Distributed Resource Unit Signaling

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a method, device, and system for increasing the transmission power of a wireless communication device operating on a power spectral density (PSD) limited wireless channel. Some implementations relate more particularly to signaling in a trigger frame to support distributed transmission over distributed resource units (dRUs). In some implementations, an access point (AP) can transmit a trigger frame to request a trigger-based (TB) physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) from a wireless station (STA), the trigger frame carrying RU allocation information identifying a distributed resource unit (dRU) assigned to the STA, and carrying tone mapping information indicating a selected spreading bandwidth design for a wireless channel or subchannel. The AP can support channel puncturing by selecting a particular spreading bandwidth design that controls how the dRUs are mapped to discontinuous tones across the respective spreading bandwidths.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] cross reference

[0001] This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17 / 390,850, entitled "DISTRIBUTED RESOURCE UNIT SIGNALING," by SHELLHAMMER et al., which was filed on July 30, 2021 and is assigned to the assignee of this application.

[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly, to signaling for distributed resource units (dRUs) in wireless communications networks. [Background technology]

[0003]

[0003] A wireless local area network (WLAN) may be formed by one or more access points (APs) that provide a shared wireless communication medium for use by several client devices, also called stations (STAs). The basic building block of a WLAN that complies with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards is a basic service set (BSS) managed by the AP. Each BSS is identified by a basic service set identifier (BSSID) advertised by the AP. The AP periodically broadcasts a beacon frame to enable any STA within wireless range of the AP to establish or maintain a communication link with the WLAN.

[0004]

[0004] In some cases, APs and STAs may be subject to power spectral density (PSD) limitations. For example, some APs and STAs operating in the 6 gigahertz (GHz) frequency band may be required to comply with a low power indoor (LPI) power class that limits the transmission power of APs and STAs (in the 6 GHz band) to 5 decibel-milliwatts per megahertz (dBm / MHz) and -1 dBm / MHz, respectively. The transmission power in the 6 GHz band may be PSD limited per MHz. The PSD limitations, when applied to continuous transmissions, may undesirably reduce the range of wireless communications and may affect packet detection by the recipient. The term "continuous transmission" refers to the transmission of a Physical Layer Convergence Protocol (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) on one or more sets of continuous tones (also called "subcarriers"). The one or more sets of continuous tones may represent a resource unit (RU) defined by existing versions of the IEEE 802.11 standard. Existing versions of the IEEE 802.11 standard define RUs based on the quantity and index of consecutive tones.

[0005]

[0005] To meet the PSD limit, a STA or AP may transmit a packet as a distributed transmission. The term "distributed transmission" refers to the transmission of a PPDU on discontinuous tones across a wireless channel. As used herein, the term "distributed RU" (or dRU) refers to any RU distributed across a set of discontinuous subcarrier indexes. Thus, a dRU (defined by existing versions of the IEEE 802.11 standard) and a conventional RU may be associated with the same amount of bandwidth and may refer to the same amount of tones, the difference being that a dRU utilizes tones that are discontinuous, whereas a conventional RU is defined by one or more sets of contiguous tones. A conventional RU (defined by existing versions of the IEEE 802.11 standard) may also be referred to as a regular RU (rRu) or a legacy RU, among other examples, to distinguish it from a dRU. The discontinuous tones of a dRU are distributed across the entire spreading bandwidth (also referred to as the "dRU spreading bandwidth"). Conventionally, the spreading bandwidth is a fixed amount equal to the entire frequency spectrum of the wireless channel. Summary of the Invention

[0006]

[0006] The systems, methods, and devices of the present disclosure each have several innovative aspects, no single aspect of which is solely responsible for the desirable properties disclosed herein.

[0007]

[0007] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented as a method for wireless communication. The method includes allocating one or more resource units (RUs) of a wireless channel for trigger-based (TB) physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data units (PPDUs) from one or more wireless stations (STAs). The method may include generating a trigger frame carrying RU allocation information indicating one or more RUs and carrying tone mapping information indicating at least a first spreading bandwidth design for one or more distributed RUs (dRUs) in the RU allocation information. The one or more dRUs are mapped to a respective set of non-contiguous tones according to the first spreading bandwidth design. The method may include transmitting the trigger frame over the wireless channel.

[0008] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented as a wireless communication device for wireless communication. The wireless communication device includes at least one modem and at least one processor. The at least one processor may be configured to allocate one or more RUs of a wireless channel for a TB PPDU from one or more STAs. The at least one processor may be configured to generate a trigger frame carrying RU allocation information indicating one or more RUs and carrying tone mapping information indicating at least a first spreading bandwidth design for one or more dRUs in the RU allocation information. The one or more dRUs are mapped to a respective set of non-contiguous tones according to the first spreading bandwidth design. The at least one modem is configured to output the trigger frame for transmission over the wireless channel.

[0009] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented as a method for wireless communication by a first STA. The method includes receiving a trigger frame from an access point requesting a TB PPDU from one or more STAs. The trigger frame carries RU allocation information and carries tone mapping information indicating at least a first spreading bandwidth design for one or more dRUs in the RU allocation information. The method includes identifying a first dRU in the RU allocation information allocated for the first STA. The first dRU can associate with the first spreading bandwidth according to the first spreading bandwidth design. The method includes mapping the first dRU to a number (N) of non-contiguous tones across the first spreading bandwidth. The method includes transmitting the TB PPDU over a wireless channel as a distributed transmission on the N non-contiguous tones.

[0010] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented as a wireless communication device of a first STA. The wireless communication device includes at least one modem and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one modem. The at least one modem may be configured to obtain a trigger frame from an access point requesting a TB PPDU from one or more STAs. The trigger frame carries RU allocation information and carries tone mapping information indicating at least a first spreading bandwidth design for one or more dRUs in the RU allocation information. The at least one processor may be configured to identify a first dRU in the RU allocation information allocated for the first STA. The first dRU may be associated with the first spreading bandwidth according to the first spreading bandwidth design. The at least one processor may configure the first dRU to map a number (N) of non-contiguous tones across the first spreading bandwidth. The at least one modem may be configured to output a TB PPDU for distributed transmission on the N non-contiguous tones of the wireless channel. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011]

[0011] Details of one or more implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the following description. Other features, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the description, drawings, and claims. Please note that the relative dimensions of the following figures may not be drawn to scale. [Figure 1]

[0012] 1 shows a pictorial diagram of an exemplary wireless communication network. [Diagram 2]

[0013] 1 illustrates an exemplary Physical Layer Convergence Protocol (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) that can be used for communication between an Access Point (AP) and a number of Stations (STAs). [Diagram 3]

[0014] 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary wireless communication device. [Figure 4]

[0015] 1 shows a block diagram of an exemplary AP. [Diagram 5]

[0016] 1 shows a block diagram of an exemplary STA. [Figure 6]

[0017] 1 shows a message flow diagram in which a trigger frame requests a trigger-based (TB) PPDU from multiple STAs. [Figure 7]

[0018] 1 illustrates an example tone plan in which a regular resource unit (rRU) is defined with contiguous tone mapping for an 80 MHz wireless channel or 80 MHz subchannel. [Figure 8A]

[0019] FIG. 1 shows a frequency diagram illustrating an example distributed tone mapping for a distributed resource unit (dRU). [Figure 8B]

[0020] 13 shows another frequency diagram illustrating an example distributed tone mapping with multiple dRUs. [Figure 9]

[0021] 1 shows a conceptual diagram illustrating an example wireless channel with RU allocation and puncturing in various subchannels. [Figure 10]

[0022] 1 illustrates an exemplary spreading bandwidth design according to some implementations. [Figure 11]

[0023] 1 illustrates example tone mapping information according to some implementations. [Figure 12A]

[0024] 1 illustrates an example option for signaling tone mapping information in a 1-bit signaling field according to some implementations. [Figure 12B]

[0025] 1 illustrates an example option for signaling tone mapping information in a 2-bit signaling field according to some implementations. [Figure 12C]

[0026] 1 illustrates example options for signaling tone mapping information in a 3-bit signaling field according to some implementations. [Figure 12D]

[0027] 1 illustrates example options for signaling tone mapping information that may be used with a 20 MHz bandwidth or 40 MHz bandwidth TB PPDU, according to some implementations. [Figure 12E]

[0028] 13 illustrates an example option for signaling tone mapping information in a 3-bit signaling field based on a combined table for multiple sizes of TB PPDU according to some implementations. [Figure 13]

[0029] 13 shows an example mapping for a dRU based on an example spreading bandwidth design for an 80 MHz subchannel. [Figure 14]

[0030] 1 illustrates an example trigger frame that can be used for communication between an AP and several STAs, according to some implementations. [Figure 15]

[0031] 1 illustrates common information fields for a formatted trigger frame according to some implementations. [Figure 16]

[0032] 1 illustrates a special user information field for a formatted trigger frame according to some implementations. [Figure 17]

[0033] 1 illustrates a user information field for a formatted trigger frame according to some implementations. [Figure 18]

[0034] 1 illustrates another example trigger frame that can be used for communication between an AP and a number of STAs, according to some implementations. [Figure 19]

[0035] 1 shows a flowchart illustrating an example process for wireless communication supporting distributed resource unit (RU) signaling, according to some implementations. [Figure 20]

[0036] 1 shows a flowchart illustrating an example process for wireless communication supporting distributed RU signaling, according to some implementations. [Figure 21]

[0037] 1 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device according to some implementations. [Figure 22]

[0038] 1 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device according to some implementations. [Diagram 23]

[0039] 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary electronic device.

[0012]

[0040] Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013]

[0041] The following description is directed to several implementations for the purpose of describing the innovative aspects of the present disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in many different ways. The described implementations can be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals according to one or more of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, the IEEE 802.15 standard, the Bluetooth® standard defined by the Bluetooth® Special Interest Group (SIG), or the Long Term Evolution (LTE®), 3G, 4G, or 5G (New Radio (NR)) standard promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®), among others. The described implementations may be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of transmitting and receiving RF signals according to one or more of the following technologies or techniques: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), Single User (SU) Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), and Multi-User (MU) MIMO. The described implementations may also be implemented using other wireless communications protocols or RF signals suitable for use in one or more of a wireless personal area network (WPAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), wireless wide area network (WWAN), or internet of things (IOT) network.

[0014]

[0042] Various aspects generally relate to resource unit (RU) signaling in a trigger frame from an access point (AP) to one or more wireless stations (STAs), and more particularly, to a trigger frame carrying RU allocation information and tone mapping information indicating that the RU allocation information includes a distributed resource unit (dRU) associated with a spread bandwidth design. The trigger frame is transmitted by an AP to cause one or more STAs to transmit trigger-based (TB) physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data units (PPDUs) to the AP via respective RUs as OFDMA transmissions. In various implementations, the tone mapping information may be included in a common information field, a specific user information field, a new specific user information field, a per-user user information field, or a combination of fields in the trigger frame. The tone mapping information may indicate whether the assigned RU in each subchannel is a normal RU (rRU) or a dRU, and may further indicate a spread bandwidth design for a subchannel with a dRU. The spreading bandwidth design may refer to one or more spreading bandwidths in a wireless channel or subchannel and may generally control how the assigned dRUs are mapped to non-contiguous tones across their respective spreading bandwidths. In some implementations, the AP may support channel puncturing by indicating a particular spreading bandwidth design for a wireless channel or subchannel. In some implementations, the tone mapping information may explicitly indicate the spreading bandwidth design for various subchannels. For example, the tone mapping information may include a signaling field for each 80 MHz subchannel of the wireless channel and indicate the spreading bandwidth of the dRUs in that 80 MHz subchannel. In some other implementations, the tone mapping information may include puncturing information and PPDU bandwidth information associated with the TB PPDU to implicitly indicate the spreading bandwidth design for various subchannels.

[0015]

[0043] Particular implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages: Without the techniques in this disclosure, the dRUs would be spread over the wireless channel regardless of puncturing, and puncturing would reduce the amount of usable tones for the dRUs. Using the techniques in this disclosure, the AP can indicate the spreading bandwidth of the various dRUs to accommodate puncturing in the wireless channel. The assigned dRUs can be spread over a spreading bandwidth less than the channel bandwidth without sacrificing the amount of usable tones remaining after puncturing. In some implementations, the techniques in this disclosure can eliminate or minimize the amount of bits required for tone mapping information to indicate the spreading bandwidth design for the wireless channel or subchannel. Thus, in some implementations, the tone mapping information may add little or no additional overhead to the existing frame format of the trigger frame.

[0016]

[0044] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary wireless communication network 100. 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 (also referred to below as WLAN 100). For example, the WLAN 100 may be a network that implements at least one of the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards (such as those defined by the IEEE 802.11-2020 specification or amendments thereof, including, but not limited to, 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be). The WLAN 100 may include multiple wireless communication devices, such as an access point (AP) 102 and multiple stations (STAs) 104. Although only one AP 102 is shown, the WLAN network 100 may also include multiple APs 102.

[0017]

[0045] Each of the STAs 104 may also be referred to as a mobile station (MS), mobile device, mobile handset, wireless handset, access terminal (AT), user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), or subscriber unit, among other possible examples. The STAs 104 may represent a variety of devices, such as a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), other handheld device, a netbook, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a laptop, a display device (e.g., a TV, a computer monitor, a navigation system, among others), a music or other audio or stereo device, a remote control device ("remote"), a printer, a kitchen appliance or other household appliance, a key fob (e.g., for a passive keyless entry and start (PKES) system), among other possible examples.

[0018]

[0046] A single AP 102 and the associated set of STAs 104 may be referred to as a Basic Service Set (BSS) managed by the respective AP 102. FIG. 1 additionally illustrates 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 to users 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 periodically broadcasts a broadcast beacon frame ("beacon") containing the BSSID to enable any STAs 104 within wireless range of the AP 102 to "associate" or reassociate with the AP 102 to establish or maintain a respective (hereinafter also referred to as a "Wi-Fi link") communication link 106 with the AP 102. For example, the beacon may include an identification of a primary channel used by each AP 102, as well as timing synchronization functionality for establishing or maintaining timing synchronization with the AP 102. The APs 102 may provide access to external networks to various STAs 104 in the WLAN via their respective communication links 106.

[0019]

[0047] To establish a communication link 106 with an 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., the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, or 60 GHz bands). To perform passive scanning, the STAs 104 listen for beacons, which are transmitted by the respective APs 102 at regular time intervals called target beacon transmission times (TBTTs) (measured in time units (TUs), where one TU may equal 1024 microseconds (μs)). To perform active scanning, the STAs 104 generate probe requests, transmit them continuously on each channel to be scanned, and listen for probe responses from the APs 102. Each STA 104 may be configured to perform authentication and association operations to identify or select an AP 102 to associate with and establish a communication link 106 with the selected AP 102 based on scanning information obtained through passive or active scanning. The AP 102 assigns an association identifier (AID) to the STA 104 at the height of the association operation, and the AP 102 uses the AID to track the STA 104 .

[0020]

[0048] As a result of the increasing ubiquity of wireless networks, a STA 104 may have the opportunity to select one of many BSSs within range of the STA or to select among multiple APs 102 that together form an extended service set (ESS) including multiple connected BSSs. An extended network station associated with a WLAN 100 may be connected to a wired or wireless distribution system that may allow multiple APs 102 to associate in such an ESS. Thus, a STA 104 may be covered by more than one AP 102 and may associate with different APs 102 at different times for different transmissions. Additionally, after association with an AP 102, a STA 104 may also be configured to periodically scan its surroundings to find a more suitable AP 102 to associate with. For example, a STA 104 that is moving relative to its associated AP 102 may perform a "roaming" scan to find another AP 102 that has more desirable network characteristics, such as a greater received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or a lower traffic load.

[0021]

[0049] In some cases, the STAs 104 may form a network without involving the AP 102 or other devices other than the STAs 104 themselves. One example of such a network is an ad-hoc network (or wireless ad-hoc network). An ad-hoc network may alternatively be referred to as a mesh network or a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. In some cases, the ad-hoc network may be implemented within a larger wireless network, such as the WLAN 100. In such an implementation, the STAs 104 may be able to communicate with each other through the AP 102 using the communication link 106, but the STAs 104 may also communicate with each other directly via a direct wireless link 110. Additionally, two STAs 104 may communicate via the direct communication link 110 regardless of whether both STAs 104 are associated with and served by the same AP 102. In such an ad-hoc system, one or more of the STAs 104 may assume the role filled by the AP 102 in the BSS. Such STAs 104 may be referred to as group owners (GOs) and may coordinate transmissions within the ad-hoc network. Examples of direct wireless links 110 include Wi-Fi Direct connections, connections established by using Wi-Fi Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) links, and other P2P group connections.

[0022]

[0050] The AP 102 and the STAs 104 may function and communicate (via their respective communication links 106) in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocol standards (such as those defined by the IEEE 802.11-2016 specification or amendments thereof, including, but not limited to, 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be). These standards define WLAN radio and baseband protocols for the PHY layer and medium access control (MAC) layer. The AP 102 and the STAs 104 transmit and receive wireless information (hereinafter also referred to as "Wi-Fi communication") between each other in the form of Physical Layer Convergence Protocol (PLCP) Protocol Data Units (PPDUs). The APs 102 and STAs 104 in the WLAN 100 may transmit PPDUs over an unlicensed spectrum, which may be a portion of the 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 700 MHz band. Some implementations of the APs 102 and STAs 104 described herein may also communicate in other frequency bands, such as the 6 GHz band, which may support both licensed and unlicensed communications. The APs 102 and STAs 104 may also be configured to communicate over other frequency bands, such as shared licensed frequency bands, in which multiple operators may have licenses to operate in the same or one or more overlapping frequency bands.

[0023]

[0051] Each of the frequency bands may include multiple sub-bands or frequency channels. For example, PPDUs conforming to the IEEE 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, and 802.11be standard amendments may be transmitted over the 2.4, 5 GHz, or 6 GHz bands, each of which is divided into multiple 20 MHz channels. Thus, these PPDUs are transmitted over physical channels with a minimum bandwidth of 20 MHz, but larger channels may be formed through channel bonding. For example, a PPDU may be transmitted over a physical channel with a bandwidth of 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz by bonding multiple 20 MHz channels together.

[0024]

[0052] Each PPDU is a composite structure that includes a PHY preamble and a payload in the form of a PHY service data unit (PSDU). Information provided in the preamble may be used by a receiving device to decode subsequent data in the PSDU. When a PPDU is transmitted over a bonded channel, the preamble field may be replicated and transmitted in each of the multiple component channels. The PHY preamble may include both a legacy portion (or "legacy preamble") and a non-legacy portion (or "non-legacy preamble"). The legacy preamble may be used for packet detection, automatic gain control, and channel estimation, among other applications. The legacy preamble may also generally be used to maintain compatibility with legacy devices. The format, coding, and information provided therein of the non-legacy portion of the preamble are based on the particular IEEE 802.11 protocol to be used to transmit the payload.

[0025]

[0053] 2 illustrates an exemplary PDU 200 that may be used for wireless communication between an AP and a number of STAs. As illustrated, the PPDU 200 includes a PHY preamble 201 and a PHY payload 204. For example, the preamble 201 may include a first portion 202 that itself includes a legacy short training field (L-STF) 206, which may consist of two BPSK symbols, a legacy long training field (L-LTF) 208, which may consist of two BPSK symbols, and a legacy signal field (L-SIG) 210, which may consist of one BPSK symbol. The first portion 202 of the preamble 201 may be configured according to the IEEE 802.11a specification.

[0026]

[0054] The L-STF 206 generally enables the receiving device to perform automatic gain control (AGC) and coarse timing and frequency estimation. The L-LTF 208 generally enables the receiving device to perform fine timing and frequency estimation, and also enables the receiving device to perform an initial estimation of the wireless channel. The L-SIG 210 generally enables the receiving device to determine the duration of the PPDU and use the determined duration to avoid transmitting over the PPDU. For example, the L-STF 206, the L-LTF 208, and the L-SIG 210 may be modulated according to a binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation scheme. FIG. 2 illustrates an example L-SIG 210 of the PPDU 200. The L-SIG 210 includes a data rate field 222, a reserved bit 224, a length field 226, a parity bit 228, and a tail field 230. The data rate field 222 indicates a data rate (note that the data rate indicated in the data rate field 222 may not be the actual data rate of the data carried in the payload 204). The length field 226 indicates the length of the packet, for example, in units of symbols or bytes. The parity bits 228 may be used to detect bit errors. The tail field 230 includes tail bits that may be used by a receiving device to terminate the operation of a decoder (e.g., a Viterbi decoder). A receiving device may use the data rate and length indicated in the data rate field 222 and length field 226 to determine the time length of the packet, for example, in units of microseconds (μs) or other time units.

[0027]

[0055] The preamble 201 may also include a second portion 203 including one or more non-legacy signal fields 212 that conform to an IEEE 802.11 standard family, such as IEEE 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11be, or later generations. In some implementations, the second portion 203 of the preamble 201 may include a repetition of the L-SIG (RL-SIG, not shown) before the non-legacy signal field 212. To accommodate later generations of wireless communication specifications defined by the IEEE 802.11 standard family, some of the L-SIG 210 fields (such as the data rate field 222 and the length field 226) have been redefined or overloaded with new definitions. For example, the data rate field 222 and the length field 226 may be populated with values ​​to identify the type of the non-legacy signal field 212 that follows. However, such a solution may not be scalable, and the redefined or overloaded L-SIG fields may fill up as more generations are developed. As described further in this disclosure, the non-legacy signal field 212 may include a universal signal field (U-SIG, not shown) constructed to indicate a type of PPDU, an indication of the generation of a wireless communication specification associated with the PPDU (such as a PHY version indicator field), bandwidth settings, puncturing, or any combination thereof.

[0028]

[0056] Following the non-legacy signal field 212, the PPDU 200 may include a payload 204. The payload 204 may be modulated according to a BPSK modulation scheme, a quadrature BPSK (Q-BPSK) modulation scheme, a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) modulation scheme, or another suitable modulation scheme. The payload 204 may include a PSDU that includes a data field (DATA) 214, which may carry upper layer data, for example in the form of a medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (MPDU) or an aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU).

[0029]

[0057] 3 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device 300. In some implementations, the wireless communication device 300 may be an example of a device for use in a STA, such as one of the STAs 104 described with reference to FIG. 1. In some implementations, the wireless communication device 300 may be an example of a device for use in an AP, such as the AP 102 described with reference to FIG. 1. The wireless communication device 300 is capable of transmitting (or outputting for transmission) and receiving wireless communications (e.g., in the form of wireless packets). For example, a wireless communication device may be configured to transmit and receive packets in the form of Physical Layer Convergence Protocol (PLCP) Protocol Data Units (PPDUs) and Medium Access Control (MAC) Protocol Data Units (MPDUs) that conform to IEEE 802.11 wireless communications protocol standards, such as those defined by the IEEE 802.11-2016 specification or amendments thereto, including, but not limited to, 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be.

[0030]

[0058] The wireless communication device 300 may be or include a chip, a system on chip (SoC), a chipset, a package or device that includes one or more modems 302, such as a Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 compliant) modem. In some implementations, the one or more modems 302 (collectively "modems 302") additionally include a WWAN modem (e.g., a 3GPP 4G LTE or 5G compliant modem). In some implementations, the wireless communication device 300 also includes one or more radios 304 (collectively "radios 304"). In some implementations, the wireless communication device 306 further includes one or more processors, processing blocks or processing elements 306 (collectively "processors 306") and one or more memory blocks or elements 308 (collectively "memory 308").

[0031]

[0059] The modem 302 may include an intelligent hardware block or device, such as, for example, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), among other possible examples. The modem 302 is generally configured to implement a PHY layer. For example, the modem 302 is configured to modulate packets and output the modulated packets to the radio 304 for transmission over a wireless medium. The modem 302 is also configured to obtain modulated packets received by the radio 304 and demodulate the packets to provide demodulated packets. In addition to the modulator and demodulator, the modem 302 may further include digital signal processing (DSP) circuitry, an automatic gain control (AGC), a coder, a decoder, a multiplexer, and a demultiplexer. For example, while in a transmit mode, data obtained from the processor 306 is provided to a coder, which encodes the data to provide coded bits. The coded bits are then mapped (using a selected MCS) to points in a modulation constellation to provide modulated symbols. The modulated symbols are then encoded into N SS number of spatial streams or N STS The modulated symbols in each spatial or space-time stream may then be multiplexed and converted via an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) block, followed by being provided to a DSP circuit for Tx windowing and filtering. The digital signal may then be provided to a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The resulting analog signal may then be provided to a frequency upconverter and ultimately to the radio 304. In an implementation involving beamforming, the modulated symbols in each spatial stream are precoded via a steering matrix prior to their provision to the IFFT block.

[0032]

[0060] While in the receive mode, the digital signal received from the radio 304 is provided to the DSP circuitry, which is configured to acquire the received signal, for example, by detecting the presence of a signal and estimating an initial timing and frequency offset. The DSP circuitry is further configured to digitally condition the digital signal, for example, using channel (narrowband) filtering, analog impairment adjustment (such as to correct I / Q imbalance), and finally applying a digital gain to obtain a narrowband signal. The output of the DSP circuitry may then be provided to an AGC, which is configured, for example, to use information extracted from the digital signal in one or more received training fields to determine an appropriate gain. The output of the DSP circuitry is also coupled to a demodulator, which is configured to extract modulated symbols from the signal and, for example, to calculate a log-likelihood ratio (LLR) for each bit position of each subcarrier in each spatial stream. The demodulator is coupled to a decoder, which may be configured to process the LLR to provide decoded bits. The decoded bits from all of the spatial streams are then provided to a demultiplexer for demultiplexing. The demultiplexed bits may then be descrambled and provided to the MAC layer (processor 306) for processing, evaluation, or interpretation.

[0033]

[0061] The radio 304 generally includes at least one radio frequency (RF) transmitter (or “transmitter chain”) and at least one RF receiver (or “receiver chain”), which may be combined into one or more transceivers. For example, the RF transmitter and RF receiver may each include various DSP circuitry including at least one power amplifier (PA) and at least one low noise amplifier (LNA). The RF transmitter and RF receiver may then be coupled to one or more antennas. For example, in some implementations, the wireless communication device 300 may include or be coupled to multiple transmit antennas (each with a corresponding transmit chain) and multiple receive antennas (each with a corresponding receive chain). Symbols output from the modem 302 are provided to the radio 304, which then transmits the symbols via the coupled antenna. Similarly, symbols received via the antennas are obtained by the radio 304, which then provides the symbols to the modem 302.

[0034]

[0062] The processor 306 may include intelligent hardware blocks or devices, such as, for example, a processing core, a processing block, a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD) such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The processor 306 processes information received through the radio 304 and the modem 302, and processes information to be output through the modem 302 and the radio 304 for transmission over a wireless medium. For example, the processor 306 may implement a control plane and a MAC layer configured to perform various operations related to the generation and transmission of MPDUs, frames, or packets. The MAC layer is configured to perform or facilitate frame coding and decoding, spatial multiplexing, space-time block coding (STBC), beamforming, and OFDMA resource allocation, among other operations or techniques. In some implementations, the processor 306 may generally control the modem 302 to cause the modem to perform the various operations described above.

[0035]

[0063] The memory 308 may include a tangible storage medium such as a random access memory (RAM) or a read only memory (ROM) or a combination thereof. The memory 308 may also store non-transitory processor or computer executable software (SW) code including instructions that, when executed by the processor 306, cause the processor to perform various operations described herein for wireless communication, including generating, transmitting, receiving, and interpreting MPDUs, frames, or packets. For example, various functions of the components disclosed herein, or various blocks or steps of the methods, operations, processes, or algorithms disclosed herein, may be implemented as one or more modules of one or more computer programs.

[0036]

[0064] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary AP 402. For example, the AP 402 may be an exemplary implementation of the AP 102 described with reference to FIG. 1. The AP 402 includes a wireless communication device (WCD) 410 (although the AP 402 itself may also be generally referred to as a wireless communication device as used herein). For example, the wireless communication device 410 may be an exemplary implementation of the wireless communication device 300 described with reference to FIG. 3. The AP 402 also includes a plurality of antennas 420 coupled with the wireless communication device 410 for transmitting and receiving wireless communications. In some implementations, the AP 402 additionally includes an application processor 430 coupled with the wireless communication device 410, and a memory 440 coupled with the application processor 430. The AP 402 further includes at least one external network interface 450 that enables the AP 402 to communicate with a core network or a backhaul network to gain access to external networks, including the Internet. For example, the external network interface 450 may include one or both of a wired (e.g., Ethernet) network interface and a wireless network interface (such as a WWAN interface). One of the aforementioned components may communicate with another one of the components directly or indirectly via at least one bus. The AP 402 further includes a housing that encloses the wireless communication device 410, the application processor 430, the memory 440, and at least a portion of the antenna 420 and the external network interface 450.

[0037]

[0065] FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary STA 504. For example, the STA 504 may be an exemplary implementation of the STA 104 described with reference to FIG. 1. The STA 504 includes a wireless communication device 515 (although the STA 504 itself may also be generally referred to as a wireless communication device as used herein). For example, the wireless communication device 515 may be an exemplary implementation of the wireless communication device 300 described with reference to FIG. 3. The STA 504 also includes one or more antennas 525 coupled with the wireless communication device 515 for transmitting and receiving wireless communications. The STA 504 additionally includes an application processor 535 coupled with the wireless communication device 515, and a memory 545 coupled with the application processor 535. In some implementations, the STA 504 further includes a user interface (UI) 555 (such as a touch screen or keypad) and a display 565, and the display 565 may be integrated with the UI 555 to form a touch screen display. In some implementations, the STA 504 may further include one or more sensors 575, such as, for example, one or more inertial sensors, accelerometers, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, or altitude sensors. Some of the above-mentioned components may communicate directly or indirectly with other of the components via at least one bus. The STA 504 further includes a housing that encloses the wireless communication device 515, the application processor 535, the memory 545, and at least a portion of the antenna 525, the UI 555, and the display 565.

[0038]

[0066] FIG. 6 shows a message flow diagram 600 in which a trigger frame solicits TB PPDUs from multiple STAs. The AP 102 and the STAs 104 may support Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA). OFDMA is a communication technology that uses RUs to allocate different resources within a channel bandwidth to one or more users (or groups of users). Each RU may refer to several (N) tones (frequency subcarriers). A tone plan may specify subcarrier indexes in a frequency spectrum. A "regular RU" (or rRU) refers to a type of RU that maps to contiguous tones in a tone plan. A "distributed RU" (or dRU) refers to a type of RU that maps to discontinuous tones across a spread bandwidth. Depending on whether a RU is assigned as an rRU or a dRU, the location of the tones for the RU may be contiguous or discontinuous, respectively. An RU assignment refers to an indication of the RUs assigned to a particular STA. Since the AP can assign different RUs to each STA, the STAs can communicate simultaneously in a wireless channel, albeit on different tones corresponding to their respective RU assignments.

[0039]

[0067] The AP 102 may transmit a trigger frame 610 including RU allocation information. The RU allocation information in the trigger frame 610 may indicate RU allocation for the first STA 104A, the second STA 104B, and the third STA 104C. In the example of FIG. 6, the RU allocation information indicates a first RU assigned to the first STA 104A, a second RU assigned to the second STA 104B, and a third RU assigned to the third STA 104C. The trigger frame 610 instructs the STAs 104A, 104B, and 104C to transmit respective portions 622, 624, and 626 of an uplink OFDMA transmission 650 according to the RU allocation information. The portions 622, 624, and 626 collectively form a TB PPDU from the STAs 104A, 104B, and 104C. In response to the trigger frame 610, the first STA 104A transmits a first portion 622 of the TB PPDU 650 via a first RU, the second STA 104B transmits a second portion 624 of the TB PPDU 650 via a second RU, and the third STA 104C transmits a third portion 626 of the TB PPDU 650 via a third RU.

[0040]

[0068] FIG. 7 shows an example tone plan 700 in which an rRU is defined with contiguous tone mapping for an 80 MHz wireless channel or 80 MHz subchannel. The example tone plan 700 is defined for an 80 MHz channel bandwidth including four 20 MHz subchannels 715, 725, 735, and 745. In some implementations, the example tone plan 700 for an 80 MHz channel may be replicated to achieve a higher channel bandwidth (such as a 160 MHz, 240 MHz, or 320 MHz bandwidth channel, each 80 MHz portion implementing the example tone plan 700). The example tone plan 700 may also include unused subcarriers (such as guard bands, edge tones, DC subcarriers, or null subcarriers) that are excluded from the rRU.

[0041]

[0069] The IEEE 802.11 standard defines several logical RUs and several normal RUs (MRUs) of various sizes. When a logical RU is mapped to consecutive tones or subcarriers, it may be referred to as an rRU. The RUs shown in tone plan 700 are mapped as rRUs. Tone plan 700 shows each potential rRU in an 80 MHz channel, as well as several null tones (shown by dotted lines) between potential RUs. The exemplary tone plan 700 defines rRUs of various sizes. For example, a 242 tone rRU maps to 242 consecutive subcarrier indices across a 20 MHz bandwidth. Similarly, a 484+242 tone MRU maps to 484 consecutive subcarrier indices across a 40 MHz bandwidth and 242 consecutive subcarrier indices across a 20 MHz bandwidth. As shown in FIG. 7, when the entire 80 MHz bandwidth (BW) is assigned as a single rRU, a total of 996 usable tones are available. FIG. 7 also shows example 26-tone, 52-tone, 106-tone, 242-tone, and 484-tone rRUs that may be assigned to different users.

[0042]

[0070] An rRU is composed of one or more sets of contiguous tones. However, in this configuration, the transmit power per tone of a wireless communication device may be severely limited based on the PSD of the wireless channel. For example, the low power indoor (LPI) power class limits the total transmit power of the AP and STA to 5 dBm / MHz and -1 dBm / MHz, respectively, in the 6 GHz band. To accommodate the PSD of the wireless channel, a logical RU may be mapped as a dRU, where the tones are distributed across the spread bandwidth. The transmit power per tone of a logical RU mapped as a dRU may be increased while still meeting the PSD limit per MHz.

[0043]

[0071] FIG. 8A illustrates a frequency diagram 800 showing an example distributed tone mapping for a dRU. More specifically, FIG. 8A illustrates an example mapping of a logical RU 802 to a distributed RU (dRU) 804. The logical RU 802 represents the number of tones or subcarriers allocated for transmission of a PPDU. In contrast, the dRU 804 represents the physical resource (identified by a subcarrier index) that is modulated to transmit the PPDU. Thus, the transmit power per tone of an rRU is limited by the number of tones mapped to each 1 MHz subchannel of a wireless channel. As shown in FIG. 8A, the logical RU 802 may be mapped to a set of non-contiguous subcarrier indexes spanning a spreading bandwidth 852. In general, the larger the spreading bandwidth 852, the higher the transmit power per tone may be.

[0044]

[0072] Each dRU may be associated with a number (N) of non-contiguous tones (e.g., 26, 52, 52+26, 106, 106+26, 242, or 484 tones). The N non-contiguous tones are distributed across a spreading bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz (242 usable tones), 40 MHz (484 usable tones), or 80 MHz (996 usable tones)). In the example of FIG. 8A, the logical RU 802 includes 26 tones across the spreading bandwidth. When the logical RU 802 is mapped as an rRU (e.g., according to the tone plan 700 described with reference to FIG. 7), the logical RU 802 may include 26 consecutive tones that are mapped to consecutive subcarrier indices in a consecutive 2 MHz frequency range. FIG. 8A shows the logical RU 802 mapped to a set of non-contiguous subcarrier indices to construct, for example, a dRU 804. The non-contiguous subcarrier indexes associated with a particular dRU may be based on a distributed tone plan (not shown) or a tone spreading technique. The tone spreading technique may include a tone mapping distance (DTM) applicable to a group of dRUs collectively spanning a portion of a wireless channel. The DTM may indicate the distance or spacing between adjacent tones of each set of non-contiguous tones resulting from the tone spreading. In the example of FIG. 8A, the logical RU 802 is mapped to 26 non-contiguous subcarrier indexes spread across a spreading bandwidth 852. According to aspects of the present disclosure, the spreading bandwidth 852 (e.g., 20 MHz, 40 MHz, or 80 MHz) for the dRU 804 may be obtained from a spreading bandwidth design for the wireless channel or subchannel. The trigger frame may include tone mapping information indicating the spreading bandwidth design.

[0045]

[0073] Compared to the tone mapping described above with respect to the legacy tone plan, the distributed tone mapping shown in Figure 8A effectively reduces the number of tones (of the logical RU 802) in each 1 MHz subchannel. For example, each of the 26 tones may be mapped to a different 1 MHz frequency range within the spreading bandwidth 852. As a result, each AP or STA implementing the distributed tone mapping of Figure 8A may maximize its transmit power per tone within the PSD limit (which may maximize the total transmit power of the logical RU 802).

[0046]

[0074] In some implementations, the transmitting device (e.g., a STA) may include a distributed tone mapper that maps the logical RU 802 to the dRU 804 in the frequency domain (as described with reference to FIG. 8A). The dRU 804 is then converted (e.g., by an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT)) to a time domain signal for transmission over a wireless channel. The receiving device (e.g., an AP) receives the time domain signal over the wireless channel and converts (e.g., by a fast Fourier transform (FFT)) the time domain signal back to the dRU 804. In some implementations, the receiving device may include a distributed tone demapper that demaps the dRU 804 to the logical RU 802. In other words, the distributed tone demapper reverses the mapping performed by the distributed tone mapper in the transmitting device. The receiving device may then recover the information carried (or modulated) on the logical RU 802 as a result of the demapping.

[0047]

[0075] In the example of FIG. 8A, the logical RUs 802 are uniformly distributed across the spread bandwidth 852. However, in some implementations, the logical RUs 802 may be mapped to any suitable pattern of non-contiguous subcarrier indexes. For example, in some aspects, the distance between any pair of modulated tones may be less than or greater than the distance shown in FIG. 8A. In some other aspects, a subset of two or more tones of a logical RU 802 may be mapped to contiguous subcarrier indexes. Still further, in some aspects, multiple logical RUs may be mapped to interleaved subcarrier indexes of a shared wireless channel.

[0048]

[0076] FIG. 8B illustrates another frequency diagram 810 illustrating an example distributed tone mapping with multiple dRUs. More specifically, FIG. 8B illustrates an example mapping of logical RUs 812 and 814 to dRUs 816 and 818, respectively. In some implementations, the AP can assign logical RUs 812 and 814 to a first and second STA, respectively, for transmission of a respective portion of a TB PPDU. In the example of FIG. 8B, each of the logical RUs 812 and 814 includes 26 tones. In some implementations, the logical RUs 812 and 814 are mapped to dRUs 816 and 818, respectively, across a spreading bandwidth 852 according to a spreading bandwidth design. More specifically, each of the logical RUs 812 and 814 is mapped to a respective set of 26 non-contiguous subcarrier indexes spread across the spreading bandwidth 852. Thus, as shown in FIG. 8B, the dRU 816 is interleaved with the dRU 818 across the shared spreading bandwidth 852. Aspects of the present disclosure recognize that by interleaving dRUs 816 and 818, the transmit power per tone of each dRU can be significantly increased without sacrificing spectral efficiency.

[0049]

[0077] The trigger frame may include RU allocation information indicating the logical RUs (or MRUs) allocated for the TB PPDU from the STA. Some formats of the trigger frame may include signaling to indicate whether the RU allocation information is based on continuous tone mapping (e.g., for rRUs mapped according to a legacy tone plan) or distributed tone mapping (e.g., for dRUs mapped according to a tone spreading technique). However, there may be scenarios in which an AP may want to allocate rRUs in some subchannels and dRUs in other subchannels. Furthermore, current techniques for distributed tone mapping assume that the spreading bandwidth 852 is always equal to the channel bandwidth without puncturing. When puncturing is used, distributed tone mapping may result in a smaller number of available tones due to the exclusion of tones in the punctured portion of the wireless channel.

[0050]

[0078] Various aspects generally relate to resource unit (RU) signaling in a trigger frame from an access point (AP) to one or more wireless stations (STAs), and more particularly, to a trigger frame carrying RU allocation information and tone mapping information indicating that the RU allocation information includes distributed resource units (dRUs) associated with a selected spreading bandwidth design. The trigger frame is transmitted by the AP to cause one or more STAs to transmit trigger-based (TB) physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data units (PPDUs) to the AP via their respective RUs as OFDMA transmissions. The tone mapping information can indicate whether the assigned RUs in each subchannel are normal RUs (rRUs) or dRUs. The term "normal RUs" (or rRUs) refers to a type of RU that maps to contiguous tones in a tone plan. In contrast, a "distributed RU" (dRU) is a type of RU that maps to discontinuous tones across a spreading bandwidth. A spreading bandwidth design may refer to one or more spreading bandwidths in a wireless channel or subchannel and controls how the assigned dRUs are mapped to discontinuous tones across their respective spreading bandwidths. An AP can support channel puncturing by indicating a particular spreading bandwidth design for a wireless channel or subchannel. Each dRU can be associated with a number (N) of non-contiguous tones (such as 26, 52, 52+26, 106, 106+26, or 242, 484 tones). The N non-contiguous tones are distributed across the entire spreading bandwidth (such as 20 MHz (242 usable tones), 40 MHz (484 usable tones), or 80 MHz (996 usable tones)). In some implementations, the tone mapping information may explicitly indicate the spreading bandwidth design for various subchannels. For example, the tone mapping information may include a signaling field for each 80 MHz subchannel of a wireless channel and indicate the spreading bandwidth of the dRU in that 80 MHz subchannel.In some other implementations, the tone mapping information may include puncturing information and PPDU bandwidth information associated with the TB PPDU to implicitly indicate the spreading bandwidth design for various subchannels. In various implementations, the tone mapping information may be included in a common information field, a specific user information field, a new specific user information field, a per-user user information field, or a combination of fields.

[0051]

[0079] Particular implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages: Without the techniques in this disclosure, the dRUs would be spread over the wireless channel regardless of puncturing, and puncturing would reduce the amount of usable tones for the dRUs. Using the techniques in this disclosure, the AP can indicate the spreading bandwidth of the various dRUs to accommodate puncturing in the wireless channel. The assigned dRUs can be spread over a spreading bandwidth less than the channel bandwidth without sacrificing the amount of usable tones remaining after puncturing. In some implementations, the techniques in this disclosure can eliminate or minimize the amount of bits required for tone mapping information to indicate the spreading bandwidth design for the wireless channel or subchannel. Thus, in some implementations, the tone mapping information may not add overhead to the existing frame format of the trigger frame.

[0052]

[0080] 9 shows a conceptual diagram 900 illustrating an example wireless channel with RU allocation and puncturing in various subchannels. The example wireless channel of FIG. 9 has a total bandwidth of 320 MHz in a frequency range associated with a first 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel 910, a second 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel 920, a third 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel 930, and a fourth 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel 940. Each 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel may be composed of 20 MHz bandwidth subchannels, such as a first 20 MHz bandwidth subchannel 912, a second 20 MHz bandwidth subchannel 914, a third 20 MHz bandwidth subchannel 916, and a fourth 20 MHz bandwidth subchannel 918 in the first 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel 910.

[0053]

[0081] The AP may assign various logical RUs in the individual 80 MHz bandwidth subchannels 910, 920, 930, and 940. The trigger frame (not shown) may include RU assignment information indicating the logical RUs assigned to different STAs. According to aspects of the disclosure, the trigger frame may also indicate whether the logical RUs in each 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel are rRUs or dRUs. The AP may populate the trigger frame with tone mapping information for each 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel indicating whether the logical RUs assigned to that 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel are rRUs or dRUs. For example, the tone mapping information may indicate that the RU assignment for the fourth 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel is for a logical RU mapped onto a contiguous tone as an rRU in the fourth 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel 940, and may further indicate that the other RU assignment for the third 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel 930 is for a logical RU mapped onto a non-contiguous tone as a dRU in the third 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel 930. The tone mapping information enables flexible combinations of rRUs and dRUs allocated in a wireless channel, albeit on different 80 MHz bandwidth subchannels.

[0054]

[0082] If the RU allocation in a particular 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel is for a dRU, the tone mapping information may also indicate a spreading bandwidth design for that 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel. The spreading bandwidth design may allow for puncturing by restricting one or more spreading bandwidths within the 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel. Within the 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel, one or more of the 20 MHz bandwidth subchannels may be punctured to prevent communication on those subchannels. The spreading bandwidth design accommodates puncturing by defining the spreading bandwidth(s) for the dRU(s) within the 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel.

[0055]

[0083] In the example shown in FIG. 9, the second 20 MHz bandwidth subchannel 914 is punctured. Meanwhile, the first 20 MHz bandwidth subchannel 912, the third 20 MHz bandwidth subchannel 916, and the fourth 20 MHz bandwidth subchannel 914 remain available for RU allocation. The spreading bandwidth design for the first 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel 910 may indicate a 20 MHz spreading bandwidth in the lower 40 MHz bandwidth (depicted as the first spreading bandwidth 952) and a 40 MHz spreading bandwidth in the upper 40 MHz bandwidth (depicted as the second spreading bandwidth 954). Thus, the dRUs assigned to the lower 40 MHz bandwidth may be spread over the first spreading bandwidth 952, which includes the first 20 MHz bandwidth subchannel 912. The dRUs assigned to the upper 40 MHz bandwidth may be spread over the second spreading bandwidth 954, which includes the third 20 MHz bandwidth subchannel 916 and the fourth 20 MHz bandwidth subchannel 918. In some implementations, the dRU may not spread across multiple spreading bandwidths. Alternatively, in some implementations, the dRU may spread across multiple spreading bandwidths within an 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel. For purposes of this disclosure, examples of dRUs and their respective spreading bandwidths are described as dRUs spread across a single spreading bandwidth. However, the spreading bandwidth design may indicate multiple spreading bandwidths associated with each dRU within an 80 MHz subchannel.

[0056]

[0084] 10 illustrates an example spreading bandwidth design 1000 according to some implementations. The spreading bandwidth design options may depend on the bandwidth of the PPDU bandwidth of the TB PPDU. For example, a 20 MHz BW TB PPDU may only support a 20 MHz bandwidth spreading design 1010 with a single 20 MHz spreading bandwidth 1004.

[0057]

[0085] The 40 MHz BW TB PPDU may support various spreading bandwidth design options 1020. In a first option 1062, the spreading bandwidth design includes a single 40 MHz spreading bandwidth 1022. In a second option 1064, the spreading bandwidth design includes a single 20 MHz spreading bandwidth 1024. The single 20 MHz spreading bandwidth 1024 may be located in the lower 20 MHz portion of the TB PPDU (as shown in FIG. 10) or in the upper 20 MHz portion of the TB PPDU (as shown by the dotted line). The remaining portion of the 40 MHz TB PPDU may be punctured. In some implementations, the location of the single 20 MHz spreading bandwidth 1024 may be determined based on a combination of tone mapping information and the location of the logical RUs in the tone plan, as further described with reference to FIG. 13.

[0058]

[0086] The 80 MHz BW TB PPDU may support various spreading bandwidth design options 1030. In a first option 1072, the spreading bandwidth design includes a single 80 MHz spreading bandwidth 1032. In a second option 1074, the spreading bandwidth design includes a single 40 MHz spreading bandwidth 1034. The single 40 MHz spreading bandwidth 1034 may be located within the lower 40 MHz portion of the TB PPDU (as shown in FIG. 10) or may be located within the upper 40 MHz portion of the TB PPDU (as shown by the dotted line). When the single 40 MHz spreading bandwidth is located in the lower 40 MHz of the subchannel, the spreading bandwidth design may be referred to as "40-X", where "40" represents the 40 MHz spreading bandwidth and "X" represents the punctured portion of the wireless channel. When the single 40 MHz spreading bandwidth is located in the upper 40 MHz of the subchannel, the spreading bandwidth design may be referred to as "X-40".

[0059]

[0087] In a third option 1076, the spreading bandwidth design includes a first spreading bandwidth 1042 (20 MHz spreading bandwidth) located in the lower 40 MHz portion of the TB PPDU and a second spreading bandwidth 1044 (40 MHz spreading bandwidth) located in the upper 40 MHz portion of the second TB PPDU. As shown in FIG. 10, the location of the first spreading bandwidth 1042 may be within the lower 20 MHz of the lower 40 MHz portion of the TB PPDU, and the spreading bandwidth design may be referred to as "20-X-40". Alternatively, the first spreading bandwidth 1042 may be in the upper 20 MHz of the lower 40 MHz portion of the TB PPDU (shown by the dotted line), and the spreading bandwidth design may be referred to as "X-20-40".

[0060]

[0088] In a fourth option 1078, the spreading bandwidth design includes a first spreading bandwidth 1052 (40 MHz spreading bandwidth) located in the lower 40 MHz portion of the TB PPDU and a second spreading bandwidth 1054 (20 MHz spreading bandwidth) located in the upper 40 MHz portion of the second TB PPDU. As shown in FIG. 10, the location of the second spreading bandwidth 1054 may be within the upper 20 MHz of the upper 40 MHz portion of the TB PPDU, and the spreading bandwidth design may be referred to as "40-X-20". Alternatively, the location of the second spreading bandwidth 1054 may be in the lower 20 MHz of the upper 40 MHz portion of the TB PPDU (indicated by a dotted line), and the spreading bandwidth design may be referred to as "40-20-X".

[0061]

[0089] The example spread bandwidth designs described with reference to FIG. 10 are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all possible spread bandwidth designs. Rather, the example spread bandwidth designs are provided for instructional purposes. In some implementations, technical standards may limit the list of possible spread bandwidth designs for simplicity. Examples of tone mapping information in this disclosure are based on the example spread bandwidth designs described with reference to FIG. 10. Each option may be indicated as a separate value in the signaling field. If the wireless channel is larger than 80 MHz bandwidth, the trigger frame may include a separate signaling field for each 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel.

[0062]

[0090] 11 illustrates an example tone mapping information 1100 according to some implementations. The tone mapping information 1100 may include multiple signaling fields corresponding to individual 80 MHz bandwidth subchannels. For example, a first signaling field 1110 may include tone mapping information for a first 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel, a second signaling field 1120 may include tone mapping information for a second 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel, a third signaling field 1130 may include tone mapping information for a third 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel, and a fourth signaling field 1140 may include tone mapping information for a fourth 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel.

[0063]

[0091] The tone mapping information in each signaling field indicates whether the RU assignment for an individual 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel is for an rRU or a dRU. Furthermore, if the RU assignment is for a dRU in a particular 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel, the tone mapping information may indicate a spreading bandwidth design for that 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel. The spreading bandwidth design may define one or more spreading bandwidths within the 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel.

[0064]

[0092] Each signaling field may include one or more signaling bits in the trigger frame format. Furthermore, in some implementations, the signaling bits may be interpreted by other fields of the trigger frame to implicitly indicate a spreading bandwidth design for all or part of the TB PPDU. For example, one or more signaling bits (such as a dRU indication bit) may indicate that the RU allocation in the 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel is for a dRU. The spreading bandwidth design may be determined based on a combination of the dRU indication bit, the puncturing information, and the PPDU bandwidth information for the TB PPDU. Thus, in some implementations, the tone mapping information may include one or more signaling bits in the signaling field in combination with the signaling in other fields. This disclosure includes several options regarding the amount, potential meaning, and location of the signaling bits in the frame format of the trigger frame.

[0065]

[0093] FIG. 12A illustrates example options 1210 for signaling tone mapping information in a one-bit signaling field according to some implementations. Each one-bit signaling field may include a bit to represent one of two potential values. A first value 1212 (e.g., “1”) may indicate that the RU allocation information is for an rRU associated with contiguous tone mapping. A second value 1214 (e.g., “0”) may indicate that the RU allocation information is for a dRU associated with distributed tone mapping. The spreading bandwidth design may include a single 80 MHz spreading bandwidth, or the spreading bandwidth design may be inferred based on tone mapping information (e.g., puncturing information and PPDU bandwidth information) in other fields of the trigger frame.

[0066]

[0094] FIG. 12B illustrates example options 1220 for signaling tone mapping information in a 2-bit signaling field according to some implementations. Each 2-bit signaling field may include a combination of bits to represent one of three potential values. A first value 1222 (e.g., “11”) may indicate that the RU allocation information is for an rRU associated with contiguous tone mapping. A second value 1224 (e.g., “10”) may indicate that the RU allocation information is for a dRU associated with distributed tone mapping, and the spreading bandwidth design includes a single 80 MHz spreading bandwidth. A third value 1226 (e.g., “01”) may indicate that the RU allocation information is for a dRU associated with distributed tone mapping, and the spreading bandwidth design includes a single 40 MHz spreading bandwidth. Reserved values ​​(not shown, e.g., “00”) may be reserved for other spreading bandwidth designs or other features.

[0067]

[0095] FIG. 12C illustrates example options 1230 for signaling tone mapping information in a 3-bit signaling field according to some implementations. Each 3-bit signaling field may include a combination of bits to represent one of various potential values. A first value 1232 (e.g., “111”) may indicate that the RU allocation information is for an rRU associated with contiguous tone mapping. A second value 1234 (e.g., “110”) may indicate that the RU allocation information is for a dRU associated with distributed tone mapping and the spreading bandwidth design includes a single 80 MHz spreading bandwidth. For example, the second value 1234 may correspond to the first option 1072 described with reference to FIG. 10.

[0068]

[0096] A third value 1236 (e.g., "101") may indicate that the RU allocation information is for a dRU associated with distributed tone mapping and that the spreading bandwidth design includes a single 40 MHz spreading bandwidth (in either the lower 40 MHz portion or the upper 40 MHz portion of the 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel). For example, the third value 1236 may correspond to the second option 1074 described with reference to FIG. 10. As further described with reference to FIG. 13, both the "40-X" and "X-40" configurations may be represented by the same signaling value because the location of the single 40 MHz spreading bandwidth may be inferred based on the location of the logical RU in the tone plan.

[0069]

[0097] Continuing with the example options 1230, the fourth value 1238 (e.g., “100”) may indicate that the RU allocation information is for a dRU associated with distributed tone mapping and the spreading bandwidth design includes a 20 MHz spreading bandwidth in the lower 40 MHz and a 40 MHz spreading bandwidth in the upper 40 MHz of the 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel. For example, the fourth value 1238 may correspond to the third option 1076 described with reference to FIG. 10. The “20-X-40” and “X-20-40” spreading bandwidth designs may be represented by the same signaling value and the location of the 20 MHz spreading bandwidth may be inferred based on the location of the logical RU in the tone plan.

[0070]

[0098] The fifth value 1242 (e.g., "11") may indicate that the RU allocation information is for a dRU associated with distributed tone mapping and the spreading bandwidth design includes a 40 MHz spreading bandwidth in the lower 40 MHz and a 20 MHz spreading bandwidth in the upper 40 MHz of the 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel. For example, the fifth value 1242 may correspond to the fourth option 1078 described with reference to FIG. 10. The "40-X-20" and "40-20-X" spreading bandwidth designs may be represented by the same signaling value and the location of the 20 MHz spreading bandwidth may be inferred based on the location of the logical RU in the tone plan.

[0071]

[0099] FIG. 12D illustrates an exemplary option 1240 for signaling tone mapping information that may be used with a 20 MHz bandwidth or 40 MHz bandwidth TB PPDU according to some implementations. The 802.11 standard indicates that puncturing cannot exceed 50% of the bandwidth of the PPDU. Therefore, the options described with reference to FIG. 12A, FIG. 12B, and FIG. 12C are useful for PPDUs of 80 MHZ bandwidth or greater. To support puncturing in smaller TB PPDUs (such as 20 MHz, 40 MHz, or 80 MHz TB PPDUs), additional spreading bandwidth design options may be useful. The exemplary option 1240 includes a spreading bandwidth design with a smaller spreading bandwidth for smaller TB PPDUs.

[0072]

[0100] A first value 1252 (e.g., "11") may indicate that the RU allocation information is for an rRU associated with contiguous tone mapping. A second value 1254 (e.g., "10") may indicate that the RU allocation information is for a dRU associated with distributed tone mapping, and the spreading bandwidth design includes a single 20 MHz spreading bandwidth. A third value 1256 (e.g., "01") may indicate that the RU allocation information is for a dRU associated with distributed tone mapping, and the spreading bandwidth design includes a single 40 MHz spreading bandwidth.

[0073]

[0101] FIG. 12E illustrates an example option 1250 for signaling tone mapping information in a 3-bit signaling field based on a combined table for multiple sizes of TB PPDU according to some implementations. Each 3-bit signaling field may include a combination of bits to represent one of various potential values. The example option 1250 includes a first value 1232, a second value 1234, a third value 1236, a fourth value 1238, and a fifth value 1242, which have the same meaning as the corresponding values ​​described with reference to FIG. 12C. The third value 1236 may also be used for a TB PPDU with 40 MHz (without puncturing). The sixth value 1264 may indicate that the RU allocation information is for a dRU associated with distributed tone mapping and the spreading bandwidth design includes a single 20 MHz spreading bandwidth. In some implementations, the sixth value 1264 can only be used to represent a spreading bandwidth design for a TB PPDU of 20 MHz or 40 MHz, such that the punctured portion of the TB PPDU is less than or equal to 50% in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0074]

[0102] The exemplary options 1210, 1220, 1230, 1240, and 1250 described with reference to Figures 12A, 12B, 12C, 12D, and 12E are provided as non-limiting examples for instructional purposes, respectively. Other options, values, and meanings can be considered for other spreading bandwidth designs. In some implementations, a lookup table can be specified in the IEEE 802.11 standard and implemented in the memory of the AP and the STA, such that distinct values ​​in the lookup table can represent specific spreading bandwidth designs or continuous transmissions.

[0075]

[0103] FIG. 13 shows an example mapping 1300 for a dRU based on an example spreading bandwidth design for an 80 MHz subchannel. The spreading bandwidth design described with reference to FIG. 13 may be associated, for example, by the fifth value 1242 described with reference to FIG. 12. The fifth value 1242 is associated with both the "40-X-20" and "40-20-X" spreading bandwidth designs. However, the AP and STAs may determine the distributed tone mapping for the dRU based on the location of the corresponding logical RU in the tone plan for the contiguous tone mapping. For reference, a portion of the example tone plan 700 described with reference to FIG. 7 is reproduced in FIG. 13.

[0076]

[0104] The trigger frame (not shown) may include RU allocation information including a first RU 1310 assigned to a first STA, a second RU 1320 assigned to a second STA, and a third RU 1330 assigned to a third STA. The RU allocation information may include an RU identifier that references a logical RU defined in an RU allocation table. The RU allocation table defines the RU identifier and the number of tones associated with each logical RU. In some implementations, the RU identifier in the RU allocation table may be used for either an rRU or a dRU (both having the same number of tones). As described herein, the tone mapping information may indicate that the RU allocation information for this 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel refers to a dRU with non-contiguous tones spread across the spreading bandwidth. The tone mapping information may also indicate a spreading bandwidth design for the 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel. In the example of FIG. 13, the spread bandwidth design includes a first spread bandwidth 1352 (40 MHz spread bandwidth) located in the lower 40 MHz of the 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel and a second spread bandwidth 1354 (20 MHz spread bandwidth) located in the upper 40 MHz of the 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel.

[0077]

[0105] The first STA, which is assigned the first RU 1310 as a dRU, can determine the location of the corresponding rRU 1312 (which shares the same RU identifier in the RU allocation table) in the tone plan originally designed for contiguous tone mapping. The corresponding rRU 1312 is located in the lower 40 MHz of the 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel. Based on the spreading bandwidth pattern ("40-X-20"), the first STA can map the number of tones for the first RU 1310 across the first spreading bandwidth 1352 (40 MHz spreading bandwidth).

[0078]

[0106] The second STA, which is assigned the second RU 1320 as a dRU, can determine the location of the corresponding rRU 1322 (which shares the same RU identifier in the RU allocation table) in the tone plan originally designed for contiguous tone mapping. The corresponding rRU 1322 is located in the lower 40 MHz of the 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel. Based on the spreading bandwidth pattern ("40-X-20"), the second STA can map the number of tones for the second RU 1320 across the first spreading bandwidth 1352 (40 MHz spreading bandwidth).

[0079]

[0107] The third STA, which is assigned the third RU 1320 as a dRU, can determine the location of the corresponding rRU 1332 (which shares the same RU identifier in the RU allocation table) in the tone plan originally designed for contiguous tone mapping. The corresponding rRU 1332 is located in the top 40 MHz of the 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel. Based on the spreading bandwidth pattern ("40-X-20"), the third STA recognizes that the top 40 MHz of the 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel has a 20 MHz spreading bandwidth. The third STA can map the number of tones for the third RU 1330 across the second spreading bandwidth 1354 (20 MHz spreading bandwidth). Because the corresponding rRU 1332 is defined with tones in the fourth 20 MHz subchannel 745 (rather than the third 20 MHz subchannel 735), the location of the second spreading bandwidth 1354 is within the fourth 20 MHz subchannel 745. The third 20 MHz subchannel 735 is effectively punctured as a result of the spreading bandwidth design and RU allocation.

[0080]

[0108] Recall that the same signaling value may indicate either a "40-X-20" or a "40-20-X" spreading bandwidth design. In the example of FIG. 13, the "40-X-20" spreading bandwidth design is used based on the location of the corresponding rRU 1332 in the tone plan for contiguous tone mapping. However, consider a scenario in which a third STA is assigned a different dRU, such as a dRU having the same RU identifier as the corresponding rRU 1334 (rather than the rRU 1332). In that scenario, since the corresponding rRU 1334 is located in the third 20 MHz subchannel 735, the dRU will be mapped to a 20 MHz spreading bandwidth (not shown) in the third 20 MHz subchannel 735 according to the "40-20-X" spreading bandwidth design.

[0081]

[0109] FIG. 14 illustrates an example trigger frame 1400 usable for communication between an AP and some STAs, according to some implementations. The trigger frame 1400 may allocate one or more logical RUs (or MRUs) for transmission in a TB PPDU. In some implementations, each of the logical RUs may map to an rRU. In some other implementations, each of the logical RUs may map to a dRU. Furthermore, in some implementations, a logical RU may map to a combination of rRUs and dRUs in different 80 MHz bandwidth subchannels. Tone mapping information 1480 included in one or more fields of the trigger frame 1400 may indicate whether the logical RUs allocated for each 80 MHz subchannel are mapped to an rRU or dRU associated with a particular spreading bandwidth design. For example, the trigger frame may allocate dRUs to one or more 80 MHz subchannels and rRUs to one or more other 80 MHz subchannels.

[0082]

[0110] The trigger frame 1400 includes a MAC header 1410, a common information field 1420, a user information list 1430, zero or more padding bits 1440, and an FCS 1450. The MAC header 1410 includes a frame control field, a duration field, a receiver address (RA) field, and a transmitter address (TA) field. The common information field 1420 and the user information list 1430 carry configuration information that may be used by a receiving device to configure a TB PPDU to be transmitted in response to receiving the trigger frame 1400. In some aspects, the user information list 1430 may include one or more user information fields 1432, each carrying per-user information for a respective user. In contrast, the common information field 620 may carry information that is common to all recipients of the trigger frame 600 (such as any users identified in the user information list 630).

[0083]

[0111] In some implementations, each user information field 1432 may carry RU allocation information 1434 and other fields 1438. The RU allocation information 1434 indicates the logical RUs (or MRUs) assigned for transmission in the TB PPDU. The trigger frame 1400 may include multiple user information fields 1432 (to solicit TB PPDUs from multiple users). Additionally, in some implementations, the user information field 1432 may include tone mapping information 1480 indicating whether the logical RUs are assigned for continuous or distributed transmission.

[0084]

[0112] In some implementations, the user information list 1430 may further include a specific user information field 1436. Each of the user information fields 1432 is identified by a unique AID value assigned to a particular STA (or user) in the BSS. In contrast, the specific user information field 1436 may be identified by an AID value (such as "2007") that is not assigned to any STA in the BSS. In some aspects, the specific user information field 1436 may be an extension of the common information field 1420. In other words, the specific user information field 1436 may also carry information common to all users associated with the trigger frame.

[0085]

[0113] Aspects of the present disclosure recognize that the trigger frame 1400 may include some reserved bits. The reserved bits represent unused bits that are reserved for future implementations of the IEEE 802.11 standard. In some aspects, one or more reserved bits in an earlier version or release of the IEEE 802.11 standard may be reused in a later version or release. For example, some reserved bits in the trigger frame 1400 may be reused in a later version or release of the IEEE 802.11 standard to expand the range of values ​​that may be represented by an existing field in the earlier version or release. Some other reserved bits in the trigger frame 1400 may be reused in a later version or release of the IEEE 802.11 standard (or remain unused in the later version or release) to convey information that is unrelated to information conveyed in the earlier version or release. According to some aspects of the present disclosure, one or more of the reserved bits in the trigger frame 1400 may be reused to carry tone mapping information 1480. The tone mapping information may indicate a spreading bandwidth design associated with the wireless channel or each 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel of the wireless channel.

[0086]

[0114] As described with reference to FIG. 11, the tone mapping information 1480 may include multiple signaling fields. Each signaling field may include one or more signaling bits. Each 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel of a wireless channel may have a separate signaling field. For example, a trigger frame for a 320 MHz bandwidth wireless channel may include four signal fields. When using a 1-bit signaling field (as described with reference to FIG. 12A), the tone mapping information 1480 will include a total of four bits. When using a 2-bit signaling field (as described with reference to FIG. 12B), the tone mapping information 1480 will include a total of eight bits. When using a 3-bit signaling field (as described with reference to FIG. 12C), the tone mapping information 1480 will include a total of twelve bits. In various examples of the present disclosure, the tone mapping information 1480 (such as four signaling bits, eight signaling bits, or twelve signaling bits) may be substituted into existing fields of a frame format for a trigger frame. In some implementations, the values ​​of the signaling bits to represent different meanings may be selected based on an existing frame format that defines default values ​​for certain reserved bits. For example, in a 1-bit signaling field, a first value (such as "0") may indicate continuous transmission (as the default transmission mode) if "0" was the default value for that reserved bit, and a second value (such as "1") may indicate distributed transmission as a deviation from the default transmission mode.

[0087]

[0115] Table 1 shows a list of potential locations for tone mapping information 1480 to be substituted in an existing frame format for a trigger frame.

[0088] [Table 1]

[0089]

[0116] In some implementations, the tone mapping information 1480 may include four signaling bits assigned to bit locations B56-B59 of the common field. The first signaling bit assigned to bit location B56 may indicate whether the first 80 MHz subchannel (called the primary 80 MHz subchannel, or "primary 80") includes a dRU or an rRU. The second signaling bit assigned to bit location B57 may indicate whether the second 80 MHz subchannel (called the secondary 80 MHz subchannel, or "secondary 80") includes a dRU or an rRU. The third signaling bit assigned to bit location B58 may indicate whether the third 80 MHz subchannel (the lower 80 MHz portion of the secondary 160 MHz subchannel, or "secondary 160") includes a dRU or an rRU. A fourth signaling bit, assigned to bit location B59, may indicate whether the fourth 80 MHz subchannel (the upper 80 MHz portion of the secondary 160) contains dRUs or rRUs.

[0090]

[0117] In some other implementations, the tone mapping information 1480 may include eight signaling bits (two signal bits for each 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel) populated in bit locations B56-B63 of the common field.

[0091]

[0118] In some other implementations, the tone mapping information 1480 may include values ​​selected from a predefined table that identifies potential combinations of spread bandwidth designs among multiple 80 MHz bandwidth subchannels. If each 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel can have three options (rRU, dRU with 80 MHz spread bandwidth, or dRU with 40 MHz spread bandwidth), and there are four 80 MHz bandwidth subchannels, there are a total of 81 potential combinations (3 4There are 140 potential combinations). A 7-bit table may contain a value for each potential combination. Thus, the tone mapping information 1480 may be represented as a 7-bit field in the common information field 1420. The 7-bit table may be defined in the technical standard and stored in the memory of the STA to determine the spreading bandwidth design for the 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel.

[0092]

[0119] In some other implementations, the amount of signaling bits for the tone mapping information 1480 may depend on the PPDU bandwidth of the requested TB PPDU. The common information field 1420 includes a field that specifies the PPDU bandwidth of the requested TB PPDU ("UL BW"). If the PPDU bandwidth of the TB PPDU is less than or equal to the 160 MHz bandwidth, the tone mapping information 1480 may include three signaling bits per 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel (up to six signaling bits total) that may be substituted into the common information field. If the PPDU bandwidth of the TB PPDU is greater than the 160 MHz bandwidth, the tone mapping information 1480 may be split such that a first amount of signaling bits (e.g., six signaling bits) is substituted into the common information field and a second amount of signaling bits (up to six additional signaling bits) is substituted into the special user information field 1436.

[0093]

[0120] In some other implementations, the tone mapping information 1480 may be included in a second special user information field (not shown) or other new field (not shown) that is added to the frame format for the trigger frame. For example, the second special user information field or other new field may follow the common information field 1420 or the special user information field 1436 in the frame format. A bit in the common information field 1420 or the special user information field 1436 may indicate that the trigger frame includes a second special user information field or other new field that carries all or a portion of the tone mapping information 1480.

[0094]

[0121] In some other implementations, some or all of the tone mapping information 1480 may be included in each user information field 1432. Each user information field 1432 may carry information specific to a particular STA. Another field 1438 may explicitly indicate the spreading bandwidth for the logical RU identified in the RU allocation information 1434 field. In some implementations, the tone mapping information 1480 may include a bitmap in the common information field 1420 to indicate, for each 80 MHZ subchannel, whether the RU allocation in each 80 MHZ subchannel is for continuous transmission or distributed transmission. The tone mapping information 1480 may also include two additional signaling bits in each user information field 1432 to indicate the spreading bandwidth for the dRUs that are in the 80 MHz subchannel associated with distributed transmission.

[0095]

[0122] In some other implementations, the tone mapping information 1480 may be carried as a separate part in the user information field 1432. For example, one signaling bit (such as bit location B25) may indicate whether the RU allocation information 1434 field in the user information field 1432 is for a dRU or for an rRU. Two additional signaling bits in the user information field 1432 may indicate the spreading bandwidth for that dRU (such as 20 MHz spreading bandwidth, 40 MHz spreading bandwidth, or 80 MHz spreading bandwidth). The two additional signaling bits may be obtained without changing the format of the user information field 1432 by repurposing existing subfields (or redefining the value of the unused mode in that subfield). For example, if MU MIMO is not supported to transmit in the dRU, B26-B31 (SS allocation subfields) may be reinterpreted as 2 bits for spreading bandwidth and 4 bits for number of streams (Nss) indication.

[0096]

[0123] As described herein, the tone mapping information 1480 may include a combination of signaling bits, PPDU bandwidth information, and puncturing information. A spreading bandwidth design may be determined based on the tone mapping information. In some implementations, a technical standard (such as the IEEE 802.11 standard) may restrict the distributed transmission to a particular subchannel (such as the primary 80) or may specify a spreading bandwidth design based on the PPDU bandwidth information and the puncturing information. In some implementations, a technical standard may restrict the distributed transmission to only 80 MHz bandwidth subchannels that do not have puncturing. In such a case, a single signaling bit (such as a dRU indication) per 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel may indicate whether the RU allocation information for the 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel is for distributed transmission or for continuous transmission. Alternatively, a single signaling bit in the user information field 1432 may indicate, for each RU, whether the RU allocation information refers to a dRU or an rRU.

[0097]

[0124] FIG. 15 illustrates a common information field 1500 for a formatted trigger frame according to some implementations. More specifically, the common information field 1500 conforms to the Extremely High Throughput (EHT) variant common information field format defined by the initial release of the IEEE 802.11be amendment of the IEEE 802.11 standard. For example, referring to FIG. 14, the common information field 1500 may be an example of the common field 1420. In the example of FIG. 15, the common information field 1500 may be included in a trigger frame configured to request an EHT TB PPDU. Thus, the common information field 1500 includes a total of nine reserved bits (in bit positions B22, B26, B56, B62, and B63).

[0098]

[0125] In some implementations, any number of the reserved bits may be reused to carry tone mapping information. In some other implementations, only a subset of the reserved bits in bit positions B56-B62 may be reused to carry tone mapping information 922. In some other aspects, the reserved bits of the common information field 1500 may be replaced by a bitmap in a future release or version of the IEEE 802.11 standard. For example, the value of each signaling bit of the bitmap may indicate whether an individual subchannel of a wireless channel is configured for continuous transmission or distributed transmission. In some aspects, the bitmap may be 4 bits in length, where each bit represents an individual 80 MHz subchannel of a 320 MHz channel. Thus, the value of each bit may indicate whether each logical RU (or MRU) allocated within an individual 80 MHz subchannel maps to an rRU or a dRU. In some other aspects, the bitmap may be 8 bits in length, where each bit represents an individual 40 MHz subchannel of a 320 MHz channel. Thus, the value of each bit may indicate whether each logical RU (or MRU) allocated within an individual 40 MHz subchannel maps to an rRU or a dRU.

[0099]

[0126] In some other aspects, the bitmap may be 4 bits in length, where each bit represents an individual 20 MHz subchannel of the 80 MHz channel. Thus, the value of each bit may indicate whether each logical RU (or MRU) allocated within an individual 20 MHz subchannel maps to an rRU or a dRU. In some other aspects, the bitmap may be 8 bits in length, where each bit represents an individual 20 MHz subchannel of the 160 MHz channel. Thus, the value of each bit may indicate whether each logical RU (or MRU) allocated within an individual 20 MHz subchannel maps to an rRU or a dRU.

[0100]

[0127] The common information field 1500 may include a bit (such as bit position B55) to indicate the presence of a special user information field. In some implementations, another signaling bit (such as any of bits B56-B62 or B63) may indicate that a second special user information field or other new fields (such as a tone mapping information field) are included in the trigger frame.

[0101]

[0128] FIG. 16 illustrates a special user information field for a formatted trigger frame according to some implementations. More specifically, the special user information field 1600 conforms to the special user information field format defined by the initial release of the IEEE 802.11be amendment of the IEEE 802.11 standard. Thus, the AID12 subfield (in bit positions B0-B10) can carry an AID value equal to "2007". For example, with reference to FIG. 14, the special user information field 1600 can be an example of the special user information field 1436. More specifically, the special user information field 1600 can be an extension of the common information field (such as the common information field 1420) of the underlying trigger frame. In the example of FIG. 16, the special user information field 1600 can include three reserved bits (in bit positions B37-B39 of the special user information field 1600) and twelve U-SIG ignore and validation bits (in bit positions B25-B36).

[0102]

[0129] The specific user information field 1600 may also include a trigger-dependent user subfield. The presence and length of the trigger-dependent user information subfield may depend on the variant of the trigger frame. For example, in basic and beamforming report poll (BFRP) trigger frames, the trigger-dependent user information subfield includes one octet (8 bits) of reserved bits. In multi-user block acknowledgement request (MU-BAR) and group cast with retries (GCR) MU-BAR trigger frames, the trigger-dependent user information subfield includes four octets, and all subfields except the black acknowledgement request (BAR) type subfield are reserved.

[0103]

[0130] In some implementations, any number of reserved bits in the specific user information field 1600 may be reused to carry tone mapping information. In some other implementations, the tone mapping information may be carried by one or more of the U-SIG ignore and validation bits (such as to carry over the tone mapping information to the U-SIG of the TB PPDU). In some aspects, the reserved bits of the specific user information field 1600 may be replaced by a distributed transmission bit (or subfield) in a future release or version of the IEEE 802.11 standard. For example, the value of the distributed transmission bit (or subfield) may indicate whether the TB PPDU supports continuous or distributed transmission and spread bandwidth design. In some other aspects, the multiple reserved bits of the specific user information field 1600 may be replaced by a signaling bit for tone mapping information in a future release or version of the IEEE 802.11 standard. For example, the value of each signaling subfield may indicate whether an individual subchannel of a wireless channel is configured for continuous or distributed transmission and spread bandwidth design.

[0104]

[0131] FIG. 17 illustrates a user information field for a formatted trigger frame according to some implementations. More specifically, the user information field 1700 conforms to the EHT variant user information field format defined by the initial release of the IEEE 802.11be amendment of the IEEE 802.11 standard. For example, referring to FIG. 14, the user information field 1700 may be an example of the user information field 1432. Each user information field in the user information list is identified by an individual association identifier (AID) value in the AID12 subfield (in bit positions B0-B10). In some aspects, the AID value may uniquely identify a particular STA (or user) in the BSS. As shown in FIG. 17, the user information field 1700 includes two reserved bits (in bit position B25 of the user information field 1700 and in bit position B5 of the trigger-dependent user information subfield).

[0105]

[0132] In some implementations, any number of reserved bits in the user information field 1700 may be reused to carry tone mapping information. In some other implementations, only reserved bits in bit position B5 of the trigger-dependent user information subfield may be reused to carry tone mapping information. In some aspects, the reserved bits of the user information field 1700 may be replaced by distributed transmission bits (or subfields) in future releases or versions of the IEEE 802.11 standard. For example, a first value (e.g., “0”) of the distributed transmission bit may indicate that a logical RU (or MRU) assigned to a particular user or STA maps to an rRU. Meanwhile, a second value (e.g., “1”) of the distributed transmission bit may indicate that a logical RU (or MRU) assigned to a particular user or STA maps to a dRU.

[0106]

[0133] The user information field 1700 also includes an RU allocation subfield (in bit positions B12-B19) and a PS160 subfield (in bit position B39). The combined value of the RU allocation subfield and the PS160 subfield is mapped to an entry in a RU allocation table. The RU allocation table is a lookup table that stores a number of entries representing respective RU or MRU allocations. Specifically, each entry in the RU allocation table may indicate a bandwidth, a RU / MRU size, and a RU / MRU index. In some implementations, the RU allocation information may include a value of the RU allocation subfield. In some aspects, any entry in the RU allocation table may be allocated for distributed transmission. In some other aspects, only a subset of the entries in the RU allocation table may be allocated for distributed transmission (such as 26-tone, 52-tone, 106-tone, 242-tone, and 484-tone RUs).

[0107]

[0134] FIG. 18 illustrates another exemplary trigger frame 1800 usable for communication between an AP and several STAs according to some implementations. Similar to the trigger frame 1400 described with reference to FIG. 14, the trigger frame 1800 can allocate one or more logical RUs (or MRUs) for transmission in a TB PPDU. The trigger frame 1800 includes a MAC header 1810, a common information field 1820, a user information list 1830, zero or more padding bits 1840, and an FCS 1850. The MAC header 1810 includes a frame control field, a duration field, a receiver address (RA) field, and a transmitter address (TA) field. The common information field 1820 and the user information list 1830 carry configuration information that can be used by a receiving device to configure a TB PPDU to be transmitted in response to receiving the trigger frame 1800. In some aspects, the user information list 1830 can include one or more user information fields 1832, each carrying per-user information for an individual user. For example, each user information field 1832 may carry RU allocation information 1834 indicating the logical RUs (or MRUs) assigned for transmission in the TB PPDU. As explained above, a logical RU represents the number of tones (N) on which a particular user or STA may transmit a TB PPDU.

[0108]

[0135] The common information field 1820 and the specific user information field 1836 may carry information that is common to all receivers of the trigger frame 1800. In some implementations, the common information field 1820 and the specific user information field 1836 may carry tone mapping information 1880 indicating a spreading bandwidth design for each 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel. For example, the tone mapping information 1880 may include a dRU indication bitmap 1882 indicating whether the logical RU (or MRU) assigned for each subchannel is for continuous or distributed transmission. Specifically, in some implementations, each bit of the dRU indication bitmap 1882 may represent an individual subchannel of a wireless channel. Thus, some subchannels may be configured for continuous transmission, while some other subchannels may be configured for distributed transmission. The tone mapping information 1880 may also include puncturing information 1884 and PPDU bandwidth information 1886. For example, the puncturing information 1884 may indicate a puncturing pattern associated with one or more subchannels. For example, the puncturing information may include a bitmap or multiple fields indicating puncturing per subchannel (e.g., a puncturing bitmap per 80 MHz subchannel or per 20 MHz as a puncturing pattern for the entire 320 MHz bandwidth). The puncturing information 1884 may be signaled with one or more signaling bits per subchannel. In some implementations, the puncturing information 1884 may relate to the bandwidth spreading design options described with reference to Figures 12B and 12C, in particular, bandwidth spreading design options that include a spreading bandwidth that is less than an 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel. The PPDU bandwidth information 1886 may indicate the PPDU bandwidth of the requested TB PPDU. For example, the PPDU bandwidth information 1886 may be populated into the "UL BW" subfield (bit locations B18-B19) of the common information field 1820 and the "UL BW extension" subfield (bit locations B15-B16) of the special user information field 1836.

[0109]

[0136] 19 shows a flowchart illustrating an example process 1900 for wireless communication supporting distributed RU signaling, according to some implementations. In some implementations, the process 1900 may be performed by a wireless communication device operating as or within a network node, such as one of the STAs 104 or 504 described above with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 5, respectively.

[0110]

[0137] In some implementations, the process 1900 begins with allocating multiple RUs of a wireless channel to multiple STAs, respectively, for a TB PPDU, at block 1910. The multiple RUs may include one or more dRUs.

[0111]

[0138] At block 1920, the process 1900 proceeds to transmit a trigger frame to a plurality of STAs over a wireless channel, the trigger frame carrying RU allocation information indicating a plurality of RUs and carrying tone mapping information indicating at least a first spreading bandwidth design for one or more dRUs, the one or more dRUs being mapped to respective sets of non-contiguous tones according to the first spreading bandwidth design.

[0112]

[0139] 20 shows a flowchart illustrating an example process 2000 for wireless communication supporting distributed RU signaling, according to some implementations. In some implementations, the process 2000 may be performed by a wireless communication device operating as or within an AP, such as one of the APs 102 or 502 of FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, respectively.

[0113]

[0140] In some implementations, process 2000 begins at block 2010 with receiving a trigger frame from an access point requesting TB PPDUs from multiple wireless stations (STAs) via multiple resource units (RUs), each of which carries RU allocation information indicating multiple RUs including one or more distributed RUs (dRUs) and carries tone mapping information indicating at least a first spreading bandwidth design for the one or more distributed RUs (dRUs).

[0114]

[0141] In block 2020, process 2000 proceeds to identify a first dRU in the RU allocation information allocated for the first STA, the first dRU being associated with a first spreading bandwidth according to a first spreading bandwidth design.

[0115]

[0142] At block 2030, process 2000 proceeds to map the first dRU to a number (N) of discontinuous tones spanning the first spreading bandwidth.

[0116]

[0143] At block 2040, process 2000 proceeds to transmit the TB PPDU over the wireless channel as a distributed transmission on N discontinuous tones.

[0117]

[0144] FIG. 21 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device 2100 according to some implementations. In some implementations, the wireless communication device 2100 is configured to perform the process 2100 described above with reference to FIG. 21. The wireless communication device 2100 may be an example implementation of the wireless communication device 400 described above with reference to FIG. 4. For example, the wireless communication device 2100 may be a chip, SoC, chipset, package or device including at least one processor and at least one modem (e.g., a Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) modem or a cellular modem).

[0118]

[0145] The wireless communication device 2100 includes a receiving component 2100, a communications manager 2120, and a transmitting component 2130. The communications manager 2120 further includes a tone mapping component 2122. Portions of the tone mapping component 2122 may be implemented at least partially in hardware or firmware. In some implementations, the tone mapping component 2122 is implemented at least partially as software stored in a memory (such as the memory 408). For example, portions of the tone mapping component 2122 may be implemented as non-transitory instructions (or “code”) executable by a processor (such as the processor 406) to perform the functions or operations of the respective components.

[0119]

[0146] The receiving component 2100 is configured to receive RX signals from one or more other wireless communication devices over a wireless channel. In some implementations, the receiving component 2100 can receive a trigger frame requesting a TB PPDU from the wireless communication device 2100, where the trigger frame carries RU allocation information indicating a number of tones (N) allocated for the wireless communication device 2100 and carries tone mapping information indicating a spreading bandwidth design. The communications manager 2120 is configured to control or manage communications with the one or more other wireless communication devices. In some implementations, the tone mapping component 2122 can map the N tones to N subcarrier indexes associated with the wireless channel. The tone mapping component 2122 may map the N tones to contiguous tones according to a tone plan for a contiguous transmission or may map the N tones to non-contiguous tones according to a spreading bandwidth for a distributed transmission. The transmitting component 2130 is configured to transmit TX signals to one or more other wireless communication devices over the wireless channel. In some implementations, the transmission component 2130 may transmit the TB PPDU over a wireless channel based on the mapping of the N tones to the N subcarrier indices.

[0120]

[0147] FIG. 22 shows a block diagram of an example wireless communication device 2200 according to some implementations. In some implementations, the wireless communication device 2200 is configured to perform the process 2200 described above with reference to FIG. 22. The wireless communication device 2200 may be an example implementation of the wireless communication device 400 described above with reference to FIG. 4. For example, the wireless communication device 2200 may be a chip, SoC, chipset, package or device including at least one processor and at least one modem (e.g., a Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) modem or a cellular modem).

[0121]

[0148] The wireless communication device 2200 includes a receiving component 2210, a communications manager 2220, and a transmitting component 2230. The communications manager 2220 further includes a tone demapping component 2222. Portions of the tone demapping component 2222 may be implemented at least partially in hardware or firmware. In some implementations, the tone demapping component 2222 is implemented at least partially as software stored in a memory (such as the memory 408). For example, portions of the tone demapping component 2222 may be implemented as non-transitory instructions (or “code”) executable by a processor (such as the processor 406) to perform the functions or operations of the respective components.

[0122]

[0149] The receiving component 2210 is configured to receive RX signals from one or more other wireless communication devices over a wireless channel. In some implementations, the receiving component 2210 can receive a PPDU having a physical layer preamble followed by a data payload, where the physical layer preamble carries bandwidth information indicating a bandwidth of a wireless channel associated with the PPDU and carries distributed signaling information indicating whether the PPDU is transmitted as a continuous transmission or a distributed transmission. The communications manager 2220 is configured to control or manage communications with one or more other wireless communication devices. In some implementations, the tone demapping component 2222 can demap the PPDU from a number (N) of subcarrier indexes associated with the wireless channel. The tone demapping component 2222 can demap the PPDU from N contiguous tones according to a tone plan for continuous transmission or from N non-contiguous tones according to a spreading bandwidth for distributed transmission. The tone demapping component 2222 can recover the data payload based on the demapped PPDU. The transmitting component 2230 is configured to transmit a TX signal over a wireless channel to one or more other wireless communication devices. In some implementations, the transmitting component 2230 may transmit a trigger frame to solicit a PPDU from the other wireless communication device.

[0123]

[0150] FIG. 23 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary electronic device. In some implementations, the electronic device 2300 may be one of an access point (including any of the APs described herein), a range extender, or other electronic system. The electronic device 2300 may include a processor 2302 (possibly including multiple processors, multiple cores, multiple nodes, implementing multithreading, etc.). The electronic device 2300 may also include a memory 2306. The memory 2306 may be a system memory or any one or more of the possible implementations of a computer-readable medium described herein. The electronic device 2300 may also include a bus 2310 (PCI, ISA, PCI-Express, HyperTransport®, InfiniBand®, NuBus®, AHB, AXI, etc.) and a network interface 2304, which may include at least one of a wireless network interface (WLAN interface, Bluetooth® interface, WiMAX® interface, ZigBee® interface, Wireless USB interface, etc.) and a wired network interface (Ethernet interface, power line communication interface, etc.). In some implementations, the electronic device 2300 may support multiple network interfaces, each configured to couple the electronic device 2300 to various communication networks.

[0124]

[0151] The electronic device 2300 may include a RU mapping unit 2360. In some implementations, the RU mapping unit 2360 may be distributed within the processor 2302, the memory 2306, and the bus 2310. The RU mapping unit 2360 may perform some or all of the operations described herein. For example, the RU mapping unit 2360 may map logical RUs to rRUs or dRUs according to a tone plan or a spreading bandwidth design, respectively. The RU mapping unit 2360 may prepare tone mapping information to be included in a trigger frame or process tone mapping information received via a trigger frame.

[0125]

[0152] The memory 2306 may include computer instructions executable by the processor 2302 to perform the functions of the implementations described in Figures 1-22. Any of these functions may be implemented partially (or fully) in hardware or on the processor 2302. For example, the functions may be implemented using application specific integrated circuits, in logic implemented within the processor 2302, in a co-processor on a peripheral device or card, etc. Additionally, realizations may include fewer components or additional components not illustrated in Figure 23 (such as video cards, audio cards, additional network interfaces, peripheral devices, etc.). The processor 2302, memory 2306, and network interface 2304 may be coupled to a bus 2310. Although illustrated as coupled to the bus 2310, the memory 2306 may be coupled to the processor 2302.

[0126]

[0153] 1-23 and the operations described herein are examples intended to aid in understanding exemplary implementations and should not be used to limit possible implementations or to limit the scope of the claims. Some implementations may perform additional operations, may perform fewer operations, may perform operations in parallel or in a different order, and may perform some operations differently.

[0127]

[0154] The above disclosure provides examples and explanations, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations may be made in light of the above disclosure or may be acquired from practice of the embodiments. Although the embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference to various examples, any combination of the embodiments from any of the examples is within the scope of the present disclosure. The examples in the present disclosure are provided for educational purposes. Instead of or in addition to other examples described herein, the examples include any combination of the following implementation options (listed as clauses for reference).

[0128] Terms

[0155] Clause 1. A method for wireless communication by an access point (AP), comprising: allocating a plurality of resource units (RUs) of a wireless channel to a plurality of wireless stations (STAs) for a trigger-based (TB) physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU), respectively, the plurality of RUs including one or more distributed RUs (dRUs); and transmitting a trigger frame to the plurality of STAs via the wireless channel, the trigger frame carrying RU allocation information indicating the plurality of RUs and carrying tone mapping information indicating at least a first spread bandwidth design for the one or more dRUs, the one or more dRUs being mapped to a respective set of non-contiguous tones according to the first spread bandwidth design.

[0129]

[0156] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the tone mapping information includes a plurality of signaling bits corresponding to a plurality of subchannels of a wireless channel, each signaling bit indicating whether an RU allocation for an individual subchannel is a normal RU (rRU) or a dRU, and one or more signaling fields indicating an individual spreading bandwidth design for the particular subchannel if the RU allocation for the particular subchannel is a dRU.

[0130]

[0157] Clause 3. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 2, further comprising signaling tone mapping information within multiple signaling fields of a trigger frame corresponding to multiple subchannels of a wireless channel, each signaling field including a value indicating whether an RU allocation for an individual subchannel is a normal RU (rRU) or a dRU, and the value further indicating an individual spreading bandwidth design for the individual subchannel if the RU allocation for the individual subchannel is a dRU.

[0131]

[0158] Clause 4. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 3, wherein the multiple signaling fields include at least a first signaling field corresponding to a first subchannel carrying a first value indicating that the RU allocation information includes one or more dRUs allocated for a first subchannel and indicates a first spreading bandwidth design for the first subchannel, and a second signaling field corresponding to a second subchannel carrying a second value indicating that the RUs allocated for a second subchannel are normal RUs (rRUs) mapped to respective sets of contiguous tones according to a contiguous tone plan.

[0132]

[0159] Clause 5. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 4, wherein the plurality of signaling fields includes a third signaling field corresponding to a third subchannel carrying a third value indicating that the RUs allocated for the third subchannel are dRUs mapped to the respective set of discontinuous tones according to the second spreading bandwidth design.

[0133]

[0160] Clause 6. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 5, further comprising: selecting a first spread bandwidth design from among a plurality of spread bandwidth design options, causing the TB PPDU to exclude a punctured portion of the wireless channel; and allocating one or more dRUs based on respective locations of corresponding rRUs in a contiguous tone map, whereby the one or more dRUs are mapped to respective spread bandwidths that exclude the punctured portion of the wireless channel.

[0134]

[0161] Clause 7. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 6, further comprising: setting a PPDU bandwidth of the TB PPDU; selecting a first spread bandwidth design from among a plurality of spread bandwidth design options based on the PPDU bandwidth; and signaling the PPDU bandwidth of the TB PPDU in a trigger frame, wherein the tone mapping information is related to the PPDU bandwidth.

[0135]

[0162] Clause 8. The method of clause 7, wherein the first spreading bandwidth design includes a single spreading bandwidth equal to the PPDU bandwidth if the PPDU bandwidth is less than 80 MHz bandwidth or if the PPDU bandwidth is 80 MHz bandwidth and there is no puncturing in the TB PPDU, and the first spreading bandwidth design is limited to the 80 MHz bandwidth in each 80 MHz subchannel if the PPDU bandwidth is greater than the 80 MHz bandwidth.

[0136]

[0163] Clause 9. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 8, further comprising: signaling tone mapping information in a plurality of signaling fields of the trigger frame, each signaling field being associated with an individual 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel for the wireless channel; and assigning to each signal field a value selected from the group consisting of: a first value indicating that RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannel is associated with contiguous tone mapping; a second value indicating that RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannel is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a single 80 MHz spread bandwidth; and a third value indicating that RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannel is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a single 40 MHz spread bandwidth.

[0137]

[0164] Clause 10. Signaling tone mapping information in a plurality of signaling fields of a trigger frame, each signaling field being associated with a distinct 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel for a wireless channel, and each signaling field being associated with a first value indicating that RU allocation for the distinct 80 MHz subchannel is associated with contiguous tone mapping, a second value indicating that RU allocation for the distinct 80 MHz subchannel is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design including a single 80 MHz spreading bandwidth, and a third value indicating that RU allocation for the distinct 80 MHz subchannel is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design including a single 40 MHz spreading bandwidth. a third value indicating that RU allocation for individual 80 MHz subchannels is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design including a 20 MHz spreading bandwidth in a lower 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannel and a 40 MHz spreading bandwidth in an upper 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannel; a fifth value indicating that RU allocation for individual 80 MHz subchannels is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design including a 40 MHz spreading bandwidth in a lower 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannel and a 20 MHz spreading bandwidth in an upper 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannel; and a sixth value indicating that RU allocation for a TB PPDU is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design including a single 20 MHz spreading bandwidth.

[0138]

[0165] Clause 11. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 10, further comprising: setting a PPDU bandwidth for the TB PPDU, the PPDU bandwidth being a 20 MHz bandwidth or a 40 MHz bandwidth; and signaling tone mapping information within a signal field of a trigger frame carrying a value selected from the group consisting of: a first value indicating that the RU allocation for the TB PPDU is associated with continuous tone mapping, a second value indicating that the RU allocation for the TB PPDU is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design including a single 20 MHz spreading bandwidth, and a third value indicating that the RU allocation for the TB PPDU is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design including a single 40 MHz spreading bandwidth.

[0139]

[0166] Clause 12. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 11, further comprising incorporating all or a portion of the tone mapping information in the trigger frame as one or more signaling bits in a common information field or a specific user information field of the trigger frame that conveys information common to multiple STAs having dRUs assigned thereto in the trigger frame.

[0140]

[0167] Clause 13. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 12, further comprising incorporating a first portion of the tone mapping information in the trigger frame as one or more signalling bits in a common information field of the trigger frame, and incorporating a second portion of the tone mapping information in the trigger frame as one or more signalling bits in a specific user information field of the trigger frame.

[0141]

[0168] Clause 14. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 13, further comprising: setting a PPDU bandwidth of the TB PPDU; and, if the PPDU bandwidth of the TB PPDU is greater than a 160 MHz bandwidth, splitting the tone mapping information into a first part and a second part.

[0142]

[0169] Clause 15. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 14, further comprising indicating, by at least a first signalling bit in the common information field or the first specific user information field of the trigger frame, that the trigger frame includes a second specific user information field, and incorporating all or part of the tone mapping information in the second specific user information field.

[0143]

[0170] Clause 16. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 15, further comprising incorporating all or part of the tone mapping information in the trigger frame as one or more signaling bits in a user information field carrying information specific to the first dRU assigned to the first STA.

[0144]

[0171] Clause 17. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 16, further comprising incorporating a first portion of the tone mapping information into the trigger frame as one or more signaling bits in a common information field or a special user information field of the trigger frame, and incorporating a second portion of the tone mapping information into the trigger frame as one or more signaling bits in a user information field carrying information specific to a first dRU assigned to the first STA.

[0145]

[0172] Clause 18. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 17, wherein generating the trigger frame includes signaling tone mapping information within a combination of a plurality of signaling fields corresponding to a plurality of subchannels of the wireless channel, puncturing information, and uplink (UL) PPDU bandwidth information for the TB PPDU, such that the first spreading bandwidth design is derivable from the combination of the plurality of signaling fields, the puncturing information, and the UL PPDU bandwidth information.

[0146]

[0173] Clause 19. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 18, wherein the one or more dRUs include at least a first dRU assigned to a first STA of the one or more STAs, and the method further includes receiving a distributed transmission from the first STA via the first dRU and demapping the distributed transmission to recover a TB PPDU from the first STA, wherein the demapped distributed transmission includes a number (N) of discontinuous tones spanning a first spreading bandwidth according to a first spreading bandwidth design.

[0147]

[0174] Clause 20. A wireless communications device for wireless communication, comprising: at least one processor configured to allocate a plurality of resource units (RUs) of a wireless channel to a plurality of wireless stations (STAs), respectively, for a trigger-based (TB) physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU), the plurality of RUs including one or more distributed RUs (dRUs); and at least one modem configured to output a trigger frame for transmission over the wireless channel to the plurality of STAs, the trigger frame carrying RU allocation information indicating the plurality of RUs and carrying tone mapping information indicating at least a first spread bandwidth design for the one or more dRUs, the one or more dRUs being mapped to a respective set of non-contiguous tones according to the first spread bandwidth design.

[0148]

[0175] Clause 21. The wireless communications device of clause 20, wherein at least one processor is configured to signal tone mapping information within multiple signaling fields of the trigger frame corresponding to multiple subchannels of the wireless channel, each signaling field including a value for indicating whether an RU allocation for the individual subchannel is a normal RU (rRU) or a dRU, and the value further indicates an individual spreading bandwidth design for the individual subchannel if the RU allocation for the individual subchannel is a dRU.

[0149]

[0176] Clause 22. A wireless communication device as described in any one of Clauses 20 to 21, wherein the multiple signaling fields include at least a first signaling field corresponding to a first subchannel carrying a first value indicating that the RU allocation information includes one or more dRUs allocated for a first subchannel and indicates a first spreading bandwidth design for the first subchannel, and a second signaling field corresponding to a second subchannel carrying a second value indicating that the RUs allocated for a second subchannel are normal RUs (rRUs) mapped to respective sets of contiguous tones according to a contiguous tone plan.

[0150]

[0177] Clause 23. The wireless communication device of any one of clauses 20 to 22, wherein the plurality of signaling fields include a third signaling field corresponding to a third subchannel carrying a third value indicating that RUs allocated for the third subchannel are dRUs mapped to respective sets of discontinuous tones according to a second spreading bandwidth design.

[0151]

[0178] Clause 24. A wireless communication device as described in any one of clauses 20 to 23, wherein at least one processor is configured to select a first spread bandwidth design from among a plurality of spread bandwidth design options to cause a TB PPDU to exclude a punctured portion of the wireless channel, and to allocate one or more dRUs based on respective locations of corresponding rRUs in a contiguous tone map, thereby mapping one or more dRUs to respective spread bandwidths that exclude the punctured portion of the wireless channel.

[0152]

[0179] Clause 25. A wireless communication device as described in any one of clauses 20 to 24, wherein at least one processor is configured to set a PPDU bandwidth of a TB PPDU, select a first spread bandwidth design from among a plurality of spread bandwidth design options based on the PPDU bandwidth, and signal the PPDU bandwidth of the TB PPDU in the trigger frame, and the tone mapping information includes the PPDU bandwidth.

[0153]

[0180] Clause 26. A wireless communication device as described in any one of clauses 20 to 25, wherein the first spreading bandwidth design includes a single spreading bandwidth equal to the PPDU bandwidth if the PPDU bandwidth is less than 80 MHz bandwidth or if the PPDU bandwidth is 80 MHz bandwidth and there is no puncturing in the TB PPDU, and the first spreading bandwidth design is limited to an 80 MHz bandwidth within each 80 MHz subchannel if the PPDU bandwidth is greater than the 80 MHz bandwidth.

[0154]

[0181] Clause 27. A wireless communication device as described in any one of Clauses 20 to 26, wherein at least one processor is configured to signal tone mapping information in a plurality of signaling fields of the trigger frame, each signaling field being associated with an individual 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel for the wireless channel, and to assign to each signal field a value selected from the group consisting of: a first value indicating that the RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannel is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a single 80 MHz spread bandwidth; and a third value indicating that the RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannel is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a single 40 MHz spread bandwidth.

[0155]

[0182] Clause 28. At least one processor signals tone mapping information in a plurality of signaling fields of the trigger frame, each signaling field being associated with a distinct 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel for the wireless channel, a first value indicating that RU allocations for the distinct 80 MHz subchannels are associated with contiguous tone mapping, a second value indicating that RU allocations for the distinct 80 MHz subchannels are associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a single 80 MHz spread bandwidth, a third value indicating that RU allocations for the distinct 80 MHz subchannels are associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a single 40 MHz spread bandwidth, a third value indicating that RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannels is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a 20 MHz spread bandwidth in a lower 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannel and a 40 MHz spread bandwidth in an upper 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannel; a fifth value indicating that RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannels is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a 40 MHz spread bandwidth in the lower 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannel and a 20 MHz spread bandwidth in the upper 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannel; and a sixth value indicating that RU allocation for the TB PPDU is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a single 20 MHz spread bandwidth.

[0156]

[0183] Clause 29. A wireless communication device as described in any one of clauses 20 to 28, wherein at least one processor is configured to set a PPDU bandwidth for the TB PPDU, the PPDU bandwidth being a 20 MHz bandwidth or a 40 MHz bandwidth, and signal tone mapping information within a signal field of the trigger frame carrying a value selected from the group consisting of: a first value indicating that the RU allocation for the TB PPDU is associated with contiguous tone mapping, a second value indicating that the RU allocation for the TB PPDU is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design including a single 20 MHz spreading bandwidth, and a third value indicating that the RU allocation for the TB PPDU is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design including a single 40 MHz spreading bandwidth.

[0157]

[0184] Clause 30. A wireless communication device as described in any one of clauses 20 to 29, wherein at least one processor is configured to incorporate all or a portion of the tone mapping information into the trigger frame as one or more signaling bits in a common information field or a special user information field of the trigger frame that conveys information common to multiple STAs having dRUs assigned in the trigger frame.

[0158]

[0185] Clause 31. A wireless communication device as described in any one of clauses 20 to 30, wherein at least one processor is further configured to incorporate a first portion of the tone mapping information into the trigger frame as one or more signaling bits in a common information field of the trigger frame and incorporate a second portion of the tone mapping information into the trigger frame as one or more signaling bits in a special user information field of the trigger frame.

[0159]

[0186] Clause 32. A wireless communication device as described in any one of clauses 20 to 31, wherein at least one processor is configured to set a PPDU bandwidth of the TB PPDU and, if the PPDU bandwidth of the TB PPDU is greater than the 160 MHz bandwidth, split the tone mapping information into a first part and a second part.

[0160]

[0187] Clause 33. A wireless communication device as described in any one of clauses 20 to 32, wherein at least one processor is configured to indicate, by at least a first signaling bit in a common information field or a first special user information field of the trigger frame, that the trigger frame includes a second special user information field, and to incorporate all or a portion of the tone mapping information in the second special user information field.

[0161]

[0188] Clause 34. The wireless communications device of clauses 20-33, wherein the at least one processor is configured to incorporate all or a portion of the tone mapping information into the trigger frame as one or more signaling bits in a user information field carrying information specific to the first dRU assigned to the first STA.

[0162]

[0189] Clause 35. A wireless communication device as described in any one of clauses 20 to 34, wherein at least one processor is configured to incorporate a first portion of the tone mapping information into the trigger frame as one or more signaling bits in a common information field or a special user information field of the trigger frame, and incorporate a second portion of the tone mapping information into the trigger frame as one or more signaling bits in a user information field carrying information specific to the first dRU assigned to the first STA.

[0163]

[0190] Clause 36. The wireless communication device of any one of clauses 20 to 35, wherein at least one processor is configured to signal tone mapping information within a combination of a plurality of signaling fields, puncturing information, and uplink (UL) PPDU bandwidth information for a TB PPDU of a trigger frame corresponding to a plurality of subchannels of a wireless channel, such that a first spreading bandwidth design is derivable from the combination of the plurality of signaling fields, the puncturing information, and the UL PPDU bandwidth information.

[0164]

[0191] Clause 37. A wireless communication device as described in any one of clauses 20 to 36, further comprising: at least one modem configured to obtain a distributed transmission from a first STA via a first dRU of one or more dRUs; and at least one processor configured to demap the distributed transmission to recover a TB PPDU from the first STA, wherein the demapped distributed transmission includes a number (N) of discontinuous tones spanning a first spreading bandwidth according to a first spreading bandwidth design.

[0165]

[0192] Clause 38. A wireless communication device as described in any one of clauses 20 to 37, further comprising at least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor readable code, at least one transceiver coupled to the at least one modem, at least one antenna coupled to the at least one transceiver for wirelessly transmitting signals output from the at least one transceiver and wirelessly receiving signals for input to the at least one transceiver, and a housing enclosing at least a portion of the at least one modem, the at least one processor, the at least one memory, the at least one transceiver, and the at least one antenna.

[0166]

[0193] Clause 39. A method for wireless communication by a first wireless station (STA), comprising: receiving a trigger frame from an access point, the trigger frame respectively requesting trigger-based (TB) physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data units (PPDUs) from a plurality of wireless stations (STAs) via a plurality of resource units (RUs), the trigger frame carrying RU allocation information indicating a plurality of RUs including one or more distributed RUs (dRUs), and carrying tone mapping information indicating at least a first spread bandwidth design for the one or more dRUs; identifying a first dRU in the RU allocation information allocated for the first STA, the first dRU being associated with the first spread bandwidth according to the first spread bandwidth design; mapping the first dRU to a number (N) of discontinuous tones spanning the first spread bandwidth; and transmitting the TB PPDU over a wireless channel as a distributed transmission on the N discontinuous tones.

[0167]

[0194] Clause 40. The method of clause 39, wherein the tone mapping information includes one or more signaling bits that explicitly indicate the first spreading bandwidth design, or one or more information fields that implicitly indicate the first spreading bandwidth design based on a combination of the dRU indication bit, the puncturing information, and the PPDU bandwidth associated with the TB PPDU.

[0168]

[0195] Clause 41. The method of any one of clauses 39 to 40, wherein the trigger frame carries tone mapping information in multiple signaling fields corresponding to multiple subchannels of the wireless channel, each signaling field including a value indicating whether the RU allocation for the individual subchannel is a normal RU (rRU) or a dRU, and the value further indicates an individual spreading bandwidth design for the individual subchannel if the RU allocation for the individual subchannel is a dRU.

[0169]

[0196] Clause 42. The method of any one of clauses 39 to 41, wherein the RU allocation information indicates that a first dRU is allocated for a first STA in a first subchannel, and the first signaling field indicates a first spreading bandwidth design for the first subchannel.

[0170]

[0197] Clause 43. The method of any one of clauses 39 to 42, wherein the tone mapping information includes a PPDU bandwidth of the TB PPDU, and the first spreading bandwidth design includes a single spreading bandwidth equal to the PPDU bandwidth if the PPDU bandwidth is less than 80 MHz bandwidth or if the PPDU bandwidth is 80 MHz bandwidth and there is no puncturing in the TB PPDU, and the first spreading bandwidth design is limited to the 80 MHz bandwidth in each 80 MHz subchannel if the PPDU bandwidth is greater than the 80 MHz bandwidth.

[0171]

[0198] Clause 44. The method of any one of clauses 39 to 43, further comprising: obtaining tone mapping information from a plurality of signaling fields in the trigger frame, each signaling field being associated with an individual 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel for the wireless channel; and conveying a value selected from the group consisting of: a first value indicating that RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannel is associated with contiguous tone mapping; a second value indicating that RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannel is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a single 80 MHz spread bandwidth; and a third value indicating that RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannel is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a single 40 MHz spread bandwidth.

[0172]

[0199] Clause 45. Obtaining tone mapping information from a plurality of signaling fields in a trigger frame, each signaling field being associated with a distinct 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel for a wireless channel, and a first value indicating that RU allocation for the distinct 80 MHz subchannel is associated with contiguous tone mapping, a second value indicating that RU allocation for the distinct 80 MHz subchannel is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a single 80 MHz spread bandwidth, and a third value indicating that RU allocation for the distinct 80 MHz subchannel is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a single 40 MHz spread bandwidth. a third value indicating that RU allocation for individual 80 MHz subchannels is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design comprising a 20 MHz spreading bandwidth in a lower 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannel and a 40 MHz spreading bandwidth in an upper 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannel; a fifth value indicating that RU allocation for individual 80 MHz subchannels is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design comprising a 40 MHz spreading bandwidth in a lower 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannel and a 20 MHz spreading bandwidth in an upper 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannel; and a sixth value indicating that RU allocation for a TB PPDU is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design comprising a single 20 MHz spreading bandwidth.

[0173]

[0200] Clause 46. The method of any one of clauses 39 to 45, wherein the PPDU bandwidth for the TB PPDU is a 20 MHz bandwidth or a 40 MHz bandwidth, and the method further includes obtaining tone mapping information from a signal field in the trigger frame carrying a value selected from the group consisting of: a first value indicating that the RU allocation for the TB PPDU is associated with contiguous tone mapping, a second value indicating that the RU allocation for the TB PPDU is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design including a single 20 MHz spreading bandwidth, and a third value indicating that the RU allocation for the TB PPDU is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design including a single 40 MHz spreading bandwidth.

[0174]

[0201] Clause 47. The method of any one of clauses 39 to 46, further comprising obtaining all or part of the tone mapping information from one or more signaling bits in a common information field or a specific user information field of the trigger frame that conveys information common to multiple STAs having dRUs assigned thereto in the trigger frame.

[0175]

[0202] Clause 48. A method according to any one of clauses 39 to 47, further comprising obtaining a first portion of the tone mapping information from one or more signalling bits in a common information field of the trigger frame, and obtaining a second portion of the tone mapping information from one or more signalling bits in a special user information field of the trigger frame.

[0176]

[0203] Clause 49. A method according to any one of clauses 39 to 48, further comprising obtaining an indication from at least a first signalling bit in the common information field or the first specific user information field of the trigger frame that the trigger frame includes a second specific user information field, and obtaining all or part of the tone mapping information from the second specific user information field.

[0177]

[0204] Clause 50. The method of any one of clauses 39 to 49, further comprising obtaining all or a portion of the tone mapping information from one or more signaling bits in a user information field carrying information specific to a first dRU assigned to the first STA.

[0178]

[0205] Clause 51. The method of any one of clauses 39 to 50, further comprising: obtaining a first portion of the tone mapping information from one or more signaling bits in a common information field or a special user information field of the trigger frame; and obtaining a second portion of the tone mapping information from one or more signaling bits in a user information field carrying information specific to a first dRU assigned to the first STA.

[0179]

[0206] Clause 52. The method of any one of clauses 39 to 51, wherein generating the trigger frame includes obtaining tone mapping information from a combination of a plurality of signaling fields corresponding to a plurality of subchannels of the wireless channel, puncturing information, and uplink (UL) PPDU bandwidth information for the TB PPDU, and deriving a first spreading bandwidth design based on the combination of the plurality of signaling fields, the puncturing information, and the UL PPDU bandwidth information.

[0180]

[0207] Clause 53. The method of any one of clauses 39 to 52, further comprising: obtaining a PPDU bandwidth associated with the TB PPDU from a bandwidth field of the trigger frame; and, if the PPDU bandwidth of the TB PPDU is a 320 MHz bandwidth, obtaining a first spreading bandwidth from tone mapping information in a specific user information field of the trigger frame.

[0181]

[0208] Clause 54. The method of any one of clauses 39 to 53, further comprising: identifying a normal RU (rRU) in a tone plan for continuous transmission, wherein the rRU and the first dRU are associated with the same logical RU in the RU allocation table; and identifying a first spreading bandwidth for the first dRU based on the location of the rRU in the tone plan with respect to one or more spreading bandwidths associated with the first spreading bandwidth design.

[0182]

[0209] Clause 55. A wireless communications device for a first wireless station (STA), comprising: at least one modem configured to receive from an access point a trigger frame that requests a trigger-based (TB) physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) from a plurality of wireless stations (STAs) via a plurality of resource units (RUs), respectively, the trigger frame carrying RU allocation information indicating a plurality of RUs including one or more distributed RUs (dRUs) and carrying tone mapping information indicating at least a first spread bandwidth design for the one or more dRUs; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one modem, the at least one processor configured to identify a first dRU in the RU allocation information allocated for the first STA, the first dRU being associated with a first spread bandwidth according to the first spread bandwidth design, and map the first dRU to a number (N) of discontinuous tones spanning the first spread bandwidth, wherein the at least one modem is configured to output a TB PPDU for distributed transmission on the N discontinuous tones of the wireless channel.

[0183]

[0210] Clause 56. The wireless communications device of clause 55, wherein the tone mapping information includes one or more signaling bits that explicitly indicate the first spreading bandwidth design, or one or more information fields that implicitly indicate the first spreading bandwidth design based on a combination of the dRU indication bit, the puncturing information, and the PPDU bandwidth associated with the TB PPDU.

[0184]

[0211] Clause 57. A wireless communication device as described in any one of clauses 55 to 56, wherein the trigger frame carries tone mapping information in multiple signaling fields corresponding to multiple subchannels of the wireless channel, each signaling field including a value indicating whether the RU allocation for the individual subchannel is a normal RU (rRU) or a dRU, and the value further indicates an individual spreading bandwidth design for the individual subchannel if the RU allocation for the individual subchannel is a dRU.

[0185]

[0212] Clause 58. A wireless communication device as described in any one of clauses 55 to 57, wherein the RU allocation information indicates that a first dRU is allocated for a first STA in a first subchannel, and the first signaling field indicates a first spreading bandwidth design for the first subchannel.

[0186]

[0213] Clause 59. A wireless communication device as described in any one of clauses 55 to 58, wherein the tone mapping information includes a PPDU bandwidth of the TB PPDU, and the first spreading bandwidth design includes a single spreading bandwidth equal to the PPDU bandwidth if the PPDU bandwidth is less than 80 MHz bandwidth or if the PPDU bandwidth is 80 MHz bandwidth and there is no puncturing in the TB PPDU, and the first spreading bandwidth design is limited to an 80 MHz bandwidth in each 80 MHz subchannel if the PPDU bandwidth is greater than the 80 MHz bandwidth.

[0187]

[0214] Clause 60. The wireless communication device of any one of clauses 55 to 59, wherein at least one processor is configured to obtain tone mapping information from a plurality of signaling fields in the trigger frame, each signaling field being associated with an individual 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel for the wireless channel and conveying a value selected from the group consisting of: a first value indicating that RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannel is associated with contiguous tone mapping, a second value indicating that RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannel is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a single 80 MHz spread bandwidth, and a third value indicating that RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannel is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a single 40 MHz spread bandwidth.

[0188]

[0215] Clause 61. At least one processor obtains tone mapping information from a plurality of signaling fields in the trigger frame, each signaling field being associated with a distinct 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel for the wireless channel, a first value indicating that RU allocations for the distinct 80 MHz subchannels are associated with contiguous tone mapping, a second value indicating that RU allocations for the distinct 80 MHz subchannels are associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a single 80 MHz spread bandwidth, a third value indicating that RU allocations for the distinct 80 MHz subchannels are associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a single 40 MHz spread bandwidth, a third value indicating that RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannels is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design comprising a 20 MHz spreading bandwidth in a lower 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannel and a 40 MHz spreading bandwidth in an upper 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannel; a fifth value indicating that RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannels is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design comprising a 40 MHz spreading bandwidth in the lower 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannel and a 20 MHz spreading bandwidth in the upper 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannel; and a sixth value indicating that RU allocation for the TB PPDU is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design comprising a single 20 MHz spreading bandwidth.

[0189]

[0216] Clause 62. A wireless communication device as described in any one of Clauses 55 to 61, wherein the PPDU bandwidth for the TB PPDU is a 20 MHz bandwidth or a 40 MHz bandwidth, and the at least one processor is configured to obtain tone mapping information from a signal field in the trigger frame carrying a value selected from the group consisting of: a first value indicating that the RU allocation for the TB PPDU is associated with contiguous tone mapping, a second value indicating that the RU allocation for the TB PPDU is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a single 20 MHz spread bandwidth, and a third value indicating that the RU allocation for the TB PPDU is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spread bandwidth design including a single 40 MHz spread bandwidth.

[0190]

[0217] Clause 63. A wireless communication device as described in any one of clauses 55 to 62, wherein at least one processor is configured to obtain all or a portion of the tone mapping information from one or more signaling bits in a common information field or a specific user information field of the trigger frame that conveys information common to multiple STAs having dRUs assigned in the trigger frame.

[0191]

[0218] Clause 64. A wireless communication device as described in any one of Clauses 55 to 63, wherein at least one processor is configured to obtain a first portion of the tone mapping information from one or more signaling bits in a common information field of the trigger frame, and to obtain a second portion of the tone mapping information from one or more signaling bits in a special user information field of the trigger frame.

[0192]

[0219] Clause 65. A wireless communication device as described in any one of Clauses 55 to 64, wherein at least one processor is configured to obtain an indication that the trigger frame includes a second special user information field from at least a first signaling bit in the common information field or the first special user information field of the trigger frame, and to obtain all or a portion of the tone mapping information from the second special user information field.

[0193]

[0220] Clause 66. A wireless communication device as described in any one of Clauses 55 to 65, wherein at least one processor is configured to obtain all or a portion of the tone mapping information from one or more signaling bits in a user information field carrying information specific to the first dRU assigned to the first STA.

[0194]

[0221] Clause 67. A wireless communication device as described in any one of Clauses 55 to 66, wherein at least one processor is configured to obtain a first portion of the tone mapping information from one or more signaling bits in a common information field or a special user information field of the trigger frame, and obtain a second portion of the tone mapping information from one or more signaling bits in a user information field carrying information specific to the first dRU assigned to the first STA.

[0195]

[0222] Clause 68. The wireless communication device of any one of clauses 55 to 67, wherein at least one processor is configured to obtain tone mapping information from a combination of a plurality of signaling fields corresponding to a plurality of subchannels of the wireless channel, puncturing information, and uplink (UL) PPDU bandwidth information for the TB PPDU, and derive a first spreading bandwidth design based on the combination of the plurality of signaling fields, the puncturing information, and the UL PPDU bandwidth information.

[0196]

[0223] Clause 69. A wireless communication device as described in any one of clauses 55 to 68, wherein at least one processor is configured to obtain a PPDU bandwidth associated with the TB PPDU from a bandwidth field of the trigger frame, and if the PPDU bandwidth of the TB PPDU is a 320 MHz bandwidth, obtain a first spreading bandwidth from tone mapping information in a special user information field of the trigger frame.

[0197]

[0224] Clause 70. A wireless communication device as described in any one of Clauses 55 to 69, wherein at least one processor is configured to identify a normal RU (rRU) in a tone plan for continuous transmission, the rRU and the first dRU being associated with the same logical RU in the RU allocation table, and identify a first spreading bandwidth for the first dRU based on the location of the rRU in the tone plan with respect to one or more spreading bandwidths associated with the first spreading bandwidth design.

[0198]

[0225] Clause 71. A wireless communication device as described in any one of clauses 55 to 70, further comprising at least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor readable code, at least one transceiver coupled to the at least one modem, at least one antenna coupled to the at least one transceiver for wirelessly transmitting signals output from the at least one transceiver and wirelessly receiving signals for input to the at least one transceiver, and a housing enclosing at least a portion of the at least one modem, the at least one processor, the at least one memory, the at least one transceiver, and the at least one antenna.

[0199]

[0226] As used herein, phrases referring to "at least one of" or "one or more of" a list of items refer to any combination of those items, including single members. For example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to encompass the possibilities of a only, b only, c only, a combination of a and b, a combination of a and c, a combination of b and c, and a combination of a, b, and c.

[0200]

[0227] The various example components, logic, logic blocks, modules, circuits, operations, and algorithmic processes described with respect to the implementations disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, firmware, software, or combinations of hardware, firmware, or software, including the structures disclosed herein and their structural equivalents. The compatibility of hardware, firmware, and software has been described generally in terms of functionality and illustrated in the various example components, blocks, modules, circuits, and processes described above. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware, firmware, or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0201]

[0228] Various modifications of the implementations described in this disclosure may be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other implementations without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the implementations shown herein, but should be accorded the widest scope consistent with the present disclosure, the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

[0202]

[0229] Moreover, various features described herein in the context of separate implementations may also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single implementation may also be implemented separately in multiple implementations or in any suitable subcombination. Thus, although features may be described above as working in a particular combination and may even initially be claimed as such, in some cases one or more features from the claimed combination may be deleted from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or a variation of the subcombination.

[0203]

[0230] Similarly, although operations are shown in the figures in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order or sequential order shown, or that all of the illustrated operations be performed, to achieve a desired result. Additionally, the figures may generally illustrate one or more exemplary processes in the form of a flowchart or flow diagram. However, other operations not shown may be incorporated into the generally illustrated exemplary process. For example, one or more additional operations may be performed before, after, simultaneously with, or between any of the illustrated operations. In some situations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, it should be understood that the separation of various system components in the implementations described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and that the program components and systems described may generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication by an access point (AP), comprising: allocating, for a trigger-based (TB) physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU), a plurality of resource units (RUs) of a wireless channel to a plurality of wireless stations (STAs), respectively, wherein the plurality of RUs includes one or more distributed RUs (dRUs); transmitting, via the wireless channel, to the plurality of STAs, a trigger frame that carries RU allocation information indicating the plurality of RUs and tone mapping information indicating at least a first spread bandwidth design for the one or more dRUs, wherein the one or more dRUs are mapped to respective sets of discontinuous tones according to the first spread bandwidth design.

2. signaling the tone mapping information within a plurality of signaling fields of the trigger frame corresponding to a plurality of subchannels of the wireless channel, each signaling field including a value indicating whether the RU allocation for an individual subchannel is a normal RU (rRU) or a dRU, wherein the value further indicates an individual spread bandwidth design for the individual subchannel when the RU allocation for the individual subchannel is a dRU, the method according to claim 1. The method according to claim 1.

3. selecting the first spread bandwidth design from among a plurality of spread bandwidth design options and excluding a punctured portion of the wireless channel from the TB PPDU; allocating the one or more dRUs based on respective locations of corresponding rRUs in a continuous tone map, whereby the one or more dRUs are mapped to respective spread bandwidths that exclude the punctured portion of the wireless channel, the method according to claim 1. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

4. setting a PPDU bandwidth of the TB PPDU; selecting the first spread bandwidth design from among a plurality of spread bandwidth design options based on the PPDU bandwidth. Signaling the PPDU bandwidth of the TB PPDU within the trigger frame, where the tone mapping information is related to the PPDU bandwidth, and further comprising, preferably, The first spreading bandwidth design includes a single spreading bandwidth equal to the PPDU bandwidth when the PPDU bandwidth is less than 80 MHz bandwidth or when the PPDU bandwidth is 80 MHz bandwidth and there is no puncturing in the TB PPDU. The first spreading bandwidth design is limited to 80 MHz bandwidth within each 80 MHz subchannel when the PPDU bandwidth is greater than 80 MHz bandwidth. The method according to claim 1.

5. Signaling the tone mapping information within a plurality of signaling fields of the trigger frame, where each signaling field is associated with an individual 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel for the wireless channel. A first value indicating that the RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannel is associated with continuous tone mapping. A second value indicating that the RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannel is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design including a single 80 MHz spreading bandwidth, and A third value indicating that the RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannel is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design including a single 40 MHz spreading bandwidth. Substituting a value selected from the group consisting of into each signal field. Further comprising, or The method is Signaling the tone mapping information within a plurality of signaling fields of the trigger frame, where each signaling field is associated with an individual 80 MHz bandwidth subchannel for the wireless channel. A first value indicating that the RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannel is associated with continuous tone mapping. A second value indicating that the RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannel is associated with distributed tone mapping and further indicating a spreading bandwidth design including a single 80 MHz spreading bandwidth. A third value indicating that the RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannels is associated with distributed tone mapping, and further indicating a bandwidth design including a single 40 MHz spread bandwidth, A fourth value indicating that the RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannels is associated with distributed tone mapping, and further indicating a bandwidth design including a 20 MHz spread bandwidth within the lower 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannels and a 40 MHz spread bandwidth within the upper 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannels, A fifth value indicating that the RU allocation for the individual 80 MHz subchannels is associated with distributed tone mapping, and further indicating a bandwidth design including a 40 MHz spread bandwidth within the lower 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannels and a 20 MHz spread bandwidth within the upper 40 MHz bandwidth portion of the individual 80 MHz subchannels, and A sixth value indicating that the RU allocation for the TB PPDU is associated with distributed tone mapping, and further indicating a bandwidth design including a single 20 MHz spread bandwidth, Substituting a value selected from the group consisting of into each signal field, The method according to claim 1, further comprising. **Claim 6** Incorporating all or part of the tone mapping information into the trigger frame as one or more signaling bits in the common information field or the special user information field of the trigger frame that carries common information for a plurality of STAs having dRUs allocated in the trigger frame, or Incorporating a first portion of the tone mapping information into the trigger frame as one or more signaling bits in the common information field of the trigger frame, and Incorporating a second portion of the tone mapping information into the trigger frame as one or more signaling bits in the special user information field of the trigger frame, and The method according to claim 1, further comprising. **Claim 7** Indicating that the trigger frame includes a second special user information field by at least a first signaling bit in the common information field or the first special user information field of the trigger frame, incorporating all or part of the tone mapping information into the second special user information field; The method according to claim 1, further comprising.

8. incorporating all or part of the tone mapping information into the trigger frame as one or more signaling bits in a user information field that carries information specific to a first dRU assigned to a first STA, or incorporating a first portion of the tone mapping information into the trigger frame as one or more signaling bits in a common information field or a special user information field of the trigger frame; and incorporating a second portion of the tone mapping information into the trigger frame as one or more signaling bits in a user information field that carries information specific to a first dRU assigned to a first STA; The method according to claim 1, further comprising.

9. Generating the trigger frame comprises signaling the tone mapping information within a combination of a plurality of signaling fields corresponding to a plurality of subchannels of the wireless channel, puncturing information, and uplink (UL) PPDU bandwidth information regarding the TB PPDU, whereby the first spread bandwidth design is derivable from the combination of the plurality of signaling fields, the puncturing information, and the UL PPDU bandwidth information; signaling The method according to claim 1, comprising.

10. The one or more dRUs include at least a first dRU assigned to a first STA among the plurality of STAs, and the method comprises receiving a distributed transmission from the first STA via the first dRU; and demapping the distributed transmission to recover the TB PPDU from the first STA, the demapped distributed transmission including some (N) discontinuous tones over a first spread bandwidth according to the first spread bandwidth design. The method according to claim 1.

11. A wireless communication device for wireless communication, At least one processor configured to allocate a plurality of resource units (RUs) of a wireless channel to a plurality of wireless stations (STAs) respectively for a trigger-based (TB) physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU), wherein the plurality of RUs includes one or more distributed RUs (dRUs), at least one processor; At least one modem configured to output a trigger frame for transmission via the wireless channel to the plurality of STAs, the trigger frame carrying RU allocation information indicating the plurality of RUs and tone mapping information indicating at least a first diffusion bandwidth design for the one or more dRUs, wherein the one or more dRUs are mapped to respective sets of discontinuous tones according to the first diffusion bandwidth design, at least one modem; A wireless communication device comprising.

12. A method for wireless communication by a first wireless station (STA), comprising: Receiving, from an access point, a trigger frame requesting a trigger-based (TB) physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) from a plurality of wireless stations (STAs) via a plurality of resource units (RUs), wherein the trigger frame carries RU allocation information indicating the plurality of RUs including one or more distributed RUs (dRUs) and tone mapping information indicating at least a first diffusion bandwidth design for the one or more dRUs; Identifying a first dRU within the RU allocation information allocated for the first STA, wherein the first dRU is associated with a first diffusion bandwidth according to the first diffusion bandwidth design; Mapping the first dRU to some (N) discontinuous tones over the first diffusion bandwidth; Transmitting the TB PPDU via the wireless channel as a distributed transmission over the N discontinuous tones. A method comprising.

13. Obtaining all or part of the tone mapping information from one or more signaling bits in the common information field or the special user information field of the trigger frame that carries information common to a plurality of STAs having dRUs assigned within the trigger frame, or, Obtaining a first portion of the tone mapping information from one or more signaling bits in the common information field of the trigger frame; Obtaining a second portion of the tone mapping information from one or more signaling bits in the special user information field of the trigger frame, or, Obtaining a first portion of the tone mapping information from one or more signaling bits in the common information field or the special user information field of the trigger frame; Obtaining a second portion of the tone mapping information from one or more signaling bits in a user information field that carries information specific to a first dRU assigned to a first STA; The method according to claim 12, further comprising.

14. Identifying a normal RU (rRU) in a tone plan for continuous transmission, wherein the rRU and the first dRU are associated with the same logical RU in an RU allocation table; Identifying the first spreading bandwidth for the first dRU based on the location of the rRU in the tone plan regarding one or more spreading bandwidths associated with the first spreading bandwidth design; The method according to claim 12, further comprising.

15. A wireless communication device of a first wireless station (STA), At least one modem configured to obtain from an access point a trigger frame that requests trigger-based (TB) physical layer convergence protocol (PLCP) protocol data units (PPDUs) from a plurality of wireless stations (STAs) via a plurality of resource units (RUs), wherein the trigger frame carries RU allocation information indicating the plurality of RUs including one or more distributed RUs (dRUs), and carries tone mapping information indicating at least a first spreading bandwidth design for the one or more dRUs, at least one modem; At least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one modem, identifying a first dRU within the RU allocation information allocated for the first STA, the first dRU being associated with a first spreading bandwidth according to the first spreading bandwidth design, mapping the first dRU to several (N) discontinuous tones over the first spreading bandwidth, at least one processor configured as such; comprising; the at least one modem configured to output the TB PPDU for distributed transmission on the N discontinuous tones of the wireless channel, the at least one modem; A wireless communication device comprising.

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