Abbreviated header communication

1. A method comprising:

generating a packet including an abbreviated header, the abbreviated header including a pointer corresponding to values for multiple parameters associated with a physical layer of communication rather than including the values for the multiple parameters, the pointer being generated by performing a many-to-one mapping function on a pointer of a manager state table corresponding to the values for multiple parameters, the pointer corresponding to a client state table pointer of a client device corresponding to the values for multiple parameters, a range of the client state table smaller than a range of the manager state table; and

transmitting the packet to a client device according to the values for the multiple parameters, including modulating and encoding the packet.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating a second packet with an update indicator, the second packet including updated values for the values for multiple parameters;

generating a third packet with the abbreviated header including the pointer; and

transmitting the third packet to the client device according to the updated values for the multiple parameters.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving a confirmation message from the client device indicating the client device updated a client state table by updating a client entry associated with the pointer with the updated values for the parameters; and

based on the confirmation message, updating a manager state table by updating a manager entry associated with the pointer with the updated values.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the confirmation message includes an acknowledgement (ACK) of the second packet.

5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising transmitting the second packet with the update indicator to both the client device and a second client device in a multi-user transmission, the multi-user transmission including independent physical layer parameters for the client device and the second client device.

6. The method of claim 2 , further comprising setting a single bit as either the pointer or the update indicator.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating a second packet with the abbreviated header, the abbreviated header including a second pointer corresponding to second values for the multiple parameters; and

transmitting the second packet to the client device according to the second values for the multiple parameters.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to the generation of the packet including the abbreviated header:

receiving a provisioning message that includes the pointer and the values for the multiple parameters; and

storing the values for the multiple parameters as associated with the pointer in a manager state table.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

selecting initial values for the multiple parameters;

comparing the initial values to entries in the manager state table; and

based on the initial values not matching any of the entries in the manager state table, selecting an entry with corresponding values closest to the initial values, the selected entry including the values for the multiple parameters.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a set of pointers and corresponding values for a second client device within a same broadcasting group as the client device, the set of pointers unique within the same broadcasting group.

11. The method of claim 1 , the pointer being generated by performing the many-to-one mapping function for multiple fields associated with an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard.