IEEE 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) introduces Multi-Link Operation (MLO) as a While MLO offers significant parallelism and capacity, realizing its full potential in guaranteeing strict delay bounds and optimizing Quality of Service (QoS) for diverse, heterogeneous traffic streams in complex multi-link scenarios remain a significant challenge. This is largely due to the limitations of static Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) parameters and the complexity inherent in cross-link traffic management. To address this, this paper investigates the correlation between overall MLO QoS indicators and the configuration of EDCA parameters and Acess Catagory (AC) traffic allocation among links. Based on this analysis, we formulate a constrained optimization problem aiming to minimize the sum of overall packet loss rates for all access categories while satisfying their respective overall delay violation probability constraints. A Genetic Algorithm (GA)-based MLO EDCA QoS optimization algorithm is designed to efficiently search the complex configuration space of AC assignments and EDCA parameters. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach’s efficacy in generating adaptive MLO configuration strategies that align with diverse service requirements. The proposed solution significantly improves delay distribution characteristics, and enhance QoS robustness and resource utilization efficiency in high-load MLO environments.

In recent years, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) have garnered significant attention for their ability to control the phase shifts in reflected signals. By intelligently adjusting these phases, RIS can establish seamless direct paths between communication devices obstructed by obstacles, eliminating the need for forwarding and significantly reducing system overhead associated with relaying. This capability is crucial in multi-hop ad hoc networks requiring multiple relay steps. Consequently, the concept of incorporating multi-hop RIS into wireless multi-hop relay networks has emerged. In this paper, we propose a novel network model where each UAV communication node is equipped with a RIS, facilitating seamless connections in multi-hop relay wireless networks. We analyze the performance of this model by integrating RIS-assisted physical layer modeling into the seamless connection network framework and conducting a detailed comparative analysis of RIS-assisted and conventional connections. At the medium access layer, we introduce a RIS-DCF MAC protocol based on the IEEE 802.11 distributed coordination function (DCF), modeling the medium access process as a two-hop access scenario. Our results demonstrate that the seamless connections and diversity gain provided by RIS significantly enhance the performance of multi-hop relay wireless networks.