WO2019017996A1

WO2019017996A1 - Sector-specific signaling for directional allocation

Info

Publication number: WO2019017996A1
Application number: PCT/US2017/066423
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alexander Maltsev; Ilya BOLOTIN; Artyom LOMAYEV; Andrey Pudeyev; Ali Sadri
Original assignee: Intel Corporation
Priority date: 2017-07-17
Filing date: 2017-12-14
Publication date: 2019-01-24

Abstract

Apparatus, systems, and methods for directional allocation and communication between an access point and one or more wireless devices are disclosed and described. An example apparatus includes a frame generator to generate a beacon frame for a beacon interval including sector-specific signaling for directional allocation, the directional allocation associated with a wireless sector; and a radio to transmit a message to inform a receiving device in the wireless sector with directional information regarding the directional allocation and an access period associated with the directional allocation for the wireless sector.

Description

SECTOR-SPECIFIC SIGNALING FOR DIRECTIONAL

ALLOCATION

PRIORITY APPLICATION

[0001] This patent arises from an application that claims the benefit of U. S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 62/533,491, which was filed on July 17, 2017. U.S.

Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 62/533,491 is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No.

62/533,491 is hereby claimed.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0002] This disclosure relates generally to wireless communication, and, more particularly, to sector-specific signaling for directional allocation.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Many locations provide wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) to connect Wi-Fi enabled devices to networks such as the Internet. Wi-Fi enabled devices include personal computers, videogame consoles, mobile phones and devices, digital cameras, tablets, smart televisions, digital audio players, etc. Wi-Fi connectivity allows the Wi-Fi enabled devices to wirelessly access the Internet via a wireless local area network (WLAN). To provide Wi-Fi connectivity to a device, a Wi-Fi access point transmits a radio frequency Wi-Fi signal to the Wi-Fi enabled device within the access point (e.g., a hotspot) signal range. Wi-Fi is implemented using a set of media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) specifications (e.g., such as one of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE®) 802.11 protocols (e.g., 802. H ay, 802.11ax, etc.). Some environments include two or more Wi-Fi access points using different Wi-Fi protocols.

[0004] In some wireless communication systems, an asymmetric link is present when a station (STA) is able to receive frames from an access point (AP), but the STAs frame transmissions are not received by the AP due to differences in link budget between the uplink and downlink. This difference can be caused by the difference in the number of antenna elements and/or transmit power between AP and STA. In some examples, the difference is expected in accordance with an IEEE 802.1 lad standard, which is directed to the use of quasi-omni antenna configurations on the receiver side both in uplink and downlink.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] FIGS. 1A-1B are block diagrams illustrating a network environment including an example access point and example stations using wireless local area network Wi-Fi protocols.

[0006] FIG. 2 illustrates example channel allocation messages.

[0007] FIG. 3 is a signaling diagram representing example sector-specific signaling for directional allocation.

[0008] FIG. 4 is a table representing different beacon transmission interval timings for signaling overhead(s) when using the directional allocation signaling of FIG. 3.

[0009] FIG. 5 is a signaling diagram representing example sector-specific signaling for directional allocation with multi-sector listening.

[0010] FIG. 6 is a table representing different beacon transmission interval timings for signaling overhead(s) when using the directional allocation with multi-sector listening signaling of FIG. 5.

[0011] FIG. 7 is a channel allocation message diagram representing a channel allocation message when a scheduling type field is set to zero.

[0012] FIG. 8 is a channel allocation message diagram representing a channel allocation message when a scheduling type field is set to one.

[0013] FIG. 9 is a diagram representing components of the receive direction field of FIGS. 7 and/or 8.

[0014] FIG. 10 is a signaling diagram representing an alternate example sector specific signaling for directional allocation.

[0015] FIG. 11 is a table representing different beacon transmission interval timings for signaling overhead(s) when using the directional allocation signaling of FIG. 10.

[0016] FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a radio architecture in accordance with some examples.

[0017] FIG. 13 illustrates a front-end module circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 12 in accordance with some examples.

[0018] FIG. 14 illustrates a radio circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 12 in accordance with some examples.

[0019] FIG. 15 illustrates a baseband processing circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 12 in accordance with some examples. [0020] FIGS. 16-17 are flow diagrams of example methods for communication between the access point and wireless station(s) of the example of FIG. 1.

[0021] FIGS. 18-19 are block diagrams of example processing devices that may execute instructions to implement one of the wireless stations and/or the access point of FIG. 1.

[0022] The figures are not to scale. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Various locations (e.g., homes, offices, coffee shops, restaurants, parks, airports, etc.) may provide Wi-Fi to Wi-Fi enabled devices (e.g., stations (STA)) to connect the Wi-Fi enabled devices to the Internet, or any other network, with minimal hassle. The locations may provide one or more Wi-Fi access points (APs) to output Wi-Fi signals to the Wi-Fi enabled device within a range of the Wi-Fi signals (e.g., a hotspot). A Wi-Fi AP is structured to wirelessly connect a Wi-Fi enabled device to the Internet through a wireless local area network (WLAN) using Wi-Fi protocols (e.g., such as IEEE 802.11). The Wi-Fi protocol is the protocol by which the AP communicates with the STAs to provide access to the Internet by transmitting uplink (UL) transmissions and receiving downlink (DL) transmissions to/from the Internet.

[0024] The phrase "beacon interval" (BI), as used herein, may relate to a number of time units (TUs) between target beacon transmission times (TBTTs). The phrase "beacon transmission interval" (BTI), as used herein, may relate to a time interval between the start of a first beacon transmission by a STA in a beacon interval to an end of a last beacon transmission by the STA in the same beacon interval. The phrase "association beamforming training" (A-BFT), as used herein, may relate to a time allocated for a STA, following the BTI, to respond to beacons transmitted during the BTI, e.g., using a sector sweep.

[0025] In some wireless communication environments, a wireless STA may receive frames from an AP, but frame transmissions from the STA may not be received by the AP. This problem is referred to as an asymmetric link problem. For example, there may be a large difference in link budget between the uplink and downlink that causes the asymmetric link. Such difference may be caused, for example, by differences in the number of antenna elements and the transmit power capabilities of the AP and the STA. In some systems, such as systems utilizing Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE®) Protocol Standard 802.1 lad, the use of quasi-omni antenna configurations on the receiver side both in uplink and downlink may lead to asymmetric link because the AP may utilize a directional antenna configured for listening to compensate for differences in link budget.

[0026] Some example existing approaches to handling the asymmetry consider two types of allocations with the directional AP receive (RX) beamforming training (BFT) allocation and directional allocation. However, such existing procedures for scheduling the directional allocation have several drawbacks. For example, the scheduling of such allocation typically requires a significant number of bits of directional multi-gigabit (DMG) beacon frame and therefore increases the duration of a beacon transmission interval (BTI). In some examples, the scheduling of the directional allocation with multi-sector listening requires allocating several overlapping directional allocations, each with one assigned direction, thereby greatly enlarging the DMG beacon frame. In some examples, legacy 802.1 lad STAs will be aware of this allocation (as such allocation is announced in an extended schedule element), but the STAs will not know that the allocation is directional, because this information is transmitted in an enhanced DMG (EDMG) extended schedule element which cannot be read by those legacy STAs. In such a scenario, the STAs may try to communicate with an AP while the AP is unreachable for those STAs. In some examples, existing approaches for directional allocation scheduling considers that in addition to an IsDirectional flag, directional allocation is also described by the exact direction of AP RX, which uses an additional 8 bits. The information about directional allocation is transmitted through all sectors in a BTI. To address these issues, example approaches disclosed herein introduce sector-specific signaling for directional allocation.

[0027] As noted above, example approaches disclosed herein utilize sector-specific signaling for directional allocation. An example guiding principle is that only STAs of the sector which will be served during directional allocation should know about and/or be informed of their allocation(s). Example approaches disclosed herein enable different scheduling for different sectors. As a result, the example approaches disclosed herein enable significant reduction(s) of payload of DMG beacon frame(s) and, therefore, the total duration of BTI. Moreover, example approaches disclosed herein force legacy 802.1 lad STAs to operate appropriately during the directional allocation.

[0028] Example approaches disclosed herein rely on a few assumptions, including that a DMG beacon frame, transmitted through a sector k, contains information about directional allocation for sector k. Moreover, the direction of AP RX in directional allocation can be identified using the values of sector identifier (ID) and DMG antenna ID in a sector sweep field of the DMG beacon frame. Furthermore, the enhanced DMG (EDMG) extended schedule element of the DMG beacon frame, which is transmitted through sector for which directional allocation will be applied, should only inform STAs that current allocation is directional (no need to inform the exact direction). For example, a channel allocation field of the EDMG extended schedule element can be modified by adding an IsDirectional flag. Finally, EDMG STAs which receive the DMG beacon frame in sector k know about directional allocation for sector k. [0029] FIG. 1 A is a block diagram of an example environment 100 in which a wireless stations (STAs) 102, 103 communicates with an access point (AP) 104. While two STAs 102, 103 and one AP 104 are included in the example environment 100, any number of STAs and APs may be utilized in an environment.

[0030] The example AP 104 of FIG. 1 A is a device that allows the example STAs 102, 103 to wirelessly connect to each other as well as to access an example network 106. The example AP 104 may be a router, a modem-router, and/or any other device that provides a wireless connection. A router provides a wireless communication link to an STA 102, 103. The router accesses the network through a wire connection via a modem. A modem-router combines the functionalities of the modem and the router.

[0031] The example STA 102, 103 of FIG. 1 A are Wi-Fi enabled computing devices. The example STA 102, 103 may be, for example, a computing device, a portable device, a mobile device, a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a tablet, a gaming system, a digital camera, a digital video recorder, a television, a set top box, an e-book reader, and/or any other Wi-Fi enabled device. The example STA 102, 103 can receive packets/frames via the example AP 104, as further explained below.

[0032] The STA 102, 103 and AP 104 include radios 108, 109, 110, respectively, to transmit and receive data packets among the STA 102, 103 and the AP 104, for example. Further, the example STA 102, 103 include example sector signal analyzers 1 12, 113 to process sector- specific signal indications in information received by radios 108, 109 and transmitted by the example radio 110 of the AP 104. The radio 110 of the example AP 104 is associated with an example sector-specific signaler 114 to determine whether sector communications are directional and to help the radio 110 determine an appropriate make-up or content of data packets transmitted by the example AP 104 to the STA 102 and/or 103, for example. A frame generator 116 assembles frames according to the sector-specific signaler 114 to be transmitted by the radio 110 to the STA 102 and/or 103, for example.

[0033] The example network 106 of FIG. 1 A includes one or more interconnected systems exchanging data. The example network 106 can be implemented using any type of public or private network such as, but not limited to, the Internet, a telephone network, a local area network (LAN), a cable network, and/or a wireless network. To enable communication via the network 106, the example Wi-Fi AP 104 includes a communication interface that enables a connection to an Ethernet, a digital subscriber line (DSL), a telephone line, a coaxial cable, or any wireless connection, etc. [0034] In beamforming, signals between the AP 104 and a paired STA 102, 103 can be concentrated to help improve wireless bandwidth utilization, wireless communication range, etc. Using multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) technology, data is sent and received using multiple antennas to help increase throughput and range, for example. APs that support beamforming focus their signals to each client STA 102, 103 to concentrate data transmission such that more data reaches the targeted device rather than radiating away. That is, while omnidirectional transmissions spread transmitted energy in all directions, directional transmission focuses the transmit energy more effectively and efficiently in a desired direction. Further, devices in other directions may perceive a channel is empty or available to use for their own concurrent transmission, rather than having all channels occupied, perhaps unnecessarily, by an omnidirectional transmission. If the STA 102, 103 supports

beamforming, the STA 102, 103 can exchange location information with the AP 104 to determine a signal path. Thus, the AP 104 can determine a location, area, or sector in which the STA 102, 103 resides with respect to the AP 104. The AP 104 can then determine in which direction the AP 104 is to transmit a signal to reach a desired STA 102, 103, for example.

[0035] FIG. IB illustrates another view of the example environment 100 including the AP 104 and STAs 102 and 103 as well as STAs 150, 152 located in a plurality of sectors i,j, k with respect to the AP 104. As shown in the example of FIG. IB, STA 152 is in sector i, STAs 102 and 150 are in sector j, and STA 103 is in sector k. In some examples, STA 152 is a legacy device and does not understand directional allocation, while STA 102, 103, and 150 are able to process directional allocation.

[0036] As will be described further below, the AP 104 can schedule time slots or access periods during which some or all available STAs 102, 103, 150, 152 can send messages. Certain period allocations can be directional allocations such that only STAs 102, 150 in sector j can communicate during that allocated time, for example. In some examples, only STAs 102, 150 are made aware of their directional allocation for a particular access period. In other examples, other STA are aware but affected STA 102, 150 in sector j are provided with further information to utilize the directional allocation access period. Thus, access periods for STAs 102, 103, 150, 152 can be distributed by the AP 104 to avoid congestion inherent in access periods open to all STAs.

[0037] In some examples, directional allocations in opposing sectors can be scheduled to overlap since transmissions from opposing sectors may not conflict or otherwise cause interference with transmission quality, bandwidth, etc. For legacy devices, such as STA 152 in the example of FIG. IB, while such devices do not understand directional allocation instruction, if STA 102, 103, and 150 have been accommodated during directional allocation access periods, a general access period may be more available for STA 152 to utilize for communication (e.g., because the STA 102 and 150 and STA 103 have transmitted messages in their respective directional allocation periods), for example.

[0038] FIG. 2 illustrates two example channel allocation messages 201 , 202. The example channel allocation messages 201, 202 include a modified channel allocation field indicating whether or not the allocation is directional. The example channel allocation messages 201, 202 can be sent by the radio 110 of the AP 104 to the radio 108, 109 of the STAs 102 and/or 103. The first example channel allocation message 201 represents a channel allocation message when a scheduling type field is set to zero. The second example channel allocation message 202 represents a channel allocation message when the scheduling type field is set to one.

[0039] The first example channel allocation message 201 of FIG. 2 includes a scheduling type field 203, an allocation key field 204, a channel aggregation field 206, a bandwidth field 208, an asymmetric beamforming training field 210, an IsDirectional field 212, an Nmax STS field 214, and a reserved field 216. The example scheduling type field 203 of the first example message 201 of FIG. 2 includes one bit of information identifying the scheduling type of the message. In the illustrated example of FIG. 2, the scheduling type field 203 of FIG. 2 is set to zero, which dictates the format of the subsequent fields. The example allocation key 204 of the first example message 201 of FIG. 2 is 24 bits. The example channel aggregation field 206 of the first example message 201 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2 is one bit. The example bandwidth field 208 of the first example message 201 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2 is eight bits. The example asymmetric beamforming training field 210 of the first example message 201 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2 is one bit. The example IsDirectional field 212 of the first example message 201 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2 is one bit. The example Nmax STS field 214 of the first example message 201 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2 is two bits. The example reserved field 216 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2 is 10 (2) bits.

[0040] The second example channel allocation message 202 of FIG. 2 includes a scheduling type field 253, a channel aggregation field 256, a bandwidth field 258, an asymmetric beamforming training field 260, an IsDirectional field 262, an Nmax STS field 264, a reserved field 266, and an allocation field 268. The example scheduling type field 253 of the second example message 202 of FIG. 2 includes one bit of information identifying the scheduling type of the message. In the illustrated example of FIG. 2, the scheduling type field 203 of FIG. 2 is set to one, which dictates the format of the subsequent fields. The example channel aggregation field 256 of the second example message 202 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2 is one bit. The example bandwidth field 258 of the second example message 202 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2 is eight bits. The example asymmetric beamforming training field 260 of the second example message 202 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2 is one bit. The example IsDirectional field 262 of the second example message 202 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2 is one bit. The example Nmax STS field 264 of the second example message 202 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2 is two bits. The example reserved field 266 of the second example message 202 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2 is 10 (2) bits. The example allocation field 268 of the second example message 202 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2 is 8x15 bits.

[0041] While, in the illustrated example of FIG. 2, bit lengths are identified for each of the respective fields, any other bit lengths may additionally or alternatively be used.

[0042] Thus, to inform STAs 102, 103 that an allocation is directional, the channel allocation field of an EDMG extended schedule element includes the IsDirectional flag 212, 262. The scheduling type 0 field format 201 and the scheduling type 1 field format 202 both provide STA(s) 102, 103 in a receiving sector with an indication of whether or not the beacon frame is directional so that the signal analyzer 112, 113 of the corresponding STA 102, 103 can process the beacon frame accordingly.

[0043] FIG. 3 is a signaling diagram 300 representing example sector-specific signaling for directional allocation. In some wireless communication environments such as the example environment 100, communication may be performed during beacon intervals (Bis), which may be scheduled, for example, according to a beacon and/or an announce frame. During a BI, a beacon may be transmitted during a beacon transmission interval (BTI), which may be followed by an association beamforming training (A-BFT) period. During the A-BFT, client devices perform a beamforming procedure with a central coordinator. A client device, such as the STA 102, 103, that receives the beacon frame from the central coordinator during the BTI is allowed to access and transmit during the following A-BFT in order to perform the beamforming with the central coordinator. The beamforming may allow the central coordinator and the client device to establish a directional and high throughput wireless communication link between the central coordinator and the client device. The A-BFT may be followed by one or more additional periods for communication.

[0044] A BTI 301 shown in FIG. 3 is divided into different parts for sectors i and k. The beacon interval starts from BTI 301, followed by an A-BFT 303, and then provides certain intervals or allocations for beacon transmission. In the illustrated example of FIG. 3, the AP 104 schedules four allocations for STA 102, 103 : two usual contention-based access periods (CBAPs) 305, 310, one service period (SP) 315, and one CBAP 320 in which AP will be listening in direction of sector k. A DMG Beacon frame 355, transmitted through sector k contains information about all four allocations, while all other DMG Beacon frames (e.g., beacon frame 357) of this BTI contain information only about three allocations: CBAP #1, SP #1 and CBAP #2. In the example of FIG. 3, since the beacon frame 357 is transmitted in sector i, while the directional allocation 320 is only for sector k, the beacon frame 357 for sector i does not include the directional CBAP for sector k 320.

[0045] In the CBAP 305, 310, 320, any of the STA 102, 103, etc., can contend for access when the channel is free and clear of other competing signals (e.g., "listen before you talk"). In the SP 315, a particular device (e.g., the STA 102, STA 103, etc.) is allocated time to transmits data to another device.

[0046] Rather than providing an exact direction of AP RX, requiring an additional 8 bits to describe in the Directional allocation, certain examples eliminate the exact direction and utilize the IsDirectional flag to indicate directional allocation. Information regarding directional allocation is transmitted through all sectors in BTI. By reducing this additional amount of data, example approaches disclosed herein enable a total bit saving in BTI equal to 8 bits + 21 octets x (N sectors - 1), as compared to existing approaches.

[0047] FIG. 4 is a table representing different beacon transmission interval timings for signaling overhead(s) when using the directional allocation signaling of FIG. 3. The example table 400 of the illustrated example of FIG. 4 demonstrates timing overhead(s) of signaling for directional allocation in BTI in milliseconds. In the illustrated example of FIG. 4, the Tlegacy 410 and Tprop 415 are the total BTI durations for signaling using the existing and proposed procedure respectively, under assumption that AP schedules only one directional allocation and no other allocations. The reference value Tref 405 is the total BTI duration in cases when extended schedule element and EDMG extended schedule element are absent. Thus, the technique described in the example of FIG. 3, corresponding to Tprop, enables a response approximately equal to Tref, whereas Tlegacy is significantly longer. [0048] That is, a STA located in sector i does not need to know that there will be an allocation for sector k because the station in sector i will not use that allocation. Signal information, beacon duration, and the BTI can be reduced because direction information is not provided in each beacon.

[0049] Another advantage of the example approaches disclosed herein is that such approaches allow scheduling of directional allocation with the AP 104 listening in multiple directions simultaneously. An example of such signaling is illustrated in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a signaling diagram 500 representing example sector-specific signaling for directional allocation with multi-sector listening.

[0050] In the illustrated example of FIG. 5, the AP 104 transmits to sector i 503 and schedules a directional allocation with simultaneous listening in 2 directions: sector k 505 and sector j 507. A DMG beacon frame 520, transmitted through sector k 505 informs STAs of sector k that the directional allocation for sector k is scheduled. DMG beacon frame 525, transmitted through sector j 507 informs STAs of sector j that the directional allocation for sector j 507 is scheduled. DMG beacon frame 530, transmitted through sector i does not contain information about this allocation.

[0051] To schedule directional allocation with AP listening in eight sectors simultaneously using the existing procedure, eight overlapping directional allocations are scheduled. Such an approach significantly increases signaling overhead(s) in BTI. FIG. 6 is a table 600 representing different beacon transmission interval timings for signaling overhead(s) when using the directional allocation with multi-sector listening signaling of FIG. 5. Like FIG. 4, above, in the illustrated example of FIG. 6, Tlegacy 610 and Tprop 615 are the total BTI durations for signaling using the existing and proposed procedure, respectively. The reference value Tref 605 is the total BTI duration in cases when extended schedule element and EDMG extended schedule element are absent. As shown in the illustrated example of FIG. 6, example approaches disclosed herein result in an outstanding overhead reduction.

[0052] Thus, the example of FIG. 5 allows directional allocation to be scheduled for a beam in one direction while another beam is transmitted with a schedule element including another directional allocation in another sector location. Directional allocations to different sectors can overlap, increasing the benefit demonstrated between the table of FIG. 4 and the table of FIG. 6, for example.

[0053] In some examples, a problem of the signaling for directional allocation is that legacy 1 lad STAs will be aware of this allocation (it is announced in legacy extended schedule element), but those legacy STAs will not know that such allocation is directional because the directional information is transmitted in an EDMG extended schedule element, which cannot be read by legacy STAs. As a result, the STAs may try to communicate with the AP 104 while the AP 104 is unreachable for them. Using the example approaches disclosed herein, only those legacy STAs within the corresponding sector will be aware of the directional allocation. Thus, supposing STA 102 is a legacy 1 lad STA in sector k, the STA 102 will be aware of the directional allocation in sector k.

[0054] To address issues presented by legacy STAs, example approaches disclosed herein consider that information about directional allocation is transmitted through all sectors, but only STA(s) 102, 103 in sector k know that the direction of AP RX for this allocation will be configured to sector k. In such an example, the EDMG extended schedule element can include a flag to indicate that the allocation is directional (1 bit), and a flag to indicate that current sector will be used for AP RX (1 bit).

[0055] To enable information regarding directional allocation to be transmitted through all sectors, while only STA(s) in an affected directional sector know the direction of AP RX, an EDMG extended schedule element in a channel allocation message 700 can include a flag to indicate that an allocation is directional (e.g., 1 bit) and a flag to indicate that a current sector I to be used for AP 104 receive beamforming (RX) (e.g., 1 bit).

[0056] FIG. 7 is a channel allocation message diagram representing the channel allocation message 700 when a scheduling type field is set to zero. The example channel allocation message 700 of FIG. 7 includes a scheduling type field 703, an allocation key field 704, a channel aggregation field 706, a bandwidth field 708, an asymmetric beamforming training field 710, a receive direction field 712, an Nmax STS field 714, and a reserved field 716. The example scheduling type field 703 of FIG. 7 includes one bit of information identifying the scheduling type of the message. In the illustrated example of FIG. 7, the scheduling type field 703 of FIG. 7 is set to zero, which dictates the format of the subsequent fields. The example allocation key 704 of FIG. 7 is 24 bits. The example channel aggregation field 706 of FIG. 7 is one bit. The example bandwidth field 708 of FIG. 7 is eight bits. The example asymmetric beamforming training field 710 of FIG. 7 is one bit. The example receive direction field 712 of FIG. 7 is two bits. An example implementation of the receive direction field 712 of FIG. 7 is described below in connection with FIG. 9. The example Nmax STS field 714 of FIG. 7, which indicates a maximum number of consecutive space-time slots (STS) a response can occupy in a listen period of asymmetric beamform training, is two bits. The example reserved field 716 of FIG. 7 is 10 (2) bits.

[0057] FIG. 8 is a channel allocation message diagram representing a channel allocation message 800 when a scheduling type field is set to one. The example channel allocation message 800 of FIG. 8 includes a scheduling type field 803, a channel aggregation field 806, a bandwidth field 808, an asymmetric beamforming training field 810, a receive direction field 812, an Nmax STS field 814, a reserved field 816, and an allocation field 818. The example scheduling type field 803 of FIG. 8 includes one bit of information identifying the scheduling type of the message. In the illustrated example of FIG. 8, the scheduling type field 803 of FIG. 8 is set to one, which dictates the format of the subsequent fields. The example channel aggregation field 806 of FIG. 8 is one bit. The example bandwidth field 808 of FIG. 8 is eight bits. The example asymmetric beamforming training field 810 of FIG. 8 is one bit. The example receive direction field 812 of FIG. 8 is two bits. An example implementation of the receive direction field 812 of FIG. 8 is described below in connection with FIG. 9. The example Nmax STS field 814 of FIG. 8 is two bits. The example reserved field 816 of FIG. 8 is 10 (2) bits. The example allocation field 818 of the example message 800 of the illustrated example of FIG. 8 is 8x15 bits.

[0058] FIG. 9 is a diagram representing components of the receive direction field of FIGS. 7 and/or 8. As noted above, the receive direction field 712, 812 includes a flag 902 to indicate that the allocation is directional (1 bit), and a flag 904 to indicate that current sector will be used for AP RX (1 bit).

[0059] An example of sector-specific signaling for directional allocation is illustrated in FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is a signaling diagram 1000 representing an alternate example sector specific signaling for directional allocation. In the illustrated example of FIG. 10, Directional allocation information is transmitted through all sectors. For example, whereas direction specific information is transmitted in a first message 1010 sent to sector k, direction information is not omitted from a second message 1020 sent to sector i. This enables DMG beacons transmitted through different sectors to have the same length. Such an approach results in a savings of 7 bits per sector. While legacy devices may still have difficulties with this approach, multi-sector AP listening is improved as shown in the example table of FIG. 11.

[0060] FIG. 11 is a table representing different beacon transmission interval timings for signaling overhead(s) when using the directional allocation signaling of FIG. 10. Like FIGS. 4 and/ or 6, above, in the illustrated example of FIG. 11 , Tlegacy 1 110 and Tprop 1115 are the total BTI durations for signaling using the existing and proposed procedure, respectively. The reference value Tref 1105 is the total BTI duration in cases when extended schedule element and EDMG extended schedule element are absent. As shown in the illustrated example of FIG. 11, example approaches disclosed herein result in an overhead reduction.

[0061] As described in FIGS. 10-11 , each sector is signalized to indicate the presence of a directional allocation without providing information to each sector indicating which direction is served in the directional allocation. Only the affected sector has knowledge that it is served with a directional allocation. For example, when a directional CBAP is allocated for sector k, an extended schedule element is transmitted including information about the directional CBAP (e.g., represented with an is directional sub field = 1 and is current sector = 1 for sector k, while sector i receives is_directional = 1 and is_current_sector = 0, etc.). Such an approach provides reduced gains in overhead when compared to other techniques disclosed herein, but still provides some gains in overhead reduction and improved communication efficiency and effectiveness.

[0062] Thus, the sector-specific signaler 114 of the AP 104 can employ a variety of techniques disclosed herein to provide improved directional allocation communication with one or more ST As 102, 103 using its associated radio 110 according to one or more of the schema described above in connection with FIGS. 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, and/or 10. The signal analyzer 112, 113 associated with the radio 108, 109 of the corresponding STA 102, 103 can process the received signal information to identify and process accordingly or discard/ignore communication based on its directional allocation, for example. Improved communication, increased availability for concurrent communication during CBAP periods, reduced bit size (and, therefore, reduced bandwidth usage, reduced transmission time, etc.), and targeted, more accurate communications can be achieved in the system 100 using such beacon frame organization.

[0063] While example implementations of the example STA 102, 103 and the AP 104 are described in conjunction with FIGS. 1-11, one or more of the elements, processes and/or devices illustrated in FIG. 1 may be combined, divided, re-arranged, omitted, eliminated and/or implemented in any other way. Further, the STA 102, 103 and/or AP 104 may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware and/or any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware. Thus, for example, any of the STA 102, 103 and/or AP 104 could be implemented by one or more analog or digital circuit(s), logic circuits, programmable processor(s), application specific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)) and/or field programmable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)). When reading any of the apparatus or system claims of this patent to cover a purely software and/or firmware implementation, at least one of the STA 102, 103 and/or AP 104 is/are hereby expressly defined to include a non-transitory computer readable storage device or storage disk such as a memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk (CD), a Blu-ray disk, etc. including the software and/or firmware. Further still, the STA 102, 103 and/or AP 104 may include one or more elements, processes and/or devices in addition to, or instead of, those illustrated in FIG. 1, and/or may include more than one of any or all of the illustrated elements, processes and devices.

[0064] FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a radio architecture 1200 in accordance with some examples. The example radio architecture 1200 can be used to implement the radio 108, 109, and/or 110 for the STA 102, 103 and/or AP 104 described above. The example radio architecture 1200 may include radio front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1204a-b, radio integrated circuit (IC) circuitry 1206a-b, and baseband processing circuitry 1208a-b. The example radio architecture 1200 as shown includes both wireless local area network (WLAN) functionality and Bluetooth (BT) functionality although other examples are not so limited. In this disclosure, "WLAN" and "Wi-Fi" are used interchangeably.

[0065] The example FEM circuitry 1204 may include a WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuitry 1204a and a Bluetooth (BT) FEM circuitry 1204b. The WLAN FEM circuitry 1204a may include a receive signal path including circuitry configured to operate on WLAN radio frequency (RF) signals received from one or more antennas 1201 , to amplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the WLAN radio IC circuitry 1206a for further processing. The BT FEM circuitry 1204b may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on BT RF signals received from one or more antennas 1201 , to amplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the BT radio IC circuitry 1206b for further processing. The FEM circuitry 1204a may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify WLAN signals provided by the radio IC circuitry 1206a for wireless transmission by one or more of the antennas 1201. In addition, the FEM circuitry 1204b may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify BT signals provided by the radio IC circuitry 1206b for wireless transmission by the one or more antennas. In the example of FIG. 12, although FEM 1204a and FEM 1204b are shown as being distinct from one another, examples are not so limited, and include within their scope the use of an FEM (not shown) that includes a transmit path and/or a receive path for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more FEM circuitries where at least some of the FEM circuitries share transmit and/or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

[0066] The radio IC circuitry 1206a-b as shown may include WLAN radio IC circuitry 1206a and BT radio IC circuitry 1206b. The WLAN radio IC circuitry 1206a may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert WLAN RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1204a and provide baseband signals to WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1208a. BT radio IC circuitry 1206b may in turn include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert BT RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1204b and provide baseband signals to BT baseband processing circuitry 1208b. WLAN radio IC circuitry 1206a may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up- convert WLAN baseband signals provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1208a and provide WLAN RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1204a for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 1201. BT radio IC circuitry 1206b may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert BT baseband signals provided by the BT baseband processing circuitry 1208b and provide BT RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1204b for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 1201. In the example of FIG. 12, although radio IC circuitries 1206a and 1206b are shown as being distinct from one another, other examples are not so limited, and include within their scope the use of a radio IC circuitry (not shown) that includes a transmit signal path and/or a receive signal path for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more radio IC circuitries where at least some of the radio IC circuitries share transmit and/or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

[0067] The baseband processing circuity 1208a-b may include a WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1208a and a BT baseband processing circuitry 1208b. The WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1208a may include a memory, such as, for example, a set of RAM arrays in a Fast Fourier Transform or Inverse Fast Fourier Transform block (not shown) of the WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1208a. Each of the WLAN baseband circuitry 1208a and the BT baseband circuitry 1208b may further include one or more processors and control logic to process the signals received from the corresponding WLAN or BT receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry 1206, and to also generate corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 1206. Each of the baseband processing circuitries 1208 a and 1208b may further include physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry, and may further interface with application processor 1210 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the radio IC circuitry 1206.

[0068] According to the example shown in FIG. 12, the WLAN-BT coexistence circuitry 1213 may include logic providing an interface between the WLAN baseband circuitry 1208a and the BT baseband circuitry 1208b to enable use cases requiring WLAN and BT coexistence. In addition, a switch 1203 may be provided between the WLAN FEM circuitry 1204a and the BT FEM circuitry 1204b to allow switching between the WLAN and BT radios according to application needs. In addition, although the antennas 1201 are depicted as being respectively connected to the WLAN FEM circuitry 1204a and the BT FEM circuitry 1204b, certain examples include sharing of one or more antennas between the WLAN and BT FEMs, or the provision of more than one antenna connected to each of FEM 1204a or 1204b.

[0069] In some examples, the front-end module circuitry 1204a-b, the radio IC circuitry 1206a-b, and baseband processing circuitry 1208a-b may be provided on a single radio card, such as wireless radio card 1202. In some other examples, the one or more antennas 1201, the FEM circuitry 1204 and the radio IC circuitry 1206a-b may be provided on a single radio card. In some other examples, the radio IC circuitry 1206a-b and the baseband processing circuitry 1208a-b may be provided on a single chip or integrated circuit (IC), such as IC 1212.

[0070] In some examples, the wireless radio card 1202 may include a WLAN radio card and may be configured for Wi-Fi communications, although the scope of the examples is not limited in this respect. In some of these examples, the radio architecture 1200 may be configured to receive and transmit orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication signals over a multicarrier communication channel. The OFDM or OFDMA signals may include a plurality of orthogonal sub carriers.

[0071] In some of these multicarrier examples, radio architecture 1200 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 of such examples, radio architecture 1200 may be configured to transmit and receive signals in accordance with specific communication standards and/or protocols, such as any of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards including, 802.11n-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE 802.11-2016, 802.11η- 2009, 802.1 lac, 802.11 ah, 802.11 ad, 802.11 ay, and/or 802.11 ax standards and/or proposed specifications for WLANs, although the scope of examples is not limited in this respect. Radio architecture 1200 may also be suitable to transmit and/or receive communications in accordance with other techniques and standards.

[0072] In some examples, the radio architecture 1200 may be configured for high-efficiency Wi-Fi (HEW) communications in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 ay and/or 802.11 ax standard. In these examples, the radio architecture 1200 may be configured to communicate in accordance with an OFDMA technique, although the scope of the examples is not limited in this respect.

[0073] In some other examples, the radio architecture 1200 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 examples is not limited in this respect.

[0074] In some examples, as further shown in FIG. 12, the BT baseband circuitry 1208b may be compliant with a Bluetooth (BT) connectivity standard such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth 2.0 or Bluetooth 3.0, or any other iteration of the Bluetooth Standard. In examples that include BT functionality as shown for example in FIG. 12, the radio architecture 1200 may be configured to establish a BT synchronous connection oriented (SCO) link and or a BT low energy (BT LE) link. In some of the examples that include functionality, the radio architecture 1200 may be configured to establish an extended SCO (eSCO) link for BT communications, although the scope of the examples is not limited in this respect. In some such examples that include a BT functionality, the radio architecture may be configured to engage in a BT Asynchronous Connection-Less (ACL) communications, although the scope of the examples is not limited in this respect. In some examples, as shown in FIG. 12, the functions of a BT radio card and WLAN radio card may be combined on a single wireless radio card, such as single wireless radio card 1202, although examples are not so limited, and include within their scope discrete WLAN and BT radio cards.

[0075] In some examples, the radio-architecture 1200 may include other radio cards, such as a cellular radio card configured for cellular (e.g., 6GPP such as LTE, LTE- Advanced or 5G communications). [0076] In some IEEE 802.1 1 examples, the radio architecture 1200 may be configured for communication over various channel bandwidths including bandwidths having center frequencies of about 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 60 GHz, etc. , and bandwidths of about 2MHz, 4 MHz, 5 MHz, 5.5 MHz, 7 MHz, 8 MHz, 10 MHz, 40 MHz, 46 MHz, 50 MHz, 70MHz, 80MHz (with contiguous bandwidths), 80+80MHz (160MHz) (with non-contiguous bandwidths), 620 MHz, 2.16 GHz, 4.32GHz, 6.48 GHz, 8.64 GHz, 2.16+2.16 GHz,

4.32+4.32 GHz, etc. The scope of the examples is not limited with respect to the above center frequencies however.

[0077] FIG. 13 illustrates an example implementation of the FEM circuitry 1204a in accordance with some examples. Such an implementation can also apply to the FEM circuitry 1204b. The FEM circuitry 1204a is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the WLAN and/or BT FEM circuitry 1204a/1204b (FIG. 12), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

[0078] In some examples, the FEM circuitry 1204a may include a TX/RX switch 1302 to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry 1204a may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 1204a may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) 1306 to amplify received RF signals 1303 and provide the amplified received RF signals 1307 as an output (e.g., to the radio IC circuitry 1206 (FIG. 12)). The transmit signal path of the circuitry 1204a may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals 1309 (e.g., provided by the radio IC circuitry 1206), and one or more filters 1312, such as band-pass filters (BPFs), low-pass filters (LPFs) or other types of filters, to generate RF signals 1315 for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the antennas 1201 (FIG. 12)).

[0079] In some dual-mode examples for Wi-Fi communication, the FEM circuitry 1204a may be configured to operate in the 60 GHz frequency spectrum. In these examples, the receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 1204a may include a receive signal path duplexer 1304 to separate the signals from each spectrum as well as provide a separate LNA 1306 for each spectrum as shown. In these examples, the transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 1204a may also include a power amplifier 1310 and a filter 1312, such as a BPF, a LPF or another type of filter for each frequency spectrum and a transmit signal path duplexer 1314 to provide the signals of one of the different spectrums onto a single transmit path for subsequent transmission by the one or more of the antennas 1201 (FIG. 12). In some examples, BT communications may utilize the 60 GHZ signal paths and may utilize the same FEM circuitry 1204a as the one used for WLAN communications.

[0080] FIG. 14 illustrates example radio IC circuitry 1206a in accordance with some examples. Such an implementation can also apply to the radio IC circuitry 1206b. The radio IC circuitry 1206a is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the WLAN or BT radio IC circuitry 1206a/1206b (FIG. 12), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

[0081] In some examples, the radio IC circuitry 1206a may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry 1206a may include at least mixer circuitry 1402, such as, for example, down-conversion mixer circuitry, amplifier circuitry 1406 and filter circuitry 1408. The transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 1206a may include at least filter circuitry 1412 and mixer circuitry 1414, such as, for example, up-conversion mixer circuitry. The radio IC circuitry 1206a may also include synthesizer circuitry 1404 for synthesizing a frequency 1405 for use by the mixer circuitry 1402 and the mixer circuitry 1414. The mixer circuitry 1402 and/or 1414 may each, according to some examples, be configured to provide direct conversion functionality. The latter type of circuitry presents a much simpler architecture as compared with standard superheterodyne mixer circuitries, and any flicker noise brought about by the same may be alleviated for example through the use of OFDM modulation. FIG. 14 illustrates a simplified version of the radio IC circuitry 1206a, and may include, although not shown, examples in which each of the depicted circuitries may include more than one component. For instance, mixer circuitry 1420 and/or 1414 may each include one or more mixers, and filter circuitries 1408 and/or 1412 may each include one or more filters, such as one or more BPFs and/or LPFs according to application needs. For example, when mixer circuitries are of the direct- conversion type, they may each include two or more mixers.

[0082] In some examples, mixer circuitry 1402 may be configured to down-convert RF signals 1307 received from the FEM circuitry 1204a (FIG. 12) based on the synthesized frequency 1405 provided by synthesizer circuitry 1404. The amplifier circuitry 1406 may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 1408 may include a LPF configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals 1407. Output baseband signals 1407 may be provided to the baseband processing circuitry 1208 a (FIG. 12) for further processing. In some examples, the output baseband signals 1407 may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some examples, mixer circuitry 1402 may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the examples is not limited in this respect.

[0083] In some examples, the mixer circuitry 1414 may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals 141 1 based on the synthesized frequency 1405 provided by the synthesizer circuitry 1404 to generate RF output signals 1309 for the FEM circuitry 1204. The baseband signals 1411 may be provided by the baseband processing circuitry 1208 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 1412. The filter circuitry 1412 may include a LPF or a BPF, although the scope of the examples is not limited in this respect.

[0084] In some examples, the mixer circuitry 1402 and the mixer circuitry 1414 may each include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and/or up- conversion respectively with the help of synthesizer 1404. In some examples, the mixer circuitry 1402 and the mixer circuitry 1414 may each include two or more mixers each configured for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some examples, the mixer circuitry 1402 and the mixer circuitry 1414 may be arranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion, respectively. In some examples, the mixer circuitry 1402 and the mixer circuitry 1414 may be configured for super-heterodyne operation, although this is not a requirement.

[0085] In an example, the mixer circuitry 1402 may include quadrature passive mixers (e.g., for the in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) paths). In such an example, RF input signal 1307 from FIG. 14 may be down-converted to provide I and Q baseband output signals to be sent to the baseband processor

[0086] Quadrature passive mixers may be driven by zero and ninety degree time-varying local oscillator (LO) switching signals provided by a quadrature circuitry which may be configured to receive a LO frequency (fLO) from a local oscillator or a synthesizer, such as LO frequency 1405 of synthesizer 1404 (FIG. 14). In some examples, the LO frequency may be the carrier frequency, while in other examples, 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 examples, the zero and ninety degree time-varying switching signals may be generated by the synthesizer, although the scope of the examples is not limited in this respect.

[0087] In some examples, the LO signals may differ in duty cycle (the percentage of one period in which the LO signal is high) and/or offset (the difference between start points of the period). In some examples, the LO signals may have a 55% duty cycle and a 50% offset. In some examples, each branch of the mixer circuitry (e.g., the in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) path) may operate at a 55% duty cycle, which may result in a significant reduction is power consumption.

[0088] The RF input signal 1307 (FIG. 13) may include a balanced signal, although the scope of the examples is not limited in this respect. The I and Q baseband output signals may be provided to low-nose amplifier, such as amplifier circuitry 1406 (FIG. 14) or to filter circuitry 1408 (FIG. 14).

[0089] In some examples, the output baseband signals 1407 and the input baseband signals 141 1 may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the examples is not limited in this respect. In some alternate examples, the output baseband signals 1407 and the input baseband signals 141 1 may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate examples, the radio IC circuitry may include analog-to -digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry.

[0090] In some dual-mode examples, a separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, or for other spectrums not mentioned here, although the scope of the examples is not limited in this respect.

[0091] In some examples, the synthesizer circuitry 1404 may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+l synthesizer, although the scope of the examples is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 1404 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. According to some examples, the synthesizer circuitry 1404 may include digital synthesizer circuitry. An advantage of using a digital synthesizer circuitry is that, although it may still include some analog components, its footprint may be scaled down much more than the footprint of an analog synthesizer circuitry. In some examples, frequency input into synthesizer circuity 1404 may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. A divider control input may further be provided by either the baseband processing circuitry 1208a (FIG. 12) or the application processor 1210 (FIG. 12) depending on the desired output frequency 1405. In some examples, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table (e.g. , within a Wi-Fi card) based on a channel number and a channel center frequency as determined or indicated by the application processor 1210.

[0092] In some examples, synthesizer circuitry 1404 may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency 1405, while in other examples, the output frequency 1405 may be a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrier frequency). In some examples, the output frequency 1405 may be a LO frequency (fLO).

[0093] FIG. 15 illustrates a functional block diagram of baseband processing circuitry 1208a in accordance with some examples. Such an implementation can also apply to the baseband processing circuitry 1208b. The baseband processing circuitry 1208a is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the baseband processing circuitry 1208a/b (FIG. 12), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable. The baseband processing circuitry 1208a may include a receive baseband processor (RX BBP) 1502 for processing receive baseband signals 1407 provided by the radio IC circuitry 1206a (FIG. 12) and a transmit baseband processor (TX BBP) 1504 for generating transmit baseband signals 1411 for the radio IC circuitry 1206. The baseband processing circuitry 1208a may also include control logic 1506 for coordinating the operations of the baseband processing circuitry 1208a.

[0094] In some examples (e.g., when analog baseband signals are exchanged between the baseband processing circuitry 1208a and the radio IC circuitry 1206a), the baseband processing circuitry 1208a may include ADC 1510 to convert analog baseband signals 1407 received from the radio IC circuitry 1206 to digital baseband signals for processing by the RX BBP 1502. In these examples, the baseband processing circuitry 1208a may also include DAC 1512 to convert digital baseband signals from the TX BBP 1504 to analog baseband signals 1511.

[0095] In some examples that communicate OFDM signals or OFDMA signals, such as through baseband processor 1208a, the transmit baseband processor 1504 may be configured to generate OFDM or OFDMA signals as appropriate for transmission by performing an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT). The receive baseband processor 1502 may be configured to process received OFDM signals or OFDMA signals by performing an FFT. In some examples, the receive baseband processor 1502 may be configured to detect the presence of an OFDM signal or OFDMA signal by performing an autocorrelation, to detect a preamble, such as a short preamble, and by performing a cross-correlation, to detect a long preamble. The preambles may be part of a predetermined frame structure for Wi-Fi communication.

[0096] Referring back to FIG. 12, in some examples, the antennas 1201 (FIG. 12) may each comprise 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 transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple

's - output (MIMO) examples, the antennas may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result. Antennas 1201 may each include a set of phased-array antennas, although examples are not so limited.

[0097] Although the radio-architecture 1200 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, 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 circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some examples, the functional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0098] Flowcharts representative of example machine readable instructions for

communication between the AP 104 and the ST A 102, 103 are shown in FIGS. 16-17. In these examples, the machine readable instructions include programs for execution by a processor such as the processor 1812, 1912 shown in the example processor platform 1800, 1900 discussed below in connection with FIGS. 18 and 19. The program may be embodied in software stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium such as a CD- ROM, a floppy disk, a hard drive, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a Blu-ray disk, or a memory associated with the processor 1812, 1912, but the entire program and/or parts thereof could alternatively be executed by a device other than the processor 1812, 1912 and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware. Further, although the example program is described with reference to the flowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 16-17, many other methods of implementing communication between the example AP 104 and the example STA 102, 103 may alternatively be used. For example, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated, or combined. Additionally or alternatively, any or all of the blocks may be implemented by one or more hardware circuits (e.g., discrete and/or integrated analog and/or digital circuitry, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated circuit (ASIC), a comparator, an operational-amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc.) structured to perform the corresponding operation without executing software or firmware.

[0099] As mentioned above, the example processes of FIGS. 16-17 may be implemented using coded instructions (e.g., computer and/or machine readable instructions) stored on a non-transitory computer and/or machine readable medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a cache, a random- access memory and/or any other storage device or storage disk in which information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended time periods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarily buffering, and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, the term non- transitory computer readable medium is expressly defined to include any type of computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and to exclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media. "Including" and "comprising" (and all forms and tenses thereof) are used herein to be open ended terms. Thus, whenever a claim lists anything following any form of "include" or "comprise" (e.g., comprises, includes, comprising, including, etc.), it is to be understood that additional elements, terms, etc. may be present without falling outside the scope of the corresponding claim. As used herein, when the phrase "at least" is used as the transition term in a preamble of a claim, it is open-ended in the same manner as the term "comprising" and "including" are open ended.

[00100] FIG. 16 is an example flowchart 1600 representative of example machine readable instructions that may be executed by the example AP 104 of FIG. 1 to communicate with the example STA 102, 103 of FIG. 1. At block 1602, a channel allocation is generated. For example, the AP 104 determines, based on schedule type (e.g., 0, 1 , etc.) whether the IsDirectional flag is to be set, A-BFT period, channel allocation information for the STA 102, 103, etc. The AP 104 can utilize a channel allocation field of an EDMG schedule element in a DMG beacon frame, modified to include the IsDirectional flag, to indicate to one or more affected sectors that directional allocation is to be applied (see, e.g., description of FIG. 2 above). Alternatively or in addition, information regarding directional allocation can be configured for transmission to all sectors with only affected sectors receiving an indication of the direction of AP RX for the allocation (see, e.g., description of FIGS. 7-9 above).

[00101] At block 1604, the channel allocation is transmitted. For example, the channel allocation is broadcast from the radio 110 of the AP 104 to the STA 102, 103 to configure and/or otherwise inform the STA 102, 103 regarding channel and other beacon interval allocation.

[00102] At block 1606, a beacon message is generated. For example, based on sector- specific indication from the sector-specific signaler 114, the generator 116 of the example AP 104 generates a beacon signal for a BI including a BTI, A-BFT, and one or more access periods including CBAP, SP, etc. The beacon signal informs the applicable STA 102, 103 of a schedule for transmission including BTI, A-BFT, CBAP, SP, and/or other access periods (see, e.g., description of FIGS. 3, 5, and 10 above).

[00103] At block 1608, the beacon message is evaluated to determine whether the message is directional. For example, if the IsDirectional flag is set (e.g., has a value of 1 or TRUE, etc.), then the beacon message is determined to be directional in allocation.

Alternatively or in addition, a flag/field can indicate a sector directional allocation. The sector-specific signaler 114 associated with the radio 110 of the example AP 104 can facilitate determination and/or indication that the message is a directional allocation-related message.

[00104] If the message is directional, then, at block 1610, the beacon message is transmitted according to an indicated direction. For example, the AP 104 uses its radio 110 in conjunction with the sector-specific signaler 1 14 to transmit the message to STA 102, 103 in the designated sector(s) (e.g., sector i, sector j, sector k, etc.). In certain examples, a directional message is still indicated to all sectors with affected sector(s) receiving further information regarding their directional allocation.

[00105] However, if the message is not directional, then, at block 1612, the beacon message is transmitted in all directions. For example, the message can be broadcast to all STA 102, 103 in all sectors within range of the AP 104.

[00106] FIG. 17 is an example flowchart 1700 representative of example machine readable instructions that may be executed by the example STA 102, 103 of FIG. 1 in communication with the example AP 104 of FIG. 1. At block 1702, a channel allocation message is received. For example, the radio 108, 109 of the STA 102, 103 receives the channel allocation message from the AP 104. The analyzer 112, 113 of the STA 102, 103 can analyze the channel allocation message to determine the content of the channel allocation and configure the radio 108, 109 for further beacon message receipt, for example.

[00107] For example, the channel allocation can indicate a directional allocation and can indicate that a sector associated with the STA 102, 103 is or is not part of the directional allocation. For example, the channel allocation field of an EDMG schedule element in a DMG beacon frame can include an IsDirectional flag, which can be processed by the analyzer 112, 113 to determine whether the flag is set (see, e.g., description of FIG. 2 above). In certain examples, sector(s) affected (e.g., benefitting from and/or otherwise involved in the directional allocation, etc.) receive an indication of the direction of AP RX for the allocation (see, e.g., description of FIGS. 7-9 above). [00108] At block 1704, a beacon message is received. For example, the radio 108, 109 of the STA 102, 203 receives the beacon message from the AP 104. At block 1706, the beacon message is processed. For example, the analyzer 1 12, 113 associated with the radio 108, 109 of the respective example STA 102, 103 processes the received beacon message to identify periods for access (e.g., CBAP, SP, etc.) to communication bandwidth with respect to the AP 104, etc. For example, the message can be a beacon signal for a BI including a BTI, A-BFT, and one or more access periods including CBAP, SP, etc. The beacon signal informs the applicable STA 102, 103 of a schedule for transmission including BTI, A-BFT, CBAP, SP, and/or other access periods (see, e.g., description of FIGS. 3, 5, and 10 above).

[00109] At block 1708, the beacon message is evaluated to determine whether the beacon message is directional. For example, if the IsDirectional flag is set (e.g., has a value of 1 or TRUE, etc.), then the beacon message is determined to be directional in allocation. Alternatively or in addition, a flag/field can indicate a sector directional allocation. For example, CBAP information in the received message can indicate the period is for a particular sector, a received direction sub field can be set to specify directional and/or a particular sector(s) for directionality, etc. The analyzer 112, 113 associated with the radio 108, 109 of the example STA 102, 103 can facilitate determination and/or indication that the message is a directional allocation-related message.

[00110] If the message is directional, then, at block 1710, the directional property(-ies) of the beacon message are evaluated to determine whether the directional message applies to the sector of the STA 102, 103 processing the message. For example, the CBAP field of a beacon message can be analyzed by the analyzer 112, 113 to identify a sector or sectors associated with the directional allocation. As another example, a receive direction subfield associated with the IsDirectional flag can indicate whether a sector associated with the receiving STA 102, 103 is a directional allocation sector, etc.

[00111] If the directional message does not apply to the sector of the STA 102, 103, then, at block 1712, the beacon message is ignored. For example, if the receive direction subfield is zero (e.g., indicating that the sector of the receiving STA 102, 103 is not part of the directional allocation), then the beacon message is ignored as not intended for the STA 102, 103. However, if the directional message applies to the sector of the STA 102, 103, then, at block 1714, the receiving STA 102, 103 reacts to the beacon message. For example, the STA 102, 103 can be configured by the analyzer 112, 113 and associated radio 108, 109 to transmit in the directionally allocated period(s) according to the beacon message, etc. [00112] FIG. 18 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 1800 capable of executing instructions to implement the example STA 102, 103 (with STA 102 shown in the example of FIG. 18 for purposes of illustration only). The processor platform 1800 can be, for example, a server, a personal computer, a mobile device (e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, a tablet such as an iPad™), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an Internet appliance, a DVD player, a CD player, a digital video recorder, a Blu-ray player, a gaming console, a personal video recorder, a set top box, or any other type of computing device.

[00113] The processor platform 1800 of the illustrated example includes a processor 1812. The processor 1812 of the illustrated example is hardware. For example, the processor 1812 can be implemented by one or more integrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors or controllers from any desired family or manufacturer. The hardware processor may be a semiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device.

[00114] The processor 1812 of the illustrated example includes a local memory 1813 (e.g., a cache). The processor 1812 of the illustrated example is in communication with a main memory including a volatile memory 1814 and a non-volatile memory 1816 via a bus 1818. The volatile memory 1814 may be implemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM) and/or any other type of random access memory device. The non-volatile memory 1816 may be implemented by flash memory and/or any other desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 1814, 1816 is controlled by a memory controller.

[00115] The processor platform 1800 of the illustrated example also includes an interface circuit 1820. The interface circuit 1820 may be implemented by any type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, a universal serial bus (USB), and/or a PCI express interface.

[00116] In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 1822 are connected to the interface circuit 1820. The input device(s) 1822 permit(s) a user to enter data and/or commands into the processor 1812. The input device(s) can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, a microphone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, a touchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball, isopoint and/or a voice recognition system.

[00117] One or more output devices 1824 are also connected to the interface circuit

1820 of the illustrated example. The output devices 1824 can be implemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystal display, a cathode ray tube display (CRT), a touchscreen, a tactile output device, a printer and/or speakers). The interface circuit 1820 of the illustrated example, thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chip and/or a graphics driver processor.

[00118] The interface circuit 1820 of the illustrated example also includes a communication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, a modem and/or network interface card to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g., computing devices of any kind) via a network 1826 (e.g., an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL), a telephone line, coaxial cable, a cellular telephone system, etc.).

[00119] The processor platform 1800 of the illustrated example also includes one or more mass storage devices 1828 for storing software and/or data. Examples of such mass storage devices 1828 include floppy disk drives, hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu- ray disk drives, RAID systems, and digital versatile disk (DVD) drives.

[00120] The coded instructions 1832 may be stored in the mass storage device 1828, in the volatile memory 1814, in the non- volatile memory 1816, and/or on a removable tangible computer readable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

[00121] FIG. 19 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 1900 capable of executing instructions to implement the example AP 104. The processor platform 1900 can be, for example, a server, a personal computer, a mobile device (e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, a tablet such as an iPad™), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an Internet appliance, a DVD player, a CD player, a digital video recorder, a Blu-ray player, a gaming console, a personal video recorder, a set top box, or any other type of computing device.

[00122] The processor platform 1900 of the illustrated example includes a processor 1912. The processor 1912 of the illustrated example is hardware. For example, the processor 1912 can be implemented by one or more integrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors or controllers from any desired family or manufacturer. The hardware processor may be a semiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device.

[00123] The processor 1912 of the illustrated example includes a local memory 1913 (e.g., a cache). The processor 1912 of the illustrated example is in communication with a main memory including a volatile memory 1914 and a non-volatile memory 1916 via a bus 1918. The volatile memory 1914 may be implemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM) and/or any other type of random access memory device. The non-volatile memory 1916 may be implemented by flash memory and/or any other desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 1914, 1916 is controlled by a memory controller.

[00124] The processor platform 1900 of the illustrated example also includes an interface circuit 1920. The interface circuit 1920 may be implemented by any type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, a universal serial bus (USB), and/or a PCI express interface.

[00125] In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 1922 are connected to the interface circuit 1920. The input device(s) 1922 permit(s) a user to enter data and/or commands into the processor 1912. The input device(s) can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, a microphone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, a touchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball, isopoint and/or a voice recognition system.

[00126] One or more output devices 1924 are also connected to the interface circuit

1920 of the illustrated example. The output devices 1924 can be implemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystal display, a cathode ray tube display (CRT), a touchscreen, a tactile output device, a printer and/or speakers). The interface circuit 1920 of the illustrated example, thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chip and/or a graphics driver processor.

[00127] The interface circuit 1920 of the illustrated example also includes a communication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, a modem and/or network interface card to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g., computing devices of any kind) via a network 1926 (e.g. , an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL), a telephone line, coaxial cable, a cellular telephone system, etc.).

[00128] The processor platform 1900 of the illustrated example also includes one or more mass storage devices 1928 for storing software and/or data. Examples of such mass storage devices 1928 include floppy disk drives, hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu- ray disk drives, RAID systems, and digital versatile disk (DVD) drives.

[00129] The coded instructions 1932 may be stored in the mass storage device 1928, in the volatile memory 1914, in the non-volatile memory 1916, and/or on a removable tangible computer readable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

[00130] Thus, certain examples enable asymmetric link communications between an access point and one or more wireless devices (stations). Certain examples enable legacy and new devices to take advantage of improved communication bandwidth usage, throughput, flexibility, timing, concurrency, and economy of size through directional allocation flagging, information, and/or selective transmission. Certain examples provide different scheduling of transmissions for different sectors to enable more efficient, more streamlined, and more concurrent communications via the access point. In certain examples, highly-directional antennas, such as phase antenna arrays (PAAs), modular antenna array (MAA), and/or other MIMO antenna configuration can be used to help provide directional allocation and communication among the access point and paired/connected devices.

[00131] A plurality of examples can be implemented according to the apparatus, systems, methods, etc., disclosed and described above.

[00132] Example 1 is an apparatus including a frame generator to generate a beacon frame for a beacon interval including sector-specific signaling for directional allocation, the directional allocation associated with a wireless sector. The apparatus includes a radio to transmit a message to inform a receiving device in the wireless sector with directional information regarding the directional allocation and an access period associated with the directional allocation for the wireless sector.

[00133] Example 2 includes the subject matter of Example 1, wherein the beacon frame includes a directional multi-gigabit beacon frame.

[00134] Example 3 includes the subject matter of Example 2, wherein the directional multi-gigabit beacon frame includes an enhanced directional multi-gigabit extended schedule element beacon message.

[00135] Example 4 includes the subject matter of Example 1, wherein the radio is further to generate a channel allocation message to configure the receiving device for directional allocation.

[00136] Example 5 includes the subject matter of Example 4, wherein the channel allocation message is to configure the receiving device for directional allocation based on an indication of a direction of access point receive beamforming for the directional allocation.

[00137] Example 6 includes the subject matter of Example 1, wherein the radio is to transmit the directional information only to the wireless sector associated with the directional allocation.

[00138] Example 7 includes the subject matter of Example 6, wherein the wireless sector is a first wireless sector, and wherein the radio is to transmit a message without the directional information to a second wireless sector not included in the directional allocation. [00139] Example 8 is an apparatus including a radio to receive a beacon frame for a beacon interval including sector-specific signaling for directional allocation, the directional allocation associated with a wireless sector including the apparatus. The example apparatus includes a sector signal analyzer to analyze the beacon frame to identify directional information regarding the directional allocation and an access period associated with the directional allocation for the wireless sector. In Example 8, the radio is to transmit during the access period associated with the directional allocation.

[00140] Example 9 includes the subject matter of Example 8, wherein the beacon frame includes a directional multi-gigabit beacon frame.

[00141] Example 10 includes the subject matter of Example 9, wherein the directional multi-gigabit beacon frame includes an enhanced directional multi-gigabit extended schedule element beacon message.

[00142] Example 11 includes the subject matter of Example 8, wherein the radio is further to receive a channel allocation message to configure the apparatus for directional allocation.

[00143] Example 12 includes the subject matter of Example 1 1, wherein the channel allocation message is to configure the apparatus for directional allocation based on an indication of a direction of access point receive beamforming for the directional allocation.

[00144] Example 13 is a computer-readable storage medium including instructions which, when executed, cause a processor to at least: generate a beacon frame for a beacon interval including sector-specific signaling for directional allocation, the directional allocation associated with a wireless sector; and transmit a message to inform a receiving device in the wireless sector with directional information regarding the directional allocation and an access period associated with the directional allocation for the wireless sector.

[00145] Example 14 includes the subject matter of Example 13, wherein the beacon frame includes a directional multi-gigabit beacon frame.

[00146] Example 15 includes the subject matter of Example 14, wherein the directional multi-gigabit beacon frame includes an enhanced directional multi-gigabit extended schedule element beacon message.

[00147] Example 16 includes the subject matter of Example 13, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to generate a channel allocation message to configure the receiving device for directional allocation. [00148] Example 17 includes the subject matter of Example 16, wherein the channel allocation message is to configure the receiving device for directional allocation based on an indication of a direction of access point receive beamforming for the directional allocation.

[00149] Example 18 includes the subject matter of Example 13, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to transmit the directional information only to the wireless sector associated with the directional allocation.

[00150] Example 19 includes the subject matter of Example 18, wherein the wireless sector is a first wireless sector, and wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to transmit a message without the directional information to a second wireless sector not included in the directional allocation.

[00151] Example 20 is a computer-readable storage medium including instructions which, when executed, cause a processor to at least: receive a beacon frame for a beacon interval including sector-specific signaling for directional allocation, the directional allocation associated with a wireless sector including the apparatus, the beacon frame to inform the wireless sector with directional information regarding the directional allocation and an access period associated with the directional allocation for the wireless sector; and transmit during the access period associated with the directional allocation.

[00152] Example 21 includes the subject matter of Example 20, wherein the beacon frame includes a directional multi-gigabit beacon frame.

[00153] Example 22 includes the subject matter of Example 21, wherein the directional multi-gigabit beacon frame includes an enhanced directional multi-gigabit extended schedule element beacon message.

[00154] Example 23 includes the subject matter of Example 20, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to receive a channel allocation message to configure the apparatus for directional allocation.

[00155] Example 24 includes the subject matter of Example 23, wherein the channel allocation message is to configure the apparatus for directional allocation based on an indication of a direction of access point receive beamforming for the directional allocation.

[00156] Example 25 is a method of informing a station of beamforming information. The example method includes generating a plurality of sector specific enhanced directional multi-gigabit extended schedule element beacon messages, each of the messages including a field indicating that the message is directional, each of the messages including directional information corresponding to the respective wireless sector and omitting directional information corresponding to a non-respective wireless sector different from the respective wireless sector. The example method includes simultaneously transmitting the plurality of messages to corresponding wireless sectors.

[00157] Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture have been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the claims of this patent.

Claims

What Is Claimed Is:

1. An apparatus comprising:

a frame generator to generate a beacon frame for a beacon interval including sector- specific signaling for directional allocation, the directional allocation associated with a wireless sector; and

a radio to transmit a message to inform a receiving device in the wireless sector with directional information regarding the directional allocation and an access period associated with the directional allocation for the wireless sector.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the beacon frame includes a directional multi- gigabit beacon frame.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the directional multi-gigabit beacon frame includes an enhanced directional multi-gigabit extended schedule element beacon message.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the radio is further to generate a channel allocation message to configure the receiving device for directional allocation.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the channel allocation message is to configure the receiving device for directional allocation based on an indication of a direction of access point receive beamforming for the directional allocation.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the radio is to transmit the directional information only to the wireless sector associated with the directional allocation.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the wireless sector is a first wireless sector, and wherein the radio is to transmit a message without the directional information to a second wireless sector not included in the directional allocation.

8. An apparatus comprising:

a radio to receive a beacon frame for a beacon interval including sector-specific signaling for directional allocation, the directional allocation associated with a wireless sector including the apparatus; and a sector signal analyzer to analyze the beacon frame to identify directional information regarding the directional allocation and an access period associated with the directional allocation for the wireless sector,

wherein the radio is to transmit during the access period associated with the directional allocation.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the beacon frame includes a directional multi- gigabit beacon frame.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the directional multi-gigabit beacon frame includes an enhanced directional multi-gigabit extended schedule element beacon message.

1 1. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the radio is further to receive a channel allocation message to configure the apparatus for directional allocation.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the channel allocation message is to configure the apparatus for directional allocation based on an indication of a direction of access point receive beamforming for the directional allocation.

13. A computer-readable storage medium including instructions which, when executed, cause a processor to at least:

generate a beacon frame for a beacon interval including sector-specific signaling for directional allocation, the directional allocation associated with a wireless sector; and

transmit a message to inform a receiving device in the wireless sector with directional information regarding the directional allocation and an access period associated with the directional allocation for the wireless sector.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the beacon frame includes a directional multi-gigabit beacon frame.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the directional multi- gigabit beacon frame includes an enhanced directional multi-gigabit extended schedule element beacon message.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to generate a channel allocation message to configure the receiving device for directional allocation.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the channel allocation message is to configure the receiving device for directional allocation based on an indication of a direction of access point receive beamforming for the directional allocation.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to transmit the directional information only to the wireless sector associated with the directional allocation.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the wireless sector is a first wireless sector, and wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to transmit a message without the directional information to a second wireless sector not included in the directional allocation.

20. A computer-readable storage medium including instructions which, when executed, cause a processor to at least:

receive a beacon frame for a beacon interval including sector-specific signaling for directional allocation, the directional allocation associated with a wireless sector including the apparatus, the beacon frame to inform the wireless sector with directional information regarding the directional allocation and an access period associated with the directional allocation for the wireless sector; and

transmit during the access period associated with the directional allocation.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the beacon frame includes a directional multi-gigabit beacon frame.

22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 21 , wherein the directional multi- gigabit beacon frame includes an enhanced directional multi-gigabit extended schedule element beacon message.

23. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor to receive a channel allocation message to configure the apparatus for directional allocation.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the channel allocation message is to configure the apparatus for directional allocation based on an indication of a direction of access point receive beamforming for the directional allocation.

25. A method of informing a station of beamforming information, the method comprising: generating a plurality of sector specific enhanced directional multi-gigabit extended schedule element beacon messages, each of the messages including a field indicating that the message is directional, each of the messages including directional information corresponding to the respective wireless sector and omitting directional information corresponding to a non- respective wireless sector different from the respective wireless sector; and

simultaneously transmitting the plurality of messages to corresponding wireless sectors.