On the Use of Multilink Access Methods to Support Real-Time Applications in Wi-Fi Networks

The support of real-time applications, such as virtual and augmented reality, remote control, and video streaming services, is important for next-generation Wi-Fi networks. For this purpose, it is planned to add several new technical features to the IEEE 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) standard that is currently under development, which will help to secure low latency. One of these innovations is the support of simultaneous transmission and reception of information by a device via multiple frequency channels, which will provide higher flexibility of using channel resources by the devices and make it possible to use different channels for different types of traffic. In this study, different methods of using multiple channels to support real-time traffic together with ordinary latency-insensitive traffic are investigated. Such approaches as using a separate channel for service frames, prioritizing medium access parameters, and allocating separate channels to support only high-priority traffic are compared. The optimal cases in terms of meeting the requirements of real-time applications and the efficiency of ordinary devices are identified for each method.