Control channel in WLAN OFDMA

A wireless access point, comprising:

• a wireless interface configured to communicate using a plurality of wireless channels;
• and
• one or more processors communicatively coupled to the wireless interface and configured to:
• assign each of a plurality of wireless communication channels to a corresponding plurality of wireless devices, wherein each of the plurality of wireless communication channels includes a subset of a plurality of tones different than subsets associated with other ones of the plurality of wireless communication channels;
• designate a common control channel for use by the plurality of wireless devices, wherein the common control channel includes one or more tones of the plurality of tones different than the subsets associated with the plurality of wireless communication channels;
• transmit data to one of the plurality of wireless devices via its corresponding wireless communication channel;
• and
• transmit control information intended for at least one of the plurality of wireless devices via the common control channel at least partially concurrently with the transmitting the data to the one of the plurality of wireless devices,
• wherein the one or more tones of the plurality of tones designated for the common control channel is situated at a center of the plurality of tones, and
• wherein the control information transmitted on the common control channel is coded with a lower modulation coding scheme (MSC) than that of the data transmitted on the plurality of wireless communication channels,
• wherein the control information comprises uplink (UL) resource unit (RU) assignment information for multi-user acknowledgement for the plurality of wireless devices, and
• wherein the control information is transmitted using a control information message and wherein the control information message includes:
• a media access control header,
• first control data for the least one of the plurality of wireless devices,
• second control data for another one of the plurality of wireless devices, and
• an error-detecting code.

A wireless device, comprising:

• a wireless interface configured to communicate using a plurality of wireless communication channels;
• and
• one or more processors communicatively coupled to the wireless interface and configured to:
• receive data packets from a wireless access point via a first channel of the plurality of wireless communication channels, wherein the first channel includes one or more tones of a plurality of tones and is assigned for exclusive use by the wireless device;
• and
• receive control information, at least partially concurrently with the receiving the data packets, from the wireless access point via a separate control channel, wherein the separate control channel is common to at least one additional wireless device and includes one or more tones of the plurality of tones different than the one or more tones of the first channel;
• and
• determine, using the received control information, uplink (UL) resource unit (RU) assignment information for multi-user acknowledgement for the wireless device, a transmission power indication for the wireless device, center frequency offset information for the wireless device, and RU assignment information for the wireless device,
• wherein the control information is received using a control information message and wherein the control information message includes:
• a media access control header,
• first control data for the wireless device, and
• second control data for another wireless device.