PRIORITY CLAIM

[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority to United States

Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 62/450, 170, filed January 25, 2017, and United States Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 62/487,225, filed April 19, 2017, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] Embodiments pertain to wireless networks and wireless communications. Some embodiments relate to wireless local area networks (WLANs) and Wi-Fi networks including networks operating in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 family of standards. Some embodiments relate to IEEE 802.1 lax. Some embodiments relate to methods, computer readable media, and apparatus for tone set definition in the short feedback report.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Efficient use of the resources of a wireless local-area network

(WLAN) is important to provide bandwidth and acceptable response times to the users of the WLAN. However, often there are many devices trying to share the same resources and some devices may be limited by the communication protocol they use or by their hardware bandwidth. Moreover, wireless devices may need to operate with both newer protocols and with legacy device protocols. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements and in which:

[0005] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a radio architecture in accordance with some embodiments;

[0006] FIG. 2 illustrates a front-end module circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0007] FIG. 3 illustrates a radio IC circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0008] FIG. 4 illustrates a baseband processing circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG.1 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0009] FIG. 5 illustrates a WLAN in accordance with some

embodiments;

[0010] FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine upon which any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies) discussed herein may perform;

[0011] FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an example wireless device upon which any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies or operations) discussed herein may perform;

[0012] FIG. 8 illustrates a method for tone set definition in the short feedback report in accordance with some embodiments;

[0013] FIG. 9 illustrates a high-efficiency (HE) trigger based (TB) null data packet (NDP) feedback a physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) in accordance with some embodiments;

[0014] FIG. 10 illustrates a HE station in accordance with some embodiments;

[0015] FIG. 11 illustrates a HE access point (AP) in accordance with some embodiments; [0016] FIG. 12 illustrates a tone set definition in the short feedback report in accordance with some embodiments;

[0017] FIG. 13 illustrates a tone set definition in the short feedback report in accordance with some embodiments;

[0018] FIG. 14 illustrates a tone set definition in the short feedback report in accordance with some embodiments;

[0019] FIG. 15 illustrates a tone set definition in the short feedback report in accordance with some embodiments;

[0020] FIG. 16 illustrates a tone set definition in the short feedback report in accordance with some embodiments;

[0021] FIG. 17 illustrates a tone set definition in the short feedback report in accordance with some embodiments;

[0022] FIG. 18 illustrates a method for tone set definition in the short feedback report in accordance with some embodiments; and

[0023] FIG. 19 illustrates a method for tone set definition in the short feedback report in accordance with some embodiments.

DESCRIPTION [0024] The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate specific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments. Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

[0025] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a radio architecture 100 in accordance with some embodiments. Radio architecture 100 may include radio front-end module (FEM) circuitry 104, radio IC circuitry 106 and baseband processing circuitry 108. Radio architecture 100 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. [0026] FEM circuitry 104 may include a WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuitry

104A and a Bluetooth (BT) FEM circuitry 104B. The WLAN FEM circuitry 104A may include a receive signal path comprising circuitry configured to operate on WLAN RF signals received from one or more antennas 101, to amplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the WLAN radio IC circuitry 106A for further processing. The BT FEM circuitry 104B may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on BT RF signals received from one or more antennas 101, to amplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the BT radio IC circuitry 106B for further processing. FEM circuitry 104A may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify WLAN signals provided by the radio IC circuitry 106A for wireless transmission by one or more of the antennas 101. In addition, FEM circuitry 104B may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify BT signals provided by the radio IC circuitry 106B for wireless transmission by the one or more antennas. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, although FEM 104A and FEM 104B 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.

[0027] Radio IC circuitry 106 as shown may include WLAN radio IC circuitry 106A and BT radio IC circuitry 106B. The WLAN radio IC circuitry 106A may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down- convert WLAN RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 104A and provide baseband signals to WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108A. BT radio IC circuitry 106B may in turn include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert BT RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 104B and provide baseband signals to BT baseband processing circuitry 108B.

WLAN radio IC circuitry 106A may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert WLAN baseband signals provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108 A and provide WLAN RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 104A for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 101. BT radio IC circuitry 106B may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert BT baseband signals provided by the BT baseband processing circuitry 108B and provide BT RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 104B for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 101. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, although radio IC circuitries 106A and 106B 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.

[0028] Baseband processing circuity 108 may include a WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108A and a BT baseband processing circuitry 108B. The WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108A 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 108A. Each of the WLAN baseband circuitry 108A and the BT baseband circuitry 108B 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 106, and to also generate corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 106. Each of the baseband processing circuitries 108A and 108B may further include physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry, and may further interface with application processor 111 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the radio IC circuitry 106.

[0029] Referring still to FIG. 1, according to the shown embodiment,

WLAN-BT coexistence circuitry 113 may include logic providing an interface between the WLAN baseband circuitry 108A and the BT baseband circuitry 108B to enable use cases requiring WLAN and BT coexistence. In addition, a switch 103 may be provided between the WLAN FEM circuitry 104A and the BT FEM circuitry 104B to allow switching between the WLAN and BT radios according to application needs. In addition, although the antennas 101 are depicted as being respectively connected to the WLAN FEM circuitry 104A and the BT FEM circuitry 104B, 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 104A or 104B.

[0030] In some embodiments, the front-end module circuitry 104, the radio IC circuitry 106, and baseband processing circuitry 108 may be provided on a single radio card, such as wireless radio card 102. In some other embodiments, the one or more antennas 101, the FEM circuitry 104 and the radio IC circuitry 106 may be provided on a single radio card. In some other embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 106 and the baseband processing circuitry 108 may be provided on a single chip or integrated circuit (IC), such as IC 112.

[0031] In some embodiments, the wireless radio card 102 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 100 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 subcarriers.

[0032] In some of these multicarrier embodiments, radio architecture 100 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 100 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, IEEE 802.11n-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE 802.11-2016, , IEEE 802.1 lac, and/or IEEE 802.1 lax standards and/or proposed specifications for WLANs, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. Radio architecture 100 may also be suitable to transmit and/or receive communications in accordance with other techniques and standards.

[0033] In some embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured for high-efficiency (HE) Wi-Fi (HEW) communications in accordance with the IEEE 802.1 lax standard. In these embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured to communicate in accordance with an OFDMA technique, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0034] In some other embodiments, the radio architecture 100 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.

[0035] In some embodiments, as further shown in FIG. 1, the BT baseband circuitry 108B may be compliant with a Bluetooth (BT) connectivity standard such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth 4.0 or Bluetooth 5.0, or any other iteration of the Bluetooth Standard. In embodiments that include BT functionality as shown for example in Fig. 1, the radio architecture 100 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 100 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. 1, 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 102, although embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope discrete WLAN and BT radio cards

[0036] In some embodiments, the radio-architecture 100 may include other radio cards, such as a cellular radio card configured for cellular (e.g., 3GPP such as LTE, LTE-Advanced or 5G communications).

[0037] In some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, the radio architecture 100 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 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 4 MHz, 5MHz, 8 MHz, 10 MHz, 16 MHz, 20 MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz (with contiguous bandwidths) or 80+80MHz (160MHz) (with non-contiguous bandwidths). In some embodiments, a 320 MHz channel bandwidth may be used. The scope of the embodiments is not limited with respect to the above center frequencies however.

[0038] FIG. 2 illustrates FEM circuitry 200 in accordance with some embodiments. The FEM circuitry 200 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the WLAN and/or BT FEM circuitry 104A/104B (FIG. 1), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

[0039] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 200 may include a

TX/RX switch 202 to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry 200 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 200 may include a low -noise amplifier (LNA) 206 to amplify received RF signals 203 and provide the amplified received RF signals 207 as an output (e.g., to the radio IC circuitry 106 (FIG. 1)). The transmit signal path of the circuitry 200 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals 209 (e.g., provided by the radio IC circuitry 106), and one or more filters 212, such as band-pass filters (BPFs), low-pass filters (LPFs) or other types of filters, to generate RF signals 215 for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the antennas 101 (FIG. 1))·

[0040] In some dual-mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communication, the FEM circuitry 200 may be configured to operate in either the 2.4 GHz frequency spectrum or the 5 GHz frequency spectrum. In these embodiments, the receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 200 may include a receive signal path duplexer 204 to separate the signals from each spectrum as well as provide a separate LNA 206 for each spectrum as shown. In these embodiments, the transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 200 may also include a power amplifier 210 and a filter 212, such as a BPF, a LPF or another type of filter for each frequency spectrum and a transmit signal path duplexer 214 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 101 (FIG. 1). In some embodiments, BT communications may utilize the 2.4 GHZ signal paths and may utilize the same FEM circuitry 200 as the one used for WLAN communications.

[0041] FIG. 3 illustrates radio IC circuitry 300 in accordance with some embodiments. The radio IC circuitry 300 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the WLAN or BT radio IC circuitry 106A/106B (FIG. 1), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

[0042] In some embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 300 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry 300 may include at least mixer circuitry 302, such as, for example, down-conversion mixer circuitry, amplifier circuitry 306 and filter circuitry 308. The transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 300 may include at least filter circuitry 312 and mixer circuitry 314, such as, for example, up- conversion mixer circuitry. Radio IC circuitry 300 may also include synthesizer circuitry 304 for synthesizing a frequency 305 for use by the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314. The mixer circuitry 302 and/or 314 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. 3 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 320 and/or 314 may each include one or more mixers, and filter circuitries 308 and/or 312 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.

[0043] In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 302 may be configured to down-convert RF signals 207 received from the FEM circuitry 104 (FIG. 1) based on the synthesized frequency 305 provided by synthesizer circuitry 304. The amplifier circuitry 306 may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 308 may include a LPF configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals 307. Output baseband signals 307 may be provided to the baseband processing circuitry 108 (FIG. 1) for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 307 may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 302 may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0044] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 314 may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals 31 1 based on the synthesized frequency 305 provided by the synthesizer circuitry 304 to generate RF output signals 209 for the FEM circuitry 104. The baseband signals 31 1 may be provided by the baseband processing circuitry 108 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 312. The filter circuitry 312 may include a LPF or a BPF, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0045] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314 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 304. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314 may each include two or more mixers each configured for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314 may be arranged for direct down- conversion and/or direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314 may be configured for superheterodyne operation, although this is not a requirement.

[0046] Mixer circuitry 302 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 207 from Fig. 3 may be down- converted to provide I and Q baseband output signals to be sent to the baseband processor

[0047] 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 (fro) from a local oscillator or a synthesizer, such as LO frequency 305 of synthesizer 304 (FIG. 3). 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.

[0048] 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 a 25% duty cycle and a 50% offset. In some embodiments, each branch of the mixer circuitry (e.g., the in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) path) may operate at a 25% duty cycle, which may result in a significant reduction is power consumption.

[0049] The RF input signal 207 (FIG. 2) 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-nose amplifier, such as amplifier circuitry 306 (FIG. 3) or to filter circuitry 308 (FIG. 3).

[0050] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 307 and the input baseband signals 311 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 307 and the input baseband signals 311 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.

[0051] 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.

[0052] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 304 may be a fractional -N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 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 304 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 304 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 304 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 108 (FIG. 1) or the application processor 111 (FIG. 1) depending on the desired output frequency 305. 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 application processor 111.

[0053] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 304 may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency 305, while in other embodiments, the output frequency 305 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 305 may be a LO frequency (fLo).

[0054] FIG. 4 illustrates a functional block diagram of baseband processing circuitry 400 in accordance with some embodiments. The baseband processing circuitry 400 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the baseband processing circuitry 108 (FIG. 1), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable. The baseband processing circuitry 400 may include a receive baseband processor (RX BBP) 402 for processing receive baseband signals 309 provided by the radio IC circuitry 106 (FIG. 1) and a transmit baseband processor (TX BBP) 404 for generating transmit baseband signals 311 for the radio IC circuitry 106. The baseband processing circuitry 400 may also include control logic 406 for coordinating the operations of the baseband processing circuitry 400.

[0055] In some embodiments (e.g., when analog baseband signals are exchanged between the baseband processing circuitry 400 and the radio IC circuitry 106), the baseband processing circuitry 400 may include ADC 410 to convert analog baseband signals received from the radio IC circuitry 106 to digital baseband signals for processing by the RX BBP 402. In these

embodiments, the baseband processing circuitry 400 may also include DAC 412 to convert digital baseband signals from the TX BBP 404 to analog baseband signals.

[0056] In some embodiments that communicate OFDM signals or

OFDMA signals, such as through baseband processor 108A„ the transmit baseband processor 404 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 402 may be configured to process received OFDM signals or OFDMA signals by performing an FFT. In some embodiments, the receive baseband processor 402 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.

[0057] Referring back to FIG. 1, in some embodiments, the antennas 101

(FIG. 1) 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 101 may each include a set of phased-array antennas, although embodiments are not so limited.

[0058] Although the radio-architecture 100 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.

[0059] FIG. 5 illustrates a WLAN 500 in accordance with some embodiments. The WLAN 500 may comprise a basis service set (BSS) that may include a HE access point (AP) 502, which may be an AP, a plurality of high- efficiency wireless (e.g., IEEE 802.1 lax) (HE) stations 504, and a plurality of legacy (e.g., IEEE 802.11n/ac) devices 506.

[0060] The HE AP 502 may be an AP using the IEEE 802.11 to transmit and receive. The HE AP 502 may be a base station. The HE AP 502 may use other communications protocols as well as the IEEE 802.11 protocol. The IEEE 802.11 protocol may be IEEE 802.1 lax. The IEEE 802.11 protocol may include using orthogonal frequency division multiple-access (OFDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), and/or code division multiple access (CDMA). The IEEE 802.11 protocol may include a multiple access technique. For example, the IEEE 802.11 protocol may include space-division multiple access (SDMA) and/or multiple-user multiple-input multiple -output (MU-MIMO). There may be more than one HE AP 502 that is part of an extended service set (ESS). A controller (not illustrated) may store information that is common to the more than one HE APs 502.

[0061] The legacy devices 506 may operate in accordance with one or more of IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ad/af/ah/aj/ay, or another legacy wireless communication standard. The legacy devices 506 may be STAs or IEEE STAs. The HE STAs 504 may be wireless transmit and receive devices such as cellular telephone, portable electronic wireless communication devices, smart telephone, handheld wireless device, wireless glasses, wireless watch, wireless personal device, tablet, or another device that may be transmitting and receiving using the IEEE 802.11 protocol such as IEEE 802.1 lax or another wireless protocol. In some embodiments, the HE STAs 504 may be termed high efficiency (HE) stations.

[0062] The HE AP 502 may communicate with legacy devices 506 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques. In example embodiments, the HE AP 502 may also be configured to communicate with HE STAs 504 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques. [0063] In some embodiments, a HE frame may be configurable to have the same bandwidth as a channel. The HE frame may be a physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU). In some embodiments, there may be different types of PPDUs that may have different fields and different physical layers and/or different media access control (MAC) layers.

[0064] The bandwidth of a channel may be 20MHz, 40MHz, or 80MHz,

160MHz, 320MHz contiguous bandwidths or an 80+80MHz (160MHz) noncontiguous bandwidth. In some embodiments, the bandwidth of a channel may be 1 MHz, 1.25MHz, 2.03MHz, 2.5MHz, 4.06 MHz, 5MHz and 10MHz, or a combination thereof or another bandwidth that is less or equal to the available bandwidth may also be used. In some embodiments the bandwidth of the channels may be based on a number of active data subcarriers. In some embodiments the bandwidth of the channels is based on 26, 52, 106, 242, 484, 996, or 2x996 active data subcarriers or tones that are spaced by 20 MHz. In some embodiments the bandwidth of the channels is 256 tones spaced by 20 MHz. In some embodiments the channels are multiple of 26 tones or a multiple of 20 MHz. In some embodiments a 20 MHz channel may comprise 242 active data subcarriers or tones, which may determine the size of a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). An allocation of a bandwidth or a number of tones or sub- carriers may be termed a resource unit (RU) allocation in accordance with some embodiments.

[0065] In some embodiments, the 26-subcarrier RU and 52-subcarrier

RU are used in the 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz OFDMA HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, the 106-subcarrier RU is used in the 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz OFDMA and MU-MIMO HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, the 242-subcarrier RU is used in the 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz OFDMA and MU- MIMO HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, the 484-subcarrier RU is used in the 80 MHz, 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz OFDMA and MU-MIMO HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, the 996-subcarrier RU is used in the 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz OFDMA and MU-MIMO HE PPDU formats. [0066] A HE frame may be configured for transmitting a number of spatial streams, which may be in accordance with MU-MIMO and may be in accordance with OFDMA. In other embodiments, the HE AP 502, HE STA 504, and/or legacy device 506 may also implement different technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA) 2000, CDMA 2000 IX, CDMA 2000 Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), BlueTooth®, or other technologies.

[0067] Some embodiments relate to HE communications. In accordance with some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, e.g, IEEE 802.1 lax embodiments, a HE AP 502 may operate as a master station which may be arranged to contend for a wireless medium (e.g., during a contention period) to receive exclusive control of the medium for an HE control period. In some embodiments, the HE control period may be termed a transmission opportunity (TXOP). The HE AP 502 may transmit a HE master-sync transmission, which may be a trigger frame or HE control and schedule transmission, at the beginning of the HE control period. The HE AP 502 may transmit a time duration of the TXOP and sub-channel information. During the HE control period, HE STAs 504 may communicate with the HE AP 502 in accordance with a non-contention based multiple access technique such as OFDMA or MU-MIMO. This is unlike conventional WLAN communications in which devices communicate in accordance with a contention- based communication technique, rather than a multiple access technique. During the HE control period, the HE AP 502 may communicate with HE stations 504 using one or more HE frames. During the HE control period, the HE STAs 504 may operate on a sub-channel smaller than the operating range of the HE AP 502. During the HE control period, legacy stations refrain from communicating. The legacy stations may need to receive the communication from the HE AP 502 to defer from communicating.

[0068] In accordance with some embodiments, during the TXOP the HE

STAs 504 may contend for the wireless medium with the legacy devices 506 being excluded from contending for the wireless medium during the master-sync transmission. In some embodiments the trigger frame may indicate an uplink (UL) UL-MU-MIMO and/or UL OFDMA TXOP. In some embodiments, the trigger frame may include a DL UL-MU-MIMO and/or DL OFDMA with a schedule indicated in a preamble portion of trigger frame.

[0069] In some embodiments, the multiple-access technique used during the HE TXOP may be a scheduled OFDMA technique, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may be a time-division multiple access (TDMA) technique or a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) technique. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may be a space-division multiple access (SDMA) technique. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may be a Code division multiple access (CDMA).

[0070] The HE AP 502 may also communicate with legacy stations 506 and/or HE stations 504 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques. In some embodiments, the HE AP 502 may also be configurable to communicate with HE stations 504 outside the HE TXOP in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques, although this is not a requirement.

[0071] In some embodiments the HE station 504 may be a "group owner" (GO) for peer-to-peer modes of operation. A wireless device may be a HE station 502 or a HE AP 502.

[0072] In some embodiments, the HE station 504 and/or HE AP 502 may be configured to operate in accordance with IEEE 802.1 lmc. In example embodiments, the radio architecture of FIG. 1 is configured to implement the HE station 504 and/or the HE AP 502. In example embodiments, the front-end module circuitry of FIG. 2 is configured to implement the HE station 504 and/or the HE AP 502. In example embodiments, the radio IC circuitry of FIG. 3 is configured to implement the HE station 504 and/or the HE AP 502. In example embodiments, the base-band processing circuitry of FIG. 4 is configured to implement the HE station 504 and/or the HE AP 502.

[0073] In example embodiments, the HE stations 504, HE AP 502, an apparatus of the HE stations 504, and/or an apparatus of the HE AP 502 may include one or more of the following: the radio architecture of FIG. 1, the front- end module circuitry of FIG. 2, the radio IC circuitry of FIG. 3, and/or the baseband processing circuitry of FIG. 4.

[0074] In example embodiments, the radio architecture of FIG. 1, the front-end module circuitry of FIG. 2, the radio IC circuitry of FIG. 3, and/or the base-band processing circuitry of FIG. 4 may be configured to perform the methods and operations/functions herein described in conjunction with FIGS. 1- 19.

[0075] In example embodiments, the HE station 504 and/or the HE AP 502 are configured to perform the methods and operations/functions described herein in conjunction with FIGS. 1-19. In example embodiments, an apparatus of the HE station 504 and/or an apparatus of the HE AP 502 are configured to perform the methods and functions described herein in conjunction with FIGS. 1-19. The term Wi-Fi may refer to one or more of the IEEE 802.11

communication standards. AP and STA may refer to HE access point 502 and/or HE station 504 as well as legacy devices 506.

[0076] In some embodiments, a HE AP STA may refer to a HE AP 502 and a HE STAs 504 that is operating a HE APs 502. In some embodiments, when an HE STA 504 is not operating as a HE AP, it may be referred to as a HE non-AP STA or HE non-AP. In some embodiments, HE STA 504 may be referred to as either a HE AP STA or a HE non-AP.

[0077] FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine 600 upon which any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies) discussed herein may perform. In alternative embodiments, the machine 600 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 600 may operate in the capacity of a server machine, a client machine, or both in server-client network environments. In an example, the machine 600 may act as a peer machine in peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. The machine 600 may be a HE AP 502, HE station 504, personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable communications device, a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term "machine" shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), other computer cluster configurations.

[0078] Machine (e.g., computer system) 600 may include a hardware processor 602 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory 604 and a static memory 606, some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g., bus) 608.

[0079] Specific examples of main memory 604 include Random Access

Memory (RAM), and semiconductor memory devices, which may include, in some embodiments, storage locations in semiconductors such as registers.

Specific examples of static memory 606 include non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; RAM; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

[0080] The machine 600 may further include a display device 610, an input device 612 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 614 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display device 610, input device 612 and UI navigation device 614 may be a touch screen display. The machine 600 may additionally include a mass storage (e.g., drive unit) 616, a signal generation device 618 (e.g., a speaker), a network interface device 620, and one or more sensors 621, such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or other sensor. The machine 600 may include an output controller 628, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared(IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.). In some embodiments the processor 602 and/or instructions 624 may comprise processing circuitry and/or transceiver circuitry. [0081] The storage device 616 may include a machine readable medium

622 on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 624 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. The instructions 624 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 604, within static memory 606, or within the hardware processor 602 during execution thereof by the machine 600. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor 602, the main memory 604, the static memory 606, or the storage device 616 may constitute machine readable media.

[0082] Specific examples of machine readable media may include: nonvolatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., EPROM or EEPROM) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; RAM; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

[0083] While the machine readable medium 622 is illustrated as a single medium, the term "machine readable medium" may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store the one or more instructions 624.

[0084] An apparatus of the machine 600 may be one or more of a hardware processor 602 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory 604 and a static memory 606, sensors 621, network interface device 620, antennas 660, a display device 610, an input device 612, a UI navigation device 614, a mass storage 616, instructions 624, a signal generation device 618, and an output controller 628. The apparatus may be configured to perform one or more of the methods and/or operations disclosed herein. The apparatus may be intended as a component of the machine 600 to perform one or more of the methods and/or operations disclosed herein, and/or to perform a portion of one or more of the methods and/or operations disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the apparatus may include a pin or other means to receive power. In some embodiments, the apparatus may include power conditioning hardware. [0085] The term "machine readable medium" may include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the machine 600 and that cause the machine 600 to perform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, or that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions. Non- limiting machine readable medium examples may include solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media. Specific examples of machine readable media may include: non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; Random Access Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. In some examples, machine readable media may include non-transitory machine readable media. In some examples, machine readable media may include machine readable media that is not a transitory propagating signal.

[0086] The instructions 624 may further be transmitted or received over a communications network 626 using a transmission medium via the network interface device 620 utilizing any one of a number of transfer protocols (e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellular networks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless data networks (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.1 1 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16 family of standards known as WiMax®), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) family of standards, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) family of standards, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, among others.

[0087] In an example, the network interface device 620 may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or phone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communications network 626. In an example, the network interface device 620 may include one or more antennas 660 to wirelessly communicate using at least one of single-input multiple-output (SIMO), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), or multiple-input single-output (MISO) techniques. In some examples, the network interface device 620 may wirelessly communicate using Multiple User MIMO techniques. The term "transmission medium" shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine 600, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such software.

[0088] Examples, as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic or a number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangible entities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example, circuits may be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to external entities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. In an example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardware processors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g., instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a module that operates to perform specified operations. In an example, the software may reside on a machine readable medium. In an example, the software, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causes the hardware to perform the specified operations.

[0089] Accordingly, the term "module" is understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specifically configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily) configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or to perform part or all of any operation described herein. Considering examples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of the modules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example, where the modules comprise a general -purpose hardware processor configured using software, the general-purpose hardware processor may be configured as respective different modules at different times. Software may accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, to constitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitute a different module at a different instance of time. [0090] Some embodiments may be implemented fully or partially in software and/or firmware. This software and/or firmware may take the form of instructions contained in or on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Those instructions may then be read and executed by one or more processors to enable performance of the operations described herein. The instructions may be in any suitable form, such as but not limited to source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, and the like. Such a computer-readable medium may include any tangible non- transitory medium for storing information in a form readable by one or more computers, such as but not limited to read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory, etc.

[0091] FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an example wireless device

700 upon which any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methodologies or operations) discussed herein may perform. The wireless device 700 may be a HE device. The wireless device 700 may be a HE STA 504 and/or HE AP 502 (e.g., FIG. 5). A HE STA 504 and/or HE AP 502 may include some or all of the components shown in FIGS. 1-7. The wireless device 700 may be an example machine 600 as disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 6.

[0092] The wireless device 700 may include processing circuitry 708.

The processing circuitry 708 may include a transceiver 702, physical layer circuitry (PHY circuitry) 704, and MAC layer circuitry (MAC circuitry) 706, one or more of which may enable transmission and reception of signals to and from other wireless devices 700 (e.g., HE AP 502, HE STA 504, and/or legacy devices 506) using one or more antennas 712. As an example, the PHY circuitry 704 may perform various encoding and decoding functions that may include formation of baseband signals for transmission and decoding of received signals. As another example, the transceiver 702 may perform various transmission and reception functions such as conversion of signals between a baseband range and a Radio Frequency (RF) range.

[0093] Accordingly, the PHY circuitry 704 and the transceiver 702 may be separate components or may be part of a combined component, e.g., processing circuitry 708. In addition, some of the described functionality related to transmission and reception of signals may be performed by a combination that may include one, any or all of the PHY circuitry 704 the transceiver 702, MAC circuitry 706, memory 710, and other components or layers. The MAC circuitry 706 may control access to the wireless medium. The wireless device 700 may also include memory 710 arranged to perform the operations described herein, e.g., some of the operations described herein may be performed by instructions stored in the memory 710.

[0094] The antennas 712 (some embodiments may include only one antenna) may 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 712 may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result.

[0095] One or more of the memory 710, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry 704, the MAC circuitry 706, the antennas 712, and/or the processing circuitry 708 may be coupled with one another. Moreover, although memory 710, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry 704, the MAC circuitry 706, the antennas 712 are illustrated as separate components, one or more of memory 710, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry 704, the MAC circuitry 706, the antennas 712 may be integrated in an electronic package or chip.

[0096] In some embodiments, the wireless device 700 may be a mobile device as described in conjunction with FIG. 6. In some embodiments the wireless device 700 may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more wireless communication standards as described herein (e.g., as described in conjunction with FIGS. 1-6, IEEE 802.11). In some embodiments, the wireless device 700 may include one or more of the components as described in conjunction with FIG. 6 (e.g., display device 610, input device 612, etc.) Although the wireless device 700 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.

[0097] In some embodiments, an apparatus of or used by the wireless device 700 may include various components of the wireless device 700 as shown in FIG. 7 and/or components from FIGS. 1-6. Accordingly, techniques and operations described herein that refer to the wireless device 700 may be applicable to an apparatus for a wireless device 700 (e.g., HE AP 502 and/or HE STA 504), in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the wireless device 700 is configured to decode and/or encode signals, packets, and/or frames as described herein, e.g., PPDUs.

[0098] In some embodiments, the MAC circuitry 706 may be arranged to contend for a wireless medium during a contention period to receive control of the medium for a HE TXOP and encode or decode an HE PPDU. In some embodiments, the MAC circuitry 706 may be arranged to contend for the wireless medium based on channel contention settings, a transmitting power level, and a clear channel assessment level (e.g., an energy detect level).

[0099] The PHY circuitry 704 may be arranged to transmit signals in accordance with one or more communication standards described herein. For example, the PHY circuitry 704 may be configured to transmit a HE PPDU. The PHY circuitry 704 may include circuitry for modulation/demodulation, upconversion/downconversion, filtering, amplification, etc. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 708 may include one or more processors. The processing circuitry 708 may be configured to perform functions based on instructions being stored in a RAM or ROM, or based on special purpose circuitry. The processing circuitry 708 may include a processor such as a general purpose processor or special purpose processor. The processing circuitry 708 may implement one or more functions associated with antennas 712, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry 704, the MAC circuitry 706, and/or the memory 710. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 708 may be configured to perform one or more of the functions/operations and/or methods described herein.

[00100] In mmWave technology, communication between a station (e.g., the HE stations 504 of FIG. 5 or wireless device 700) and an access point (e.g., the HE AP 502 of FIG. 5 or wireless device 700) may use associated effective wireless channels that are highly directionally dependent. To accommodate the directionality, beamforming techniques may be utilized to radiate energy in a certain direction with certain beamwidth to communicate between two devices. The directed propagation concentrates transmitted energy toward a target device in order to compensate for significant energy loss in the channel between the two communicating devices. Using directed transmission may extend the range of the millimeter-wave communication versus utilizing the same transmitted energy in omni-directional propagation.

[00101] FIGS. 8-11 as described in conjunction with one another. FIG. 8 illustrates a method 800 for tone set definition in the short feedback report, in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in FIG. 8 is time 802 along a horizontal axis, frequency 806 along a vertical axis, transmitter 804 along the horizontal axis, and operations 850 along the top.

[00102] The frequency 806 indicates a bandwidth of a channel, e.g. as illustrated the frequency may be 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, or 160 MHz. The transmitter 804 indicates the wireless device that is transmitting at each of the operations 850. The transmitters are HE AP 502 and HE stations 504.1 through 504.N.

[00103] The method 800 begins at operation 852 with the HE AP 502 acquiring the wireless medium. For example, the HE AP 502 may perform a contention based method to determine acquire the wireless medium.

[00104] The method 800 continues at operation 854 with the HE AP 502 transmitting a trigger frame for null data packet (NDP) feedback report poll (TF for NDP feedback) 808, in accordance with some embodiments. The TF for NDP feedback 808 may include one or more of a feedback type field 830, starting association identification (AID) field 832, bandwidth (BW) field 834, and spatial streams field 836. The feedback type field 830, starting AID field 832, BW field 834, and spatial streams field 836 may be as described in conjunction with FIGS. 10 and 11.

[00105] FIG. 9 illustrates a high-efficiency (HE) trigger based (TB) NDP feedback a physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) 900, in accordance with some embodiments. The HE TB NDP PPDU 900 may include a legacy short-training field (L-STF) 902, a legacy long- training field (L-LTF) 904, a legacy signal (L-SIG) field 906, a repeated L-SIG field 908, a HE signal A (SIG-A)(HE-SIG-A) field 910, a HE short-training field (STF)(HE-STF) 912, and a HE long-training field (LTF)(HE-LTF) 914.

[00106] The L-STF 902 may be a legacy field of duration 8 that may be for the receiver to tune the receiver. The L-STF 902 may be the same or similar as a L-STF 902 as defined in IEEE 802.1 la. The L-LTF 904 may be a legacy field of duration 8 that may be for the receiver to tune the receiver. The L-LTF 904 may be the same or similar as a L-LTF 904 defined in IEEE 802.1 la. The L-SIG field 906 may be a legacy field of duration 4 that may include information regarding the length of the PPDU and modulation. The L- SIG field 906 may be the same or similar as a L-SIG 906 defined in IEEE 802.1 la. The RL-SIG field 908 may be a field of duration 4 that may be the same or similar as the L-SIG 906. The RL-SIG 908 may be used to determine the communication protocol and/or the type of packet of the HE TB NDP PPDU 900.

[00107] The HE-SIG-A 910 may include one or more of the following: information regarding the length of the HE TB NDP PPDU 900, information regarding the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of the HE TB NDP PPDU 900, and/or other information regarding the HE TB NDP PPDU 900.

[00108] The HE-LTF 914 may be 2 HE-LTF symbols with a duration of

16 μβ per symbol using a 4x symbol duration. The HE-LTF 914 may be used for the feedback (e.g., 504). The HE TB NDP PPDU 900 does not include a data field and has a packet extension (PE) of zero, in accordance with some embodiments.

[00109] FIG. 10 illustrates a HE station 504 in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in FIG. 10 is a TF for NDP feedback 808, HE station 504, RU tone set 1714, and feedback 1716. The TF for NDP feedback 808 may be the same or similar as TF for NDP feedback 808 of FIG. 8. The feedback type field 830 may be a field that indicates a type of feedback that is being polled. For example, a feedback type may be a resource request, which may indicate whether the responding HE station 504 is requesting UL resources to transmit PPDUs to the HE AP 502.

[00110] The starting AID field 832 may indicate a starting AID of AIDs that are being polled by the TF for NDP feedback 808. A total number of AIDs that are being polled by the TF for NDP feedback 808 may be determined based on the value of the BW field 834, spatial streams field 836, and a number of RU tone sets per 20 MHz. The value of the BW field 834 may indicate a bandwidth for the response, e.g., 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, and 160 MHz. The value of the spatial streams 836 may indicate a number of spatial streams to be used for the response to the TF for NDP feedback 808.

[00111] The HE station 504 may be the same or similar to the HE station 504 of FIG. 5. The HE station 504 may include a resource allocation determiner 1010, an AID 1012, a feedback determiner 1014, a HE-LTF sequence 1016, a RU tone set index 1018, and a RU tone set table 1020. The AID 1012 is an AID assigned to the HE station 504 by a HE AP 502 that transmitted the TF for NDP feedback 808.

[00112] The feedback determiner 1014 determines the feedback 1026 in response to the TF for NDP feedback 808. For example, if the feedback type field 830 indicates that the feedback requested is whether the HE station 504 requests UL transmission resources, then the feedback determiner 1014 may examine a queue to determine if there is UL traffic (not illustrated) waiting to be transmitted to the HE AP 502. If there is UL traffic waiting to be transmitted to the HE AP 502, then the feedback determiner 1014 may determine the feedback 1026 is a 1. If there is not UL traffic waiting to be transmitted to the HE AP 502, then the feedback determiner 1014 may determine the feedback 1026 to be a 0. In some embodiments, the feedback 1026 may be more than one bit.

[00113] The resource allocation determiner 1010 may determine the RU tone set 1024 that the feedback 1026 should be transmitted on. The resource allocation determiner 1010 may first determine a RU tone set index 1018 based on the value of the starting AID 832, the value of the BW field 834, the value of the spatial streams field 836, and the value of the AID 1012.

[00114] As an example, if the value of the starting AID 832 is 100 and the value of AID 1012 is 1 10, then the value of the RU tone set index 1018 may be 10 (or 9 or 11), in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the RU tone set index 1018 may be determined differently.

[00115] The resource allocation determiner 1010 may then determine the

RU tone set 1024 based on the RU tone set index 1018, RU tone set table 1020, the value of the BW field 834, and the value of the spatial streams 836. The RU tone set 1024 comprises a number of subcarrier indices spread across one or more 20 MHz channels. For example, if the value of the RU tone set index 1018 is greater than the number of RU tone sets 1024 per 20 MHz channels, then the resource allocation determiner 1010 determines an offset to add to the 20 MHz channel subcarrier indices based on the value of the BW field 834, in accordance with some embodiments. For example, if the value of the BW field 834 indicates a 40 MHz channel for the response, then the offset to add to the 20 MHz channel subcarrier indices are to map the subcarrier indices to the second 20 MHz channel, in accordance with some embodiments. In some

embodiments, the resource allocation determiner 1010 determines the offset to add to the 20 MHz channel subcarrier indices for values of BW field 834 that indicate 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, and 160 MHz. The resource allocation determiner 1010 may determine a P-matrix value associated with the RU tone set 1024 based on the value of the spatial streams field 836. In some embodiments, the RU tone set 1024 may have different tones to indicate different feedback 1026. For example, transmitting on a first set of RU tone set 1024 may indicate a 1, and transmitting on a second set of RU tone set 1024 may indicate a 0.

[00116] The HE-LTF sequence 1016 may be used by the HE station 504 to transmit the response. For example, if the RU tone set 1024 is subcarrier indexes 21, 41, 61, 81, 101, and 121 of a 20 MHz channel, then the HE station 504 transmits on each of the subcarrier indexes the value of the HE-LTF sequence 1016 for the subcarrier index of the 20 MHz channel, in accordance with some embodiments. [00117] FIG. 11 illustrates a HE access point (AP) 502 in accordance with some embodiments. The HE AP 502 may include TF generator 1102, HE-LTF sequence 1104, prohibited tones 1106, associated HE stations AIDS 1108, feedback determiner 1110, RU tone set table 1112, and RU tone set index to AID determiner 1114.

[00118] The associated HE stations AIDS 1108 may be a data structure (e.g., a table or array) of the HE station 504 that are associated with the HE AP 502. The TF generator 1102 may determine a range of AIDs from the associated HE stations AIDS 1108 that the HE AP 502 will address with the TF for NDP feedback 1002.

[00119] The TF generator 1102 sets the starting AID 832 to be the AID of the first HE station 504 of the range of AIDs. The TF generator 1102 may determine the value of the BW field 834 and the value of the spatial streams field 836 to accommodate the range of AIDs. For example, if a 20 MHz BW can accommodate a number N (e.g., 10 to 50) of RU tone sets 1024, and T is the total number of AIDs, then the BW may be set to M / N. For example, if N is 18 and M is 40, then the BW may be set to indicate two 20 MHz channels or 40 MHz. Setting the value of the spatial streams field 836 to two may double the number of RU tone sets 1024. The TF generator 1102 may determine whether to increase the number of spatial streams 836 or to increase the BW 834 to accommodate the number of RU tone sets 1024.

[00120] The TF generator 1102 may determine the value of the feedback type 830, e.g., resource request. The prohibited tones 1106 may be tones or subcarriers that cannot be assigned to HE stations 504 when a 20 MHz operating HE station 504 is the receiver of a 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, 160 MHz HE MU PPDU, or the transmitter of a 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, 160 MHz HE TB PPDU, because the RU tone mapping in 20 MHz is not aligned with 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, 160 MHz tone mappings. The HE AP 502 is configured not to assign some RU tone sets 1024 to a 20 MHz operating HE stations 504, in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, when a 20 MHz operating HE station 504 is included with the scheduled HE stations 504, then some RU tone sets 1024 are skipped. [00121] The RU tone set index to AID determiner 1114 may be configured to determine the feedback from HE stations 1116. For example, the HE AP 502 may receive the feedback (e.g., NDP feedback 808, 810, 812, 900) and determine the response from each HE station 504 based on which RU tone sets 1024 had energy transmitted on them, in accordance with some

embodiments. The RU tone set index to AID determiner 1114 may determine based on the RU tone set table 1112, prohibited tones 1106, and HE-LTF sequence 1104 which RU tone sets 1024 had energy transmitted on them. And, determine which AID of the associated HE stations AIDS 1108 transmitted on the RU tone sets 1024 based on the starting AID 832, BW 834, spatial streams 836, and RU tone set table 1112. In some embodiments, the RU tone set 1024 may comprise a first set of subcamers or tones and a second set of subcamers or tones. If the HE station 504 transmits on the first set of subcamers or tones, then it indicates a first response to the feedback type 830 and if the HE station 504 transmits on the second set of subcamers or tones, then it indicates a second response to the feedback type 830. In some embodiments, there may be more than 2 sets of subcamers or tones of the RU tone set 1024 to indicate more than 2 responses to the feedback type 830.

[00122] Returning to operation 854 of FIG. 8, the HE stations 504.1 through 504.N may receive the TF for NDP feedback 808 and as described in conjunction with FIG. 10 determine if their AID 1012 is indicated in the TF for NDP feedback 808 and, if their AID 1012 is indicated, determine their RU tone set 1024 and determine the feedback 1026. The trigger frame for NDP feedback report poll 808 may be transmitted on a 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, 160 MHz, or on multiple 20 MHz channels.

[00123] The method 800 continues at operation 856 with the HE stations

504.1 through 504.N waiting a duration before transmitting. The period of time may be a short interframe space (SIFS), in accordance with some embodiments.

[00124] The method 800 continues at operation 858 with the HE stations 504.1 through 504.N transmitting NDP feedback 808, 810, and 812. For example, the NDP feedback 808, 810, 812, may be a HE TB NDP PPDU 900 as described in conjunction with FIG. 9. [00125] Each HE station 504.1 through 504.N transmits a NDP feedback.

The NDP feedback 808 may be transmitted on a 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, 160 MHz, or on multiple 20 MHz channels. The NDP feedback 808 may be L-STF 902 through HE-STF 912. The HE stations 504.1 through 504.N may then transmit on subcarrier or tones 810, which may be the HE-LTF 914, in accordance with some embodiments.

[00126] For example, the HE stations 504.1 through 504.N may determine their RU tone set 1024, and the feedback 1026. The HE stations 504.1 through 504.N may then transmit on the subcamers or tones 810 that correspond to the RU tone set 1024. In some embodiments, the HE stations 504.1 through 504.N may determine what to transmit on the subcamers or tones 810 based on the HE- LTF sequence 1016. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the RU tone set 1024 for HE station 504.1 is 810.1, 810.8, ... , 810.240. To determine what to transmit on 810.1, the HE station 504.1 would determine whether the subcarrier for the HE-LTF sequence (e.g., as defined in the IEEE 802.1 lax standard) for the channel bandwidth (20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, 160 MHz) is a 1, 0, or -1. The 1 indicates a positive voltage to transmit on subcarrier 810.1, a 0 indicates no transmission on the subcarrier 810.1, and a -1 indicates a negative voltage to be transmitted on the subcarrier 810.1.

[00127] The HE station 504.1 determines what is to be transmitted on each subcarrier that is included in RU tone set 1024. The HE station 504.1 then transmits on the RU tone set 1024. In some embodiments, the RU tone set 1024 may have different tones to indicate different feedback 1026. For example, transmitting on a first set of RU tone set 1024 may indicate a 1, and transmitting on a second set of RU tone set 1024 may indicate a 0. The HE AP 502 may receive the NDP feedback 808, 810, and 812.

[00128] The method 800 continues at operation 860 with the HE AP 502 waiting a period of time before transmitting. The period of time may be a SIFS, in accordance with some embodiments.

[00129] The HE AP 502 made generate (and encode) a trigger frame 812 for UL transmissions based on the NDP feedback 808, 810, 812. For example, 10 HE stations 504 may indicate that they would like UL resources to transmit PPDUs to the HE AP 502. The HE AP 502 may provide RUs for UL transmissions to the 10 HE stations 504 in the trigger frame 812. The method 800 continues at operation 862 with the HE AP 502 transmitting the trigger frame 812.

[00130] The method 800 continues at operation 864 with the HE stations 504 waiting a period of time before transmitting. The period of time may be a SIFS, in accordance with some embodiments.

[00131] The HE stations 504.1 through 504.N may determine if they are addressed in the trigger frame 812. As illustrated, only 4 of the HE stations 504 are addressed in the trigger frame 812. The 4 addressed HE stations may generate (and encode) UL responses 814. For example, the UL responses 814 may be TB PPDUs with a data portion that comprises data for the HE AP 502 to process.

[00132] The method 800 continues at operation 866 with the HE stations

504 transmitting the UL responses 814. The HE AP 502 may decode the UL responses 814 and may transmit acknowledgments to the UL responses 814. In some embodiments, the trigger frame 812 may include downlink (DL) data for one or more of the HE stations 504.1 through 504.N. One or more of the operations of method 800 may be optional. Additionally, method 800 may include one or more additional operations.

[00133] FIGS. 12-14 are disclosed in conjunction with one another. FIG.

12 illustrates a tone set definition 1200 in the short feedback report in accordance with some embodiments. The subcarriers or tones of FIGS. 12-14 may correspond to the same subcarriers or tones of HE-LTF 914. Illustrated in FIG. 12 is a 106 tone RU 1202 with 106 subcarriers or tones 1204. The 106 tone RU 1202 is divided among 20 HE stations 504.1 through 504.20. The 6 extra subcarriers or tones 1204.101 through 1204.106 may be divided a different way, e.g., not allocated to any HE station 504. A RU tone set 1024 may include the subcarriers or tones as assigned in FIG. 12. For example, a RU tone set 1024 of HE station 504.1 may be 1204.1, 1204.21, 1204.41, 1204.61, 1204.81, and 1204.101.

[00134] FIG. 13 illustrates a tone set definition in the short feedback report 1300 in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in FIG. 13 is a 242 tone RU 1302 with 242 subcarriers or tones 1304. The 242 tone RU 1302 is divided among 40 HE stations 504.1 through 504.40. The 2 extra subcarriers or tones 1304.241 through 1304.242 may be divided a different way, e.g., not allocated to any HE station 504. A RU tone set 1024 may include the subcarriers or tones as assigned in FIG. 13. For example, a RU tone set 1024 of HE station 504.1 may be 1304.1, 1304.41, 1304.81, 1304.121, 1304.161, 1304.201, and 1304.241.

[00135] FIG. 14 illustrates a tone set definition in the short feedback report 1400 in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in FIG. 14 is a 242 tone RU 1402 with 242 subcarriers or tones 1404. The 242 tone RU 1402 is divided among 40 HE stations 504.1 through 504.40. There are three DC null subcarriers or tones in the middle of the 242 tone RU 1402. The available tones may be 242-3=239, which is divided by 40, which equals 5 with a remainder of 39. The 39 extra subcarriers or tones may be divided a different way, e.g., not allocated to any HE station 504. A RU tone set 1024 may include the subcarriers or tones as assigned in FIG. 14. For example, a RU tone set 1024 of HE station 504.1 may be 1404.1, 1404.41, 1404.81, 1404.124, 1404.164, and 1404.204.

[00136] In some embodiments, the subcarriers or tones may be indexed around a DC. For example, the subcarriers or tones may be numbered from -1 through -121 and from 1 to 122. In some embodiments, the subcarriers or tones may be offset for different channels or portions of the wireless spectrum. For example, if the subcarriers or tones refer to subcarriers or tones that are part of a secondary 20 MHz channel rather than the primary 20 MHz channel than an offset may be used to determine the location of the subcarrier or tone (e.g., +128, +242, -128, -242, etc.) The offset depends on the number of subcarriers and or tones of the 20 MHz channel. In some embodiments, the subcarriers or tones of the RU tone set 1024 may be divided into 2 or more sets where a response is indicated by transmitting on one of the 2 or more sets and not transmitting on the other sets. For example, if the RU tone set 1024 were divided into two sets, then a transmission on the first set may indicate a 1 and a transmission on the second set may indicate a 0.

[00137] For example, the RU tone set 1024 may be split with 1404.1,

1404.81, and 1404.164 in a first set, and 1404.41, 1404.124, and 1404.204 being in a second set. The HE station 504 would indicate a first response by using the first set and indicate a second response by using the second set. In some embodiments, the tone set definition may be spread differently across the 20 MHz channel. For example, every 4 through 40th subcarrier or tone. In some embodiments, the tone set definition may include tones that are adjacent for the RU tone set 1024, e.g., when there is a first set of tones for a first response and a second set of tones for a second response. In some embodiments, there may be 6 subcarriers or tones each in a response for a RU tone set 1024. In some embodiments, there may be from 4 to 40 subcarriers or tones in a response for a RU tone set 1024. In some embodiments, one or more subcarriers or tones may be adjacent to one another for a RU tone set 1024. In some embodiments, the RU tone set 1024 may be interleaved with other RU tone sets 1024, e.g., every 2nd through 40th tone.

[00138] FIGS. 15-17 will be disclosed in conjunction with one another. FIG. 15 illustrates a tone set definition in the short feedback report 1500, in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in FIG. 15 is N tones 1502, RU tones 1504, DC M tones 1506, RU tones 1508, and N tones 1510. The N tones 1502 and N tones 1510 may be a number of tones, e.g., 1 to 34. N tones 1502 and N tones 1510 are not necessarily the same number of tones. The DC M tones 1506 may be a number of tones, e.g., 1 to 25. The RU tones 1504 and RU tones 1508 may be tones that are divided among a group HE stations 504 for RU tone sets 1024. The tone set definition in the short feedback report 1500 may be for 20 MHz channel. The N tones 1502, N tones 1510, and M tones 1506 may be termed puncture tones in accordance with some embodiments.

[00139] FIG. 16 illustrates a tone set definition in the short feedback report 1600 in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in FIG. 16 is N tones 1602, RU tones 1604, M tones 1606, RU tones 1608, N tones 1610, DC 1612, N tones 1615, RU tones 1616, M tones 1618, RU tones 1620, N tones 1622, tone definition 1 1650, and tone definition 2 1652. Tone definition 1 1650 and tone definition 2 1652 may be the same or similar as tone set definition in the short feedback report 1500.

[00140] FIG. 17 illustrates a tone set definition in the short feedback report 1700 in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in FIG. 17 is N tones 1702, RU tones 1704, M tones 1706, RU tones 1708, N tones 1710, N tones 1712, RU tones 1714, M tones 1716, RU tones 1618, N tones 1720, DC 1722, N tones 1724, RU tones 1726, M tones 1728, RU tones 1730, N tones 1732, N tones 1734, RU tones 1736, M tones 1738, RU tones 1740, N tones 1742, tone definition 1 1750, tone definition 2 1752, tone definition 3 1754, and tone definition 4 1756. Tone definition 1 1750, tone definition 2 1752, tone definition 3 1754, and tone definition 4 1756 may be the same or similar as tone set definition in the short feedback report 1500.

[00141] With a selection of N and M, a unified tone index in the tone set organization may be used. In some embodiments, a 20 MHz HE station 504 may transmit with a 80 MHz HE station 504 without causing interference with the proper selection of N and M. For example, the N tones 1502, DC M tones 1506, N tones 1510, N tones 1602, M tones 1606, N tones 1610, N tones 1615, M tones 1618, N tones 1622, will overlap with one or more of N tones 1702, M tones 1706, N tones 1710, N tones 1712, M tones 1716, N tones 1720, N tones 1724, M tones 1728, N tones 1732, N tones 1734, M tones 1738, N tones 1742, and not overlap with RU tones 1704, RU tones 1708, tones 1714, RU tones 1718, tones 1726, RU tones 1730, tones 1736, or RU tones 1740. So, the tones used for an RU tone set 1024 for a HE station 504 transmitting on 20 MHz will not overlap with an RU tone set 1024 for a HE station 504 transmitting on a bandwidth of greater than 20 MHz.

[00142] Tone definition 1 1750, tone definition 2 1752, tone definition 3

1754, and tone definition 4 1756 may have offsets so that there is a unified tone index regardless of the bandwidth. In some embodiments, the RU tone sets 1024 may be reused among FIGS. 15-17 with offsets.

[00143] FIG. 18 illustrates a method 1800 for tone set definition in the short feedback report in accordance with some embodiments. The method 1800 begins at operation 1802 with decoding a TF for a NDP feedback report poll, the TF comprising a feedback type field, the TF received from an HE access point.

[00144] For example, HE stations 504.1 through 504.7 may decode TF for

NDP feedback report poll 808. The TF for NDP feedback report poll 808 may include a feedback type field 830, starting AID field 832, BW field 834, and spatial streams field 836. The HE station 504 may determine if the HE station 504 is scheduled based on the TF for NDP feedback report poll 808 as disclosed in FIGS. 8-11.

[00145] The method may continue at operation 1804 with determining whether the TF indicates that the HE station is scheduled for an NDP feedback report response. The HE station 504 may determine if the HE station 504 is scheduled based on the TF for NDP feedback report poll 808 as disclosed in FIGS. 8-11.

[00146] The method 1800 may continue at operation 1806 with when the

HE station is scheduled for an NDP feedback report response perform operations 1808-1814. The method may continue at operation 1808 with determining a RU tone set index based on the TF for the NDP feedback report poll. For example, HE station 504 may determine RU tone set index 1018 as disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 10.

[00147] The method 1800 may continue at operation 1808 with determining a response to a feedback type indicated in the feedback type field.

For example, HE station 504 may use feedback determiner 1014 to determine feedback 1026 as disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 10.

[00148] The method 1800 may continue at operation 1810 with determining a RU tone set based on the RU tone set index and the response. For example, RU tone set 1024 may include a first set tones that indicates a 1, and a second set of tones that indicates a 0.

[00149] The method 1800 may continue at operation 1812 with mapping tones of the RU tone set to a corresponding tone of a HE-LTF sequence. For example, HE-LTF sequence 1016 may be used by the HE station 504 to map each tone of the RU tone set to a corresponding tone of a HE-LTF sequence as disclosed in conjunction with FIGS. 8-11. In some embodiments, the HT-LTF sequence indicates a -1, 0, or +1. The RU tone set may be 1 to 60 tones, e.g., 6 or 12 tones.

[00150] The method 1800 may continue at operation 1814 with configuring the HE station to transmit energy on the tones of the RU tone set in accordance with the corresponding tone of the HE-LTF sequence. For example, an apparatus of the HE station 504 may configure the HE station 504 to transmit

NDP feedback 810 as disclosed in conjunction with FIGS. 8-11. [00151] In accordance with some embodiments, method 1800 may include one or more additional steps. In accordance with some embodiments, operations of method 1800 may be performed in a different order. In accordance with some embodiments, one or more operations of method 1800 may not be performed. Method 1800 may be performed by a HE station 504, an apparatus of a HE station 504, a HE access point 502, or an apparatus of a HE access point.

[00152] FIG. 19 illustrates a method 1900 for tone set definition in the short feedback report in accordance with some embodiments. In accordance with some embodiments, method 1900 may begin with encoding a trigger frame (TF) for a null data packet (NDP) feedback report poll, the TF comprising a feedback type field, indications of HE stations scheduled for an NDP feedback report response, and indications of resource unit (RU) tone sets for the HE stations to transmit the NDP feedback report response.

[00153] For example, HE access point 502 my encode TF for NDP feedback report poll 808 as disclosed in conjunction with FIGS . 8-11. The method 1900 may continue at operation 1904 with configuring the HE access point to transmit the TF for the NDP feedback report to the stations. For example, an apparatus of the HE access point 502 may configure the HE access point 502 to transmit the TF for NDP feedback report poll 808 as disclosed in conjunction with FIGS. 8-11.

[00154] The method 1900 may continue with operation 1906 with decoding NDP feedback report responses from the stations in accordance with the RU tone sets. For example, HE access point 502 may decode NDP feedback 808, 810, and 812 from the HE stations 504.1 through 504.N as disclosed in conjunction with FIGS. 8-11.

[00155] The method 1900 may continue at operation 1908 with determining energy was transmitted on a RU tone set of the RU tone sets when tones of the RU tone set correspond to a corresponding tone set of a HE-LTF sequence, where the sequence indicates a -1, 0, or +1, and where the RU tone set corresponds to a response of 0 or 1 to a feedback type indicated in the feedback type field. For example, HE AP 502 may determine feedback from HE stations 1116 as disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 11. In some embodiments, the HT- LTF sequence indicates a -1, 0, or +1. In some embodiments, the RU tone set may be 1 to 60 tones, e.g., 6 or 12 tones.

[00156] In accordance with some embodiments, method 1900 may include one or more additional steps. In accordance with some embodiments, operations of method 1900 may be performed in a different order. In accordance with some embodiments, one or more operations of method 1900 may not be performed. Method 1900 may be performed by a HE station 504, an apparatus of a HE station 504, a HE access point 502, or an apparatus of a HE access point.

[00157] The following examples pertain to further embodiments.

Example 1 is an apparatus of a high-efficiency (HE) station, the apparatus including: memory; and processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the processing circuity configured to: decode a trigger frame (TF) for a null data packet (NDP) feedback report poll, the TF including a feedback type field, the TF received from an HE access point; determine whether the TF indicates that the HE station is scheduled for an NDP feedback report response; when the HE station is scheduled for an NDP feedback report response, determine a RU tone set index based on the TF for the NDP feedback report poll, determine a response to a feedback type indicated in the feedback type field, determine a RU tone set based on the RU tone set index and the response, map tones of the RU tone set to a corresponding tone of a HE long-training field (HE-LTF) sequence, and configure the HE station to transmit energy on the tones of the RU tone set in accordance with the corresponding tone of the HE-LTF sequence.

[00158] In Example 2, the subject matter of Example 1 optionally includes where the RU tone set comprises 12 tones interleaved with other RU tone sets where the sequence indicates a -1, 0, or +1.

[00159] In Example 3, the subject matter of Example 2 optionally includes where the -1 indicates to transmit a negative voltage, a 0 indicates not to transmit energy, and a +1 indicates to transmit a positive voltage.

[00160] In Example 4, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-3 optionally include where an index of each tone of the RU tone set is increased a same number from an index of a previous tone of the RU tone set, where the same number is from two to forty. [00161] In Example 5, the subject matter of Example 4 optionally includes where the same number is based on a number of RU tone sets in a channel and a number of tones in the RU tone set.

[00162] In Example 6, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-5 optionally include where the processing circuitry is further configured to: configure the HE station to transmit a HE trigger-based (TB) Physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), where each tone of the RU tone set is part of a HE-LTF of the HE TB PPDU.

[00163] In Example 7, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-6 optionally include MHz channel including a first fixed number of tones, and where the tones of the RU are not part of: a second fixed number of center null tones of the channel, a third fixed number of null tones on a left side of the channel, and a fourth fixed number of null tones on a right side of the channel.

[00164] In Example 8, the subject matter of Example 7 optionally includes where the first fixed number is 242, the second fixed number is 3 to 12, the third fixed number is 2 to 12, and the fourth fixed number is 2 to 12.

[00165] In Example 9, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples

1-8 optionally include where the TF for the NDP feedback report poll further comprises a bandwidth field, the bandwidth field indicating a bandwidth to transmit the response, where the bandwidth field indicates one of the following group: 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, and 160 MHz.

[00166] In Example 10, the subject matter of Example 9 optionally includes where the processing circuitry is further configured to: when the HE station is limited to transmitting a 20 MHz response, and the bandwidth field indicates the bandwidth to transmit the NDP feedback report response is greater than 20 MHz, tones of the RU tone set are not part of a group of tones of the 20 MHz response that interfere with tones of the 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, or 160 MHz NDP feedback report response.

[00167] In Example 1 1, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 9-10 optionally include where the processing circuitry is further configured to: when the HE station is limited to transmitting a 20 MHz response, and the bandwidth field indicates the bandwidth to transmit the NDP feedback report response is greater than 20 MHz, tones of the RU tone set are not part of a group of tones of the 20 MHz response that are punctured to align with punctured tones of the 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, or 160 MHz NDP feedback report response of other HE stations.

[00168] In Example 12, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-11 optionally include where the processing circuitry is further configured to: configure the HE station to refrain from transmitting energy on tones that are not part of the RU tone set.

[00169] In Example 13, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 1-12 optionally include where the HE station and the HE access point are each one from the following group: an Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.1 lax access point, an IEEE 802.1 lax station, an IEEE 802.11 station, and an IEEE 802.11 access point.

[00170] In Example 14, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 1-13 optionally include transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry; and, one or more antennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry, where the memory is configured to store the NDP feedback report poll.

[00171] Example 15 is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of an apparatus of a high-efficiency (HE) station, the instructions to configure the one or more processors to: decode a trigger frame (TF) for a null data packet (NDP) feedback report poll, the TF including a feedback type field, the TF received from an HE access point; determine whether the TF indicates that the HE station is scheduled for an NDP feedback report response; when the HE station is scheduled for an NDP feedback report response, determine a RU tone set index based on the TF for the NDP feedback report poll, determine a response to a feedback type indicated in the feedback type field, determine a RU tone set based on the RU tone set index and the response, map tones of the RU tone set to a corresponding tone of a HE long-training field (HE-LTF) sequence, and configure the HE station to transmit energy on the tones of the RU tone set in accordance with the corresponding tone of the HE-LTF sequence.

[00172] In Example 16, the subject matter of Example 15 optionally includes where the RU tone set comprises 12 tones interleaved with other RU tone sets, and where the sequence indicates a -1, 0, or +1. [00173] In Example 17, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 14-16 optionally include where an index of each tone of the RU tone set is increased a same number from an index of a previous tone of the RU tone set, where the same number is from two to forty.

[00174] Example 18 is a method performed by an apparatus of a high- efficiency (HE) station, the method including: decoding a trigger frame (TF) for a null data packet (NDP) feedback report poll, the TF including a feedback type field, the TF received from an HE access point; determining whether the TF indicates that the HE station is scheduled for an NDP feedback report response; when the HE station is scheduled for an NDP feedback report response, determining a RU tone set index based on the TF for the NDP feedback report poll, determining a response to a feedback type indicated in the feedback type field, determining a RU tone set based on the RU tone set index and the response, mapping tones of the RU tone set to a corresponding tone of a HE long -training field (HE-LTF) sequence, and configuring the HE station to transmit energy on the tones of the RU tone set in accordance with the corresponding tone of the HE-LTF sequence.

[00175] In Example 19, the subject matter of Example 18 optionally includes where the RU tone set comprises 12 tones interleaved with other RU tone sets, and where the sequence indicates a -1, 0, or +1.

[00176] Example 20 is an apparatus of a high-efficiency (HE) access point, the apparatus including: memory; and processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the processing circuity configured to: encode a trigger frame (TF) for a null data packet (NDP) feedback report poll, the TF including a feedback type field, indications of HE stations scheduled for an NDP feedback report response, and indications of resource unit (RU) tone sets for the HE stations to transmit the NDP feedback report response; configure the HE access point to transmit the TF to the HE stations; decode NDP feedback report responses from the HE stations in accordance with the RU tone sets; and determine energy was transmitted on a RU tone set of the RU tone sets when tones of the RU tone set correspond to a corresponding tone of a HE long-training field (HE-LTF) sequence.

[00177] In Example 21, the subject matter of Example 20 optionally includes where the RU tone set comprises 12 tones interleaved with other RU tone sets, where the sequence indicates a -1, 0, or +1, and where the RU tone set corresponds to a response of 0 or 1 to a feedback type indicated in the feedback type field.

[00178] In Example 22, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 20-21 optionally include where an index of each tone of the RU tone set is increased a same number from an index of a previous tone of the RU tone set, where the same number is from two to forty.

[00179] In Example 23, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 20-22 optionally include where the -1 indicates to transmit a negative voltage, a 0 indicates not to transmit energy, and a +1 indicates to transmit a positive voltage.

[00180] In Example 24, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 20-23 optionally include where the processing circuitry is further configured to: decode HE trigger-based (TB) Physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDUs) from the stations, where each tone of the RU tone sets is part of a HE-LTF of a corresponding HE TB PPDU.

[00181] In Example 25, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 20-24 optionally include transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry; and, one or more antennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry, where the memory is configured to store the trigger frame.

[00182] Example 26 is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of an apparatus of a high-efficiency (HE) station, the instructions to configure the one or more processors to: encode a trigger frame (TF) for a null data packet (NDP) feedback report poll, the TF including a feedback type field, indications of HE stations scheduled for an NDP feedback report response, and indications of resource unit (RU) tone sets for the HE stations to transmit the NDP feedback report response; configure the HE access point to transmit the TF to the HE stations; decode NDP feedback report responses from the HE stations in accordance with the RU tone sets; and determine energy was transmitted on a RU tone set of the RU tone sets when tones of the RU tone set correspond to a corresponding tone of a HE long-training field (HE-LTF) sequence. [00183] In Example 27, the subject matter of Example 26 optionally includes where the RU tone set comprises 12 tones interleaved with other RU tone sets, where the sequence indicates a -1, 0, or +1, and where the RU tone set corresponds to a response of 0 or 1 to a feedback type indicated in the feedback type field.

[00184] In Example 28, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 26-27 optionally include where an index of each tone of the RU tone set is increased a same number from an index of a previous tone of the RU tone set, where the same number is from two to forty.

[00185] In Example 29, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 26-28 optionally include where the -1 indicates to transmit a negative voltage, a 0 indicates not to transmit energy, and a +1 indicates to transmit a positive voltage.

[00186] In Example 30, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 26-29 optionally include where the instructions further configure the one or more processors to: decode HE trigger-based (TB) Physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDUs) from the stations, where each tone of the RU tone sets is part of a HE-LTF of a corresponding HE TB PPDU.

[00187] Example 31 is a method performed by an apparatus of a high- efficiency (HE) station, the method including: encoding a trigger frame (TF) for a null data packet (NDP) feedback report poll, the TF including a feedback type field, indications of HE stations scheduled for an NDP feedback report response, and indications of resource unit (RU) tone sets for the HE stations to transmit the NDP feedback report response; configuring the HE access point to transmit the TF to the HE stations; decoding NDP feedback report responses from the HE stations in accordance with the RU tone sets; and determining energy was transmitted on a RU tone set of the RU tone sets when tones of the RU tone set correspond to a corresponding tone of a HE long-training field (HE-LTF) sequence.

[00188] In Example 32, the subject matter of Example 31 optionally includes where the RU tone set comprises 12 tones interleaved with other RU tone sets, where the sequence indicates a -1, 0, or +1, and where the RU tone set corresponds to a response of 0 or 1 to a feedback type indicated in the feedback type field.

[00189] In Example 33, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 3 1-32 optionally include where an index of each tone of the RU tone set is increased a same number from an index of a previous tone of the RU tone set, where the same number is from two to forty.

[00190] In Example 34, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 3 1-33 optionally include where the -1 indicates to transmit a negative voltage, a 0 indicates not to transmit energy, and a +1 indicates to transmit a positive voltage.

[00191] In Example 35, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 3 1-34 optionally include where the method further comprises:

decoding HE trigger-based (TB) Physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDUs) from the stations, where each tone of the RU tone sets is part of a HE-LTF of a corresponding HE TB PPDU.

[00192] Example 36 is an apparatus of a high-efficiency (HE) station, the apparatus including: means for encoding a trigger frame (TF) for a null data packet (NDP) feedback report poll, the TF including a feedback type field, indications of HE stations scheduled for an NDP feedback report response, and indications of resource unit (RU) tone sets for the HE stations to transmit the NDP feedback report response; means for configuring the HE access point to transmit the TF to the HE stations; means for decoding NDP feedback report responses from the HE stations in accordance with the RU tone sets; and means for determining energy was transmitted on a RU tone set of the RU tone sets when tones of the RU tone set correspond to a corresponding tone of a HE long- training field (HE-LTF) sequence.

[00193] In Example 37, the subject matter of Example 36 optionally includes where the RU tone set comprises 12 tones interleaved with other RU tone sets, where the sequence indicates a -1, 0, or +1, and where the RU tone set corresponds to a response of 0 or 1 to a feedback type indicated in the feedback type field.

[00194] In Example 38, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 36-37 optionally include where an index of each tone of the RU tone set is increased a same number from an index of a previous tone of the RU tone set, where the same number is from two to forty.

[00195] In Example 39, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 36-38 optionally include where the -1 indicates to transmit a negative voltage, a 0 indicates not to transmit energy, and a +1 indicates to transmit a positive voltage.

[00196] In Example 40, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 36-39 optionally include where the apparatus further comprises: means for decoding HE trigger-based (TB) Physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDUs) from the stations, where each tone of the RU tone sets is part of a HE-LTF of a corresponding HE TB PPDU.

[00197] Example 41 is an apparatus of a high-efficiency (HE) station, the apparatus including: means for decoding a trigger frame (TF) for a null data packet (NDP) feedback report poll, the TF including a feedback type field, the TF received from an HE access point; means for determining whether the TF indicates that the HE station is scheduled for an NDP feedback report response; when the HE station is scheduled for an NDP feedback report response, means for determining a RU tone set index based on the TF for the NDP feedback report poll, means for determining a response to a feedback type indicated in the feedback type field, means for determining a RU tone set based on the RU tone set index and the response, means for mapping tones of the RU tone set to a corresponding tone of a HE long-training field (HE-LTF) sequence, and means for configuring the HE station to transmit energy on the tones of the RU tone set in accordance with the corresponding tone of the HE-LTF sequence.

[00198] In Example 42, the subject matter of Example 41 optionally includes where the RU tone set comprises 12 tones interleaved with other RU tone sets, and where the sequence indicates a -1, 0, or +1.

[00199] In Example 43, the subject matter of Example 42 optionally includes where the -1 indicates to transmit a negative voltage, a 0 indicates not to transmit energy, and a +1 indicates to transmit a positive voltage.

[00200] In Example 44, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 41-43 optionally include where an index of each tone of the RU tone set is increased a same number from an index of a previous tone of the RU tone set, where the same number is from two to forty.

[00201] In Example 45, the subject matter of Example 44 optionally includes where the same number is based on a number of RU tone sets in a channel and a number of tones in the RU tone set.

[00202] In Example 46, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 41-45 optionally include where the apparatus further comprises: means for configuring the HE station to transmit a HE trigger-based (TB) Physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), where each tone of the RU tone set is part of a HE-LTF of the HE TB PPDU.

[00203] In Example 47, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 41-46 optionally include MHz channel including a first fixed number of tones, and where the tones of the RU are not part of: a second fixed number of center null tones of the channel, a third fixed number of null tones on a left side of the channel, and a fourth fixed number of null tones on a right side of the channel.

[00204] In Example 48, the subject matter of Example 47 optionally includes where the first fixed number is 242, the second fixed number is 3 to 12, the third fixed number is 2 to 12, and the fourth fixed number is 2 to 12.

[00205] In Example 49, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 41-48 optionally include where the TF for the NDP feedback report poll further comprises a bandwidth field, the bandwidth field indicating a bandwidth to transmit the response, where the bandwidth field indicates one of the following group: 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, and 160 MHz.

[00206] In Example 50, the subject matter of Example 49 optionally includes where when the HE station is limited to transmitting a 20 MHz response, and the bandwidth field indicates the bandwidth to transmit the NDP feedback report response is greater than 20 MHz, tones of the RU tone set are not part of a group of tones of the 20 MHz response that interfere with tones of the 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, or 160 MHz NDP feedback report response.

[00207] In Example 51, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 49-50 optionally include where when the HE station is limited to transmitting a 20 MHz response, and the bandwidth field indicates the bandwidth to transmit the NDP feedback report response is greater than 20 MHz, tones of the RU tone set are not part of a group of tones of the 20 MHz response that are punctured to align with punctured tones of the 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, or 160 MHz NDP feedback report response of other HE stations.

[00208] In Example 52, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 41-51 optionally include where the apparatus further comprises: means for configuring the HE station to refrain from transmitting energy on tones that are not part of the RU tone set.

[00209] In Example 53, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 41-52 optionally include where the HE station and the HE access point are each one from the following group: an Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.1 lax access point, an IEEE 802.1 lax station, an IEEE 802.1 1 station, and an IEEE 802.1 1 access point.

[00210] The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b) requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scope or meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.