WO2018152224A1

WO2018152224A1 - Resource unit (ru) with preamble puncturing

Info

Publication number: WO2018152224A1
Application number: PCT/US2018/018210
Authority: WO
Inventors: Qinghua Li; Feng Jiang; Xiaogang Chen; Avishay Friedman; Assaf Gurevitz
Original assignee: Intel IP Corporation
Priority date: 2017-02-15
Filing date: 2018-02-14
Publication date: 2018-08-23

Abstract

Some embodiments relate to methods, computer readable media, and apparatus for resource units (RUs) with preamble puncturing. Some embodiments disclose an apparatus comprising processing circuitry, the processing circuity configured to: encode a packet including a preamble, the preamble including a bandwidth field that indicates a bandwidth of the preamble and an indication of a punctured portion of the bandwidth. The processing circuitry may be further configured to select resource allocations comprising downlink (DL) resource units (RUs) that do not overlap with the punctured portion of the bandwidth for a plurality of HE stations for DL transmissions, or select resource allocations comprising DL RUs that overlap with the punctured portion of the bandwidth and deboost or mute tones of the DL RUs that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth.

Description

RESOURCE UNIT (RU) WITH PREAMBLE PUNCTURING

PRIORITY CLAIM

[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority to United States

Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 62/459,328, filed February 15, 2017, which is incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] Embodiments pertain to wireless networks and wireless communications. Some embodiments relate to wireless local area networks

(WLANs) and Wi-Fi networks including networks operating in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 family of standards. Some embodiments relate to IEEE 802.1 lax. Some embodiments relate to methods, computer readable media, and apparatus for resource units (RUs) with preamble puncturing. In some embodiments, the RUs are for uplink (UL) and/or downlink (DL) transmissions.

BACKGROUND [0003] Efficient use of the resources of a wireless local-area network

(WLAN) is important to provide bandwidth and acceptable response times to the users of the WLAN. However, often there are many devices trying to share the same resources and some devices may be limited by the communication protocol they use or by their hardware bandwidth. Moreover, wireless devices may need to operate with both newer protocols and with legacy device protocols. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0004] The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements and in which:

[0005] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a radio architecture in accordance with some embodiments;

[0006] FIG. 2 illustrates a front-end module circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0007] FIG. 3 illustrates a radio IC circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0008] FIG. 4 illustrates a baseband processing circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG.1 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0009] FIG. 5 illustrates a WLAN in accordance with some

embodiments;

[0010] FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine upon which any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies) discussed herein may perform;

[0011] FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an example wireless device upon which any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies or operations) discussed herein may perform;

[0012] FIG. 8 illustrates a bandwidth in accordance with some embodiments;

[0013] FIGS. 9A-9H illustrate bandwidths with puncturing in accordance with some embodiments;

[0014] FIG. 10 illustrates a bandwidth and 242-tone RUs in accordance with some embodiments;

[0015] FIG. 11 illustrates a HE AP in accordance with some embodiments;

[0016] FIG. 12 illustrates a HE station in accordance with some embodiments; [0017] FIG. 13 illustrates a method of determining RUs with preamble puncturing in accordance with some embodiments;

[0018] FIG. 14 illustrates a HE multi-user (MU) physical Layer

Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) in accordance with some embodiments;

[0019] FIG. 15 illustrates a HE trigger-based (TB) PPDU in accordance with some embodiments;

[0020] FIG. 16 illustrates a method of determining RUs with preamble puncturing in accordance with some embodiments; and

[0021] FIG. 17 illustrates a method of determining RUs with preamble puncturing in accordance with some embodiments.

DESCRIPTION

[0022] The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate specific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments. Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

[0023] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a radio architecture 100 in accordance with some embodiments. Radio architecture 100 may include radio front-end module (FEM) circuitry 104, radio IC circuitry 106 and baseband processing circuitry 108. Radio architecture 100 as shown includes both Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) functionality and Bluetooth (BT) functionality although embodiments are not so limited. In this disclosure, "WLAN" and "Wi-Fi" are used interchangeably.

[0024] FEM circuitry 104 may include a WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuitry 104A and a Bluetooth (BT) FEM circuitry 104B. The WLAN FEM circuitry

104A may include a receive signal path comprising circuitry configured to operate on WLAN RF signals received from one or more antennas 101, to amplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the WLAN radio IC circuitry 106A for further processing. The BT FEM circuitry 104B may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on BT RF signals received from one or more antennas 101, to amplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the BT radio IC circuitry 106B for further processing. FEM circuitry 104A may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify WLAN signals provided by the radio IC circuitry 106A for wireless transmission by one or more of the antennas 101. In addition, FEM circuitry 104B may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify BT signals provided by the radio IC circuitry 106B for wireless transmission by the one or more antennas. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, although FEM 104A and FEM 104B are shown as being distinct from one another, embodiments 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.

[0025] Radio IC circuitry 106 as shown may include WLAN radio IC circuitry 106A and BT radio IC circuitry 106B. The WLAN radio IC circuitry 106A may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down- convert WLAN RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 104A and provide baseband signals to WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108A. BT radio IC circuitry 106B may in turn include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert BT RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 104B and provide baseband signals to BT baseband processing circuitry 108B.

WLAN radio IC circuitry 106A may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert WLAN baseband signals provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108 A and provide WLAN RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 104A for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 101. BT radio IC circuitry 106B may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert BT baseband signals provided by the BT baseband processing circuitry 108B and provide BT RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 104B for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 101. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, although radio IC circuitries 106A and 106B are shown as being distinct from one another, embodiments 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.

[0026] Baseband processing circuity 108 may include a WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108A and a BT baseband processing circuitry 108B. The WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108A 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 108A. Each of the WLAN baseband circuitry 108A and the BT baseband circuitry 108B 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 106, and to also generate corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 106. Each of the baseband processing circuitries 108A and 108B may further include physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry, and may further interface with application processor 111 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the radio IC circuitry 106.

[0027] Referring still to FIG. 1, according to the shown embodiment,

WLAN-BT coexistence circuitry 113 may include logic providing an interface between the WLAN baseband circuitry 108A and the BT baseband circuitry 108B to enable use cases requiring WLAN and BT coexistence. In addition, a switch 103 may be provided between the WLAN FEM circuitry 104A and the BT FEM circuitry 104B to allow switching between the WLAN and BT radios according to application needs. In addition, although the antennas 101 are depicted as being respectively connected to the WLAN FEM circuitry 104A and the BT FEM circuitry 104B, embodiments include within their scope the sharing of one or more antennas as between the WLAN and BT FEMs, or the provision of more than one antenna connected to each of FEM 104A or 104B. [0028] In some embodiments, the front-end module circuitry 104, the radio IC circuitry 106, and baseband processing circuitry 108 may be provided on a single radio card, such as wireless radio card 102. In some other embodiments, the one or more antennas 101, the FEM circuitry 104 and the radio IC circuitry 106 may be provided on a single radio card. In some other embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 106 and the baseband processing circuitry 108 may be provided on a single chip or integrated circuit (IC), such as IC 112.

[0029] In some embodiments, the wireless radio card 102 may include a

WLAN radio card and may be configured for Wi-Fi communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some of these embodiments, the radio architecture 100 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 comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

[0030] In some of these multicarrier embodiments, radio architecture 100 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 these embodiments, radio architecture 100 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, IEEE 802.11n-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE 802.11-2016, IEEE 802.1 lac, and/or IEEE 802.1 lax standards and/or proposed specifications for WLANs, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. Radio architecture 100 may also be suitable to transmit and/or receive communications in accordance with other techniques and standards.

[0031] In some embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured for high-efficiency (HE) Wi-Fi (HEW) communications in accordance with the IEEE 802.1 lax standard. In these embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured to communicate in accordance with an

OFDMA technique, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. [0032] In some other embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured to transmit and receive signals transmitted using one or more other modulation techniques such as spread spectrum modulation (e.g., direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) and/or frequency hopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA)), time-division multiplexing (TDM) modulation, and/or frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) modulation, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0033] In some embodiments, as further shown in FIG. 1, the BT baseband circuitry 108B may be compliant with a Bluetooth (BT) connectivity standard such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth 4.0 or Bluetooth 5.0, or any other iteration of the Bluetooth Standard. In embodiments that include BT functionality as shown for example in Fig. 1, the radio architecture 100 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 embodiments that include functionality, the radio architecture 100 may be configured to establish an extended SCO (eSCO) link for BT communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some of these embodiments 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 embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1, 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 102, although embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope discrete WLAN and BT radio cards

[0034] In some embodiments, the radio-architecture 100 may include other radio cards, such as a cellular radio card configured for cellular (e.g., 3GPP such as LTE, LTE-Advanced or 5G communications).

[0035] In some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured for communication over various channel bandwidths including bandwidths having center frequencies of about 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and bandwidths of about 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 4 MHz, 5MHz, 8 MHz, 10 MHz, 16 MHz, 20 MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz (with contiguous bandwidths) or 80+80MHz (160MHz) (with non-contiguous bandwidths). In some embodiments, a 320 MHz channel bandwidth may be used. The scope of the embodiments is not limited with respect to the above center frequencies however.

[0036] FIG. 2 illustrates FEM circuitry 200 in accordance with some embodiments. The FEM circuitry 200 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the WLAN and/or BT FEM circuitry 104A/104B (FIG. 1), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

[0037] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 200 may include a

TX/RX switch 202 to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry 200 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 200 may include a low -noise amplifier (LNA) 206 to amplify received RF signals 203 and provide the amplified received RF signals 207 as an output (e.g., to the radio IC circuitry 106 (FIG. 1)). The transmit signal path of the circuitry 200 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals 209 (e.g., provided by the radio IC circuitry 106), and one or more filters 212, such as band-pass filters (BPFs), low-pass filters (LPFs) or other types of filters, to generate RF signals 215 for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the antennas 101 (FIG. 1))·

[0038] In some dual-mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communication, the

FEM circuitry 200 may be configured to operate in either the 2.4 GHz frequency spectrum or the 5 GHz frequency spectrum. In these embodiments, the receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 200 may include a receive signal path duplexer 204 to separate the signals from each spectrum as well as provide a separate LNA 206 for each spectrum as shown. In these embodiments, the transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 200 may also include a power amplifier 210 and a filter 212, such as a BPF, a LPF or another type of filter for each frequency spectrum and a transmit signal path duplexer 214 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 101 (FIG. 1). In some embodiments, BT communications may utilize the 2.4 GHZ signal paths and may utilize the same FEM circuitry 200 as the one used for WLAN communications. [0039] FIG. 3 illustrates radio IC circuitry 300 in accordance with some embodiments. The radio IC circuitry 300 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the WLAN or BT radio IC circuitry 106A/106B (FIG. 1), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

[0040] In some embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 300 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry 300 may include at least mixer circuitry 302, such as, for example, down-conversion mixer circuitry, amplifier circuitry 306 and filter circuitry 308. The transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 300 may include at least filter circuitry 312 and mixer circuitry 314, such as, for example, up- conversion mixer circuitry. Radio IC circuitry 300 may also include synthesizer circuitry 304 for synthesizing a frequency 305 for use by the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314. The mixer circuitry 302 and/or 314 may each, according to some embodiments, be configured to provide direct conversion functionality. The latter type of circuitry presents a much simpler architecture as compared with standard super-heterodyne mixer circuitries, and any flicker noise brought about by the same may be alleviated for example through the use of OFDM modulation. Fig. 3 illustrates only a simplified version of a radio IC circuitry, and may include, although not shown, embodiments where each of the depicted circuitries may include more than one component. For instance, mixer circuitry 320 and/or 314 may each include one or more mixers, and filter circuitries 308 and/or 312 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.

[0041] In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 302 may be configured to down-convert RF signals 207 received from the FEM circuitry 104 (FIG. 1) based on the synthesized frequency 305 provided by synthesizer circuitry 304. The amplifier circuitry 306 may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 308 may include a LPF configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals 307. Output baseband signals 307 may be provided to the baseband processing circuitry 108 (FIG. 1) for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 307 may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 302 may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0042] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 314 may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals 31 1 based on the synthesized frequency 305 provided by the synthesizer circuitry 304 to generate RF output signals 209 for the FEM circuitry 104. The baseband signals 31 1 may be provided by the baseband processing circuitry 108 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 312. The filter circuitry 312 may include a LPF or a BPF, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0043] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314 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 304. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314 may each include two or more mixers each configured for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314 may be arranged for direct down- conversion and/or direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314 may be configured for superheterodyne operation, although this is not a requirement.

[0044] Mixer circuitry 302 may comprise, according to one embodiment: quadrature passive mixers (e.g., for the in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) paths). In such an embodiment, RF input signal 207 from Fig. 3 may be down- converted to provide I and Q baseband output signals to be sent to the baseband processor

[0045] Quadrature passive mixers may be driven by zero and ninety- degree time -varying LO switching signals provided by a quadrature circuitry which may be configured to receive a LO frequency (fro) from a local oscillator or a synthesizer, such as LO frequency 305 of synthesizer 304 (FIG. 3). In some embodiments, the LO frequency may be the carrier frequency, while in other embodiments, the LO frequency may be a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the zero and ninety-degree time-varying switching signals may be generated by the synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0046] In some embodiments, 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 embodiments, the LO signals may have a 25% duty cycle and a 50% offset. In some embodiments, each branch of the mixer circuitry (e.g., the in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) path) may operate at a 25% duty cycle, which may result in a significant reduction is power consumption.

[0047] The RF input signal 207 (FIG. 2) may comprise a balanced signal, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The I and Q baseband output signals may be provided to low-nose amplifier, such as amplifier circuitry 306 (FIG. 3) or to filter circuitry 308 (FIG. 3).

[0048] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 307 and the input baseband signals 311 may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate

embodiments, the output baseband signals 307 and the input baseband signals 311 may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the radio IC circuitry may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry.

[0049] In some dual-mode embodiments, 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 embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0050] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 304 may be a fractional -N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 304 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. According to some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 304 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 embodiments, frequency input into synthesizer circuity 304 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 108 (FIG. 1) or the application processor 111 (FIG. 1) depending on the desired output frequency 305. In some embodiments, 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 111.

[0051] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 304 may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency 305, while in other embodiments, the output frequency 305 may be a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the output frequency 305 may be a LO frequency (fLo).

[0052] FIG. 4 illustrates a functional block diagram of baseband processing circuitry 400 in accordance with some embodiments. The baseband processing circuitry 400 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the baseband processing circuitry 108 (FIG. 1), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable. The baseband processing circuitry 400 may include a receive baseband processor (RX BBP) 402 for processing receive baseband signals 309 provided by the radio IC circuitry 106 (FIG. 1) and a transmit baseband processor (TX BBP) 404 for generating transmit baseband signals 311 for the radio IC circuitry 106. The baseband processing circuitry 400 may also include control logic 406 for coordinating the operations of the baseband processing circuitry 400.

[0053] In some embodiments (e.g., when analog baseband signals are exchanged between the baseband processing circuitry 400 and the radio IC circuitry 106), the baseband processing circuitry 400 may include ADC 410 to convert analog baseband signals received from the radio IC circuitry 106 to digital baseband signals for processing by the RX BBP 402. In these embodiments, the baseband processing circuitry 400 may also include DAC 412 to convert digital baseband signals from the TX BBP 404 to analog baseband signals.

[0054] In some embodiments that communicate OFDM signals or

OFDMA signals, such as through baseband processor 108A, the transmit baseband processor 404 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 402 may be configured to process received OFDM signals or OFDMA signals by performing an FFT. In some embodiments, the receive baseband processor 402 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.

[0055] Referring back to FIG. 1, in some embodiments, the antennas 101 (FIG. 1) 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-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result.

Antennas 101 may each include a set of phased-array antennas, although embodiments are not so limited.

[0056] Although the radio-architecture 100 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 comprise 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 embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements. [0057] FIG. 5 illustrates a WLAN 500 in accordance with some embodiments. The WLAN 500 may comprise a basis service set (BSS) that may include a HE access point (AP) 502, which may be an AP, a plurality of high- efficiency wireless (e.g., IEEE 802.1 lax) (HE) stations 504, and a plurality of legacy (e.g., IEEE 802.1 ln/ac) devices 506.

[0058] The HE AP 502 may be an AP using the IEEE 802.11 to transmit and receive. The HE AP 502 may be a base station. The HE AP 502 may use other communications protocols as well as the IEEE 802.11 protocol. The IEEE 802.11 protocol may be IEEE 802.1 lax. The IEEE 802.11 protocol may include using orthogonal frequency division multiple-access (OFDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), and/or code division multiple access (CDMA). The IEEE 802.11 protocol may include a multiple access technique. For example, the IEEE 802.11 protocol may include space-division multiple access (SDMA) and/or multiple-user multiple-input multiple -output (MU-MIMO). There may be more than one HE AP 502 that is part of an extended service set (ESS). A controller (not illustrated) may store information that is common to the more than one HE APs 502.

[0059] The legacy devices 506 may operate in accordance with one or more of IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ad/af/ah/aj/ay, or another legacy wireless communication standard. The legacy devices 506 may be STAs or IEEE STAs. The HE STAs 504 may be wireless transmit and receive devices such as cellular telephone, portable electronic wireless communication devices, smart telephone, handheld wireless device, wireless glasses, wireless watch, wireless personal device, tablet, or another device that may be transmitting and receiving using the IEEE 802.11 protocol such as IEEE 802.1 lax or another wireless protocol. In some embodiments, the HE STAs 504 may be termed high efficiency (HE) stations.

[0060] The HE AP 502 may communicate with legacy devices 506 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques. In example embodiments, the HE AP 502 may also be configured to communicate with HE

STAs 504 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques.

[0061] In some embodiments, a HE frame may be configurable to have the same bandwidth as a channel. The HE frame may be a PPDU. In some embodiments, there may be different types of PPDUs that may have different fields and different physical layers and/or different media access control (MAC) layers.

[0062] The bandwidth of a channel may be 20MHz, 40MHz, or 80MHz, 160MHz, 320MHz contiguous bandwidths or an 80+80MHz ( 160MHz) noncontiguous bandwidth. In some embodiments, the bandwidth of a channel may be 1 MHz, 1.25MHz, 2.03MHz, 2.5MHz, 4.06 MHz, 5MHz and 10MHz, or a combination thereof or another bandwidth that is less or equal to the available bandwidth may also be used. In some embodiments the bandwidth of the channels may be based on a number of active data subcarriers. In some embodiments the bandwidth of the channels is based on 26, 52, 106, 242, 484, 996, or 2x996 active data subcarriers or tones that are spaced by 20 MHz. In some embodiments the bandwidth of the channels is 256 tones spaced by 20 MHz. In some embodiments the channels are multiple of 26 tones or a multiple of 20 MHz. In some embodiments a 20 MHz channel may comprise 242 active data subcarriers or tones, which may determine the size of a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). An allocation of a bandwidth or a number of tones or sub- carriers may be termed a RU allocation in accordance with some embodiments.

[0063] In some embodiments, the 26-subcarrier RU and 52-subcarrier RU are used in the 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz

OFDMA HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, the 106-subcarrier RU is used in the 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz OFDMA and MU-MIMO HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, the 242-subcarrier RU is used in the 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz OFDMA and MU- MIMO HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, the 484-subcarrier RU is used in the 80 MHz, 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz OFDMA and MU-MIMO HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, the 996-subcarrier RU is used in the 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz OFDMA and MU-MIMO HE PPDU formats.

[0064] A HE frame may be configured for transmitting a number of spatial streams, which may be in accordance with MU-MIMO and may be in accordance with OFDMA. In other embodiments, the HE AP 502, HE STA 504, and/or legacy device 506 may also implement different technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA) 2000, CDMA 2000 IX, CDMA 2000 Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), BlueTooth®, or other technologies.

[0065] Some embodiments relate to HE communications. In accordance with some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, e.g., IEEE 802.1 lax embodiments, a HE AP 502 may operate as a master station which may be arranged to contend for a wireless medium (e.g., during a contention period) to receive exclusive control of the medium for an HE control period. In some embodiments, the HE control period may be termed a transmission opportunity (TXOP). The HE AP 502 may transmit a HE master-sync transmission, which may be a trigger frame or HE control and schedule transmission, at the beginning of the HE control period. The HE AP 502 may transmit a time duration of the TXOP and sub-channel information. During the HE control period, HE STAs 504 may communicate with the HE AP 502 in accordance with a non-contention based multiple access technique such as OFDMA or MU-MIMO. This is unlike conventional WLAN communications in which devices communicate in accordance with a contention- based communication technique, rather than a multiple access technique. During the HE control period, the HE AP 502 may communicate with HE stations 504 using one or more HE frames. During the HE control period, the HE STAs 504 may operate on a sub-channel smaller than the operating range of the HE AP 502. During the HE control period, legacy stations refrain from communicating. The legacy stations may need to receive the communication from the HE AP 502 to defer from communicating.

[0066] In accordance with some embodiments, during the TXOP the HE

STAs 504 may contend for the wireless medium with the legacy devices 506 being excluded from contending for the wireless medium during the master-sync transmission. In some embodiments the trigger frame may indicate an uplink

(UL) UL-MU-MIMO and/or UL OFDMA TXOP. In some embodiments, the trigger frame may include a DL UL-MU-MIMO and/or DL OFDMA with a schedule indicated in a preamble portion of trigger frame. [0067] In some embodiments, the multiple-access technique used during the HE TXOP may be a scheduled OFDMA technique, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may be a time-division multiple access (TDMA) technique or a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) technique. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may be a space-division multiple access (SDMA) technique. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may be a Code division multiple access (CDMA).

[0068] The HE AP 502 may also communicate with legacy stations 506 and/or HE stations 504 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques. In some embodiments, the HE AP 502 may also be configurable to communicate with HE stations 504 outside the HE TXOP in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques, although this is not a requirement.

[0069] In some embodiments the HE station 504 may be a "group owner" (GO) for peer-to-peer modes of operation. A wireless device may be a HE station 502 or a HE AP 502.

[0070] In some embodiments, the HE station 504 and/or HE AP 502 may be configured to operate in accordance with IEEE 802.1 lmc. In example embodiments, the radio architecture of FIG. 1 is configured to implement the HE station 504 and/or the HE AP 502. In example embodiments, the front-end module circuitry of FIG. 2 is configured to implement the HE station 504 and/or the HE AP 502. In example embodiments, the radio IC circuitry of FIG. 3 is configured to implement the HE station 504 and/or the HE AP 502. In example embodiments, the base-band processing circuitry of FIG. 4 is configured to implement the HE station 504 and/or the HE AP 502.

[0071] In example embodiments, the HE stations 504, HE AP 502, an apparatus of the HE stations 504, and/or an apparatus of the HE AP 502 may include one or more of the following: the radio architecture of FIG. 1, the front- end module circuitry of FIG. 2, the radio IC circuitry of FIG. 3, and/or the baseband processing circuitry of FIG. 4.

[0072] In example embodiments, the radio architecture of FIG. 1, the front-end module circuitry of FIG. 2, the radio IC circuitry of FIG. 3, and/or the base-band processing circuitry of FIG. 4 may be configured to perform the methods and operations/functions herein described in conjunction with FIGS. 1- 17.

[0073] In example embodiments, the HE station 504 and/or the HE AP 502 are configured to perform the methods and operations/functions described herein in conjunction with FIGS. 1-17. In example embodiments, an apparatus of the HE station 504 and/or an apparatus of the HE AP 502 are configured to perform the methods and functions described herein in conjunction with FIGS. 1-17. The term Wi-Fi may refer to one or more of the IEEE 802.11

communication standards. AP and STA may refer to HE access point 502 and/or HE station 504 as well as legacy devices 506.

[0074] In some embodiments, a HE AP STA may refer to a HE AP 502 and a HE STAs 504 that is operating a HE APs 502. In some embodiments, when an HE STA 504 is not operating as a HE AP, it may be referred to as a HE non-AP STA or HE non-AP. In some embodiments, HE STA 504 may be referred to as either a HE AP STA or a HE non-AP.

[0075] FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine 600 upon which any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies) discussed herein may perform. In alternative embodiments, the machine 600 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 600 may operate in the capacity of a server machine, a client machine, or both in server-client network environments. In an example, the machine 600 may act as a peer machine in peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. The machine 600 may be a HE AP 502, HE station 504, personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable communications device, a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term "machine" shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), other computer cluster configurations.

[0076] Machine (e.g., computer system) 600 may include a hardware processor 602 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory 604 and a static memory 606, some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g., bus) 608.

[0077] Specific examples of main memory 604 include Random Access

Memory (RAM), and semiconductor memory devices, which may include, in some embodiments, storage locations in semiconductors such as registers.

Specific examples of static memory 606 include non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; RAM; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

[0078] The machine 600 may further include a display device 610, an input device 612 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 614 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display device 610, input device 612 and UI navigation device 614 may be a touch screen display. The machine 600 may additionally include a mass storage (e.g., drive unit) 616, a signal generation device 618 (e.g., a speaker), a network interface device 620, and one or more sensors 621, such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or other sensor. The machine 600 may include an output controller 628, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared(IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.). In some embodiments the processor 602 and/or instructions 624 may comprise processing circuitry and/or transceiver circuitry.

[0079] The storage device 616 may include a machine readable medium

622 on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 624

(e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. The instructions 624 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 604, within static memory 606, or within the hardware processor 602 during execution thereof by the machine 600. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor 602, the main memory 604, the static memory 606, or the storage device 616 may constitute machine readable media.

[0080] Specific examples of machine readable media may include: nonvolatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., EPROM or EEPROM) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; RAM; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

[0081] While the machine readable medium 622 is illustrated as a single medium, the term "machine readable medium" may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store the one or more instructions 624.

[0082] An apparatus of the machine 600 may be one or more of a hardware processor 602 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory 604 and a static memory 606, sensors 621, network interface device 620, antennas 660, a display device 610, an input device 612, a UI navigation device 614, a mass storage 616, instructions 624, a signal generation device 618, and an output controller 628. The apparatus may be configured to perform one or more of the methods and/or operations disclosed herein. The apparatus may be intended as a component of the machine 600 to perform one or more of the methods and/or operations disclosed herein, and/or to perform a portion of one or more of the methods and/or operations disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the apparatus may include a pin or other means to receive power. In some embodiments, the apparatus may include power conditioning hardware.

[0083] The term "machine readable medium" may include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the machine 600 and that cause the machine 600 to perform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, or that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions. Non- limiting machine readable medium examples may include solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media. Specific examples of machine readable media may include: non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; Random Access Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. In some examples, machine readable media may include non-transitory machine readable media. In some examples, machine readable media may include machine readable media that is not a transitory propagating signal.

[0084] The instructions 624 may further be transmitted or received over a communications network 626 using a transmission medium via the network interface device 620 utilizing any one of a number of transfer protocols (e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellular networks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless data networks (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16 family of standards known as WiMax®), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) family of standards, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) family of standards, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, among others.

[0085] In an example, the network interface device 620 may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or phone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communications network 626. In an example, the network interface device 620 may include one or more antennas 660 to wirelessly communicate using at least one of single-input multiple-output (SIMO), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), or multiple-input single-output

(MISO) techniques. In some examples, the network interface device 620 may wirelessly communicate using Multiple User MIMO techniques. The term

"transmission medium" shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine 600, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such software.

[0086] Examples, as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic or a number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangible entities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example, circuits may be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to external entities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. In an example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardware processors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g., instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a module that operates to perform specified operations. In an example, the software may reside on a machine readable medium. In an example, the software, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causes the hardware to perform the specified operations.

[0087] Accordingly, the term "module" is understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specifically configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily) configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or to perform part or all of any operation described herein. Considering examples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of the modules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example, where the modules comprise a general -purpose hardware processor configured using software, the general-purpose hardware processor may be configured as respective different modules at different times. Software may accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, to constitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitute a different module at a different instance of time.

[0088] Some embodiments may be implemented fully or partially in software and/or firmware. This software and/or firmware may take the form of instructions contained in or on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Those instructions may then be read and executed by one or more processors to enable performance of the operations described herein. The instructions may be in any suitable form, such as but not limited to source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, and the like. Such a computer-readable medium may include any tangible non- transitory medium for storing information in a form readable by one or more computers, such as but not limited to read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory, etc.

[0089] FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an example wireless device

700 upon which any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies or operations) discussed herein may perform. The wireless device 700 may be a HE device. The wireless device 700 may be a HE STA 504 and/or HE AP 502 (e.g., FIG. 5). A HE STA 504 and/or HE AP 502 may include some or all of the components shown in FIGS. 1-7. The wireless device 700 may be an example machine 600 as disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 6.

[0090] The wireless device 700 may include processing circuitry 708.

The processing circuitry 708 may include a transceiver 702, physical layer circuitry (PHY circuitry) 704, and MAC layer circuitry (MAC circuitry) 706, one or more of which may enable transmission and reception of signals to and from other wireless devices 700 (e.g., HE AP 502, HE STA 504, and/or legacy devices 506) using one or more antennas 712. As an example, the PHY circuitry 704 may perform various encoding and decoding functions that may include formation of baseband signals for transmission and decoding of received signals. As another example, the transceiver 702 may perform various transmission and reception functions such as conversion of signals between a baseband range and a Radio Frequency (RF) range.

[0091] Accordingly, the PHY circuitry 704 and the transceiver 702 may be separate components or may be part of a combined component, e.g., processing circuitry 708. In addition, some of the described functionality related to transmission and reception of signals may be performed by a combination that may include one, any or all of the PHY circuitry 704 the transceiver 702, MAC circuitry 706, memory 710, and other components or layers. The MAC circuitry

706 may control access to the wireless medium. The wireless device 700 may also include memory 710 arranged to perform the operations described herein, e.g., some of the operations described herein may be performed by instructions stored in the memory 710.

[0092] The antennas 712 (some embodiments may include only one antenna) may 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-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas 712 may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result.

[0093] One or more of the memory 710, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry 704, the MAC circuitry 706, the antennas 712, and/or the processing circuitry 708 may be coupled with one another. Moreover, although memory 710, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry 704, the MAC circuitry 706, the antennas 712 are illustrated as separate components, one or more of memory 710, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry 704, the MAC circuitry 706, the antennas 712 may be integrated in an electronic package or chip.

[0094] In some embodiments, the wireless device 700 may be a mobile device as described in conjunction with FIG. 6. In some embodiments the wireless device 700 may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more wireless communication standards as described herein (e.g., as described in conjunction with FIGS. 1-6, IEEE 802.11). In some embodiments, the wireless device 700 may include one or more of the components as described in conjunction with FIG. 6 (e.g., display device 610, input device 612, etc.) Although the wireless device 700 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 comprise 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 embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0095] In some embodiments, an apparatus of or used by the wireless device 700 may include various components of the wireless device 700 as shown in FIG. 7 and/or components from FIGS. 1-6. Accordingly, techniques and operations described herein that refer to the wireless device 700 may be applicable to an apparatus for a wireless device 700 (e.g., HE AP 502 and/or HE STA 504), in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the wireless device 700 is configured to decode and/or encode signals, packets, and/or frames as described herein, e .g . , PPDUs .

[0096] In some embodiments, the MAC circuitry 706 may be arranged to contend for a wireless medium during a contention period to receive control of the medium for a HE TXOP and encode or decode an HE PPDU. In some embodiments, the MAC circuitry 706 may be arranged to contend for the wireless medium based on channel contention settings, a transmitting power level, and a clear channel assessment level (e.g., an energy detect level).

[0097] The PHY circuitry 704 may be arranged to transmit signals in accordance with one or more communication standards described herein. For example, the PHY circuitry 704 may be configured to transmit a HE PPDU. The PHY circuitry 704 may include circuitry for modulation/demodulation, upconversion/downconversion, filtering, amplification, etc. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 708 may include one or more processors. The processing circuitry 708 may be configured to perform functions based on instructions being stored in a RAM or ROM, or based on special purpose circuitry. The processing circuitry 708 may include a processor such as a general purpose processor or special purpose processor. The processing circuitry 708 may implement one or more functions associated with antennas 712, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry 704, the MAC circuitry 706, and/or the memory 710. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 708 may be configured to perform one or more of the functions/operations and/or methods described herein.

[0098] In mmWave technology, communication between a station (e.g., the HE stations 504 of FIG. 5 or wireless device 700) and an access point (e.g., the HE AP 502 of FIG. 5 or wireless device 700) may use associated effective wireless channels that are highly directionally dependent. To accommodate the directionality, beamforming techniques may be utilized to radiate energy in a certain direction with certain beamwidth to communicate between two devices. The directed propagation concentrates transmitted energy toward a target device in order to compensate for significant energy loss in the channel between the two communicating devices. Using directed transmission may extend the range of the millimeter-wave communication versus utilizing the same transmitted energy in omni-directional propagation.

[0099] FIG. 8 illustrates a bandwidth 804 in accordance with some embodiments. The bandwidth 804 may comprise a number of 20 MHz channels 802 in accordance with some embodiments. The bandwidth 804 may be a range of frequencies within a given band, e.g., 80 (160, 320) MHz in the 2.4 GHz frequency band or 80 (160, 320) MHz in the 5.0 GHz frequency band. The bandwidth 804 may be from 20 MHz with one 20 MHz 802.1 channel to 320 MHz with sixteen 20 MHz 802 channels, e.g., 20 MHz 802.1 through 20 MHz 802.16. The bandwidth 804 may be 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz, in accordance with some embodiments. The 20 MHz channels 802 may be a different bandwidth, e.g., 2 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 40 MHz, etc.

[00100] FIGS . 9A-9G illustrate bandwidths 904 with puncturing in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 9A illustrates a bandwidth 904.1 with one 20 MHz channel 902.1. FIG. 9B illustrates a bandwidth 904.2 with two 20 MHz channels 902.1, 902.2. The bandwidth 904.2 may be 40 MHz. FIG. 9C illustrates a bandwidth 904.3 with four 20 MHz channels 902.1, 902.2, 902.3, and 902.4. The bandwidth 904.3 may be 80 MHz. FIG. 9D illustrates a bandwidth 904.4 with eight 20 MHz channels 902.1, 902.2, 902.3, 902.4, 902.5, 902.6, 902.7, and 902.8. The bandwidth 904.4 may be 160 MHz (or 80+80 MHz).

[00101] FIG. 9E illustrates a bandwidth 904.5 with four 20 MHz channels

902.1, 902.2, 902.3, and 902.4. A secondary 20 MHz channel 902.2 is punctured. The bandwidth 904.5 may be 80 MHz with one 20 MHz channel 902.2 punctured. [00102] FIG. 9F illustrates a bandwidth 904.6 with four 20 MHz channels

902.1, 902.2, 902.3, and 902.4. One of the 20 MHz channels 902.3, 902.4, of a secondary 40 MHz (20 MHz channel 902.3 and 20 MHz channel 902.4) is punctured. The bandwidth 904.6 may be 80 MHz.

[00103] FIG. 9G illustrates a bandwidth 904.7 with eight 20 MHz channels 902.1, 902.2., 902.3, 902.4, 902.5, 902.6, 902.7, and 902.8. In a primary 80 MHz (902.1, 902.2, 902.3, and 902.4), a secondary 20 MHz 902.2 is punctured. The bandwidth 904.7 may be 160 MHz (or 80+80 MHz).

[00104] FIG. 9H illustrates a bandwidth 904.8 with eight 20 MHz channels 902.1, 902.2., 902.3, 902.4, 902.5, 902.6, 902.7, and 902.8. In a primary 80 MHz (902.1, 902.2, 902.3, and 902.4), a primary 40 MHz channel (902.1 and 902.2) is not punctured. One or both of 20 MHz channel 902.3, 902.4 may be punctured. 20 MHz 902.3 and 20 MHz 902.4 may be termed a secondary 40 MHz of a primary 80 MHz. The bandwidth 904.8 may be 160 MHz (or 80+80 MHz).

[00105] The bandwidths 904 may be signaled with a value of the bandwidth field 1404, e.g., 0 for FIG. A, 1 for FIG. B, 2 for FIG. C, 3 for FIG. D, 4 for FIG. E, 5 for FIG. F, 6 for FIG. G, and 7 for FIG. H. A bandwidth 904 and which 20 MHz channels 902 are punctured may be signaled in a different way, in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, punctured 20 MHz channel 902 may include one or more of the 20 MHz channels 902, e.g., 1, 2, through 7, and/or any combination of the 20 MHz channels 902.

[00106] In some embodiments, the bandwidths 904 comprise a different number of 20 MHz channels 902, e.g., one through sixteen. Each 20 MHz channel 902 may use a set of tones, where each tone has a frequency range. As illustrated, 20 MHz channel 902.1 includes tones -512 through -257, 20 MHz channel 902.2 include tones -256 through -1, 20 MHz channel 902.3 includes tones 0 through 255, and 20 MHz channel includes tones 256 through 511. In some embodiments, the tones are termed subcarriers. The tones may have a fixed frequency band.

[00107] FIG. 10 illustrates a bandwidth 904 and 242-tone RUs 1008 in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in FIG. 10 are bandwidth 904 (with a bandwidth of 80 MHz) along the top and RU in 80 MHz 1008 (e.g., Table 3 with RU size of 242 subcarriers or tones) along the bottom. The 20 MHz channels 902.1, 902.2, 902.3, and 902.4 indicate a tone or subcarrier range. 20 MHz channel 902.1 is from tone -512 to tone -257. 20 MHz channel 902.2 is from tone -256 to tone -1. 20 MHz channel 902.3 is from tone 0 to tone 255. 20 MHz channel 903.4 is from tone 256 to tone 511.

[00108] The RU in 80 MHz 1008 is a RU design for a bandwidth 904 with a bandwidth of 80 MHz. Each of the RUs 1004 is 242-tones. RU 1 1004.1 includes tone -500 through tone -259. RU 2 1004.2 includes tone -258 through tone -17. RU 3 1004.3 includes tone 17 through tone 258. RU 4 1004.4.

includes tone 259 through tone 500. DC 1008 indicates that for RU in 80 MHz 1008 that tone -16 through tone 16 are tones not used by the RU in 80 MHz 1008.

[00109] Overlaps 1006 indicate tones where the bandwidth 904 is not aligned with the RU in 80 MHz 1008. Overlap 1006.1 indicates that tone -512 through tone -500 are not within RU 1 1004.1, but are part of 20 MHz channel 902.1. Overlap 1006.2 indicates that tone -257 and tone -258 are part of RU 1 1004.1 and overlap RU 2 1004.2. Overlap 1006.3 indicates that tone 256 through tone 258 overlap between RU 3 1004.3 and 20 MHz channel 902.

Overlap 1006.4 indicates that tone 501 through 511 is outside of RU 4 1004.4 and part of 20 MHz 902.4.

[00110] As illustrated, 20 MHz channel 902.4 is punctured. However, the tones 256 through 511 are not limited to RU 4 1004.4, but include overlap 1006.3 with tone 256 through tone 258. Similarly, if 20 MHz channel 902.1 was punctured, then tones -258 and -257 would overlap with 20 MHz channel 902.1 and RU 2 1004.2.

[00111] Table 1 illustrates subcarrier indices for RUs in a 20 MHz HE

PPDU. The notation [x:y] indicates the RU includes tone x through tone y. The notation [xl :yl, x2:y2] indicate the RU includes tone xl through tone yl and tone x2 through tone y2.

RU 121 : -96] -70] -43] -17] 16: -4,

4: 16]

RU 6 RU 7 [43: RU 8 [70: RU 9 [96:

[17:42] 68] 95] 121]

52-tone RU 1 [- RU 2 [-68: RU 3 RU 4

RU 121 : -70] -17] [17:68] [70: 121]

106-tone RU 1 [-122: -17] RU 2 [17: 122]

RU

242-tone RU 1 [-122: -2, 2: 122]

RU

[00112] Table 2 illustrates subcarrier indices for RUs in a 40 MHz HE

PPDU. The notation [xl :yl, x2:y2] indicate the RU includes tone xl through tone yl and tone x2 through tone y2.

Table 2: Subcarrier Indices for RUs in a 40 MHz HE PPDU

RU

484-tone RU 1 [-244: -3, 3:244]

RU

[00113] Table 3 illustrates subcarrier indices for RUs in a 80 MHz HE

RU 13 RU 14 RU 15 RU 16

[260:311] [314:365] [394:445] [448:499]

106-tone RU 1 [- RU 2 [- RU 3 [- RU [-123: - RU 499: -394] 365: -260] 257: -152] 18]

RU 5 RU 6 RU 7 RU 8

[18: 123] [152:257] [260:365] [394:500]

242-tone RU 1 [- RU 2 [- RU 3 RU 4

RU 500: -259] 258: -17] [17:258] [259:500]

484-tone RU 1 [-500: -17] RU 2 [17:500]

RU

996-tone RU 1 [-500: -3, 3:500]

RU

[00114] In some embodiments, Tables 1-3 are RU for UL transmissions and different RUs may be used for DL data transmissions to the HE stations 504 from the HE AP 502.

[00115] FIG. 11 illustrates a HE AP 502 in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in FIG. 11 are RU design 1102, channels 1104, HE AP 502, DL punctured channels 1110, DL RU assignment 1112, UL RU assignment 1114, DL bandwidth 1116, UL punctured channels 1120, and UL bandwidth 1118. The HE AP 502 may determine DL punctured channels 1110, DL RU assignment 1112, UL RU assignment 1114, DL bandwidth 1116, UL punctured channels 1120, and/or UL bandwidth 1118 based on RU design 1102 and channels 1104.

[00116] RU design 1102 may be a design or placement of RUs, e.g., 1008, Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3. The channels 1104 may be channels of a bandwidth, e.g., 20 MHz channels 902 of bandwidths 904 illustrated in FIG. 9. DL punctured channels 1110 and UL punctured channels 1120 may be an indication of one or more of the channels 1104 that are punctured, e.g., 20 MHz channel 902.4 of FIG. 10, 20 MHz channel 902.2 of FIG. 9G, etc. DL RU assignment 1112 may be a DL RU assignment such as DL RUs 1316 of FIG. 13, e.g., for a bandwidth of 20 MHz, HE station 504.1 assigned to RU 1 [-121 :-70], HE station 504.2 assigned to RU 2 [-500:-259], HE station 504.3 assigned to RU 3 [17:258], and HE station 504.4 assigned to RU 4 [259:500]. The DL RU assignment 1112 indicates where DL data (e.g., DL data 1316) is for HE stations 504. The DL RU assignment 1112 may be transmitted in a HE-SIG-B field, e.g., HE-SIG-B field 1412 of FIG. 14.

[00117] The UL RU assignment 1114 is an UL RU assignment (e .g . , UL

RUs 1320), e.g., for a bandwidth of 80 MHz, HE station 504.1 assigned to RU 1 [-500:-259], HE station 504.2 assigned to RU 1 [-500:-259], HE station 504.3 assigned to RU 3 [17:258], and HE station 504.4 assigned to RU 4 [259:500] . The HE stations 504 use the UL RU assignment 1114 to transmit data (e.g., 1322) to the HE AP 502. The following is an example for a bandwidth of 80 MHz, HE station 504.1 assigned to RU 1 [-121 :-70], HE station 504.2 assigned to RU 2 [-68: 17], HE station 504.3 assigned to RU 3 [17:68], and HE station 504.4 assigned to RU 4 [70: 121].

[00118] The DL bandwidth 1 116 and UL bandwidth 1118 may be a field in a HE-SIG-A field 1410 and a bandwidth in a trigger frame, e.g., bandwidth 1426 and UL bandwidth 1430, respectively. The DL bandwidth 1116 may indicate a bandwidth, e.g., 904, and the DL bandwidth 1116 may indicate one or more 20 MHz channels 902 that are punctured. The UL bandwidth 1118 may indicate a bandwidth, e.g., 904, and the UL bandwidth 1118 may indicate one or more 20 MHz channels 902 that are punctured.

[00119] The determine punctured channels 1106 may be processing circuitry 708 as described in conjunction with FIG. 7, in accordance with some embodiments, that determines DL punctured channels 1110 and UL punctured channels 1120. The determine punctured channels 1106 may determine if a channel of channels 1104 should be punctured based on received signals from one or more antenna of the HE AP 502 or received information from HE stations 504. The HE AP 502 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) per channel of the channels in accordance with some embodiments. The CCA may be per channel, e.g., 20 MHz. The CCA may determine if a channel is idle. The CCA may include energy detect, mid-packet detect, etc. The CCA may determine the channel is idle based on a threshold, e.g., an energy threshold.

The CCA may include determining whether spatial reuse may be used over a channel. For example, the HE AP 502 may receive a packet and determine the packet is from an overlapping BSS (OBSS) and determine that the packet includes an indication that the spatial reuse may be used. The indication that spatial reuse may be used may change the threshold for determining if a channel is busy or idle. In some embodiments, the CCA assessment may include one or more network availability vectors (NAVs). The HE AP 502 may first check the NAVs to determine if a channel is busy or idle.

[00120] In some embodiments, the HE AP 502 may transmit a packet to

HE stations 504 requesting information regarding which channels are busy or idle. In some embodiments, the HE station 504 may transmit this information to the HE AP 502 without first receiving a request. The determination of whether to puncture a channel may depend on one or more of the CCA of the HE AP 502, the CCA of one or more HE stations 504, a number of channels 1104 (or the bandwidth), the RU design 1102, and whether the transmission is for DL RU assignment 1112, UL RU assignment 1114 or both.

[00121] The determine BW and RU assignments 1108 may be processing circuitry 708 as described in conjunction with FIG. 7, in accordance with some embodiments. The determine BW and RU assignments 1108 may determine a DL bandwidth 1116, an UL bandwidth 1118, an DL RU assignment 1112, and/or an UL RU assignment 1114. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 10, the bandwidth 904 may be 80 MHz. RU 1 1004.1 may be assigned to HE station 504.1, RU 1 1004.2 may be assigned to HE station 504.2. In accordance with some embodiments, RU 3 1004.3 may not be assigned because it overlaps with punctured 20 MHz channel 902.4 (i.e., tones 256, 257, and 258 overlap). In some embodiments, determine BW and RU assignments 1108 may determine an RU based on a number of tones that overlap. In some embodiments, determine BW and RU assignments 1108 may determine an RU based on a number of tones that overlap and based on a size of the RU. RU 4 1004.4 since all the tones are part of a punctured 20 MHz channel 902.

[00122] In some embodiments, determine BW and RU assignments 1108 may include an indication that tones of an assigned RU should be deboosted or muted. A tone or subcarrier may be deboosted or muted. A deboosted tone or subcarrier of an RU is a transmitted with less power than other subcarriers or tones of the RU. A muted tone or subcarrier of an RU is transmitted with zero power. For example, determine BW and RU assignments 1108 may assigned RU 3 1004.3 to HE station 504.3. For DL transmissions, the HE AP 502 may mute tones 256, 257, and 258, in accordance with some embodiments. The HE AP 502 may mute more than overlapped tones 1006. For example, the HE AP 502 may mute tones 254 and 255. In some embodiments, the DL RU

assignment 1112 and/or UL RU assignment 1114 may include an indication that tones should be deboosted or muted and/or an indication of a number of tones to mute.

[00123] In some embodiments, determine BW and RU assignments 1108 may determine a number of tones to mute based on one or more of a signal strength, energy detect, or transmit power threshold (which may have been set based on spatial reuse).

[00124] In some embodiments, determine BW and RU assignments 1108 may determine the DL RU assignment 1112, UL RU assignment 1114, DL bandwidth 1116, and/or UL bandwidth 1118 based on one or more punctured channels. For example, if a 20 MHz channel 902 is punctured, then smaller RUs may be selected to avoid an overlap, e.g., RU 3 1004.3 may be changed to a smaller RU that avoids the overlap 1006.3. For example, RU 3 [17:258] may be changed from a 242 tone RU to a 106 tone RU, e.g., RU 3 [17: 122] .

[00125] In some embodiments, determine BW and RU assignments 1108 may have fixed rules for RUs that cannot be used for DL RU assignments 1112 and/or UL RU assignments 1114 for each 20 MHz channel 902 that is punctured.

[00126] The DL bandwidth 1116 and/or UL bandwidth 1 118 may be a bandwidth of a preamble portion of a HE MU PPDU (e.g., 1326), e.g. bandwidth field 1426. The bandwidth 1116 may be a bandwidth of a portion of or all of a HE MU PPDU (e.g., 1326), e.g. bandwidth field 1426. The bandwidth 1116 may indicate both a bandwidth (e.g., 904) and which 20 MHz channels are punctured, in accordance with some embodiments. The UL bandwidth 1118 may indicate a bandwidth of HE TB PPDUs that are to be used to respond to a trigger frame.

[00127] FIG. 12 illustrates a HE station 504 in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in FIG. 12 are RU design 1102, channels 1104, DL punctured channels 1110, DL RU assignment 1112, UL RU assignment 1114, DL bandwidth 1116, UL bandwidth 1 118, UL punctured channels 1120, HE station 504, receive on RU 1206, and transmit on RU 1208. The HE station 504 may determine how to receive on RU 1206 and determine how to transmit on RU 1208 based on one or more of RU design 1102, channels 1104, DL punctured channels 1110, DL RU assignment 1112, UL RU assignment 1114, DL bandwidth 1116, UL bandwidth 1118, and/or UL punctured channels 1 120. RU design 1102, channels 1104, DL punctured channels 1110, DL RU assignment 1112, UL RU assignment 1114, DL bandwidth 1116, UL bandwidth 1118, and UL punctured channels 1120 may be the same or similar as disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 11.

[00128] The HE station 504 may include determine how to receive 1202 and/or determine how to transmit 1204. The determine how to receive 1206 may be processing circuitry 708 as described in conjunction with FIG. 7, in accordance with some embodiments. The determine how to receive 1206 may determine receive on RU 1206 based on one or more of RU design 1102, channels 1104, DL punctured channels 1110, DL RU assignment 1112, and/or DL bandwidth 1116.

[00129] As an example, the DL bandwidth 1116 may indicate a bandwidth of the preamble 1314 of the HE MU PPDU 1326. The DL bandwidth 1116 may also indicate one or more punctured channels, e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 9. The DL RU assignment 1112 may be the same or similar to DL RUs 1316. The determine how to receive 1202 may determine an RU of DL RU assignment 1112 based on an association identification (AID) of the HE station 504. The determine how to receive 1202 may determine which tones to use based on an index into a table of RUs such as Tables 1, 2, and 3.

[00130] Determine how to receive 1202 may include deboosted or muted tones 1207. Determine how to receive 1202 may determine which table to use based on the DL bandwidth 1116. Determine how to receive 1202 may determine that one or more tones are deboosted or muted (e.g., deboosted or muted tones 1207) based on the DL punctured channels 1110 and the DL RU assignment 1112. For example, determine how to receive 1202 may determine that tones 256, 257, and 258 are deboosted or muted when the HE station 504 is assigned RU 3 1004.3 (see FIG. 10) and 20 MHz channel 902 is punctured. In some embodiments, more tones may be determined to be deboosted or muted to lessen the chance of interference. For example, there may be a fixed number, e.g., 1 to 20, or there may be a formula based on the size of the RU and/or based on the number of overlapping tones 1006.3, e.g., 1-20 tones per 2 MHz of the RU and/or 1/4 to 20 tones for each overlapping tone 1006.3.

[00131] The determine how to transmit on RU 1208 may be processing circuitry 708 as described in conjunction with FIG. 7, in accordance with some embodiments. The determine how to transmit on RU 1208 may be configured to determine transmit on RU 1208 based on one or more of RU design 1102, channels 1104, UL RU assignment 1114, UL bandwidth 1118, and/or UL punctured channels 1120. The UL RU assignment 1114 may be the same or similar as UL RUs 1320. The determine how to transmit on RU 1208 may include deboosted or muted tones 1209.

[00132] The determine how to transmit 1208 may determine a RU assignment based on one or more of the UL RU assignment 1112, UL bandwidth 1118, channels 1104, and UL punctured channels 1 120. As an example, the UL bandwidth 1118 may indicate a bandwidth of the data 1322 (FIG. 13) of the HE TB PPDU to be transmitted by the HE station 504. The UL bandwidth 1118 may also indicate one or more punctured channels, e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 9. The UL RU assignment 1114 may be the same or similar to RUs 1324. The determine how to transmit 1204 may determine an RU based on an AID of the HE station 504. The determine how to transmit 1204 may determine which tones to use to transmit based on an index into a table of RUs such as Tables 1, 2, and 3, and information in a trigger frame (trigger frame 1318).

[00133] The determine how to transmit on RU 1208 may include deboosted or deboosted or muted tones 1209. The determine how to transmit on RU 1208 may determine that one or more tones of the RU (e.g., an RU in UL RUs 1320 that is allocated to the HE station 504) should be deboosted or muted due to a punctured channel. For example, if HE station 504 is allocated RU 1004.3 for UL transmission, and 20 MHz channel 902.4 is punctured, then deboosted or muted tones 1209 may be tone 256, 257, and 258, which is the same as the overlapped tones 1006.3. [00134] In some embodiments, more tones may be determined to be deboosted or muted to lessen the chance of interference. For example, there may be a fixed number, e.g., 1 to 20, or there may be a formula based on the size of the RU and/or based on the number of overlapping tones 1006.3, e.g., 1-20 tones per 2 MHz of the RU and/or 1/4 to 20 tones for each overlapping tone 1006.3. Continuing with the example above, tones 252 through 258 may be deboosted or muted with tones 252 through 255 being deboosted or muted on an edge of the punctured 20 MHz channel 902.4 to reduce interference.

[00135] The HE station 504 may be configured to determine which portion of a bandwidth, e.g., 904, is idle, in a same or similar way as the HE AP 502 described I conjunction with FIG. 11.

[00136] FIG. 13 illustrates a method of determining RUs with preamble puncturing 1300 in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in FIG. 13 is time 1302 along a horizontal axis, transmitter 1304, HE AP 502, HE STAs 504, frequency 1306 along a vertical axis, operations 1350 along a top, HE MU PPDU 1326, and data 1322. The frequency 1306 may be divided into four 20 MHz channels 902, e.g., as disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 9. A different number of 20 MHz channels 902 may be used, e.g., 1 to 16. As illustrated 20 MHz channel 902.4 is punctured.

[00137] The method 1300 begins at operation 1352 with the HE AP 502 transmitting a HE MU PPDU 1326. The HE MU PPDU 1326 may be the same or similar to HE MU PPDU 1400 as described in conjunction with FIG. 14. The HE AP 502 may determine a bandwidth 1317 and DL RUs 1316 for DL data 1316. The bandwidth 1317 may be the same or similar to bandwidth 1116 as described in conjunction with FIG. 11. The bandwidth 1317 may include an indication of punctured channels 1110, e.g., as illustrated 20 MHz channel 902.4. The HE AP 502 may determine DL RUs 1316. The DL RUs 1316 may be the same or similar as DL RU assignment 1112. 20 MHz channel 902.4 may have an overlap with some DL RU and UL RU at 1310.

[00138] Tones 1310 may be tones that overlap between 20 MHz channel

902.4 and a DL RU and/or an UL RU of an RU design 1102. Tones 1310 may overlap with tone of DL RU assignment 1112 and/or UL RU assignment 1114. For example, in FIG. 10, tones -257, -258, and -259 overlap with 20 MHz channel 902.2 and RU 2 1004.2. Additionally, in FIG. 10 tones 256, 257, and 258 overlap with 20 MHz channel 902.4 and RU 4 1004.4.

[00139] Tones 1312 may be tones that are deboosted or muted to avoid interference with a 20 MHz channel 902.4 that is deboosted or muted. The tones 1312 may be the same or similar to deboosted or muted tones 1207 and/or deboosted or muted tones 1209.

[00140] DL data 1316 may be in accordance with DL RUs 1316 and bandwidth field 1317. The HE stations 504 may decode the preamble 1314 and determine their DL RU and decode the DL data 1316. In some embodiments, the DL RUs 1316 may include information regarding tones 1310 and/or 1312. In some embodiments, the HE stations 504 decode DL RUs 1316 and bandwidth 1317 and determine tones 1310 and tones 1312 (both of which may be no tones) based on the RU assigned to the HE station 504 and the bandwidth and punctured 20 MHz channels 902.3. The HE stations 504 may determine receive on RU 1206 and receive the DL data 1316 based on the determination of how to receive the DL data 1316.

[00141] The trigger frame 1318 may be before the DL data 1316. The trigger frame 1318 may include UL RUs 1320. The UL RUs 1320 may be the same or similar to UL RU assignment 1114.

[00142] The method 1300 continues at operation 1354 with a HE stations

504 waiting an short interframe space (SIFS) before transmitting. The method 1300 continues at operation 1356 with the HE stations 504 transmitting data 1322 in accordance with RUs 1324. The HE stations 504 may transmit the data in a HE TB PPDU 1500 as described in conjunction with FIG. 15. The HE stations 504 may determine transmit on RU 1208 and transmit data 1322 in accordance with the determine transmit on RU 1208. The HE AP 502 decodes the data 1322 in accordance with the RUs 1324. In some embodiments, the trigger frame 1318 and data 1322 are not present. In some embodiments, the DL RUs 1316 and DL data 1316 are not present.

[00143] FIG. 14 illustrates a HE multi-user (MU) physical Layer

Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) 1300 in accordance with some embodiments. The HE MU PPDU 1300 comprises legacy (L) short training field (STF) 1402, L-long training field (LTF) 1404, L-signal (SIG) field 1406, a repeat (R)L-SIG field 1408, a HE-SIG-A field 1410, a HE-SIG-B field 1412, a HE-STF 1414, HE-LTF fields 1416.1 through HE-LTF fields 1416.N, data 1420, and packet extension (PE) field 1422.

[00144] L-STF 1402 may be a training field for improving automatic gain control estimation or other training based on channel estimation from received signals. The L-LTF 1404 may be a training field for improving automatic gain control estimation or other training based on channel estimation from received signals. The L-SIG field 1406 may comprise information for decoding portions of the HE MU PPDU 1400. The RL-SIG field 1408 may be a repeat of the L- SIG 1406 and may indicate that the packet is an HE packet. The HE-SIG-A field 1410 may include information for decoding the portion of the HE MU PPDU 1300 after the HE-SIG-A field 1410 with information such as the bandwidth 1426 of the HE MU PPDU 1300 and 20 MHz channels that may be punctured. For example, the values of the bandwidth field 1425 may indicate the following: 0 may indicate a 20 MHz bandwidth for the preamble; 1 may indicate a 40 MHz bandwidth for the preamble; 2 may indicate a 80 MHz bandwidth for the preamble; 3 may indicate a 160 MHz or 80+80 MHz bandwidth for the preamble; 4 may indicate a 80 MHz for the preamble, where in the preamble only the secondary 20 MHz is punctured; 5 may indicate a 80 MHz bandwidth for the preamble, where in the preamble only one of the two 20 MHz subchannels in secondary 40 MHz is punctured; 6 may indicate a 160 MHz or 80+80 MHz bandwidth for the preamble, where in the primary 80 MHz of the preamble only the secondary 20 MHz is punctured; and, 7 may indicate a 160 MHz or 80+80 MHz, where in the primary 80 MHz of the preamble the primary 40 MHz is present.

[00145] The HE-SIG-B field 1412 may include information for the HE stations 504 to decode a portion of the data 1420. For example, the HE-SIG-B field 1412 may include DL RUs 1413 which may be the same or similar to DL RUs 1316.

[00146] HE-STF 1414 may be a training field for improving automatic gain control estimation or other training based on channel estimation from received signals. HE-LTF fields 1416.1 through HE-LTF fields 1416.N may be fields for improving automatic gain control estimation or other training based on channel estimation from received signals. The data field 1420 may include one or more MAC packets and the data as described in the HE-SIG-B field 1412. The one or more MAC packets may include a trigger frame 1428. The trigger frame 1428 may be the same or similar as trigger frame 1318. The trigger frame 1428 may include UL bandwidth 1430 and UL RUs 1432, which may be the same or similar as UL bandwidth 1321 and UL RUs 1320, respectively. PE field 1422 may be a field that may be used to extend the size of the packet to meet one or more boundaries.

[00147] FIG. 15 illustrates a HE trigger-based (TB) PPDU 1500 in accordance with some embodiments. The HE TB PPDU 1500 comprises a L- STF 1502, L-LTF 1504, L-SIG field 1506, a RL-SIG field 1508, a HE-SIG-A field 1510, a HE-STF 1512, HE-LTF 1514.1 through HE-LTF 1514.N, data 1516, and PE field 1518.

[00148] L-STF 1502 may be a training field for improving automatic gain control estimation or other training based on channel estimation from received signals. The L-LTF 1504 may be a training field for improving automatic gain control estimation or other training based on channel estimation from received signals. The L-SIG field 1506 may comprise information for decoding portions of the HE TB PPDU 1500. The RL-SIG field 1508 may be a repeat of the L-SIG 1506 and may indicate that the packet is an HE packet. The HE-SIG-A field 1510 may include information for decoding the portion of the HE TB PPDU 1500 after the HE-SIG-A field 1510 such as for decoding the data field 1516.

[00149] HE-STF 1514 may be a training field for improving automatic gain control estimation or other training based on channel estimation from received signals. HE-LTF fields 1514.1 through HE-LTF fields 1514.N may be fields for improving automatic gain control estimation or other training based on channel estimation from received signals. The data field 1516 may include data as described in the HE-SIG-A 1508. PE field 1422 may be a field that may be used to extend the size of the packet to meet one or more boundaries.

[00150] FIG. 16 illustrates a method 1600 of determining RUs with preamble puncturing in accordance with some embodiments. The method 1600 begins at operation 1602 with encoding a HE MU PPDU, the HE MU PPDU comprising a preamble, the preamble comprising a HE-SIG-A field, wherein the HE-SIG-A field comprises a bandwidth field, wherein a value of the bandwidth field indicates a bandwidth of the preamble and an indication of a punctured portion of the bandwidth, wherein the bandwidth comprises a plurality of tones. For example, HE AP 502 or an apparatus of HE AP 502 of FIG. 13 may encode HE MU PPDU 1326 with bandwidth 1317.

[00151] The method 1600 continues at operation 1604 with select resource allocations comprising DL RUs that do not overlap with the punctured portion of the bandwidth for a plurality of HE stations for DL transmissions, or select resource allocations comprising DL RUs that overlap with the punctured portion of the bandwidth and deboost or mute tones of the DL RUs that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth.

[00152] For example, HE AP 502 or an apparatus of HE AP 502 of FIG.

11 or 13 may determine DL RU assignment 1112 and DL RUs 1316, respectively. The method continues at operation 1606 with encoding the HE MU PPDU to further comprise a HE signal B field (HE-SIG-B) field, the HE- SIG-B comprising the resource allocations. For example, HE AP 502 or an apparatus of HE AP 502 may configure the HE MU PPDU 1326 to comprise HE-SIG-B 1412 of FIG. 14.

[00153] The method continues at operation 1608 with encoding the HE MU PPDU to further comprise a data portion, the data portion comprising DL data in accordance with the DL RUs for the plurality of stations. For example, HE AP 502 or an apparatus of HE AP 502 may configure the HE MU PPDU 1326 to comprise DL data 1316 (or data 1420).

[00154] The method continues at operation 1610 with generating signaling to cause the HE AP to transmit the HE MU PDDU in accordance with the encoding of the HE MU PPDU. For example, HE AP 502 or an apparatus of

HE AP 502 may generate signaling for HE MU PPDU 1326 to be transmitted.

[00155] One or more of the operations of method 1600 may be optional.

There may be additional operations of method 1600. One or more of the operations of method 1600 may be performed in a different order.

[00156] FIG. 17 illustrates a method 1700 of determining RUs with preamble puncturing in accordance with some embodiments. The method 1700 begins at operation 1702 with decoding a HE MU PPDU, the HE MU PPDU comprising a preamble, the preamble comprising a HE-SIG-A field, where the HE-SIG-A field comprises a bandwidth field, where a value of the bandwidth field indicates a bandwidth of the preamble and an indication of a punctured portion of the bandwidth, where the bandwidth comprises a plurality of tones. For example, HE station 504 or an apparatus of a HE station 504 may decode HE MU PPDU 1326 which may include bandwidth 1317.

[00157] The method 1700 continues at operation 1704 with continuing to decode the HE MU PPDU, where the HE MU PPDU further comprises a HE- SIG-B field, the HE-SIG-B comprising a resource allocation for the HE station, the resource allocation comprising a DL RU for the HE station for a DL transmission from a HE access point, where if the DL RU overlaps the punctured portion of the bandwidth tones of the DL RU that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth are deboosted or muted. For example, HE station 504 or an apparatus of a HE station 504 may decode additional portions of the HE MU PPDU 1326 including the DL RUs 1316, which may be part of a HE-SIG-B 1412.

[00158] The method 1700 continues at operation 1706 with decoding a data portion of the HE MU PPDU, the data portion comprising the DL transmission from the HE access point, where the DL transmission is decoded in accordance with the DL RU. For example, the HE station 504 or an apparatus of the HE station 504 may decode DL data 1316 based on the information received in the preamble 1314.

[00159] Some embodiments provide a solution to the technical problem of how to transmit when a portion of a bandwidth is punctured. The following examples pertain to further embodiments.

[00160] Example 1 is an apparatus of a high-efficiency (HE) access point (AP), the apparatus including memory; and, processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the processing circuity configured to: encode a HE multi-user (MU) physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), the HE MU PPDU including a preamble, the preamble including a HE signal A

(HE-SIG-A) field, where the HE-SIG-A field comprises a bandwidth field, where a value of the bandwidth field indicates a bandwidth of the preamble and an indication of a punctured portion of the bandwidth, and where the bandwidth comprises a plurality of tones; select resource allocations including downlink (DL) resource units (RUs) that do not overlap with the punctured portion of the bandwidth for a plurality of HE stations for DL transmissions, or select resource allocations including DL RUs that overlap with the punctured portion of the bandwidth and deboost or mute tones of the DL RUs that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth; encode the HE MU PPDU to further comprise a HE signal B field (HE-SIG-B) field, the HE-SIG-B including the resource allocations; encode the HE MU PPDU to further comprise a data portion, the data portion including DL data in accordance with the DL RUs for the plurality of HE stations; and generate signaling to cause the HE AP to transmit the HE MU PDDU in accordance with the encoding of the HE MU PPDU, where tones that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth are to be deboosted or muted.

[00161] In Example 2, the subject matter of Example 1 optionally includes where the bandwidth comprises one or more 20 MHz channels, and where the punctured portion is one or more of the one or more 20 MHz channels.

[00162] In Example 3, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples

1-2 optionally include where when a DL RU is selected that overlaps the punctured portion of the bandwidth, a number of tones of the selected DL RU is above a first threshold value and a number of tones of the selected DL RU that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth is below a second threshold.

[00163] In Example 4, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples

1-3 optionally include where the processing circuitry is further configured to: refrain from selecting the DL RU that overlaps the punctured portion of the bandwidth if a number of tones of the DL RU is below a threshold.

[00164] In Example 5, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples

1-4 optionally include where the processing circuitry is further configured to: generate signaling to cause the HE AP to transmit the HE MU PDDU in accordance with the encoding of the HE MU PPDU, where tones of the DL RU that overlaps the punctured portion are deboosted or muted.

[00165] In Example 6, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples

1-5 optionally include where additional tones of the DL RU that overlaps the punctured portion are deboosted or muted, where the additional tones are adjacent to the tones that overlap the DL RU.

[00166] In Example 7, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples

1-6 optionally include where the DL RUs are predefined for the bandwidth, and where the processing circuitry is further configured to: not select DL RUs that overlap the punctured portion.

[00167] In Example 8, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples

1-7 optionally include where the processing circuitry is further configured to: encode the data portion to further comprise a trigger frame, where the trigger frame comprises a second bandwidth field, where a second value of the second bandwidth field indicates a second bandwidth of uplink (UL) transmissions and an indication of a second punctured portion of the second bandwidth, where the second bandwidth comprises a second plurality of tones, the trigger frame further comprises second resource allocations including UL RUs for the plurality of HE stations for the UL transmissions, where a UL RU that overlaps the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth is not selected or tones of the UL RU that overlap the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth are to be deboosted or muted; and decode HE trigger-based PPDUs from the plurality of stations in accordance with the UL RUs.

[00168] In Example 9, the subject matter of Example 8 optionally includes where the processing circuitry is further configured to: select the UL RU that overlaps the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth if a number of tones of the UL RU is above a first threshold value and a number of tone of the DL RU that overlap the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth is below a second threshold.

[00169] In Example 10, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 8-9 optionally include where the processing circuitry is further configured to: not select the UL RU that overlaps the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth is not selected if a number of tones of the UL RU is below a threshold.

[00170] In Example 11, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 8-10 optionally include where the processing circuitry is further configured to: decode HE trigger-based PPDUs from the plurality of stations in accordance with the UL RUs, where tones of the UL RUs that overlap with the second punctured portion are deboosted or muted.

[00171] In Example 12, the subject matter of Example 11 optionally includes where second tones that are adjacent to the tones of the UL RUs that overlap with the second punctured portion are deboosted or muted, and where a number of the second tones is between 1 and 20.

[00172] In Example 13, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 1-12 optionally include where the HE AP and each of the plurality of HE stations is one from the following group: an Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.1 lax access point, an IEEE 802.1 lax station, an IEEE 802.11 station, and an IEEE 802.11 access point.

[00173] In Example 14, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 1-13 optionally include transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry; and, one or more antennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry.

[00174] Example 15 is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of an apparatus of a high-efficiency (HE) access point (AP)„ the instructions to configure the one or more processors to: encode a HE multi-user (MU) physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), the HE MU PPDU including a preamble, the preamble including a HE signal A (HE-SIG-A) field, where the HE-SIG-A field comprises a bandwidth field, where a value of the bandwidth field indicates a bandwidth of the preamble and an indication of a punctured portion of the bandwidth, and where the bandwidth comprises a plurality of tones; select resource allocations including downlink (DL) resource units (RUs) that do not overlap with the punctured portion of the bandwidth for a plurality of HE stations for DL transmissions, or select resource allocations including DL RUs that overlap with the punctured portion of the bandwidth and deboost or mute tones of the DL RUs that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth; encode the HE MU PPDU to further comprise a HE signal B field (HE-SIG-B) field, the HE-SIG-B including the resource allocations; encode the HE MU PPDU to further comprise a data portion, the data portion including DL data in accordance with the DL RUs for the plurality of HE stations; and generate signaling to cause the HE AP to transmit the HE MU PDDU in accordance with the encoding of the HE MU PPDU, where tones that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth are to be deboosted or muted.

[00175] In Example 16, the subject matter of Example 15 optionally includes where the bandwidth comprises one or more 20 MHz channels, and where the punctured portion is one or more of the one or more 20 MHz channels.

[00176] In Example 17, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 15-16 optionally include where the instructions further configure the one or more processors to: select the DL RU that overlaps the punctured portion of the bandwidth if a number of tones of the DL RU is above a first threshold value and a number of tone of the DL RU that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth is below a second threshold.

[00177] Example 18 is a method performed by an apparatus of a high- efficiency (HE) access point (AP), the method including: encoding a HE multiuser (MU) physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), the HE MU PPDU including a preamble, the preamble including a HE signal A (HE-SIG-A) field, where the HE-SIG-A field comprises a bandwidth field, where a value of the bandwidth field indicates a bandwidth of the preamble and an indication of a punctured portion of the bandwidth, and where the bandwidth comprises a plurality of tones; selecting resource allocations including downlink (DL) resource units (RUs) that do not overlap with the punctured portion of the bandwidth for a plurality of HE stations for DL transmissions, or select resource allocations including DL RUs that overlap with the punctured portion of the bandwidth and deboost or mute tones of the DL RUs that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth; encoding the HE MU PPDU to further comprise a HE signal B field (HE-SIG-B) field, the HE-SIG-B including the resource allocations; encoding the HE MU PPDU to further comprise a data portion, the data portion including DL data in accordance with the DL RUs for the plurality of HE stations; and generating signaling to cause the HE AP to transmit the HE MU PDDU in accordance with the encoding of the HE MU PPDU, where tones that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth are to be deboosted or muted.

[00178] In Example 19, the subject matter of Example 18 optionally includes where when a DL RU is selected that overlaps the punctured portion of the bandwidth, a number of tones of the selected DL RU is above a first threshold value and a number of tones of the selected DL RU that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth is below a second threshold.

[00179] Example 20 is an apparatus of a high-efficiency (HE) station, the apparatus including memory; and, processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the processing circuity configured to: decode a HE multi-user (MU) physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), the HE MU PPDU including a preamble, the preamble including a HE signal A (HE-SIG-A) field, where the HE-SIG-A field comprises a bandwidth field, where a value of the bandwidth field indicates a bandwidth of the preamble and an indication of a punctured portion of the bandwidth, where the bandwidth comprises a plurality of tones, where the HE MU PPDU further comprises a HE signal B field (HE- SIG-B) field, the HE-SIG-B including a resource allocation for the HE station, the resource allocation including a downlink (DL) resource unit (RU) for the HE station for a DL transmission from a HE access point, where if the DL RU overlaps the punctured portion of the bandwidth tones of the DL RU that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth are deboosted or muted; and decode a data portion of the HE MU PPDU, the data portion including the DL transmission from the HE access point, where the DL transmission is decoded in accordance with the DL RU.

[00180] In Example 21, the subject matter of Example 20 optionally includes where the processing circuitry is further configured to: determine which tones of the DL RU overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth based on the bandwidth of the preamble, the indication of the punctured portion of the bandwidth, and the DL RU.

[00181] In Example 22, the subject matter of Example 21 optionally includes where the tones of the DL RU that overlap the punctured portion are deboosted or muted and additional tones that adjacent to the tones that overlap the puncture portion are deboosted or muted.

[00182] In Example 23, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 21-22 optionally include where the processing circuitry is further configured to: decode the data portion to further comprise a trigger frame, where the trigger frame comprises a second bandwidth field, where a second value of the second bandwidth field indicates a second bandwidth of uplink (UL) transmissions and an indication of a second punctured portion of the second bandwidth, where the second bandwidth comprises a second plurality of tones, the trigger frame further comprises a second resource allocation including an UL RU for the HE station for an UL transmission to an HE access point; encode a HE trigger based (TB) PPDU with data for the HE access point in accordance with the UL RU, where tones of the UL RU that overlap the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth are to be deboosted or muted; and generate signaling to configure the HE station to transmit the HE TB PPDU, where tones of the UL RU that overlap the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth are to be deboosted or muted.

[00183] In Example 24, the subject matter of Example 23 optionally includes where second tones that are adjacent to the tones of the UL RU that overlap the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth are to be deboosted or muted, where a number of the second tones is from 1 to 20.

[00184] In Example 25, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 1-24 optionally include transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry; and, one or more antennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry.

[00185] Example 26 is an apparatus of a high-efficiency (HE) access point (AP), the apparatus including: means for encoding a HE multi-user (MU) physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), the HE MU PPDU including a preamble, the preamble including a HE signal A (HE-SIG-A) field, where the HE-SIG-A field comprises a bandwidth field, where a value of the bandwidth field indicates a bandwidth of the preamble and an indication of a punctured portion of the bandwidth, and where the bandwidth comprises a plurality of tones; means for selecting resource allocations including downlink (DL) resource units (RUs) that do not overlap with the punctured portion of the bandwidth for a plurality of HE stations for DL transmissions, or select resource allocations including DL RUs that overlap with the punctured portion of the bandwidth and deboost or mute tones of the DL RUs that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth; means for encoding the HE MU PPDU to further comprise a HE signal B field (HE-SIG-B) field, the HE-SIG-B including the resource allocations; means for encoding the HE MU PPDU to further comprise a data portion, the data portion including DL data in accordance with the DL RUs for the plurality of HE stations; and means for generating signaling to cause the HE AP to transmit the HE MU PDDU in accordance with the encoding of the HE MU PPDU, where tones that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth are to be deboosted or muted.

[00186] In Example 27, the subject matter of Example 26 optionally includes where the bandwidth comprises one or more 20 MHz channels, and where the punctured portion is one or more of the 20 MHz channels.

[00187] In Example 28, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 26-27 optionally include where when a DL RU is selected that overlaps the punctured portion of the bandwidth, a number of tones of the selected DL RU is above a first threshold value and a number of tones of the selected DL RU that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth is below a second threshold.

[00188] In Example 29, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 26-28 optionally include where the apparatus further comprises: means for refraining from selecting the DL RU that overlaps the punctured portion of the bandwidth if a number of tones of the DL RU is below a threshold.

[00189] In Example 30, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 26-29 optionally include where the apparatus further comprises: means for generating signaling to cause the HE AP to transmit the HE MU PDDU in accordance with the encoding of the HE MU PPDU, where tones of the DL RU that overlaps the punctured portion are deboosted or muted.

[00190] In Example 31, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 26-30 optionally include where additional tones of the DL RU that overlaps the punctured portion are deboosted or muted, where the additional tones are adjacent to the tones that overlap the DL RU.

[00191] In Example 32, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 26-31 optionally include where the DL RUs are predefined for the bandwidth, and where the apparatus further comprises: means for not selecting DL RUs that overlap the punctured portion. [00192] In Example 33, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 26-32 optionally include where the apparatus further comprises: means for encoding the data portion to further comprise a trigger frame, where the trigger frame comprises a second bandwidth field, where a second value of the second bandwidth field indicates a second bandwidth of uplink (UL) transmissions and an indication of a second punctured portion of the second bandwidth, where the second bandwidth comprises a second plurality of tones, the trigger frame further comprises second resource allocations including UL RUs for the plurality of HE stations for the UL transmissions, where a UL RU that overlaps the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth is not selected or tones of the UL RU that overlap the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth are to be deboosted or muted; and means for decoding HE trigger-based PPDUs from the plurality of stations in accordance with the UL RUs.

[00193] In Example 34, the subject matter of Example 33 optionally includes where the apparatus further comprises: means for selecting the UL RU that overlaps the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth if a number of tones of the UL RU is above a first threshold value and a number of tone of the DL RU that overlap the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth is below a second threshold.

[00194] In Example 35, the subject matter of Example 34 optionally includes where the apparatus further comprises: means for not selecting the UL RU that overlaps the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth is not selected if a number of tones of the UL RU is below a threshold.

[00195] In Example 36, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 34-35 optionally include where the apparatus further comprises: means for decoding HE trigger-based PPDUs from the plurality of stations in accordance with the UL RUs, where tones of the UL RUs that overlap with the second punctured portion are deboosted or muted.

[00196] In Example 37, the subject matter of Example 36 optionally includes where second tones that are adjacent to the tones of the UL RUs that overlap with the second punctured portion are deboosted or muted, and where a number of the second tones is between 1 and 20. [00197] In Example 38, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 26-37 optionally include where the HE AP and each of the plurality of HE stations is one from the following group: an Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.1 lax access point, an IEEE 802.1 lax station, an IEEE 802.1 1 station, and an IEEE 802.1 1 access point.

[00198] In Example 39, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 26-38 optionally include means for processing received radio- frequency signals coupled means for processing; and, means for receiving radio- frequency signals coupled to the transceiver circuitry.

[00199] The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section

1.72(b) requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scope or meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus of a high-efficiency (HE) access point (AP), the apparatus comprising memory; and, processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the processing circuity configured to:

encode a HE multi-user (MU) physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), the HE MU PPDU comprising a preamble, the preamble comprising a HE signal A (HE-SIG-A) field, wherein the HE-SIG- A field comprises a bandwidth field, wherein a value of the bandwidth field indicates a bandwidth of the preamble and an indication of a punctured portion of the bandwidth, and wherein the bandwidth comprises a plurality of tones; select resource allocations comprising downlink (DL) resource units (RUs) that do not overlap with the punctured portion of the bandwidth for a plurality of HE stations for DL transmissions, or select resource allocations comprising DL RUs that overlap with the punctured portion of the bandwidth and deboost or mute tones of the DL RUs that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth;

encode the HE MU PPDU to further comprise a HE signal B field (HE- SIG-B) field, the HE-SIG-B comprising the resource allocations;

encode the HE MU PPDU to further comprise a data portion, the data portion comprising DL data in accordance with the DL RUs for the plurality of HE stations; and

generate signaling to cause the HE AP to transmit the HE MU PDDU in accordance with the encoding of the HE MU PPDU, wherein tones that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth are to be deboosted or muted.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the bandwidth comprises one or more 20 MHz channels, and wherein the punctured portion is one or more of the 20 MHz channels.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein when a DL RU is selected that overlaps the punctured portion of the bandwidth, a number of tones of the selected DL RU is above a first threshold value and a number of tones of the selected DL RU that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth is below a second threshold.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

refrain from selecting the DL RU that overlaps the punctured portion of the bandwidth if a number of tones of the DL RU is below a threshold.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

generate signaling to cause the HE AP to transmit the HE MU PDDU in accordance with the encoding of the HE MU PPDU, wherein tones of the DL RU that overlaps the punctured portion are deboosted or muted.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein additional tones of the DL RU that overlaps the punctured portion are deboosted or muted, wherein the additional tones are adjacent to the tones that overlap the DL RU.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the DL RUs are predefined for the bandwidth, and wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: not select DL RUs that overlap the punctured portion.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

encode the data portion to further comprise a trigger frame, wherein the trigger frame comprises a second bandwidth field, wherein a second value of the second bandwidth field indicates a second bandwidth of uplink (UL) transmissions and an indication of a second punctured portion of the second bandwidth, wherein the second bandwidth comprises a second plurality of tones, the trigger frame further comprises second resource allocations comprising UL

RUs for the plurality of HE stations for the UL transmissions, wherein a UL RU that overlaps the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth is not selected or tones of the UL RU that overlap the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth are to be deboosted or muted; and

decode HE trigger-based PPDUs from the plurality of stations in accordance with the UL RUs.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

select the UL RU that overlaps the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth if a number of tones of the UL RU is above a first threshold value and a number of tone of the DL RU that overlap the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth is below a second threshold.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

not select the UL RU that overlaps the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth is not selected if a number of tones of the UL RU is below a threshold.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

decode HE trigger-based PPDUs from the plurality of stations in accordance with the UL RUs, wherein tones of the UL RUs that overlap with the second punctured portion are deboosted or muted.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein second tones that are adjacent to the tones of the UL RUs that overlap with the second punctured portion are deboosted or muted, and wherein a number of the second tones is between 1 and 20.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the HE AP and each of the plurality of HE stations is one from the following group: an Institute of

Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.1 lax access point, an IEEE

802.1 lax station, an IEEE 802.11 station, and an IEEE 802.11 access point.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry; and, one or more antennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of an apparatus of a high- efficiency (HE) access point (AP)„ the instructions to configure the one or more processors to:

16. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 15, wherein the bandwidth comprises one or more 20 MHz channels, and wherein the punctured portion is one or more of the one or more 20 MHz channels.

17. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions further configure the one or more processors to:

select the DL RU that overlaps the punctured portion of the bandwidth if a number of tones of the DL RU is above a first threshold value and a number of tone of the DL RU that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth is below a second threshold.

18. A method performed by an apparatus of a high-efficiency (HE) access point (AP), the method comprising:

encoding a HE multi-user (MU) physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), the HE MU PPDU comprising a preamble, the preamble comprising a HE signal A (HE-SIG-A) field, wherein the HE-SIG- A field comprises a bandwidth field, wherein a value of the bandwidth field indicates a bandwidth of the preamble and an indication of a punctured portion of the bandwidth, and wherein the bandwidth comprises a plurality of tones; selecting resource allocations comprising downlink (DL) resource units (RUs) that do not overlap with the punctured portion of the bandwidth for a plurality of HE stations for DL transmissions, or select resource allocations comprising DL RUs that overlap with the punctured portion of the bandwidth and deboost or mute tones of the DL RUs that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth;

encoding the HE MU PPDU to further comprise a HE signal B field (HE- SIG-B) field, the HE-SIG-B comprising the resource allocations;

encoding the HE MU PPDU to further comprise a data portion, the data portion comprising DL data in accordance with the DL RUs for the plurality of HE stations; and

generating signaling to cause the HE AP to transmit the HE MU PDDU in accordance with the encoding of the HE MU PPDU, wherein tones that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth are to be deboosted or muted.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein when a DL RU is selected that overlaps the punctured portion of the bandwidth, a number of tones of the selected DL RU is above a first threshold value and a number of tones of the selected DL RU that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth is below a second threshold.

20. An apparatus of a high-efficiency (HE) station, the apparatus comprising memory; and, processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the processing circuity configured to:

decode a HE multi-user (MU) physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), the HE MU PPDU comprising a preamble, the preamble comprising a HE signal A (HE-SIG-A) field, wherein the HE-SIG- A field comprises a bandwidth field, wherein a value of the bandwidth field indicates a bandwidth of the preamble and an indication of a punctured portion of the bandwidth, wherein the bandwidth comprises a plurality of tones, wherein the HE MU PPDU further comprises a HE signal B field (HE-SIG-B) field, the HE-SIG-B comprising a resource allocation for the HE station, the resource allocation comprising a downlink (DL) resource unit (RU) for the HE station for a DL transmission from a HE access point, wherein if the DL RU overlaps the punctured portion of the bandwidth tones of the DL RU that overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth are deboosted or muted; and

decode a data portion of the HE MU PPDU, the data portion comprising the DL transmission from the HE access point, wherein the DL transmission is decoded in accordance with the DL RU.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

determine which tones of the DL RU overlap the punctured portion of the bandwidth based on the bandwidth of the preamble, the indication of the punctured portion of the bandwidth, and the DL RU.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the tones of the DL RU that overlap the punctured portion are deboosted or muted and additional tones that adjacent to the tones that overlap the puncture portion are deboosted or muted.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:

decode the data portion to further comprise a trigger frame, wherein the trigger frame comprises a second bandwidth field, wherein a second value of the second bandwidth field indicates a second bandwidth of uplink (UL) transmissions and an indication of a second punctured portion of the second bandwidth, wherein the second bandwidth comprises a second plurality of tones, the trigger frame further comprises a second resource allocation comprising an UL RU for the HE station for an UL transmission to an HE access point;

encode a HE trigger based (TB) PPDU with data for the HE access point in accordance with the UL RU, wherein tones of the UL RU that overlap the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth are to be deboosted or muted; and

generate signaling to configure the HE station to transmit the HE TB PPDU, wherein tones of the UL RU that overlap the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth are to be deboosted or muted.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein second tones that are adjacent to the tones of the UL RU that overlap the second punctured portion of the second bandwidth are to be deboosted or muted, wherein a number of the second tones is from 1 to 20.

25. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry; and, one or more antennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry.