Physical layer (PHY) data unit format for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)

A wireless communication device, comprising:

• a network interface device associated with a first communication device, wherein the network interface device is implemented on one or more integrated circuit (IC) devices, and wherein the one or more IC devices are configured to:
• determine that a PHY data unit is to be transmitted according to a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, and
• generate a PHY data portion of the PHY data unit, comprising:
• generating one or more PHY protocol service data units (PSDUs), and
• in response to determining that the PHY data unit is to be transmitted according to the HARQ process, individually encoding PSDUs of the one or more PSDUs;
• wherein the one or more IC devices are further configured to:
• generate a PHY preamble, comprising:
• generating a first signal field in the PHY preamble, and
• in response to determining that the PHY data unit is to be transmitted according to the HARQ process:
• including in the first signal field an indicator to indicate that the PHY preamble includes a second signal field with HARQ information regarding the PHY data unit wherein the indicator is also configurable to indicate that the PHY preamble does not include the second signal field, and
• generating the second signal field to include one or more indications of one or more durations of the one or more respective PSDUs within the PHY data portion, wherein the second signal field is separate from the first signal field.

A method for processing a physical layer (PHY) data unit in a wireless local area network (WLAN), the method comprising:

• receiving, at a communication device, the PHY data unit via a wireless communication channel;
• analyzing, at the communication device, a first signal field in a PHY preamble of the PHY data unit to determine that the PHY preamble includes a second signal field with hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) information regarding the PHY data unit wherein an indicator in the first signal field indicates whether the PHY preamble includes the second signal field;
• in response to determining that the PHY preamble includes the second signal field, analyzing, at the communication device, the second signal field to determine one or more durations of one or more respective PHY protocol service data units (PSDUs) within a PHY data portion of the PHY data unit;
• and
• using, at the communication device, the one or more durations of the one or more respective PSDUs to decode information included in at least one of the one or more PSDUs according to a HARQ process.

A wireless communication device, comprising:

• a network interface device associated with a first communication device, wherein the network interface device is implemented on one or more integrated circuit (IC) devices, and wherein the one or more IC devices are configured to:
• receive a physical layer (PHY) data unit via a wireless communication channel of a wireless local area network,
• analyze a first signal field in a PHY preamble of the PHY data unit to determine that the PHY preamble includes a second signal field with hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) information regarding the PHY data unit, wherein an indicator in the first signal field indicates whether the PHY preamble includes the second signal field,
• in response to determining that the PHY preamble includes the second signal field, analyze the second signal field to determine one or more durations of one or more respective PHY protocol service data units (PSDUs) within a PHY data portion of the PHY data unit, and
• use the one or more durations of the one or more respective PSDUs to decode information included in at least one of the one or more PSDUs according to a HARQ process.