US-20260129497-A1 - TRAFFIC STATISTICS COORDINATION AND ACCOUNTING SESSION MANAGEMENT IN MULTILINK OPERATIONS

Abstract

Techniques for coordinating traffic statistics and managing accounting sessions for multi-link operation are provided. A first network device establishes a first communications link with a second network device, transmits a first accounting request to a third network device, indicating that the second network device comprises a station multi-link device (STA MLD), receives a first accounting response, indicating that the third network device does not support statistic aggregation and designates the first network device as a primary network device, in response to the first accounting response, aggregates traffic statistics for the first communication link with traffic statistics for the STA MLD received from one or more other network devices, and transmits the aggregated traffic statistics to the third network device.

Inventors

• Sachin D. WAKUDKAR
• Shailender Potharaju
• Ardalan Alizadeh
• Ugo M. CAMPIGLIO

Assignees

• CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20251230

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A method, comprising: establishing, by a first network device, a first communications link with a second network device; transmitting, by the first network device, a first accounting request to a third network device, wherein the first accounting request indicates that the second network device comprises a station multi-link device (STA MLD); receiving, by the first network device, a first accounting response indicating that the third network device does not support statistic aggregation and designating the first network device as a primary network device; in response to the first accounting response, aggregating, by the first network device, traffic statistics for the first communication link with traffic statistics for the STA MLD received from one or more other network devices; and transmitting, by the first network device, the aggregated traffic statistics to the third network device.
2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each respective network device of the one or more other network devices is connected to the STA MLD via a respective communication link.
3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first network device tracks traffic statistics for the STA MLD on a per-link basis.
4. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first network device comprises one of an access point (AP), a wireless local area network (LAN) controller (WLC), or an accounting server.
5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each respective network device of the one or more other network devices is configured to: transmit a second accounting request to the third network device, and receive a second accounting response to the third network device, wherein the second accounting response comprises an address associated with the primary network device.
6. 6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein each respective network device of the one or more other network devices is configured to: in response to receiving the second accounting response, transmit a third accounting request to the primary network device indicating a start of reporting traffic statistics for the STA MLD to the primary network device.
7. 7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein each respective network device of the one or more other network devices is configured to: transmit a fourth accounting request to the primary network device indicating a termination of reporting traffic statistics for the STA MLD to the primary network device.
8. 8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: transmitting, by the first network device, a second accounting request to the third network device, the second accounting request indicating a termination of reporting traffic statistics for the STA MLD to the primary network device; and receiving, by the first network device, a second accounting response from the third network device, the second accounting response instructing the first network device to end the aggregation operation.
9. 9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the third network device updates local traffic statistics for the STA MLD based on the aggregated traffic statistics received from the first network device.
10. 10 . A method, comprising: establishing, by a first network device, a first communications link with a second network device; transmitting, by the first network device, a first accounting request to a third network device, wherein the first accounting request indicates that the second network device comprises a station multi-link device (STA MLD); receiving, by the first network device, a first accounting response indicating that the third network device does not support statistic aggregation and designating a fourth network device as a primary network device; in response to the first accounting response, collecting, by the first network device, traffic statistics for the first communication link; and reporting, by the first network device, the traffic statistics to the fourth network device.
11. 11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the first accounting response comprises an address associated with the primary network device, and the first network device identifies the fourth network device as the primary network device based on the address.
12. 12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein: the fourth network device connects to the second network device via a second communication link, the fourth network device aggregates the traffic statistics for the second communication link with the traffic statistics received from the first network device for the first communication link, and the fourth network device reports the aggregated traffic statistics to the third network device.
13. 13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the first accounting response is transmitted by the third network device in response to determining that an accounting session for the second network device is already established by the fourth network device to track traffic statistics for a second communication link between the second and fourth network devices.
14. 14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the fourth network device tracks traffic statistics for the STA MLD on a per-link basis.
15. 15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the first network device comprises one of an access point (AP), a wireless local area network (LAN) controller (WLC), or an accounting server.
16. 16 . A system, comprising: one or more computer processors; and a memory containing a program which when executed by the one or more computer processors performs an operation, the operation comprising: establishing, by a first network device, a first communications link with a second network device; transmitting, by the first network device, a first accounting request to a third network device, wherein the first accounting request indicates that the second network device comprises a station multi-link device (STA MLD); receiving, by the first network device, a first accounting response indicating that the third network device does not support statistic aggregation and designating the first network device as a primary network device; in response to the first accounting response, aggregating, by the first network device, traffic statistics for the first communication link with traffic statistics for the STA MLD received from one or more other network devices; and transmitting, by the first network device, the aggregated traffic statistics to the third network device.
17. 17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein each respective network device of the one or more other network devices is connected to the STA MLD via a respective communication link.
18. 18 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the first network device tracks traffic statistics for the STA MLD on a per-link basis.
19. 19 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the first network device comprises one of an access point (AP), a wireless local area network (LAN) controller (WLC), or an accounting server.
20. 20 . The system of claim 16 , wherein each respective network device of the one or more other network devices is configured to: transmit a second accounting request to the third network device, and receive a second accounting response to the third network device, wherein the second accounting response comprises an address associated with the primary network device.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of co-pending United States patent application Serial No. 18/455,962 filed August 25, 2023. The aforementioned related patent application is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments presented in this disclosure generally relate to wireless communication. More specifically, embodiments disclosed herein relate to coordinating traffic statistics and managing accounting sessions in multi-link operations (MLO). BACKGROUND Conventional traffic statistics reporting processes in wireless networking typically begin at an access point (AP), which records data traffic for each associated station (STA). The AP then forwards the recorded data to the wireless controller or the Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) server for further processing and record updating. The reported statistics provide a detailed picture of network usage for each STA and, therefore, serve as a valuable resource for managing and optimizing network performance. For example, the statistics can be used for billing purposes, helping to calculate usage charges for specific STAs based on the amount of data transmitted and received. Moreover, in terms of bandwidth management, the traffic statistics can help administrators understand the actual usage patterns of a network, enabling them to adjust the network parameters for optimal performance. Additionally, the statistics provide valuable insights in network security, such as identifying unusual patterns of behavior (such as a sudden surge in traffic or a usual slowdown), and therefore can be used to identify a security threat or detect a potential policy violation. However, with the development of WiFi 8, the complexity of traffic statistics report processing has increased significantly. One major change is that a single station multi-link device (STA MLD) can now be associated with multiple APs simultaneously. This shift creates a challenge where the conventional reporting methods, which track data from a single AP for a specific STA, may not provide a complete and accurate picture of the actual usage statistics. The underlying reason is that each AP independently reports usage statistics for the same STA to the RADIUS server, with no aggregation across all the associated links. Therefore, new approaches for tracking and aggregating data from multiple APs are needed to ensure a comprehensive, accurate, and synchronized representation of network usage. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS So that the manner in which the above-recited features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the disclosure, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate typical embodiments and are therefore not to be considered limiting; other equally effective embodiments are contemplated. FIG. 1 depicts an example environment that supports accounting management for a multi-link device (MLD), according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 depicts an example environment for multi-link operation (MLO), according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 depicts a time diagram for coordinating traffic statistics between different AP MLDs by an accounting server that supports statistics aggregation, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 depicts a time diagram for coordinating traffic statistics between different AP MLDs by a primary AP MLD, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 depicts an example method for managing accounting sessions and coordinating traffic statistics reported by different AP MLDs by an accounting server that supports statistics aggregation, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 depicts an example method for managing accounting sessions and coordinating traffic statistics reported by different AP MLDs by an accounting server that does not support statistics aggregation, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 depicts an example method for coordinating and reporting traffic statistics by a primary AP MLD, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 8 depicts an example method for coordinating and reporting traffic statistics by a secondary AP MLD, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 9 is a flow diagram depicting an example method for traffic statistics coordination, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 depicts an example computing device configured to perform various aspects of the present disclosure, according to one embodiment. To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that ele