Indicating channel puncturing in a PHY header
Methods, apparatuses, and computer readable media for indicating channel puncturing in a physical (PHY) header of a PPDU are disclosed. Apparatuses of a non-access point (AP) station (STA) or of an AP are disclosed, where the apparatuses comprise processing circuitry configured to: decode a first portion of a physical (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU), the first portion of the PPDU comprising a bandwidth subfield and a puncturing pattern subfield, the bandwidth subfield indicating a bandwidth of a transmission channel for the PPDU, and the puncturing pattern subfield indicating whether 20 MHz subchannels within the transmission channel are punctured. The processing circuitry is further configured to decode the second portion of the PPDU in accordance with the transmission channel and the punctured 20 MHz subchannels.
1 . An apparatus for a non-access point (AP) station (STA) (non-AP STA), the apparatus comprising memory; and processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the processing circuitry configured to:
decode a first portion of a physical (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU), the first portion of the PPDU comprising a PHY header, the PHY header comprising a bandwidth subfield and a service field, the service field comprising a puncturing pattern subfield, the bandwidth subfield indicating a bandwidth of a transmission channel for the PPDU, and the puncturing pattern subfield indicating which 20 MHz subchannels within the transmission channel are punctured;
decode a second portion of the PPDU, in accordance with the transmission channel and the punctured 20 MHz subchannels;
encode a response PPDU in response to the PPDU and in accordance with the transmission channel and the punctured 20 MHz subchannels, wherein the non-AP STA refrains from indicating which 20 MHz subchannels are punctured in the response PPDU; and
configure the non-AP STA to transmit the response PPDU in accordance with the transmission channel and the punctured 20 MHz subchannels.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the puncturing pattern subfield comprises 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 bits.
3 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the puncturing pattern subfield indicates a puncture pattern index, the puncture pattern index indicating a pattern of punctured 20 MHz subchannels.
4 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein for the bandwidth lower than or equal to 160 MHz, one bit of the puncturing pattern subfield corresponds to each 20 MHz subchannel of the bandwidth and indicates whether the 20 MHz subchannel is punctured.
5 . The apparatus of claim 4 wherein for the bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, one bit of the puncturing pattern subfield corresponds to each 40 MHz subchannel of the bandwidth and indicates whether the 40 MHz subchannel is punctured.
6 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein one bit of the puncturing pattern subfield corresponds to a subchannel of the bandwidth and indicates whether the subchannel is punctured.
7 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein one or two bits of the puncturing pattern subfield indicate a parity check for bits of the puncturing pattern subfield.
8 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the puncturing pattern subfield indicates a puncturing pattern index into a table of puncturing patterns for the bandwidth.
9 . The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the bandwidth indicates 80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz.
10 . The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the puncturing patterns indicate which 20 MHz channels within the bandwidth are punctured.
11 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
decode a beacon frame from an access point (AP), the beacon frame indicating a disabled subchannel bitmap field, the disabled subchannel bitmap field which 20 MHz subchannels are disabled or punctured.
12 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the PPDU is a first PPDU, the bandwidth subfield is a first bandwidth subfield, the puncturing pattern subfield is a first puncturing pattern subfield, and wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
encode for transmission a second PPDU, the second PPDU comprising a second bandwidth subfield and a second puncturing pattern subfield, the second bandwidth subfield indicating a bandwidth of a transmission channel for the second PPDU, and the puncturing pattern subfield indicating whether subchannels within the transmission channel are punctured; and
configure the non-AP STA to transmit the second PPDU in accordance with the bandwidth and the puncturing pattern subfield.
13 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the non-AP STA is part of a multi-link device (MLD).
14 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the non-AP STA is configured to operate in accordance with an Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE) 802.11 communication protocol.
15 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry, the transceiver circuitry coupled to two or more patch antennas for receiving signaling in accordance with a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technique.
16 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of an apparatus for an apparatus for a non-access point (AP) station (STA), the instructions to configure the one or more processors to:
decode a first portion of a physical (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU), the first portion of the PPDU comprising a PHY header, the PHY header comprising a bandwidth subfield and a service field, the service field comprising a puncturing pattern subfield, the bandwidth subfield indicating a bandwidth of a transmission channel for the PPDU, and the puncturing pattern subfield indicating which 20 MHz subchannels within the transmission channel are punctured;
decode a second portion of the PPDU, in accordance with the transmission channel and the punctured 20 MHz subchannels;
encode a response PPDU in response to the PPDU and in accordance with the transmission channel and the punctured 20 MHz subchannels, wherein the non-AP STA refrains from indicating which 20 MHz subchannels are punctured in the response PPDU; and
configure the non-AP STA to transmit the response PPDU in accordance with the transmission channel and the punctured 20 MHz subchannels.
17 . An apparatus for an access point (AP), the apparatus comprising memory; and processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the processing circuitry configured to:
decode a first portion of a physical (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU), the first portion of the PPDU comprising a PHY header, the PHY header comprising a bandwidth subfield and a service field, the service field comprising a puncturing pattern subfield, the bandwidth subfield indicating a bandwidth of a transmission channel for the PPDU, and the puncturing pattern subfield indicating which 20 MHz subchannels within the transmission channel are punctured;
decode a second portion of the PPDU, in accordance with the transmission channel and the punctured 20 MHz subchannels;
encode a response PPDU in response to the PPDU and in accordance with the transmission channel and the punctured 20 MHz subchannels, wherein the non-AP STA refrains from indicating which 20 MHz subchannels are punctured in the response PPDU; and
configure the non-AP STA to transmit the response PPDU in accordance with the transmission channel and the punctured 20 MHz subchannels.