Signaling format for wlans
AssigneeBroadcom Corporation
InventorsJason A. Trachewsky, George Kondylis, Amit G. Bagchi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for wireless communication begins by determining whether legacy devices are within a proximal region of the wireless communication. The method continues, when at least one legacy device is within the proximal region, formatting a frame to include: a legacy preamble; a signal field; an extended preamble; at least one additional signal field; at least one service field; an inter frame gap; and a data field.
Claims18
A method for wireless communication in a network that includes non-legacy devices, the method comprises:
- determining whether a legacy device is within a proximal region of the wireless communication;
- when the legacy device is not within the proximal region, format a frame to include:
- a native preamble;
- at least one signal field;
- at least one service field;
- an inter frame gap;
- and
- a data field;
- wherein the at least one signal field comprises at least one of:
- rate/mode information;
- length information;
- last data unit in the frame indication;
- data unit acknowledgment requirement;
- and
- error checking capability;
- when the legacy device is within the proximal region, formatting a frame to include:
- a first portion having a legacy preamble that is readable by the legacy device in accordance with a legacy frame format;
- a second portion having an extended preamble that is unreadable by the legacy device in accordance with the legacy frame format and is readable by the non-legacy devices in accordance with a non-legacy frame format;
- a third portion that includes at least one of:
- at least one service field;
- an inter frame gap;
- and
- a data field.
A radio frequency (RF) transmitter for use in communicating with legacy devices that operate in accordance with a first frame format and non-legacy devices that communicate in accordance with a second frame format, the RF transmitter comprises:
- a baseband processing module operably coupled to convert outbound data into an outbound symbol stream;
- and
- a transmitter section operably coupled to convert the outbound symbol stream into outbound RF signals, wherein the baseband processing module is operably coupled to:
- determine whether at least one of the legacy devices is within a proximal region of the wireless communication;
- when the at least one of the legacy devices is not within the proximal region, format a frame in the second frame format to include:
- a native preamble;
- at least one signal field;
- at least one service field;
- an inter frame gap;
- and a data field;
- wherein the at least one signal field comprises at least one of:
- rate/mode information;
- length information;
- last data unit in the frame indication;
- data unit acknowledgment requirement;
- and
- error checking capability;
- when the at least one of the legacy devices is within the proximal region, formatting a frame to include:
- a first portion having a legacy preamble that is readable by the legacy device in accordance with a legacy frame format;
- a second portion having an extended preamble that is unreadable by the legacy device in accordance with the legacy frame format and is readable by the non-legacy devices in accordance with a non-legacy frame format;
- a third portion that includes at least one of:
- at least one service field;
- an inter frame gap;
- and
- a data field.
A radio frequency (RF) transmitter for use in communicating with legacy devices that operate in accordance with a first frame format and non-legacy devices that communicate in accordance with a second frame format, the RF transmitter comprises:
- a baseband processing module operably coupled to convert outbound data into an outbound symbol stream;
- and
- a transmitter section operably coupled to convert the outbound symbol stream into outbound RF signals, wherein the baseband processing module is operably coupled to:
- determine whether at least one of the legacy devices is within a proximal region of the wireless communication;
- when the at least one of the legacy devices is not within the proximal region, format a frame in the second frame format to include:
- a native preamble;
- at least one signal field;
- at least one service field;
- an inter frame gap;
- and a data field;
- wherein the at least one signal field comprises at least one of:
- rate/mode information;
- length information;
- last data unit in the frame indication;
- data unit acknowledgment requirement;
- and
- error checking capability;
- when the at least one of the legacy devices is within the proximal region, formatting a frame to include:
- a first portion having a legacy preamble that is readable by the legacy device in accordance with a legacy frame format;
- a second portion having an extended preamble that is unreadable by the legacy device in accordance with the legacy frame format and is readable by the non-legacy devices in accordance with a non-legacy frame format;
- a third portion that includes at least one of:
- at least one service field;
- an inter frame gap;
- and
- a data field;
- wherein the first frame format and the second frame format are each 802.11 compliant formats.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.