Wakeup radio (WUR) packet preamble design

An apparatus, comprising:

• a network interface device associated with a first communication device, wherein the network interface device comprises one or more integrated circuit (IC) devices configured to:
• determine a data rate for a wakeup packet body of a wakeup packet,
• select a sync portion for the wakeup packet from a set of multiple candidate sync portions based on the determined data rate, wherein the multiple candidate sync portions in the set are configured to indicate respective data rates, and wherein each candidate sync portion comprises a respective plurality of on-off keying-modulated (OOK-modulated) sync symbols;
• generate a first portion of the wakeup packet, wherein the first portion of the wakeup packet corresponds to a wireless local area network (WLAN) legacy preamble of the wakeup packet, and wherein the first portion spans a first frequency bandwidth,
• generate a second portion of the wakeup packet, wherein the second portion of the wakeup packet spans a second bandwidth that is less than the first bandwidth, and wherein:
• generating the second portion of the wakeup packet includes i) generating the selected sync portion to indicate to a second communication device the determined data rate of the wakeup packet body, and ii) generating the wakeup packet body according to the determined data rate, wherein generating the selected sync portion includes selecting each sync symbol in the selected sync portion from a set including a) a non-zero energy sequence and b) a zero energy sequence to enable the second communication device to:
• detect the sync portion based on i) one or more respective autocorrelations, generated at the second communication device, between expected adjacent sync symbols corresponding to the non-zero energy sequence and ii) one or more energy levels, measured at the second communication device, of expected sync symbols corresponding to the zero energy sequence, and
• determine a symbol timing using the one or more respective autocorrelations;
• wherein the one or more IC devices are further configured to transmit the wakeup packet.

A method, performed by a wakeup radio (WUR) of a communication device, for processing a wakeup packet, wherein the wakeup packet includes i) a first portion having a wireless local area network (WLAN) legacy preamble that spans a first frequency bandwidth, and ii) a second portion that follows in time the first portion and that spans a second bandwidth narrower than the first bandwidth, and wherein the second portion includes i) a sync portion having a plurality of sync symbols, and ii) a wakeup packet body, the method comprising:

• calculating, at the WUR, one or more correlations corresponding to one or more sync symbols included in the sync portion, wherein the sync portion is modulated according to on-off keying (OOK), wherein each sync symbol is selected from a set consisting of a) a non-zero energy sequence, and b) a zero energy sequence, and wherein calculating the one or more correlations comprises:
• generating, at the WUR, one or more respective autocorrelations between expected adjacent sync symbols corresponding to the non-zero energy sequence, and
• measuring, at the WUR, one or more energy levels of expected sync symbols corresponding to the zero energy sequence;
• detecting, at the WUR, the sync portion of the wakeup packet using the one or more respective generated autocorrelations and the one or more measured energy levels;
• determining, at the WUR, that the detected sync portion corresponds to a matching sync portion from a set of candidate sync portions that respectively correspond to different data rates of the wakeup packet body;
• determining, at the WUR, a data rate according to which the wakeup packet body was transmitted based on the determined matching sync portion;
• determining, at the WUR, a symbol timing using the one or more respective generated autocorrelations;
• and
• processing, at the WUR, the wakeup packet body based on the determined symbol timing and in accordance with the determined data rate.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a wakeup radio WUR associated with a wireless local area network (WLAN) network interface device, wherein the WUR comprises one or more integrated circuit (IC) devices configured to:
• process a wakeup packet, wherein the wakeup packet includes i) a first portion having a WLAN legacy preamble that spans a first frequency bandwidth, and ii) a second portion that follows in time the first portion and that spans a second bandwidth narrower than the first bandwidth, and wherein the second portion includes i) a sync portion having a plurality of sync symbols and being modulated according to on-off keying (OOK), and ii) a wakeup packet body, wherein processing the wakeup packet includes:
• calculating one or more correlations corresponding to one or more sync symbols included in the sync portion, wherein each sync symbol is selected from a set consisting of i) a non-zero energy sequence, and ii) a zero energy sequence, and wherein calculating the one or more correlations comprises:
• generating, at the WUR, one or more respective autocorrelations between expected adjacent sync symbols corresponding to the non-zero energy sequence, and
• measuring, at the WUR, one or more energy levels of expected sync symbols corresponding to the zero energy sequence,
• detecting the sync portion of the wakeup packet using the one or more respective generated autocorrelations and the one or more measured energy levels,
• determining that the detected sync portion corresponds to a matching sync portion from a set of candidate sync portions that respectively correspond to different data rates of the wakeup packet body,
• determining a data rate according to which the wakeup packet body was transmitted based on the determined matching sync portion,
• determining a symbol timing using the one or more respective generated autocorrelations, and
• processing the wakeup packet body based on the determined symbol timing and in accordance with the determined data rate.