Wireless preamble design

1. A method, comprising:

building a wireless packet that includes a preamble that is compliant with a first wireless communication protocol and is forward compatible with a second wireless communication protocol that is different than the first wireless communication protocol, including:

building the preamble with a first subset of bits that are specified in both the first wireless communication protocol and the second wireless communication protocol, the first subset of bits including one or more media access control (MAC) layer characteristics;

building the preamble with a second subset of bits that are specified in the first wireless communication protocol exclusive of the second wireless communication protocol; and

building the preamble to at least partially imitate a preamble of a trigger-based (TB) packet sent in response to a trigger frame of the second wireless communication protocol, including building the preamble with a field that includes:

a first reserved bit as a first bit in the field, the first reserve bit having a value of 0 and included in the first subset of bits; and

a second reserved bit as a twenty-fourth bit in the field, the second reserve bit having a value of 1 and included in the first subset of bits; and

transmitting the wireless packet to one or more receiver nodes.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein building the preamble with the first subset of bits that includes one or more MAC layer characteristics comprises building the preamble with at least one of:

a first field that includes a basic service set (BSS) color; or

a second field that includes a reserved transmit opportunity (TXOP).

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein building the preamble with the second subset of bits that are specified in the first wireless communication protocol exclusive of the second wireless communication protocol comprises building the second subset of bits to look correct according to the second wireless communication protocol.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein building the preamble to at least partially imitate the preamble of the packet sent in response to the trigger frame comprises building the preamble with one or more fields that at least partially imitate a high-efficiency (HE) signal A (HE-SIG-A) field of an HE TB packet according to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11ax communication protocol.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second wireless communication protocol comprises the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11ax communication protocol and building the wireless packet comprises building the preamble to at least partially imitate a high-efficiency (HE) TB preamble according to the IEEE 802.11ax communication protocol, the method further comprising:

receiving a second wireless packet that includes a second preamble that at least looks like an HE TB preamble;

if an 802.11ax trigger frame is detected preceding the second wireless packet, processing the second wireless packet as an 802.11ax HE TB physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU); and

if an 802.11ax trigger frame is not detected preceding the second wireless packet:

extracting a basic service set (BSS) color and a reserved transmit opportunity (TXOP) from the second wireless packet;

parsing the second set of bits from the second preamble;

if the second set of bits parsed from the second preamble includes invalid values or indicates an error, dropping the second wireless packet; and

if the second set of bits parsed from the second preamble includes valid values and does not indicate an error, processing the second wireless packet according to the first wireless communication protocol.

6. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon that are executable by a processor device to perform or control performance of operations comprising:

building a wireless packet that includes a preamble that is compliant with a first wireless communication protocol and is forward compatible with a second wireless communication protocol that is different than the first wireless communication protocol, including:

building the preamble with a first subset of bits that are specified in both the first wireless communication protocol and the second wireless communication protocol, the first subset of bits including one or more media access control (MAC) layer characteristics;

building the preamble with a second subset of bits that are specified in the first wireless communication protocol exclusive of the second wireless communication protocol; and

building the preamble to at least partially imitate a preamble of a trigger-based (TB) packet sent in response to a trigger frame of the second wireless communication protocol, including building the preamble with a field that includes:

a first reserved bit as a first bit in the field, the first reserve bit having a value of 0 and included in the first subset of bits; and

a second reserved bit as a twenty-fourth bit in the field, the second reserve bit having a value of 1 and included in the first subset of bits; and

transmitting the wireless packet to one or more receiver nodes.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein building the preamble with the first subset of bits that includes one or more MAC layer characteristics comprises building the preamble with at least one of:

a first field that includes a basic service set (BSS) color; or

a second field that includes a reserved transmit opportunity (TXOP).

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein building the preamble with the second subset of bits that are specified in the first wireless communication protocol exclusive of the second wireless communication protocol comprises building the second subset of bits to look correct according to the second wireless communication protocol.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein building the preamble to at least partially imitate the preamble of the packet sent in response to the trigger frame comprises building the preamble with one or more fields that at least partially imitate a high-efficiency (HE) signal A (HE-SIG-A) field of an HE TB packet according to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11ax communication protocol.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the second wireless communication protocol comprises the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11ax communication protocol and building the wireless packet comprises building the preamble to at least partially imitate a high-efficiency (HE) TB preamble according to the IEEE 802.11ax communication protocol, the operations further comprising:

receiving a second wireless packet that includes a second preamble that at least looks like an HE TB preamble;

if an 802.11ax trigger frame is detected preceding the second wireless packet, processing the second wireless packet as an 802.11ax HE TB physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU); and

if an 802.11ax trigger frame is not detected preceding the second wireless packet:

extracting a basic service set (BSS) color and a reserved transmit opportunity (TXOP) from the second wireless packet;

parsing the second set of bits from the second preamble;

if the second set of bits parsed from the second preamble includes invalid values or indicates an error, dropping the second wireless packet; and

if the second set of bits parsed from the second preamble includes valid values and does not indicate an error, processing the second wireless packet according to the first wireless communication protocol.

11. A sender node for wireless communication with a receiver node in a wireless network, the sender node comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor to perform or control performance of operations comprising:

building a wireless packet that includes a preamble that is compliant with a first wireless communication protocol and is forward compatible with a second wireless communication protocol that is different than the first wireless communication protocol, including:

building the preamble with a first subset of bits that are specified in both the first wireless communication protocol and the second wireless communication protocol, the first subset of bits including one or more media access control (MAC) layer characteristics;

building the preamble with a second subset of bits that are specified in the first wireless communication protocol exclusive of the second wireless communication protocol; and

building the preamble to at least partially imitate a trigger-based (TB) preamble of a packet sent in response to a trigger frame of the second wireless communication protocol, including building the preamble with a field that includes:

a first reserved bit as a first bit in the field, the first reserve bit having a value of 0 and included in the first subset of bits; and

a second reserved bit as a twenty-fourth bit in the field, the second reserve bit having a value of 1 and included in the first subset of bits; and

transmitting the wireless packet to one or more receiver nodes.

12. The sender node of claim 11 , wherein building the preamble with the first subset of bits that includes one or more MAC layer characteristics comprises building the preamble with at least one of:

a first field that includes a basic service set (BSS) color; or

a second field that includes a reserved transmit opportunity (TXOP).

13. The sender node of claim 11 , wherein building the preamble with the second subset of bits that are specified in the first wireless communication protocol exclusive of the second wireless communication protocol comprises building the second subset of bits to look correct according to the second wireless communication protocol.

14. The sender node of claim 11 , wherein building the preamble to at least partially imitate the preamble of the packet sent in response to the trigger frame comprises building the preamble with one or more fields that at least partially imitate a high-efficiency (HE) signal A (HE-SIG-A) field of an HE TB packet according to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11ax communication protocol.

15. The sender node of claim 11 , wherein the second wireless communication protocol comprises the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11ax communication protocol and building the wireless packet comprises building the preamble to at least partially imitate a high-efficiency (HE) TB preamble according to the IEEE 802.11ax communication protocol, the operations further comprising:

receiving a second wireless packet that includes a second preamble that at least looks like an HE TB preamble;

if an 802.11ax trigger frame is detected preceding the second wireless packet, processing the second wireless packet as an 802.11ax HE TB physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU); and

if an 802.11ax trigger frame is not detected preceding the second wireless packet:

extracting a basic service set (BSS) color and a reserved transmit opportunity (TXOP) from the second wireless packet;

parsing the second set of bits from the second preamble;

if the second set of bits parsed from the second preamble includes invalid values or indicates an error, dropping the second wireless packet; and

if the second set of bits parsed from the second preamble includes valid values and does not indicate an error, processing the second wireless packet according to the first wireless communication protocol.