Tone block and spatial stream allocation

1. A method, comprising:

selecting a block allocation that indicates a plurality of contiguous tone blocks of a wireless local area network (WLAN) communication channel for a multi-user, multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data unit, wherein each of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks corresponds to a respective device set having at least one communication device;

selecting, for at least some of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks, respective spatial stream allocations that indicate a number of spatial streams for the corresponding contiguous tone block of the MU-MIMO OFDMA data unit, wherein the number of spatial streams of a contiguous tone block is equal to a number of communication devices of the device set that corresponds to the contiguous tone block;

encoding a first field to indicate the selected block allocation and the selected spatial stream allocations, wherein the first field includes a plurality of subfields having respective indices to a plurality of hierarchical codebooks that indicate predetermined block allocations and predetermined spatial stream allocations, wherein:

the plurality of subfields includes a first subfield and one or more second subfields,

the plurality of hierarchical codebooks includes i) a block allocation codebook that indicates the predetermined block allocations, ii) a multi-user codebook that indicates the predetermined spatial stream allocations, and iii) an index codebook that indicates which of the plurality of hierarchical codebooks are indexed by the one or more second subfields,

the selected block allocation and the selected spatial stream allocations are selected from the plurality of hierarchical codebooks, and

the first subfield has an index to the index codebook;

encoding one or more second fields to indicate a respective device identifier for each communication device of the respective device sets; and

transmitting the first field and the one or more second fields to the communication devices of the respective device sets.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of hierarchical codebooks include a wide codebook that indicates the predetermined block allocations for a WLAN communication channel that is larger than a smallest channel bandwidth of a legacy WLAN communication protocol.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein a subfield of the one or more second subfields indicates at least one of i) the selected block allocation and the number of the plurality of contiguous blocks, and ii) the selected spatial stream allocations.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the respective spatial stream allocations comprises selecting the at least some of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks from the plurality of contiguous tone blocks having at least a threshold number of contiguous tones.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein a total number of communication devices of the respective device sets is larger than i) the number of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks, and ii) a maximum of the number of spatial streams for the at least some of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:

generating the MU-MIMO OFDMA data unit based on the selected block allocation and the selected spatial stream allocations; and

transmitting the MU-MIMO OFDMA data unit to the communication devices of the respective device sets.

7. A first communication device, comprising:

a network interface device having one or more integrated circuits configured to:

select a block allocation that indicates a plurality of contiguous tone blocks of a wireless local area network (WLAN) communication channel for a multi-user, multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data unit, wherein each of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks corresponds to a respective device set having at least one second communication device;

select, for at least some of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks, respective spatial stream allocations that indicate a number of spatial streams for the corresponding contiguous tone block of the MU-MIMO OFDMA data unit, wherein the number of spatial streams of a contiguous tone block is equal to number of communication devices of the device set that corresponds to the contiguous tone block;

encode a first field to indicate the selected block allocation and the selected spatial stream allocations, wherein

the first field includes a plurality of subfields having respective indices to a plurality of hierarchical codebooks that indicate predetermined block allocations and predetermined spatial stream allocations,

the plurality of subfields includes a first subfield and one or more second subfields,

the plurality of hierarchical codebooks includes i) a block allocation codebook that indicates the predetermined block allocations, ii) a multi-user codebook that indicates the predetermined spatial stream allocations, and iii) an index codebook that indicates which of the plurality of hierarchical codebooks are indexed by the one or more second subfields,

the selected block allocation and the selected spatial stream allocations are selected from the plurality of hierarchical codebooks, and

the first subfield has an index to the index codebook;

encode one or more second fields to indicate a respective device identifier for each communication device of the respective device sets; and

transmit the first field and the one or more second fields to the communication devices of the respective device sets.

8. The first communication device of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of hierarchical codebooks include a wide codebook that indicates the predetermined block allocations for a WLAN communication channel that is larger than a smallest channel bandwidth of a legacy WLAN communication protocol.

9. The first communication device of claim 7 , wherein a subfield of the one or more second subfields indicates at least one of i) the selected block allocation and the number of the plurality of contiguous blocks, and ii) the selected spatial stream allocations.

10. The first communication device of claim 7 , wherein the one or more integrated circuits are configured to select the at least some of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks from the plurality of contiguous tone blocks having at least a threshold number of contiguous tones.

11. The first communication device of claim 7 , wherein a total number of communication devices of the respective device sets is larger than i) the number of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks, and ii) a maximum of the number of spatial streams for the at least some of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks.

12. The first communication device of claim 7 , wherein the one or more integrated circuits are configured to:

generate the MU-MIMO OFDMA data unit based on the selected block allocation and the selected spatial stream allocations; and

transmit the MU-MIMO OFDMA data unit to the communication devices of the respective device sets.

13. A method, comprising:

receiving an orthogonal frequency division multiple orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) data unit via a wireless local area network (WLAN) communication channel;

decoding a non-legacy signal field of the OFDM data unit of the OFDM data unit to determine i) a block allocation that indicates a plurality of contiguous tone blocks of the WLAN communication channel, and ii) respective spatial stream allocations that indicate a number of spatial streams for at least some of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks, wherein each of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks corresponds to a respective device set having at least one communication device, and the number of spatial streams of a contiguous tone block is equal to a number of communication devices of the device set that corresponds to the contiguous tone block, and wherein:

the non-legacy signal field includes a plurality of subfields having respective indices to a plurality of hierarchical codebooks,

the plurality of subfields includes a first subfield and one or more second subfields,

the plurality of hierarchical codebooks includes i) a block allocation codebook that indicates predetermined block allocations, ii) a multi-user codebook that indicates predetermined spatial stream allocations, and iii) an index codebook that indicates which of the plurality of hierarchical codebooks are indexed by the one or more second subfields,

the block allocation and the spatial stream allocations are selected from the plurality of hierarchical codebooks, and

the first subfield has an index to the index codebook;

determining an assigned contiguous tone block and spatial stream based on the block allocation and the spatial stream allocations; and

decoding a data portion of a multi-user, multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data unit using the assigned contiguous tone block and spatial stream.

14. A first communication device, comprising:

a network interface device having one or more integrated circuits configured to:

receive an orthogonal frequency division multiple orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) data unit via a wireless local area network (WLAN) communication channel;

decode a non-legacy signal field of the OFDM data unit to determine i) a block allocation that indicates a plurality of contiguous tone blocks of the WLAN communication channel, and ii) respective spatial stream allocations that indicate a number of spatial streams for at least some of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks, wherein each of the plurality of contiguous tone blocks corresponds to a respective device set having at least one communication device, and the number of spatial streams of a contiguous tone block is equal to a number of communication devices of the device set that corresponds to the contiguous tone block, and wherein:

the non-legacy signal field includes a plurality of subfields having respective indices to a plurality of hierarchical codebooks,

the plurality of subfields includes a first subfield and one or more second subfields,

the plurality of hierarchical codebooks includes i) a block allocation codebook that indicates predetermined block allocations, ii) a multi-user codebook that indicates predetermined spatial stream allocations, and iii) an index codebook that indicates which of the plurality of hierarchical codebooks are indexed by the one or more second subfields,

the block allocation and the spatial stream allocations are selected from the plurality of hierarchical codebooks, and

the first subfield has an index to the index codebook;

determine an assigned contiguous tone block and spatial stream based on the block allocation and the spatial stream allocations; and

decode a data portion of a multi-user, multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data unit using the assigned contiguous tone block and spatial stream.