Medium access protection and bandwidth negotiation in a wireless local area network

1. A method for simultaneous communication in a wireless local area network that includes a first communication device and multiple second communication devices, the method comprising:

allocating, by the first communication device, respective sub-channels of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) channel to two or more of the second communication devices;

transmitting a first control frame to the two or more second communication devices, wherein the first control frame indicates that the two or more second communication devices are requested to transmit a second control frame to the first communication device;

receiving, at the first communication device from at least some of the two or more second communication devices, respective second control frames, wherein the second control frames are transmitted by the at least some of the two or more second communication devices in the respective sub-channels allocated to the at least some of the two or more second communication devices, and wherein a second control frame transmitted by a particular second communication device indicates that at least a portion of the sub-channel allocated to the second communication device is available, and

transmitting an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data unit, wherein the OFDMA data unit includes respective OFDM data units transmitted to the at least some of the two or more second communication devices, wherein each OFDM data unit is transmitted to a particular one of the second communication devices in the at least the portion of the sub-channel allocated to the second communication device and indicated to be available by the second control frame received from the second communication device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing, to the two or more second communication devices, indications of the respective sub-channels allocated to the two or more second communication devices.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein providing, to the two or more second communication devices, the indication of the respective sub-channels allocated to the two or more second communication devices comprises providing the indications prior to transmission of the first control frame to the two or more second communication devices.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein:

the first control frame is a request to send (RTS) frame, and

the second control frame is a clear to send (CTS) frame.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein providing, to the two or more second communication devices, the indication of the respective sub-channels allocated to the two or more second communication devices comprises including the indications in the first control frame transmitted to the two or more second communication devices.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first control frame further indicates one of (i) that static bandwidth allocation is being utilized for transmission of the OFDMA data unit or (ii) that dynamic bandwidth negotiation is being utilized for transmission of the OFDMA data unit.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein when the first control frame indicates that dynamic bandwidth is being utilized, the method further comprises determining that only a portion of the sub-channel allocated to a particular second communication device in based on receiving the second control frame, from the particular second communication device, when the second control frame received from the second communication device occupies only the portion of the sub-channel allocated to the second communication device.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising when it is determined that only the portion of the sub-channel allocated to the particular second communication device is available, including, in the OFDMA data unit

(i) an OFDM data unit transmitted to the particular second communication device in only the available portion of the sub-channel allocated to the second communication device and

(ii) a contention free end (CF-end) frame transmitted in an unavailable portion of the sub-channel allocated to the second communication device.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein allocating the respective sub-channels includes allocating, to two second communication devices two sub-channels having bandwidths less than a smallest bandwidth of the wireless local area network, such that the two second communication device share a channel having the smallest bandwidth of the wireless local area network.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising including, in the first control frame, an indication corresponding to one of the two second communication devices to indicate that the one of the two second communication device is requested to transmit the second control frame using the entire bandwidth of the channel shared by the two second communication devices.

11. A first communication device, comprising:

a network interface configured to

allocate respective sub-channels of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) channel to two or more second communication devices;

transmit a first control frame to the two or more second communication devices, wherein the first control frame indicates that the two or more second communication devices are requested to transmit a second control frame to the first communication device;

receive, from at least some of the two or more second communication devices, respective second control frames, wherein the second control frames are transmitted by the at least some of the two or more second communication devices in the respective sub-channels allocated to the at least some of the second communication devices, and wherein a second control frame transmitted by a particular second communication device indicates that at least a portion of the sub-channel allocated to the second communication device is available, and

transmit an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data unit, wherein the OFDMA data unit includes respective OFDM data units transmitted to the at least some of the two or more second communication devices, wherein each OFDM data unit is transmitted to a particular one of the second communication devices in the at least the portion of the sub-channel allocated to the second communication device and indicated to be available by the second control frame received from the second communication device.

12. The first communication device of claim 11 , wherein the network interface is further configured to provide, to the two or more second communication devices, indications of the respective sub-channels allocated to the two or more second communication devices.

13. The first communication device of claim 12 , wherein the network interface is configured to provide the indications of the respective sub-channels allocated to the two or more second communication devices prior to transmission of the first control frame to the two or more second communication devices.

14. The first communication device of claim 13 , wherein:

the first control frame is a request to send (RTS) frame, and

the second control frame is a clear to send (CTS) frame.

15. The first communication device of claim 12 , wherein the network interface is configured to include the indications of the respective sub-channels allocated to the two or more second communication devices in the first control frame transmitted to the two or more second communication devices.

16. The first communication device of claim 11 , wherein the network interface is further configured to include, in the first control frame, an indication to indicate one of (i) that static bandwidth allocation is being utilized for transmission of the OFDMA data unit or (ii) that dynamic bandwidth negotiation is being utilized for transmission of the OFDMA data unit.

17. The first communication device of claim 16 , wherein the network interface is further configured to determine that only a portion of the sub-channel allocated to a particular second communication device in response to receiving the second control frame, from the particular second communication device when the second control frame received from the second communication device occupies only the portion of the sub-channel allocated to the second communication device.

18. The first communication device of claim 17 , wherein the network interface is further configured to, when it is determined that only the portion of the sub-channel allocated to the particular second communication device is available, include, in the OFDMA data unit

(i) an OFDM data unit transmitted to the particular second communication device in only the available portion of the sub-channel allocated to the second communication device and

(ii) a contention free end (CF-end) frame transmitted in an unavailable portion of the sub-channel allocated to the second communication device.

19. The first communication device of claim 11 , wherein the first communication device operates in a wireless local area network, and wherein the network interface is configured to allocate, to two respective second communication devices of the two or more second communication devices, two sub-channels having bandwidths less than a smallest bandwidth of the wireless local area network such that the two second communication device share a channel having the smallest bandwidth of the wireless local area network.

20. The first communication device of claim 19 , wherein the network interface is further configured to include, in the first control frame, an indication corresponding to one of the two second communication devices to indicate that the one of the two second communication device is requested to transmit the second control frame using the entire bandwidth of the channel shared by the two second communication devices.

21. A method for protection in a frame exchange between a first communication device and at least one second communication device, the method comprising:

generating, by a first communication device, a first signal field to be included in a data unit, wherein the first signal field indicates whether a first mode of protection or a second mode of protection is being used for protecting transmission of the data unit, including when the first signal field indicates that the first mode is being utilized, indicating, in a data length sub-field of the first signal field, a length of a data portion of the data unit;

generating, by the first communication device, a second signal field to be included in a first preamble portion of the data unit, including

when the first signal field indicates that the first mode of protection is being utilized, indicating in the second signal field, a remaining duration of the frame exchange after the first preamble portion of the data unit, and

when the first signal field indicates that the second mode of protection is being utilized, indicating, in the second signal field, the length of the data portion of the data unit;

generating, by the first communication device, the first preamble portion to include at least the second signal field;

generating, by the first communication device, the data unit to include at least (i) the first preamble portion, (ii) the first signal field, and (iii) the data portion; and

transmitting the data unit from the first communication device to one or more second communication devices.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein indicating the length of the data portion comprises indicating a number of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols included in the data portion.

23. The method of claim 21 , wherein the first signal field is a non-legacy signal field that conforms to a non-legacy communication protocol, and the second signal field is a legacy signal field that conforms to a legacy communication protocol.

24. The method of claim 21 , wherein the data unit is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) data unit transmitted to one or more second communication devices.

25. The method of claim 21 , wherein the data unit is an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) unit, wherein the OFDMA data unit includes respective orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) data units transmitted to two or more second communication devices in respective sub-channels allocated to the two or more second communication devices.

26. A first communication device, comprising:

a network interface configured to

generate a first signal field to be included in a data unit, wherein the first signal field indicates whether a first mode of protection or a second mode of protection is being used for protecting transmission of the data unit, and wherein when the first signal field indicates that the first mode is being utilized, generating the first signal field includes indicating, in a data length sub-field of the first signal field, a length of a data portion of the data unit;

generate a second signal field to be included in a first preamble portion of the data unit, including

when the first signal field indicates that the first mode of protection is being utilized, generating the second signal field includes indicating in the second signal field, a remaining duration of the frame exchange after the first preamble portion of the data unit, and

when the first signal field indicates that the second mode of protection is being utilized, generating the second signal field includes indicating, in the second signal field, a duration indicative of the length of the data portion of the data unit;

generate the first preamble portion to include at least the second signal field;

generate the data unit to include at least (i) the first preamble portion, (ii) the first signal field, and (iii) the data portion; and

transmit the data unit to one or more second communication devices.

27. The first communication device of claim 26 , wherein the network interface is configured to indicate the length of the data portion at least by indicating a number of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols included in the data portion.

28. The first communication device of claim 26 , wherein the first signal field is a legacy signal field that conforms to a legacy communication protocol, and the second signal field is a non-legacy signal field that conforms to a non-legacy communication protocol.

29. The first communication device of claim 26 , wherein the data unit is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) data unit transmitted to one or more second communication devices.

30. The first communication device of claim 26 , wherein the data unit is an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) unit, wherein the OFDMA data unit includes respective orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) data units transmitted to two or more second communication devices in respective sub-channels allocated to the two or more second communication devices.