Enhanced Frame for Time Domain Preemption

Abstract

This disclosure describes systems, methods, and devices related to time domain preemption. A device may generate a frame including a preamble and a data payload. The device may split the data payload into multiple data portions. The device may insert a time domain gap between each of the multiple data portions to allow preemption during transmission of the frame. The device may transmit the frame to a first station device.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for wireless communication, and more particularly to enhanced frames for time domain preemption. [Background technology]

[0002] Wireless devices are becoming more and more prevalent and are increasingly demanding access to wireless channels. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is developing one or more standards that utilize Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) in channel allocation. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0003] [Figure 1] 1 is a network diagram depicting an example of a network environment for time domain preemption in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] 1 depicts an example schematic diagram of time domain preemption in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] 1 depicts an example schematic diagram of time domain preemption in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] 1 depicts an example schematic diagram of time domain preemption in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 5] 1 depicts an example schematic diagram of time domain preemption in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] 1 depicts an example schematic diagram of time domain preemption in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] 1 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process for an example time domain preemption system in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] 1 depicts a functional diagram of an exemplary communication station that may be suitable for use as a user device, in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] 1 depicts a block diagram of an example machine upon which any of one or more techniques (eg, methods) may be implemented in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless architecture according to some examples. [Figure 11] 11 illustrates an example of a front-end module circuit used in the wireless architecture of FIG. 10 in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 12] 11 illustrates an example of a radio IC circuit used in the radio architecture of FIG. 10 in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 13] 11 illustrates an example of a baseband processing circuit used in the wireless architecture of FIG. 10 in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0004] The following description and drawings describe specific embodiments sufficiently to enable those skilled in the art to practice the specific embodiments. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, algorithmic, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in, or substituted for, portions and features of other embodiments. The embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalents of the claims.

[0005] There is an important use case that requires a method to enable preemption to allow an ongoing transmission to be aborted so that an urgent communication from another STA can be sent.

[0006] Methods have been considered that allow STAs to request emergency communications on a dedicated channel (dedicated radio wave). Upon receiving the request, the STA / AP will stop its ongoing PPDU transmission on its main radio wave in order to allow the STA with the emergency communication to use the medium (either by providing access via enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) or by triggering transmission with a trigger frame).

[0007] If a STA / AP is in the process of sending a PPDU to STA1 and receives an emergency communication for STA2 in its queue, it may wish to abort the ongoing transmission to STA1 and send the new PPDU to STA2.

[0008] To provide an opportunity for STAs to send requests for emergency communication or to preempt the medium by transmitting an emergency packet every x μs / ms, another approach is to force STAs to pause their PPDUs every x μs if they are sending long PPDUs. During this pause, STAs with emergency communication can start transmitting their PPDUs and get the medium, or they can send a short indication that they have a request for emergency communication, and if this happens, the STA whose PPDU was paused will give back the remainder of its TxOP time to that STA. If no STAs request the medium during the pause, the STA scheduled to pause can resume its PPDU until the next pause.

[0009] Similarly, for the uplink (UL), another proposal may be to send a trigger frame to allocate resource units (RUs) and time allocations (after a time boundary) to one or more STAs. At the time boundary, PPDU transmission stops to allow a training signal (LTF) to be transmitted. If a STA has an allocation in the same RU before and after the boundary, the same PPDU can continue. If two different STAs are scheduled before and after the boundary, the PPDU should end at the boundary.

[0010] In one or more embodiments, the time domain preemption system may define mechanisms to pause, abort, or resume a PPDU to enable these use cases.

[0011] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems, methods, and devices for frames, such as physical layer (PHY) convergence protocol data units (PPDUs) or aggregated PPDUs, in the time domain for preemption, pausing, and time multiplexing.

[0012] In one or more embodiments, the time domain preemption system may facilitate the use of a time domain frame such as a PPDU or Aggregated PPDU (A-PPDU). This frame consists of a Physical Layer Convergence Protocol (PLCP) preamble / header followed by multiple data portions. Each data portion may be preceded by an LTE field to allow channel estimation for new STAs. Each data portion may also be preceded by a signaling (SIG) field to allow any parameter changes / updates that may be necessary. In each data portion, the MAC payload consists of an A-MPDU or MPDU that may be punctured using a puncturing rule.

[0013] In one or more embodiments, the time domain preemption system may facilitate multiple modes: A mode in which there is perfect continuity between the MAC payloads of consecutive data portions (i.e., the receiver appends the MAC payloads from multiple data portions and processes it as if it were received in a single data portion); A mode in which MAC and PHY padding is placed at the end of each data portion to end the data portion at the same time boundary between the data portion and the PPDU or A-PPDU; There may be a pause between two data portions.

[0014] The above description is for purposes of illustration and not limitation. Numerous other examples, configurations, processes, algorithms, etc. may exist, some of which are described in further detail below. Exemplary embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures.

[0015] 1 is a network diagram illustrating an example of a time domain preemption network environment in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The wireless network 100 may include one or more user devices 120 and one or more access points (APs) 102, which may communicate according to the IEEE 802.11 communication standard. The user devices 120 may be mobile devices that are non-stationary (e.g., do not have a fixed location) or may be fixed devices.

[0016] In some embodiments, the user device 120 and the AP 102 may include one or more computer systems similar to the functional diagram of FIG. 8 and / or the example machine / system of FIG.

[0017] One or more of the exemplary user devices 120 and / or APs 102 may be operable by one or more users 110. Note that any addressable unit may be a station (STA). An STA may take on multiple different characteristics, each of which forms its functionality. For example, a single addressable unit may be simultaneously a portable STA, a quality of service (QoS) STA, a subordinate STA, and a hidden STA. One or more of the exemplary user devices 120 and / or APs 102 may be an STA. One or more of the exemplary user devices 120 and / or APs 102 may operate as a personal basic service set (PBSS) control point / access point (PCP / AP). The user devices 120 (e.g., 124, 126, or 128) and / or APs 102 may include any suitable processor-driven device, including, but not limited to, a mobile device or a non-mobile, e.g., static, device. For example, the user device 120 and / or the AP 102 may be a user equipment (UE), a station (STA), an access point (AP), a software enabled AP (SoftAP), a personal computer (PC), a wearable wireless device (e.g., a bracelet, a watch, glasses, a ring, etc.), a desktop computer, a mobile computer, a laptop computer, an ultrabook computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a server computer, a handheld computer, a handheld device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a sensor device, a PDA device, a handheld PDA device, an on-board device, an off-board device, a hybrid device (e.g., combining cellular telephone functionality and PDA device functionality), a consumer device, a vehicular device, a non-vehicular device, a mobile or portable device, a non-mobile or non-portable device, a mobile phone, a cellular telephone, a PCS device, a PDA device incorporating a wireless communication device, a mobile or portable GPS device, a DVB device, a trusted small computing device, a non-desktop computer, a “carry small“Cellular” large” (CSLL) device, ultra-mobile device (UMD), ultra-mobile PC (UMPC), mobile internet device (MID), “origami” device or computing device, dynamically composable computing (DCC), context aware device, video device, audio device, A / V device, set-top box (STB), Blu-ray Disc (BD) player, BD recorder, digital video disc (DVD) player, high definition (HD) DVD player, DVD recorder, HD These may include DVD recorders, personal video recorders (PVRs), broadcast HD receivers, video sources, audio sources, video sinks, audio sinks, stereo tuners, broadcast radio receivers, flat panel displays, personal media players (PMPs), digital video cameras (DVCs), digital audio players, speakers, audio receivers, audio amplifiers, game consoles, data sources, data sinks, digital still cameras (DSCs), media players, smartphones, televisions, music players, etc. Other devices may also be included in this list, including smart devices such as lighting, mechanism controls, car components, home components, appliances, etc.

[0018] As used herein, the term “Internet of Things (IoT) device” is used to refer to any object (e.g., appliance, sensor, etc.) that has an addressable interface (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP) address, Bluetooth® Identifier (ID), Near Field Communication (NFC) ID, etc.) and can transmit information to one or more other devices via a wired or wireless connection. An IoT device may have a passive communication interface, such as a Quick Response (QR) code, a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag, an NFC tag, etc., or an active communication interface, such as a modem, a transceiver, a transmitter / receiver, etc. An IoT device may have a particular set of attributes (e.g., a state or status of the device, such as whether the IoT device is on or off, open or closed, idle or working, available or busy for task execution, etc., cooling or heating capabilities, environmental monitoring or recording capabilities, light emitting capabilities, sound emitting capabilities, etc.) embedded in and / or controlled / monitored by a central processing unit (CPU), microprocessor, ASIC, etc., that may be configured for connection to an IoT network, such as a local ad-hoc network or the Internet. For example, IoT devices may include, but are not limited to, refrigerators, toasters, ovens, microwave ovens, freezers, dishwashers, dishes, hand tools, clothing, washing machines, clothes dryers, furnaces, air conditioners, thermostats, televisions, light fixtures, vacuum cleaners, sprinklers, electric meters, gas meters, etc. IoT devices may also include mobile phones, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc. Thus, an IoT network may consist of a combination of “legacy” Internet-accessible devices (e.g., laptop or desktop computers, mobile phones, etc.) in addition to devices that do not typically have Internet connectivity (e.g., dishwashers, etc.).

[0019] The user devices 120 and / or APs 102 may also include mesh stations, for example, in a mesh network, according to one or more IEEE 802.11 and / or 3GPP standards.

[0020] Any of the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the AP 102 may be configured to communicate with one another wirelessly or wired via one or more communications networks 130 and / or 135. The user devices 120 may also communicate with one another peer-to-peer or directly with or without the AP 102. Any of the communications networks 130 and / or 135 may include any one of a combination of various types of suitable communications networks, such as, but not limited to, a broadcasting network, a cable network, a public network (e.g., the Internet), a private network, a wireless network, a cellular network, or any other suitable private and / or public network. Additionally, any of the communications networks 130 and / or 135 may have any suitable communications range associated therewith, and may include, for example, a global network (e.g., the Internet), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), or a personal area network (PAN). Additionally, any of communications networks 130 and / or 135 may include any type of medium over which network traffic may be carried, including, but not limited to, coaxial cable, twisted pair wire, optical fiber, hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) media, microwave terrestrial transceiver, radio frequency communications media, white space communications media, extremely high frequency communications media, satellite communications media, or any combination thereof.

[0021] Any of the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the AP 102 may include one or more communication antennas. The one or more communication antennas may be any suitable type of antenna compatible with the communication protocol used by the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, and 128) and the AP 102. Some non-limiting examples of suitable communication antennas include Wi-Fi antennas, antennas conforming to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards, directional antennas, non-directional antennas, dipole antennas, folding dipole antennas, patch antennas, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, omni-directional antennas, quasi-omni-directional antennas, etc. The one or more communication antennas may be communicatively coupled to a radio component to transmit and / or receive signals, such as communication signals, to and / or from the user devices 120 and / or the AP 102.

[0022] Any of the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the AP 102 may be configured to perform directional transmission and / or directional reception in conjunction with wireless communication in a wireless network. Any of the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the AP 102 may be configured to perform such directional transmission and / or reception using a set of multiple antenna arrays (e.g., DMG antenna arrays, etc.). Each of the multiple antenna arrays may be used for transmission and / or reception in a particular respective direction or range of directions. Any of the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the AP 102 may be configured to perform any given directional transmission toward one or more defined transmission sectors. Any of the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the AP 102 may be configured to perform any given directional reception from one or more defined reception sectors.

[0023] MIMO beamforming in wireless networks may be achieved using RF beamforming and / or digital beamforming. In some embodiments, when performing a given MIMO transmission, the user device 120 and / or the AP 102 may be configured to use all or a portion of its one or more communication antennas to perform MIMO beamforming.

[0024] Either of the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128) and the AP 102 may include any suitable radio and / or transceiver for transmitting and / or receiving radio frequency (RF) signals in a bandwidth and / or channel corresponding to a communication protocol utilized by either of the user devices 120 and the AP 102 to communicate with each other. The radio component may include hardware and / or software for modulating and / or demodulating the communication signal according to a predefined transmission protocol. The radio component may further include hardware and / or software instructions for communicating via one or more Wi-Fi and / or WI-Fi Direct protocols as standardized by the IEEE 802.11 standard. In certain exemplary embodiments, the radio component, in cooperation with the communication antenna, may be configured to communicate over a 2.4 GHz channel (e.g., 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ax), a 5 Hz channel (e.g., 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11be, etc.), a 6 GHz channel (e.g., 802.11ax, 802.11be, etc.), or a 60 Hz channel (e.g., 802.11ad, 802.11ay), an 800 MHz channel (e.g., 802.11ah). The communication antenna may operate at 28 GHz and 40 GHz. It should be understood that this list of communication channels according to certain 802.11 standards is merely a partial list, and other 802.11 standards (e.g., next generation Wi-Fi or other standards) may be used. In some embodiments, non-Wi-Fi protocols such as Bluetooth, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) (e.g., IEEE 802.11af, IEEE 802.22), white band frequencies (e.g., white space), or other packetized wireless communications may be used for communication between devices. The radio component may include any known receiver and baseband suitable for communication according to the communication protocol.The radio components may further include a low noise amplifier (LNA), an additional signal amplifier, an analog-to-digital (A / D) converter, one or more buffers, and a digital baseband.

[0025] In one embodiment, referring to Figure 1, a user device 120 may communicate with one or more APs 102. For example, one or more APs 102 may implement time domain preemption 142 with one or more user devices 120. It is understood that the above description is for purposes of illustration and is not intended to be limiting.

[0026] FIG. 2 illustrates an example schematic diagram of time domain preemption, in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0027] Referring to FIG. 2, an example of a frame (eg, a PPDU or A-PPDU) consisting of a preamble and a data payload is shown.

[0028] In one or more embodiments, the time domain preemption system may facilitate that the data payload may be split into multiple data portions (data portion 1, data portion 2, and data portion 3). The multiple data portions may be separated by a delimiter (e.g., delimiter 201 or 202). The delimiter may be used to create an opportunity for other STAs with emergency communications to use the medium (either by allowing access with enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) or by allowing transmission to be triggered with a trigger frame).

[0029] In one or more embodiments, the time domain preemption system may define the delimiters to be the LTF field or the LTF and SIG fields. It is understood that the above description is for purposes of illustration and is not intended to be limiting.

[0030] FIG. 3 illustrates an example schematic diagram of time domain preemption, in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0031] Referring to FIG. 3, a frame (e.g., PPDU or A-PPDU) with pauses (pause 301 and pause 302) between different data portions and delimiters (see FIG. 2) is shown, the frame is intended to be transmitted by a first STA. In some examples, only a time pause is added without a delimiter. The pauses and / or delimiters are intended to create an opportunity for a second STA with an urgent communication to use the communication medium. If the second STA has more urgent traffic, the second STA can utilize these pauses and / or delimiters to indicate that it needs to transmit data. The AP associated with both STAs may allow the second STA's traffic to pass while the frame is paused. After the second STA transmits its urgent data, the first STA can resume its transmission.

[0032] It is understood that the above description is illustrative and not intended to be limiting.

[0033] FIG. 4 depicts an example schematic diagram of time domain preemption, in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0034] Referring to FIG. 4, an example of a MAC payload with continuity between the MAC payloads contained in the three data portions is shown in mode 1. Each MAC payload is appended one after the other, and the frame is processed by the receiving device as if the data portions were sent without separation. This mode maintains MAC efficiency because there is no padding between the data portions. However, if there is a problem receiving one portion (e.g., either portion 2 or 3 cannot be sent due to preemption at the end of portion 1), the receiver should be able to receive the first MPDU if it is complete (a complete codeword (CW) is detected) and can check the Frame Check Sequence (FCS). The last MPDU is not received. Note that in this example, the data portions may not exactly match the complete MAC Protocol Data Unit (MPDU).

[0035] It is understood that the above description is illustrative and not intended to be limiting.

[0036] FIG. 5 depicts an example schematic diagram of time domain preemption, in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0037] Referring to FIG. 5, an example of a MAC payload, mode 2a, is shown in which there is MAC and PHY padding (e.g., pad 501, pad 502, pad 503) between the MAC payloads contained in the three data portions. The padding is intended to align the data portions with the complete portion of the MAC Protocol Data Unit (MPDU). According to this mode, MAC efficiency is affected due to the presence of padding between the data portions. However, all received MPDUs that the receiver can validate by the FCS field in the data portions are detectable. It is understood that the above description is for illustrative purposes and is not intended to be limiting.

[0038] FIG. 6 depicts an example schematic diagram of time domain preemption, in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0039] Referring to FIG. 6, an example of a MAC payload, mode 2b, is shown in which MAC and PHY padding exists between the MAC payloads contained in the three data parts of the data payload. According to this mode, the MAC efficiency is affected due to the presence of padding (e.g., pad 601, pad 602, pad 603) between the data parts. However, in comparison with the previous mode, the last MPDU of the data part is allowed to be fragmented (e.g., MPDU6 fragment 1 604 and MPDU6 fragment 2 605). The remaining MPDU (fragment 2 605) will be included at the beginning of the next data part. This allows all MPDUs in the data part to be found, and fragmentation allows to obtain better MAC efficiency. Additional rules need to be defined to handle the reception and acknowledgment of multiple fragments.

[0040] The simplest rule is that the receiver acknowledges valid receipt of an MPDU only if it has successfully received two fragments. An exception can be added when both the receiver and the sender are unambiguously aware that the medium has been preempted and the sender has not sent the second segment. In that case, the receiver can send an acknowledgment for the first fragment of the MPDU even for fragmentation levels 1 and 2.

[0041] Otherwise, it can support fragmentation level 3, allowing acknowledgments from different fragments independently.

[0042] The 802.11 standard may define only one of these modes, or may provide signaling to indicate to the receiver which mode is being used, and there may be capabilities to support more than one mode.

[0043] Time domain preemption may define rules such that the receiver cannot / is not allowed to send its block acknowledgement (BA) to the initiator if the medium is preempted. In that case, the initiator should later send a block acknowledgement request (BAR) to the STA to get a response from the STA (or send another frame to the STA and get an acknowledgement if one is required). One approach is to have a rule on the receiver that asks it to stay awake, so that at the end of the transmission of the preemption urgent frame, when the initiator gains control of the medium, it can send a BAR or frame to the receiver to collect the acknowledgement for the transmitted data portion. In modes 1 or 2, the BA contains only BA responses for packets that were successfully received.

[0044] The initiator can transmit the first preempted PPDU after the data portion that should use the medium for the more urgent packet. At the end of the urgent packet transmission, the initiator that has acquired the medium control can transmit a PPDU that is an A-PPDU containing the remaining data portion. When operating in mode 1, if supported by the receiver (which may be a specific feature), the data portions received from the first PPDU before preemption and the second PPDU after preemption can be added together to form the MAC payload that the MAC detects (continuous mode). At the end of the second PPDU, the STA transmits an immediate BA ACKing the entire PPDU.

[0045] It is understood that the above description is illustrative and not intended to be limiting.

[0046] FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process 700 for a time domain preemption system in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0047] At block 702, a device (e.g., the user device 120 and / or the AP 102 of FIG. 1 and / or the time domain preemption device 919 of FIG. 9) may generate a frame including a preamble and a data payload. The frame may be a physical layer (PHY) convergence protocol data unit (PPDU) or an aggregated PPDU (A-PPDU).

[0048] At block 704, the device may split the data payload into multiple data portions.

[0049] At block 706, the device may insert a time domain gap between each of the multiple data portions to allow preemption during transmission of the frame. The delimiter may be a long training field (LTF) field or a signaling (SIG) field. The time domain gap may be different from the data payload. During the time domain gap, the device may receive a preemption request from the second station device. The last MAC protocol data unit (MPDU) of the first data portion of the data payload may be fragmented into two fragments, the first fragment may be included in the first data portion of the multiple data portions, and the second fragment may be included in the second data portion of the multiple data portions. The multiple data portions correspond to a MAC frame made up of individual MAC protocol data units (MPDUs) separated by a MAC delimiter. The first portion of the MAC frame includes padding to align the first portion of the MAC frame with the first data portion of the frame.

[0050] At block 708, the device may transmit the frame to the first station device.

[0051] It is understood that the above description is illustrative and not intended to be limiting.

[0052] 8 illustrates a functional diagram of an exemplary communication station 800 in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, FIG. 8 illustrates a functional block diagram of a communication station that may be suitable for use as an AP 102 (FIG. 1) or a user device 120 (FIG. 1) in accordance with some embodiments. The communication station 800 may also be suitable for use as a handheld device, a mobile device, a cellular phone, a smartphone, a tablet, a netbook, a wireless terminal, a laptop computer, a wearable computing device, a femtocell, a high data rate (HDR) subscriber station, an access point, an access terminal, or other personal communication system (PCS) device.

[0053] The communication station 800 may include communication circuitry 802 and a transceiver 810 for transmitting signals to and receiving signals from other communication stations using one or more antennas 801. The communication circuitry 802 may include circuitry capable of operating physical layer (PHY) communications and / or medium access control (MAC) communications to control access to a wireless medium, and / or any other communication layer for transmitting and receiving signals. The communication station 800 may further include processing circuitry 806 and memory 808 positioned to perform operations described herein. In some embodiments, the communication circuitry 802 and the processing circuitry 806 may be configured to perform operations detailed in the figures, diagrams, and flows above.

[0054] According to some embodiments, the communication circuitry 802 may be configured to contend for a wireless medium and configure frames or packets for communication over the wireless medium. The communication circuitry 802 may be configured to transmit and receive signals. The communication circuitry 802 may also include circuitry for modulation / demodulation, upconversion / downconversion, filtering, amplification, and the like. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 806 of the communication station 800 may include one or more processors. In other embodiments, two or more antennas 801 may be coupled to the communication circuitry 802 that is configured to transmit and receive signals. The memory 808 may store information for configuring the processing circuitry 806 to perform operations for configuring and transmitting message frames and performing various operations described herein. The memory 808 may include any type of memory, including non-transitory memory, that stores information in a machine (e.g., computer) readable form. For example, the memory 808 may include computer-readable storage media, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, and other storage devices and media.

[0055] In some embodiments, communication station 800 may be part of a portable wireless communication device such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wireless communication capabilities, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, a smartphone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point, a television, a medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.), a wearable computing device, or other device that transmits and / or receives information wirelessly.

[0056] In some embodiments, the communication station 800 may include one or more antennas 801. The antennas 801 may include one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas, or other types of antennas suitable for transmitting RF signals. In some embodiments, a single antenna with multiple apertures may be used instead of two or more antennas. In such embodiments, each aperture may be considered a separate antenna. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated due to spatial diversity and different channel characteristics that may occur between each of the antennas and the antennas of the transmitting station.

[0057] In some embodiments, the communication station 800 may include one or more of a keyboard, a display, a non-volatile memory port, multiple antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, a speaker, and other mobile device elements. The display may be an LCD screen, including a touch screen.

[0058] Although communication station 800 is depicted as comprising several separate functional elements, two or more of the functional elements may be combined and implemented by a combination of software-configured elements, processing elements including, for example, digital signal processors (DSPs), and / or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may include one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), and combinations of various hardware and logic circuits that perform at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements of communication station 800 may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0059] Certain embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. Other embodiments may be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium, which may be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein. A computer-readable storage medium may include any non-transitory memory mechanism that stores information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a computer-readable storage medium may include read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, and other storage devices and media. In some embodiments, the communication station 800 may include one or more processors and may be configured with instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium.

[0060] FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine 900 or system on which one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies) discussed herein may be implemented. In other embodiments, the machine 900 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked arrangement, the machine 900 may operate as a server machine, a client machine, or both in a server-client network environment. In an example, the machine 900 may operate as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. The machine 900 may be any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify operations to be performed by the machine, such as a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a wearable computing device, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or a base station. Additionally, although only a single machine is depicted, the term "machine" should also be understood to include any collection of machines that individually or together execute a set (or sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, Software as a Service (SaaS), or other computer cluster configurations.

[0061] The examples described herein may include or operate as logic or multiple components, modules, or mechanisms. A module is a tangible entity (e.g., hardware) that can perform a specified operation when operated. A module includes hardware. In an example, the hardware may be specifically configured to perform a particular operation (e.g., hardwired). In another example, the hardware may include a configurable execution unit (e.g., transistors, circuits, etc.) and a computer-readable medium including instructions, which during execution configure the execution unit to perform a particular operation. The configuring may occur under the direction of the execution unit or a loading mechanism. Thus, the execution unit is communicatively coupled to the computer-readable medium when the device is operating. In this example, the execution unit may be a member of more than one module. For example, during operation, the execution unit may be configured by a first set of instructions to implement a first module at one time and reconfigured by a second set of instructions to implement a second module at a second time.

[0062] The machine (e.g., computer system) 900 may include a hardware processor 902 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory 904, and a static memory 906, all or some of which may communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g., a bus) 908. The machine 900 may further include a power management device 932, a graphics display device 910, an alphanumeric input device 912 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 914 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the graphics display device 910, the alphanumeric input device 912, and the UI navigation device 914 may be touch screen displays. The machine 900 may further include a storage device (i.e., a drive unit) 916, a signal generating device 918 (e.g., a speaker), a time domain preemption device 919, a network interface device / transceiver 920 coupled to an antenna 930, and one or more sensors 928, such as a Global Positioning System (GPS) sensor, a compass, an accelerometer, or other sensor. The machine 900 may include an output controller 934, such as a serial (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB)), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection, to communicate with one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, a card reader, etc.). Operations according to one or more exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed by a baseband processor. The baseband processor may be configured to generate a corresponding baseband signal. The baseband processor may further include physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry, and may further interface with a hardware processor 902 for generating and processing baseband signals and for controlling the operation of a main memory 904, a storage device 916, and / or a time domain preemption device 919. The baseband processor may be provided on a single radio card, a single chip, or an integrated circuit (IC).

[0063] The storage device 916 may include a machine-readable medium 922 on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 924 (e.g., software) utilized or embodied by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. The instructions 924 may reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 904, within the static memory 906, or even within the hardware processor 902 during execution by the machine 900. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor 902, the main memory 904, the static memory 906, or the storage device 916 may constitute a machine-readable medium.

[0064] The time domain preemption device 919 may perform or implement any of the operations and processes described and illustrated above (eg, process 700).

[0065] It will be appreciated that the above are only some of what the time domain preemption device 919 is configured to perform, and other functions included throughout this disclosure may also be performed by the time domain preemption device 919.

[0066] Although the machine-readable medium 922 is represented as a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and / or associated caches and servers) configured to store one or more instructions 924.

[0067] Various embodiments may be implemented completely or partially in software and / or firmware. This software and / or hardware may be in the form of instructions contained in or on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Such instructions may then be read and executed by one or more processors to enable performance of the operations described herein. The instructions may be in any suitable form, including but not limited to source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, etc. Such computer-readable media may include any tangible non-transitory medium that stores information in a form readable by one or more computers, including but not limited to read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory, etc.

[0068] The term "machine-readable medium" may include any medium capable of storing, embodying, or carrying instructions executed by the machine 900, causing the machine 900 to perform any one or more of the techniques of this disclosure, or capable of storing, encoding, or carrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions. Non-limiting examples of machine-readable media may include solid-state memory and optical and magnetic media. In an example, a bulk machine-readable medium includes a machine-readable medium that includes a plurality of particles having a rest mass. Specific examples of bulk machine-readable media include non-volatile memory such as semiconductor memory devices (Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), or Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory, magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks, optical magnetic disks, and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

[0069] The instructions 924 may further be transmitted or received over a communications network 926 using a transmission medium via a network interface device / transceiver 920 utilizing any one of a number of transport protocols (e.g., Frame Relay, Internet Protocol (IP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communications networks include local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), packet data networks (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellular networks), plain old telephone service (POTS) networks, wireless data networks (e.g., the IEEE 802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi, the IEEE 802.16 family of standards known as WiMax), the IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, and peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, among others. In an example, the network interface device / transceiver 920 may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or telephone jacks) for connecting to the communications network 926, or one or more antennas. In an example, the network interface device / transceiver 920 may include multiple antennas for wireless communication using at least one of single-input multiple-output (SIMO), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), or multiple-input single-output (MISO) technologies. The term "transmission medium" should be taken to include any intangible medium capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions executed by the machine 900, including digital or analog communications signals, or intangible media for facilitating the communication of such software.

[0070] The acts and processes described and illustrated above may be performed or carried out in any suitable order as desired in various implementations. Further, in particular implementations, at least some of the acts may be performed in parallel. Further, in particular implementations, fewer or more acts than described may be performed.

[0071] 10 is a block diagram of a wireless architecture 105A, 105B according to some embodiments that may be implemented in any one of the example AP 102 and / or example user device (STA) 120 of FIG. 1. The wireless architecture 105A, 105B may include a wireless front-end module (FEM) circuit 1004a, b, a radio IC circuit 1006a, b, and a baseband processing circuit 1008a, b. The illustrated wireless architecture 105A, 105B includes both wireless local area network (WLAN) and Bluetooth (BT) functionality, although the embodiments are not so limited. In this disclosure, "WLAN" and "Wi-Fi" are used interchangeably.

[0072] The FEM circuits 1004a,b may include a WLAN and Wi-Fi FEM circuit 1004a, and a Bluetooth (BT) FEM circuit 1004b. The WLAN FEM circuit 1004a may include a receive signal path including circuitry configured to operate on WLAN RF signals received from one or more antennas 1001 to amplify the received signals and provide an amplified version of the received signals to the WLAN radio IC circuit 1006a for further processing. The BT FEM circuit 1004b may include a receive signal path including circuitry configured to operate on BT RF signals received from one or more antennas 1001 to amplify the received signals and provide an amplified version of the received signals to the BT radio IC circuit 1006b for further processing. The FEM circuit 1004a may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify the WLAN signals provided by the radio IC circuit 1006a for wireless transmission by one or more of the antennas 1001. Additionally, the FEM circuit 1004b may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify BT signals provided by the radio IC circuit 1006b for wireless transmission by one or more of the antennas 1001. Although in the embodiment of FIG. 10, the FEM circuit 1004a and the FEM circuit 1004b are shown as being separate from one another, the embodiments are not so limited and include within their scope the use of a FEM (not shown) that includes transmit and / or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more FEM circuits where at least a portion of the FEM circuit shares the transmit and / or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

[0073] The illustrated radio IC circuits 1006a,b may include a WLAN radio IC circuit 1006a and a BT radio IC circuit 1006b. The WLAN radio IC circuit 1006a may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry for downconverting a WLAN RF signal received from the FEM circuit 1004a and providing a baseband signal to the WLAN baseband processing circuit 1008a. The BT radio IC circuit 1006b may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry for downconverting a BT RF signal received from the FEM circuit 1004b and providing a baseband signal to the BT baseband processing circuit 1008b. The WLAN radio IC circuit 1006a may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry for upconverting a WLAN baseband signal provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuit 1008a and providing a WLAN RF output signal to the FEM circuit 1004a for subsequent wireless transmission by one or more antennas 1001. The BT radio IC circuit 1006b may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry for upconverting a BT baseband signal provided by the BT baseband processing circuit 1008b and providing a BT RF output signal to the FEM circuit 1004b for subsequent wireless transmission by one or more antennas 1001. In the embodiment of FIG. 10, the radio IC circuits 1006a and 1006b are shown as being separate from one another, but the embodiments are not so limited and include within their scope the use of a radio IC circuit (not shown) that includes a transmit signal path and / or wireless signal path for both WLAN signals and BT signals, or the use of one or more radio IC circuits where at least a portion of the radio IC circuit shares a transmit signal path and / or a receive signal path for both WLAN signals and BT signals.

[0074] The baseband processing circuits 1008a,b may include a WLAN baseband processing circuit 1008a and a BT baseband processing circuit 1008b. The WLAN baseband processing circuit 1008a may include a memory, such as a set of RAM arrays in a fast Fourier transform or inverse fast Fourier transform block (not shown) of the WLAN baseband processing circuit 1008a. Each of the WLAN baseband processing circuit 1008a and the BT baseband processing circuit 1008b may further include one or more processors and control logic to process signals received from a corresponding WLAN or BT receive signal path of the radio IC circuit 1006a,b and generate corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the radio IC circuit 1006a,b. Each of the baseband processing circuits 1008a and 1008b may further include physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (an example of a MAC payload) circuitry, and may further interface with logic for generating and processing baseband signals and for controlling the operation of the radio IC circuits 1006a, b.

[0075] Still referring to FIG. 10, according to the illustrated embodiment, the WLAN-BT coexistence circuit 1013 may include logic that provides an interface between the WLAN baseband processing circuit 1008a and the BT baseband processing circuit 1008b to enable use cases requiring WLAN and BT coexistence. Additionally, a switch 1003 may be provided between the WLAN FEM circuit 1004a and the BT FEM circuit 1004b to enable switching between the WLAN radio and the BT radio according to application needs. Additionally, although the antenna 1001 is depicted as being connected to the WLAN FEM circuit 1004a and the BT FEM circuit 1004b, respectively, embodiments include within their scope the sharing of one or more antennas between the WLAN FEM and the BT FEM, or the provision of more than one antenna connected to each of the FEMs 1004a or 1004b.

[0076] In some embodiments, the front-end module circuitry 1004a,b, the radio IC circuitry 1006a,b, and the baseband processing circuitry 1008a,b may be provided on a single radio card, such as the wireless radio card 1002. In some other embodiments, the one or more antennas 1001, the FEM circuitry 1004a,b, and the radio IC circuitry 1006a,b may be provided on a single radio card. In some other embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 1006a,b and the baseband processing circuitry 1008a,b may be provided on a single chip or integrated circuit (IC), such as the IC 1012.

[0077] In some embodiments, the wireless radio card 1002 may include a WLAN radio card and may be configured for Wi-Fi communications, although embodiments are not limited in this respect. In some such embodiments, the radio architectures 105A, 105B may be configured to receive and transmit Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) or Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communications signals over a multi-carrier communications channel. An OFDM or OFDMA signal may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0078] In some of these multi-carrier embodiments, the radio architectures 105A, 105B may be part of a Wi-Fi communication station (STA), such as a wireless access point (AP), a base station, or a mobile device, including a Wi-Fi device. In some such embodiments, the radio architectures 105A, 105B may be configured to transmit and receive signals according to a particular communication standard and / or protocol, such as any of the IEEE standards, including 802.11n-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE 802.11-2016, 802.11n-2009, 802.11ac, 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, and / or 802.11ax standards, and / or proposed specifications for WLANs, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The radio architectures 105A, 105B may also be suitable for transmitting and / or receiving communications according to other technologies and standards.

[0079] In some embodiments, the radio architectures 105A, 105B may be configured for High Efficiency Wi-Fi (HEW) communication in accordance with the IEEE 802.11ax standard. In such embodiments, the radio architectures 105A, 105B may be configured to communicate in accordance with OFDMA techniques, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0080] In some other embodiments, the radio architectures 105A, 105B may be configured to transmit and receive signals transmitted using one or more other modulation techniques, such as spread spectrum modulation (e.g., direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) and / or frequency hopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA)), time division multiplexing (TDM) modulation, and / or frequency division multiplexing (FDM) modulation, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0081] In some embodiments, as further shown in FIG. 10, the BT baseband circuitry 1008b may be compliant with a Bluetooth (BT) connectivity standard, such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth 8.0, or Bluetooth 6.0, or any other iteration of the Bluetooth Standard.

[0082] In some embodiments, the radio architectures 105A, 105B may include other radio cards, such as cellular radio cards configured for cellular (e.g., LTE, LTE-Advanced, or 5GPP, such as 7G communications).

[0083] In some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, the radio architectures 105A, 105B may be configured for communication in various channel bandwidths, including bandwidths having center frequencies of about 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and bandwidths of about 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 5 MHz, 5.5 MHz, 6 MHz, 8 MHz, 10 MHz, 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz (with contiguous bandwidths) or 80+80 MHz (160 MHz) (with non-contiguous bandwidths). In some embodiments, a 920 MHz channel bandwidth may be used. The scope of the embodiments, however, is not limited with respect to the above center frequencies.

[0084] Figure 11 illustrates a WLAN FEM circuit 1004a according to some embodiments. Although the example of Figure 11 is described with respect to the WLAN FEM circuit 1004a, the example of Figure 11 may also be described with respect to the example BT FEM circuit 1004b (Figure 10), and other circuit configurations may also be suitable.

[0085] In some embodiments, the FEM circuit 1004a may include a TX / RX switch 1102 that switches between a transmit mode and a receive mode of operation. The FEM circuit 1004a may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit 1004a may include a low noise amplifier (LNA) 1106 that amplifies a received RF signal 1103 and provides an amplified received RF signal 1107 as an output (e.g., to the radio IC circuits 1006a,b (FIG. 10)). The transmit signal path of the circuit 1004a may include a power amplifier (PA) that amplifies an input RF signal 1109 (provided by the radio IC circuits 1006a,b) and one or more filters 1112, such as a band pass filter (BPF), low pass filter (LPF), or other type of filter, that generates an RF signal 1115 for subsequent transmission (by one or more of the antennas 1001 (FIG. 10)) through an exemplary demultiplexer 1114.

[0086] In some dual mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communications, the FEM circuit 1004a may be configured to operate in either the 2.4 GHz frequency spectrum or the 5 GHz frequency spectrum. In such embodiments, the receive signal path of the FEM circuit 1004a may include a multiplexer 1104 for the receive signal path to separate signals from each spectrum and provide a separate LNA 1106 for each spectrum as shown. In such embodiments, the transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 1004a may include a power amplifier 1110 and a filter 1112, such as a BPF, LPF, or other type of filter, for each frequency spectrum, and a multiplexer 1104 for the transmit signal path to provide signals in one of the different spectrums onto a single transmit path for mutual transmission by one or more of the antennas 1001 (FIG. 10). In some embodiments, BT communications may utilize the 2.4 GHz signal path and may utilize the same FEM circuit 1004a used for WLAN communications.

[0087] Figure 12 illustrates a radio IC circuit 1006a according to some embodiments. The radio IC circuit 1006a is an example of a circuit that may be suitable for use as a WLAN or BT radio IC circuit 1006a / 1006b (Figure 10), although other circuit configurations may be suitable. Alternatively, the example of Figure 12 may be described with respect to the example BT radio IC circuit 1006b.

[0088] In some embodiments, the radio IC circuit 1006a may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the radio IC circuit 1006a may include at least a mixer circuit 1202, e.g., a downconversion mixer circuit, an amplifier circuit 1206, and a filter circuit 1208. The transmit signal path of the radio IC circuit 1006a may include at least a filter circuit 1212 and a mixer circuit 1214, e.g., an upconversion mixer circuit. The radio IC circuit 1006a may also include a synthesizer circuit 1204 that synthesizes a frequency 1205 for use by the mixer circuit 1202 and the mixer circuit 1214. The mixer circuits 1202 and / or 1214 may each be configured to provide a direct conversion function according to an embodiment. The latter type of circuit shows a much simpler architecture compared to a standard superheterodyne mixer circuit, and any flicker noise caused thereby can be mitigated, for example, by using OFDM modulation. FIG. 12 merely shows a simplified version of the radio IC circuit, and may include, not shown, embodiments in which each of the shown circuits may include more than one component. For example, the mixer circuits 1214 may each include one or more mixers, and the filter circuits 1208 and / or 1212 may each include one or more filters, such as one or more BPFs and / or LPFs, according to application needs. For example, if the mixer circuits are of a direct conversion type, they may each include two or more mixers.

[0089] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1202 may be configured to downconvert the RF signal 1107 received from the FEM circuit 1004a,b (FIG. 10) based on a synthesis frequency 1205 provided by the synthesizer circuit 1204. The amplifier circuit 1206 may be configured to amplify the downconverted signal, and the filter circuit 1208 may include a LPF configured to remove unwanted signals from the downconverted signal to generate an output baseband signal 1207. The output baseband signal 1207 may be provided to the baseband processing circuit 1008a,b (FIG. 10) for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal 1207 may be a zero frequency baseband signal, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1202 may include a passive mixer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0090] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1214 may be configured to upconvert an input baseband signal 1211 based on a synthesis frequency 1205 provided by the synthesizer circuit 1204 to generate an RF output signal 1109 for the FEM circuits 1004a,b. The baseband signal 1211 may be provided by the baseband processing circuits 1008a,b and may be filtered by the filter circuit 1212. The filter circuit 1212 may include an LPF or a BPF, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0091] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1202 and the mixer circuit 1214 may each include two or more mixers, each configured for quadrature downconversion and / or upconversion with the aid of the synthesizer circuit 1204. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1202 and the mixer circuit 1214 may each include two or more mixers, each configured for image rejection (Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1202 and the mixer circuit 1214 may be configured for direct downconversion and / or direct upconversion. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1202 and the mixer circuit 1214 may be configured for superheterodyne operation, although this is not a requirement.

[0092] The mixer circuit 1202 may include quadrature passive mixers (e.g., for an in-phase (I) path and a quadrature-phase (Q) path) according to one embodiment. In such an embodiment, the RF input signal 1107 from FIG. 11 may be downconverted to provide I and Q baseband output signals that are transmitted to a baseband processor.

[0093] The quadrature passive mixer may be driven by 0 and 90° time-varying LO switching signals provided by a quadrature circuit, which may be configured to receive an LO frequency (fLO) from a local oscillator or synthesizer, such as LO frequency 1205 of synthesizer circuit 1204 (FIG. 12). In some embodiments, the LO frequency may be the carrier frequency, while in other embodiments, the LO frequency may be a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the 0 and 90° time-varying switching signals may be generated by a synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0094] In some embodiments, the LO signals may have different duty cycles (the percentage of one period that the LO signal is high) and / or offsets (the difference between the starting points of the periods). In some embodiments, the LO signal may have an 85% duty cycle and an 80% offset. In some embodiments, each branch of the mixer circuit (e.g., the in-phase (I) and quadrature-phase (Q) paths) may operate at an 80% duty cycle. This can significantly reduce power consumption.

[0095] RF input signal 1107 (FIG. 11) may have a balanced signal, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The I and Q baseband output signals may be provided to a low noise amplifier, such as amplifier circuit 1206 (FIG. 12), or to filter circuit 1208 (FIG. 12).

[0096] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal 1207 and the input baseband signal 1211 may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal 1207 and the input baseband signal 1211 may be digital baseband signals. In such alternative embodiments, the radio IC circuitry may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry.

[0097] In some dual mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, or for other spectrums not mentioned herein, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0098] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 1204 may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N / N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect, as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, the synthesizer circuit 1204 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer with a phase-locked loop including a divider. According to some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 1204 may include a digital synthesizer circuit. The advantage of using a digital synthesizer circuit is that its footprint can be much scaled down from that of an analog synthesizer circuit, while still including some analog components. In some embodiments, the frequency input to the synthesizer circuit 1204 may be provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), although this is not a requirement. Depending on the desired output frequency 1205, a divider control input may also be provided by any of the baseband processing circuits 1008a,b (FIG. 10). In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table (e.g., in a Wi-Fi card) based on the channel number and channel center frequency determined or indicated by the example application processor 1010. The application processor 1010 may include or be otherwise connected to one of the example secure signal converter 101 or the example receive signal converter 103 (e.g., depending on which device the example wireless architecture is implemented in).

[0099] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 1204 may be configured to generate the carrier frequency as the output frequency 1205, while in other embodiments the output frequency 1205 may be a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the output frequency 1205 may be the LO frequency (fLO).

[0100] Figure 13 illustrates a functional block diagram of a baseband processing circuit 1008a according to some embodiments. The baseband processing circuit 1008a is an example of a circuit that may be suitable for use as the baseband processing circuit 1008a (Figure 10), although other circuit configurations may be suitable. Alternatively, the example of Figure 12 may be used to implement the example BT baseband processing circuit 1008b of Figure 10.

[0101] The baseband processing circuit 1008a may include a receive baseband processor (RX BBP) 1302 that processes receive baseband signals 1209 provided by the radio IC circuits 1006a,b (FIG. 10), and a transmit baseband processor (TX BBP) 1304 that generates transmit baseband signals 1211 for the radio IC circuits 1006a,b. The baseband processing circuit 1008a may also include control logic 1306 that coordinates the operation of the baseband processing circuit 1008a.

[0102] In some embodiments (e.g., where analog baseband signals are exchanged between the baseband processing circuitry 1008a,b and the radio IC circuitry 1006a,b), the baseband processing circuitry 1008a may include an ADC 1310 that converts the analog baseband signal 1309 received from the radio IC circuitry 1006a,b to a digital baseband signal for processing by the RX BBP 1302. In such embodiments, the baseband processing circuitry 1008a may also include a DAC 1312 that converts the digital baseband signal from the TX BBP 1304 to an analog baseband signal 1311.

[0103] In some embodiments, for example communicating OFDM or OFDMA signals via the baseband processor 1008a, the transmit baseband processor 1304 may be configured to generate OFDM or OFDMA signals as needed for transmission by performing an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT). The receive baseband processor 1302 may be configured to process received OFDM or OFDMA signals by performing an FFT. In some embodiments, the receive baseband processor 1302 may be configured to detect the presence of OFDM or OFDMA signals by performing autocorrelation to detect preambles, such as short preambles, and by performing cross-correlation to detect long preambles. The preambles may be part of a predetermined frame structure for Wi-Fi communications.

[0104] Referring again to Figure 10, in some embodiments, antennas 1001 (Figure 10) may each comprise one or more directional or omni-directional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas, or other types of antennas suitable for transmitting RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and possible different channel characteristics. Antennas 1001 may each comprise a set of phased array antennas, although embodiments are not so limited.

[0105] Although the radio architectures 105A, 105B are depicted as comprising several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and implemented by a combination of software components, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs) and / or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may include one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), and combinations of various hardware and logic circuits to perform at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, a functional element may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0106] The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. As used herein, the terms "computing device," "user device," "communication station," "station," "handheld device," "mobile device," "wireless device," and "user equipment (UE)" refer to a cellular phone, smartphone, tablet, netbook, wireless terminal, laptop computer, femtocell, high data rate (HDR) subscriber station, access point, printer, point of sale (PoS) device, access terminal, or other personal communications system (PCS) device. The devices may be mobile or stationary.

[0107] As used herein, the term "communicating" is intended to include transmitting, receiving, or both transmitting and receiving. This may be particularly useful in claims where a description is given of the configuration of data transmitted by one device and received by another device, but only one function of the devices is required to infringe the claim. Similarly, a two-way exchange of data between two devices (both devices transmitting and receiving during the exchange) may be described as "communicating" when only one function of the devices is claimed. The term "communicating" as used herein with respect to wireless communication signals includes transmitting wireless communication signals and / or receiving wireless communication signals. For example, a wireless communication unit capable of communicating wireless communication signals may include a wireless transmitter that transmits wireless communication signals to at least one other wireless communication unit, and / or a wireless receiver that receives wireless communication signals from at least one other wireless communication unit.

[0108] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the use of ordinal adjectives such as "first," "second," "third," etc. to describe a common object merely indicates that different instances of the same object are being referred to, and is not intended to indicate that the objects so described must be in a given order in time, space, rank, or in any other manner.

[0109] As used herein, the term "access point (AP)" may refer to a fixed station. An access point may also be referred to as an access node, a base station, an evolved Node B (eNodeB), or other similar terms known in the art. An access terminal may also be referred to as a mobile station, a user equipment (UE), a wireless communication device, or other terms known in the art. The embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to wireless networks. Some embodiments may relate to wireless networks that operate according to one of the IEEE 802.11 standards.

[0110] Some embodiments may be used with a variety of devices and systems, such as, for example, a personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, a mobile computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a server computer, a handheld computer, a handheld device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) device, a handheld PDA device, an on-board device, an off-board device, a hybrid device, a vehicular device, a non-vehicular device, a mobile or portable device, a consumer device, a non-mobile or non-portable device, a wireless communication station, a wireless communication device, a wireless access point (AP), a wired or wireless router, a wired or wireless modem, a video device, an audio device, an audio-video (A / V) device, a wired or wireless network, a wireless area network, a wireless video area network (WVAN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a personal area network (PAN), a wireless PAN (WPAN), and the like.

[0111] Some embodiments may be used with one-way and / or two-way wireless communication systems, cellular radiotelephone communication systems, mobile phones, cellular telephones, radiotelephones, personal communication system (PCS) devices, PDA devices incorporating wireless communication devices, mobile or portable global positioning system (GPS) devices, devices incorporating GPS receivers or transmitters or chips, devices incorporating RFID elements or chips, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transceivers or devices, single-input multiple-output (SIMO) transceivers or devices, multiple-input single-output (MISO) transceivers or devices, devices with one or more internal and / or external antennas, digital video broadcasting (DVB) devices or systems, multi-standard wireless devices or systems, wired or wireless handheld devices such as smartphones, wireless application protocol (WAP) devices, and the like.

[0112] Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with one or more types of wireless communication signals and / or systems according to one or more wireless communication protocols, such as, for example, radio frequency (RF), infrared (IF), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal FDM (OFDM), time division multiplexing (TDM), time division multiple access (TDMA), enhanced TDMA (E-TDMA), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), CDMA2000, single carrier CDMA, multi-carrier CDMA, multi-carrier modulation (MDM), discrete multi-tone (DMT), Bluetooth, global positioning system (GPS), Wi-Fi, WiMax, ZigBee, ultra-wideband (UWB), global system for mobile communications (GSM), 2G, 2.5G, 3G, 3.5G, 4G, fifth generation (5G) mobile networks, 3GPP, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced, enhanced data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), and the like. Other embodiments may be used in various other devices, systems, and / or networks.

[0113] The following examples relate to further embodiments.

[0114] Example 1 includes a processing circuit coupled to a storage device; The processing circuitry comprises: generating a frame including a preamble and a data payload; Dividing the data payload into a number of data portions; inserting a time domain gap between each of the plurality of data portions to allow preemption during transmission of the frame; Transmitting the frame to the first station device The device may include a device configured to:

[0115] Example 2 may include the device of example 1 and / or any other example herein, where the time domain gap may be comprised of at least one of a delimiter or a time pause.

[0116] Example 3 may include the device of example 2 and / or any other example herein, where the delimiter may be a long training field (LTF) field or a signaling (SIG) field.

[0117] Example 4 can include the device of example 1 and / or any other example herein, where the time domain gap can be different from the data payload.

[0118] Example 5 may include the device of example 1 and / or any other example herein, wherein the frame may be a physical layer (PHY) convergence protocol data unit (PPDU) or an aggregated PPDU (A-PPDU).

[0119] Example 6 may include the device of example 1 and / or any other example herein, the device receiving a preemption request from the second station device during the time domain gap.

[0120] Example 7 may include the device of Example 1 and / or other examples herein, where a last MAC Protocol Data Unit (MPDU) of a first data portion of the data payload may be fragmented into two fragments, where the first fragment may be included in the first data portion of the plurality of data portions, and where the second fragment may be included in a second data portion of the plurality of data portions.

[0121] Example 8 may include the device of example 1 and / or other examples herein, where the multiple data portions correspond to a MAC frame comprised of individual MAC Protocol Data Units (MPDUs) separated by a MAC delimiter.

[0122] Example 9 may include the device of example 8 and / or any other example herein, wherein the first portion of the MAC frame includes padding to align the first portion of the MAC frame with a first data portion of the frame.

[0123] Example 10, when executed on one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to: generating a frame including a preamble and a data payload; splitting the data payload into a number of data portions; inserting a time domain gap between each of said plurality of data portions to allow preemption during transmission of said frame; transmitting the frame to a first station device; The present invention may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for causing the

[0124] Example 11 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of Example 10 and / or other examples of the present application, wherein the time domain gap may be configured with at least one of a delimiter or a time pause.

[0125] Example 12 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of Example 10 and / or other examples of the present application, wherein the delimiter may be a long training field (LTF) field or a signaling (SIG) field.

[0126] Example 13 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 10 and / or any other example herein, where the time domain gap may be different from the data payload.

[0127] Example 14 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of Example 10 and / or other examples herein, where the frame may be a physical layer (PHY) convergence protocol data unit (PPDU) or an aggregated PPDU (A-PPDU).

[0128] Example 15 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 10 and / or any other example herein, where the non-transitory computer-readable medium receives a preemption request from a second station device during the time domain gap.

[0129] Example 16 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of Example 10 and / or other examples herein, wherein a last MAC Protocol Data Unit (MPDU) of a first data portion of the data payload may be fragmented into two fragments, the first fragment may be included in the first data portion of the plurality of data portions, and the second fragment may be included in a second data portion of the plurality of data portions.

[0130] Example 17 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of Example 10 and / or other examples herein, wherein the multiple data portions correspond to a MAC frame comprised of individual MAC Protocol Data Units (MPDUs) separated by MAC delimiters.

[0131] Example 18 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of Example 17 and / or other examples herein, where a first portion of the MAC frame includes padding to align the first portion of the MAC frame with a first data portion of the frame.

[0132] Example 19 includes generating, by one or more processors, a frame including a preamble and a data payload; splitting the data payload into a number of data portions; inserting a time domain gap between each of the plurality of data portions to allow preemption during transmission of the frame; transmitting the frame to a first station device; The method may include the steps of:

[0133] Example 20 may include the method of example 19 and / or any other example herein, wherein the time domain gap may comprise at least one of a delimiter or a time pause.

[0134] Example 21 may include the method of Example 20 and / or any other example herein, wherein the delimiter may be a long training field (LTF) field or a signaling (SIG) field.

[0135] Example 22 may include the method of example 19 and / or any other example herein, where the time domain gap may be different from the data payload.

[0136] Example 23 may include the method of example 19 and / or any other example herein, wherein the frame may be a physical layer (PHY) convergence protocol data unit (PPDU) or an aggregated PPDU (A-PPDU).

[0137] Example 24 may include the method of example 19 and / or any other example herein, comprising receiving a preemption request from a second station device during the time domain gap.

[0138] Example 25 may include the method of Example 19 and / or other examples herein, wherein a last MAC Protocol Data Unit (MPDU) of a first data portion of the data payload may be fragmented into two fragments, the first fragment may be included in the first data portion of the plurality of data portions, and the second fragment may be included in a second data portion of the plurality of data portions.

[0139] Example 26 may include the method of Example 19 and / or other examples herein, wherein the multiple data portions correspond to a MAC frame comprised of individual MAC Protocol Data Units (MPDUs) separated by MAC delimiters.

[0140] Example 27 may include the method of Example 26 and / or any other example herein, wherein the first portion of the MAC frame includes padding to align the first portion of the MAC frame with a first data portion of the frame.

[0141] Example 28 relates to a method for generating a frame including a preamble and a data payload; means for dividing the data payload into a plurality of data portions; means for inserting a time domain gap between each of said plurality of data portions to allow preemption during transmission of said frame; means for transmitting the frame to a first station device; The apparatus may include an apparatus having:

[0142] Example 29 may include the apparatus of example 28 and / or any other example herein, wherein the time domain gap may comprise at least one of a delimiter or a time pause.

[0143] Example 30 may include the apparatus of Example 29 and / or any other example herein, wherein the delimiter may be a long training field (LTF) field or a signaling (SIG) field.

[0144] Example 31 may include the apparatus of example 28 and / or any other example herein, where the time domain gap may be different from the data payload.

[0145] Example 32 may include the apparatus of Example 28 and / or any other example herein, wherein the frame may be a physical layer (PHY) convergence protocol data unit (PPDU) or an aggregated PPDU (A-PPDU).

[0146] Example 33 may include the apparatus of example 28 and / or any other example herein, wherein the apparatus is configured to receive a preemption request from the second station device during the time domain gap.

[0147] Example 34 may include the apparatus of Example 28 and / or other examples herein, wherein a last MAC Protocol Data Unit (MPDU) of a first data portion of the data payload may be fragmented into two fragments, the first fragment may be included in the first data portion of the plurality of data portions, and the second fragment may be included in a second data portion of the plurality of data portions.

[0148] Example 35 may include the apparatus of Example 28 and / or other examples herein, wherein the multiple data portions correspond to a MAC frame comprised of individual MAC Protocol Data Units (MPDUs) separated by a MAC delimiter.

[0149] Example 36 may include the apparatus of Example 35 and / or any other example herein, wherein the first portion of the MAC frame includes padding to align the first portion of the MAC frame with a first data portion of the frame.

[0150] Example 37 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media containing instructions that, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the electronic device, cause an electronic device to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of Examples 1 to 36, or any other method or process described herein.

[0151] Example 38 may include an apparatus having logic, modules, and / or circuitry for performing one or more elements of a method described or related to any of Examples 1 to 36, or any other method or process described herein.

[0152] Example 39 may include any method, technique, or process described or related to any of Examples 1-36, or any portion or portion thereof.

[0153] Example 40 may include an apparatus having one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media containing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process, or portions thereof, described or related to any of Examples 1-36.

[0154] Example 41 may include a method of communication in a wireless network, as shown and described herein.

[0155] Example 42 may include a system for providing wireless communication, as shown and described herein.

[0156] Example 43 may include devices providing wireless communication, as shown and described herein.

[0157] Embodiments according to the present disclosure are particularly disclosed in the appended claims directed to methods, storage media, devices, and computer program products, and any feature recited in one claim category, e.g., method, may also be claimed in other claim categories, e.g., system. Dependencies or references in the appended claims have been selected for formality reasons only. However, subject matter resulting from intentional references (especially multiple dependencies) to preceding claims may also be claimed, and therefore any combination of claims and their features may be disclosed and claimed regardless of the dependencies selected in the appended claims. Subject matter that may be claimed includes not only combinations of features recited in the appended claims, but also combinations of other features in the claims, and each feature recited in the claims may be combined with other features or combinations of other features in the claims. Furthermore, any of the embodiments and features described or illustrated herein may be claimed in another claim and / or claimed in any combination with any of the embodiments or features described or illustrated herein or with any of the features of the appended claims.

[0158] The above description of one or more implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

[0159] Certain aspects of the present disclosure are described above with reference to block diagrams and flow diagrams of systems, methods, apparatus, and / or computer program products according to various implementations. It will be understood that one or more blocks of the block diagrams and flow diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flow diagrams, respectively, may be implemented by computer-executable program instructions. Similarly, some blocks of the block diagrams and flow diagrams need not necessarily be executed in the order presented, or may not necessarily be executed completely according to some implementations.

[0160] These computer executable program instructions may be loaded into a dedicated computer or other specific machine, processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a specific machine, such that the instructions executing on the computer, processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus cause means for implementing one or more functions identified in one or more blocks of the flow diagrams. These computer program instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or memory that can instruct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium create a product that includes instruction means for implementing one or more functions identified in one or more blocks of the flow diagrams. By way of example, certain implementations may provide a computer program product that includes a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code or program instructions embodied therein, the computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement one or more functions identified in one or more blocks of the flow diagrams. The computer program instructions may be loaded into a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational elements or steps to be executed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to generate a computer-implemented process such that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide elements or steps that implement the functions identified in one or more blocks of the flow diagrams.

[0161] Thus, the blocks in the block diagrams and flow diagrams support combinations of means for performing a particular function, combinations of elements or steps for performing a particular function, or program instruction means for performing a particular function. Also, each block of the block diagrams and flow diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flow diagrams, may be implemented by a dedicated hardware-based computer system for performing the particular function, element or step, or a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

[0162] In particular, conditional language such as "can," "could," "may," or "may" is intended to generally convey that certain implementations may include certain features, elements, and / or operations, while other implementations do not, unless specifically stated otherwise or understood otherwise within the context in which it is used. Thus, such conditional language does not generally imply that the features, elements, and / or operations are in any way required by one or more implementations, or that one or more implementations necessarily include logic for determining whether those features, elements, and / or operations are included in or performed in a particular implementation, with or without user input or prompting.

[0163] Many modifications and other implementations of the disclosures set forth herein will be apparent to those having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. It is to be understood, therefore, that the disclosure is not limited to the particular implementations disclosed, and that modifications and other implementations are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

Claims

1. a processing circuit coupled to the storage; The processing circuit includes: generating a frame including a preamble and a data payload; Dividing the data payload into a number of data portions; inserting a time domain gap between each of the plurality of data portions to allow preemption during transmission of the frame; Transmitting the frame to the first station device The device is configured to:

2. The time domain gap is comprised of at least one of a delimiter or a time pause. The device of claim 1 .

3. The delimiter is a long training field (LTF) field or a signaling (SIG) field. The device of claim 2.

4. the time domain gap is distinct from the data payload; The device of claim 1 .

5. the frame is a Physical Layer (PHY) Convergence Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) or an Aggregation PPDU (A-PPDU); The device of claim 1 .

6. During the time domain gap, the processing circuitry is further configured to receive a preemption request from a second station device. The device of claim 1 .

7. a last MAC Protocol Data Unit (MPDU) of a first data portion of the data payload is fragmented into two fragments, a first fragment being included in the first data portion of the plurality of data portions and a second fragment being included in a second data portion of the plurality of data portions; The device of claim 1 .

8. the plurality of data portions correspond to a MAC frame comprised of individual MAC Protocol Data Units (MPDUs) separated by MAC delimiters; The device of claim 1 .

9. the first portion of the MAC frame includes padding to align the first portion of the MAC frame with a first data portion of the frame. The device of claim 8.

10. When executed on one or more processors, the one or more processors are generating a frame including a preamble and a data payload; splitting the data payload into a number of data portions; inserting a time domain gap between each of said plurality of data portions to allow preemption during transmission of said frame; transmitting the frame to a first station device; A computer program comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to execute a program.

11. The time domain gap is comprised of at least one of a delimiter or a time pause.

11. A computer program product as claimed in claim 10.

12. The delimiter is a long training field (LTF) field or a signaling (SIG) field.

12. A computer program product as claimed in claim 11.

13. the time domain gap is distinct from the data payload; 11. A computer program product as claimed in claim 10.

14. the frame is a Physical Layer (PHY) Convergence Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) or an Aggregation PPDU (A-PPDU); 11. A computer program product as claimed in claim 10.

15. During the time domain gap, the computer-executable instructions further cause the one or more processors to perform an operation of receiving a preemption request from a second station device.

11. A computer program product as claimed in claim 10.

16. a last MAC Protocol Data Unit (MPDU) of a first data portion of the data payload is fragmented into two fragments, a first fragment being included in the first data portion of the plurality of data portions and a second fragment being included in a second data portion of the plurality of data portions; 11. A computer program product as claimed in claim 10.

17. the plurality of data portions correspond to a MAC frame comprised of individual MAC Protocol Data Units (MPDUs) separated by MAC delimiters; 11. A computer program product as claimed in claim 10.

18. the first portion of the MAC frame includes padding to align the first portion of the MAC frame with a first data portion of the frame.

18. A computer program product as claimed in claim 17.

19. generating, by one or more processors, a frame including a preamble and a data payload; splitting the data payload into a number of data portions; inserting a time domain gap between each of the plurality of data portions to allow preemption during transmission of the frame; transmitting the frame to a first station device; The method according to claim 1,

20. The time domain gap is comprised of at least one of a delimiter or a time pause.

20. The method of claim 19.

21. The delimiter is a long training field (LTF) field or a signaling (SIG) field.

21. The method of claim 20.

22. the time domain gap is distinct from the data payload; 20. The method of claim 19.

23. the frame is a Physical Layer (PHY) Convergence Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) or an Aggregation PPDU (A-PPDU); 20. The method of claim 19.

24. The time domain gap allows for transmission preemption.

20. The method of claim 19.

25. a last MAC Protocol Data Unit (MPDU) of a first data portion of the data payload is fragmented into two fragments, a first fragment being included in the first data portion of the plurality of data portions and a second fragment being included in a second data portion of the plurality of data portions; 25. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 24.

26. A computer readable storage medium storing a computer program according to any one of claims 10 to 18.

Images