FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0001] This disclosure relates generally to communication between access points, and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus to facilitate next generation wireless operations.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Many locations provide Wi-Fi connectivity to connect Wi-Fi enabled devices to networks such as the Internet. Wi-Fi enabled devices include personal computers, video-game consoles, mobile phones and devices, tablets, smart televisions, digital audio player, etc. Wi-Fi allows Wi-Fi enabled devices to wirelessly access the Internet via a wireless local area network (WLAN). To provide Wi-Fi connectivity to a device, a Wi-Fi access point transmits a radio frequency Wi-Fi signal to the Wi-Fi enabled device within the signal range of the access point (e.g., a hot spot, a modem, etc.). A Wi-Fi access point periodically sends out a beacon frame which contains information that allows Wi-Fi enabled devices to identify, connect to and transfer data to the access point.

[0003] Wi-Fi is implemented using a set of media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) specifications (e.g., the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 protocol). Devices (e.g., access points and Wi-Fi enabled devices) able to operate using IEEE 802.11 protocol are referred to as stations (ST A).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] FIG. 1 is an illustration of communications using wireless local area network (WLAN) Wi-Fi protocols to facilitate wireless connectivity for incumbent devices and non-incumbent devices in a target frequency band. [0005] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example band analyzer of FIG.

1

[0006] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example preamble detector of

FIG. 1.

[0007] FIG. 4 is an illustrated example of one or more communication bands, some of which are utilized by non-incumbent devices.

[0008] FIG. 5 is an illustrated example of detection of training sequences (TSs) in a first portion of sub-bands, the TSs corresponding to sub bands on which no incumbent device operates.

[0009] FIG. 6 is an illustrated example of detection of TSs in a second portion of sub-bands, the TSs corresponding to sub-bands on which no incumbent device operates.

[0010] FIG. 7 is an illustrated example of a protocol data unit (PPDU) distributed between one or more STAs and/or access points.

[0011] FIGS. 8A-8B are illustrated examples of first and second examples of modified bits included in a first and second frame of the PPDU of FIG. 7.

[0012] FIGS. 8C-8D are illustrated examples of third and fourth examples of modified bits included in the first and second frame of the PPDU of FIG. 7.

[0013] FIG. 9 is an example flowchart representative of machine readable instructions that may be executed to implement the access point of FIG. 1.

[0014] FIG. 10 is an example flowchart representative of machine readable instructions that may be executed to implement one or more of the incumbent and/or non-incumbent devices of FIG. 1.

[0015] FIG. 11 A is an example flowchart representative of a machine readable instructions that may be executed to implement a first example bit generation at one or more of the incumbent and/or non-incumbent devices of FIG. 1. [0016] FIG. 11B is an example flowchart representative of a machine readable instructions that may be executed to implement a second bit generation at one or more of the incumbent and/or non-incumbent devices of FIG. 1.

[0017] FIG. 11C is an example flowchart representative of machine readable instructions that may be executed to implement a third bit generation at one or more of the incumbent and/or non-incumbent devices of FIG. 1.

[0018] FIG. 12 is an example flowchart representative of machine readable instructions that may be executed to implement the access point of FIG. 1.

[0019] FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a radio architecture in accordance with some examples.

[0020] FIG. 14 illustrates an example front-end module circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 13 in accordance with some examples.

[0021] FIG. 15 illustrates an example radio IC circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 13 in accordance with some examples.

[0022] FIG. 16 illustrates an example baseband processing circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 13 in accordance with some examples.

[0023] FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a processor platform structured to execute the example machine readable instructions of FIGS. 9-12 to implement the any one of, or any combination of, the server and/or the access point of FIG. 1.

[0024] The figures are not to scale. In general, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] Various locations (e.g., homes, offices, coffee shops, restaurants, parks, airports, etc.) may provide Wi-Fi to the Wi-Fi enabled devices (e.g., STAs) to connect the Wi-Fi enabled devices to the Internet, or any other network, with minimal hassle. The locations may provide one or more Wi-Fi access points (APs) to output Wi-Fi signals to the Wi-Fi enabled devices within a range of the Wi-Fi signals (e.g., a hotspot). A Wi-Fi AP is structured to wirelessly connect a Wi-Fi enabled device to the Internet through a wireless local area network (WLAN) using Wi-Fi protocols (e.g., such as IEEE 802.11). The Wi-Fi protocol is the protocol for how the AP

communicates with the devices to provide access to the Internet by transmitting uplink (UL) transmissions and receiving downlink (DL) transmissions to/from the Internet. Wi-Fi protocols describe a variety of management frames (e.g., beacon frames and trigger frames) that facilitate the communication between access points and stations.

[0026] Current generation Wi-Fi devices operation in one or both of a 5 gigahertz (GHz) frequency band or a 2.4 GHz frequency band. Larger operating bands allow Wi-Fi devices to potentially transmit at greater bandwidths.

[0027] However, new frequency bands may include restrictions based on incumbent devices that already utilize the newly opened frequency bands (e.g., target bands) for unlicensed use. For example, the 6 GHz frequency band includes satellite incumbents and fixed service terrestrial point-to-point (P2P) incumbents. Satellite incumbents are affected by background radiation (e.g., noise) caused by Wi-Fi systems on the satellite incumbent receivers. Although some interference may be tolerated by the satellite incumbents, traditional Wi Fi deployments may cause sufficient interference to degrade the performance and potentially render the satellite operation as useless. Fixed services incumbents include P2P links that are (A) bi-directional and (B) allocated two- channels with specific bandwidth (e.g., one for DL and one for UL).

[0028] The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may regulate unlicensed operation in a target frequency band (e.g., the 6 GHz band) to ensure that non-incumbent devices attempting to utilize the newly available 6 GHz band will not interfere with the incumbent devices. The FCC regulates band usage by monitoring incumbent devices usage of the 6 GHz frequency band. The FCC stores details related to the licensed use of the 6 GHz frequency band by incumbent devices in a database. Examples disclosed herein include facilitating co-existence for wireless connectivity for incumbent devices and non-incumbent devices in a target frequency band (e.g., 6 GHz band).

[0029] Additionally, the FCC may regulate unlicensed operation in the target frequency band to ensure proper detection of devices (e.g., various device types) including legacy wireless devices (e.g., 1 la devices, l ln devices, l lac devices, etc.), current wireless devices (e.g., l lax devices), and future wireless devices (e.g., Next Big Thing (NBT) devices). Autodetection of 11 ax devices is accomplished through the use of a repetition of a legacy preamble field included with a preamble transmission. For example, l lax devices include the legacy preamble field (L-SIG) and a repeat of the legacy preamble field (RL-SIG) while legacy wireless devices (e.g., 1 la devices, l ln devices, l lac devices, etc.) only include L-SIG. However, the use of RL-SIG in its current format is not able to distinguish NBT devices from l lax devices.

[0030] Examples disclosed herein include ensuring that a non- incumbent device (e.g., an AP and/or a STA) will not interfere with incumbent device communications and that l lax devices (e.g., an AP and/or a STA) and NBT devices can distinguish one another in the target frequency band.

[0031] In some examples, the procedures that ensure that a Wi-Fi device will not interfere with an incumbent is based on one or more training sequences (e.g., training tones, a sequence of tones, a sequence of bits, etc.) generated by the AP, the training sequences signifying regions (e.g., sub bands) of the target band that are not being utilized by an incumbent device (regions of the target band that are utilized by an incumbent device will, as used herein, be discussed as“punctured”). In such examples, the procedure may include receiving the training sequences with one or more STAs, the one or more STAs having prior knowledge of the training sequence as well as a block of subcarriers defined as the minimum bandwidth. Thus, the STA is capable of determining which sub-bands of a target band are punctured (e.g., sub-bands where the training sequence is not detected) and which sub-bands of a target band are available (e.g., unutilized sub-bands, sub-bands not utilized by an incumbent device, sub-bands where the training sequence is detected, etc.) for continued receiving and/or transmitting of data.

[0032] Additionally, in some examples described herein, the procedure that ensures 1 lax devices (e.g., an AP and/or a STA) and NBT devices can distinguish one another in the target frequency band is based upon a modification to the RL-SIG (e.g., the repetition of the legacy preamble field L- SIG). In some examples, the modification to RL-SIG includes flipping the polarity of each of the values in RL-SIG (e.g., -1 becomes 1, 1 becomes -1, etc.) from the values include in L-SIG. The polarity flipping can be in one of the time domain or the frequency domain. In examples of polarity flipping in the time domain, a pilot tone of L-SIG (the pilot tone used for phase tracking) is flipped in addition to the polarity flipping of the other values of L-SIG. Conversely, in such examples of polarity flipping in the frequency domain, the polarity of the pilot tone of L-SIG is not flipped (e.g., remains unchanged) to enable the reusing of the existing phase tracking loop.

[0033] In yet other examples disclosed herein, the procedure that ensures 1 lax devices (e.g., an AP and/or a STA) and NBT devices can distinguish one another in the target frequency band is based upon a modification to each of the L-SIG and the RL-SIG (e.g., the repetition of the legacy preamble field L-SIG). In such examples, 4 values (in some examples of 11 ax devices, equaling [+1 -1 -1 -1]) included in L-SIG and RL-SIG (e.g., totaling 8 values) not previously included with L-SIG in legacy wireless devices can be polarity flipped for NBT devices. Thus, for the example sequence of values described above, the sequence would instead include [-1 +1 +1 +1] in both L-SIG and RL-SIG in NBT devices. By including an opposite value for each value of the sequence, the procedures disclosed herein can maximize the Euclidean distance (e.g., straight line distance) between the 1 lax sequence of L-SIG and RL-SIG and the NBT sequence of L-SIG and RL-SIG. [0034] In yet other examples disclosed herein, the procedure that ensures 1 lax devices (e.g., an AP and/or a STA) and NBT devices can distinguish one another in the target frequency band is based upon a modification to a reserved bit included in a HE-SIGA field of the preamble. In such an example, the polarity of the reserved bit would be reversed to distinguish NBT devices from 1 lax devices. For example, the polarity of the bit denoting an NBT device is equal to 1 and the polarity of the bit denoting an 1 lax device is equal to 0.

[0035] As described herein, the AP and/or the STAs can have various configurations that may depend on a type of AP and/or STA (e.g., a wireless device, a laptop, a game console, etc.). In examples disclosed herein, these configurations can be changed or altered to ensure the proper detection of punctured bands as well as ensure the proper identification of 11 ax devices and/or NBT devices.

[0036] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication system 100 using wireless local area network Wi-Fi protocols to facilitate wireless connectivity between an example access point (AP) 102 and an example incumbent STA 104 and example non-incumbent STAs 106, 108. The example of FIG. 1 includes the example AP 102, the example incumbent STA104, the example non-incumbent STAs 106, 108, an example incumbent database 122 and an example network 124. The example AP 102 includes example radio architecture 110 A, an example operation manager 116, an example training sequence generator 117, an example parameter storer 118, and an example preamble detector 120. The example incumbent STA 104 and the example non-incumbent STAs 106, 108 include the example radio architecture 1 l0B,C,D, an example band analyzer 112, and an example preamble determiner 114. Additionally, in some examples of the AP 102 and the STAs 104, 106, 108, the example radio architectures H0A,B,C,D may be physically similar but can, in some examples, operate on different (e.g., separate) transmission and/or reception frequencies. [0037] The example AP 102 of FIG. 1 is a device that allows the example incumbent STA 104 and the example non-incumbent STAs 106, 108 to access wirelessly the example network 124. The example AP 102 may be a router, a modem-router, and/or any other device that provides a wireless connection from the STAs 104, 106, 108 to the network 124. For example, if the AP 102 is a router, the router accesses the network 124 through a wire connection via a modem. If the AP 102 is implemented utilizing a modem- router, such a device combines the functionalities of the modem and the router. In some examples, the AP 102 is a STA that is communication in the example incumbent STA 104 and the example non-incumbent STAs 106, 108.

[0038] The example radio architecture 110A of the AP 102 corresponds to components used to wirelessly transmit and/or receive data, as further described below in conjunction with the examples shown in FIG. 13. The example AP 102 includes the example training sequence generator 117 and the parameter storer 118 to facilitate selection of available sub-bands for communication with the non-incumbent STAs 106, 108. The example AP 102 further includes the example preamble detector 120 to determine whether the example incumbent STA 104 and/or the example non-incumbent STAs 106, 108 are at least one of legacy devices (e.g., 1 la devices, l ln devices, l lac devices, etc.), 11 ax devices, and/or NBT devices. Additionally, the example AP 102 may include an application processor (e.g., the example application processor 1310 of FIG. 13) to generate instructions related to other Wi-Fi protocols.

[0039] The example incumbent STA 104 of FIG. 1 is a device that communicates using a target frequency band. For example, if the target band is the 6 GHz band, the example incumbent STA 104 may be fixed service P2P device and/or satellite device. However, the incumbent STA 104 may be any type of device capable of communicating in a target frequency band that is monitored by the example incumbent STA 104. When an incumbent STA 104 is enabled, the incumbent device is registered to and/or provides identification, characteristics, and/or communication information to the example incumbent database 122. In this manner, the example incumbent database 122 tracks operation of all the incumbent STAs within a location(s). In other examples, the incumbent STA 104 may register with the AP 102 and the AP 102 may maintain the incumbent database 122.

[0040] The example incumbent STA 104 includes the example band analyzer 112 to facilitate sub-band selection of available sub-bands with the AP 102. The example incumbent STA 104 further includes the example preamble generator 114 to generate a preamble denoting whether the example incumbent STA 104 is at least one of a legacy device (e.g., 1 la devices, l ln devices, l lac devices, etc.), 11 ax devices, and/or an NBT device, the preamble to be transmitted to the AP 102.

[0041] The example non-incumbent STAs 106, 108 of FIG. 1 are Wi Fi enabled devices that attempt an unlicensed operation within the target band. The example non-incumbent STAs 106, 108 may be, for example, a computing device, a portable device, a mobile device, a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a tablet, a gaming system, a digital camera, a digital video recorder, a television, a set top box, an e-book reader, and/or any other Wi-Fi enabled device.

[0042] The example non-incumbent STAs 106, 108 include the example band analyzer 112 to facilitate sub-band selection protocols (e.g., selection of available sub-bands and not punctured sub-bands) with the AP 102 and include the example preamble generator 114 to generate a preamble denoting whether the example non-incumbent STAs 106, 108 are at least one of legacy devices (e.g., 1 la devices, l ln devices, l lac devices, etc.), 11 ax devices, and/or NBT devices, the preamble to be transmitted to the AP 102.

[0043] The example band analyzer 112 of the example incumbent STA 104 and the example non-incumbent STAs 106, 108 of the example communication system 100, further described in conjunction with FIG. 2, can (for one or more sub-bands of a target frequency band) detect a training sequence (TS) on the sub-bands and, in response to the detection of the TS, determine that the sub-band is available to communicate on. Conversely, the example band analyzer 112 can also determine which sub-bands of the target frequency band do no include the TS and determine that those sub-bands are punctured by an incumbent device (e.g., the example incumbent STA 104 of FIG. 1).

[0044] The example preamble generator 114 of the example incumbent STA 104 and the example non-incumbent STAs 106, 108 of the example communication system 100 can generate a preamble for a data packet to be distributed from one of the example incumbent STA 104 and the example non- incumbent STAs 106, 108 to the example AP 102. In some examples, generating the preamble for the data packet further includes generating one or more frames included in the preamble. For example, the preamble generator 114 can generate at least an L-SIG field and an RL-SIG field, the RL-SIG field only present in at least 1 lax devices and/or NBT devices.

[0045] The example operation manager 116 of the example AP 102 of the example communication system 100 of FIG. 1 determines which sub bands (e.g., channels) of AP 102 use band are available (in some examples, based upon data retrieved from the incumbent database 122) and, after receiving instructions from the application processor 1310 of FIG. 13 to transmit data, generates a data packet containing the requested data and segments the data packet based on available channels. Once the data packet has been generated and segmented, the operation manager 116 transmits the segmented data packet to the example radio architecture 110A to be wireless transmitted to the requesting STA (e.g., the example incumbent STA 104 and/or the example non-incumbent STAs 106, 108). The example radio architecture 110A is described in further detail below in conjunction with FIG. 13.

[0046] The example training sequence generator 117 of the example AP 102 is capable of generating one or more training sequences (TSs) on or more available sub-bands of a target frequency band. In some examples, this further includes retrieving a listing of one or more incumbent devices (e.g., such as the incumbent STA 104) are operating (e.g., utilizing) at least a portion (e.g., one or more sub bands) of the target frequency bands from the incumbent database 122.

[0047] In some examples, the training sequence generator 117 can additionally divide (e.g., partition) the target frequency band into one or more sub-bands defined by a minimum bandwidth (M-B) as determined by the AP 102 and stored in the parameter storer 118. Further, the training sequence generator 117 can analyze one or more sub-bands of the target frequency band to determine whether an incumbent device is operating on the sub-band based upon the listing retrieved from the incumbent database 122.

[0048] In response to determining the sub-band is available, the training sequence generator 117 embeds a training sequence (e.g., a sequence of bits) retrieved from the parameter storer 118 in a frame and/or a field of the sub-band. For example, the training sequence generator 117 can embed a short training sequence (STS) in a short training field (STF) of the sub-band. This may be carried out for each available sub-band. In other examples, the training sequence generator 117 can embed a long training sequence (LTS) in a long training field (LTF) of the sub-band. In yet other examples, the training sequence generator 117 can embed a training sequence of any size (e.g., any number of bits, tones, etc.) into any field and/or frame of the sub-band. In some examples, the training sequence embedded by the training sequence generator 117 can be the same for each sub-band into which it is embedded. In other examples, the training sequence generator 117 can embed a unique training sequence into one or more of the available sub-bands of the target frequency band. For example, the training sequence generator 117 can generate a single training sequence that spans the target frequency band and only embed the portions of the training sequence associated with available sub-bands.

[0049] Conversely, in response to determining the sub-band is not available (e.g., the sub-band is punctured, an incumbent device is operating on the sub band, etc.), the training sequence generator 117 does not embed the training sequence in a frame and/or a field of the sub-band. Thus, for example, the frame or the field of the sub-band where a training sequence would be embedded remains empty (e.g., no data embedded).

[0050] In some examples, the training sequence generator 117 is further to output the training sequences generated to the radio architecture 110 A, wherein the radio architecture 110A is to broadcast (e.g., output) the training sequences to one or more of the STAs 104, 106, 108.

[0051] The example parameter storer 118 of the example AP 102 of the example communication system 100 of FIG. 1 is capable of storing one or more parameters and/or characteristics associated with the AP 102. In some examples, the parameter storer 118 can store at least one of a target band analysis schedule (e.g., a listing of times at which the target band should be analyzed for incumbent devices), one or more example training sequences, one or more sub-band partition sizes, etc.

[0052] Further, the parameter storer 118 may be implemented by a volatile memory (e.g., a Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM), etc.) and/or a non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory). The parameter storer 118 may additionally or alternatively be implemented by one or more double data rate (DDR) memories, such as DDR, DDR2, DDR3, mobile DDR (mDDR), etc. The parameter storer 118 may additionally or alternatively be implemented by one or more mass storage devices such as hard disk drive(s), compact disk drive(s), digital versatile disk drive(s), etc. While in the illustrated example the parameter storer 118 is illustrated as a single database, the parameter storer 118 may be implemented by any number and/or type(s) of databases. Further, the parameter storer 118 be located in the AP 102 or at a central location outside of the AP 102.

Furthermore, the data stored in the parameter storer 118 may be in any data format such as, for example, binary data, comma delimited data, tab delimited data, structured query language (SQL) structures, etc.

[0053] The example preamble detector 120 of the example AP 102 of the example communication system 100 of FIG. 1, described in further detail in conjunction with FIG. 3, is capable of detecting the polarity of one or more bits included in one or more frames (for example, an L-SIG frame, an RL-SIG frame, a HE-SIGA frame, etc.) of a protocol data unit (PPDU) received from one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 at the access point. Further, based upon the polarity of the one or more bits included in the one or more frames, the preamble detector 120 can identify one or more of the STAs as one of a legacy wireless device, an 11 ax wireless device, or an NBT wireless device.

[0054] As described above, the example incumbent database 122 of FIG. 1 stores information related to the incumbent STA 104 and the incumbent STA’s operation within the target band. For example, such information may include the location of the incumbent STA 104, antenna characteristics (e.g., transmission (Tx) power, beam orientation, attenuation, antenna gain, etc.) corresponding to the incumbent STA 104, communication bandwidth and channel information corresponding to the incumbent STA 104, incoming observation time periods of the incumbent STA 104, margin data corresponding to the number of devices (e.g., STAs) at a particular location, etc. An external device (e.g., the example operation manager 116, the example training sequence generator 117, etc.) may download and/or query information stored in the example incumbent database 122 periodically, aperiodically, or based on a trigger (e.g., when the example incumbent database 122 is updated).

[0055] The example network 124 of FIG. 1 is a system of

interconnected systems exchanging data. The example network 124 may be implemented using any type of public or private network such as, but not limited to, the Internet, a telephone network, a local area network (LAN), a cable network, and/or a wireless network. To enable communication via the network 124, the example AP 102 includes a communication interface that enables a connection to an Ethernet, a digital subscriber line (DSL), a telephone line, a coaxial cable, or any wireless connection, etc. In some examples, the example network 124 provides the requested data to be organized into data packets. [0056] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example implementation 200 of the STA-based band analyzer 112 of FIG. 1, disclosed herein, to facilitate the determination and/or utilization of non-punctured sub-bands of a target band frequency. The example band analyzer 112 includes an example component interface 202, an example band partitioner 204, an example training sequence identifier 206, an example punctured sub-band determiner 208, an example band post processor 210 and an example training sequence reference storer 212. While in the illustrated example, each of the STAs 104, 106, 108 includes the band analyzer 112, one or more of the STAs 104, 106, 108 may not include or otherwise implement the band analyzer 112 or one or more components included in the band analyzer 112.

[0057] The example component interface 202 of FIG. 2 interfaces with the application processor 1310 to transmit signals (e.g., instructions to operate according to a protocol) and/or receive signals (e.g., instructions

corresponding to which ACK type to use) from the example application processor 1310. Additionally, the example component interface 202 interfaces with the example the radio architecture 1 l0B,C,D to instruct the radio architecture 1 l0B,C,D to transmit data packet/frames to and/or to receive data packets from the radio architecture 110 A.

[0058] The example band partitioner 204 of the example band analyzer 112 of FIG. 2 can divide (e.g., partition) the target frequency band into one or more sub-bands defined by a minimum bandwidth (M-B) as determined by and retrieved from the AP 102. In some examples, the band partitioner 204 is further to detect the size of M-B by directing the band analyzer 112 to analyze the entire target frequency band with a filter bank to accumulate one or more samples of sub-bands of bandwidth M-B.

[0059] The example training sequence identifier 206 of the example band analyzer 112 of FIG. 2 can retrieve a reference training sequence from the example training sequence reference storer 212, the training sequence reference corresponding to one or more training sequences as broadcast by the AP 102. In some examples, the training sequence identifier 206 is further to analyze one or more sub-bands of the target frequency band to determine whether an incumbent device is operating on the sub-band based upon a detection (or lack thereof) of a training sequence in the sub-band. In some examples, the example training sequence identifier 206 is further to detect the training sequence based upon a comparison to a reference training sequence retrieved from the example training sequence reference storer 212.

[0060] The example punctured sub-band determiner 208 of the example band analyzer 112 of FIG. 2 can, based on the identification of one or more training sequences in one or more sub-bands of the target frequency band completed by the training sequence identifier 206, determine one or more sub-bands of the target frequency band available for use by a non-incumbent device and one or more sub-bands of the target frequency band which are utilized by an incumbent device (e.g., are punctured). In some examples, the punctured sub-band determiner 208 is further to demarcate the one or more bands of the target frequency band as available for use by a non-incumbent device or punctured by an incumbent device. In some examples, demarcating the one or more sub-bands can further include setting a bit associated with each of the sub-bands (for example, a bit set to one for an available sub-band and set to zero for an unavailable sub-band, etc.).

[0061] The example band post processor 210 of the example band analyzer 112 of FIG. 2 can process one or more of the sub-bands determined to include the training sequence by the training sequence identifier 206 in order to determine a largest available contiguous sub-band based upon the sub-bands marked as available and marked as not available by the punctured sub-band determiner 208. In some examples, the largest available contiguous sub-band includes one or more adjacent sub-bands of size M-B. Thus, for example, the largest available contiguous sub-band is comprised of a segment of adjacent sub-bands including a greatest quantity of size M-B sub-bands.

[0062] The example training sequence reference storer 212, included in or otherwise implemented by the example band analyzer 112 of FIG. 2, is capable of storing one or more parameters and/or characteristics associated with one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. In some examples, the training sequence storer 212 can store one or more reference training sequences, the reference training sequences corresponding to one or more training sequences utilized by the example AP 102.

[0063] Further, the training sequence reference storer 212 may be implemented by a volatile memory (e.g., a Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM), etc.) and/or a non- volatile memory (e.g., flash memory). The training sequence reference storer 212 may additionally or alternatively be implemented by one or more double data rate (DDR) memories, such as DDR, DDR2, DDR3, mobile DDR (mDDR), etc. The training sequence reference storer 212 may additionally or alternatively be implemented by one or more mass storage devices such as hard disk drive(s), compact disk drive(s), digital versatile disk drive(s), etc. While in the illustrated example the training sequence reference storer 212 is illustrated as a single database, the training sequence reference storer 212 may be implemented by any number and/or type(s) of databases. Further, the training sequence reference storer 212 be located in one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 or at a central location outside of one of the STAs 104, 106, 108.

Furthermore, the data stored in the training sequence reference storer 212 may be in any data format such as, for example, binary data, comma delimited data, tab delimited data, structured query language (SQL) structures, etc.

[0064] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example implementation 300 of the AP-based preamble detector 120 of FIG. 1, disclosed herein, to facilitate the determination and/or utilization of non-punctured sub-bands of a target band frequency. The example band analyzer 112 includes an example component interface 302, an example frame analyzer 304, and an example device determiner 306. Additionally or alternatively, while the incumbent database 122 is illustrated as being located outside of the AP 102 in the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the incumbent database 122 can be included in or otherwise implemented by at least one of the AP 102 and/or the preamble detector 120 in some examples.

[0065] The example component interface 302 of FIG. 3 interfaces with the application processor 1310 to transmit signals (e.g., instructions to operate according to a protocol) and/or receive signals (e.g., instructions

corresponding to a received preamble) from the example application processor 1310. Additionally, the example component interface 302 interfaces with the example the radio architecture 110A to instruct the radio architecture 110A to transmit data packet/frames to and/or to receive data packets from the radio architecture H0B,C,D.

[0066] The example frame analyzer 304 of the example band analyzer 112 of FIG. 3 can, in some examples, receive a protocol data unit including one or more frames from one of the example STAs 104, 106, 108 via the radio architecture 110A by way of the component interface 302. In some examples, the PPDU received can include at least a first frame (e.g., an L-SIG frame), a second frame (e.g., an RL-SIG frame), and a third frame (e.g., a HE-SIGA frame).

[0067] The frame analyzer 304 can, in some examples, analyze at least the first frame (e.g., the L-SIG frame) and the second frame (e.g., the RL-SIG frame) of the PPDU. In some examples, analyzing the first frame and the second frame further includes analyzing one or more bits included in the first frame and the second frame. For example, the frame analyzer 304 can compare the polarity of one or more bits of the first frame to the corresponding one or more bits of the second frame (e.g., as illustrated further in conjunction FIG. 8A).

[0068] Additionally or alternatively, the frame analyzer 304 can compare the polarity of one or more signature bits included in the first frame and the second frame to an expected polarity of the signature bits (e.g., as illustrated further in conjunction with FIG. 8B). Additionally or alternatively, the example frame analyzer 304 can analyze at least a third frame (e.g., the HE-SIGA frame) of the PPDU. In some examples, analyzing the third frame further includes analyzing a reserved bit included in the third frame. For example, the frame analyzer 304 can compare the polarity of the reserved bit included in the third frame to an expected polarity.

[0069] The example device determiner 306 of the example band analyzer 112 of FIG. 3 can, based on the bit polarity analysis completed by the example frame analyzer 304, determine whether a device (e.g., one or more of the STAs 104, 106, 108) communicating with the AP 102 is at least one of a legacy device (e.g., an 1 la device, an 1 lac device, etc.), an 1 lax device, or an NBT device.

[0070] In some examples, to determine a wireless protocol of the device communicating with the access point, the device determiner 306 can determine whether the polarity of one or more of the bits included in the second frame (e.g., RL-SIG) are flipped from the corresponding bits included in the first frame (e.g., L-SIG). In such examples, the device determiner 306 determines that the device is an 11 ax device when the bits in the second frame correspond to the bits in the first frame. Conversely, the device determiner 306 determines that the device is an NBT device when one or more bits in the second frame are flipped compared to the corresponding bits in the first frame.

[0071] Additionally or alternatively, to determine a wireless protocol of the device communicating with the access point, the device determiner 306 can determine whether the polarity of one or more of the signature bits included in at least one of the first frame (e.g., L-SIG) or the second frame (e.g., RL-SIG) is flipped from the expected polarity of the example signature bit. In such examples, the device determiner 306 determines that the device is an 1 lax device when the signature bits correspond to the expected polarity. Conversely, the device determiner 306 determines that the device is an NBT device when one or more bits of the signatures bits are flipped (e.g., reversed) from the expected polarity.

[0072] Additionally or alternatively, to determine a wireless protocol of the device communicating with the access point, the device determiner 306 can determine whether the polarity of a reserved bit included in the third frame (e.g., HE-SIGA) at least one of corresponds to the expected polarity or is flipped (e.g., reversed) from the expected polarity. In such examples, the device determiner 306 determines that the device is an 1 lax device when the reserved bit corresponds to the expected polarity. Conversely, the device determiner 306 determines that the device is an NBT device when the reserved bit is flipped (e.g., reversed) from the expected polarity.

[0073] FIG. 4 illustrates an example target frequency band 400, wherein one or more sub-bands of the target frequency band 400 are utilized by incumbent devices (for example, the incumbent STA 104 of FIG. 1).

Further in the illustrated example of FIG. 4, the target frequency band 400 is divided into sub-bands of varying sizes, including first sub bands 404 with a size of 106 resource units, second sub bands 406 with a size of 26 resource units, and third sub bands 408 with a size of 242 resource units.

[0074] In the illustrated example, as described above, one or more incumbent devices (e.g., the incumbent STA 104 of FIG. 1, for example) operate on portions of the target frequency band 400, the portions on which the incumbent devices operate defined by one or more punctured sub-bands 410. Thus, for example, the punctured sub-bands 410 are sub-bands of the target frequency bands 400 that cannot be utilized by one or more non- incumbent devices (e.g., the non-incumbent STAs 106, 108 of FIG. 1, for example).

[0075] Additionally, sub-bands of the target frequency 400 that are not punctured sub-bands 410 are available sub-bands 412, 414, 416 the available sub-band 412 defined by a bandwidth of 106 resource units, the sub-band 414 defined by a bandwidth of 242 resource units, and the available sub-band 416 defined by a bandwidth of 484 resource units. Thus, for example, the available sub-bands 412, 414, 416 are sub-bands of the target frequency band 400 that can be utilized by one or more non-incumbent devices (e.g., the non- incumbent STAs 106, 108 of FIG. 1, for example).

[0076] FIG. 5 illustrates an example first portion 500 of the target frequency sub-band 400 on which one or more incumbent devices (for example, the incumbent STA 104 of FIG. 1 operates. Further, the first portion 500 of the target frequency sub-band 400 includes the first example sub-band 404, the second example sub-band 406, the example punctured sub-bands 410 and the example available sub-bands 412.

[0077] FIG. 5 further includes parallel correlators 502A-H and an example post processor 503 A to detect which of the sub-bands of the first portion 500 of the target frequency band 400 are available and which sub bands are punctured. In some examples, the parallel correlators 502A-H can be implemented by or otherwise included in the punctured sub-band determiner 208 of FIG. 2. The parallel correlators 502A-H are to, in some examples substantially simultaneously, detect a training sequence (TS) in one or more of the sub-bands of the first portion 500 of the target frequency band 400.

[0078] In the illustrated example of FIG. 5, the parallel correlators 502A-C do not detect a TS and therefor make a punctured determination 504A, the parallel correlators 502D detect the TS and therefor makes a TS detection determination 506A, the parallel correlators 502E do not detect a TS and therefor make a punctured determination 504B, the parallel correlators 502F-G detect the TS and therefor make TS detection determinations 506B-C, and the parallel correlators 502H do not detect a TS and therefor make a punctured determination 504C. Further in such examples, the post processor 503A detects two adjacent sub-bands (e.g., sub-bands 412) processed by the parallel correlators 502F-G, the post processor further to determine that the two adjacent sub-bands can, in some examples, be utilized as a larger usable bandwidth for an incoming non-incumbent STA (e.g., the non-incumbent STAs 106, 108).

[0079] Thus, in the illustrated example of FIG. 5, the parallel correlators 502A-H determine that the sub-bands associated with the TS detection determinations 506A-C are available for use by one or more non- incumbent devices (e.g., the non-incumbent STAs 106, 108 of FIG. 1, for example) and the post processor 503A determines whether any of the sub- bands associated with the TS detection determinations 506A-C are adjacent to one another.

[0080] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a second portion 600 of the target frequency band 400 on which one or more incumbent devices (e.g., the incumbent STA 104 of FIG. 1) operates. The second portion 600 of the target frequency sub-band 400 including the third example sub-band4 08, the example punctured sub-bands 410 and the example available sub-bands 414, 416.

[0081] FIG. 6 further includes parallel correlators 602 A-D to detect which of the sub-bands of the second portion 600 of the target frequency band 400 are available and which sub-bands are punctured. In some examples, the parallel correlators 602A-D can be implemented by or otherwise included in the punctured sub-band determiner 208 and the post processor 603A can be implemented by or otherwise included in the band post processor 210 of FIG. 2. Alternatively, the post processors 603 A, 604 can be implemented utilizing the punctured sub-band determiner 208. The parallel correlators 602A-D and the post processor603A are to, in some examples substantially simultaneously, detect a training sequence (TS) in one or more of the sub-bands of the second portion 600 of the target frequency band 400.

[0082] In the illustrated example of FIG. 6, the parallel correlator 602A detects the TS and therefor makes a TS detection determination 606, the parallel correlator 602B does not detect a TS and therefor make a punctured determination 608, and the parallel correlators 602C,D detect the TS on two (2) adjacent sub-bands, respectively, of bandwidth 242 resource units and makes a TS detection determination 610. Further in such examples, the post processor 603A detects two adjacent sub-bands (e.g., sub-bands 408) processed by the parallel correlators 502F-G, the post processor further to determine that the two adjacent sub-bands can, in some examples, be utilized as a larger usable bandwidth for an incoming non-incumbent STA (e.g., the non-incumbent STAs 106, 108). [0083] Thus, in the illustrated example of FIG. 6, the parallel correlators 602A-D and the post processor 603A determine that the sub-bands associated with the TS detection determinations 606, 610 are available for use by one or more non-incumbent devices (e.g., the non-incumbent STAs 106, 108 of FIG. 1, for example) and, further, that the sub-bands associated with the TS detection determination 610 is the largest contiguous sub-band of available sub-bands in the target frequency band 400 (e.g., the TS detection determination 610 sub-bands are to be used for communication between the AP 102 and one of the non-incumbent STAs 106, 108).

[0084] FIG. 7 illustrates an example protocol data unit (PPDU) 700 distributed between one or more of the example incumbent STA 104, the example non-incumbent STAs 106, 108, and/or the AP 102. In the illustrated example of FIG. 7, the PPDU 700 includes at least an example legacy preamble 702 which can, in some examples, further include an example first frame 704 (e.g., an example long legacy training frame (L-LTF) in the illustrated example), an example second frame 706 (e.g., example legacy preamble frame (L-SIG) in the illustrated example), an example third frame 708 (e.g., an example repeated legacy preamble frame (RL-SIG) in the illustrated example), an example fourth frame 710 (e.g., a first example HE- SIGA frame in the illustrated example), an example fifth frame 712 (e.g., a second example HE-SIGA frame in the illustrated example), and example content frame 714.

[0085] In some such examples where the example incumbent STA 104, the example non-incumbent STAs 106, 108, and/or the AP 102 is a legacy device (e.g., prior to 1 lax such as 1 la, 1 lac, 1 ln, etc.), the third frame 708 field may not be included in the PPDU 700.

[0086] Further, in some such examples where the example incumbent STA 104, the example non-incumbent STAs 106, 108, and/or the AP 102 is an NBT device, at least one of the second frame 706, the third frame 708, and/or the fourth frame 710 can be modified per procedures described further in conjunction with FIGS. 11A-11C and shown in FIGS. 8A-8B. Additionally, a reserved bit included in the fourth frame 710 (e.g., the first example HE- SIGA frame) can have its polarity flipped to signify the communicating device is an NBT device. Thus, for example, the reserved bit may correspond to a value of 1 when the communicating device is an 1 lax or other legacy device and may correspond to -1 when the communicating device is an NBT device.

[0087] FIGS. 8 A and 8B illustrate a first example 800 A and a second example 800B of modified bits included in the third frame 706 (e.g., L-SIG) and/or the fourth frame 708 (e.g., RL-SIG) of the PPDU 700 of FIG. 7, wherein each of the first and second examples 800A,B illustrate bit modification for NBT devices.

[0088] In the illustrated example, the first example 800 A illustrates bit modification in the time domain and the second example 800B illustrates bit modification in the frequency domain. In some examples, bit modification in the frequency domain differs from bit modification in the time domain in that bit modification in the time domain includes flipping the polarity of one or more pilot bits and bit modification in the frequency domain does not flip the polarity of more pilot bits (e.g., in order to reuse an existing phase tracking loop).

[0089] Looking to the first example 800 A, the first example 800A further illustrates the first frame 802A (e.g., the L-SIG frame in the illustrated example) and the second frame 804A (e.g., the RL-SIG frame in the illustrated example).

[0090] Further, the first frame 802A includes a sequence of bits 806A (e.g., [+1 -1 +1 +1 -1 -1]) including one or more pilot bits 808A and the second frame 804A includes a sequence of bits 810A (e.g., [-1 +1 -1 -1 +1 +1]) including one or more pilot bits 812A. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 8 A and described above, the polarity of each bit in the sequence of bits 810A including each pilot bit 812A is reversed when compared to the corresponding bit in the sequence of bits 806A including each pilot bit 808 A.

[0091] Moving to the second example 800B, the second example 800B further illustrates the first frame 802B (e.g., the L-SIG frame in the illustrated example) and the second frame 804B (e.g., the RL-SIG frame in the illustrated example).

[0092] Further, the first frame 802B includes a sequence of bits 806B (e.g., [+1 -1 +1 +1 -1 -1]) including one or more pilot bits 808B and the second frame 804B includes a sequence of bits 810B (e.g., [-1 +1 +1 -1 -1 +1]) including one or more pilot bits 812B. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 8A and described above, the polarity of each bit in the sequence of bits 810B (except for each of the pilot bits 812B) is reversed when compared to the

corresponding bit in the sequence of bits 806A. Thus, the polarity of the pilot bits 812B in the second frame 804B correspond to the polarity of the pilot bits 808B in the first frame 802B when the polarity flipping is carried out in the frequency domain.

[0093] FIGS. 8C-D illustrates a third example 800C (e.g., for l lax devices) and a fourth example 800D (e.g., for NBT devices) of modified bits included in the third frame 706 (e.g., L-SIG) and/or the fourth frame 708 of the PPDU 700 of FIG. 7 wherein the example 800C illustrates bit modification to discern an 1 lax device and the example 800D illustrates bit modifications to discern an NBT device.

[0094] Looking to the third example 800C, the third example 800C further illustrates a first frame 802C (e.g., the L-SIG frame in the illustrated example) and a second frame 804C (e.g., the RL-SIG frame in the illustrated example).

[0095] Further, the first frame 802C includes a sequence of bits 806C (e.g., +1 -1 +1 -1 +1 +1 -1 -1 -1 -1]) including one or more signature bits 812C (e.g., [+1 -1 -1 -1] in the sequence of bits 806C) and the second frame 804C includes a sequence of bits 810C (e.g., [+1 -1 +1 -1 +1 +1 -1 -1 -1 -1]) including one or more signature bits 812C (e.g., [+1 -1 -1 -1] in the sequence of bits 806C). In some examples, the polarities of the signature bits 812C and 812D is known to correspond to l lax devices and, thus, it is known that the third example 800C corresponds to an l lax device. [0096] Looking to the fourth example 800D, the fourth example 800D further illustrates a first frame 802D (e.g., the L-SIG frame in the illustrated example) and a second frame 804D (e.g., the RL-SIG frame in the illustrated example).

[0097] Further, the first frame 802D includes a sequence of bits 806D (e.g., -1 +1 +1 -1 +1 +1 -1 -1 +1 +1]) including one or more signature bits 812D (e.g., [-1 +1 +1 +1] in the sequence of bits 806D) and the second frame 804D includes a sequence of bits 810D (e.g., [-1 +1 +1 -1 +1 +1 -1 -1 +1 +1]) including one or more signature bits 812D (e.g., [-1 +1 +1 +1] in the sequence of bits 806C).

[0098] Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 8D and described above, the polarity of each bit in the signature bits 812D included in the sequence of bits 806D, 810D is reversed when compared to the corresponding bit in the signature bits 812C included in the sequence of bits 806C, 810C, the reversal of the polarity signifying the device in the fourth example 800D is an NBT device. Further, the reversal of each bit of the signature bits 812D (e.g., 8 bits in the illustrated example) maximized the Euclidean distance between the signature bits 812C and the signature bits 812D, aiding in robust identification of 11 ax devices and NBT devices.

[0099] While an example manner of implementing the example band analyzer 112, the example preamble generator 114, the example training sequence generator 117, and/or the example preamble detector 120 of FIG. 1 is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and/or 3, one or more of the elements, processes and/or devices illustrated in FIGS. 2 and/or 3 may be combined, divided, re arranged, omitted, eliminated and/or implemented in any other way. Further, the example preamble generator 114, the example training sequence generator 117, the component interface 202, the example band partitioner 204, the example training sequence identifier 206, the example punctured sub-band determiner 208, the example band post processor 210, the example component interface 302, the example frame analyzer 304, the example device determiner 306, and/or, more generally, the example band analyzer 112 and/or the example preamble detector 120 may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware and/or any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware.

Thus, for example, any of the example preamble generator 114, the example training sequence generator 117, the component interface 202, the example band partitioner 204, the example training sequence identifier 206, the example punctured sub-band determiner 208, the example band post processor 210, the example component interface 302, the example frame analyzer 304, the example device determiner 306, and/or, more generally, the example band analyzer 112 and/or the example preamble detector 120 could be implemented by one or more analog or digital circuit(s), logic circuits, programmable processor(s), programmable controller(s), graphics processing unit(s) (GPU(s)), digital signal processor(s) (DSP(s)), application specific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)) and/or field programmable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)). When reading any of the apparatus or system claims of this patent to cover a purely software and/or firmware implementation, at least one of the example preamble generator 114, the example training sequence generator 117, the component interface 202, the example band partitioner 204, the example training sequence identifier 206, the example punctured sub-band determiner 208, the example band post processor 210, the example component interface 302, the example frame analyzer 304, the example device determiner 306, and/or, more generally, the example band analyzer 112 and/or the example preamble detector 120 is/are hereby expressly defined to include a non-transitory computer readable storage device or storage disk such as a memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk (CD), a Blu-ray disk, etc. including the software and/or firmware. Further still, the example band analyzer 112, the example preamble generator 114, the example training sequence generator 117, and/or the example preamble detector 120 of FIG. 1 may include one or more elements, processes and/or devices in addition to, or instead of, those illustrated in FIGS. 2 and/or 3, and/or may include more than one of any or all of the illustrated elements, processes and devices. As used herein, the phrase “in communication,” including variations thereof, encompasses direct communication and/or indirect communication through one or more intermediary components, and does not require direct physical (e.g., wired) communication and/or constant communication, but rather additionally includes selective communication at periodic intervals, scheduled intervals, aperiodic intervals, and/or one-time events.

[00100] Flowcharts representative of example hardware logic, machine readable instructions, hardware implemented state machines, and/or any combination thereof for implementing the band analyzer 112, the example preamble generator 114, the example training sequence generator 117, and/or the example preamble detector 120 of FIG. 1 is shown in FIGS. 9-12. The machine readable instructions may be an executable program or portion of an executable program for execution by a computer processor such as the processor 1712 shown in the example processor platform 1700 discussed below in connection with FIG. 7. The program may be embodied in software stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium such as a CD- ROM, a floppy disk, a hard drive, a DVD, a Blu-ray disk, or a memory associated with the processor 1712, but the entire program and/or parts thereof could alternatively be executed by a device other than the processor 1712 and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware. Further, although the example programs are described with reference to the flowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 9-12, many other methods of implementing the example band analyzer 112, the example preamble generator 114, the example training sequence generator 117, and/or the example preamble detector 120 of FIG. 1 may alternatively be used. For example, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated, or combined. Additionally or alternatively, any or all of the blocks may be implemented by one or more hardware circuits (e.g., discrete and/or integrated analog and/or digital circuitry, an FPGA, an ASIC, a comparator, an operational-amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc.) structured to perform the corresponding operation without executing software or firmware. [00101] As mentioned above, the example processes of FIGS. 9-12 may be implemented using executable instructions (e.g., computer and/or machine readable instructions) stored on a non-transitory computer and/or machine readable medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a cache, a random-access memory and/or any other storage device or storage disk in which information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended time periods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarily buffering, and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, the term non-transitory computer readable medium is expressly defined to include any type of computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and to exclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media.

[00102]“Including” and“comprising” (and all forms and tenses thereof) are used herein to be open ended terms. Thus, whenever a claim employs any form of“include” or“comprise” (e.g., comprises, includes, comprising, including, having, etc.) as a preamble or within a claim recitation of any kind, it is to be understood that additional elements, terms, etc. may be present without falling outside the scope of the corresponding claim or recitation. As used herein, when the phrase "at least" is used as the transition term in, for example, a preamble of a claim, it is open-ended in the same manner as the term "comprising" and“including” are open ended. The term “and/or” when used, for example, in a form such as A, B, and/or C refers to any combination or subset of A, B, C such as (1) A alone, (2) B alone, (3) C alone, (4) A with B, (5) A with C, (6) B with C, and (7) A with B and with C.

[00103] The program of FIG. 9 includes block 902 at which the example training sequence generator 117 included in the example AP 102 retrieves a listing of one or more incumbent devices (e.g., such as the incumbent STA 104) are operating (e.g., utilizing) at least a portion (e.g., one or more sub bands) of the target frequency bands from the incumbent database 122 [00104] At block 904, the training sequence generator 117 included in the example AP 102 divides (e.g., partitions) the target frequency band into one or more sub-bands defined by a minimum bandwidth (M-B) as determined by the AP 102 and stored in the parameter storer 118.

[00105] At block 906, the training sequence generator 117 analyzes the first unanalyzed sub-band determined at block 904 to determine whether an incumbent device is operating on the sub-band based upon the listing retrieved at block 902. At block 908, in response to the analysis completed at block 906 concluding an incumbent device (e.g., such as the incumbent STA 104) is operating on the sub-band (e.g., the sub-band is punctured), processing proceeds to block 912. Conversely, in response to the analysis of block 906 concluding no incumbent device is operating on the sub-band (e.g., the sub band is available), processing proceeds to block 910.

[00106] At block 910, in response to determining the sub-band is available, the training sequence generator 117 embeds a training sequence (e.g., a sequence of bits) retrieved from the parameter storer 118 in a frame and/or a field of the sub-band. For example, the training sequence generator 117 can embed a short training sequence (STS) in a short training field (STF) of the sub-band. In response to the embedding of the training sequence, processing proceeds to block 914.

[00107] At block 912, in response to determining the sub-band is not available (e.g., the sub-band is punctured, an incumbent device is operating on the sub band, etc.), the training sequence generator 117 does not embed the training sequence in a frame and/or a field of the sub-band. Thus, for example, the frame or the field of the sub-band where a training sequence would be embedded remains empty (e.g., no data embedded).

[00108] At block 914, the training sequence generator 117 determines whether any sub-bands have not yet been analyzed (e.g., processed). In some examples, the training sequence generator 117 determines whether any sub bands have not yet been analyzed based upon a known size of the target frequency bands as stored in the parameter storer 118. In response to determining remaining sub-bands need to be processed, processing returns to block 906. Alternatively, in response to determining no additional sub-bands need to be processed (e.g., analyzed), processing proceeds to block 916.

[00109] At block 916, the training sequence generator 117 outputs the training sequences generated at block 910 to the radio architecture 110A, wherein the radio architecture 110A is to broadcast (e.g., output) the training sequences to one or more of the STAs 104, 106, 108.

[00110] At block 918, the training sequence generator 117 determines whether it is desired to reanalyze the target frequency band based upon a schedule stored in the parameter storer 118. In response to determining reanalyzing is desired based upon the schedule, processing returns to block 902. Conversely, in response to determining reanalyzing is not desired (e.g., not scheduled), the program 900 of FIG. 9 ends.

[00111] The program of FIG. 10 includes block 1002 at which the example training sequence identifier 206 included in the band analyzer 112 further included in one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 retrieves a reference training sequence from the example training sequence reference storer 212, the training sequence reference corresponding to one or more training sequences as broadcast by the AP 102.

[00112] At block 1004, the band partitioner 204 included in the example band analyzer 112 of one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 divides (e.g., partitions) the target frequency band into one or more sub-bands defined by a minimum bandwidth (M-B) (e.g., minimum size) as determined by and retrieved from the AP 102.

[00113] At block 1006, the example training sequence identifier 206 included in the band analyzer 112 analyzes the first unanalyzed sub-band determined at block 1004 based on a communication received from the AP 102 via the radio architecture 1 l0B,C,D and the component interface 202 to determine whether an incumbent device is operating on the sub-band based upon a detection (or lack thereof) of a training sequence in the sub-band. In some examples at block 1006, the example training sequence identifier 206 is further to detect the training sequence based upon a comparison to a reference training sequence retrieved from the example training sequence reference storer 2l2 at block 1002.

[00114] At block 1008, in response to the training sequence identifier 206 detecting a training sequence in the current sub-band at block 1006, processing proceeds to block 1010. Conversely, in response to the training sequence identifier 206 not detecting a training sequence in the current sub band at block 1006, processing proceeds to block 1012.

[00115] At block 1010, in response to determining (e.g., detecting) the training sequence is embedded in the sub-band (e.g., the sub-band is not punctured, the sub-band is available, etc.), the punctured sub-band determiner 208 marks the sub-band as available for communication with one of the non- incumbent STAs 106, 108.

[00116] Conversely, at block 1012, in response to determining (e.g., detecting) the training sequence is not embedded in the sub-band (e.g., the sub-band is punctured, the sub-band is not available, etc.), the punctured sub band determiner 208 marks the sub-band as not available for communication with one of the non-incumbent STAs 106, 108.

[00117] At block 1014, the band analyzer 112 determines whether any sub-bands have not yet been analyzed (e.g., processed). In some examples, the band analyzer 112 determines whether any sub-bands have not yet been analyzed based upon a known size of the target frequency band and a listing of sub-bands that have been processed by the punctured sub-band determiner 208. In response to determining remaining sub-bands need to be processed, processing returns to block 1006. Alternatively, in response to determining no additional sub-bands need to be processed (e.g., analyzed), processing proceeds to block 1016.

[00118] At block 1016, the band post processor 210 post processes one or more of the sub-bands determined to be not punctured at block 1010 in order to determine a largest available contiguous sub-band based upon the sub-bands marked as available at block 1010 and marked as not available at block 1012 by the punctured sub-band determiner 208. In some examples, the largest available contiguous sub-band includes one or more adjacent sub bands of size M-B. Thus, for example, the largest available contiguous sub band is comprised of a segment of adjacent sub-bands including a greatest quantity of size M-B sub-bands.

[00119] At block 1018, in response to determining the contiguous sub band at block 1016, the band post processor 210 instructs the application processor 1310 of one of the non-incumbent STAs 106, 108 via the component interface 202 to communicate with the AP 102 on the contiguous sub-band. Thus, for example, the radio architecture H0C,D of one or more of the non-incumbent STAs 106, 108 transmits and/or receives data packets from the radio architecture 110A included in the AP 102 on the contiguous sub band.

[00120] At block 1020, the band analyzer 112 determines whether it is desired to reanalyze the target frequency band based upon a schedule retrieved from the AP 102. In response to determining reanalyzing is desired based upon the schedule, processing returns to block 1002. Conversely, in response to determining reanalyzing is not desired (e.g., not scheduled), the program 1000 of FIG. 10 ends.

[00121] The program 1100 A of FIG. 11 A begins at block 1102A at which the example preamble generator 114 included in one of the example STAs 104, 106, 108 determines the wireless protocol associated with the STA. For example, one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 may determine it is an NBT device. Alternatively, one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 may determine it is an 1 lax device. In either case, at block 1104B, the preamble generator 114 generates a first frame including one or more bits (e.g., an L-SIG frame) which corresponds to (e.g., contains bits of identical polarity) a second frame including one or more bits (e.g., an RL-SIG frame).

[00122] At block 1106 A, the preamble generator 114 determines whether the corresponding one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is an NBT device based on the determination of block 1102A. In response to determining the corresponding one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is an NBT device, processing proceeds to block 1108 A. Conversely, in response to determining the corresponding one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is not an NBT device (e.g., an 11 ax device, an 1 la device, an l ln device, etc.), the program HOOA of FIG. 11A ends.

[00123] At block 1108 A, in response to determining the corresponding one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is an NBT device, the preamble generator 114 flips a polarity (e.g., a 1 becomes a -1, a -1 becomes a 1, etc.) of one or more bits included in the second frame, the flipping of the one or more bits in the second frame further illustrated in conjunction with FIG. 8A. For example, at block 1108 A, the preamble generator 114 can flip the polarity of each bit included in the second frame except for one or more pilot bits (e.g., the pilot bits utilized for phase tracking).

[00124] At block 1110 A, the preamble generator 114 determines whether it is desired to implement the polarity flipping of block 1108 A in the time domain or the frequency domain. In response to determining it is desired to implement polarity flipping in the time domain, processing proceeds to block 1112A at which the preamble generator 114 flips the polarity of the one or more pilot bits (e.g., corresponding pilot bits) included in the second frame (e.g., the RL-SIG frame). Conversely, in response to determining it is desired to implement polarity flipping in the frequency domain, processing proceeds to block 1114A at which the preamble generator 114 does not flip the polarity of the pilot bits. In response to completion of one of block 1112A or block 1114A, the program 1100A of FIG. 11 A ends.

[00125] The program of FIG. 11B includes block 1102B at which one of the example STAs 104, 106, 108 determines the wireless protocol associated with the STA. For example, one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 may determine it is an NBT device. Alternatively, one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 may determine it is an 11 ax device. In either case, at block 1104B, the preamble generator 114 generates a first frame (e.g., an L-SIG frame) including one or more signature bits which corresponds to (e.g., contains bits of identical polarity) a second frame (e.g., an RL-SIG frame) including one or more signature bits. For example, as illustrated by the signature 812C included in the bit sequence 806C and 810C of FIG. 8B, the signature generated in the first frame (e.g., L-SIG) can include [+1 -1 -1 -1] and the signature generated in the second frame (e.g., RL-SIG) can include [+1 -1 -1 -1]

[00126] At block 1106B, the preamble generator 114 determines whether the corresponding one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is an NBT device based on the determination of block 1102B. In response to determining the corresponding one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is an NBT device, processing proceeds to block 1108B. Conversely, in response to determining the corresponding one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is not an NBT device (e.g., an 1 lax device, an 1 la device, an 1 ln device, etc.), the program 1100B of FIG. 11B ends.

[00127] At block 1108B, in response to determining the corresponding one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is an NBT device, the preamble generator 114 flips a polarity (e.g., a 1 becomes a -1, a -1 becomes a 1, etc.) of one or more of the signature bits included in the first frame (e.g., the L-SIG frame) and the second frame (e.g., the RL-SIG frame), the flipping of the one or more signature bits in the first frame and the second frame further illustrated in conjunction with FIG. 8B.

[00128] For example, as illustrated by the signature 812D included in the bit sequence 806D and 810D of FIG. 8B, the signature generated in the first frame (e.g., L-SIG) can include [-1 +1 +1 +1] and the signature generated in the second frame (e.g., RL-SIG) can include [-1 +1 +1 +1] after polarity flipping. In some examples, the flipping of each bit included in the signature 812D in generating the signature 812D is done to maximum the Euclidean distance between the signatures (e.g., for detection purposes). In response to completion of the polarity flipping of the signature bits, the program 1100B of FIG. 11 B ends.

[00129] The program of FIG. 11C includes block 1102C at which at which one of the example STAs 104, 106, 108 determines the wireless protocol associated with the STA. For example, one of the STAs 104, 106,

108 may determine it is an NBT device. Alternatively, one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 may determine it is an 11 ax device. In either case, at block 1104C, the preamble generator 114 generates a third frame (e.g., a HE-SIGA frame) including setting a reserved bit. In some examples, the setting of the reserved bit at block 1102C can set the reserved bit to either polarity (e.g., 1 or -1).

[00130] At block 1106C, the preamble generator 114 determines whether the corresponding one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is an NBT device based on the determination of block 1102C. In response to determining the corresponding one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is an NBT device, processing proceeds to block 1108C. Conversely, in response to determining the corresponding one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is not an NBT device (e.g., an 1 lax device, an 1 la device, an 1 ln device, etc.), the program 1100C of FIG. 11C ends.

[00131] At block 1108C, in response to determining the corresponding one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is an NBT device, the preamble generator 114 flips a polarity (e.g., a 1 becomes a -1, a -1 becomes a 1, etc.) of the reserved bit included in the third frame (e.g., the HE-SIGA frame). In response to completion of the polarity flipping of the reserved bit, the program 1100C of FIG. 11 C ends.

[00132] The program of FIG. 12 includes block 1202 at which the example component interface 302 of the example preamble detector 120 included in the AP 102 of FIG. 1 receives a protocol data unit (e.g., the protocol data unit 700 of FIG. 7) including one or more frames from one of the example STAs 104, 106, 108 via the radio architecture 110. For example, the PPDU 700 received can include at least a first frame (e.g., an L-SIG frame), a second frame (e.g., an RL-SIG frame), and a third frame (e.g., a HE-SIGA frame).

[00133] At block 1204, the example frame analyzer 304 included in the preamble detector 120 analyzes at least the first frame (e.g., the L-SIG frame) and the second frame (e.g., the RL-SIG frame) of the PPDU 700. In some examples, analyzing the first frame and the second frame further includes analyzing one or more bits included in the first frame and the second frame. For example, the frame analyzer 304 can compare the polarity of one or more bits of the first frame to the corresponding one or more bits of the second frame (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 8A). In yet other examples, the frame analyzer 304 can compare the polarity of one or more signature bits included in the first frame and the second frame to an expected polarity of the signature bits (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 8B).

[00134] At block 1206, the device determiner 306 determines whether the polarity of one or more of the bits included in the second frame (e.g., RL- SIG) are flipped from the corresponding bits included in the first frame (e.g., L-SIG). In response to determining the polarity of one or more of the bits are flipped, processing proceeds to block 1216. Alternatively, in response to determining the polarity of each bit of the second frame corresponds to the polarity of the corresponding bit of the first frame, processing proceeds to block 1208.

[00135] At block 1208, the device determiner 306 determines whether the polarity of one or more of the signature bits included in at least one of the first frame (e.g., L-SIG) or the second frame (e.g., RL-SIG) is flipped from the expected polarity of the example signature bit. In response to determining the polarity of one or more of the signature bits of the first frame and/or the second frame is flipped from the expected polarity, processing proceeds to block 1216. Alternatively, in response to determining each signature bit of the first frame and the second frame corresponds to the expected polarity, processing proceeds to block 1210.

[00136] At block 1210, the example frame analyzer 304 included in the preamble detector 120 analyzes at least a third frame (e.g., the HE-SIGA frame) of the PPDU 700. In some examples, analyzing the third frame further includes analyzing a reserved bit included in the third frame. For example, the frame analyzer 304 can compare the polarity of the reserved bit included in the third frame to an expected polarity. [00137] At block 1212, the device determiner 306 determines whether the polarity of the reserved bit included in the third frame (e.g., HE-SIGA) at least one of corresponds to the expected polarity or is flipped (e.g., reversed) from the expected polarity. In response to determining the reserved bit does correspond to the expected polarity (e.g., the reserved bit is not

flipped/reversed), processing proceeds to block 1214. Conversely, in response to determining the reserved bit does not correspond to the expected polarity (e.g., the reserved bit is flipped/reversed), processing proceeds to block 1216.

[00138] At block 1214, in response to each of the determination that the second frame (e.g., RL-SIG frame) corresponds to the first frame (e.g., L-SIG frame), that the polarity of a signature bit included in the first frame (e.g., L- SIG frame) and/or the second frame (e.g., RL-SIG frame) is the expected polarity, and/or the reserved bit included in the third frame (e.g., HE-SIGA frame) the expected polarity, the device determiner 310 included in the preamble detector 120 determines that the communicating device (e.g., one of the STAs 104, 106, 108) is at least one of an l lax or other legacy device (e.g., 1 la device, 1 lac device, l ln device, etc.) and the program 1200 of FIG. 12 ends.

[00139] At block 1216, in response to one of the determination that one or more bits in the second frame (e.g., RL-SIG frame) are flipped in polarity compared to the corresponding bits in the first frame (e.g., L-SIG frame), that the polarity of a signature bit included in the first frame (e.g., L-SIG frame) and/or the second frame (e.g., RL-SIG frame) is flipped from the expected polarity, and/or the reserved bit included in the third frame (e.g., HE-SIGA frame) is flipped from the expected polarity, the device determiner 310 included in the preamble detector 120 determines that the communicating device (e.g., one of the STAs 104, 106, 108) is an NBT device and the program 1200 of FIG. 12 ends.

[00140] FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a radio architecture H0A,B,C,D in accordance with some embodiments that may be implemented in any one of the example AP 102, the example incumbent STA 104, and/or the example non-incumbent STAs 106, 108 of FIG. 1. Radio architecture H0A,B,C,D may include radio front-end module (FEM) circuitry l304a-b, radio IC circuitry l306a-b and baseband processing circuitry l308a-b. Radio architecture 1 l0A,B,C,D as shown includes both Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) functionality and Bluetooth (BT) functionality although embodiments are not so limited. In this disclosure,“WLAN” and“Wi-Fi” are used interchangeably.

[00141] FEM circuitry l304a-b may include a WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuitry l304a and a Bluetooth (BT) FEM circuitry l304b. The WLAN FEM circuitry l304a may include a receive signal path comprising circuitry configured to operate on WLAN RF signals received from one or more antennas 1301, to amplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the WLAN radio IC circuitry l306a for further processing. The BT FEM circuitry 1304b may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on BT RF signals received from one or more antennas 1301, to amplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the BT radio IC circuitry l306b for further processing. FEM circuitry 1304a may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify WLAN signals provided by the radio IC circuitry l306a for wireless transmission by one or more of the antennas 1301. In addition, FEM circuitry l304b may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify BT signals provided by the radio IC circuitry l306b for wireless transmission by the one or more antennas. In the embodiment of FIG. 13, although FEM l304a and FEM l304b are shown as being distinct from one another, embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope the use of an FEM (not shown) that includes a transmit path and/or a receive path for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more FEM circuitries where at least some of the FEM circuitries share transmit and/or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

[00142] Radio IC circuitry l306a-b as shown may include WLAN radio IC circuitry l306a and BT radio IC circuitry l306b. The WLAN radio IC circuitry l306a may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert WLAN RF signals received from the FEM circuitry l304a and provide baseband signals to WLAN baseband processing circuitry l308a. BT radio IC circuitry l306b may in turn include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert BT RF signals received from the FEM circuitry l304b and provide baseband signals to BT baseband processing circuitry l308b. WLAN radio IC circuitry 1306a may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert WLAN baseband signals provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuitry l308a and provide WLAN RF output signals to the FEM circuitry l304a for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 1301. BT radio IC circuitry l306b may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert BT baseband signals provided by the BT baseband processing circuitry l308b and provide BT RF output signals to the FEM circuitry l304b for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 1301. In the embodiment of FIG. 13, although radio IC circuitries l306a and l306b are shown as being distinct from one another, embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope the use of a radio IC circuitry (not shown) that includes a transmit signal path and/or a receive signal path for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more radio IC circuitries where at least some of the radio IC circuitries share transmit and/or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

[00143] Baseband processing circuity l308a-b may include a WLAN baseband processing circuitry l308a and a BT baseband processing circuitry l308b. The WLAN baseband processing circuitry l308a may include a memory, such as, for example, a set of RAM arrays in a Fast Fourier

Transform or Inverse Fast Fourier Transform block (not shown) of the WLAN baseband processing circuitry l308a Each of the WLAN baseband circuitry l308a and the BT baseband circuitry l308b may further include one or more processors and control logic to process the signals received from the corresponding WLAN or BT receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry l306a-b, and to also generate corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry l306a-b. Each of the baseband processing circuitries 1308 a and 1308b may further include physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the radio IC circuitry l306a-b.

[00144] Referring still to FIG. 13, according to the shown embodiment, WLAN-BT coexistence circuitry 1313 may include logic providing an interface between the WLAN baseband circuitry l308a and the BT baseband circuitry l308b to enable use cases requiring WLAN and BT coexistence. In addition, a switch 1303 may be provided between the WLAN FEM circuitry l304a and the BT FEM circuitry l304b to allow switching between the WLAN and BT radios according to application needs. In addition, although the antennas 1301 are depicted as being respectively connected to the WLAN FEM circuitry l304a and the BT FEM circuitry l304b, embodiments include within their scope the sharing of one or more antennas as between the WLAN and BT FEMs, or the provision of more than one antenna connected to each of FEM l304a or l304b.

[00145] In some embodiments, the front-end module circuitry l304a-b, the radio IC circuitry 3206a-b, and baseband processing circuitry l308a-b may be provided on a single radio card, such as wireless radio card 1302. In some other embodiments, the one or more antennas 1301, the FEM circuitry l304a- b and the radio IC circuitry l306a-b may be provided on a single radio card. In some other embodiments, the radio IC circuitry l306a-b and the baseband processing circuitry l308a-b may be provided on a single chip or integrated circuit (IC), such as IC 1312.

[00146] In some embodiments, the wireless radio card 1302 may include a WLAN radio card and may be configured for Wi-Fi

communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some of these embodiments, the radio architecture H0A,B,C,D may be configured to receive and transmit orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication signals over a multicarrier communication channel. The OFDM or OFDMA signals may comprise a plurality of orthogonal sub carriers.

[00147] In some of these multicarrier embodiments, radio architecture 1 l0A,B,C,D may be part of a Wi-Fi communication station (STA) such as a wireless access point (AP), a base station or a mobile device including a Wi-Fi device. In some of these embodiments, radio architecture H0A,B,C,D may be configured to transmit and receive signals in accordance with specific communication standards and/or protocols, such as any of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards including, 802.11h- 2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE 802.11-2016, 802.1 ln-2009, 802.1 lac,

802.11 ah, 802.11 ad, 802.11 ay and/or 802.11 ax standards and/or proposed specifications for WLANs, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. Radio architecture 1 l0A,B,C,D may also be suitable to transmit and/or receive communications in accordance with other techniques and standards.

[00148] In some embodiments, the radio architecture H0A,B,C,D may be configured for high-efficiency Wi-Fi (HEW) communications in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 ax standard. In these embodiments, the radio architecture 1 l0A,B,C,D may be configured to communicate in accordance with an OFDMA technique, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[00149] In some other embodiments, the radio architecture H0A,B,C,D may be configured to transmit and receive signals transmitted using one or more other modulation techniques such as spread spectrum modulation (e.g., direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) and/or frequency hopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA)), time-division multiplexing (TDM) modulation, and/or frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) modulation, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. [00150] In some embodiments, as further shown in FIG. 13, the BT baseband circuitry l308b may be compliant with a Bluetooth (BT) connectivity standard such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth 14.0 or Bluetooth 12.0, or any other iteration of the Bluetooth Standard. In embodiments that include BT functionality as shown for example in FIG. 13, the radio architecture

1 l0A,B,C,D may be configured to establish a BT synchronous connection oriented (SCO) link and or a BT low energy (BT LE) link. In some of the embodiments that include functionality, the radio architecture 1 l0A,B,C,D may be configured to establish an extended SCO (eSCO) link for BT communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some of these embodiments that include a BT functionality, the radio architecture may be configured to engage in a BT Asynchronous Connection-Less (ACL) communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 13, the functions of a BT radio card and WLAN radio card may be combined on a single wireless radio card, such as single wireless radio card 1302, although embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope discrete WLAN and BT radio cards

[00151] In some embodiments, the radio-architecture H0A,B,C,D may include other radio cards, such as a cellular radio card configured for cellular (e.g., 5GPP such as LTE, LTE-Advanced or 7G communications).

[00152] In some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, the radio architecture 1 l0A,B,C,D may be configured for communication over various channel bandwidths including bandwidths having center frequencies of about 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and bandwidths of about 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 5 MHz, 5.5 MHz, 6 MHz, 8 MHz, 10 MHz, 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz (with contiguous bandwidths) or 80+80 MHz (l60MHz) (with non- contiguous bandwidths). In some embodiments, a 920 MHz channel bandwidth may be used. The scope of the embodiments is not limited with respect to the above center frequencies however. [00153] FIG. 14 illustrates WLAN FEM circuitry l304a in accordance with some embodiments. Although the example of FIG. 14 is described in conjunction with the WLAN FEM circuitry l304a, the example of FIG. 14 may be described in conjunction with the example BT FEM circuitry l304b (FIG. 13), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

[00154] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry l304a may include a TX/RX switch 1402 to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry l304a may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry l304a may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) 1406 to amplify received RF signals 1403 and provide the amplified received RF signals 1407 as an output (e.g., to the radio IC circuitry l306a-b (FIG. 13)). The transmit signal path of the circuitry 1304a may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals 1409 (e.g., provided by the radio IC circuitry l306a-b), and one or more filters 1312, such as band-pass filters (BPFs), low-pass filters (LPFs) or other types of filters, to generate RF signals 1315 for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the antennas 1301 (FIG. 13)) via an example duplexer 1414.

[00155] In some dual-mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communication, the FEM circuitry l304a may be configured to operate in either the 2.4 GHz frequency spectrum or the 12 GHz frequency spectrum. In these embodiments, the receive signal path of the FEM circuitry l304a may include a receive signal path duplexer 1404 to separate the signals from each spectrum as well as provide a separate LNA 1406 for each spectrum as shown. In these embodiments, the transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry l304a may also include a power amplifier 1410 and a filter 1412, such as a BPF, an LPF or another type of filter for each frequency spectrum and a transmit signal path duplexer 1404 to provide the signals of one of the different spectrums onto a single transmit path for subsequent transmission by the one or more of the antennas 1301 (FIG. 13). In some embodiments, BT communications may utilize the 2.4 GHz signal paths and may utilize the same FEM circuitry l304a as the one used for WLAN communications.

[00156] FIG. 15 illustrates radio IC circuitry l306a in accordance with some embodiments. The radio IC circuitry l306a is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the WLAN or BT radio IC circuitry l306a/l306b (FIG. 13), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable. Alternatively, the example of FIG. 15 may be described in conjunction with the example BT radio IC circuitry l306b.

[00157] In some embodiments, the radio IC circuitry l306a may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry l306a may include at least mixer circuitry 1502, such as, for example, down-conversion mixer circuitry, amplifier circuitry 1506 and filter circuitry 1508. The transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 1306a may include at least filter circuitry 1512 and mixer circuitry 1514, such as, for example, up-conversion mixer circuitry. Radio IC circuitry 1306a may also include synthesizer circuitry 1504 for synthesizing a frequency 1505 for use by the mixer circuitry 1502 and the mixer circuitry 1514. The mixer circuitry 1502 and/or 1514 may each, according to some embodiments, be configured to provide direct conversion functionality. The latter type of circuitry presents a much simpler architecture as compared with standard super-heterodyne mixer circuitries, and any flicker noise brought about by the same may be alleviated for example through the use of OFDM modulation. FIG. 15 illustrates only a simplified version of a radio IC circuitry, and may include, although not shown, embodiments where each of the depicted circuitries may include more than one component. For instance, mixer circuitry 1514 may each include one or more mixers, and filter circuitries 1508 and/or 1512 may each include one or more filters, such as one or more BPFs and/or LPFs according to application needs. For example, when mixer circuitries are of the direct-conversion type, they may each include two or more mixers.

[00158] In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 1502 may be configured to down-convert RF signals 1407 received from the FEM circuitry l304a-b (FIG. 13) based on the synthesized frequency 1505 provided by synthesizer circuitry 1504. The amplifier circuitry 1506 may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 1508 may include an LPF configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals 1507. Output baseband signals 1507 may be provided to the baseband processing circuitry l308a-b (FIG. 13) for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 1507 may be zero -frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 1502 may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[00159] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1514 may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals 1511 based on the synthesized frequency 1505 provided by the synthesizer circuitry 1504 to generate RF output signals 1409 for the FEM circuitry l304a-b. The baseband signals 1411 may be provided by the baseband processing circuitry l308a-b and may be filtered by filter circuitry 1512. The filter circuitry 1512 may include an LPF or a BPF, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[00160] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1502 and the mixer circuitry 1514 may each include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and/or up-conversion respectively with the help of synthesizer 1504. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1502 and the mixer circuitry 1514 may each include two or more mixers each configured for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1502 and the mixer circuitry 1514 may be arranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1502 and the mixer circuitry 1514 may be configured for super-heterodyne operation, although this is not a requirement.

[00161] Mixer circuitry 1502 may comprise, according to one embodiment: quadrature passive mixers (e.g., for the in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) paths). In such an embodiment, RF input signal 1307 from FIG. 14 may be down-converted to provide I and Q baseband output signals to be sent to the baseband processor

[00162] Quadrature passive mixers may be driven by zero and ninety- degree time-varying LO switching signals provided by a quadrature circuitry which may be configured to receive a LO frequency (fLO) from a local oscillator or a synthesizer, such as LO frequency 1505 of synthesizer 1504 (FIG. 15). In some embodiments, the LO frequency may be the carrier frequency, while in other embodiments, the LO frequency may be a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the zero and ninety-degree time- varying switching signals may be generated by the synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[00163] In some embodiments, the LO signals may differ in duty cycle (the percentage of one period in which the LO signal is high) and/or offset (the difference between start points of the period). In some embodiments, the LO signals may have an 85% duty cycle and an 80% offset. In some

embodiments, each branch of the mixer circuitry (e.g., the in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) path) may operate at an 80% duty cycle, which may result in a significant reduction is power consumption.

[00164] The RF input signal 1407 (FIG. 14) may comprise a balanced signal, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

The I and Q baseband output signals may be provided to low-noise amplifier, such as amplifier circuitry 1506 (FIG. 15) or to filter circuitry 1508 (FIG. 15).

[00165] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 1507 and the input baseband signals 1511 may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals 1507 and the input baseband signals 1511 may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the radio IC circuitry may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry. [00166] In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, or for other spectrums not mentioned here, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[00167] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1504 may be a fractional -N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+l synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 1504 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. According to some

embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1504 may include digital synthesizer circuitry. An advantage of using a digital synthesizer circuitry is that, although it may still include some analog components, its footprint may be scaled down much more than the footprint of an analog synthesizer circuitry. In some embodiments, frequency input into synthesizer circuity 1504 may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. A divider control input may further be provided by either the baseband processing circuitry l308a-b (FIG. 13) depending on the desired output frequency 1505. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table (e.g., within a Wi-Fi card) based on a channel number and a channel center frequency as determined or indicated by the example application processor 1310. The application processor 1310 may include, or otherwise be connected to, one of the example band analyzer 112 and the example preamble determiner 114 and/or the example operation manager 116, the example training sequence generator 117, and the example parameter storer 118 (e.g., depending on which device the example radio architecture is implemented in).

[00168] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 1504 may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency 1505, while in other embodiments, the output frequency 1505 may be a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the output frequency 1505 may be a LO frequency (fLO).

[00169] FIG. 16 illustrates a functional block diagram of baseband processing circuitry l308a in accordance with some embodiments. The baseband processing circuitry 1308a is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the baseband processing circuitry l308a (FIG. 13), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable. Alternatively, the example of FIG. 15 may be used to implement the example BT baseband processing circuitry l308b of FIG. 13.

[00170] The baseband processing circuitry l308a may include a receive baseband processor (RX BBP) 1602 for processing receive baseband signals 1509 provided by the radio IC circuitry l306a-b (FIG. 12) and a transmit baseband processor (TX BBP) 1604 for generating transmit baseband signals 1511 for the radio IC circuitry l306a-b. The baseband processing circuitry l308a may also include control logic 1606 for coordinating the operations of the baseband processing circuitry l308a.

[00171] In some embodiments (e.g., when analog baseband signals are exchanged between the baseband processing circuitry l308a-b and the radio IC circuitry l306a-b), the baseband processing circuitry 1308a may include ADC 1610 to convert analog baseband signals 1609 received from the radio IC circuitry l306a-b to digital baseband signals for processing by the RX BBP 1602. In these embodiments, the baseband processing circuitry l208a may also include DAC 1612 to convert digital baseband signals from the TX BBP 1604 to analog baseband signals 1611.

[00172] In some embodiments that communicate OFDM signals or OFDMA signals, such as through baseband processor 1308 a, the transmit baseband processor 1604 may be configured to generate OFDM or OFDMA signals as appropriate for transmission by performing an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT). The receive baseband processor 1602 may be configured to process received OFDM signals or OFDMA signals by performing an FFT. In some embodiments, the receive baseband processor 1602 may be configured to detect the presence of an OFDM signal or OFDMA signal by performing an autocorrelation, to detect a preamble, such as a short preamble, and by performing a cross-correlation, to detect a long preamble. The preambles may be part of a predetermined frame structure for Wi-Fi communication.

[00173] Referring back to FIG. 13, in some embodiments, the antennas 1301 (FIG. 13) may each comprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result. Antennas 1301 may each include a set of phased-array antennas, although embodiments are not so limited.

[00174] Although the radio-architecture 1 l0A,B,C,D is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field- programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[00175] FIG. 17 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 1700 structured to execute the instructions of FIGS. 9-12 to implement the example AP 102 and/or one of the example incumbent STA 104 or the example non-incumbent STAs 106, 108 of FIG. 1. The processor platform 1700 can be, for example, a server, a personal computer, a workstation, a self learning machine (e.g., a neural network), a mobile device (e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, a tablet such as an iPad™), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an Internet appliance, a DVD player, a CD player, a digital video recorder, a Blu-ray player, a gaming console, a personal video recorder, a set top box, a headset or other wearable device, or any other type of computing device.

[00176] The processor platform 1700 of the illustrated example includes a processor 1712. The processor 1712 of the illustrated example is hardware. For example, the processor 1712 can be implemented by one or more integrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors, GPUs, DSPs, or controllers from any desired family or manufacturer. The hardware processor may be a semiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device. In this example, the processor implements the example band analyzer 112 including the example component interface 202, the example band partitioner 204, the example training sequence identifier 206, the example punctured sub-band determiner 208, and the example band post processor 210 and the example preamble generator 114 or the example preamble detector 120 including the example component interface 302, the example operation manger 116, and the example training sequence generator 117 (e.g., the processor 1712 only implementing one of the above sets based upon the location of the processor 1712).

[00177] The processor 1712 of the illustrated example includes a local memory 1713 (e.g., a cache). The processor 1712 of the illustrated example is in communication with a main memory including a volatile memory 1714 and a non-volatile memory 1716 via a bus 1718. The volatile memory 1714 may be implemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory

(SDRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS® Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM®) and/or any other type of random access memory device. The non-volatile memory 1716 may be implemented by flash memory and/or any other desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 1714, 1716 is controlled by a memory controller.

[00178] The processor platform 1700 of the illustrated example also includes an interface circuit 1720. The interface circuit 1720 may be implemented by any type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, a universal serial bus (USB), a Bluetooth® interface, a near field

communication (NFC) interface, and/or a PCI express interface.

[00179] In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 1722 are connected to the interface circuit 1720. The input device(s) 1722 permit(s) a user to enter data and/or commands into the processor 1812. The input device(s) can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, a microphone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, a touchscreen, a track pad, a trackball, isopoint and/or a voice recognition system.

[00180] One or more output devices 1724 are also connected to the interface circuit 1720 of the illustrated example. The output devices 1724 can be implemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a cathode ray tube display (CRT), an in-place switching (IPS) display, a touchscreen, etc.), a tactile output device, a printer and/or speaker. The interface circuit 1720 of the illustrated example, thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chip and/or a graphics driver processor.

[00181] The interface circuit 1720 of the illustrated example also includes a communication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, a modem, a residential gateway, a wireless access point, and/or a network interface to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g., computing devices of any kind) via a network 1726. The communication can be via, for example, an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL) connection, a telephone line connection, a coaxial cable system, a satellite system, a line-of-site wireless system, a cellular telephone system, etc.

[00182] The processor platform 1700 of the illustrated example also includes one or more mass storage devices 1728 for storing software and/or data. Examples of such mass storage devices 1728 include floppy disk drives, hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, redundant array of independent disks (RAID) systems, and digital versatile disk (DVD) drives.

[00183] The machine executable instructions 1732 of FIGS. 9-12 may be stored in the mass storage device 1728, in the volatile memory 1714, in the non- volatile memory 1716, and/or on a removable non-transitory computer readable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

[00184] From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture have been disclosed that help ensure that a non-incumbent device (e.g., an AP and/or a ST A) will not interfere with incumbent device communications (e.g., by helping ensure the non-incumbent device does not try to communicate on a sub-band utilized for communication by the incumbent device) and help ensure that 11 ax devices (e.g., an AP and/or a STA) and NBT devices can distinguish one another in the target frequency band.

[00185] Example 1 includes an apparatus to facilitate wireless connectivity for incumbent devices and non-incumbent devices in a target frequency band, the apparatus comprising a punctured sub-band determiner to analyze a sub-band of the target frequency band to determine whether the sub band includes a training sequence embedded by an access point, and determine the sub-band of the target frequency band is unutilized by an incumbent device when the sub-band includes the training sequence, and a band post processor to determine a contiguous band to be used for communication, the contiguous band based upon one or more adjacent, unutilized sub-bands.

[00186] Example 2 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the sub-band is a first sub-band and the punctured sub-band determiner is further to analyze at least a second sub-band included in the target frequency band.

[00187] Example 3 includes the apparatus of example 1, further including a band partitioner to determine a minimum size of the sub-band of the target frequency band as defined by the access point, and partition the target frequency band into sub-bands having a size corresponding to the determined minimum size.

[00188] Example 4 includes the apparatus of example 1, further including a training sequence identifier to retrieve a reference training sequence from a database, the reference training sequence as defined by the access point and to correspond to the training sequence. [00189] Example 5 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the non-incumbent devices are to at least one of receive a data packet from the access point or transmit a data packet to the access point on the contiguous band determined by the band post processor.

[00190] Example 6 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the punctured sub-band determiner updates a determination of the contiguous band to be used for communication based upon a schedule as defined by the access point.

[00191] Example 7 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the training sequence is included in a short training field of a preamble included in a protocol data unit.

[00192] Example 8 includes a method to facilitate wireless connectivity for incumbent devices and non-incumbent devices in a target frequency band, the method comprising analyzing a sub-band of the target frequency band to determine whether the sub-band includes a training sequence embedded by an access point, determining the sub-band of the target frequency band is unutilized by an incumbent device in response to the sub-band including the training sequence, and combining one or more adjacent, unutilized sub-bands to generate a contiguous band to be used for communication.

[00193] Example 9 includes the method of example 8, wherein the sub band is a first sub-band and further including analyzing at least a second sub band included in the target frequency band.

[00194] Example 10 includes the method of example 8, further including determining a minimum size of the sub-band of the target frequency band as defined by the access point, and partitioning the target frequency band into sub-bands having a size corresponding to the determined minimum size.

[00195] Example 11 includes the method of example 8, further including retrieving a reference training sequence from a database, the reference training sequence as defined by the access point and to correspond to the training sequence. [00196] Example 12 includes the method of example 8, further including at least one of receiving a data packet from the access point or transmitting a data packet to the access point with the non-incumbent device on the contiguous band.

[00197] Example 13 includes the method of example 8, further including updating a determination of the contiguous band to be used for communication based upon a schedule as defined by the access point.

[00198] Example 14 includes the method of example 8, wherein the training sequence is included in a short training field of a preamble included in a protocol data unit.

[00199] Example 15 includes a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least analyze a sub-band of a target frequency band to determine whether the sub-band includes a training sequence embedded by an access point, determine the sub-band of the target frequency band is unutilized by an incumbent device when the sub-band includes the training sequence, and determine a contiguous band to be used for communication, the contiguous band based upon one or more adjacent, unutilized sub-bands.

[00200] Example 16 includes the computer readable storage medium of example 15, wherein the sub-band is a first sub-band and further including instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to least analyze at least a second sub-band included in the target frequency band.

[00201] Example 17 includes the computer readable storage medium of example 15, further including instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least determine a minimum size of the sub-band of the target frequency band as defined by the access point, and partition the target frequency band into sub-bands having a size corresponding to the determined minimum size.

[00202] Example 18 includes the computer readable storage medium of example 15, further including instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least retrieve a reference training sequence from a database, the reference training sequence as defined by the access point and to correspond to the training sequence.

[00203] Example 19 includes the computer readable storage medium of example 15, wherein a non-incumbent device is to at least one of receive a data packet from the access point or transmit a data packet to the access point on the contiguous band.

[00204] Example 20 includes the computer readable storage medium of example 15, further including instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least update a determination of the contiguous band to be used for communication based upon a schedule as defined by the access point.

[00205] Example 21 includes the computer readable storage medium of example 15, wherein the training sequence is included in a short training field of a preamble included in a protocol data unit.

[00206] Example 22 includes an apparatus to facilitate wireless connectivity for incumbent devices and non-incumbent devices in a target frequency band, the apparatus comprising an operation manager to determine a sub-band of a target frequency band utilized by an access point is unutilized by an incumbent device, and a training sequence generator to embed a training sequence in a frame of the sub-band of the target frequency band, the training sequence to notify a non-incumbent device communicating with the access point that the sub-band is unutilized.

[00207] Example 23 includes the apparatus of example 22, wherein the training sequence generator determines the sub-band utilized by the incumbent device based on a listing of incumbent devices utilizing the access point, the listing stored in a database.

[00208] Example 24 includes the apparatus of example 22, wherein the training sequence generator outputs the training sequence on the unutilized sub-band to a radio architecture, wherein the radio architecture is further to broadcast the training sequence to a non-incumbent device the apparatus of example 22, wherein the access point is to at least one of receive a data packet from the non-incumbent device or transmit a data packet to the non-incumbent device on the sub-band.

[00209] Example 25 includes the apparatus of claim 22, wherein the access point is to at least one of receive a data packet from the non-incumbent device or transmit a data packet to the non-incumbent device on the sub-band.

[00210] Example 26 includes an apparatus to facilitate wireless connectivity for devices in a target frequency band, the apparatus comprising a frame analyzer to detect a polarity of a bit in a frame of a preamble of a protocol data unit, and a device determiner to distinguish a device as one of a first device type communicating with an access point or a second device type communicating with the access point based on the polarity of the bit.

[00211] Example 27 includes the apparatus of example 26, wherein the frame analyzer is further to determine a polarity of at least one of a bit, a pilot bit, or a signature bit of a first frame of the preamble of the protocol data unit, and determine a polarity of at least one of a bit, a pilot bit, or a signature bit of a second frame of the preamble of the protocol data unit.

[00212] Example 28 includes the apparatus of example 27, wherein the device determiner is further to determine the device is the first device type when the polarity of each of the bits of the first frame corresponds to each of corresponding bits of the second frame, or the polarity of each of the signature bits of the first frame and the second frame are not reversed, and determine the device is the second device type when the polarity of one or more bits of the first frame is reversed from one or more corresponding bits of the second frame, or the polarity of at least one of the signature bit of the first frame or the second frame are reversed.

[00213] Example 29 includes the apparatus of example 26, wherein the frame analyzer is further to determine a polarity of a reserved bit included in a third frame of the preamble of the protocol data unit.

[00214] Example 30 includes the apparatus of example 29, wherein the device determiner is further to determine the device is the first device type when the polarity of the reserved bit of the third frame is a first polarity and determine the device is the second device type when the polarity of the reserved bit of the third frame is a second polarity different from the first polarity.

[00215] Example 31 includes the apparatus of examples 26-30, wherein the first device type adheres to a first protocol and the second device type adheres to a second protocol.

[00216] Example 32 includes a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least detect a polarity of a bit in a frame of a preamble of a protocol data unit, determine a device communicating with an access point is a first device type when the polarity of the bit is a first polarity, and determine the device communicating with the access point is a second device type when the polarity of the bit is a second polarity.

[00217] Example 33 includes the computer readable storage medium of example 32, further including instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least determine a polarity of at least one of a bit, a pilot bit, or a signature bit of a first frame of the preamble of the protocol data unit, and determine a polarity of at least one of a bit, a pilot bit, or a signature bit of a second frame of the preamble of the protocol data unit.

[00218] Example 34 includes the computer readable storage medium of example 33, further including instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least determine the device is the first device type when the polarity of each of the bits of the first frame corresponds to each of corresponding bits of the second frame, or the polarity of each of the signature bits of the first frame and the second frame are not reversed, and determine the device is the second device type when the polarity of one or more bits of the first frame is reversed from one or more corresponding bits of the second frame, or the polarity of at least one of the signature bit of the first frame or the second frame are reversed.

[00219] Example 35 includes the computer readable storage medium of example 32, further including instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least determine a polarity of a reserved bit included in a third frame of the preamble of the protocol data unit.

[00220] Example 36 includes the computer readable storage medium of example 35, further including instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least determine the device is the first device type when the polarity of the reserved bit of the third frame is a first polarity and determine the device is the second device type when the polarity of the reserved bit of the third frame is a second polarity different from the first polarity.

[00221] Example 37 includes the computer readable storage medium of examples 32-36, wherein the first device type adheres to a first protocol and the second device type adheres to a second protocol.

[00222] Example 38 includes a method to facilitate wireless connectivity for devices in a target frequency band, the method comprising detecting a polarity of a bit in a frame of a preamble of a protocol data unit, determining a device communicating with an access point is a first device type when the polarity of the bit is a first polarity, and determining the device communicating with the access point is a second device type when the polarity of the bit is a second polarity.

[00223] Example 39 includes the method of example 38, further including determining a polarity of at least one of a bit, a pilot bit, or a signature bit of a first frame of the preamble of the protocol data unit, and determining a polarity of at least one of a bit, a pilot bit, or a signature bit of a second frame of the preamble of the protocol data unit.

[00224] Example 40 includes the method of example 39, further including determining the device is the first device type in response to the polarity of each of the bits of the first frame corresponds to each of corresponding bits of the second frame, or the polarity of each of the signature bits of the first frame and the second frame are not reversed, and determine the device is the second device type in response to the polarity of one or more bits of the first frame is reversed from one or more corresponding bits of the second frame, or the polarity of at least one of the signature bit of the first frame or the second frame are reversed.

[00225] Example 41 includes the method of example 38, further including determining a polarity of a reserved bit included in a third frame of the preamble of the protocol data unit.

[00226] Example 42 includes the method of example 41, further including determining the device is the first device type in response to determining the polarity of the reserved bit of the third frame is a first polarity and determining the device is the second device type in response to determining the polarity of the reserved bit of the third frame is a second polarity different from the first polarity.

[00227] Example 43 includes the method of examples 38-42, wherein the first device type adheres to a first protocol and the second device type adheres to a second protocol.

[00228] Example 44 includes an apparatus to facilitate wireless connectivity for devices in a target frequency band, the apparatus comprising a preamble generator to at least one of reverse or maintain a polarity of a bit included in a frame of a preamble of a protocol data unit, the polarity of the bit to distinguish a device as one of a first device type communicating with an access point or a second device type communicating with the access point.

[00229] Example 45 includes the apparatus of example 44, wherein the bit is generated in at least one of a first frame, a second frame, or a third frame of the preamble of the protocol data unit.

[00230] Example 46 includes the apparatus of example 45, wherein the preamble generator generates a first signature bit in the first frame and a second signature bit in the second frame, the first and second signature bits corresponding to a first set of polarities when the device is the first device type and corresponding to a second set of polarities reversed from the first set of polarities when the device is the second device type.

[00231] Example 47 includes the apparatus of example 45, wherein the preamble generator generates the bit in the first frame to correspond to a polarity of a corresponding bit of the second frame when the device is the first device type and corresponding to a reversed polarity from the corresponding bit of the second frame when the device is the second device type.

[00232] Example 48 includes the apparatus of example 47, wherein the preamble generator generates a pilot bit in the first frame to correspond to a polarity of a corresponding pilot bit of the second frame when bit generation is completed in a frequency domain and corresponding to a reversed polarity from the corresponding pilot bit of the second frame when the device when the bit generation is completed in a time domain.

[00233] Example 49 includes the apparatus of example 45, wherein the preamble generator generates the bit included in the third frame to be a first polarity when the device is the first device type and a second polarity when the device is the second device type.

[00234] Example 50 includes the apparatus of examples 44-49, wherein the first device type adheres to a first protocol and the second device type adheres to a second protocol.

[00235] Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture have been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the claims of this patent.