyond the EHT and carry version-related information for them. For example, a receiving device may use the U-SIG 366 to interpret one or more bits in the EHT-SIG 368 or data field 374. Similar to 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 of the component 20 MHz channels.

[0043] The non-legacy portion 354 also includes an additional short training field 370 (referred to herein as "EHT-STF 370", although it may be constructed to carry version-related information for other wireless communication protocol versions beyond EHT) and one or more additional long training fields 372 (referred to herein as "EHT-LTF 372", although they may be constructed to carry version-related information for other wireless communication protocol versions beyond EHT). The EHT-STF 370 may be used for timing and frequency tracking and AGC, and the EHT-LTF 372 may be used for finer channel estimation.

[0044] The EHT-SIG 368 may be used by the AP to identify and inform one or more 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 a 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 (e.g., STA-specific) signaling information. Each EHT-SIG 368 may include a common field and at least one user-specific field. In the context of OFDMA, the common field may indicate RU distribution to multiple STAs 104, indicate RU assignments in the frequency domain, indicate which RUs are allocated for MU-MIMO transmission and which RUs correspond to OFDMA transmissions, and the number of users in the allocation (e.g., quantity), as well as other examples. The user-specific field is assigned to a specific STA 104 and carries STA-specific scheduling information such as a user-specific MCS value and user-specific RU allocation information. Such information enables the respective STA 104 to identify and decode the corresponding RU in the associated data field 374 .

[0045] In some wireless communication environments, EHT systems or other systems that conform to the IEEE 802.11 series of wireless communication protocol standards for the next few generations may provide additional capabilities that are superior to other previous systems (e.g., high efficiency (HE) systems or other legacy systems). EHT and newer wireless communication protocols may support flexible operating bandwidth enhancements at APs and STAs, such as widened operating bandwidths relative to legacy operating bandwidths or finer granularity operations relative to legacy operations. For example, an EHT system may allow communications across operating bandwidths of 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, 240 MHz, and 320 MHz. An EHT system may support multiple bandwidth modes, such as a continuous 240 MHz bandwidth mode, a continuous 320 MHz bandwidth mode, a non-continuous 160+160 MHz bandwidth mode, or a non-continuous 80+80+80+80 (or "4x80") MHz bandwidth mode.

[0046] In some examples, the wireless communication device operates in a continuous 320 MHz bandwidth mode or a 160+160 MHz bandwidth mode. The signal for transmission can be generated by two different transmission chains of the device, each with a bandwidth of 160 MHz (and each transmission chain is coupled to a different power amplifier). In some other examples, the signal for transmission can be generated by four or more different transmission chains of the device, each with a bandwidth of 80 MHz.

[0047] In some other examples, the wireless communication device can operate in a continuous 240 MHz bandwidth mode or a non-continuous 160 + 80 MHz bandwidth mode. In some examples, the signal for transmission can be generated by three different transmission chains of the device, each transmission chain having a bandwidth of 80 MHz. In some other examples, the 240 MHz / 160 + 80 MHz bandwidth mode can also be formed by punching a 320 / 160 + 160 MHz bandwidth mode with one or more 80 MHz sub-channels. For example, the signal for transmission can be generated by two different transmission chains of the device, each transmission chain having a bandwidth of 160 MHz, wherein one of the transmission chains outputs a signal having an 80 MHz sub-channel punched therein.

[0048] The operating bandwidth may also accommodate concurrent operation on other unlicensed bands (such as the 6 GHz band) and a portion of the spectrum including bands traditionally used by Wi-Fi technology. In a non-contiguous example, the operating bandwidth may span one or more different sets of subchannels. For example, a 320 MHz bandwidth may be contiguous and located in the same 6 GHz band, or non-contiguous and located in different bands (such as partially in the 5 GHz band and partially in the 6 GHz band).

[0049] In some examples, operability enhancements associated with EHT and newer generations of the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocols, and particularly operations at increased bandwidths, may include refinements to carrier sensing and signal reporting mechanisms. Such techniques may include modifications to existing rules, structures, or signaling implemented for legacy systems.

[0050] According to an example implementation of the present disclosure, a first wireless device (e.g., AP 102 or STA 104) and a second wireless device (e.g., AP 102 or STA 104) may participate in a ranging measurement process and may exchange one or more NDPs to facilitate a distance measurement or estimation between the first wireless device and the second wireless device. In some implementations, one or both of the first wireless device and the second wireless device may indicate that the associated PPDU 350 is a ranging NDP (e.g., a ranging-deformed NDP) via one or more bits of a non-legacy portion 354 of a PHY preamble of the PPDU 350. For example, one or both of the first wireless device and the second wireless device may use one or more bits in a U-SIG 366 of the PPDU 350 to indicate that the PPDU 350 is or includes a ranging NDP. In such an implementation, the one or more bits may be located in a first portion (e.g., U-SIG-1) of the U-SIG 366 or in a second portion (e.g., U-SIG-2) of the U-SIG 366.

[0051] In some aspects, a multi-user (MU) PPDU preamble may be used for a non-TB NDP, and in some systems, there may be a field in the MU PPDU preamble indicating whether the PPDU 350 is an NDP. Such fields may include the PPDU type and compression mode fields in the U-SIG 366. In some examples, the PPDU type and compression mode fields may be included in a second portion of the U-SIG 366, which may be referred to as U-SIG-2. The PPDU type and compression mode fields may include two bits, and in some cases, may occupy bits B0 and B1 of the U-SIG-2.

[0052] The interpretation of the PPDU Type and Compression Mode field may be associated with or defined with respect to the value of the Uplink / Downlink (UL / DL) field. For example, if the UL / DL field is set to 0, a value of 0 for the PPDU Type and Compression Mode field may indicate a downlink OFDMA transmission, a value of 1 for the PPDU Type and Compression Mode field may indicate a transmission to a single user or an EHT sounding NDP, a value of 2 for the PPDU Type and Compression Mode field may indicate a non-OFDMA downlink MU-MIMO transmission, and a value of 3 for the PPDU Type and Compression Mode field may indicate or be associated with a verification indication. If the UL / DL field is set to 1, a value of 1 for the PPDU Type and Compression Mode field may indicate a transmission to a single user or an EHT sounding NDP, and a value of 2 or 3 for the PPDU Type and Compression Mode field may indicate or be associated with a verification indication. In addition, a value of 0 for the PPDU Type and Compression Mode field may indicate a TB PPDU.

[0053] Thus, to indicate or identify a non-TB ranging NDP in a 320 MHz preamble, there may be one or more unused values ​​of some fields and there may also be one or more reserved bits (e.g., which may include one or both of a "verification" bit and an "ignore" bit) in the U-SIG 366 of the MU PPDU, and in some implementations, the wireless device may use any of such fields or bits to indicate that the PPDU 350 is a 320 MHz ranging NDP. In some implementations, for example, the wireless device may use some "verification" values ​​(e.g., value 3) to indicate that the PPDU 350 is a 320 MHz ranging NDP.

[0054] Additionally or alternatively, there may be one or more other ignore and validation bits that the wireless device may use to indicate that the PPDU 350 is a 320 MHz ranging NDP. Such one or more other bits may be located within a first portion of the multiple parts of the U-SIG 366 or within a second portion of the multiple parts of the U-SIG 366. In an implementation where the one or more bits are located within a first portion of the multiple parts of the U-SIG 366 (e.g., U-SIG-1), the wireless device may use bits B20-B24 (which may otherwise be associated with ignore bits) or bit B25 (which may otherwise be associated with validation bits), or any combination or subset thereof. In an implementation where the one or more bits are located within a second portion of the multiple parts of the U-SIG 366 (e.g., U-SIG-2), the wireless device may use bit B2 (which may otherwise be associated with an extension of the PPDU type and compressed mode fields) or bit B8 (which may otherwise be associated with validation bits), or any combination thereof.

[0055] In addition, to indicate or identify the TB ranging NDP in the 320 MHz preamble, the wireless device may use or modify one or more bits of the U-SIG 366 in the EHT TB PPDU preamble to indicate that the PPDU 350 is a 320 MHz ranging NDP. To signal or indicate that the PPDU 350 is a 320 MHz ranging NDP, the wireless device may use one or more bits of the U-SIG 366. Such one or more other bits may be located within a first portion of the multiple parts of the U-SIG 366 or within a second portion of the multiple parts of the U-SIG 366. In an implementation where the one or more bits are located within a first portion of the multiple parts of the U-SIG 366 (e.g., U-SIG-1), the wireless device may use bits B20-B25 (which may otherwise be associated with an ignore bit) or any subset thereof. In implementations where one or more bits are located within a second portion (e.g., U-SIG-2) of the multiple portions of the U-SIG 366, the wireless device may use bit B2 (which may otherwise be associated with a verification bit) or bits B11-B15 (which may otherwise be associated with ignore bits), or any combination or subset thereof.

[0056] Additionally or alternatively, the wireless device may use the PPDU Type and Compressed Mode field to indicate that the PPDU 350 is a 320 MHz ranging NDP. Some systems may define that for an EHT TB PPDU, the PPDU Type and Compressed Mode field is set to 0, and for an NDP or for a transmission to a single user, the field may be set to 1. In some aspects, such an NDP or single user transmission corresponding to a PPDU Type and Compressed Mode field value of 1 may not be a TB PPDU, but rather a transmission that is not in response to a trigger frame. As such, the wireless device may use two other possible values ​​(e.g., word values) of the PPDU Type and Compressed Mode field (e.g., values ​​2 and 3, which may be otherwise reserved or associated with a validation indication) to indicate or signal that the PPDU 350 is a TB ranging NDP with a 320 MHz bandwidth. Alternatively, the wireless device may set the PPDU Type and Compressed Mode field to 1 for an uplink case (e.g., to indicate that the PPDU 350 is a 320 MHz ranging PPDU sent via an uplink).

[0057] Figure 4A hierarchical format of an example PPDU that may be used for communication between a wireless AP 102 and one or more wireless STAs 104 is shown. As depicted, each PPDU 400 includes a PHY preamble 402 and a PSDU 404. Each PSDU 404 may represent (or "carry") one or more MAC protocol data units (MPDUs) 416. For example, each PSDU 404 may carry an aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU) 406 that includes an aggregation of multiple A-MPDU subframes 408. Each A-MPDU subframe 406 may include an MPDU frame 410 that includes a MAC delimiter 412 and a MAC header 414 prior to an accompanying MPDU 416, the MPDU 416 including a data portion ("payload" or "frame body") of the MPDU frame 410. Each MPDU frame 410 may also include a frame check sequence (FCS) field 418 for error detection (e.g., the FCS field may include a cyclic redundancy check (CRC)) and padding bits 420. The MPDU 416 may carry one or more MAC service data units (MSDUs) 430 via one or more MSU frames 426. For example, the MPDU 416 may carry an aggregated MSDU (A-MSDU) frame 422 including multiple A-MSDU subframes 424. Each A-MSDU subframe 424 includes a corresponding MSDU 430 preceded by a subframe header 428 and followed by padding bits 432 in some cases.

[0058] Referring back to the MPDU frame 410, the MAC delimiter 412 may serve as a marker for the start of the associated MPDU 416, as well as indicating the length of the associated MPDU 416. The MAC header 414 may include a plurality of fields containing information defining or indicating characteristics or attributes of the data encapsulated within the MPDU 416 (e.g., within the frame body of the MPDU 416). The MAC header 414 includes a duration field indicating a duration extending from the end of the PPDU at least until the end of an acknowledgement (ACK) or block ACK (BA) of the PPDU to be sent by the receiving wireless communication device. The use of the duration field is used to reserve the wireless medium for the indicated duration, and to enable the receiving device to establish its network allocation vector (NAV). The MAC header 414 also includes one or more fields for indicating an address for the data encapsulated within the MPDU 416. For example, the MAC header 414 may include a combination of a source address, a transmitter address, a receiver address, or a destination address. The MAC header 414 may also include a frame control field containing control information. The frame control field may specify the frame type, for example, a data frame, a control frame, or a management frame.

[0059] According to an example implementation of the present disclosure, a first wireless device (e.g., AP 102 or STA 104) and a second wireless device (e.g., AP 102 or STA 104) may participate in a ranging measurement process and may exchange one or more NDPs to facilitate a distance measurement or estimation between the first wireless device and the second wireless device. In some implementations, one or both of the first wireless device and the second wireless device may indicate that the associated PPDU 400 is a ranging NDP (e.g., a ranging-deformed NDP) via one or more bits of a non-legacy portion of a PHY preamble 402 of the PPDU 400. For example, one or both of the first wireless device and the second wireless device may use one or more bits in a U-SIG field of the PPDU 400 to indicate that the PPDU 400 is or includes a ranging NDP. In such an implementation, the one or more bits may be located in a first portion (e.g., U-SIG-1) of the U-SIG field or in a second portion (e.g., U-SIG-2) of the U-SIG field.

[0060] Figure 5 An example diagram 500 is shown that supports ranging NDP for wide bandwidth networks according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure. Diagram 500 can implement or be implemented to implement or facilitate aspects of WLAN 100, PDU 200, PPDU 350, or PPDU 400. For example, diagram 500 shows communication between wireless device 505 and wireless device 510 via communication link 585, and wireless device 505 and wireless device 510 can each be as described above. Figure 1 Show and reference Figure 1 104 or AP 102 described. In some implementations, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may support one or more signaling or messaging designs to support a ranging measurement process involving the use of a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz to send a ranging NDP. For example, the bandwidth may be a 320 MHz bandwidth because the 320 MHz bandwidth may provide better resolution than the 160 MHz bandwidth (where such resolution may refer to time domain resolution and may facilitate more accurate round trip time (RTT) measurements, which may result in more accurate range measurement resolution). In some aspects, the wireless device 505 may be an initiating STA (ISTA), and the wireless device 510 may be a responding STA (RSTA). Alternatively, the wireless device 510 may be an ISTA and the wireless device 505 may be an RSTA. In addition, although referred to as an ISTA or RSTA, such a role of an ISTA or RSTA may be assumed by the STA 104 or AP 102.

[0061] To support the ranging measurement process, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may employ a non-trigger-based (TB) ranging measurement exchange sequence 515 or a trigger-based (TB) ranging measurement exchange sequence 520. In the scenario where the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 employ the non-TB ranging measurement exchange sequence 515, the ISTA (e.g., one of the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510) may send a ranging NDPA frame 525 and may send one or more ISTA to RSTA (I2R) NDPs 530. The RSTA (e.g., the other of the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510) may respond by sending one or more RSTA to ISTA (R2I) NDPs 535 and a location measurement report (LMR) 540. For example, the RSTA may measure the RTT associated with the I2R NDP 530 and the R2I NDP 535, may determine or estimate the range or distance between the ISTA and the RSTA based on the RTT, and may include an indication of the range or distance in the LMR 540 sent to the ISTA. The ISTA and the RSTA may transmit ranging NDPA frames, one or more I2R NDPs 530 and R2I NDPs 535 during the measurement probe phase, and may transmit the LMR 540 during the measurement report phase. In some aspects, the ISTA and the RSTA may wait for a gap 580 between consecutive signaling within the non-TB ranging measurement exchange sequence 515. In some aspects, the gap 580 may be associated with a short interframe space (SIFS).

[0062] In the scenario where the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 adopt the TB ranging measurement exchange sequence 520, the RSTA can send a trigger frame for ranging polling 545 to one or more ISTAs, and the one or more ISTAs can send a clear to send (CTS) (CTS-to-self) message 550 to themselves accordingly. For example, the first ISTA can send a CTS-to-self message 550-a, and the second ISTA can send a CTS-to-self message 550-b. In some aspects, the RSTA and one or more ISTAs can transmit a trigger frame 545 and a CTS-to-self message 550 for ranging polling during the polling phase. The RSTA can send a trigger frame 555 for ranging detection to trigger the ranging measurement process between the RSTA and one or more ISTAs. One or more ISTAs can send one or more I2R NDPs 560 to the RSTA, and can also send a ranging NDPA frame 565 and an associated R2INDP 570 to one or more ISTAs.

[0063] According to the TB ranging measurement exchange sequence 520, the RSTA and one or more ISTAs may support one or more waveform types to improve the reliability of the NDP, and may support scalability through point-to-multipoint measurement so that multiple STAs 104 or APs 102 may measure the distance. In other words, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may support a trigger-based sequence to support multi-user (MU) deployment. In some aspects, the RSTA and one or more ISTAs may transmit a trigger frame 555, one or more I2R NDPs 560, a ranging NDPA frame 565, and one or more R2I NDPs 570 for ranging detection during the measurement detection phase. The RSTA may send an RSTA to ISTA LMR 575 during the measurement report phase. In some aspects, each RSTA may measure the RTT associated with at least one of the one or more I2R NDPs 560 and at least one of the one or more R2I NDPs 570, and may determine or estimate the distance based on the RTT measurement. In some aspects, the RSTA and one or more ISTAs may wait for a gap 580 between consecutive signaling within the TB ranging measurement exchange sequence 520. In some aspects, the gap 580 may be associated with a SIFS.

[0064] In some systems, the device may support ranging NDPs up to 160 MHz. However, a relatively wide bandwidth (e.g., a relatively large bandwidth, such as a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, such as 320 MHz) may provide greater ranging accuracy or resolution. Accordingly, in some implementations, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may extend one or more frames and processes associated with the ranging measurement process (using one or both of a non-TB ranging measurement exchange sequence or a TB ranging measurement exchange sequence) to support 320 MHz. In some implementations, for example, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may support an option for indicating a 320 MHz bandwidth in one or more messages associated with a medium access control (MAC) layer. For example, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may support an option for indicating a 320 MHz bandwidth in one or more of a ranging NDPA or a ranging trigger frame (e.g., including one or more ranging trigger frame variations, such as for polling, detection, security detection, reporting, or passive detection). Additionally or alternatively, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may support an option for indicating a 320 MHz bandwidth in one or more messages associated with the PHY layer. For example, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may use the 320 MHz bandwidth for one or more of I2R NDP, R2INDP, or a security long training field (LTF).

[0065] In addition, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may support one or more selected puncturing modes or patterns associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz (e.g., 240 MHz with contiguous bandwidth). For example, some geographic areas may have a limited amount of bandwidth (e.g., may have 240 MHz of available bandwidth), but may still provide a bandwidth with greater accuracy than a 160 MHz bandwidth. Therefore, in some implementations, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may select which puncturing modes or patterns to support, determine how to enable ranging NDPA frames with 320 MHz, determine how to enable trigger frames for ranging polling or probing with 320 MHz, determine how to extend session negotiation with IFTMR or IFTM frames, determine how to extend ranging NDP for 320 MHz, or any combination thereof.

[0066] In some aspects, a 320MHz EHT preamble may be used for a 320MHz ranging NDP. In addition, there may be two different types of 320MHz ranging NDPs, including a 320MHz non-TB ranging NDP (which may use an EHT multi-user (MU) PPDU preamble) and a 320MHz TB NDP (which may use an EHT TB PPDU preamble). In some systems, EHT signaling may support non-TB NDPs that do not support ranging, and in such systems, EHT signaling may not support some types of TB NDPs. In order to support both TB and non-TB ranging NDPs, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may distinguish between a non-ranging NDP and a ranging NDP, or between a data PPDU and a ranging NDP, via information included in a preamble of a PPDU carrying or including a ranging NDP. In other words, it may be useful to indicate via a preamble of a PPDU associated with a TB ranging NDP that the PPDU is a ranging NPD rather than a data PPDU. Similarly, it may be useful to indicate via the preamble of the PPDU associated with the non-TB ranging NDP that the PPDU is a ranging NDP rather than another type of NDP. In addition, while the NDPA frame may include an indication that the PPDU is a ranging NDP, including such information in the preamble of the PPDU itself may be useful for other STAs or sniffer devices in the system, as such other devices may be able to decode the preamble of the PPDU and identify the type of the PPDU during over-the-air transmission.

[0067] As described herein, a ranging NDP may be a type of NDP exchanged between wireless devices (e.g., wireless device 505 and wireless device 510) as part of a ranging measurement process, which may refer to a process by which at least one of the wireless devices calculates, estimates, measures, or otherwise determines a distance between the wireless devices. Such ranging NDPs may be distinguished from other types of NDPs that are not used for such ranging or sounding. Figure 3 Show and refer to Figure 3 Additional details regarding the indication or identification of a ranging NDP via a preamble of a PPDU are described.

[0068] Additionally or alternatively, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may support a design for one or more ranging NDPs (e.g., ranging NDP enhancements) that facilitates the use of 320 MHz for ranging NDPs for ranging measurement processes between the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510. For example, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may support secure ranging (e.g., using secure EHT-LTF), and to support secure ranging, a counter mode may be used in the PHY layer to generate a pseudo-random sequence of octets at both the transmitter and the receiver. For secure NDPs, the transmitting device may use a segment parser to parse the secure octets between the lower segment and the upper segment, and in some implementations, the transmitting device may extend such a segment parser to support 320 MHz secure NDPs.

[0069] In some implementations, for example, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 can extend the segment parser to handle 320MHz bandwidth with and without puncturing. In some aspects, for example, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 can use a four-way segment parser for 320MHz without puncturing. In addition or alternatively, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 can support a three-way segment parser for 320MHz where one of the 80MHz sub-blocks is punctured. The wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 can use such a four-way and three-way segment parser for 320MHz to parse the segments in frequency order (e.g., so that the sub-blocks or segments of the NDP are sorted from the relatively highest frequency allocation to the relatively lowest frequency allocation) to maintain simplicity and support backward compatibility. In some aspects, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 can extend this concept to other puncturing patterns, such as for 200MHz or 280MHz occupied bandwidth after puncturing. For example, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may employ a modified four-segment resolver to support 40 MHz puncturing for a 320 MHz ranging NDP.

[0070] In some aspects, the 320MHz ranging NDP may support some preamble puncturing patterns, such as all or a subset of a set of possible preamble puncturing patterns available (e.g., in the EHT). The EHT PHY may support a set (e.g., 25) of puncturing patterns for the 320MHz NDP, and may signal or indicate one of the puncturing patterns in the set in the punctured channel information field of the U-SIG field. The EHT PHY may support puncturing patterns of no puncturing, puncturing of any 40MHz segment, puncturing of any 80MHz segment, or some combination of 40MHz puncturing and 80MHz puncturing. The puncturing pattern field (which may indicate puncturing by resource unit (RU) or multiple RU (MRU) index) may indicate the puncturing pattern via different field values, where different field values ​​(which may range from a value of 0 to a value of 24) correspond to different puncturing patterns.

[0071] In an example of an implementation in which the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 support a design for one or more ranging NDPs that facilitates the use of 320 MHz for ranging NDPs for a ranging measurement process between the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510, the wireless device 505 may generate a pseudo-random octet sequence associated with one or more ranging NDPs for a ranging measurement process between the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510, the bandwidth of the one or more ranging NDPs being greater than 160 MHz. The wireless device 505 may segment the sequence of pseudo-random octets into a plurality of sequence segments based on the bandwidth of the one or more ranging NDPs and an indication of the presence of a puncturing pattern associated with the bandwidth of the one or more ranging NDPs being greater than 160 MHz. The wireless device 505 may send the one or more ranging NDPs to the wireless device 510 based on segmenting the sequence of pseudo-random octets into a plurality of sequence segments, and may determine the distance between the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 based on the one or more ranging NDPs. For example, wireless device 505 may send another set of one or more ranging NDPs to wireless device 510, and the distance may be determined based on the RTT associated with the different set of ranging NDPs. Figures 6 to 9 Show and refer to Figures 6 to 9 Additional details are described regarding such a design for one or more ranging NDPs that facilitates use of 320 MHz for the ranging NDP for ranging measurement procedures.

[0072] Figure 6An example segmented diagram 600 is shown that supports ranging NDP for wide bandwidth networks in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The segmented diagram 600 may support a transmission or reception technique for ranging NDP using 320 MHz bandwidth, and may support using EHT ranging NDP with secure EHT-LTF. For example, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may use a counter mode (e.g., AES-128 counter mode) in the PHY layer to generate a pseudo-random sequence of octets at both the transmitter and the receiver, and may use the pseudo-random sequence of octets for one or more ranging NDPs.

[0073] In some aspects, the AES-128 counter mode may be reset at the beginning of each secure EHT NDP using a new key provided over a secure link. At the beginning of a secure NDP, a per-stream pseudo-random phase rotation may be applied using a first set of pseudo-random octets. Additionally, for 20 MHz, 40 MHz, and 80 MHz secure NDPs, the remaining pseudo-random octets may be used to construct a pseudo-random 64 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) for each of the 2xLTF tones from the relatively lowest frequency tone within the frequency allocation to the relatively highest frequency tone within the frequency allocation.

[0074] In addition, in some aspects and for a 160MHz secure NDP, a segment parser may be used to parse the secure octets between the lower segment and the upper segment. For example, for an octet stream associated with 160MHz, a transmitting device may use a segment parser to obtain two segments including a first segment and a second segment. The transmitting device may pass each segment through a 64QAM modulator and assign the modulated output of each segment to a different 80MHz sequence or frequency tone of the segment. For example, the transmitting device may modulate the first segment to obtain a modulated first segment, and may assign the modulated first segment to a frequency tone of a lower 80MHz sequence (which may be an associated index value ranging from 500 to -500). The transmitting device may modulate the second segment to obtain a modulated second segment, and may assign the modulated second segment to a frequency tone of a higher 80MHz sequence (which may be associated with an index value ranging from 500 to -500). In other words, the transmitting device may employ a segment parser to assign pseudo-random octets to sequences of lower and higher 80MHz segments in a 160MHz secure LTF.

[0075] In some implementations, and as shown by the segmentation diagram 600, the transmitting device may support different segment parsing techniques for handling security LTFs in a scenario in which the transmitting device uses a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz (e.g., a 320 MHz bandwidth) to transmit one or more ranging NDPs. For example, the transmitting device may generate an octet stream 605 of pseudo-random octets (e.g., a sequence of pseudo-random octets) and may pass the octet stream 605 to an octet parser 610. The transmitting device may obtain a number of outputs 615 from the octet parser 610 and may modulate each output 615 using a modulator 620 (e.g., a 64QAM modulator). For example, the transmitting device may modulate output 615-a using modulator 620-a, modulate output 615-b using modulator 620-b, modulate output 615-c using modulator 620-c, and may modulate output 615-d using modulator 620-d.

[0076] The transmitting device may assign each modulated output 615 to a different frequency range (e.g., a different sequence segment) within a bandwidth (e.g., within an allocated 320 MHz bandwidth). For example, the transmitting device may assign information of the modulated output 615-a to a frequency domain tone of the relatively lowest 80 MHz sequence segment, assign information of the modulated output 615-b to a frequency domain tone of the second lowest 80 MHz sequence segment, assign information of the modulated output 615-c to a frequency domain tone of the second highest 80 MHz sequence segment, and assign information of the modulated output 615-d to a frequency domain tone of the relatively highest 80 MHz sequence segment. In other words, the transmitting device may assign information of the output to a frequency domain tone of a respective sequence segment for each of a number of outputs.

[0077] Accordingly, in an implementation associated with the segment diagram 600, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 can use the 320 MHz bandwidth to exchange ranging NDPs without puncturing (e.g., the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 can use the full 320 MHz bandwidth). Therefore, the segment diagram 600 can be referred to as a four-segment resolver for 320 MHz, which can support a 320 MHz operating bandwidth.

[0078] Figure 7An example segmented diagram 700 is shown that supports ranging NDP for wide bandwidth networks in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The segmented diagram 700 can support a transmission or reception technique for ranging NDP using 320 MHz bandwidth, and can support using EHT ranging NDP with secure EHT-LTF. For example, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 can use a counter mode (e.g., AES-128 counter mode) in the PHY layer to generate a pseudo-random sequence of octets at both the transmitter and the receiver, and can use the pseudo-random sequence of octets for one or more ranging NDPs.

[0079] In some implementations, such as implementations where the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 use a puncturing pattern for ranging NDPs associated with a 320 MHz bandwidth, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may support a three-segment parser for 240 MHz. For example, instead of allocating four outputs from the octet parser 610 and allocating the four outputs to different 80 MHz sequential segments (making full use of the 320 MHz bandwidth), the transmitting device may obtain three outputs from the octet parser 610 and may allocate each of the three outputs to a different 80 MHz segment (making full use of the 240 MHz portion of the 320 MHz bandwidth).

[0080] Thus, and as shown in the segmentation diagram 700, the transmitting device can obtain output 615-b, output 615-c, and output 615-d from the octet parser 610, can modulate each of the three obtained outputs 615 via respective modulators 620, and can assign information of each modulated output 615 to the frequency domain tone of the respective 80 MHz sequence segment. As shown by the segmentation diagram 700, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 can puncture the relatively lowest 80 MHz sequence segment. In addition, although shown as puncturing the relatively lowest 80 MHz sequence segment in the context of the segmentation diagram 700, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 can support any puncturing pattern so that any one or more of the second lowest 80 MHz sequence segment, the second highest 80 MHz sequence segment, or the highest 80 MHz sequence segment can be punctured in addition or alternatively.

[0081] Figure 8An example segmented diagram 800 is shown that supports ranging NDP for wide bandwidth networks in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The segmented diagram 800 can support a transmission or reception technique for a ranging NDP using a 320 MHz bandwidth, and can support using an EHT ranging NDP with a secure EHT-LTF. For example, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 can use a counter mode (e.g., AES-128 counter mode) in the PHY layer to generate a pseudo-random sequence of octets at both the transmitter and the receiver, and can use the pseudo-random sequence of octets for one or more ranging NDPs.

[0082] In some aspects, if the pseudo-random octet stream is parsed when a single 80 MHz segment is punctured, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 can employ segmentation according to the segmentation diagram 700, and the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 can use the segmentation diagram 800 to handle the situation where one or more 40 MHz segments (within one or more 80 MHz segments) are punctured. According to the segmentation diagram 800, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 can support the design of the segmentation diagram 800 to send pseudo-random octets to three 80 MHz segments and one 40 MHz segment.

[0083] In some implementations, for example, the transmitting device may use a 1:4 octet parser 610 to parse the pseudo-random octet stream 605 to obtain four outputs 615 (e.g., as similarly shown by segmentation diagrams 600 and 700), and to obtain 40 MHz puncturing, once a set (e.g., all) of the frequency domain tones of the 40 MHz portion of the 80 MHz segment have been filled with information from the outputs 615, the transmitting device may discard any remaining octets of the outputs 615. This process may work and ensure compatibility between the transmitter and the receiver because the transmitter and the receiver use the pseudo-random octet stream 605 having the same octets (e.g., because the transmitter and the receiver use the same octet stream 605 and the same octet parser 610, the same information may be assigned or expected at the 40 MHz portion at both the transmitter and the receiver). In other words, wireless device 505 and wireless device 510 can use a relatively large supply of pseudo-random octets and can support a process according to which the same octets are mapped to the same subcarriers or tones at both the transmitter and the receiver. In this way, as long as the transmitter and the receiver know the puncturing pattern and discard one or more octets corresponding to the punctured frequency range, the two devices can maintain synchronization. Based on such an information discard-based method for puncturing 40MHz segments, wireless device 505 and wireless device 510 can support a unified low-complexity technique for supporting various puncturing patterns (e.g., a puncturing pattern involving one or more 80MHz puncturing segments, one or more 40MHz puncturing segments, or any combination thereof).

[0084] For example and as shown by the segmentation diagram 800, the transmitting device may assign information of the modulated output 615-a to the first 80 MHz sequence segment, may assign information of the modulated output 615-b to the second 80 MHz sequence segment, may assign information of the modulated output 615-c to the third 80 MHz sequence segment, and may assign a portion of the information of the modulated output 615-d to the 40 MHz sequence segment of the fourth 80 MHz sequence segment to obtain 40 MHz puncturing. In some aspects, the transmitting device may assign a portion of the information of the modulated output 615-d to the frequency domain tones associated with index values ​​ranging from 244 to -244 in the 40 MHz sequence (and discard the remaining information of the modulated output 615-d). In addition, although the segmentation diagram 800 shows a punctured 40 MHz in the fourth 80 MHz sequence segment, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may additionally or alternatively support 40 MHz puncturing in any one or more of the first 80 MHz sequence segment, the second 80 MHz sequence segment, or the third 80 MHz sequence segment. Furthermore, within any 80 MHz sequence segment, the punctured 40 MHz may occupy a relatively highest frequency range of the 80 MHz sequence segment, a relatively lowest frequency range of the 80 MHz sequence segment, or a frequency range approximately in the middle of the 80 MHz sequence segment.

[0085] Fig. 9 An example segmented diagram 900 is shown that supports ranging NDP for wide bandwidth networks in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The segmented diagram 900 can support a transmission or reception technique for ranging NDP using 320 MHz bandwidth, and can support using EHT ranging NDP with secure EHT-LTF. For example, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 can use a counter mode (e.g., AES-128 counter mode) in the PHY layer to generate a pseudo-random sequence of octets at both the transmitter and the receiver, and can use the pseudo-random sequence of octets for one or more ranging NDPs.

[0086] In some aspects, if the pseudo-random octet stream is parsed when the 80 MHz segment and the 40 MHz segment are punctured, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 can employ segmentation according to the segmentation diagram 900. Therefore, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 can support the design of the segmentation diagram 900 to send pseudo-random octets to two 80 MHz segments and one 40 MHz segment.

[0087] In some implementations, for example, the transmitting device may parse the pseudo-random octet stream 605 using a 1:4 octet parser 610 to obtain four outputs 615 (e.g., as similarly shown by segment diagrams 600, 700, and 800), and to obtain 80 MHz + 40 MHz puncturing, once a set (e.g., all) of the frequency domain tones of the 40 MHz portion of the 80 MHz segment have been filled with information from the outputs 615, the transmitting device may discard any remaining octets of the outputs 615, and may completely discard the octets of the outputs 615 associated with the punctured 80 MHz segment. This process may ensure compatibility between the transmitter and the receiver because the transmitter and the receiver use the pseudo-random octet stream 605 having the same octets (e.g., because the transmitter and the receiver use the same octet stream 605 and the same octet parser 610, the same information may be assigned or expected at the punctured (e.g., discarded) and actually transmitted portions at both the transmitter and the receiver).

[0088] Fig.10 An example signal diagram 1000 is shown that supports ranging NDP for wide bandwidth networks according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The signal diagram 1000 may implement or be implemented to implement or facilitate aspects of any one or more of the WLAN 100, PDU 200, PPDU 350, PPDU 400, diagram 500, or segment diagrams 600, 700, 800, or 900. For example, the signal diagram 1000 shows communication between a wireless device 505 and a wireless device 510, which may be examples of corresponding devices described herein. The wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may be examples of two STAs 104, two APs 102, or one STA 104 and one AP 102. In some implementations, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may support an indication or identification of a 320 MHz ranging NDP in a preamble of a PPDU that includes the 320 MHz ranging NDP.

[0089] In the following description of the signal diagram 1000, operations may be performed (e.g., reported or provided) in a different order than shown, or operations performed by the example device may be performed in a different order or at a different time. For example, certain operations may also be excluded from the signal diagram 1000, or other operations may be added to the signal 1000. Furthermore, although some operations or signaling may be shown as occurring at different times for discussion purposes, these operations may actually occur simultaneously.

[0090] At 1005, a wireless device 505 (e.g., a first wireless device) may transmit a first PPDU (e.g., a first physical layer PDU), wherein the first PPDU may be associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein a preamble of the first PPDU includes a first set of bits indicating that the first PPDU is a first ranging NDP. For example, the first PPDU may be associated with a bandwidth of 320 MHz, and the first set of bits may be included in a U-SIG field of the preamble of the first PPDU. The first set of bits may include one or more reserved bits of the U-SIG field, and the one or more reserved bits may be located or positioned (in terms of bit placement) within one or more of the multiple parts of the U-SIG field. For example, the wireless device 505 may use one or more reserved bits of a first part (e.g., U-SIG-1) of the U-SIG field or one or more reserved bits of a second part (e.g., U-SIG-2) of the U-SIG field to indicate that the first PPDU is a first ranging NDP.

[0091] In some aspects, the one or more reserved bits used by the wireless device 505 may be designated as one or more ignore bits or one or more validation bits for at least a different STA type than the type of the wireless device 505. For example, in accordance with the described techniques, the wireless device 505 may interpret the one or more reserved bits as an indication that the first PPDU is a 320 MHz ranging NDP, while one or more other devices may interpret the one or more reserved bits as one or more ignore bits or one or more validation bits.

[0092] Additionally or alternatively, one or more bits in the U-SIG field of the preamble of the first PPDU may include one or more bits of the type and compressed mode fields of the U-SIG field. In this way, the wireless device 505 may use one or more bits of the type and compressed mode fields of the U-SIG field to indicate that the first PPDU is a first ranging NDP. In such an implementation, a word value of one or more bits of the type and compressed mode fields may indicate that the first PPDU is a first ranging NDP, wherein the word value indicates a verification indication at least for a STA type different from the type of the wireless device 505. In some aspects, the word value of the type and compressed mode fields may be a value of two or three.

[0093] Thus, the wireless device 505 may use one or more bits of the U-SIG field or the type and compressed mode fields to indicate that the first PPDU is a ranging NDP (e.g., a 320 MHz ranging NDP). As described herein, the use of one or more bits of a given field may be equivalently referred to or understood as setting one or more bits to one or more specific values, configuring one or more bits to one or more specific values, encoding one or more bits to one or more specific values, selecting one or more bits, or selecting a field including one or more bits, or any combination thereof. Such one or more specific values ​​may include a specific permutation of bit values ​​indicating information, and the wireless device 505 may use, set, configure, encode, or select one or more bits to enable a receiving device (e.g., wireless device 510) to identify, determine, or otherwise ascertain the information.

[0094] In some aspects, the type of device may refer to which communication protocol the device supports, the capabilities of the device, or whether the device is configured with interpretation rules associated with interpreting one or more reserved bits as an indication that the first PPDU is a 320 MHz ranging NDP. The first PPDU may be a TB PPDU or a non-TB PPDU.

[0095] At 1010, the wireless device 505 may receive a second PPDU from the wireless device 510, wherein the second PPDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz (e.g., 320 MHz), and wherein the preamble of the second PPDU includes a second bit set indicating that the second PPDU is a second ranging NDP. The second bit set may indicate that the second PPDU is a second ranging NDP in any manner in the same manner as the first bit set may indicate that the first PPDU is a first ranging NDP. For example, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may support the same interpretation rules associated with how a specific bit set in the preamble of the PPDU may indicate that the PPDU is a ranging NDP or not a ranging NDP. The second PPDU may be a TB PPDU or a non-TB PPDU. Such interpretation rules may be network-specific rules, such as rules set forth by a network specification. Additionally or alternatively, such interpretation rules may be signaled between the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510. In some aspects, the transmission of the second PPDU may be triggered by the reception of the first PPDU. Accordingly, the wireless device 505 may interpret the second bit set in the preamble of the second PPDU to identify, determine, or otherwise ascertain that the second PPDU is a ranging NDP (e.g., a 320 MHz ranging NDP). As described herein, the interpretation of the bit set may be equivalently referred to or understood as reading the bit set, decoding the bit set, mapping the bit set to an action or definition set (e.g., via a table), or any combination thereof. In some other aspects, the reception of the second PPDU may trigger the transmission of the first PPDU.

[0096] At 1015, the wireless device 505 may estimate, measure, calculate, or otherwise determine a distance between the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 based on the first PPDU and the second PPDU. For example, the wireless device 505 may estimate, measure, calculate, or otherwise determine a distance between the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 based on the RTT associated with the first PPDU and the second PPDU.

[0097] At 1020, the wireless device 505 may send a measurement report to the wireless device 510. In some aspects, the measurement report may be based on the transmission of the first PPDU and the reception of the second PPDU and may include an indication of a distance between the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510. Alternatively, the wireless device 510 may estimate the distance between the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 and may send the measurement report to the wireless device 505.

[0098] At 1025, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may communicate in association with the measurement report. For example, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may exchange signaling based on performing a ranging measurement procedure or based on information included in the measurement report. For example, the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510 may set or configure one or more transmission or reception parameters based on the distance between the wireless device 505 and the wireless device 510.

[0099] Fig.11 A flowchart of an example process 1100 of supporting ranging NDP for wide bandwidth networks that can be performed by a wireless communication device according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of process 1100 can be implemented by an AP or STA or components thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of process 1100 can be performed by an AP or STA as described herein. In some examples, the AP or STA can execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the AP or STA to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the AP or STA can use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the described functions.

[0100] At 1102, the method may include sending a first physical layer PDU, wherein the first physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein a preamble of the first physical layer PDU includes a first set of bits indicating that the first physical layer PDU is a first ranging NDP. The operations of 1102 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein, such as in Fig.10 In some examples, aspects of the operation of 1102 can be performed as described in reference to Fig.14 The PPDU sending component 1402 described above is executed.

[0101] At 1104, the method may include receiving a second physical layer PDU, wherein the second physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein a preamble of the second physical layer PDU includes a second set of bits indicating that the second physical layer PDU is a second ranging NDP. The operation of 1104 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein, such as in Fig.10 In some examples, aspects of the operation of 1104 can be performed as described with reference to Fig.14 The PPDU receiving component 1404 described above is executed.

[0102] Fig.12A flow chart of an example process 1200 of supporting ranging NDP for wide bandwidth networks that can be performed by a wireless communication device according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of process 1200 can be implemented by an AP or STA or components thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of process 1200 can be performed by an AP or STA as described herein. In some examples, the AP or STA can execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the AP or STA to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the AP or STA can use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the described functions.

[0103] At 1202, the method may include including a first set of bits in a U-SIG field of a preamble of a first physical layer PDU. For example, the wireless communication device may configure the U-SIG field with the first set of bits so that the U-SIG field includes or otherwise indicates the first set of bits. The operations of 1202 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein, such as in Fig.10 In some examples, aspects of the operation of 1202 may be performed as described with reference to Fig.14 The PPDU preamble code generation component 1406 described above is performed.

[0104] At 1204, the method may include sending a first physical layer PDU, wherein the first physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein a preamble of the first physical layer PDU includes a first set of bits indicating that the first physical layer PDU is a first ranging NDP. The operation of 1204 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein, such as in Fig.10 In some examples, aspects of the operation of 1204 can be performed as described in reference to Fig.14 The PPDU sending component 1402 described above is executed.

[0105] At 1206, the method may include receiving a second physical layer PDU, wherein the second physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein a preamble of the second physical layer PDU includes a second set of bits indicating that the second physical layer PDU is a second ranging NDP. The operations of 1206 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein, such as in Fig.10 In some examples, aspects of the operation of 1206 can be performed as described with reference to Fig.14 The PPDU receiving component 1404 described above is executed.

[0106] Fig.13A flowchart of an example process 1300 of supporting ranging NDP for wide bandwidth networks that can be performed by a wireless communication device according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of process 1300 can be implemented by an AP or STA or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of process 1300 can be performed by an AP or STA as described herein. In some examples, the AP or STA can execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the AP or STA to perform the described functions. Additionally or alternatively, the AP or STA can use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the described functions.

[0107] At 1302, the method may include sending a first physical layer PDU, wherein the first physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein a preamble of the first physical layer PDU includes a first set of bits indicating that the first physical layer PDU is a first ranging NDP. The operations of 1302 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein, such as in Fig.10 In some examples, aspects of the operation of 1302 can be performed as described in reference to Fig.14 The PPDU sending component 1402 described above is executed.

[0108] At 1304, the method may include receiving a second physical layer PDU, wherein the second physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein a preamble of the second physical layer PDU includes a second set of bits indicating that the second physical layer PDU is a second ranging NDP. The operations of 1304 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein, such as in Fig.10 In some examples, aspects of the operation of 1304 can be performed as described with reference to Fig.14 The PPDU receiving component 1404 described above is executed.

[0109] At 1306, the method may include communicating in association with a measurement report, wherein the measurement report is based on the transmission of a first physical layer PDU and the reception of a second physical layer PDU, and wherein the measurement report includes an indication of a distance between the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device from which the second physical layer PDU was received. In some implementations, such communication may include sending or receiving the measurement report. Additionally or alternatively, such communication may include sending or receiving other messages or frames based on the measurement (e.g., distance) indicated in the measurement report. For example, the communication may include beamforming (e.g., directional) transmission or reception, wherein such beamforming is based on the distance indicated in the measurement report. The operations of 1306 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein, such as in Fig.10 1020 or 1025 or both. In some examples, aspects of the operation of 1306 can be as described with reference to Fig.14 The described ranging component 1410 is performed.

[0110] Fig.14 A block diagram of an example wireless communication device 1400 supporting ranging NDP for wide bandwidth networks according to some aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In some examples, the wireless communication device 1400 is configured or operable to perform as described in reference to Fig.11 , Fig.12 and Fig.13 Described processes 1100, 1200, and 1300. In various examples, the wireless communication device 1400 can be a chip, SoC, chipset, package, or device that can include: one or more modems (such as a Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) modem or a cellular modem, such as a 3GPP 4G LTE or 5G compatible modem); one or more processors, processing blocks, or processing elements (collectively, "processors"); one or more radio units (collectively, "radios"); and one or more memories or memory blocks (collectively, "memories").

[0111] In some examples, the wireless communication device 1400 may be a device for use in an AP or STA (such as a Figure 1 102 or STA 104 described herein). In some other examples, the wireless communication device 1400 may be an AP including such a chip, SoC, chipset, package or device and multiple antennas. The wireless communication device 1400 is capable of sending and receiving wireless communications in the form of, for example, wireless packets. For example, the wireless communication device may be configured or operable to send and receive packets in the form of physical layer PPDU and MPDU that conform to one or more standards in the wireless communication protocol standards of the IEEE802.11 series. In some examples, the wireless communication device 1400 also includes an application processor or may be coupled to an application processor, which may be further coupled to another memory. In some examples, the wireless communication device 1400 also includes at least one external network interface that implements communication with a core network or a backhaul network to obtain access to an external network including the Internet. In some examples, the wireless communication device 1400 also includes a user interface (UI) (such as a touch screen or keyboard) and a display, which may be integrated with the UI to form a touch screen display. In some examples, the wireless communication device 1400 may also include one or more sensors, such as, for example, one or more inertial sensors, accelerometers, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, or altitude sensors.

[0112] The wireless communication device 1400 includes a PPDU transmission component 1402, a PPDU reception component 1404, a PPDU preamble generation component 1406, a PPDU interpretation component 1408, a ranging component 1410, and a measurement report component 1412. Portions of one or more of the components 1402, 1404, 1406, 1408, 1410, and 1412 may be implemented at least in part using hardware or firmware. For example, the PPDU reception component 1404 may be implemented at least in part by a modem. In some examples, at least some of the components 1402, 1404, 1406, 1408, 1410, and 1412 are implemented at least in part by a processor and as software stored in a memory. For example, portions of one or more of the components 1402 , 1404 , 1406 , 1408 , 1410 , or 1412 may be implemented as non-transitory instructions (or “code”) executable by a processor to perform the functions or operations of the respective module.

[0113] In some implementations, the processor may be a component of a processing system. A processing system may generally refer to a system or a series of machines or components that receives input and processes the input to generate an output set (the output set may be passed to other systems or, for example, components of device 1400). For example, the processing system of device 1400 may refer to a system including various other components or subcomponents of device 1400, such as a processor, or a transceiver, or a communication manager, or other components or combinations of components of device 1400. The processing system of device 1400 may be docked with other components of device 1400, and may process information (such as, input or signal) received from other components, or output information to other components. For example, a chip or modem of device 1400 may include a processing system, a first interface for outputting information, and a second interface for obtaining information. In some implementations, the first interface may refer to an interface between the processing system of a chip or modem and a transmitter, so that device 1400 may send information output from a chip or modem. In some implementations, the second interface may refer to an interface between a processing system of a chip or modem and a receiver, so that the device 1400 can obtain information or signal input, and the information can be passed to the processing system. It will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that the first interface may also obtain information or signal input, and the second interface may also output information or signal output.

[0114] The PPDU transmitting component 1402 may be configured or otherwise support means for transmitting a first physical layer PDU, wherein the first physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein a preamble of the first physical layer PDU includes a first set of bits indicating that the first physical layer PDU is a first ranging NDP. The PPDU receiving component 1404 may be configured or otherwise support means for receiving a second physical layer PDU, wherein the second physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein a preamble of the second physical layer PDU includes a second set of bits indicating that the second physical layer PDU is a second ranging NDP.

[0115] In some examples, PPDU preamble generation component 1406 may be configured or otherwise support means for including a first set of bits in a U-SIG field of a preamble of a first physical layer PDU.

[0116] In some examples, to support including a first set of bits in a U-SIG field of a preamble of a first physical layer PDU, the PPDU preamble generation component 1406 may be configured to or otherwise support using one or more reserved bits of the U-SIG field to indicate that the first physical layer PDU is a unit of a first ranging NDP, the one or more reserved bits being within one or more of a plurality of parts of the U-SIG field and being designated as one or more ignore bits or one or more verification bits for at least a first type of STA that is different from a type of the first wireless communication device.

[0117] In some examples, to support including a first set of bits in a U-SIG field of a preamble of a first physical layer PDU, the PPDU preamble generation component 1406 may be configured or otherwise support using one or more bits of the type and compression mode fields of the U-SIG field to indicate that the first physical layer PDU is a unit of a first ranging NDP.

[0118] In some examples, a word value of one or more bits of the type and compression mode field indicates that the first physical layer PDU is a first ranging NDP, the word value verifying the indication for at least a first type indication of a STA of a different type than the first wireless communication device. In some examples, a word value of one or more bits of the type and compression mode field is two or three.

[0119] In some examples, the PPDU interpretation component 1408 can be configured to or otherwise support a unit for interpreting a second set of bits in the preamble of a second physical layer PDU according to network-specific rules, wherein, according to the network-specific rules, the second set of bits indicates that the second physical layer PDU is a second ranging NDP.

[0120] In some examples, ranging component 1410 can be configured as or otherwise support a unit for communicating in association with a measurement report, wherein the measurement report is based on sending a first physical layer PDU and receiving a second physical layer PDU, and wherein the measurement report includes an indication of a distance between a first wireless communication device and a second wireless communication device from which the second physical layer PDU is received.

[0121] In some examples, measurement reporting component 1412 may be configured or otherwise support means for sending a measurement report to a second wireless communication device. In some examples, measurement reporting component 1412 may be configured or otherwise support means for receiving a measurement report from a second wireless communication device.

[0122] In some examples, the first set of bits indicates that the first physical layer PDU is a first ranging NDP and the first physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz. In some examples, the second set of bits indicates that the second physical layer PDU is a second ranging NDP and the second physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz.

[0123] In some examples, the first physical layer PDU is a triggered physical layer PDU or a non-triggered physical layer PDU. In some examples, the second physical layer PDU is triggered by the first physical layer PDU. In some examples, sending the first physical layer PDU and receiving the second physical layer PDU are part of a ranging measurement process between the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device. In some examples, the bandwidth is equal to 320 MHz.

[0124] Examples of implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0125] Clause 1: A method for wireless communication executable at a first wireless communication device, comprising: sending a first physical layer PDU, wherein the first physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein a preamble of the first physical layer PDU includes a first set of bits indicating that the first physical layer PDU is a first ranging NDP; and receiving a second physical layer PDU, wherein the second physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein the preamble of the second physical layer PDU includes a second set of bits indicating that the second physical layer PDU is a second ranging NDP.

[0126] Clause 2: The method of clause 1, further comprising: including the first set of bits in a U-SIG field of the preamble of the first physical layer PDU.

[0127] Clause 3: A method according to clause 2, wherein including the first bit set in the U-SIG field of the preamble code of the first physical layer PDU also includes: using one or more reserved bits of the U-SIG field to indicate that the first physical layer PDU is the first ranging NDP, and the one or more reserved bits are within one or more of the multiple parts of the U-SIG field and are designated as one or more ignore bits or one or more verification bits for at least a first type of STA that is different from the type of the first wireless communication device.

[0128] Clause 4: A method according to any one of clauses 2 to 3, wherein including the first bit set in the U-SIG field of the preamble code of the first physical layer PDU also includes: using one or more bits of the type and compression mode fields of the U-SIG field to indicate that the first physical layer PDU is the first ranging NDP.

[0129] Clause 5: A method according to clause 4, wherein the word value of the one or more bits of the type and compression mode field indicates that the first physical layer PDU is the first ranging NDP, and the word value is at least for a first type indication verification indication of a STA of a different type than the first wireless communication device.

[0130] Clause 6: The method of clause 5, wherein the word value of the one or more bits of the type and compressed mode field is two or three.

[0131] Clause 7: The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 6 further includes: interpreting the second bit set in the preamble code of the second physical layer PDU according to network-specific rules, wherein, according to the network-specific rules, the second bit set indicates that the second physical layer PDU is the second ranging NDP.

[0132] Clause 8: The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 7 further includes: communicating in association with a measurement report, wherein the measurement report is at least partially based on the sending of the first physical layer PDU and the receiving of the second physical layer PDU, and wherein the measurement report includes an indication of the distance between the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device from which the second physical layer PDU is received.

[0133] Clause 9: The method of clause 8, further comprising: sending the measurement report to the second wireless communication device; or receiving the measurement report from the second wireless communication device.

[0134] Clause 10: A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 9, wherein the first bit set indicates that the first physical layer PDU is the first ranging NDP and the first physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and the second bit set indicates that the second physical layer PDU is the second ranging NDP and the second physical layer PDU is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz.

[0135] Clause 11: A method as described in any one of clauses 1 to 10, wherein the first physical layer PDU is a trigger-based physical layer PDU or a non-trigger-based physical layer PDU.

[0136] Clause 12: A method as described in any of clauses 1 to 11, wherein the second physical layer PDU is triggered by the first physical layer PDU.

[0137] Clause 13: The method of any of clauses 1 to 12, wherein sending the first physical layer PDU and receiving the second physical layer PDU are part of a ranging measurement procedure between the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device.

[0138] Clause 14: The method of any one of clauses 1 to 13, wherein the bandwidth is equal to 320 MHz.

[0139] Clause 15: An apparatus for wireless communication at a first wireless communication device, comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform a method according to any one of clauses 1 to 14.

[0140] Clause 16: An apparatus for wireless communication at a first wireless communication device, comprising at least one means for performing the method according to any of clauses 1 to 14.

[0141] Clause 17: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications at a first wireless communications device, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform the method according to any of clauses 1 to 14.

[0142] As used herein, the terms "determine" or "determining" encompass a wide variety of actions, and thus, "determining" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (such as via looking up in a table, a database, or another data structure), ascertaining, ascertaining, measuring, etc. Furthermore, "determining" may include receiving (such as receiving information), accessing (such as accessing data stored in a memory), sending (such as sending information), etc. Furthermore, "determining" may include solving, selecting, obtaining, choosing, establishing, and other such similar actions.

[0143] As used herein, a phrase referring to "at least one of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to cover: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, and abc. As used herein, unless expressly indicated otherwise, "or" is intended to be interpreted in an inclusive sense. For example, "a or b" may include only a, only b, or a combination of a and b.

[0144] As used herein, unless expressly indicated otherwise, "based on" is intended to be interpreted in an inclusive sense. For example, unless expressly indicated otherwise, "based on" may be used interchangeably with "based at least in part on," "associated with," or "according to." Specifically, unless a phrase refers to "based only on 'a'" or an equivalent in context, whether it is "based on 'a'" or "based at least in part on 'a'," it may be based on 'a' alone, or based on a combination of 'a' and one or more other factors, conditions, or information.

[0145] The various illustrative components, logic, logic blocks, modules, circuits, operations, and algorithmic processes described in conjunction with the examples 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. The interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software has been generally described around functionality and shown in the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and processes described above. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware, firmware, or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the entire system.

[0146] Various modifications to the examples described in this disclosure may be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other examples without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to the examples shown herein, but are intended to be consistent with the broadest scope consistent with the disclosure, the principles disclosed herein, and the novel features.

[0147] In addition, various features described in the context of separate examples in this specification 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 examples individually or in any appropriate sub-combination. As such, although features may be described above as taking action in a particular combination, and even initially claimed as such, in some cases, one or more features from a claimed combination may be removed from the combination, and a claimed combination may be directed to a sub-combination or a variation of a sub-combination.

[0148] Similarly, although operations are depicted in a particular order in the figures, 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 operations shown to achieve the desired result. In addition, the accompanying drawings can schematically depict one or more example processes in the form of a flow chart or a schematic flow diagram. However, other operations that are not depicted can be incorporated into the schematically illustrated example process. For example, one or more additional operations can be performed before, after, simultaneously or between any operation in the illustrated operation. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. In addition, the separation of each system component in the examples described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all examples, and it should be understood that the described program components and system can be usually integrated together in a single software product, or encapsulated in multiple software products.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication executable at a first wireless communication device, include: transmitting a first physical layer protocol data unit, wherein the first physical layer protocol data unit is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 megahertz (MHz), and wherein a preamble of the first physical layer protocol data unit includes a first set of bits indicating that the first physical layer protocol data unit is a first ranging null data packet; and A second physical layer protocol data unit is received, wherein the second physical layer protocol data unit is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein a preamble of the second physical layer protocol data unit includes a second set of bits indicating that the second physical layer protocol data unit is a second ranging null data packet.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: include: The first set of bits is included in a universal signal (U-SIG) field of the preamble of the first physical layer protocol data unit.

3. The method according to claim 2, in, Including the first set of bits in the U-SIG field of the preamble of the first physical layer protocol data unit further comprises: One or more reserved bits of the U-SIG field are used to indicate that the first physical layer protocol data unit is the first ranging null data packet, and the one or more reserved bits are within one or more of the multiple parts of the U-SIG field and are designated as one or more ignore bits or one or more verification bits for at least a first type of station (STA) different from the type of the first wireless communication device.

4. The method according to claim 2, in, Including the first set of bits in the U-SIG field of the preamble of the first physical layer protocol data unit further comprises: One or more bits in the type and compression mode fields of the U-SIG field are used to indicate that the first physical layer protocol data unit is the first ranging null data packet.

5. The method according to claim 4, in, The word value of the one or more bits of the type and compressed mode field indicates that the first physical layer protocol data unit is the first ranging null data packet, and the word value verifies the indication at least for a first type indication of a station (STA) of a different type than the first wireless communication device.

6. The method according to claim 5, in, The word value of the one or more bits of the type and compression mode field is two or three.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: include: The second set of bits in the preamble of the second physical layer protocol data unit is interpreted according to network specific rules, wherein according to the network specific rules, the second set of bits indicates that the second physical layer protocol data unit is the second ranging null data packet.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: include: Communicate in association with a measurement report, wherein the measurement report is based at least in part on the sending of the first physical layer protocol data unit and the receiving of the second physical layer protocol data unit, and wherein the measurement report includes an indication of a distance between the first wireless communication device and a second wireless communication device from which the second physical layer protocol data unit is received.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: include: sending the measurement report to the second wireless communication device; or The measurement report is received from the second wireless communication device.

10. The method according to claim 1, in, The first set of bits indicates that the first physical layer protocol data unit is the first ranging null data packet and that the first physical layer protocol data unit is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein the second set of bits indicates that the second physical layer protocol data unit is the second ranging null data packet and that the second physical layer protocol data unit is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz.

11. The method according to claim 1, in, The first physical layer protocol data unit is a trigger-based physical layer protocol data unit or a non-trigger-based physical layer protocol data unit.

12. The method according to claim 1, in, The second physical layer protocol data unit is triggered by the first physical layer protocol data unit.

13. The method according to claim 1, in, Transmitting the first physical layer protocol data unit and receiving the second physical layer protocol data unit are part of a ranging measurement procedure between the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device.

14. The method according to claim 1, in, The bandwidth is equal to 320 MHz.

15. A first wireless communication device, include: at least one memory; as well as at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one memory, the at least one processor operable to cause the first wireless communication device to: transmitting a first physical layer protocol data unit, wherein the first physical layer protocol data unit is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 megahertz (MHz), and wherein a preamble of the first physical layer protocol data unit includes a first set of bits indicating that the first physical layer protocol data unit is a first ranging null data packet; and A second physical layer protocol data unit is received, wherein the second physical layer protocol data unit is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein a preamble of the second physical layer protocol data unit includes a second set of bits indicating that the second physical layer protocol data unit is a second ranging null data packet.

16. The first wireless communication device according to claim 15, in, The at least one processor is further operable to cause the first wireless communication device to: The first set of bits is included in a universal signal (U-SIG) field of the preamble of the first physical layer protocol data unit.

17. The first wireless communication device according to claim 16, in, To include the first set of bits in the U-SIG field of the preamble of the first physical layer protocol data unit, the at least one processor is further operable to cause the first wireless communication device to: One or more reserved bits of the U-SIG field are used to indicate that the first physical layer protocol data unit is the first ranging null data packet, and the one or more reserved bits are within one or more of the multiple parts of the U-SIG field and are designated as one or more ignore bits or one or more verification bits for at least a first type of station (STA) different from the type of the first wireless communication device.

18. The first wireless communication device according to claim 16, in, To include the first set of bits in the U-SIG field of the preamble of the first physical layer protocol data unit, the at least one processor is further operable to cause the first wireless communication device to: One or more bits in the type and compression mode fields of the U-SIG field are used to indicate that the first physical layer protocol data unit is the first ranging null data packet.

19. The first wireless communication device according to claim 18, in, The word value of the one or more bits of the type and compressed mode field indicates that the first physical layer protocol data unit is the first ranging null data packet, and the word value verifies the indication at least for a first type indication of a station (STA) of a different type than the first wireless communication device.

20. The first wireless communication device according to claim 19, in, The word value of the one or more bits of the type and compression mode field is two or three.

21. The first wireless communication device according to claim 15, in, The at least one processor is further operable to cause the first wireless communication device to: The second set of bits in the preamble of the second physical layer protocol data unit is interpreted according to network specific rules, wherein according to the network specific rules, the second set of bits indicates that the second physical layer protocol data unit is the second ranging null data packet.

22. The first wireless communication device according to claim 15, in, The at least one processor is further operable to cause the first wireless communication device to: Communicate in association with a measurement report, wherein the measurement report is based at least in part on the sending of the first physical layer protocol data unit and the receiving of the second physical layer protocol data unit, and wherein the measurement report includes an indication of a distance between the first wireless communication device and a second wireless communication device from which the second physical layer protocol data unit is received.

23. The first wireless communication device according to claim 22, in, The at least one processor is further operable to cause the first wireless communication device to: sending the measurement report to the second wireless communication device; or The measurement report is received from the second wireless communication device.

24. The first wireless communication device according to claim 15, in, The first set of bits indicates that the first physical layer protocol data unit is the first ranging null data packet and that the first physical layer protocol data unit is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein the second set of bits indicates that the second physical layer protocol data unit is the second ranging null data packet and that the second physical layer protocol data unit is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz.

25. The first wireless communication device according to claim 15, in, The first physical layer protocol data unit is a trigger-based physical layer protocol data unit or a non-trigger-based physical layer protocol data unit.

26. The first wireless communication device according to claim 15, in, The second physical layer protocol data unit is triggered by the first physical layer protocol data unit.

27. The first wireless communication device according to claim 15, in, For sending the first physical layer protocol data unit and for receiving the second physical layer protocol data unit, the at least one processor is further operable to cause the first wireless communication device to: The first physical layer protocol data unit is sent and the second physical layer protocol data unit is received as part of a ranging measurement procedure between the first wireless communication device and a second wireless communication device.

28. The first wireless communication device according to claim 15, in, The bandwidth is equal to 320 MHz.

29. An apparatus for wireless communication at a first wireless communication device, include: means for transmitting a first physical layer protocol data unit, wherein the first physical layer protocol data unit is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 megahertz (MHz), and wherein a preamble of the first physical layer protocol data unit includes a first set of bits indicating that the first physical layer protocol data unit is a first ranging null data packet; and Means for receiving a second physical layer protocol data unit, wherein the second physical layer protocol data unit is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein a preamble of the second physical layer protocol data unit includes a second set of bits indicating that the second physical layer protocol data unit is a second ranging null data packet.

30. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a first wireless communication device, the code comprising instructions executable by at least one processor to: Sending the first physical layer protocol data unit, in, The first physical layer protocol data unit is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 megahertz (MHz), and wherein a preamble of the first physical layer protocol data unit includes a first set of bits indicating that the first physical layer protocol data unit is a first ranging null data packet; and A second physical layer protocol data unit is received, wherein the second physical layer protocol data unit is associated with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, and wherein a preamble of the second physical layer protocol data unit includes a second set of bits indicating that the second physical layer protocol data unit is a second ranging null data packet.

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