Trigger frame format for orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication

1. A method for communicating in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

generating, at an access point, one or more trigger frames to trigger an uplink multi-user (MU) transmission by multiple client stations, wherein each of the one or more trigger frames includes a medium access control (MAC) header portion and a MAC frame body portion, wherein the MAC frame body portion includes (i) a common information field that includes information to indicate common transmission parameters to be used by the multiple client stations for the uplink MU transmission, and (ii) one or more per-station information fields that include respective information to indicate respective transmission parameters to be used by one or more respective client stations for the uplink MU transmission, wherein generating each of the one or more trigger frames includes:

generating the common information field to include (i) a subfield that indicates a bandwidth of the uplink MU transmission, and (ii) information that indicates a guard interval and a long training field (LTF) mode to be used by the multiple client stations for the uplink MU transmission, and

generating each per-station field to include respective frequency allocation information that indicates respective frequency resources to be used by the respective client station for the uplink MU transmission;

transmitting, by the access point, the one or more trigger frames to the multiple client stations; and

receiving, at the access point, the triggered uplink MU transmission, wherein the triggered uplink MU transmission includes respective simultaneous transmissions from the multiple client stations.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating each of the one or more trigger frames includes generating each per-station field to include respective frequency allocation information that indicates (i) a frequency location of a beginning of a respective frequency resource unit allocated to the respective client station, and (ii) a bandwidth of the respective frequency resource unit.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating each of the one or more trigger frames includes generating each per-station field to include respective frequency allocation information that indicates a respective frequency resource unit from a set of allowed frequency resource units.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating each of the one or more trigger frames includes generating each per-station field to include respective information that indicates a respective transmit power to be used by the respective client station for the uplink MU transmission.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating each of the one or more trigger frames includes generating each per-station field to include a respective identifier of the respective client station.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

generating the one or more trigger frames comprises generating a broadcast trigger frame that includes information to indicate respective transmission parameters for the multiple client stations; and

transmitting the one or more trigger frames comprises transmitting the broadcast trigger frame to the multiple client stations.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

including the broadcast trigger frame in each legacy physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) of a plurality of legacy PPDUs; and

transmitting the broadcast trigger frame comprises transmitting the plurality of legacy PPDUs in respective frequency sub-channels.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

generating the one or more trigger frames comprises generating multiple unicast trigger frames, wherein each unicast trigger frame is addressed to a respective one of the multiple client stations; and

transmitting the one or more trigger frames comprises transmitting the respective unicast trigger frames to respective client stations in respective frequency portions of a downlink OFDMA transmission to the multiple client stations.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

including each unicast trigger frame in a respective legacy physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) of a plurality of legacy PPDUs; and

transmitting the broadcast trigger frame comprises transmitting the plurality of legacy PPDUs in respective frequency sub-channels.

10. An access point for communicating in a wireless communication network, the access point comprising:

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

generate one or more trigger frames to trigger an uplink multi-user (MU) transmission by multiple client stations, wherein each of the one or more trigger frames includes a medium access control (MAC) header portion and a MAC frame body portion, wherein the MAC frame body portion includes (i) a common information field that includes information to indicate common transmission parameters to be used by the multiple client stations for the uplink MU transmission, and (ii) one or more per-station information fields that include respective information to indicate respective transmission parameters to be used by one or more respective client stations for the uplink MU transmission, and

for each of the one or more trigger frames:

generate the common information field to include (i) a subfield that indicates a bandwidth of the uplink MU transmission, and (ii) information that indicates a guard interval and a long training field (LTF) mode to be used by the multiple client stations for the uplink MU transmission, and

generate each per-station field to include respective frequency allocation information that indicates respective frequency resources to be used by the respective client station for the uplink MU transmission;

wherein the one or more ICs are further configured to:

transmit the one or more trigger frames to the multiple client stations, and

receive the triggered uplink MU transmission, wherein the triggered uplink MU transmission includes respective simultaneous transmissions from the multiple client stations.

11. The access point of claim 10 , wherein the one or more ICs are further configured to generate each per-station field to include respective frequency allocation information that indicates (i) a frequency location of a beginning of a respective frequency resource unit allocated to the respective client station, and (ii) a bandwidth of the respective frequency resource unit.

12. The access point of claim 10 , wherein the one or more ICs are further configured to generate each per-station field to include respective frequency allocation information that indicates a respective frequency resource unit from a set of allowed frequency resource units.

13. The access point of claim 10 , wherein the one or more ICs are further configured to generate each per-station field to include respective information that indicates a respective transmit power to be used by the respective client station for the uplink MU transmission.

14. The access point of claim 10 , wherein the one or more ICs are further configured to generate each per-station field to include a respective identifier of the respective client station.

15. The access point of claim 10 , wherein the one or more ICs are further configured to:

generate the one or more trigger frames to include a broadcast trigger frame that includes information to indicate respective transmission parameters for the multiple client stations; and

transmit the broadcast trigger frame to the multiple client stations.

16. The access point of claim 15 , wherein the one or more ICs are further configured to:

include the broadcast trigger frame in each legacy physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) of a plurality of legacy PPDUs; and

transmit the plurality of legacy PPDUs in respective frequency sub-channels.

17. The access point of claim 10 , wherein the one or more ICs are further configured to:

generate the one or more trigger frames to include multiple unicast trigger frames, wherein each unicast trigger frame is addressed to a respective one of the multiple client stations; and

transmit the respective unicast trigger frames to respective client stations in respective frequency portions of a downlink OFDMA transmission to the multiple client stations.

18. The access point of claim 17 , wherein the one or more ICs are further configured to:

include each unicast trigger frame in a respective legacy physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) of a plurality of legacy PPDUs; and

transmit the plurality of legacy PPDUs in respective frequency sub-channels.

19. The access point of claim 10 , wherein the network interface device comprises:

one or more transceivers implemented on the one or more ICs.

20. The access point of claim 19 , further comprising:

one or more antennas coupled to the one or more transceivers.