High data throughput WLAN frame format

A method for high throughput transmission by a transmitter within a wireless local area network comprising:

• generating a first preamble segment of a frame by the transmitter, wherein the first preamble segment includes at least a first training sequence and a second training sequence in accordance with legacy lower data throughput standards and a signal field including information based on a transmission rate and a length of a variable length data segment;
• generating a second preamble segment of the frame by the transmitter, wherein the second preamble segment includes a high data throughput training sequence and a channel format indication field to identify one of a plurality of high throughput channel formats;
• and
• generating the variable length data segment of the frame by the transmitter in accordance with the identified one of the plurality of high throughput channel formats.

A wireless communication device for high throughput communications within a wireless local area network comprises:

• a receiver section coupled to convert an inbound radio frequency (RF) signal into an inbound digital baseband signal, wherein a frame format of the inbound RF signal includes:
• a first preamble segment that includes a first training sequence in accordance with legacy lower data throughput standards and a signal field that indicates high throughput channel operations are supported;
• a second preamble segment that includes a high data throughput training sequence and a channel format indication field to identify one of a plurality of high throughput channel formats;
• and
• a variable length data segment formatted in accordance with the identified one of the plurality of high throughput channel formats;
• a baseband processing module coupled to:
• interpret the first training sequence to identify the inbound RF signal;
• determine whether high throughput channel operations are supported;
• when high throughput channel operations are supported, interpret the high throughput training sequence to establish a high throughput communication, wherein the interpreting the high throughput training sequence to establish a high throughput communication comprises:
• processing the channel format identification field to determine a channel configuration;
• reconfiguring at least one of the baseband processing module and the RF section based on the channel configuration to produce a reconfigured state;
• and
• in the reconfigured state, processing the high throughput training sequence;
• and
• convert contents of the variable length data segment into inbound data in accordance with the high throughput channel format.