# US 10,873,652 B2 · Signal field encoding in a high efficiency wireless local area network (WLAN) data unit

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 10,873,652 B2
- Document ID: US10873652B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/558,270
- Filed: 2019-09-02
- Published: 2019-12-19
- Granted: 2020-12-22
- Earliest claimed: 2015-12-11
- Assignees: NXP USA, Inc.
- Applicants: NXP USA, Inc.
- Inventors: Yakun Sun; Hongyuan Zhang
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10873652B2

## CPC

- H04L 69/22: Parsing or analysis of headers
- H04L 1/0003: {by switching between different modulation schemes}
- H04L 1/004: {by using forward error control (H04L1/0618 takes precedence; coding, decoding or code conversion, for error detection or correction H03M13/00)}
- H04L 1/0059: {Convolutional codes}
- H04L 1/0069: {Puncturing patterns}
- H04L 5/0064: {Rate requirement of the data, e.g. scalable bandwidth, data priority}
- H04W 72/0453: Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
- H04L 27/2601: {Multicarrier modulation systems}
- H04L 69/323: in the physical layer [OSI layer 1]
- H04W 84/12: WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

In a method of generating a field of a physical layer (PHY) preamble of a data unit, information bits to be included in the field are generated. Respective sets of tail bits are appended after respective sets of information bits corresponding to respective ones of a plurality of groups of subfields of the field, each group including one or more of the subfields of the field, to generate an encoder input bit stream. One or more padding bits are added to the encoder input stream to generate a padded encoder input bit stream, the one or more padding bits to ensure an integer number of puncturing blocks in an encoded output bit stream. The padded encoder input bit stream is encoded to generate the encoded output bit stream. The field is generated to include at least some bits from the encoded output bit stream.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of generating and transmitting a physical layer (PHY) data unit, the method comprising:
generating, at a communication device, a PHY preamble of the PHY data unit, including:
generating an information bit stream to be included in a field of the PHY preamble, the information bit stream including information for decoding a PHY data portion of the PHY data unit,
appending respective sets of tail bits after respective sets of information bits of the information bit stream such that at least some of the respective sets of tail bits are between at least some of the respective sets of information bits, the respective sets of information bits corresponding to respective ones of a plurality of groups of subfields of the field, each of at least some of the groups including multiple subfields of the field,
after appending the respective sets of tail bits, continually encoding, with an encoder of the communication device, the information bit stream, including continually encoding the plurality of groups of subfields of the field having the at least some of the respective sets of tail bits between the at least some of the respective sets of information bits, and
after continually encoding the information bit stream, generating the field to include at least some bits from the information bit stream;
generating, at the communication device, the PHY data portion of the PHY data unit; and
transmitting, by the communication device, the PHY data unit.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein continually encoding the information bit stream comprises continually encoding the information bit stream to generate a plurality of blocks of encoded bits respectively corresponding to the plurality of groups of subfields of the field.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein generating the PHY preamble of the PHY data unit further comprises:
after continually encoding the information bit stream, puncturing, by the communication device, the information bit stream.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein:
continually encoding the information bit stream comprises continually encoding the information bit stream to correspond to a first coding rate; and
puncturing the information bit stream comprises applying a puncturing pattern to the information bit stream to correspond to a second coding rate greater than the first coding rate.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein generating the PHY preamble of the PHY data unit further comprises:
selecting, at the communication device, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for modulating and encoding the field, the MCS selected from a plurality of MCSs corresponding to different coding rates including at least the first coding rate and the second coding rate.

### Claim 6 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein generating the PHY preamble of the PHY data unit further comprises:
prior to continually encoding the input bit stream, adding, by the communication device, one or more padding bits to the information bit stream, including adding respective sets of padding bits after the respective sets of information bits corresponding to the respective ones of the plurality of groups of subfields of the field, wherein the one or more padding bits ensure an integer number of puncturing blocks in respective sets of encoded information bits corresponding to respective ones of the plurality of groups of subfields of the field.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein generating the PHY preamble of the PHY data unit further comprises:
adding one or more padding bits after information bits corresponding to a last one of the plurality of groups of subfields of the field.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein:
the data unit is a multi-user data unit that includes respective data for multiple intended receivers of the data unit,
the field includes (i) a common block subfield that includes information for all of the multiple intended receivers of the data unit and (ii) one or more user-specific block subfields that respectively include respective information for each of the multiple intended receivers of the data unit, and
the plurality of groups of subfields of the field comprises (i) a first group that includes the common block subfield and (ii) one or more second groups that include the one or more user-specific block subfields, wherein at least one of the or more second groups includes multiple ones of the user-specific subfields.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein continually encoding the information bit stream comprises:
after the respective sets of tail bits have been appended, continually encoding the information bit stream according to a binary convolutional code (BCC) with a BCC encoder.

### Claim 10

A communication device, comprising:
a wireless network interface device having i) one or more integrated circuit (IC) devices, and ii) an encoder circuit implemented on the one or more IC devices;
wherein the one or more IC devices are configured to generate a physical layer (PHY) preamble of a PHY data unit, including:
generating an information bit stream to be included in a field of the PHY preamble, the information bit stream including information for decoding a PHY data portion of the PHY data unit,
appending respective sets of tail bits after respective sets of information bits of the information bit stream such that at least some of the respective sets of tail bits are between at least some of the respective sets of information bits, the respective sets of information bits corresponding to respective ones of a plurality of groups of subfields of the field, each of at least some of the groups including multiple subfields of the field,
after appending the respective sets of tail bits, continually encoding, with the encoder circuit, the information bit stream, including continually encoding the plurality of groups of subfields of the field having the at least some of the respective sets of tail bits between the at least some of the respective sets of information bits, and
after continually encoding the information bit stream, generating the field to include at least some bits from the information bit stream; and
wherein the one or more IC devices are further configured to:
generate the PHY data portion of the PHY data unit, and
control the wireless network interface device to transmit the PHY data unit.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The communication device of claim 10, wherein the one or more IC devices are configured to continually encode, with the encoder circuit, the information bit stream to generate a plurality of blocks of encoded bits respectively corresponding to the plurality of groups of subfields of the field.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The communication device of claim 10, wherein the wireless network interface device further comprises a puncturing circuit implemented on the one or more IC devices, the puncturing circuit configured to:
after the information bit stream has been continually encoded by the encoder circuit, puncture the information bit stream.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The communication device of claim 12, wherein:
the encoder circuit is configured to continually encode the information bit stream to correspond to a first coding rate; and
the puncturing circuit is configured to, after the information bit stream has been continually encoded by the encoder circuit, apply a puncturing pattern to the information bit stream to correspond to a second coding rate greater than the first coding rate.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The communication device of claim 13, wherein the one or more IC devices are further configured to:
select a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for modulating and encoding the field, the MCS selected from a plurality of MCSs corresponding to different coding rates including at least the first coding rate and the second coding rate.

### Claim 15 (depends on 12)

The communication device of claim 12, wherein the one or more IC devices are further configured to:
prior to continually encoding the input bit stream with the encoder circuit, add one or more padding bits to the information bit stream, including adding respective sets of padding bits after the respective sets of information bits corresponding to the respective ones of the plurality of groups of subfields of the field, wherein the one or more padding bits ensure an integer number of puncturing blocks in respective sets of encoded information bits corresponding to respective ones of the plurality of groups of subfields of the field.

### Claim 16 (depends on 10)

The communication device of claim 10, wherein the one or more IC devices are further configured to:
add one or more padding bits after information bits corresponding to a last one of the plurality of groups of subfields of the field.

### Claim 17 (depends on 10)

The communication device of claim 10, wherein:
the data unit is a multi-user data unit that includes respective data for multiple intended receivers of the data unit,
the field includes (i) a common block subfield that includes information for all of the multiple intended receivers of the data unit and (ii) one or more user-specific block subfields that respectively include respective information for each of the multiple intended receivers of the data unit, and
the plurality of groups of subfields of the field comprises (i) a first group that includes the common block subfield and (ii) one or more second groups that include the one or more user-specific block subfields, wherein at least one of the or more second groups includes multiple ones of the user-specific subfields.

### Claim 18 (depends on 10)

The communication device of claim 10, wherein the encoder circuit comprises:
a binary convolutional code (BCC) encoder configured to, after the respective sets of tail bits have been appended, continually encode the information bit stream according to a BCC code.

### Claim 19 (depends on 10)

The communication device of claim 10, wherein the wireless network interface device further comprises one or more transceivers implemented on the one or more IC devices.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The communication device of claim 19, further comprising:
one or more antennas coupled to the one or more transceivers.