WO2019040061A1

WO2019040061A1 - Methods and apparatus to request non-primary wireless channel utilization

Info

Publication number: WO2019040061A1
Application number: PCT/US2017/048253
Authority: WO
Inventors: Laurent Cariou; Po-Kai Huang; Yaron Alpert; Robert Stacey
Original assignee: Intel Corporation
Priority date: 2017-08-23
Filing date: 2017-08-23
Publication date: 2019-02-28

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to request non-primary wireless channel utilization are disclosed. An example wireless access point device includes memory and processing circuitry configured to: establish connectivity with a narrow-band wireless station on a primary channel, the narrow-band wireless station operating within a bandwidth less than a full-band of the wireless access point device, monitor a non-primary channel within a portion of the full-band to collect monitoring information, transmit the monitoring information about the non-primary channel to the narrow-band wireless station on the primary channel, and in response to acceptance of the non-primary channel by the narrow-band wireless station, establish connectivity with the narrow-band wireless station on the non-primary channel.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUS TO REQUEST NON- PRIMARY WIRELESS CHANNEL UTILIZATION

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0001] This disclosure relates generally to wireless communication, and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus to request non-primary wireless channel utilization.

BACKGROUND

[0002] In some wireless systems, communication channels are divided into primary channels and non-primary channels in terms of air access methodology. A primary channel is a channel selected (e.g., by an access point) for communication within a wireless network. The primary channel is used to detect whenever the medium is free enable a wireless device to conduct enhanced distributed coordination function (EDCF) air access procedures. For example, a network may be configured for devices to communicate on channel 36. In such an example, all other channels are non- primary channels. For example, according to Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers® standard 802.11 ax, wireless stations (STA) that operate in the 20 MHz bandwidth only utilize the primary channel for communication. These and similar devices that are limited to operation within a subset of a full-band of a wireless protocol are referred to as narrow-band stations. In some systems, wireless devices may be allowed to operate in the non-primary channels. For example, an access point that operates within a full-band of a wireless protocol (e.g., a full-band access point) and the STA may coordinate and agree for the STA to operate on a non-primary channel. The STA will switch to the non-primary channel if both the AP and the STA agree with the use of the non-primary channel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0003] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example environment in which an access point communicates with a wireless device (STA) to request use of non-primary channels. [0004] FIG. 2 is flowchart illustrating a process that may be implemented by machine readable instructions to implement the channel influencer of the access point of FIG. 1.

[0005] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process that may be implemented by machine readable instructions to implement the channel analyzer of the wireless station of FIG. 1.

[0006] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a radio architecture in accordance with some embodiments;

[0007] FIG. 5 illustrates a front-end module circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 4 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0008] FIG. 6 illustrates a radio IC circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 4 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0009] FIG. 7 illustrates a baseband processing circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 4 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0010] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example processing device that may execute the instructions of FIGS. 2-3 to implement a time sensitive network capable wireless device.

[0011] The figures are not to scale. As used in this patent, stating that any part (e.g., a layer, film, area, or plate) is in any way positioned on (e.g., positioned on, located on, disposed on, or formed on, etc.) another part, indicates that the referenced part is either in contact with the other part, or that the referenced part is above the other part with one or more intermediate part(s) located therebetween. Stating that any part is in contact with another part means that there is no intermediate part between the two parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] In some systems, there are drawbacks for a narrow band STA (referred to hereinafter as an STA) to utilize a non-primary channel. For example, in some systems, when the STA moves to the non-primary channel, the STA loses enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) channel access and can only be triggered to access EDCA by the AP. Furthermore, the AP transmits control info only on the primary channel. Additionally or alternatively, the STA may need to switch back to the primary channel to obtain signaling information/gain access to the channel in order to transmit (in non-schedule procedure). Additionally or alternatively, limitations (e.g., a PHY tone plan) may prevent the STA from being scheduled in some resource units.

[0013] In view of the drawbacks to utilizing non-primary channels, wireless devices may frequently and/or always resist requests from the AP to switch to the non-primary channel in order to transmit information to the AP and/or receive information from the AP. Accordingly, wireless environments may not realize the traffic balancing benefits that may be obtained by distributing wireless communication traffic among both primary and non- primary channels.

[0014] Methods and apparatus disclosed herein collect non-primary channel incentive information at an AP and transmit the non-primary channel incentive information to the STA in combination with a request to temporarily and/or permanently switch to a non-primary channel to incentivize the STA to accept the request to transfer to the non-primary channel. In some examples, the non-primary channel incentive information indicates to the STA that the benefits of switching to the non-primary channel will exceed the drawbacks expected by the STA. For example, the non-primary channel incentive information may indicate that the STA will have more channel access (e.g., more channel access time) on the non-primary channel as opposed to the primary channel. In other examples, the non-primary channel incentive information may indicate that the non-primary channel will have less latency for the STA. In some examples, the non-primary channel incentive information is transmitted in channel switch request frames sent from the AP to the STA. While the examples disclosed herein refer to the use of non- primary channels, each reference to primary and non-primary channels may refer to a first communication band and a second communication band, respectively. In other words, the methods and apparatus disclosed herein may be utilized to request that an STA move from the first communication band to the second communication band. [0015] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example environment in which an example access point (AP) 102 (e.g., a full-band access point) having an example channel influencer 104 wirelessly communicates with an example station (STA) 106 (e.g., a narrow-band station) having an example channel analyzer 108. According to the illustrated example, the example channel influencer 104 collects and transmits information about non-primary wireless communication channels to the example channel analyzer 108 to enable the channel analyzer 108 to determine if the STA 106 will utilize non-primary channels.

[0016] The AP 102 of the illustrated example controls the operation of wireless devices (including the STA 106) coupled to the AP 102. While the example AP 102 is shown as communicating with the STA 106, the AP 102 may be in communication with any number and types of wireless devices. The example AP 102 is a dedicated, standalone device such as an access point, a personal basic service set (PBSS) control point (PCP), etc. Altematively, the AP 102 may be integrated within another wireless device and/or may be a STA that is dedicated and/or other chosen to control operation of other devices. For example, one STA within a group of communicating STA may be elected to perform access point operations.

[0017] The example channel influencer 104 collects information about a non-primary wireless channel and transmits the information to the example STA 106 to enable the channel analyzer 108 to determine if the STA 106 will temporarily and/or permanently utilize the non-primary channel. According to the illustrated example, the channel influencer 104 transmits the non-primary channel information and switching instructions in combination with a request for the STA 106 to switch to the non-primary channel. For example, the information may be transmitted in basic service set (BSS) load element, a STA channel switch request frame, a beacon (e.g., to transmit the information to all devices within a wireless network), a unicast transmission (e.g., where the non-primary channel information is specifically related to a particular STA), etc. For example, the information may be transmitted in one or several fields of a channel switch request frame. In another example, the information may be transmitted in a BSS load element that is carried in the channel switch request frame. In another example, the information may be carried in a BSS load element that is carried in a beacon(s) or any other broadcast frames.

[0018] The information collected and transmitted by the example channel influencer 104 includes information about the availability of the non- primary channel. By transmitting the information about the availability of the non-primary channel, the channel influencer 104 can indicate to the channel analyzer 108 whether the non-primary channel will be advantageous for use because non-primary channel has greater availability than the, possibly crowded, primary channel. The information may additionally include air access information and transmission formats.

[0019] In particular, the example channel influencer 104 monitors the non-primary channel over a period of time (e.g., several seconds, several minutes, etc.) to determine how often the non-primary channel is idle to determine how much time is available on the non-primary channel. The example channel influencer 104 determines resource allocation information such as an amount of the available time that may be utilized for uplink and an amount of the available time that may be utilized for downlink indicative of a transmission/access pattern. The example channel influencer 104 collects information about the number of STA that will share the non-primary channel (e.g., the number of STA that are already using the non-primary channel and/or the number of devices that are being requested to utilize the non- primary channel. The example channel influencer 104 determines resource unit (RU) limitations of the non-primary channel to enable the STA 106 to determine throughput available of the non-primary channel given the time available to the STA 106 on the non-primary channel.

[0020] While several elements of non-primary channel information as collected by the example channel influencer 104, in other implementations, fewer and/or other elements may be collected by the channel influencer 104. The channel influencer 104 may collect and transmit to the STA 106 any information that may be helpful for the STA 106 to determine if switching to a non-primary channel will be advantageous. Because the use of non-primary channels enables the AP 102 to better balance the operation of a wireless network, the channel influencer 104 is configured to convey the advantages that may be seen by the STA 106 in operating within the non-primary channel despite the drawbacks of using a non-primary channel.

[0021] The example STA 106 is a computing device that includes wireless communication circuitry. The STA 106 may be any type of devices that utilizes communication (e.g., a consumer device, a server, a machine, an embedded device, etc.). While a single STA 106 is illustrated in FIG. 1, the environment 100 may include any number and type of STA 106.

[0022] The example channel analyzer 108 receives non-primary channel information from the example channel influencer 104 of the example AP 102 and determines if the STA 106 will accept a request to switch to the non-primary channel. Additionally or alternatively, the channel analyzer 108 may receive non-primary channel information that is not associated with a request (e.g., in a beacon) and may determine if the STA 106 will send a request to switch to a non-primary channel. For example, the channel analyzer 108 may determine that it would be advantageous for the STA 106 to switch to a non-primary channel for communication with another STA while the AP 102 and other devices coupled to the AP 102 communicate in a primary channel.

[0023] According to the illustrated example, the channel analyzer 108 determines if the non-primary channel will be acceptable, advantageous, etc. by comparing information received from the channel influencer 104 about the non-primary channel with operating information about the primary channel. The example channel analyzer 108 determines if the non-primary channel will provide more available time and/or throughput than the primary channel and, if so, determines that the STA 106 will utilize the non-primary channel.

Additionally or alternatively, the STA 106 may perform other analyzes such as, for example, determining if the non-primary channel availability and/or throughput meets a threshold and, if so, accepting a request from the AP 102 to switch to the non-primary channel even if the availability and/or throughput on the non-primary channel is less than the primary channel (e.g., to enable the AP 102 to control and load balance the network). [0024] In operation, the channel influencer 104 of the illustrated example collects information about a non-primary channel and transmits the information to the STA 106 to encourage the STA 106 to switch to the non- primary channel. The channel analyzer 108 analyzes the information from the channel influencer 104 to determine if the non-primary channel will be acceptable, advantageous, etc. If the channel analyzer 108 determines that the non-primary channel will be utilized, the channel analyzer 108 transmits an indication to the AP 102 that the STA 106 will utilize the non-primary channel.

[0025] While an example manner of implementing the AP 102 and the STA 106 are illustrated in FIG. 1, one or more of the elements, processes and/or devices illustrated in FIG. 1 may be combined, divided, re-arranged, omitted, eliminated and/or implemented in any other way. Further, the example channel influencer 104, the example channel analyzer 108, and/or more generally the example AP 102 and/or the STA 106 may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware and/or any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware. Thus, for example, any of the example channel influencer 104, the example channel analyzer 108, and/or more generally the example AP 102 and/or the STA 106 could be implemented by one or more analog or digital circuit(s), logic circuits, programmable processor(s), application specific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)) and/or field programmable logic device(s)

(FPLD(s)). When reading any of the apparatus or system claims of this patent to cover a purely software and/or firmware implementation, at least one of the example channel influencer 104, the example channel analyzer 108, and/or more generally the example AP 102 and/or the STA 106 is/are hereby expressly defined to include a non-transitory computer readable storage device or storage disk such as a memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk (CD), a Blu-ray disk, etc. including the software and/or

firmware. Further still, the example AP 102 and/or the example STA 106 may include one or more elements, processes and/or devices in addition to, or instead of, those illustrated in FIG. 1, and/or may include more than one of any or all of the illustrated elements, processes and devices.

[0026] Flowcharts representative of example machine readable instructions for implementing the AP 102 and/or the STA 106 of FIG. 1 are shown in FIGS. 2-3. In the examples, the machine readable instructions comprise a program for execution by a processor such as the application processor 410 of FIG. 4 and/or the processor 812 shown in the example processor platform 800 discussed below in connection with FIG. 8. The program may be embodied in software stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a hard drive, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a Blu-ray disk, or a memory associated with the processor 812, but the entire program and/or parts thereof could alternatively be executed by a device other than the processor 812 and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware. Further, although the example program is described with reference to the flowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 2-3, many other methods of implementing the example AP 102 and/or the example STA 106. For example, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated, or combined. Additionally or alternatively, any or all of the blocks may be implemented by one or more hardware circuits (e.g., discrete and/or integrated analog and/or digital circuitry, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated circuit (ASIC), a comparator, an operational-amplifier (op- amp), a logic circuit, etc.) structured to perform the corresponding operation without executing software or firmware.

[0027] As mentioned above, the example processes of FIGS. 2-3 may be implemented using coded instructions (e.g., computer and/or machine readable instructions) stored on a non-transitory computer and/or machine readable medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a cache, a random-access memory and/or any other storage device or storage disk in which information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended time periods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarily buffering, and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, the term non-transitory computer readable medium is expressly defined to include any type of computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and to exclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media. "Including" and "comprising" (and all forms and tenses thereof) are used herein to be open ended terms. Thus, whenever a claim lists anything following any form of "include" or "comprise" (e.g., comprises, includes, comprising, including, etc.), it is to be understood that additional elements, terms, etc. may be present without falling outside the scope of the corresponding claim. As used herein, when the phrase "at least" is used as the transition term in a preamble of a claim, it is open-ended in the same manner as the term "comprising" and "including" are open ended.

[0028] The flowchart of FIG. 2 illustrates an example process 200 that may be implemented by machine readable instructions to collect and transmit non-primary channel information. The process 200 begins when the channel influencer 104 determines if a non-primary channel to which the STA 106 is to be requested to switch is idle (block 202). For example, the channel influencer 104 may determine that the non-primary channel is idle when the AP 102 will not be transmitting on the non-primary channel. For example, the AP 102 will not transfer during the physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) duration, which the channel influencer 104 may determine when a clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure is idle for interframe space (IFS) time before the start of the PPDU on the primary channel.

[0029] The example channel influencer 104 determines if an observation period has ended (block 204). For example, the observation period may be a predetermined period of time during which the non-primary channel is to be observed for determining an expected idle time on the non- primary channel. When the observation period has not ended, control returns to block 202 to continue monitoring the non-primary channel idle time.

[0030] When the observation period has ended, the channel influencer 104 will determine from the analysis an amount of idle time for the non- primary channel (block 206). For example, the channel influencer 104 may add the observed idle times, average the observed idle times, etc.

[0031] The example channel influencer 104 then determines a number of STA that will share the non-primary channel (block 208). For example, the channel influencer 104 may determine a number of STA that are already communicating on the non-primary channel and/or may determine a number of STA that are being requested to transfer to the non-primary channel.

[0032] The channel influencer 104 then determines resource unit (RU) limitations for the non-primary channel (block 210). For example, on some non-primary channels, not all RU are available for the STA 106. According to the illustrated example, the channel influencer 104 determines a ratio of RU available for the non-primary channel to the RU for the primary channel. For example, if the primary channel utilizes 242 RU and the non-primary channel only has 106 RU available, the channel influencer 104 may determine the value to be reported as 106/242. Alternatively, the channel influencer 104 may report only the available RU for the non-primary channel (e.g., if the STA 106 and/or the channel analyzer 108 will already know the number of available channels for the primary channel).

[0033] The example channel influencer 104 then determines an amount of time available to the STA 106 on the non-primary channel (block 212). For example, the time available to the STA 106 as the inverse of the channel utilization (e.g., the channel utilization field of a BSS load).

[0034] The example channel influencer 104 then determines proportions of the available time for uplink and downlink (block 214).

According to the illustrated example, the channel influencer 104 determines a ratio of the downlink time to the uplink time. To determine the downlink time, the example channel influencer 104 multiplies the available time by the downlink/uplink ratio identified by the AP 102. To determine the uplink time, the example channel influencer 104 subtracts the downlink/uplink ratio identified by the AP 102 from 1 and multiples the value by the available time. Alternatively, any other calculation for determining uplink and downlink time may be utilized. In addition, the uplink and downlink times may be determined as separate values to be reported, rather than a ratio.

[0035] The example channel influencer 104 then determines air access parameters (block 216). For example, the channel influencer 104 may determine EDCA parameters, CCA thresholds, etc. The example channel influencer 104 then determines transmission formats (block 218). For example, the channel influencer 104 may determine PHY mode, transmission opportunity (TXOP) format, PPDU format, etc.

[0036] The example channel influencer 104 then transmits a request for the STA 106 to change to the non-primary channel (block 220). For example, the channel influencer 104 may transmit a channel switch request identifying a non-primary channel to be utilized by the STA 106.

[0037] The example channel influencer 104 then transmits the collected non-primary channel information to the example STA 106 (block 222). For example, the non-primary channel information may be transmitted in a field(s) of the channel switch request frame, in an element of a BSS load carried in the channel switch request frame, in an element of a BSS load carried in a beacon, etc.

[0038] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example process 300 that may be performed to process non-primary channel information received from the channel influencer 104 at the channel analyzer 108.

[0039] The example process 300 begins at block 302 when the example channel analyzer 108 of the example STA 106 receives a request to change to a non-primary channel from the channel influencer 104 (block 302). The example channel analyzer 108 then (or in combination with the request) receives non-primary channel information sent by the channel influencer 104 (block 304).

[0040] The example channel analyzer 108 then compares the received non-primary channel information with the operating conditions of the primary channel (block 306). For example, the channel analyzer 108 compare available time for the non-primary channel to available time for the primary channel, may compare estimated throughput for the primary channel with estimated throughput for the non-primary channel, etc.

[0041] The example channel analyzer 108 then determines, based on the comparison, if the STA 106 will accept the request to change to the non- primary channel (block 308). For example, the channel analyzer 108 may determine to switch to the non-primary channel if performance indications for the non-primary channel exceed the performance indications for the primary channel, if the performance indications for the non-primary channel exceed the performance indications for the primary channel by a minimum and/or maximum threshold amount, etc. When the example channel analyzer 108 determines that non-primary channel will not be utilized by the STA 106, the process 300 of FIG. 3 ends. Alternatively, the example channel analyzer 108 may transmit a response to the AP 102 indicating the decision not to accept the request to change to the non-primary channel. When the example channel analyzer 108 determines that the non-primary channel will be utilized, the example channel analyzer 108 transmits a response to the AP 102 indicating that the STA 106 will start using the non-primary channel (and the STA 106 begins communicating on the non-primary channel) (block 310). The channel analyzer 108 then causes the STA to switch to the non-primary channel (block 312).

[0042] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a radio architecture 400 in accordance with some embodiments. Radio architecture 400 may include radio front-end module (FEM) circuitry 404, radio IC circuitry 406 and baseband processing circuitry 408. Radio architecture 400 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.

[0043] FEM circuitry 404 may include a WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuitry 404a and a Bluetooth (BT) FEM circuitry 404b. The WLAN FEM circuitry 404a may include a receive signal path comprising circuitry configured to operate on WLAN RF signals received from one or more antennas 401, to amplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the WLAN radio IC circuitry 406a for further processing. The BT FEM circuitry 404b may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on BT RF signals received from one or more antennas 401, to amplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the BT radio IC circuitry 406b for further processing. FEM circuitry 404a may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify WLAN signals provided by the radio IC circuitry 406a for wireless transmission by one or more of the antennas 401. In addition, FEM circuitry 404b may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify BT signals provided by the radio IC circuitry 406b for wireless transmission by the one or more antennas. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, although FEM 404a and FEM 404b 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.

[0044] Radio IC circuitry 406 as shown may include WLAN radio IC circuitry 406a and BT radio IC circuitry 406b. The WLAN radio IC circuitry 406a may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down- convert WLAN RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 404a and provide baseband signals to WLAN baseband processing circuitry 408a. BT radio IC circuitry 406b may in turn include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert BT RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 404b and provide baseband signals to BT baseband processing circuitry 408b. WLAN radio IC circuitry 406a may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert WLAN baseband signals provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuitry 408a and provide WLAN RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 404a for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 401. BT radio IC circuitry 406b may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert BT baseband signals provided by the BT baseband processing circuitry 408b and provide BT RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 404b for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 401. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, although radio IC circuitries 406a and 406b 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.

[0045] Baseband processing circuity 408 may include a WLAN baseband processing circuitry 408a and a BT baseband processing circuitry 408b. The WLAN baseband processing circuitry 408a 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 408a. Each of the WLAN baseband circuitry 408a and the BT baseband circuitry 408b 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 406, and to also generate corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 406. Each of the baseband processing circuitries 408a and 408b may further include physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry, and may further interface with application processor 410 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the radio IC circuitry 406.

[0046] Referring still to FIG. 4, according to the shown embodiment, WLAN-BT coexistence circuitry 413 may include logic providing an interface between the WLAN baseband circuitry 408a and the BT baseband circuitry 408b to enable use cases requiring WLAN and BT coexistence. In addition, a switch 403 may be provided between the WLAN FEM circuitry 404a and the BT FEM circuitry 404b to allow switching between the WLAN and BT radios according to application needs. In addition, although the antennas 401 are depicted as being respectively connected to the WLAN FEM circuitry 404a and the BT FEM circuitry 404b, 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 404a or 404b.

[0047] In some embodiments, the front-end module circuitry 404, the radio IC circuitry 406, and baseband processing circuitry 408 may be provided on a single radio card, such as wireless radio card 402. In some other embodiments, the one or more antennas 401, the FEM circuitry 404 and the radio IC circuitry 406 may be provided on a single radio card. In some other embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 406 and the baseband processing circuitry 408 may be provided on a single chip or integrated circuit (IC), such as IC 412.

[0048] In some embodiments, the wireless radio card 402 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 400 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.

[0049] In some of these multicarrier embodiments, radio architecture 400 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 400 may be configured to transmit and receive signals in accordance with specific communication standards and/or protocols, such as any of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards including, 802.1 ln-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE 802.11-2016, 802.1 ln-2009, 802.1 lac, 802.11ah, 802. Had, 802. Hay and/or 802.1 lax standards and/or proposed specifications for WLANs, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. Radio architecture 400 may also be suitable to transmit and/or receive communications in accordance with other techniques and standards. [0050] In some embodiments, the radio architecture 400 may be configured for high-efficiency Wi-Fi (HEW) communications in accordance with the IEEE 802.1 lax standard. In these embodiments, the radio architecture 400 may be configured to communicate in accordance with an OFDMA technique, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0051] In some other embodiments, the radio architecture 400 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.

[0052] In some embodiments, as further shown in FIG. 4, the BT baseband circuitry 408b may be compliant with a Bluetooth (BT) connectivity standard such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth 7.0 or Bluetooth 5.0, or any other iteration of the Bluetooth Standard. In embodiments that include BT functionality as shown for example in FIG. 4, the radio architecture 400 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 400 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. 4, 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 402, although embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope discrete WLAN and BT radio cards [0053] In some embodiments, the radio-architecture 400 may include other radio cards, such as a cellular radio card configured for cellular (e.g., 6GPP such as LTE, LTE-Advanced or 5G communications).

[0054] In some IEEE 802.1 1 embodiments, the radio architecture 400 may be configured for communication over various channel bandwidths including bandwidths having center frequencies of about 900 MHz, 5.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and bandwidths of about 2MHz, 4 MHz, 5 MHz, 5.5 MHz, 7 MHz, 8 MHz, 10 MHz , 40 MHz, 46 MHz, 50 MHz, 70MHz, 80MHz (with contiguous bandwidths) or 80+80MHz (160MHz) (with non-contiguous bandwidths). In some embodiments, a 620 MHz channel bandwidth may be used. The scope of the embodiments is not limited with respect to the above center frequencies however.

[0055] FIG. 5 illustrates FEM circuitry 500 in accordance with some embodiments. The FEM circuitry 500 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the WLAN and/or BT FEM circuitry 404a/404b (FIG. 4), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

[0056] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 500 may include a TX/RX switch 502 to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry 500 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 500 may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) 506 to amplify received RF signals 503 and provide the amplified received RF signals 507 as an output (e.g., to the radio IC circuitry 406 (FIG. 4)). The transmit signal path of the circuitry 500 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals 509 (e.g., provided by the radio IC circuitry 406), and one or more filters 512, such as band-pass filters (BPFs), low-pass filters (LPFs) or other types of filters, to generate RF signals 515 for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the antennas 401 (FIG. 4)).

[0057] In some dual-mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communication, the FEM circuitry 500 may be configured to operate in either the 5.4 GHz frequency spectrum or the 5 GHz frequency spectrum. In these embodiments, the receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 500 may include a receive signal path duplexer 504 to separate the signals from each spectrum as well as provide a separate LNA 506 for each spectrum as shown. In these

embodiments, the transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 500 may also include a power amplifier 510 and a filter 512, such as a BPF, a LPF or another type of filter for each frequency spectrum and a transmit signal path duplexer 514 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 401 (FIG. 4). In some embodiments, BT communications may utilize the 5.4 GHZ signal paths and may utilize the same FEM circuitry 500 as the one used for WLAN communications.

[0058] FIG. 6 illustrates radio IC circuitry 600 in accordance with some embodiments. The radio IC circuitry 600 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the WLAN or BT radio IC circuitry 406a/1006b (FIG. 4), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

[0059] In some embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 600 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry 600 may include at least mixer circuitry 602, such as, for example, down-conversion mixer circuitry, amplifier circuitry 606 and filter circuitry 608. The transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 600 may include at least filter circuitry 612 and mixer circuitry 614, such as, for example, up-conversion mixer circuitry. Radio IC circuitry 600 may also include synthesizer circuitry 604 for synthesizing a frequency 605 for use by the mixer circuitry 602 and the mixer circuitry 614. The mixer circuitry 602 and/or 614 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. 6 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 620 and/or 614 may each include one or more mixers, and filter circuitries 608 and/or 612 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.

[0060] In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 602 may be configured to down-convert RF signals 507 received from the FEM circuitry 404 (FIG. 4) based on the synthesized frequency 605 provided by synthesizer circuitry 604. The amplifier circuitry 606 may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 608 may include a LPF configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals 607. Output baseband signals 607 may be provided to the baseband processing circuitry 408 (FIG. 4) for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 607 may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 602 may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0061] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 614 may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals 61 1 based on the synthesized frequency 605 provided by the synthesizer circuitry 604 to generate RF output signals 509 for the FEM circuitry 404. The baseband signals 611 may be provided by the baseband processing circuitry 408 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 612. The filter circuitry 612 may include a LPF or a BPF, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0062] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 602 and the mixer circuitry 614 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 604. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 602 and the mixer circuitry 614 may each include two or more mixers each configured for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 602 and the mixer circuitry 614 may be arranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 602 and the mixer circuitry 614 may be configured for super-heterodyne operation, although this is not a requirement. [0063] Mixer circuitry 602 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 507 from FIG. 6 may be down-converted to provide I and Q baseband output signals to be sent to the baseband processor

[0064] 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 (fLO) from a local oscillator or a synthesizer, such as LO frequency 605 of synthesizer 604 (FIG. 6). 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.

[0065] 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 55% 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 55% duty cycle, which may result in a significant reduction is power consumption.

[0066] The RF input signal 507 (FIG. 5) 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 606 (FIG. 6) or to filter circuitry 608 (FIG. 6).

[0067] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 607 and the input baseband signals 611 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 607 and the input baseband signals 611 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.

[0068] 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.

[0069] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 604 may be a fractional -N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+l 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 604 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 604 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 604 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 408 (FIG. 4) or the application processor 410 (FIG. 4) depending on the desired output frequency 605. 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 410.

[0070] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 604 may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency 605, while in other embodiments, the output frequency 605 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 605 may be a LO frequency (fLO).

[0071] FIG. 7 illustrates a functional block diagram of baseband processing circuitry 700 in accordance with some embodiments. The baseband processing circuitry 700 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the baseband processing circuitry 408 (FIG. 4), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable. The baseband processing circuitry 700 may include a receive baseband processor (RX BBP) 702 for processing receive baseband signals 609 provided by the radio IC circuitry 406 (FIG. 4) and a transmit baseband processor (TX BBP) 704 for generating transmit baseband signals 611 for the radio IC circuitry 406. The baseband processing circuitry 700 may also include control logic 706 for coordinating the operations of the baseband processing circuitry 700.

[0072] In some embodiments (e.g., when analog baseband signals are exchanged between the baseband processing circuitry 700 and the radio IC circuitry 406), the baseband processing circuitry 700 may include ADC 710 to convert analog baseband signals 709 received from the radio IC circuitry 406 to digital baseband signals for processing by the RX BBP 702. In these embodiments, the baseband processing circuitry 700 may also include DAC 712 to convert digital baseband signals from the TX BBP 704 to analog baseband signals 711.

[0073] In some embodiments that communicate OFDM signals or OFDMA signals, such as through baseband processor 408a, the transmit baseband processor 704 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 702 may be configured to process received OFDM signals or OFDMA signals by performing an FFT. In some embodiments, the receive baseband processor 702 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.

[0074] Referring back to FIG. 4, in some embodiments, the antennas 401 (FIG. 4) 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 401 may each include a set of phased-array antennas, although embodiments are not so limited.

[0075] Although the radio-architecture 400 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.

[0076] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 800 capable of executing the instructions of FIGS. 2-3 to implement the AP 102 and/or the STA 106 and/or may implement elements of the radio architecture 400 (e.g., the application processor 410, etc.). The processor platform 800 can be, for example, a server, a personal computer, a mobile device (e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, a tablet such as an iPad™), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an Internet appliance, a DVD player, a CD player, a digital video recorder, a Blu-ray player, a gaming console, a personal video recorder, a set top box, or any other type of computing device.

[0077] The processor platform 800 of the illustrated example includes a processor 812. The processor 812 of the illustrated example is hardware. For example, the processor 812 can be implemented by one or more integrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors or controllers from any desired family or manufacturer. The hardware processor may be a semiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device. The example processor 812 includes the example channel influencer 104 and the example channel analyzer 108. Alternatively, the processor 812 may include only one of the channel influencer 104 or the channel analyzer 108.

[0078] The processor 812 of the illustrated example includes a local memory 813 (e.g., a cache). The processor 812 of the illustrated example is in communication with a main memory including a volatile memory 814 and a non-volatile memory 816 via a bus 818. The volatile memory 814 may be implemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM) and/or any other type of random access memory device. The non-volatile memory 816 may be implemented by flash memory and/or any other desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 814, 816 is controlled by a memory controller.

[0079] The processor platform 800 of the illustrated example also includes an interface circuit 820. The interface circuit 820 may be implemented by any type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, a universal serial bus (USB), and/or a PCI express interface.

[0080] In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 822 are connected to the interface circuit 820. The input device(s) 822 permit(s) a user to enter data and/or commands into the processor 812. The input device(s) can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, a microphone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, a touchscreen, a trackpad, a trackball, isopoint and/or a voice recognition system.

[0081] One or more output devices 824 are also connected to the interface circuit 820 of the illustrated example. The output devices 824 can be implemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystal display, a cathode ray tube display (CRT), a touchscreen, a tactile output device, a printer and/or speakers). The interface circuit 820 of the illustrated example, thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chip and/or a graphics driver processor.

[0082] The interface circuit 820 of the illustrated example also includes a communication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, a modem and/or network interface card to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g., computing devices of any kind) via a network 826 (e.g., an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL), a telephone line, coaxial cable, a cellular telephone system, etc.).

[0083] The processor platform 800 of the illustrated example also includes one or more mass storage devices 828 for storing software and/or data. Examples of such mass storage devices 828 include floppy disk drives, hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, RAID systems, and digital versatile disk (DVD) drives.

[0084] The coded instructions 832 of FIGS. 2-3 may be stored in the mass storage device 828, in the volatile memory 814, in the non-volatile memory 816, and/or on a removable tangible computer readable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

[0085] From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the methods and apparatus disclosed herein facilitate the better use of available wireless spectrum by informing STA of the benefits of switching to a second (e.g., non- primary) channel, band, etc.

[0086] Example 1 is a wireless access point device comprising memory and processing circuitry configured to: establish connectivity with a narrow-band wireless station on a primary channel, the narrow-band wireless station operating within a bandwidth less than a full-band of the wireless access point device, monitor a non-primary channel within a portion of the full-band to collect monitoring information, transmit the monitoring information about the non-primary channel to the narrow-band wireless station on the primary channel, and in response to acceptance of the non-primary channel by the narrow-band wireless station, establish connectivity with the narrow-band wireless station on the non-primary channel.

[0087] Example 2 includes the wireless access point device as defined in example 1 , wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes resource allocation information for the non-primary channel.

[0088] Example 3 includes the wireless access point device as defined in one of examples 1-2, wherein the monitoring information about the non- primary channel includes transmission partem information for the non-primary channel.

[0089] Example 4 includes the wireless access point device as defined in one of examples 1-3, wherein the monitoring information about the non- primary channel includes air access method information for the non-primary channel.

[0090] Example 5 includes the wireless access point device as defined in one of examples 1-4, wherein the monitoring information about the non- primary channel is transmitted in a basic service set load element.

[0091] Example 6 includes the wireless access point device as defined in one of examples 1-5, wherein the monitoring information about the non- primary channel includes an indication of target switching time for the narrow-band wireless station on the non-primary channel.

[0092] Example 7 includes the wireless access point device as defined in one of examples 1-6, wherein the monitoring information about the non- primary channel includes an uplink and downlink access pattern on the non- primary channel.

[0093] Example 8 includes the wireless access point device as defined in one of examples 1-7, wherein the monitoring information about the non- primary channel includes a number of wireless stations associated with the non-primary wireless channel.

[0094] Example 9 includes the wireless access point device as defined in one of examples 1-8, wherein memory and processing circuitry are configured to determine the monitoring information about the non-primary channel by monitoring the non-primary channel for idle time during an observation period.

[0095] Example 10 includes the wireless access point device as defined in one of examples 9, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes resource unit limitations for the non-primary channel.

[0096] Example 11 includes the wireless access point device as defined in one of examples 1-10, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes a transmission format for the non-primary channel.

[0097] Example 12 is a method to request non-primary wireless channel utilization, the method comprising: establishing connectivity with a narrow-band wireless station on a primary channel, the narrow-band wireless station operating within a bandwidth less than a full-band of a wireless access point, monitoring a non-primary channel within a portion of the full-band to collect monitoring information, transmitting the monitoring information about the non-primary channel to the narrow-band wireless station on the primary channel, and in response to acceptance of the non-primary channel by the narrow-band wireless station, establishing connectivity with the narrow-band wireless station on the non-primary channel.

[0098] Example 13 includes the method as defined in example 12, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes resource allocation information for the non-primary channel.

[0099] Example 14 includes the method as defined in one of examples 12-13, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes transmission pattern information for the non-primary channel.

[00100] Example 15 includes the method as defined in one of examples 12-14, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes air access method information for the non-primary channel.

[00101] Example 16 includes the method as defined in one of examples 12-15, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel is transmitted in a basic service set load element.

[00102] Example 17 includes the method as defined in one of examples 12-16, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes an indication of target switching time for the narrow-band wireless station on the non-primary channel.

[00103] Example 18 includes the method as defined in one of examples 12-17, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes an uplink and downlink access pattern. [00104] Example 19 includes the method as defined in one of examples 12-18, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes a number of wireless stations associated with the non- primary wireless channel.

[00105] Example 20 includes the method as defined in one of examples 12-19, further including determining the monitoring information about the non-primary channel by monitoring the non-primary channel for idle time during an observation period.

[00106] Example 21 includes the method as defined in one of examples 20, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes resource unit limitations for the non-primary channel.

[00107] Example 22 includes the method as defined in one of examples 12-21, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes a transmission format for the non-primary channel.

[00108] Example 23 is a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least: establish connectivity with a narrow-band wireless station on a primary channel, the narrow-band wireless station operating within a bandwidth less than a full-band of a wireless access point, monitor a non- primary channel within a portion of the full-band to collect monitoring information, transmit the monitoring information about the non-primary channel to the narrow-band wireless station on the primary channel, and in response to acceptance of the non-primary channel by the narrow-band wireless station, establish connectivity with the narrow-band wireless station on the non-primary channel.

[00109] Example 24 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in example 23, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes resource allocation information for the non-primary channel.

[00110] Example 25 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in one of examples 23-24, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes transmission pattern information for the non-primary channel.

[00111] Example 26 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in one of examples 23-25, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes air access method information for the non-primary channel.

[00112] Example 27 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in one of examples 23-26, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel is transmitted in a basic service set load element.

[00113] Example 28 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in one of examples 23-27, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes an indication of target switching time for the narrow-band wireless station on the non- primary channel.

[00114] Example 29 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in one of examples 23-28, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes an uplink and downlink access pattern.

[00115] Example 30 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in one of examples 23-29, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes a number of wireless stations associated with the non-primary wireless channel.

[00116] Example 31 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in one of examples 23-30, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the machine to determine the monitoring information about the non-primary channel by monitoring the non-primary channel for idle time during an observation period.

[00117] Example 32 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in one of examples 31, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes resource unit limitations for the non-primary channel. [00118] Example 33 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in one of examples 23-32, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes a transmission format for the non-primary channel.

[00119] Example 34 is a narrow-band wireless station comprising memory and processing circuitry configured to: establish connectivity with an access point on a primary channel, the narrow-band wireless station operating within a bandwidth less than a full-band of the access point, receive monitoring information about the non-primary channel from the access point on the primary channel, and establish connectivity with the access point on the non-primary channel.

[00120] Example 35 includes the narrow-band wireless station as defined in example 34, wherein the memory and processing circuitry is configured to determine if the monitoring information about the non-primary channel indicates that performance for the narrow-band wireless station on the non-primary channel will exceed performance on the primary channel.

[00121] Example 36 includes the narrow-band wireless station as defined in one of examples 34-35, wherein the memory and processing circuitry is configured to, in response to determining that the narrow-band wireless station will move to the non-primary channel, transmitting a notification of the switching to the non-primary channel to the access point on the primary channel prior to the establishing the connectivity on the non- primary channel.

[00122] Example 37 includes the narrow-band wireless station as defined in one of examples 34-36, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes resource allocation information for the non-primary channel.

[00123] Example 38 includes the narrow-band wireless station as defined in one of examples 34-37, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes transmission partem information for the non-primary channel. [00124] Example 39 includes the narrow-band wireless station as defined in one of examples 34-38, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes air access method information for the non-primary channel.

[00125] Example 40 includes the narrow-band wireless station as defined in one of examples 34-39, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel is received in a basic service set load element.

[00126] Example 41 includes the narrow-band wireless station as defined in one of examples 34-40, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes an indication of target switching time for the narrow-band wireless station on the non-primary channel.

[00127] Example 42 includes the narrow-band wireless station as defined in example 41, wherein the monitoring information about the non- primary channel includes an uplink and downlink access pattern.

[00128] Example 43 includes the narrow-band wireless station as defined in one of examples 34-42, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes a number of wireless stations associated with the non-primary channel.

[00129] Example 44 is a system comprising: a narrow-band wireless station, a wireless access point device to: establish connectivity with the narrow-band wireless station on a primary channel, the narrow-band wireless station operating within a bandwidth less than a full-band of the wireless access point device, monitor a non-primary channel within a portion of the full-band to collect monitoring information, transmit the monitoring information about the non-primary channel to the narrow-band wireless station on the primary channel, and in response to acceptance of the non-primary channel by the narrow-band wireless station, establish connectivity with the narrow-band wireless station on the non-primary channel.

[00130] Example 45 includes the system as defined in example

44, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes resource allocation information for the non-primary channel Example 46 is a wireless access point device comprising: first means for establishing connectivity with a narrow-band wireless station on a primary channel, the narrow-band wireless station operating within a bandwidth less than a full- band of the wireless access point device, second means for monitoring a non- primary channel within a portion of the full-band to collect monitoring information, third means for transmitting the monitoring information about the non-primary channel to the narrow-band wireless station on the primary channel, and fourth means for, in response to acceptance of the non-primary channel by the narrow-band wireless station, establishing connectivity with the narrow-band wireless station on the non-primary channel.

[00131] Example 47 includes the wireless access point device as defined in example 46, wherein the monitoring information about the non- primary channel includes resource allocation information for the non-primary channel.

[00132] Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture have been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the claims of this patent.

Claims

What Is Claimed Is:

1. A wireless access point device comprising memory and processing circuitry configured to:

establish connectivity with a narrow-band wireless station on a primary channel, the narrow-band wireless station operating within a bandwidth less than a full-band of the wireless access point device,

monitor a non-primary channel within a portion of the full-band to collect monitoring information,

transmit the monitoring information about the non-primary channel to the narrow-band wireless station on the primary channel, and

in response to acceptance of the non-primary channel by the narrowband wireless station, establish connectivity with the narrow-band wireless station on the non-primary channel.

2. A wireless access point device as defined in claim 1, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes resource allocation information for the non-primary channel.

3. A wireless access point device as defined in one of claims 1-2, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes transmission pattern information for the non-primary channel.

4. A wireless access point device as defined in one of claims 1-3, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes air access method information for the non-primary channel.

5. A wireless access point device as defined in one of claims 1-4, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel is transmitted in a basic service set load element.

6. A wireless access point device as defined in one of claims 1-5, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes an indication of target switching time for the narrow-band wireless station on the non-primary channel.

7. A wireless access point device as defined in one of claims 1-6, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes an uplink and downlink access partem on the non-primary channel.

8. A wireless access point device as defined in one of claims 1-7, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes a number of wireless stations associated with the non-primary wireless channel.

9. A wireless access point device as defined in one of claims 1-8, wherein memory and processing circuitry are configured to determine the monitoring information about the non-primary channel by monitoring the non-primary channel for idle time during an observation period.

10. A wireless access point device as defined in one of claims 9, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes resource unit limitations for the non-primary channel.

11. A wireless access point device as defined in one of claims 1-10, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes a transmission format for the non-primary channel.

12. A method to request non-primary wireless channel utilization, the method comprising:

establishing connectivity with a narrow-band wireless station on a primary channel, the narrow-band wireless station operating within a bandwidth less than a full-band of a wireless access point,

monitoring a non-primary channel within a portion of the full-band to collect monitoring information,

transmitting the monitoring information about the non-primary channel to the narrow-band wireless station on the primary channel, and

in response to acceptance of the non-primary channel by the narrowband wireless station, establishing connectivity with the narrow-band wireless station on the non-primary channel.

13. A method as defined in claim 12, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes resource allocation information for the non-primary channel.

14. A method as defined in one of claims 12-13, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes transmission partem information for the non-primary channel.

15. A method as defined in one of claims 12-14, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes air access method information for the non-primary channel.

16. A method as defined in one of claims 12-15, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel is transmitted in a basic service set load element.

17. A method as defined in one of claims 12-16, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes an indication of target switching time for the narrow-band wireless station on the non-primary channel.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

establish connectivity with a narrow-band wireless station on a primary channel, the narrow-band wireless station operating within a bandwidth less than a full-band of a wireless access point,

19. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 18, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes resource allocation information for the non-primary channel.

20. A narrow-band wireless station comprising memory and processing circuitry configured to:

establish connectivity with an access point on a primary channel, the narrow-band wireless station operating within a bandwidth less than a full-band of the access point,

receive monitoring information about the non-primary channel from the access point on the primary channel, and

establish connectivity with the access point on the non-primary channel.

21. A narrow-band wireless station as defined in claim 20, wherein the memory and processing circuitry is configured to determine if the monitoring information about the non-primary channel indicates that performance for the narrow-band wireless station on the non-primary channel will exceed performance on the primary channel.

22. A system comprising:

a narrow-band wireless station,

a wireless access point device to:

establish connectivity with the narrow-band wireless station on a primary channel, the narrow-band wireless station operating within a bandwidth less than a full-band of the wireless access point device, monitor a non-primary channel within a portion of the full-band to collect monitoring information,

23. A system as defined in claim 22, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes resource allocation information for the non-primary channel

24. A wireless access point device comprising:

first means for establishing connectivity with a narrow-band wireless station on a primary channel, the narrow-band wireless station operating within a bandwidth less than a full-band of the wireless access point device,

second means for monitoring a non-primary channel within a portion of the full-band to collect monitoring information,

third means for transmitting the monitoring information about the non- primary channel to the narrow-band wireless station on the primary channel, and fourth means for, in response to acceptance of the non-primary channel by the narrow-band wireless station, establishing connectivity with the narrowband wireless station on the non-primary channel.

25. A wireless access point device as defined in claim 24, wherein the monitoring information about the non-primary channel includes resource allocation information for the non-primary channel.