TXOP Time Balancing With MPDU Aggregation in IEEE 802.11be Multi-Link Networks

In IEEE 802.11be multi-link operation, transmissions occur simultaneously over multiple links that typically support different rates due to channel impairments and variability. Combining multi-link operation with frame aggregation can lead to suboptimal medium utilization, due to inefficient assignment of frames across the links. In this letter, we thoroughly investigate this matter and introduce a time-balancing technique, implemented through a low-complexity algorithm, that accounts for channel differences and aggregates frames to achieve roughly equal and minimized transmission times across the links. Simulation results show that the proposed technique enhances throughput and delay performance up to 23% and 17%, respectively, particularly under high-load traffic conditions.