The claimed subject matter relates to providing uplink data rate option information in an uplink traffic channel segment. A wireless terminal may indicate a data rate option being used for the segment via an energy pattern applied to the tone-symbols of the segment. To indicate a first data rate option, additional energy may be applied to a first set of tone-symbols of the segment. To indicate a second rate option, additional energy may be applied to a second set of tone-symbols of the segment, the second set being different from the first set. According to some aspects, each implemented energy pattern may be represented by a pattern, which has a slope (e.g., in a logical, pre-hopped representation of the channel segment), where some of the patterns have positive slope and some of the patterns have negative slope. The use of positive and negative slopes facilitates the representation of more data rate options than would be possible if only one type of slope (positive or negative) for the energy pattern were utilized.