Request and Report of MLD Level Statistics and Delay Information

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to MLD, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for the request and reporting of statistical information and delay information at the MLD level. The MLD determines at least one of statistical information related to the MLD or delay information related to the MLD. In response to receiving a request for at least one of statistical information or delay information from a second MLD, the MLD transmits at least one of the statistical information or the delay information to the second MLD.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunications, and more specifically, to multi-link devices (MLDs), methods, and computer-readable storage media for MLD level statistics and requests and reports of latency information.

Background Art

[0002] The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Task Group (TG) defines the MLD architecture. In the MLD architecture, one MLD can establish multiple links with additional MLDs and can simultaneously transmit data to the additional MLDs over the multiple links. For example, an AP MLD can establish three links with a non-AP MLD over the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands and can simultaneously transmit data to the non-AP MLD over the three links. Compared with the pre-802.11be architecture, the MLD architecture improves throughput (TP) and significantly reduces latency.

Summary of the Invention

[0003] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide an improved solution for MLD level statistics and requests and reports of latency information.

[0004] In a first aspect, an MLD is provided. The MLD includes at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions. When executed by the at least one processor, the instructions cause the MLD to perform steps of determining at least one of statistical information related to the MLD or latency information related to the MLD, and in response to receiving a request for at least one of the statistical information or the latency information from a second MLD, transmitting at least one of the statistical information or the latency information to the second MLD.

[0005] In a second aspect, an MLD is provided. The MLD includes at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions. When the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the MLD is caused to perform a step of sending a request for at least one of statistical information related to the first MLD or latency information related to the first MLD to the first MLD, and a step of receiving a report regarding at least one of the statistical information or the latency information from the first MLD.

[0006] In a third aspect, a method is provided. The method includes, in an MLD, a step of determining at least one of statistical information related to the MLD or latency information related to the MLD, and a step of sending at least one of the statistical information or the latency information to a second MLD in response to receiving a request for at least one of the statistical information or the latency information from the second MLD.

[0007] In a fourth aspect, a method is provided. The method includes a step of sending a request for at least one of statistical information related to a first MLD or latency information related to the first MLD from the MLD to the first MLD, and a step of receiving a report regarding at least one of the statistical information or the latency information from the first MLD.

[0008] In a fifth aspect, an apparatus comprising a first MLD is provided. The first MLD includes means for determining at least one of statistical information related to the first MLD or latency information related to the first MLD, and means for sending at least one of the statistical information or the latency information to a second MLD in response to receiving a request for at least one of the statistical information or the latency information from the second MLD.

[0009] In a sixth aspect, an apparatus comprising a second MLD is provided. The second MLD includes means for sending to the first MLD at least one request for statistical information related to the first MLD or delay information related to the first MLD, and means for receiving from the first MLD a report regarding at least one of the statistical information or the delay information.

[0010] In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer-readable medium comprises program instructions for causing an apparatus to execute the method according to the third aspect.

[0011] In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer-readable medium comprises program instructions for causing an apparatus to execute the method according to the fourth aspect.

[0012] It should be understood that the summary section is not necessarily intended to identify the main or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will be readily understood from the following description.

[0013] Next, some exemplary implementations will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014]

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[0015] Throughout the drawings, unless otherwise noted, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar elements.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Next, the principles of the present disclosure will be described with reference to some exemplary implementations. It should be understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and are provided to assist those skilled in the art in understanding and implementing the present disclosure, and do not imply any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

[0017] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein shall have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains.

[0018] References to "one embodiment", "an embodiment", "exemplary embodiment", etc. in the present disclosure indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not all embodiments need to include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Further, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Moreover, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in relation to an embodiment, it is within the knowledge of those skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in relation to other implementations, whether explicitly described or not.

[0019] The terms "first", "second", etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, but it should be understood that these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the exemplary implementation, the first element can be referred to as the second element, and similarly, the second element can be referred to as the first element. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0020] The terms used in this specification are for the sole purpose of describing particular implementations and are not intended to limit the exemplary implementations. As used in this specification, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are to be construed to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Further, the terms "comprises", "comprising", "has", "having", "includes", and / or "including", when used in this specification, specify the presence of the stated features, elements, and / or components, etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0021] As used in this application, the term "circuit" can mean any one or more or all of the following. (a) A circuit implementation with only hardware (such as an implementation only in analog and / or digital circuits) (b) A combination of a hardware circuit and software (where applicable) (i) A combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware (ii) Any part of a software, software, and a hardware processor having a memory (including a digital signal processor) cooperate to cause a device such as a mobile phone or a server to perform various functions. (c) A microprocessor or a part of a microprocessor in a hardware circuit and / or a processor that requires software (such as firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when not required for operation.

[0022] The definition of circuit applies to all uses of this term in the present application, including any claims. As a further example, when used in the present application, the term circuit also includes simply a hardware circuit or a processor (or processors), or a part of a hardware circuit or a processor, and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware implementation. The term circuit also includes, for example, a baseband integrated circuit or a processor integrated circuit for a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit within a server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device, if applicable to the elements of a particular claim.

[0023] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to, without limitation, a fifth-generation (5G) system, Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA (registered trademark)), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), a network that complies with any suitable communication standard, such as Wi-Fi. Further, the communication between a terminal device and a network device in a communication network can be carried out according to any suitable generation communication protocol, including, without limitation, the first generation (1G), the second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) communication protocol, and / or any other protocol currently known or developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to various communication systems. Considering the rapid development of communication, it is natural that there may also be future types of communication technologies and systems in which the present disclosure can be implemented. This should not be understood as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned systems.

[0024] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node within a communication network where a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), such as Node B (NodeB or NB), evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), NR NB (also called gNB), remote radio unit (RRU), radio header (RH), remote radio head (RRH), relay, femto, pico, etc., low-power nodes, depending on the terms and technologies applied. The RAN split architecture includes a gNB-CU (centralized unit, hosting RRC, SDAP, and PDCP) that controls a plurality of gNB-DUs (distributed units, hosting RLC, MAC, and PHY). The relay node may correspond to the DU part of the IAB node.

[0025] The term "terminal device" refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, a user equipment (UE), a subscriber station (SS), a portable subscriber station, a mobile station (MS), or an access terminal (AT). A terminal device may include, without limitation, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smartphone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a desktop computer, an image capture terminal device such as a digital camera, a game terminal device, a music storage and playback device, a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a laptop embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mounted equipment (LME), a USB dongle, a smart device, a wireless customer premise equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and application (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and application (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless device operating in an industrial and / or automated processing chain context), a home electronic device, a device operating on a commercial and / or industrial wireless network, etc. A terminal device may also correspond to the mobile termination (MT) part of an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node (also known as a relay node). In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment", and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

[0026] FIG. 1A shows an exemplary communication environment 100A in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. In some embodiments, the communication environment 100A may be implemented as an easy mesh network (ESS).

[0027] As shown in FIG. 1A, the communication environment 100A includes a non-AP MLD 110 and an AP MLD 120. It should be understood that the MLD is a logical entity. The MLD operating as an AP entity may be called an AP MLD, and the MLD operating as a non-AP STA entity may be called a non-AP MLD.

[0028] The non-AP MLD 110 has affiliated non-AP STAs 111, 112, and 113. Hereinafter, for simplicity, the non-AP STA is also called an STA. The AP MLD 120 has partner APs 121, 122, and 123.

[0029] The AP MLD 120 can establish three links with the non-AP MLD 110 and simultaneously transmit data to the non-AP MLD 110 over the three links. The three links may include a link 131 between AP 121 and STA 111, a link 132 between AP 122 and STA 112, and a link 133 between AP 123 and STA 113. For example, the three links may operate on the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands, respectively.

[0030] It should be understood that the number of non-AP STAs belonging to the non-AP MLD 110 and the number of APs belonging to the AP MLD 120 as shown in FIG. 1A are for illustrative purposes only without suggesting any limitation. The communication environment 100A may include any suitable number of STAs belonging to the non-AP MLD 110 and any suitable number of APs belonging to the AP MLD 120 adapted to implement the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0031] In addition, it should be understood that the number of non-AP MLDs as shown in FIG. 1A is for illustrative purposes only without suggesting any limitation. The communication environment 100A may include any suitable number of non-AP MLDs adapted to implement the embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the AP MLD 120 may establish links with multiple non-AP MLDs. This will be described with reference to FIG. 1B.

[0032] Figure 1B shows another exemplary communication environment 100B in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. In some embodiments, the communication environment 100B may be implemented as an ESS.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 1B, the communication environment 100B includes non-AP MLDs 110 and 120 and non-AP MLDs 140 and 150 as shown in FIG. 1A.

[0034] Non-AP MLD 140 has an affiliated non-AP STA 141. Non-AP MLD 150 has affiliated non-AP STAs 151 and 152.

[0035] AP MLD 120 can establish a link with non-AP MLD 140, and the link is between AP 123 and STA 141. AP MLD 120 can establish two links with non-AP MLD 150. One of the two links is between AP 121 and STA 151, and the other is between AP 122 and STA 152.

[0036] Figure 1C shows yet another exemplary communication environment 100C in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. In some embodiments, the communication environment 100C may be implemented as an ESS.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 1C, the communication environment 100C includes AP MLD 120, non-AP MLDs 110 and 150 shown in FIG. 1B, AP MLD 160, an access control (AC) device 170, and the Internet 180. AP MLD 160 has partner APs 161, 162, and 163.

[0038] It should be understood that FIG. 1C shows that the AC device 170 is separated from AP MLDs 120 and 160 as an example. In some embodiments, the AC device 170 may be incorporated into one of AP MLDs 120 and 160.

[0039] In some embodiments, each of the APs belonging to the AP MLD and the STAs belonging to the non-AP MLD can be configured using a STA statistical counter (also referred to as a link-level counter). The STA statistical counter can store statistical information associated with the link between the AP and the STA. Also, the AP and the STA can maintain delay information related to the link between the AP and the STA. The delivery status of the AP or the STA can be determined based on the statistical information associated with the link or the delay information associated with the link. Hereinafter, the statistical information regarding the link and the delay information regarding the link are also referred to as link-level statistical information and link-level delay information, respectively. For the sake of brevity, the link-level statistical information and the link-level delay information are collectively referred to as link-level statistics and delay information.

[0040] The AP can obtain link-level statistics and delay information from the connected STA. Similarly, the STA can obtain link-level statistics and delay information from the AP. For example, AP121 can obtain the statistics and delay information related to link 131 from STA111, and STA112 can obtain the statistics and delay information related to link 132 from AP122.

[0041] In some embodiments, an MLD (such as AP MLD120) may need to obtain at least one of the statistical information or the delay information related to another MLD (such as non-AP MLD110) in order to make decisions such as decisions regarding traffic scheduling and / or load distribution. In addition, the non-AP MLD110 may need to decide to continue connecting to the AP MLD120 or to connect to a neighboring AP MLD in order to improve its performance. Hereinafter, the statistical information regarding the MLD is referred to as ML-level statistical information, and the delay information is referred to as ML-level delay information. For the sake of brevity, the MLD-level statistical information and the MLD-level delay information are collectively referred to as MLD-level statistics and delay information.

[0042] When multiple links are established between two MLDs, the link-level statistics and delay information may be different from the MLD-level statistics and delay information. Therefore, when an MLD is determined based on the link-level counter, an information error may occur. This will be described with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B.

[0043] FIG. 2A shows an example 200 of the difference between the link-level statistics and delay information and the MLD-level statistics and delay information. The example 200 may include an AP MLD 120 and a non-AP MLD 110 as shown in FIG. 1A.

[0044] The AP MLD 120 transmits data1 to the non-AP MLD 110 via the AP 121. The non-AP MLD 110 responds with an ACK via the STA 111. However, the ACK frame is missing due to interference on the channel. Then, the AP MLD 120 can retransmit the data1 to the non-AP MLD 110 via the AP 122. The non-AP MLD 110 responds with an ACK via the STA 112. However, the ACK frame is missing again. The AP MLD 120 retransmits the data1 to the non-AP MLD 110 via the AP 123. The STA 113 belonging to the non-AP MLD 110 responds with an ACK, which is finally received by the AP MLD 110.

[0045] The AP MLD120 can extract the number of Media Access Control (MAC) Protocol Data Units (MPDUs) received on each of the links 131, 132, and 133 via link-level STA statistics requests. The non-AP MLD110 can respond that one MPDU is received on each of the links 131, 132, and 133 via link-level STA statistics reports. Thus, the AP MLD120 determines that the total number of received MPDUs is three based on the three link-level STA statistics reports. However, in reality, only one MPDU (i.e., data1) is delivered between the two MLDs. In other words, when only link-level statistics are counted, three (incorrect information) MPDUs are transmitted. However, when MLD-level statistics are counted, one MPDU (data1) is transmitted (which is correct information). That is, incorrect information is obtained when the number of received MPDUs is determined based on the counters of links 131, 132, and 133.

[0046] Figure 2B shows another example 205 of the difference between link-level statistics and delay information and MLD-level statistics and delay information. Example 205 may include the AP MLD120 and the non-AP MLD110 as shown in Figure 1B.

[0047] As shown in Figure 2B, the non-AP MLDs 110, 140, and 150 are associated with the AP MLD 120. In other words, there are three non-AP MLDs associated with the AP MLD. The number of established links between the AP MLD120 and the non-AP MLD110, the non-AP MLD140, and the non-AP MLD150 is three, two, and one, respectively. The APs 121, 122, and 123 belonging to the AP MLD120 can record the number of STAs based on the number of connected STAs.

[0048] When only link-level statistics are counted, there are six STAs connected to AP MLD120. However, when counting MLD-level statistics, in fact, there are three non-AP MLDS connected to AP MLD120. Apparently, AP MLD120 calculates an incorrect value based on the information provided by the STA counters associated with each of APs 121, 122, and 123.

[0049] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for device identification and discovery to solve the above problems and one or more other potential problems. According to this solution, an MLD determines at least one of the statistical information associated with the MLD or the delay information associated with the MLD. In response to receiving a request for at least one of the statistical information or the delay information from a second MLD, the MLD transmits at least one of the statistical information or the delay information to the second MLD. In this way, based on at least one of the statistical information or the delay information to the MLD, the MLD can determine to continue the connection to the second MLD or continue the connection to a neighboring MLD in order to improve its performance. Hereinafter, the principle of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 9.

[0050] FIG. 3 shows a signaling chart showing a process 300 for requesting and reporting at least one of the statistical information or the delay information associated with an MLD according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0051] Process 300 may include a first MLD and a second MLD. In some embodiments, each of the first MLD and the second MLD may be implemented as a non-AP MLD, such as two of the non-AP MLDs 110, 140, 150 as shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C. In other embodiments, the first MLD may be implemented as a non-AP MLD, such as one of the non-AP MLDs 110, 140, 150, and the second MLD may be implemented as an AP MLD, such as one of the AP MLDs 120 and 160 shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C. Hereinafter, process 300 will be described with reference to the communication environment 100A of FIG. 1A. However, this process may be similarly applied to other communication scenarios, such as the communication environments 100B or 100C.

[0052] As shown in FIG. 3, the non-AP MLD 110 determines 310 at least one of the statistical information associated with the non-AP MLD 110 or the delay information associated with the non-AP MLD 110.

[0053] The AP MLD 120 transmits (320) a request for at least one of the statistical information or the delay information associated with the non-AP MLD 110 to the non-AP MLD 110.

[0054] In some embodiments, the AP MLD 120 can transmit a request for at least one of the statistical information or the delay information by transmitting a local statistical request frame. In some embodiments, the local statistical request frame may be included in the measurement request to be transmitted to the non-AP MLD 110.

[0055] In some embodiments, the local statistics request frame may be transmitted on a particular link among a plurality of links from the AP MLD120 to the non-AP MLD110. In such embodiments, the local statistics request frame may include the first address of the first MAC entity of the non-AP MLD110 within the first sub-element field. Hereinafter, the sub-element field may be referred to as an optional sub-element field. The first address indicates a request for at least one of the statistical information and delay information associated with the non-AP MLD110. This will be described with reference to FIGS. 4A and Table 1.

[0056] FIG. 4A shows an example of a local statistics request frame 400 according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4A, the local statistics request frame 400 includes a peer MAC address field 410, a randomization interval field 412, a measurement duration field 414, a group identification field 416, and an optional sub-element field 418.

[0057] Table 1 shows examples of values in the optional sub-element field 418 of FIG. 4A.

Table 1

[0058] In some embodiments, the reserved sub-element ID within the optional sub-element field 418 may indicate a request for at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD110. For example, the reserved sub-element ID "2" in the first column of the fourth row of Table 1 may indicate a request for at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD110. Of course, in other embodiments, one of the other reserved sub-element IDs in Table 1 may be used for this purpose.

[0059] In addition, as shown in the fourth row and second column of Table 1, a basic multi-link element associated with the reserved sub-element ID "2" can be added to carry the first address of the first MAC entity of the non-AP MLD110.

[0060] Alternatively, in some embodiments, the local statistics request frame can be transmitted over any of a plurality of links between the AP MLD120 and the non-AP MLD110. In such embodiments, the local statistics request frame can include the first address of the first MAC entity of the non-AP MLD110. The first address indicates a request for at least one of statistical information or delay information related to the MLD. This will be described with reference to FIG. 4B.

[0061] FIG. 4B shows another example of a local statistics request frame 420 according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4B, the local statistics request frame 420 is similar to the local statistics request frame 400 in that the local statistics request frame 420 also includes a randomized interval field 412, a measurement duration field 414, and a group identification field 416.

[0062] The local statistics request frame 420 differs from the local statistics request frame 400 in the STA / non-AP MLD MAC address field 430. In some embodiments, the STA / non-AP MLD MAC address field 430 can carry the first address of the first MAC entity of the non-AP MLD110 or the MAC entity address of the STA. The first address indicates a request for at least one of statistical information or delay information related to the MLD. The address indicates a request for at least one of statistical information or delay information related to the STA.

[0063] Furthermore, the local statistics request frame 420 differs from the local statistics request frame 400 in the optional sub - element field 432. The optional sub - element field 432 is not used to indicate a request for at least one of the statistical information or delay information related to MLD.

[0064] Returning to FIG. 3, in response to receiving a request for at least one of the statistical information or delay information, the non - AP MLD 110 transmits (330) at least one of the statistical information or delay information to the AP MLD 120.

[0065] In process 300, based on at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the AP MLD 120, the non - AP MLD 110 can decide whether to continue the connection to the current AP MLD 110 or to continue the connection to a neighboring AP MLD to improve its performance.

[0066] Furthermore, based on at least one of the statistical information or delay information related to the AP MLD 120, the non - AP MLD 110 can make decisions such as decisions regarding traffic scheduling and / or load distribution.

[0067] In some embodiments, the non - AP MLD 110 can transmit at least one of the statistical information or delay information by sending a local statistics report frame.

[0068] In an embodiment where the station statistics request frame is transmitted on a specific link among a plurality of links between the AP MLD120 and the non-AP MLD110, the station statistics report frame may be transmitted on a specific link among the plurality of links between the AP MLD120 and the non-AP MLD110. In such an embodiment, the station statistics report frame may include at least one of statistical information or delay information, or at least one of the second addresses of the second MAC entity in the second optional sub-element field of the AP MLD120. The second address indicates that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information is associated with the non-AP MLD110. This will be described in detail in FIG. 4C and Table 2.

[0069] FIG. 4C shows an example of a station statistics report frame 440 according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4C, the station statistics report frame 440 includes a measurement duration field 450, a group identification field 452, a statistics group data field 454, and an optional sub-element field 456. In some embodiments, the statistics group data field 454 can carry at least one of the statistical information or the delay information associated with the non-AP MLD110.

[0070] Table 2 shows an example of the values of the optional sub-element field 456 in FIG. 4C. [Table 2]

[0071] In some embodiments, a reserved sub - element ID within any sub - element field 456 may indicate that at least one of the statistical information or delay information in the statistical group data field 454 is associated with the non - AP MLD110. For example, the reserved sub - element ID "2" in the first column of the fourth row of Table 2 may indicate that at least one of the statistical information or delay information in the statistical group data field 454 is associated with the non - AP MLD110. Of course, in other embodiments, one of the other reserved sub - element IDs in Table 2 may be used for this purpose.

[0072] In addition, as shown in the second column of the fourth row of Table 2, a basic multi - link element associated with the reserved sub - element ID "2" may be added to carry the second address of the second MAC entity of the AP MLD120.

[0073] In embodiments where the local - statistics request frame is transmitted on any of the multiple links between the AP MLD120 and the non - AP MLD110, the local - statistics report frame may be transmitted on any of the multiple links between the AP MLD120 and the non - AP MLD110.

[0074] In some embodiments, the non - AP MLD110 is configured using an MLD - level counter, and based on the value of the MLD - level counter, it can determine the statistical information associated with the non - AP MLD110.

[0075] In some embodiments, the statistical information related to the MLD includes at least one of the following. · The number of fragmented frames transmitted by the MLD · The number of multicast frames transmitted by the MLD · The number of frames that failed to be transmitted by the MLD · The number of fragmented frames received by the MLD · The number of frames with frame - check - sequence errors received by the MLD · The number of fragmented frames transmitted by MLD · The number of frames retransmitted by MLD · The number of frames retransmitted multiple times by MLD · The number of frames re - received by MLD · The number of transmission requests (RTS) successfully transmitted by MLD · The number of RTS that failed to be transmitted by MLD · The number of unacknowledged response frames transmitted by MLD

[0076] In some embodiments, the frame comprises a quality of service (QoS) frame having a traffic indicator in the range of 0 to 7, and the statistical information comprises at least one of the following. · The number of QoS fragments transmitted by MLD · The number of QoS with faults transmitted by MLD · The number of QoS frames retransmitted by MLD · The number of QoS frames multicast - retransmitted by MLD · The number of QoS frames re - received by MLD · The number of QoS RTS successfully transmitted · The number of QoS RTS that failed to be transmitted · The number of QoS unacknowledged frames transmitted by MLD · The number of QoS fragments received by MLD · The number of QoS frames received by MLD · The number of QoS frames discarded by MLD · The number of QoS MPDUs received by MLD · The number of QoS re - transmission frames received by MLD.

[0077] In some embodiments, the frame comprises an aggregate media access control (MAC) service data unit (A - MSDU), and the statistical information comprises at least one of the following. · The number of A-MSDUs transmitted by MLD · The number of A-MSDU failures transmitted by MLD · The number of bytes of A-MSDU transmitted by MLD · The number of A-MSDUs retransmitted by MLD · The number of A-MSDUs retransmitted multiple times by MLD · The number of A-MSDUs not acknowledged by MLD · The number of A-MSDUs received by MLD · The number of bytes of A-MSDU received by MLD

[0078] In some embodiments, the frame comprises an aggregate media access control (MAC) protocol data unit (A-MPDU), and the statistical information comprises at least one of the following. · The number of A-MPDUs transmitted by MLD · The number of MPDUs within the A-MPDUs transmitted by MLD · The number of bytes within the A-MPDUs transmitted by MLD · The number of A-MPDUs received by MLD · The number of MPDUs within the A-MPDUs received by MLD · The number of bytes within the A-MPDUs received by MLD · The number of A-MPDUs having cyclic redundancy check errors received by MLD

[0079] In some embodiments, the delay information related to MLD may include at least one of the following. · MLD average access delay · MLD average delay for quality of service (QoS) frames with best-effort priority · MLD average delay on QoS frames with background priority · MLD average delay on QoS frames with video priority · MLD average delay on QoS frames with voice priority · Non-AP MLD number · MLD channel utilization

[0080] In some embodiments, non-AP MLD 110 may include a first station management entity (SME) and a first media access control sublayer management entity (MLME). The first SME can communicate with the first MLME using primitives. Primitives are used to describe some abstract behaviors, signaling, and / or functions between the SME and the MLME (or between the SME and the PLME). Any action specified as related to a service access point (SAP) primitive should be interpreted as an action on the call or instance of that primitive.

[0081] Similarly, AP MLD 120 may include a second SME and a second MLME. The second SME can communicate with the second MLME using primitives. This will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

[0082] FIG. 5 shows a signaling chart illustrating process 500 for the request and reporting of at least one of statistical information or delay information related to MLD according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Process 500 may be regarded as an exemplary implementation of process 300. Hereinafter, process 500 will be described with reference to the communication environment 100A of FIG. 1A. However, this process may be similarly applicable to other communication scenarios such as communication environments 100B or 100C.

[0083] As shown in FIG. 5, non-AP MLD 110 includes a first SME 110A and a first MLME 110B. AP MLD 120 includes a second SME 120A and a second MLME 120B.

[0084] When a decision is made to request measurement values from the non-AP MLD110 (505), the second SME120A provides a second request primitive to the second MLME120B to indicate that a request for at least one of statistical information or delay information should be sent (510).

[0085] As described above, in some embodiments, the AP MLD120 can send a request for at least one of statistical information or delay information by transmitting a local statistics request frame. The local statistics request frame can be included in the measurement request to be sent to the non-AP MLD110.

[0086] In such embodiments, the local statistics request frame can be transmitted on a specific link among a plurality of links between the AP MLD120 and the non-AP MLD110. In such embodiments, the second request primitive can include at least one of the first address of the first MAC entity of the non-AP MLD110 or the fourth address of the fourth MAC entity of the device belonging to the non-AP MLD110. The fourth address indicates that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information should be sent to the device. For example, the device associated with the non-AP MLD110 can be one of STA111, 112, 113 as shown in FIG. 1A.

[0087] In such embodiments, the second request primitive can include the MLME-MREQUEST.request primitive. An example of the MLME-MREQUEST.request primitive is shown below. MLME-MREQUEST.request( STA MAC address, Dialog token, Measurement request set, Number of repetitions, Measurement category, Vendor specific information, MLD MAC address )

[0088] Table 3 shows the details of the parameters in the MLME-MREQUEST.request primitive. [Table 3]

[0089] As shown in Table 3, the "STA MAC address" is the address of the peer MAC entity to which the measurement request is sent. In other words, the "STA MAC address" is the address of the peer MAC entity to which at least one request for statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD110 is sent. For example, when sending a request to STA111 belonging to the non-AP MLD110, the "STA MAC address" is the address of the MAC entity of STA111.

[0090] Also, as shown in Table 3, the "MLD MAC address" is the address of the MAC entity of the MLD that sends the measurement request. For example, the "MLD MAC address" can be the address of the MAC entity of the non-AP MLD110 to which at least one request for statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD110 is sent.

[0091] Continuing to refer to FIG. 5, when the second SME120A receives the second request primitive (510), the second MLME120B provides a confirmation to the second SME120A (515) to indicate that the second request primitive has been received. Further, the second MLME120B sends a measurement request to the first MLME110B of the non-AP MLD110 (520). The measurement request includes at least one request for statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD110.

[0092] When receiving at least one request for statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD110, the first MLME110B provides a first indication to the first SME110A (525) to indicate that at least one request for statistical information or delay information has been received.

[0093] In some embodiments, the first indication primitive may comprise at least one of a second address of a second MAC entity of the AP MLD120 or a third address of a third MAC entity of a device belonging to the AP MLD120. The third address indicates that at least one of statistical information or delay information should be received via the device. For example, a device related to the AP MLD120 may be one of the APs 121, 122, 123 as shown in FIG. 1A.

[0094] In such embodiments, the first indication primitive may comprise an MLME-MREQUEST.indication primitive. An example of the MLME-MREQUEST.indication primitive is shown below. MLME-MREQUEST.indication( STA MAC address Dialog token Measurement request set Number of repetitions Measurement category Vendor specific information MLD MAC address )

[0095] Table 4 shows details of the parameters in the MLME-MREQUEST.indication primitive.

Table 4

[0096] As shown in Table 4, the "STA MAC address" is the address of the peer MAC entity that received the measurement request. In other words, the "STA MAC address" is the address of the peer MAC entity that received at least one request for statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD110. For example, when a request is received from the AP121 belonging to the AP MLD120, the "STA MAC address" is the address of the MAC entity of the AP121.

[0097] Also, as shown in Table 4, the "MLD MAC address" is the address of the MAC entity of the MLD that received the measurement request. For example, the "MLD MAC address" can be the address of the MAC entity of the AP MLD120 that received at least one request among the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD110.

[0098] Continuing to refer to FIG. 5, when the first SME110A receives the first instruction from the first MLME110B, the first SME110A makes a decision to accept a measurement request from the AP MLD120 (530). Next, the first SME110A provides a measurement request primitive to the first MLME110B (535). For example, the measurement request primitive may include an MLME-MEASURE.request primitive.

[0099] When the first MLME110B receives the measurement request primitive from the first SME110A, the first MLME110B executes a measurement process (540). When the measurement process ends, the first MLME110B provides a confirmation to the first SME110A to indicate that the measurement process has ended (545).

[0100] When the first SME110A receives the confirmation from the first MLME110B, the first SME110A compiles a measurement report (550). Next, the first SME110A provides a first request primitive to the first MLME110B (555).

[0101] In an embodiment where the frame of the station statistical report is transmitted on a specific link among a plurality of links between the AP MLD120 and the non-AP MLD110, the first request primitive may include at least one of statistical information or delay information, the address of the MAC entity of the device belonging to the AP MLD120, or the second address of the second MAC entity of the AP MLD120. The address of the MAC entity of the device indicates that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information should be transmitted to the device. For example, the device associated with the AP MLD120 may be one of the APs 121, 122, 123 as shown in FIG. 1A.

[0102] In such an embodiment, the first request primitive may include the MLME-MREPORT.request primitive. An example of the MLME-MREPORT.request primitive is shown below. MLME-MREPORT.request.( STA MAC address, Dialog token, Measurement request set, Measurement category, Vendor specific information, MLD MAC address )

[0103] Table 5 shows the details of the parameters in the MLME-MREPORT.request primitive.

Table 5

[0104] As shown in Table 5, the "STA MAC address" is the address of the peer MAC entity to which the measurement report is sent. In other words, the "STA MAC address" is the address of the peer MAC entity to which at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD110 is sent. For example, when at least one of the statistical information and delay information is sent to the AP121 belonging to the AP MLD120, the "STA MAC address" is the address of the MAC entity of the AP121.

[0105] Also, as shown in Table 5, the "MLD MAC address" is the address of the MAC entity of the MLD to which the measurement report is sent. For example, the "MLD MAC address" can be the address of the MAC entity of the AP MLD120 to which at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD110 is sent.

[0106] Continuing to refer to FIG. 5, when the first MLME110B receives the first request primitive from the first SME110A, the first MLME110B sends a measurement report to the second MLME120B of the AP MLD120 (560). The measurement report includes at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD110. Further, the first MLME110B provides a confirmation to the first SME110A to indicate that the first request primitive has been received (565).

[0107] When the second MLME120B receives a measurement report including at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD110, the second MLME120B provides a second indication primitive to the second SME120A to indicate that at least one of the statistical information or delay information has been received (570).

[0108] In some embodiments, the second indication primitive may comprise at least one of statistical information or latency information, the first address of the first MAC entity of the non-AP MLD 110, and at least one of the fourth addresses of the fourth MAC entities of the devices belonging to the non-AP MLD 110. The fourth address indicates that at least one of the statistical information or latency information has been received from the device. For example, a device associated with the non-AP MLD 110 may be one of the STAs 111, 112, 113 as shown in FIG. 1A.

[0109] In such embodiments, the second indication primitive may comprise the MLME-MREPORT.indication primitive. An example of the MLME-MREPORT.indication primitive is shown below: MLME-MREPORT.indication primitive( STA MAC address, Dialog token, Measurement request set, Measurement category, Vendor specific information, MLD MAC address )

[0110] Table 6 shows the details of the parameters in the MLME-MREPORT.indication primitive.

Table 6

[0111] As shown in Table 6, the "STA MAC address" is the address of the peer MAC entity from which the measurement report was received. In other words, the "STA MAC address" is the address of the peer MAC entity that received at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD110. For example, when receiving at least one of the statistical information and delay information from the STA111 belonging to the non-AP MLD110, the "STA MAC address" is the address of the MAC entity of the STA111.

[0112] Also, as shown in Table 6, the "MLD MAC address" is the address of the MAC entity of the MLD that received the measurement report. For example, the "MLD MAC address" can be the address of the MAC entity of the non-AP MLD110 from which at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD110 was received.

[0113] Continuing to refer to FIG. 5, when the second SME120A receives the second indication primitive from the second MLME120B, the second SME120A determines that the measurement request has been completed (575).

[0114] As described above, in some embodiments, the local statistics request frame can be transmitted on any of a plurality of links between the AP MLD120 and the non-AP MLD110. In such embodiments, the second request primitive provided from the second SME120A to the second MLME120B can include the first address of the first MAC entity of the non-AP MLD110. The first address indicates that at least one of the statistical information or delay information should be transmitted to any of the devices belonging to the non-AP MLD110.

[0115] In such embodiments, the second request primitive can include the MLME-MREQUEST.request primitive. An example of the MLME-MREQUEST.request primitive is shown below. MLME-MREQUEST.request( STA / MLD MAC address, Dialog token, Measurement requirement set, Number of repetitions, Measurement category, Vendor specific information )

[0116] In the above MLME-MREQUEST.request primitive, for example, the parameter "STA / MLD MAC address" can be the first address of the first MAC entity of the non-AP MLD110 or the address of the MAC entity of the STA belonging to the non-AP MLD110. The first address indicates a request for at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD110. The address of the MAC entity of the STA indicates a request for at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the STA.

[0117] In an embodiment where the local statistics request frame is transmitted on any of a plurality of links between the AP MLD120 and the non-AP MLD110, the first indication primitive provided from the first MLME110B to the first SME110A may include the second address of the second MAC entity of the AP MLD120. The second address indicates that at least one of the statistical information or delay information should be received via any of the devices belonging to the AP MLD120.

[0118] As described above, in some embodiments, the local statistics report frame may be transmitted on any of a plurality of links between the AP MLD120 and the non-AP MLD110. In such an embodiment, the first request primitive provided from the first SME110A to the first MLME110B may include at least one of the statistical information or delay information, or at least one of the second addresses of the second MAC entity of the AP MLD120. The second address indicates that at least one of the statistical information and delay information is to be transmitted to any of the devices belonging to the AP MLD120.

[0119] In an embodiment where the frame of the station statistical report is transmitted on any of a plurality of links between the AP MLD120 and the non-AP MLD110, the second indication primitive provided from the second MLME120B to the second SME120A may include at least one of statistical information or delay information, or at least one of the first addresses of the first MAC entities of the non-AP MLD110. The first address indicates that at least one of the statistical information and the delay information has been received from any of the devices belonging to the non-AP MLD110.

[0120] In some embodiments, the AP MLD120 may send a request for at least one of statistical information or delay information to the non-AP MLD110 in response to receiving a query request for at least one of statistical information or delay information from an AC device. In such embodiments, upon receiving at least one of statistical information or delay information, the AP MLD120 can send at least one of statistical information or delay information to the AC device. This will be described with reference to FIG. 1C.

[0121] The AC device 170 can send a query request for at least one of the statistical information or delay information related to the AP MLD120 to the AP MLD120. At least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD110 and at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD150 are performed periodically by an API defined by the data element specification or in response to a condition being met.

[0122] In some embodiments, at least one of the statistical information or delay information related to the AP MLD120 may include at least one of the number of non-AP MLDs associated with the AP MLD120, the packets transmitted by the AP MLD120, the packets received, the transmission errors, the received errors, and the retransmission counter.

[0123] In some embodiments, at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD 110 or 150 may comprise at least one of the transmitted packets, received packets, transmitted errors, received errors, and retransmission counters of the non-AP MLD 110 or 150.

[0124] In some embodiments, the condition may include the number of non-AP MLDs exceeding a first threshold determined by the TP, latency, or AC device 170. For example, when the number of non-AP MLDs associated with the AP MLD 120 exceeds the first threshold, the AC device 170 may send a query request to the AP MLD 120.

[0125] Upon receiving a query request from the AC device 170, the AP MLD 120 sends a request for at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD 150 to the non-AP MLD 150

[0126] Upon receiving a request for at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD 150, the non-AP MLD 150 can send at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD 150 to the AP MLD 120.

[0127] In some embodiments, at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD 150 may comprise at least one of the QoS retry count, QoS frame duplication count, QoS discarded frame count, or QoS MPDU receive count.

[0128] Upon receiving at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD 150, the AP MLD 120 can send at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the non-AP MLD 150 to the AC device 170.

[0129] Upon receiving at least one of the statistical information or delay information related to the non-AP MLD150, the AC device 170 can determine whether to move the non-AP MLD150 to an adjacent AP MLD such as the AP MLD160.

[0130] For example, on at least one side of at least one of the AP MLD120 and the non-AP MLD150, if at least one of the following is satisfied, the AC device 170 determines to move the non-AP MLD150 to the AP MLD160. · The ratio of the number of retransmitted frames to the total number of frames exceeds a second threshold. · The ratio of the number of dropped frames to the total number of frames exceeds a third threshold. · The ratio of the number of duplicated frames to the total number of frames exceeds a fourth threshold. · The number of non-AP MLDs related to the AP MLD120 exceeds a fifth threshold.

[0131] When moving the non-AP MLD150 from the AP MLD120 to the AP MLD160, the AC device 170 can reschedule the downlink or uplink traffic of the non-AP MLD150 from the AP MLD120 to the AP MLD160.

[0132] FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of an exemplary method 600 implemented at a first MLD according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the first MLD may include an AP MLD such as the AP MLD120 of FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C or the AP MLD160 of FIG. 1C.

[0133] In block 610, the first MLD determines at least one of the statistical information related to the first MLD or the delay information related to the first MLD.

[0134] In block 620, in response to receiving at least one request for statistical information or delay information from the second MLD, the first MLD transmits at least one of the statistical information or the delay information to the second MLD. For example, the second MLD may include a non-AP MLD such as the non-AP MLD 110 of FIG. 1A, the non-AP MLDs 110, 140, or 150 of FIG. 1B, or the non-AP MLDs 110 or 150 of FIG. 1C.

[0135] In some embodiments, the first MLD may receive at least one request for statistical information or delay information by receiving a local statistical request frame from the second MLD.

[0136] In some embodiments, the local statistical request frame includes the first address of the first media access control (MAC) entity of the MLD in a first optional sub-element field, and the first address indicates a request for at least one of the statistical information and the delay information associated with the MLD.

[0137] In some embodiments, the first MLD can transmit a local statistical report frame, and the local statistical report frame includes at least one of the statistical information or the delay information and the first address of the first MAC entity of the first MLD or the second address of the second MAC entity of the second MLD within a second optional sub-element field. The first address or the second address indicates that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information is associated with the first MLD.

[0138] In some embodiments, the local statistical request frame includes the first address of the first MAC entity of the first MLD, and the first address indicates a request for at least one of the statistical information or the delay information associated with the first MLD.

[0139] In some embodiments, the first MLD includes a first SME and a first MLME. In some embodiments, the first MLME is configured to provide a first indication primitive to the first SME to indicate that a request for at least one of statistical information or delay information has been received.

[0140] In some embodiments, the first indication primitive includes at least one of a second address of a second MAC entity of a second MLD, or a third address of a third MAC entity of a device belonging to the second MLD, the third address indicating that at least one of statistical information or delay information should be received via the device.

[0141] In some embodiments, the first indication primitive includes a second address of a second MAC entity of a second MLD, the second address indicating that at least one of statistical information or delay information should be received via any of the devices belonging to the second MLD.

[0142] In some embodiments, the first SME may be configured to provide a first request primitive to the first MLME, the first request primitive including at least one of at least one of statistical information or delay information, a third address of a third MAC entity of a device associated with the second MLD, a third address indicating that at least one of statistical information or delay information should be sent to the device, or a second address of a second MAC entity of the second MLD.

[0143] In some embodiments, the first SME may be configured to provide a first request primitive to the first MLME, the first request primitive comprising at least one of statistical information or latency information, or at least one of second addresses of second MAC entities of the second MLD, the second addresses indicating that at least one of the statistical information and the latency information is to be sent to any of the devices belonging to the second MLD.

[0144] In some embodiments, the statistical information related to the MLD includes at least one of the following. · The number of fragmented frames transmitted by the MLD · The number of multicast frames transmitted by the MLD · The number of frames that failed to be transmitted by the MLD · The number of fragmented frames received by the MLD · The number of frames having a frame check sequence error received by the MLD · The number of fragmented frames transmitted by the MLD · The number of frames retransmitted by the MLD · The number of frames retransmitted multiple times by the MLD · The number of frames re-received by the MLD · The number of transmission requests (RTS) successfully transmitted by the MLD · The number of RTS that failed to be transmitted by the MLD · The number of unacknowledged response frames transmitted by the MLD

[0145] In some embodiments, the frame comprises a quality of service (QoS) frame having a traffic indicator in the range of 0 to 7, and the statistical information comprises at least one of the following. · The number of QoS fragments transmitted by the MLD · The number of QoS that failed to be transmitted by the MLD · The number of QoS frames retransmitted by the MLD · The number of QoS frames multicast retransmitted by MLD · The number of QoS frames re - received by MLD · The number of QoS RTSs successfully transmitted · The number of QoS RTSs that failed to be transmitted · The number of unacknowledged QoS frames transmitted by MLD · The number of QoS fragments received by MLD · The number of QoS frames received by MLD · The number of QoS frames discarded by MLD · The number of QoS MPDUs received by MLD · The number of QoS re - transmission frames received by MLD

[0146] In some embodiments, the frame comprises an aggregated media access control (MAC) service data unit (A - MSDU), and the statistical information comprises at least one of the following. · The number of A - MSDUs transmitted by MLD · The number of A - MSDUs that failed to be transmitted by MLD · The number of bytes of A - MSDUs transmitted by MLD · The number of A - MSDUs re - transmitted by MLD · The number of A - MSDUs re - transmitted multiple times by MLD · The number of A - MSDUs not acknowledged by MLD · The number of A - MSDUs received by MLD · The number of bytes of A - MSDUs received by MLD

[0147] In some embodiments, the frame comprises an aggregated media access control (MAC) protocol data unit (A - MPDU), and the statistical information comprises at least one of the following. · The number of A - MPDUs transmitted by MLD · The number of MPDUs within the A - MPDUs transmitted by MLD · The number of bytes in the A-MPDU transmitted by MLD · The number of A-MPDUs received by MLD · The number of MPDUs in the A-MPDUs received by MLD · The number of bytes in the A-MPDUs received by MLD · The number of A-MPDUs with cyclic redundancy check errors received by MLD

[0148] In some embodiments, the delay information related to MLD may include at least one of the following. · MLD average access delay · MLD average delay for quality of service (QoS) frames with best effort priority · MLD average delay on QoS frames with background priority · MLD average delay on QoS frames with video priority · MLD average delay on QoS frames with voice priority · Non-AP MLD number · MLD channel utilization

[0149] FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of an exemplary method 700 implemented in a second MLD according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the second MLD may comprise an AP MLD such as one of the AP MLDs 120 of FIGS. 1A and 1B, or the AP MLDs 120 and 160 of FIG. 1C.

[0150] In block 710, the second MLD transmits a request for at least one of the statistical information associated with the first MLD or the delay information associated with the first MLD to the first MLD.

[0151] In block 720, the second MLD receives a report regarding at least one of the statistical information or the delay information from the first MLD.

[0152] In some embodiments, the second MLD can send a request for at least one of statistical information or delay information by sending a local statistics request frame to the first MLD.

[0153] In some embodiments, the local statistics request frame includes the first address of the first MAC entity of the first MLD within a first optional sub - element field, and the first address indicates a request for at least one of the statistical information and delay information associated with the first MLD.

[0154] In some embodiments, the second MLD can receive a local statistics report frame, and the local statistics report frame includes at least one of statistical information or delay information and the first address of the first MAC entity of the first MLD, or the second address of the second MAC entity of the second MLD within a second optional sub - element field. The first address or the second address indicates that at least one of the statistical information or delay information is associated with the first MLD.

[0155] In some embodiments, the local statistics request frame includes at least one of the first addresses of the first MAC entity of the first MLD, where the first addresses indicate a request for at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the second MLD.

[0156] In some embodiments, the second MLD includes a second SME and a second MLME. In some embodiments, the second SME can provide a second request primitive to the second MLME to indicate that a request for at least one of statistical information or delay information should be sent.

[0157] In some embodiments, the second request primitive comprises at least one of the first address of the first MAC entity of the first MLD or the fourth address of the fourth MAC entity of a device belonging to the first MLD, the fourth address indicating that at least one of statistical information or delay information should be sent to the device.

[0158] In some embodiments, the second request primitive comprises the first address of the first MAC entity of the first MLD, the first address indicating that at least one of statistical information or delay information should be sent to any of the devices belonging to the first MLD.

[0159] In some embodiments, the second MLME is configured to provide a second indication primitive to the second SME to indicate that at least one of statistical information or delay information has been received.

[0160] In some embodiments, the second indication primitive further comprises at least one of at least one of statistical information or delay information, the first address of the first MAC entity of the first MLD, or the fourth address of the fourth MAC entity of a device belonging to the first MLD, the fourth address indicating that at least one of statistical information or delay information has been received from the device.

[0161] In some embodiments, the second indication primitive further comprises at least one of at least one of statistical information or delay information and the first address of the first MAC entity of the first MLD, the first address indicating that at least one of statistical information and delay information has been received from any of the devices belonging to the first MLD.

[0162] In some embodiments, the statistical information related to the MLD includes at least one of the following. · The number of fragmented frames transmitted by the MLD · The number of multicast frames transmitted by MLD · The number of frames that failed to be transmitted by MLD · The number of fragmented frames received by MLD · The number of frames with frame check sequence errors received by MLD · The number of fragmented frames transmitted by MLD · The number of frames retransmitted by MLD · The number of frames retransmitted multiple times by MLD · The number of frames re - received by MLD · The number of transmission requests (RTS) that were successfully transmitted by MLD · The number of RTS that failed to be transmitted by MLD · The number of unacknowledged response frames transmitted by MLD

[0163] In some embodiments, the frame comprises a quality of service (QoS) frame having a traffic indicator in the range of 0 to 7, and the statistical information comprises at least one of the following. · The number of QoS fragments transmitted by MLD · The number of QoS that failed to be transmitted by MLD · The number of QoS frames retransmitted by MLD · The number of QoS frames multicast - retransmitted by MLD · The number of QoS frames re - received by MLD · The number of QoS RTS that were successfully transmitted · The number of QoS RTS that failed to be transmitted · The number of QoS unacknowledged frames transmitted by MLD · The number of QoS fragments received by MLD · The number of QoS frames received by MLD · The number of QoS frames discarded by MLD · The number of QoS MPDUs received by MLD · The number of QoS retransmission frames received by MLD

[0164] In some embodiments, the frame comprises an aggregate media access control (MAC) service data unit (A-MSDU), and the statistical information comprises at least one of the following. · The number of A-MSDUs transmitted by MLD · The number of A-MSDUs whose transmission by MLD failed · The number of bytes of A-MSDUs transmitted by MLD · The number of A-MSDUs retransmitted by MLD · The number of A-MSDUs retransmitted multiple times by MLD · The number of A-MSDUs not acknowledged by MLD · The number of A-MSDUs received by MLD · The number of bytes of A-MSDUs received by MLD

[0165] In some embodiments, the frame comprises an aggregate media access control (MAC) protocol data unit (A-MPDU), and the statistical information comprises at least one of the following. · The number of A-MPDUs transmitted by MLD · The number of MPDUs within the A-MPDUs transmitted by MLD · The number of bytes within the A-MPDUs transmitted by MLD · The number of A-MPDUs received by MLD · The number of MPDUs within the A-MPDUs received by MLD · The number of bytes within the A-MPDUs received by MLD · The number of A-MPDUs having cyclic redundancy check errors received by MLD

[0166] In some embodiments, the delay information related to MLD may include at least one of the following. · MLD average access delay · MLD average delay for a quality of service (QoS) frame with best-effort priority · MLD average delay on a QoS frame with background priority · MLD average delay on a QoS frame with video priority · MLD average delay on a QoS frame with voice priority · Non-AP MLD number · MLD channel utilization

[0167] In some embodiments, the second MLD is configured to send at least one request for statistical information or delay information in response to receiving from an access control device at least one query request for the statistical information or delay information associated with the second MLD.

[0168] In some embodiments, the second MLD is configured to send at least one of statistical information or delay information associated with the second MLD to an access control device.

[0169] The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure described with reference to FIGS. 1-5 may also be applied to methods 600 and 700. Accordingly, the details of the exemplary embodiments are omitted.

[0170] In some exemplary embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing method 600 may comprise means for performing each step of method 600. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuit or a software module or a combination thereof.

[0171] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus comprises a first MLD. The first MLD comprises means for determining at least one of statistical information related to the first MLD or delay information related to the first MLD, and means for transmitting at least one of the statistical information or the delay information to a second MLD in response to receiving a request for at least one of the statistical information or the delay information from the second MLD.

[0172] In some embodiments, the first MLD is configured to receive a request for at least one of the statistical information or the delay information by receiving a local statistics request frame from the second MLD.

[0173] In some embodiments, the local statistics request frame includes a first address of a first MAC of the first MLD in a first sub-element field, the first address indicating a request for at least one of the statistical information and the delay information related to the first MLD.

[0174] In some embodiments, the first MLD is configured to transmit a local statistics report frame, the local statistics report frame comprising at least one of the statistical information or the delay information, or a first address of a first MAC of the first MLD or a second address of a second MAC entity of the second MLD within a second sub-element field, the first address or the second address indicating that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information is associated with the first MLD.

[0175] In some embodiments, the local statistics request frame includes a first address of a first MAC of the first MLD, the first address indicating a request for at least one of the statistical information or the delay information related to the first MLD.

[0176] In some embodiments, the first MLD includes a first local management entity, an SME, and a first MLME. In some embodiments, the first MLME is configured to provide a first indication primitive to the first SME to indicate that a request for at least one of statistical information or delay information has been received.

[0177] In some embodiments, the first indication primitive includes at least one of a second address of a second MAC of a second MLD or a third address of a third MAC entity of a device associated with the second MLD, and the third address indicates that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information should be received via the device.

[0178] In some embodiments, the first indication primitive is a second address of a second MAC of a second MLD, and includes the second address indicating that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information should be received via any of the devices belonging to the second MLD.

[0179] In some embodiments, the first SME is configured to provide a first request primitive to the first MLME, and the first request primitive includes at least one of at least one of the statistical information or the delay information and a third address of a third MAC entity of a device associated with the second MLD, where the third address indicates that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information should be sent to the device, or at least one of a second address of a second MAC of the second MLD.

[0180] In some embodiments, the first SME is configured to provide a first request primitive to the first MLME, and the first request primitive includes at least one of at least one of the statistical information or the delay information or at least one of a second address of a second MAC of the second MLD, and the second address indicates that at least one of the statistical information and the delay information should be sent to any of the devices belonging to the second MLD.

[0181] In some embodiments, the statistical information includes at least one of the following. · The number of fragmented frames transmitted by the first MLD · The number of multicast frames transmitted by the first MLD · The number of frames that failed to be transmitted by the first MLD · The number of fragmented frames received by the first MLD · The number of frames having a frame check sequence error received by the first MLD · The number of fragmented frames transmitted by the first MLD · The number of frames retransmitted by the first MLD · The number of frames retransmitted multiple times by the first MLD · The number of frames re-received by the first MLD · The number of transmission request RTSs successfully transmitted by the first MLD · The number of RTSs that failed to be transmitted by the first MLD · The number of unacknowledged response frames transmitted by the first MLD

[0182] In some embodiments, the frame comprises a frame having a quality of service, QoS, traffic indicator in the range of 0 to 7, and the statistical information comprises at least one of the following. · The number of QoS fragments transmitted by the first MLD · The number of QoSs that failed to be transmitted by the first MLD · The number of QoS frames retransmitted by the first MLD · The number of QoS frames multicast retransmitted by the first MLD · The number of QoS frames re-received by the first MLD · The number of QoS RTSs successfully transmitted · The number of QoS RTSs that failed to be transmitted · The number of QoS unacknowledged frames transmitted by the first MLD · The number of QoS fragments received by the first MLD · The number of QoS frames received by the first MLD · The number of QoS frames discarded by the first MLD · The number of QoS media access control (MAC) protocol data units, MPDUs, received by the first MLD · The number of QoS retransmission frames received by the first MLD

[0183] In some embodiments, the frame includes an aggregated media access control (MAC) service data unit A-MSDU, and the statistical information includes at least one of the following. · The number of A-MSDUs transmitted by the first MLD · The number of A-MSDUs that failed to be transmitted by the first MLD · The number of bytes of A-MSDUs transmitted by the first MLD · The number of A-MSDUs retransmitted by the first MLD · The number of A-MSDUs retransmitted multiple times by the first MLD · The number of A-MSDUs not acknowledged by the first MLD · The number of A-MSDUs received by the first MLD · The number of received bytes in the A-MSDUs by the first MLD

[0184] In some embodiments, the frame comprises an aggregated media access control (MAC) protocol data unit, A-MPDU, and the statistical information comprises at least one of the following. · The number of A-MPDUs transmitted by the first MLD · The number of MPDUs in the A-MPDUs transmitted by the first MLD · The number of bytes in the A-MPDUs transmitted by the first MLD · The number of A-MPDUs received by the first MLD · The number of MPDUs in the A-MPDUs received by the first MLD · Number of bytes in the A-MPDU received by the first MLD · Number of A-MPDUs with cyclic redundancy check errors received by the first MLD

[0185] In some embodiments, the delay information includes at least one of the following. · MLD average access delay · MLD average delay for quality of service (QoS) frames with best effort priority · MLD average delay on QoS frames with background priority · MLD average delay on QoS frames with video priority · MLD average delay on QoS frames with voice priority · Non-AP MLD number · MLD channel utilization

[0186] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises at least one antenna configured to facilitate communication.

[0187] In some exemplary embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing method 700 may comprise means for performing each step of method 700. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuit or a software module or a combination thereof.

[0188] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus comprises a second MLD. The second MLD comprises means for sending to the first MLD a request for at least one of statistical information related to the first MLD or delay information related to the first MLD, and means for receiving from the first MLD a report regarding at least one of statistical information or delay information.

[0189] In some embodiments, the second MLD is configured to send at least one request of statistical information or delay information by sending a local statistical request frame to the first MLD.

[0190] In some embodiments, the local statistical request frame includes a first address of the first MAC of the first MLD in the first sub - element field, the first address indicating a request for at least one of the statistical information and delay information associated with the first MLD.

[0191] In some embodiments, the second MLD is configured to receive a local statistical report frame, the local statistical report frame including at least one of at least one of statistical information or delay information, or the first address of the first MAC of the first MLD or the second address of the second MAC entity of the second MLD within the second sub - element field, the first address or the second address indicating that at least one of the statistical information or delay information is associated with the first MLD.

[0192] In some embodiments, the local statistical request frame includes at least one of the first addresses of the first MAC of the first MLD, the first addresses indicating a request for at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the first MLD.

[0193] In some embodiments, the second MLD includes a second SME and a second MLME. In some embodiments, the second SME is configured to provide a second request primitive to the second MLME to indicate that a request for at least one of statistical information or delay information should be sent.

[0194] In some embodiments, the second request primitive comprises at least one of the first address of the first MAC of the first MLD or the fourth address of the fourth MAC entity of a device belonging to the first MLD, the fourth address indicating that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information should be sent to the device.

[0195] In some embodiments, the second request primitive comprises the first address of the first MAC of the first MLD, the first address indicating that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information should be sent to any of the devices belonging to the first MLD.

[0196] In some embodiments, the second MLME is configured to provide a second indication primitive to the second SME to indicate that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information has been received.

[0197] In some embodiments, the second indication primitive further comprises at least one of at least one of the statistical information or the delay information, the first address of the first MAC of the first MLD, or the fourth address of the fourth MAC entity of a device belonging to the first MLD, the fourth address indicating that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information has been received from the device.

[0198] In some embodiments, the second indication primitive further comprises at least one of at least one of the statistical information or the delay information or the first address of the first MAC of the first MLD, the first address indicating that at least one of the statistical information and the delay information has been received from any of the devices belonging to the first MLD.

[0199] In some embodiments, the statistical information includes at least one of the following. · The number of fragmented frames transmitted by the MLD · The number of multicast frames transmitted by MLD · The number of frames that failed to be transmitted by MLD · The number of fragmented frames received by MLD · The number of frames with frame check sequence errors received by MLD · The number of fragmented frames transmitted by MLD · The number of frames retransmitted by MLD · The number of frames retransmitted multiple times by MLD · The number of frames re-received by MLD · The number of transmission request RTSs successfully transmitted by MLD · The number of RTSs that failed to be transmitted by MLD · The number of unacknowledged response frames transmitted by MLD

[0200] In some embodiments, the frame comprises a frame having a quality of service, QoS, traffic indicator in the range of 0 to 7, and the statistical information comprises at least one of the following. · The number of QoS fragments transmitted by MLD · The number of QoSs that failed to be transmitted by MLD · The number of QoS frames retransmitted by MLD · The number of QoS frames multicast retransmitted by MLD · The number of QoS frames re-received by MLD · The number of QoS RTSs successfully transmitted · The number of QoS RTSs that failed to be transmitted · The number of QoS unacknowledged frames transmitted by MLD · The number of QoS fragments received by MLD · The number of QoS frames received by MLD · The number of QoS frames discarded by MLD · The number of QoS MAC protocol data units, MPDUs, received by MLD · The number of QoS retransmission frames received by MLD

[0201] In some embodiments, the frame includes an A-MSDU, and the statistical information includes at least one of the following. · The number of A-MSDUs transmitted by MLD · The number of A-MSDUs that failed to be transmitted by MLD · The number of bytes of A-MSDU transmitted by MLD · The number of A-MSDUs retransmitted by MLD · The number of A-MSDUs retransmitted multiple times by MLD · The number of A-MSDUs not acknowledged by MLD · The number of A-MSDUs received by MLD · The number of bytes of A-MSDU received by MLD

[0202] In some embodiments, the frame includes an A-MPDU, and the statistical information includes at least one of the following. · The number of A-MPDUs transmitted by MLD · The number of MPDUs in the A-MPDUs transmitted by MLD · The number of bytes in the A-MPDUs transmitted by MLD · The number of A-MPDUs received by MLD · The number of MPDUs in the A-MPDUs received by MLD · The number of bytes in the A-MPDUs received by MLD · The number of A-MPDUs with cyclic redundancy check errors received by MLD

[0203] In some embodiments, the delay information includes at least one of the following. · MLD average access delay · MLD average delay for a quality of service (QoS) frame with best effort priority · MLD average delay on a QoS frame with background priority · MLD average delay on a QoS frame with video priority · MLD average delay on a QoS frame with voice priority · Non-AP MLD number · MLD channel utilization

[0204] In some embodiments, the second MLD is configured to send at least one request for statistical information or delay information in response to receiving from an access control device at least one query request for the statistical information or delay information associated with the first MLD.

[0205] In some embodiments, the second MLD is configured to send at least one of the statistical information or delay information associated with the first MLD to an access control device.

[0206] In some embodiments, the second MLD further comprises at least one antenna configured to facilitate communication.

[0207] FIG. 8 is a simplified block diagram of a device 800 suitable for implementing an embodiment of the present disclosure. The device 800 may be provided for implementing a communication device, such as a non-AP MLD 110 or an AP MLD 120 as shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C, a non-AP MLD 140 or 150 as shown in FIG. 1B, or an AP MLD 160 as shown in FIG. 1C. As shown, the device 800 includes one or more processors 810, one or more memories 820 coupled to the processor 810, and one or more communication modules 840 coupled to the processor 810.

[0208] The communication module 840 is configured for two-way communication. The communication module 840 has at least one antenna for facilitating communication. The communication interface may represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements.

[0209] Processor 810 may be of any type suitable for a local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general-purpose computers, dedicated computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), and processors based on multi-core processor architectures, by way of non-limiting example. Device 800 may have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that are temporally slave to a clock that synchronizes the main processor.

[0210] Memory 820 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 824, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disks, compact discs (CDs), digital video discs (DVDs), and other magnetic storage and / or optical storage. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 822 and other volatile memories that do not persist during a power-down duration.

[0211] Computer program 830 includes computer-executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 810. Program 830 may be stored in memory 820, such as ROM 824. Processor 810 may execute any appropriate actions and processing by loading program 830 into RAM 822.

[0212] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by program 830 such that device 800 can execute any process of the present disclosure, as discussed with reference to FIGS. 1-7. Embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0213] In some exemplary embodiments, program 830 may be tangibly embodied on a computer-readable medium that may be included in device 800 (such as memory 820) or other storage devices accessible by device 800. Device 800 can load program 830 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 822 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible non-volatile storage such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. FIG. 9 shows an example of a computer-readable medium 900 in the form of a CD or DVD. The computer-readable medium has program 830 stored thereon.

[0214] Generally, the various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuitry, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. The various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representation, but the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein are, by way of non-limiting example, implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuitry or logic, general-purpose hardware or controllers, or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0215] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as instructions included in program modules that are executed on a device on a target physical processor or a target virtual processor for the device to execute the methods 600 and 700 described above with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functions of the program modules may be combined or divided among the program modules as desired in various embodiments. The machine-executable instructions for the program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, the program modules may be disposed on both a local storage medium and a remote storage medium.

[0216] The program code for executing the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, whereby, when executed by the processor or controller, the functions / operations specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram are implemented. The program code may be executed entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0217] In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus, or processor to execute various processes and operations as described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer-readable media, etc.

[0218] A computer-readable medium can be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable medium can include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer-readable storage medium can include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any appropriate combination thereof.

[0219] Further, the operations are presented in a particular order, but this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown, or in a sequential order, or that all of the shown operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In some circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, some of the specific implementation details included in the above description are not to be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Some features described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented separately in multiple embodiments, or in any suitable sub-combination.

[0220] It should be understood that although the present disclosure has been described in terms of structural features and / or methodological acts, the present disclosure as defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as illustrative forms of implementing the claims.

[0221] List of Symbols and Abbreviations AP: Access Point Non-AP MLD: Non-Access Point Multi-Link Device MAC: Media Access Control ML: Multi-Link MLD: Multi-Link Device MLO: Multi-Link Operation QoS: Quality of Service STA: Station MLME: Media Access Control Sub-Layer Management Entity SME: Station Management Entity MPDU: Media Access Control (MAC) Protocol Data Unit

Claims

**Claim 1** In a multi-link device (MLD) comprising at least one processor and at least one memory for storing instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, the memory causes the MLD to at least determine at least one of statistical information related to the MLD or latency information related to the MLD, and in response to receiving a request for at least one of the statistical information or the latency information from a second MLD, transmit at least one of the statistical information or the latency information to the second MLD. A multi-link device characterized by the above. **Claim 2** The MLD according to claim 1, wherein the MLD receives a request for at least one of the statistical information or the latency information by receiving a local statistics request frame from the second MLD. **Claim 3** The local statistics request frame includes a first address of a first media access control (MAC) entity of the MLD in a first sub-element field, and the first address indicates a request for at least one of the statistical information and the latency information related to the MLD. The multi-link device according to claim 2. **Claim 4** The MLD is configured to transmit a local statistics report frame, The local statistics report frame includes at least one of the statistical information or the latency information, or a first address of a first media access control (MAC) entity of the MLD, or a second address of a second MAC of the second MLD in a second sub-element field, wherein the first address or the second address indicates that at least one of the statistical information or the latency information is associated with the MLD. The multi-link device according to claim 1. **Claim 5** The local statistics request frame according to claim 2, wherein the local statistics request frame includes a first address of a first media access control (MAC) entity of the MLD, and the first address indicates a request for at least one of the statistical information or the latency information related to the MLD. **Claim 6** The MLD includes a first station management entity (SME) and a first medium access control sublayer management entity (MLME). The multi-link device according to claim 1, wherein the first MLME is configured to provide a first indication primitive to the first SME so as to indicate that a request for at least one of the statistical information or the delay information has been received.

7. The first indication primitive is the second address of the second media access control MAC entity of the second MLD, or a third address of a third MAC entity of a device belonging to the second MLD, the third address indicating that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information is to be received via the device. The multi-link device according to claim 6, characterized in that it comprises at least one of the above.

8. The first indication primitive is the second address of the second media access control MAC entity of the second MLD, the second address indicating that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information is to be received via any of the devices belonging to the second MLD. The multi-link device according to claim 6, characterized in that it includes the second address.

9. The first SME is configured to provide a first request primitive to the first MLME, and the first request primitive is at least one of the statistical information or the delay information, a third address of a third MAC entity of a device belonging to the second MLD, the third address indicating that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information is to be transmitted to the device, or the second address of the second media access control (MAC) entity of the second MLD. The multi-link device according to claim 6, characterized in that it comprises at least one of the above.

10. The first SME is configured to provide a first request primitive to the first MLME, and the first request primitive is at least one of the statistical information or the delay information, or The second address of the second media access control MAC entity of the second MLD, which indicates that at least one of the statistical information and the delay information should be sent to any of the devices belonging to the second MLD. The multi-link device according to claim 6, comprising at least one of the above. **Claim 11** The statistical information includes The number of fragmented frames sent by the MLD, The number of multicast frames sent by the MLD, The number of frames that failed to be sent by the MLD, The number of fragmented frames received by the MLD The number of frames with frame check sequence errors received by the MLD, The number of fragmented frames sent by the MLD, The number of frames retransmitted by the MLD, The number of frames retransmitted multiple times by the MLD, The number of frames re-received by the MLD, The number of transmission request RTSs successfully sent by the MLD, The number of RTSs that failed to be sent by the MLD, or The number of unacknowledged response frames sent by the MLD, The multi-link device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized by including at least one of the above. **Claim 12** The frame includes a frame having a quality of service, QoS, and traffic indicator in the range of 0 to 7, and the statistical information includes The number of QoS fragments sent by the MLD The number of QoSs that sent failures by the MLD, The number of QoS frames retransmitted by the MLD, Is the number of QoS frames multicast retransmitted by the MLD, The number of QoS frames re-received by the MLD, The number of QoS RTSs successfully sent, The number of QoS RTSs that failed to be sent, The number of QoS unacknowledged frames sent by the MLD, The number of QoS fragments received by the MLD, The number of QoS frames received by the MLD, The number of QoS frames discarded by the MLD, The number of QoS media access control (MAC) protocol data units MPDUs received by the MLD, or The number of QoS retransmission frames received by the MLD, The multi-link device according to claim 11, characterized by comprising at least one of the above. **Claim 13** The frame includes an aggregate media access control (MAC) service data unit A-MSDU, and the statistical information includes the number of A-MSDUs transmitted by the MLD, the number of A-MSDU failures transmitted by the MLD, the number of bytes of A-MSDUs transmitted by the MLD, the number of A-MSDUs retransmitted by the MLD, the number of A-MSDUs retransmitted multiple times by the MLD, the number of A-MSDUs not acknowledged by the MLD, the number of A-MSDUs received by the MLD, or the number of bytes of A-MSDUs received by the MLD, The multi-link device according to claim 11, characterized in that it includes at least one of the above.

14. The frame includes an aggregate media access control (MAC) protocol data unit, A-MPDU, and the statistical information includes the number of A-MPDUs transmitted by the MLD, the number of MPDUs in the A-MPDUs transmitted by the MLD, the number of bytes in the A-MPDUs transmitted by the MLD, the number of A-MPDUs received by the MLD, the number of MPDUs in the A-MPDUs received by the MLD, the number of bytes in the A-MPDUs received by the MLD, or The multi-link device according to claim 11, characterized in that it includes at least one of the number of A-MPDUs having cyclic redundancy check errors received by the MLD.

15. The delay information includes MLD average access delay, MLD average delay for a quality of service QoS frame having a best-effort priority, MLD average delay on a QoS frame having a background priority, MLD average delay on a QoS frame having a video priority, MLD average delay on a QoS frame having an audio priority, non-AP MLD number, or MLD channel utilization, The multi-link device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that it includes at least one of the above.

16. The multi-link device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprising at least one antenna configured to facilitate communication.

17. In a multi-link device (MLD) comprising at least one processor and at least one memory for storing instructions, when the memory is executed by the at least one processor, the MLD at least The step of sending at least one request for statistical information related to the first MLD or delay information related to the first MLD to the first MLD; A multi-link device, characterized by executing the step of receiving a report regarding at least one of the statistical information or the delay information from the first MLD.

18. The multi-link device according to claim 17, characterized in that the MLD is configured to send at least one request for the statistical information or the delay information.

19. The local statistical request frame The multi-link device according to claim 18, characterized in that it includes a first address of a first media access control (MAC) entity of the first MLD in a first sub-element field, the first address indicating a request for at least one of the statistical information and the delay information related to the first MLD.

20. The MLD is configured to receive a local statistical report frame, and the local statistical report frame At least one of the statistical information or the delay information, or A first address of the first media access control MAC entity of the first MLD in a second sub-element field, or a second address of the MLD of a second MAC entity, the first address or the second address indicating that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information is associated with the first MLD, The multi-link device according to claim 17, characterized by comprising at least one of them.

21. The local statistical request frame The multi-link device according to claim 18, characterized in that it includes at least one of the first addresses of the first media access control (MAC) entity of the first MLD, the first addresses indicating a request for at least one of the statistical information or the delay information related to the first MLD.

22. The MLD includes a second station management entity (SME) and a second media access control sublayer management entity (MLME), The second SME is configured to provide a second request primitive to the second MLME to indicate that a request for at least one of the statistical information or the delay information should be sent. The multi-link device according to claim 17, wherein:

23. The second request primitive is the first address of the first media access control MAC entity of the first MLD, or the fourth address of the fourth MAC entity of the device belonging to the first MLD, the fourth address indicating that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information should be sent to the device. The multi-link device according to claim 22, characterized in that it comprises at least one of the following: The multi-link device according to claim 22, characterized in that it comprises at least one of the following:

24. The second request primitive is the first address of the first media access control MAC entity of the first MLD, the first address indicating that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information should be sent to any of the devices belonging to the first MLD. The multi-link device according to claim 22, characterized in that it includes the first address.

25. The second MLME is configured to provide a second indication primitive to the second SME to indicate that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information has been received. The multi-link device according to claim 22, characterized in that:

26. The second indication primitive is at least one of the statistical information or the delay information, the first address of the first media access control MAC entity of the first MLD, or the fourth address of the fourth MAC entity of the device belonging to the first MLD, the fourth address indicating that at least one of the statistical information or the delay information has been received from the device. The multi-link device according to claim 25, further characterized in that it comprises at least one of the following: The multi-link device according to claim 25, further characterized in that it comprises at least one of the following:

27. The second indication primitive is at least one of the statistical information or the delay information, or The first address of the first media access control MAC entity of the first MLD, wherein at least one of the statistical information and the delay information is received from any of the devices belonging to the first MLD, and the first address indicating this. The multi-link device according to claim 25, further comprising at least one of the above.

28. The statistical information includes The number of fragmented frames transmitted by the MLD, The number of multicast frames transmitted by the MLD, The number of frames whose transmission by the MLD failed, The number of fragmented frames received by the MLD, The number of frames having a frame check sequence error received by the MLD, The number of fragmented frames transmitted by the MLD, The number of frames retransmitted by the MLD, The number of frames retransmitted multiple times by the MLD, The number of frames re-received by the MLD, The number of transmission request RTSs successfully transmitted by the MLD, The number of RTSs not transmitted by the MLD, or The number of unacknowledged response frames transmitted by the MLD, The multi-link device according to any one of claims 17 to 27, characterized by including at least one of the above.

29. The frame includes a frame having a quality of service, QoS, traffic indicator in the range of 0 to 7, and the statistical information includes The number of QoS fragments transmitted by the MLD, The number of QoSs in which the MLD transmitted a failure, The number of QoS frames retransmitted by the MLD, The number of QoS frames multicast retransmitted by the MLD, The number of QoS frames re-received by the MLD, The number of QoS RTSs successfully transmitted, The number of QoS RTSs whose transmission failed The number of QoS unacknowledged frames transmitted by the MLD, The number of QoS fragments received by the MLD, The number of QoS frames received by the MLD, The number of QoS frames discarded by the MLD, The number of QoS media access control (MAC) protocol data units, MPDUs, received by the MLD, or, The number of QoS retransmission frames received by the MLD, The multi-link device according to claim 28, characterized by comprising at least one of the above.

30. The frame includes an aggregated media access control (MAC) service data unit (A-MSDU), and the statistical information includes the number of A-MSDUs transmitted by the MLD, the number of A-MSDU failures transmitted by the MLD, the number of bytes of A-MSDUs transmitted by the MLD, the number of A-MSDUs retransmitted by the MLD, the number of A-MSDUs retransmitted multiple times by the MLD, the number of A-MSDUs not acknowledged by the MLD, the number of A-MSDUs received by the MLD, or the number of bytes of A-MSDUs received by the MLD, The multi-link device according to claim 28, characterized by including at least one of the above.

31. The frame includes an aggregated media access control (MAC) protocol data unit (A-MPDU), and the statistical information includes the number of A-MPDUs transmitted by the MLD, the number of MPDUs in the A-MPDUs transmitted by the MLD, the number of bytes in the A-MPDUs transmitted by the MLD, the number of A-MPDUs received by the MLD, the number of MPDUs in the A-MPDUs received by the MLD, the number of bytes in the A-MPDUs received by the MLD, or the number of A-MPDUs with cyclic redundancy check errors received by the MLD, The multi-link device according to claim 28, characterized by including at least one of the above.

32. The delay information includes MLD average access delay, MLD average delay for a quality of service (QoS) frame with best effort priority, MLD average delay on a QoS frame with background priority, MLD average delay on a QoS frame with video priority, MLD average delay on a QoS frame with voice priority, non-AP MLD number, or MLD channel utilization, The multi-link device according to any one of claims 17 to 27, characterized by including at least one of the above.

33. The multi-link device is configured to transmit at least one request for the statistical information or the delay information in response to receiving from an access control device at least one query request for the statistical information or the delay information associated with the first MLD. The multi-link device according to claim 17.

34. The multi-link device is configured to transmit at least one of the statistical information or the delay information related to the first MLD to an access control device. The multi-link device according to claim 33.

35. The multi-link device according to any one of claims 17 to 27, further comprising at least one antenna configured to facilitate communication.

36. In a multi-link device, a step of determining at least one of statistical information associated with an MLD or delay information associated with the MLD; A method comprising, in response to receiving at least one request for statistical information or delay information from a second MLD, transmitting at least one of the statistical information or the delay information to the second MLD.

37. A step of transmitting from the multi-link device to a first MLD at least one request for statistical information related to the first MLD or delay information related to the first MLD; A step of receiving from the first MLD a report regarding at least one of the statistical information or the delay information A method characterized by including.

38. Comprising a first multi-link device (MLD), The first MLD is Means for determining at least one of statistical information related to the first MLD or delay information related to the first MLD; Apparatus comprising means for transmitting at least one of the statistical information or the delay information to a second MLD in response to receiving at least one request for the statistical information or the delay information from the second MLD.

39. Comprising a second multi-link device (MLD), The second MLD is Means for transmitting to a first MLD at least one request for statistical information related to the first MLD or delay information related to the first MLD; An apparatus, comprising means for receiving, from the first MLD, a report regarding at least one of the statistical information or the delay information.

40. A computer-readable medium, comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to execute the method according to claim 36.

41. A computer-readable medium, comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to execute the method according to claim 37.

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