Systems for communicating using multiple frequency bands in a wireless network

A method comprising:

• receiving, in a first frequency band by a communication device from a coordinating device, an indication of a first time resource and/or first frequency resource for the communication device to identify one or more neighbor communication devices that are capable of communicating using a second frequency band, the first frequency band being associated with a first beamwidth and the second frequency band being associated with a second beamwidth, the first beamwidth being greater than the second beamwidth;
• identifying, by the communication device using the indicated first time resource and/or first frequency resource, one or more neighboring communication devices that are capable of communicating using the second frequency band;
• transmitting, in the first frequency band by the communication device, link availability information of the one or more neighboring communication devices that are capable of communicating using the second frequency band to the coordinating device;
• and
• receiving, in the first frequency band by the communication device, a transmission schedule to indicate a second time resource and/or second frequency resource in which the communication device can communicate with at least one of the one or more neighbor communications devices using the second frequency band, the transmission schedule being based at least in part on the transmitted link availability information.

An apparatus comprising:

• transmitter circuitry configured to transmit, in a first frequency band, an indication of a first time resource and/or first frequency resource for a communication device to identify one or more neighbor communication devices that are capable of communicating using a second frequency band, the first frequency band being associated with a first beamwidth and the second frequency band being associated with a second beamwidth, the first beamwidth being greater than the second beamwidth;
• and
• receiver circuitry coupled to the transmitter circuitry, wherein the receiver circuitry is configured to receive, in the first frequency band, link availability information for the second frequency band based at least in part on the one or more neighbor communication devices identified as being capable of communicating using the second frequency band;
• wherein the transmitter circuitry is further configured to transmit a transmission schedule to indicate to the communication device a second time resource and/or second frequency resource in which the communication device can communicate with at least one of the one or more neighbor communications devices using the second frequency band, the transmission schedule being based at least in part on the received link availability information.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a physical (PHY) layer configured to transmit and/or receive signals to or from at least one other device of a wireless network using a first and a second frequency band associated with a first and a second beamwidth, respectively, the first beamwidth being greater than the second beamwidth;
• a common reference frequency oscillator to synthesize signals in the first frequency band and the second frequency band;
• and
• a medium access control (MAC) layer coupled to the PHY layer to selectively employ the PHY layer to transmit and/or receive first signals using the first frequency band to facilitate initial communication between the apparatus and selected one(s) of the at least one other device including initial communication of control information for coarse configuration by the apparatus and/or by the selected one(s) of the at least one other device to wirelessly communicate with each other, to subsequently and selectively employ the PHY layer to transmit and/or receive second signals using the second frequency band to facilitate further communication between the apparatus and the selected one(s) of the at least one other device, including further communication of control information for finer configuration by the apparatus and/or by the selected one(s) of the at least one other device to wirelessly communicate with each other.