High efficiency orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) physical layer (PHY)

1. A method for generating a physical layer (PHY) data unit for transmission via a communication channel, the data unit conforming to a first communication protocol, the method comprising:

determining, at a communication device, that an extension field is to be included in the PHY data unit to provide a receiver with more processing time to process data included in the PHY data unit, wherein the extension field is not required to be processed by the receiver;

generating, at the communication device, a PHY preamble of the PHY data unit;

generating, at the communication device, a PHY data portion of the PHY data unit, including generating one or more orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, wherein each OFDM symbol of the one or more OFDM symbols is generated with a first tone spacing, wherein the first tone spacing is a fraction 1/N of a second tone spacing, the second tone spacing defined by a second communication protocol, wherein N is a positive integer greater than one; and

generating, at the communication device, the extension field of the PHY data unit to include arbitrary data such that a power of the extension field equals a power of the data portion of the PHY data unit, the extension field being appended to an end of the data portion of the PHY data unit.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the PHY preamble includes:

generating a signal field of the PHY preamble to include an indicator of a presence of the extension field of the PHY data unit.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the extension field of the PHY data unit includes:

boosting a power of the extension field so that the power of the extension field equals a power of the data portion of the PHY.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the PHY preamble includes:

generating the PHY preamble to include i) a first portion having a plurality of legacy fields, and ii) a second portion;

generating OFDM symbols of the first portion of the PHY preamble to have the second tone spacing; and

generating OFDM symbols of the second portion of the PHY preamble to have the first tone spacing.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first portion of the PHY preamble includes a non-legacy signal field defined by the first communication protocol.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the second portion of the PHY preamble includes a plurality of training fields defined by the first communication protocol.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein N is four.

8. An apparatus, comprising:

a network interface device having one or more integrated circuits, the network interface device including:

a medium access control (MAC) processing unit implemented on the one or more integrated circuits, and

a physical layer (PHY) processing unit coupled to the MAC processing unit, the PHY processing unit implemented on the one or more integrated circuits;

wherein the one or more integrated circuits are configured to determine that an extension field is to be included in a PHY data unit to provide a receiver with more processing time to process data included in the PHY data unit, wherein the extension field is not required to be processed by the receiver; and

wherein the PHY processing unit is configured to:

generate a PHY preamble of the PHY data unit,

generate a PHY data portion of the PHY data unit, including generating one or more orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, wherein each OFDM symbol of the one or more OFDM symbols is generated with a first tone spacing, wherein the first tone spacing is a fraction 1/N of a second tone spacing, the second tone spacing defined by a second communication protocol, wherein N is a positive integer greater than one, and

generate the extension field of the PHY data unit to include arbitrary data such that a power of the extension field equals a power of the data portion of the PHY data unit, the extension field being appended to an end of the data portion of the PHY data unit.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the PHY processing unit is configured to:

generate a signal field of the PHY preamble to include an indicator of a presence of the extension field of the PHY data unit.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the PHY processing unit is configured to:

boost a power of the extension field so that the power of the extension field equals a power of the data portion of the PHY.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the PHY processing unit is configured to:

generate the PHY preamble to include i) a first portion having a plurality of legacy fields, and ii) a second portion;

generate OFDM symbols of the first portion of the PHY preamble to have the second tone spacing; and

generate OFDM symbols of the second portion of the PHY preamble to have the first tone spacing.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the first portion of the PHY preamble includes a non-legacy signal field defined by the first communication protocol.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the second portion of the PHY preamble includes a plurality of training fields defined by the first communication protocol.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein N is four.

15. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the PHY processing unit includes a plurality of transceivers.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , further comprising:

a plurality of antennas coupled to the plurality of transceivers.