Non-primary channel transmissions in wireless network

An access point station (AP) for transmitting data for a station (STA) in a communication channel bandwidth of wireless local area network (WLAN), the wireless communication channel bandwidth including a set of adjacent frequency channels of uniform bandwidth that comprise a primary channel assigned to the AP and a plurality of secondary channels, the AP comprising:

• a processing unit;
• a transmitter and receiver coupled to the processing unit for sending and receiving signals in the WLAN;
• and
• a non-transient storage storing executable instructions that, when executed by the processing unit, cause the AP to:
• send, when the primary channel is sensed by the AP to be busy, a request frame for a STA on one or more of the secondary channels that are sensed by the AP to be idle;
• monitor for a response frame on each of the one or more of the secondary channels;
• and
• send a data transmission for the STA using a data channel that comprises one or more of the secondary channels on which the AP received a response frame from the STA.

A non-transient computer readable medium storing computer implementable instructions for configuring a transmit device for transmitting data for a receive device in a communication channel bandwidth of wireless network, the wireless communication channel bandwidth including a set of adjacent frequency channels of uniform bandwidth that comprise a primary channel assigned to the transmit device and a plurality of secondary channels, the instructions including instructions for:

• sending, when the primary channel is sensed by the transmit device to be busy, a request frame for a receive device on one or more of the secondary channels that are sensed by the transmit device to be idle;
• monitoring, by the transmit device, for a response frame on each of the one or more of the secondary channels;
• and
• sending, by the transmit device, a data transmission for the receive device using a data channel that comprises one or more of the secondary channels on which the transmit device received a response frame from the receive device.

A method for receiving data sent by transmit device in a wireless communication channel bandwidth of a wireless network, the wireless communication channel bandwidth including a set of adjacent frequency channels of uniform bandwidth that comprise a primary channel for the transmit device and a plurality of secondary channels, the method comprising:

• receiving, at a receive device, a request frame on one or more of the secondary channels;
• sending, by the receive device, a response frame on at least some of the one or more of the secondary channels;
• and
• receiving, by the receive device, a data transmission through a data channel that includes the secondary channels on which the receive device sent response frames, the data channel excluding the primary channel.