Signaling format for WLANs

1. A method for wireless communication in a network that includes non-legacy devices, the method comprises:

determining whether a legacy device is within a proximal region of the wireless communication;

when the legacy device is not within the proximal region, format a frame to include:

a native preamble;

at least one signal field;

at least one service field;

an inter frame gap; and

a data field;

wherein the at least one signal field comprises at least one of:

rate/mode information;

length information;

last data unit in the frame indication;

data unit acknowledgment requirement; and

error checking capability;

when the legacy device is within the proximal region, formatting a frame to include:

a first portion having a legacy preamble that is readable by the legacy device in accordance with a legacy frame format;

a second portion having an extended preamble that is unreadable by the legacy device in accordance with the legacy frame format and is readable by the non-legacy devices in accordance with a non-legacy frame format;

a third portion that includes at least one of:

at least one service field;

an inter frame gap; and

a data field.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the rate/mode information comprises at least one of;

implicit number of transmit antennas;

implicit channel width; and

physical layer data rate.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the length information comprises bytes of PSDU [PLCP (physical layer convergence procedure) Service Data Unit].

4. The method of claim 1 further comprises at least one of:

coding the at least one signal field using a rate 1/2 convolutional code;

coding the at least one signal field using an outer Reed-Solomon block code and an inner coding of the rate 1/2 convolutional code; and

coding the at least one signal field using a rate 1/3 convolutional code with a constraint length of six.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprises at least one of:

for a legacy channel, utilizing a quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) for the at least one signal field; and

for a wide bandwidth channel:

utilizing QPSK for subcarriers of a first portion of the wide bandwidth channel, wherein the first portion has a bandwidth corresponding to the legacy channel; and

replicating the first portion for a second portion of the wide bandwidth channel.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one signal field includes a number of antennas.

7. A radio frequency (RF) transmitter for use in communicating with legacy devices that operate in accordance with a first frame format and non-legacy devices that communicate in accordance with a second frame format, the RF transmitter comprises:

a baseband processing module operably coupled to convert outbound data into an outbound symbol stream; and

a transmitter section operably coupled to convert the outbound symbol stream into outbound RF signals, wherein the baseband processing module is operably coupled to:

determine whether at least one of the legacy devices is within a proximal region of the wireless communication;

when the at least one of the legacy devices is not within the proximal region, format a frame in the second frame format to include:

a native preamble;

at least one signal field;

at least one service field;

an inter frame gap; and a data field;

wherein the at least one signal field comprises at least one of:

rate/mode information;

length information;

last data unit in the frame indication;

data unit acknowledgment requirement; and

error checking capability;

when the at least one of the legacy devices is within the proximal region, formatting a frame to include:

a first portion having a legacy preamble that is readable by the legacy device in accordance with a legacy frame format;

a second portion having an extended preamble that is unreadable by the legacy device in accordance with the legacy frame format and is readable by the non-legacy devices in accordance with a non-legacy frame format;

a third portion that includes at least one of:

at least one service field;

an inter frame gap; and

a data field.

8. The RF transmitter of claim 7 , wherein the rate/mode information comprises at least one of:

implicit number of transmit antennas;

implicit channel width; and

physical layer data rate.

9. The RF transmitter of claim 7 , wherein the length information comprises at least one of:

bytes of PSDU [PLCP (physical layer convergence procedure) Service Data Unit].

10. The RF transmitter of claim 7 , wherein the baseband processing module is further operably coupled to, at least one of:

code the at least one signal field using a rate 1/2 convolutional code;

code the at least one signal field using an outer Reed-Solomon block code and an inner coding of the rate 1/2 convolutional code; and

code the at least one signal field using a rate 1/3 convolutional code with a constraint length of six.

11. The RF transmitter of claim 7 , wherein the baseband processing module is further operably coupled to, at least one of:

for a legacy channel, utilize a quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) for the at least one signal field; and

for a wide bandwidth channel:

utilize QPSK for subcarriers of a first portion of the wide bandwidth channel, wherein the first portion has a bandwidth corresponding to the legacy channel; and

replicate the first portion for a second portion of the wide bandwidth channel.

12. The RF transmitter of claim 7 , wherein the signal field includes a number of antennas.

13. A radio frequency (RF) transmitter for use in communicating with legacy devices that operate in accordance with a first frame format and non-legacy devices that communicate in accordance with a second frame format, the RF transmitter comprises:

a baseband processing module operably coupled to convert outbound data into an outbound symbol stream; and

a transmitter section operably coupled to convert the outbound symbol stream into outbound RF signals, wherein the baseband processing module is operably coupled to:

determine whether at least one of the legacy devices is within a proximal region of the wireless communication;

when the at least one of the legacy devices is not within the proximal region, format a frame in the second frame format to include:

a native preamble;

at least one signal field;

at least one service field;

an inter frame gap; and a data field;

wherein the at least one signal field comprises at least one of:

rate/mode information;

length information;

last data unit in the frame indication;

data unit acknowledgment requirement; and

error checking capability;

when the at least one of the legacy devices is within the proximal region, formatting a frame to include:

a first portion having a legacy preamble that is readable by the legacy device in accordance with a legacy frame format;

a second portion having an extended preamble that is unreadable by the legacy device in accordance with the legacy frame format and is readable by the non-legacy devices in accordance with a non-legacy frame format;

a third portion that includes at least one of:

at least one service field;

an inter frame gap; and

a data field;

wherein the first frame format and the second frame format are each compliant with corresponding wireless local area network communication protocols.

14. The RF transmitter of claim 13 , wherein the rate/mode information comprises at least one of:

implicit number of transmit antennas;

implicit channel width; and

physical layer data rate.

15. The RF transmitter of claim 13 , wherein the length information comprises at least one of:

bytes of PSDU [PLCP (physical layer convergence procedure) Service Data Unit].

16. The RF transmitter of claim 13 , wherein the baseband processing module is further operably coupled to, at least one of:

code the at least one signal field using a rate 1/2 convolutional code;

code the at least one signal field using an outer Reed-Solomon block code and an inner coding of the rate 1/2 convolutional code; and

code the at least one signal field using a rate 1/3 convolutional code with a constraint length of six.

17. The RF transmitter of claim 13 , wherein the baseband processing module is further operably coupled to, at least one of:

for a legacy channel, utilize a quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) for the at least one signal field; and

for a wide bandwidth channel:

utilize QPSK for subcarriers of a first portion of the wide bandwidth channel, wherein the first portion has a bandwidth corresponding to the legacy channel; and

replicate the first portion for a second portion of the wide bandwidth channel.

18. The RF transmitter of claim 13 , wherein the signal field includes a number of antennas.

19. A radio frequency (RF) transmitter for use in communicating with legacy devices that operate in accordance with a first frame format and non-legacy devices that communicate in accordance with a second frame format, the RF transmitter comprises:

a transmitter section operably coupled to convert an outbound symbol stream into outbound RF signals, wherein the baseband processing module is operably coupled to:

determine whether at least one of the legacy devices is within a proximal region of the wireless communication;

when the at least one of the legacy devices is not within the proximal region, format a frame in the second frame format to include:

a native preamble;

at least one signal field;

at least one service field;

an inter frame gap; and a data field;

wherein the at least one signal field comprises at least one of:

rate/mode information;

length information;

last data unit in the frame indication;

data unit acknowledgment requirement; and

error checking capability;

when the at least one of the legacy devices is within the proximal region, formatting a frame to include:

a first portion having a legacy preamble that is readable by the legacy device in accordance with a legacy frame format;

a second portion having an extended preamble that is unreadable by the legacy device in accordance with the legacy frame format and is readable by the non-legacy devices in accordance with a non-legacy frame format;

a third portion that includes at least one of:

at least one service field;

an inter frame gap; and

a data field.

20. The RF transmitter of claim 19 , wherein the rate/mode information comprises at least one of:

implicit number of transmit antennas;

implicit channel width; and

physical layer data rate.

21. The RF transmitter of claim 19 , wherein the length information comprises at least one of:

bytes of PSDU [PLCP (physical layer convergence procedure) Service Data Unit].

22. The RF transmitter of claim 19 , wherein the baseband processing module is further operably coupled to, at least one of:

code the at least one signal field using a rate 1/2 convolutional code;

code the at least one signal field using an outer Reed-Solomon block code and an inner coding of the rate 1/2 convolutional code; and

code the at least one signal field using a rate 1/3 convolutional code with a constraint length of six.

23. The RF transmitter of claim 19 , wherein the baseband processing module is further operably coupled to, at least one of:

for a legacy channel, utilize a quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) for the at least one signal field; and

for a wide bandwidth channel:

utilize QPSK for subcarriers of a first portion of the wide bandwidth channel, wherein the first portion has a bandwidth corresponding to the legacy channel; and

replicate the first portion for a second portion of the wide bandwidth channel.

24. The RF transmitter of claim 19 , wherein the signal field includes a number of antennas.