Methods and systems for multi user uplink compatibility with legacy devices

1. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

selecting a first set of devices to participate in a multi-user transmission;

generating a physical layer convergence protocol data unit (PPDU), the PPDU comprising:

a first portion decodable by the first set of devices and by a second set of devices, the first portion including a signal field indicating a duration that extends at least to an end of the multi-user transmission and that causes the second set of devices to defer communicating for the duration; and

a second portion decodable by the first set of devices, the second portion including identification information that identifies the first set of devices, and including scheduling information indicating when each device of the first set of devices is to transmit the multi-user transmission; and

transmitting the PPDU to at least the first and second sets of devices, wherein the first portion is transmitted at a first data rate and the second portion is transmitted at a second data rate higher than the first data rate.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the signal field indicates to the second set of devices to set a network allocation vector (NAV) based on the duration.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identification information includes at least one of a station identifier, a group identifier, or an association identifier for each device of the second set of devices.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second portion includes an indication of at least one of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a bandwidth, a sub-band, spatial stream information, or length information for the multi-user transmission.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first portion indicates a length of the second portion.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the multi-user transmission comprises one of an uplink (UL) multi-user (MU) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission or an UL orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission.

7. A wireless communication device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing processor-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the wireless communication device to:

select a first set of devices to participate in a multi-user transmission;

generate a physical layer convergence protocol data unit (PPDU), the PPDU comprising:

a first portion decodable by the first set of devices and by a second set of devices, the first portion including a signal field indicating a duration that extends at least to an end of the multi-user transmission and that causes the second set of devices to defer communicating for the duration; and

a second portion decodable by the first set of devices, the second portion including identification information that identifies the first set of devices, and including scheduling information indicating when each device of the first set of devices is to transmit the multi-user transmission; and

transmit the PPDU to at least the first and second sets of devices, wherein the first portion is transmitted at a first data rate and the second portion is transmitted at a second data rate higher than the first data rate.

8. The wireless communication device of claim 7 , wherein the signal field indicates to the second set of devices to set a network allocation vector (NAV) based on the duration.

9. The wireless communication device of claim 7 , wherein the identification information includes at least one of a station identifier, a group identifier, or an association identifier for each device of the second set of devices.

10. The wireless communication device of claim 7 , wherein the second portion includes an indication of at least one of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a bandwidth, a sub-band, spatial stream information, or length information for the multi-user transmission.

11. The wireless communication device of claim 7 , wherein the first portion indicates a length of the second portion.

12. The wireless communication device of claim 7 , wherein the multi-user transmission comprises one of an uplink (UL) multi-user (MU) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission or an UL orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission.

13. A method for wireless communication by a wireless communication device, comprising:

receiving a physical layer convergence protocol data unit (PPDU), the PPDU selecting at least the wireless communication device to participate in a multi-user transmission and including:

a first portion decodable by a first set of devices that includes the wireless communication device and by a second set of devices, the first portion including a signal field indicating a duration that extends at least to an end of the multi-user transmission and that causes the second set of devices to defer communicating for the duration; and

a second portion decodable by the first set of devices, the second portion including identification information that identifies the first set of devices including the wireless communication device, and including scheduling information indicating when each device of the first set of devices including the wireless communication device is to transmit the multi-user transmission, wherein the first portion is transmitted at a first data rate and the second portion is transmitted at a second data rate higher than the first data rate; and

transmitting a communication as part of the multi-user transmission based on the identification information and the scheduling information.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the identification information includes at least one of a station identifier, a group identifier, or an association identifier for the wireless communication device.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the second portion includes an indication of at least one of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a bandwidth, a sub-band, spatial stream information, or length information for the wireless communication device to use for the multi-user transmission.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the multi-user transmission comprises one of an uplink (UL) multi-user (MU) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission or an UL orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission.

17. A wireless communication device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing processor-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the wireless communication device to:

receive a physical layer convergence protocol data unit (PPDU), the PPDU selecting at least the wireless communication device to participate in a multi-user transmission and including:

a first portion decodable by a first set of devices that includes the wireless communication device and by a second set of devices, the first portion including a signal field indicating a duration that extends at least to an end of the multi-user transmission and that causes the second set of devices to defer communicating for the duration; and

a second portion decodable by the first set of devices, the second portion including identification information that identifies the first set of devices including the wireless communication device, and including scheduling information indicating when each device of the first set of devices including the wireless communication device is to transmit the multi-user transmission, wherein

the first portion is transmitted at a first data rate and the second portion is

transmitted at a second data rate higher than the first data rate; and

transmit a communication as part of the multi-user transmission based on the identification information and the scheduling information.

18. The wireless communication device of claim 17 , wherein the identification information includes at least one of a station identifier, a group identifier, or an association identifier for the wireless communication device.

19. The wireless communication device of claim 17 , wherein the second portion includes an indication of at least one of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a bandwidth, a sub-band, spatial stream information, or length information for the wireless communication device to use for the multi-user transmission.

20. The wireless communication device of claim 17 , wherein the multi-user transmission comprises one of an uplink (UL) multi-user (MU) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission or an UL orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) transmission.