Patent ID: 7881390

Claim:
In a multi-carrier communication system having a fixed-bandwidth channel, a method comprising: reducing a spacing of subcarriers on the fixed-bandwidth channel; increasing a number of subcarriers to increase a length of a symbol on the fixed-bandwidth channel; transmitting with a transmitter a frame of data via the increased number of subcarriers on the fixed-bandwidth channel, the frame of data including, a legacy portion compatible with a first wireless communication protocol, wherein a throughput of the first wireless communication protocol is lower than a throughput of a second wireless communication protocol, a HT-SIG field identifying the frame of data as being transmitted via the increased number of subcarriers on the fixed-bandwidth channel, and a high throughput portion compatible with the second wireless communication protocol; and performing an inverse discrete Fourier transform with an increased number of discrete points on the symbol with the increased number of subcarriers.