Enhanced context transfer for an integrated access and backhaul node

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. A first donor node can serve a relay node, which in turn can serve a child node. The first donor node can determine to transfer (e.g., via a handover procedure) the relay node to a second donor node. The first donor node can transmit a first context transfer request for the relay node to the second donor node and can transmit a second context transfer request for a child node of the relay node to the second donor node. The first donor node can indicate a correlation between the two context transfers. The second donor node can identify the correlated context transfers and can successfully perform a migration procedure for the relay node and any descendant devices or nodes based on the correlated context transfers.

Description

[0001] Cross-references

[0002] This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 025,908, filed by Akl et al. on May 15, 2020, entitled “Enhanced Context Transfer of an Integrated Access and Backhaul Node”; and U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 318,759, filed by Akl et al. on May 12, 2021, entitled “Enhanced Context Transfer ofan Integrated Access and Backhaul Node”; each of which is assigned to the assignee of this application. Technical Field

[0003] The following relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to enhanced context transfer for integrated access and backhaul (IAB) nodes. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. These systems can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems, such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, advanced LTE (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems, which may be referred to as new radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ techniques such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple access communication system may include one or more base stations or one or more network access nodes, each of which simultaneously supports communication for multiple communication devices, which may be referred to as user equipment (UE). Some wireless communication systems may be configured as integrated access and backhaul (IAB) networks, in which one or more access nodes have a wireless backhaul connection to the network. An IAB network architecture may include a chain of wireless devices connected via communication links (eg, starting with a donor node connected to a core network and ending with a UE, with any number of relay nodes in between). Summary of the Invention

[0005] The described technology relates to improved methods, systems, devices and apparatus for supporting enhanced context transfer of integrated access and backhaul (IAB) nodes. Typically, a first donor node can serve a relay node, which in turn can serve a child node. The first donor node can determine to transfer the relay node (e.g., via a handover process) to a second donor node. The first donor node can send a first context transfer request for the relay node to the second donor node, and can send a second context transfer request for the child node of the relay node to the second donor node. The first donor node can indicate a correlation or correspondence between the two context transfers. As an example, the first donor node can include an identifier for one or both context transfers. When the same identifier is received in two context transfers, the second node can determine that the relationship between the transferred devices (e.g., the second device is a child device of the first device) and the context transfer request are correlated (corresponding).

[0006] The first donor node may include the first and second context transfer requests in the same or separate messages. In some examples, the first donor node may make additional context transfer requests (e.g., in the same or separate messages as the first or second context transfer requests) and may indicate a correlation with the previous context transfer request. In some examples, the first donor node may include additional information related to the related context transfer request to the second donor node. For example, the first donor node may indicate a count of context transfer requests (e.g., the number of related context transfers that are about to occur or that have occurred), a depth value (e.g., related to the context transfer, such as the number of hops to the relay node relative to the first transfer or the maximum correlation depth of the remaining context transfers), etc.

[0007] A method for wireless communication at a first donor node is described. The method may include: sending a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request to a second donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with a mobile terminal (MT) function of a relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node; receiving acknowledgment feedback from the second donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request; and sending one or more reconfiguration messages to the relay node based at least in part on receiving the acknowledgment feedback, the one or more reconfiguration messages including instructions for the one or more child nodes and the relay node to establish a first connection with the second donor node.

[0008] An apparatus for wireless communication at a first donor node is described. The apparatus may include a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: send a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request to a second donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with an MT function of a relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node; receive confirmation feedback from the second donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request; and send one or more reconfiguration messages to the relay node based at least in part on receiving the confirmation feedback, the one or more reconfiguration messages including instructions for establishing a first connection with the second donor node for the one or more child nodes and the relay node.

[0009] Another apparatus for wireless communication at a first donor node is described. The apparatus may include means for: sending a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request to a second donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with an MT function of a relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node; receiving acknowledgment feedback from the second donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request; and sending one or more reconfiguration messages to the relay node based at least in part on receiving the acknowledgment feedback, the one or more reconfiguration messages including instructions for the one or more child nodes and the relay node to establish a first connection with the second donor node.

[0010] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a first donor node is described. The medium may include instructions executed by a processor for: sending a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request to a second donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with an MT function of a relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node; receiving acknowledgment feedback from the second donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request; and sending one or more reconfiguration messages to the relay node based at least in part on receiving the acknowledgment feedback, the one or more reconfiguration messages including instructions for establishing a first connection with the second donor node for the one or more child nodes and the relay node.

[0011] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, sending the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request may include operations, features, means, or instructions for sending a single message including the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request.

[0012] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the single message may be a handover request message, a secondary node add request message, a secondary node change request message, or a secondary node modify request message.

[0013] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, sending a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request may include operations, features, units, or instructions for: sending a first message including the first context transfer request; and sending a second message including the second context transfer request.

[0014] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first message may be a handover request message, a secondary node add request message, or a secondary node modification request message; and the second message may be a handover request message, a secondary node add request message, a secondary node change request message, or a secondary node modification request message.

[0015] Some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, means, or instructions for including a migration process identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request in the second context transfer request, wherein receiving confirmation feedback may be based on the migration process identifier.

[0016] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, a migration process identifier matches a second migration process identifier included in a first context transfer request, the second migration process identifier comprising a tag associated with the first context transfer request, one or more device identifiers for one or more child nodes, or a combination thereof.

[0017] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the migration process identifier includes a device identifier for the relay node associated with base station interface communications between the first donor node and the second donor node.

[0018] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the migration process identifier includes address information assigned to the relay node by the second donor node.

[0019] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for receiving an indication of a migration process identifier from a second donor node or relay node, wherein including the migration process identifier in the second context transfer request may be based on receiving the indication of the migration process identifier.

[0020] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for sending a request for an indication of a migration process identifier to a second donor node or a relay node, wherein receiving the indication of the migration process identifier from the second donor node or the relay node may be based on the request for sending the indication of the migration process identifier.

[0021] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for sending a third context transfer request corresponding to the second context transfer request to the second donor node, the third context transfer request being associated with the MT functionality of one or more additional child nodes of the relay node, the one or more additional child nodes being associated with the distributed unit (DU) functionality of the one or more child nodes, or a combination thereof.

[0022] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, a single message includes the first context transfer request, the second context transfer request, and the third context transfer request.

[0023] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first message includes a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request, wherein the second message includes a third context transfer request.

[0024] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first message includes a first context transfer request, the second message includes a second context transfer request, and the third message includes a third context transfer request.

[0025] Some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, means, or instructions for including, in the first context transfer request, an indication of one or more context transfer requests to send.

[0026] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first message includes a first context transfer request, and wherein the indication of one or more context transfer requests to send includes a second context transfer request in the first message.

[0027] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first message includes a first context transfer request, and wherein the indication of one or more context transfer requests to send includes a second context transfer request in the second message.

[0028] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for including, in a first message including a first context transfer request, an indication of a number of one or more subsequent context transfer requests corresponding to the first context transfer request, the one or more subsequent context transfer requests including a second context transfer request, and including, in a second message including the second context transfer request, an indication of a number of one or more previously sent context transfer requests corresponding to the second context transfer request.

[0029] Some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, means, or instructions for including an indication in the first context transfer request or the second context transfer request that no subsequent context transfer request may be imminent.

[0030] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for including a depth value in the first context transfer request, the depth value indicating a number of hops in a node chain including a relay node and one or more child nodes.

[0031] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for: receiving, from a second donor node, an indication of a maximum number of corresponding context transfer requests that the second donor node can process in a single message; and configuring, based on receiving the indication of the maximum number, a single message including the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request, or a first message including the first context transfer request and a second message including the second context transfer request.

[0032] Some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, means, or instructions for sending a maximum number of requests to the second donor node, wherein receiving an indication of the maximum number may be based on sending the maximum number of requests.

[0033] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for: in response to sending a first message including a first context transfer request, receiving a migration process identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request from a second donor node; and including the migration process identifier in a second message including a second context transfer request.

[0034] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for including in the first message an indication that the first context transfer request is associated with the MT function of the relay node, wherein receiving the migration process identifier from the second donor node may be based on the indication that the first context transfer request may be associated with the MT function of the relay node.

[0035] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for including, in a first context transfer request message, an indication of one or more context transfer requests to be sent, wherein receiving a migration process identifier from a second donor node may be based on the indication of a subsequent context transfer request.

[0036] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for including, in the second context transfer request, a cell identifier associated with the first donor node for a cell served by the DU function of the relay node, wherein receiving confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request may be based on including the cell identifier of the cell served by the DU of the relay node.

[0037] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for including, in the second context transfer request, a cell identifier associated with the second donor node for a cell not served by the second donor node, wherein receiving confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request may be based on including the cell identifier for the cell not served by the second donor node.

[0038] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for sending a request to a second donor node for a list of cell identifiers served by the second donor node, and receiving, from the second donor node, a list of cell identifiers served by the second donor node, wherein the cell identifiers associated with the second donor node for cells not served by the second donor node may be based on receiving the list of cell identifiers served by the second donor node.

[0039] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, receiving confirmation feedback in response to a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request may include operations, features, units, or instructions for receiving a confirmation message including confirmation feedback for the first context transfer request and confirmation feedback for the second context transfer request.

[0040] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the confirmation message includes one of a handover request confirmation message, a secondary node add request confirmation message, a secondary node modify request confirmation message, or a secondary node change confirmation message.

[0041] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, receiving confirmation feedback in response to a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request may include operations, features, units, or instructions for receiving a first confirmation message including confirmation feedback for the first context transfer request, and receiving a second confirmation message including confirmation feedback for the second context transfer request.

[0042] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first confirmation message includes one of a switching request confirmation message, a secondary node add request confirmation message, a secondary node modification request confirmation message, or a secondary node change confirmation message, and wherein the second confirmation message includes one of a switching request confirmation message, a secondary node add request confirmation message, a secondary node modification request confirmation message, or a secondary node change confirmation message.

[0043] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for sending, to the second donor node, an indication of a maximum amount of confirmation feedback that the first donor node can process in a single confirmation feedback message, wherein receiving confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request may be based on sending the indication of the maximum amount of confirmation feedback.

[0044] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for receiving a request for a maximum amount of acknowledgment feedback from a second donor node, wherein sending an indication of the maximum amount of acknowledgment feedback may be based on receiving the request for the maximum amount of acknowledgment feedback.

[0045] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, one or more sub-nodes include a user equipment (UE) served by a relay node, one or more UEs served by a descendant relay node of the relay node, MT functionality of one or more additional relay nodes served by the relay node, MT functionality of one or more descendant relay nodes of the relay node, or a combination thereof.

[0046] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for sending one or more reconfiguration messages to a relay node based on receiving confirmation feedback, the one or more reconfiguration messages including instructions for releasing one or more second connections with a first donor node, a relay node, or both, for one or more child nodes or relay nodes, or both.

[0047] A method for wireless communication at a second donor node is described. The method may include receiving a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request from a first donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with an MT function of a relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node; sending confirmation feedback to the first donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request; and receiving a connection message from the relay node requesting establishment of a first connection with the second donor node for the relay node and the one or more child nodes based at least in part on sending the confirmation feedback for the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request to the first donor node.

[0048] An apparatus for wireless communication at a second donor node is described. The apparatus may include a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: receive a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request from a first donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with an MT function of a relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node; send confirmation feedback to the first donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request; and receive a connection message from the relay node requesting establishment of a first connection with the second donor node for the relay node and the one or more child nodes based at least in part on sending the confirmation feedback for the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request to the first donor node.

[0049] Another apparatus for wireless communication at a second donor node is described. The apparatus may include means for: receiving a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request from a first donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with an MT function of a relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node; sending confirmation feedback to the first donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request; and receiving a connection message from the relay node requesting establishment of a first connection with the second donor node for the relay node and the one or more child nodes based at least in part on sending the confirmation feedback for the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request to the first donor node.

[0050] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a second donor node is described. The code may include instructions executed by a processor for: receiving a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request from a first donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with an MT function of a relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node; sending confirmation feedback to the first donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request; and receiving a connection message from the relay node requesting establishment of a first connection with the second donor node for the relay node and the one or more child nodes based at least in part on sending the confirmation feedback for the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request to the first donor node.

[0051] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, receiving the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request may include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving a single message including the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request.

[0052] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the single message may be a handover request message, a secondary node add request message, a secondary node change request message, or a secondary node modify request message.

[0053] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, receiving a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request may include operations, features, units, or instructions for: receiving a first message including the first context transfer request; and receiving a second message including the second context transfer request.

[0054] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first message may be one of a handover request message, a secondary node add request message, or a secondary node modification request message; and wherein the second message may be one of a handover request message, a secondary node add request message, a secondary node change request message, or a secondary node modification request message.

[0055] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, means, or instructions for identifying, in the second context transfer request, a migration process identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request, wherein sending the confirmation feedback may be based on identifying the migration process identifier.

[0056] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, a migration process identifier matches a second migration process identifier included in a first context transfer request, the second migration process identifier comprising a tag associated with the first context transfer request, one or more device identifiers for one or more child nodes, or a combination thereof.

[0057] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the migration process identifier includes a device identifier for the relay node associated with base station interface communications between the first donor node and the second donor node.

[0058] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the migration process identifier includes address information assigned to the relay node by the second donor node.

[0059] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for sending an indication of a migration process identifier to the first donor node, wherein identifying the migration process identifier in the second context transfer request may be based on sending the indication of the migration process identifier to the first donor node.

[0060] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for receiving a request for an indication of a migration process identifier from a first donor node, wherein sending the indication of the migration process identifier may be based on receiving the request for the indication of the migration process identifier.

[0061] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for receiving, from the first donor node, a third context transfer request corresponding to the second context transfer request, the third context transfer request being associated with an MT function of one or more additional child nodes of the relay node, the one or more additional child nodes being associated with a DU function of the one or more child nodes, or a combination thereof.

[0062] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, a single message includes the first context transfer request, the second context transfer request, and the third context transfer request.

[0063] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first message includes a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request, wherein the second message includes a third context transfer request.

[0064] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first message includes a first context transfer request, the second message includes a second context transfer request, and the third message includes a third context transfer request.

[0065] Some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, means, or instructions for identifying, in the first context transfer request, an indication of one or more context transfer requests to send.

[0066] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first message includes a first context transfer request, and wherein the indication of one or more context transfer requests to send includes a second context transfer request in the first message.

[0067] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, a number of the one or more additional context transfer requests in the first transfer request message exceeds a processing capability of each second donor node to receive the message.

[0068] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for identifying, in a first message including a first context transfer request, an indication of a number of one or more context transfer requests to be sent corresponding to the first context transfer request, the one or more subsequent context transfer requests including a second context transfer request, and identifying, in a second message including the second context transfer request, an indication of a number of one or more previously sent context transfer requests corresponding to the second context transfer request.

[0069] Some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, means, or instructions for identifying an indication in the first context transfer request or the second context transfer request that no subsequent context transfer request may be imminent.

[0070] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, means, or instructions for identifying, in the first context transfer request, a depth value indicating a number of hops in a node chain including a relay node and one or more child nodes.

[0071] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for sending, to the first donor node, an indication of a maximum number of corresponding context transfer requests that the second donor node can process in a single message, wherein receiving the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request may be based on sending the indication of the maximum number.

[0072] Some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving a maximum number of requests from the first donor node, wherein sending the indication of the maximum number may be based on receiving the maximum number of requests.

[0073] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for: in response to receiving a first message including a first context transfer request, sending a migration process identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request to a first donor node; and identifying the migration process identifier in a second message including a second context transfer request.

[0074] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for identifying, in the first message, an indication that the first context transfer request is associated with an MT function of the relay node, wherein sending the migration procedure identifier to the first donor node may be based on the indication that the first context transfer request may be associated with the MT function of the relay node.

[0075] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for identifying, in a first context transfer request message, an indication of one or more context transfer requests to be sent, wherein sending the migration process identifier from the second donor node may be based on the indication of one or more context transfer requests to be sent.

[0076] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for identifying, in a second context transfer request, a cell identifier associated with the first donor node for a cell served by the DU of the relay node, and determining, based on the cell identifier, that the second context transfer request corresponds to the first context transfer request, wherein sending confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request may be based on determining that the second context transfer request corresponds to the first context transfer request.

[0077] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for identifying, in a second context transfer request, a cell identifier associated with a second donor node for a cell not served by the second donor node, and determining, based on the cell identifier not served by the second donor node, that the second context transfer request corresponds to the first context transfer request, wherein sending confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request may be based on determining that the second context transfer request corresponds to the first context transfer request.

[0078] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for receiving a request from a first donor node for a list of cell identifiers served by a second donor node, and sending to the first donor node a list of cell identifiers served by the second donor node, wherein identifying a cell identifier associated with the second donor node for cells not served by the second donor node may be based on the list of cell identifiers served by the second donor node.

[0079] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, sending confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request may include operations, features, units, or instructions for sending a confirmation message including confirmation feedback for the first context transfer request and confirmation feedback for the second context transfer request.

[0080] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the confirmation message includes one of a handover request confirmation message, a secondary node add request confirmation message, a secondary node modify request confirmation message, or a secondary node change confirmation message.

[0081] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, sending confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request may include operations, features, units, or instructions for sending a first confirmation message including confirmation feedback for the first context transfer request, and sending a second confirmation message including confirmation feedback for the second context transfer request.

[0082] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first confirmation message includes one of a switching request confirmation message, a secondary node add request confirmation message, a secondary node modification request confirmation message, or a secondary node change confirmation message, and wherein the second confirmation message includes one of a switching request confirmation message, a secondary node add request confirmation message, a secondary node modification request confirmation message, or a secondary node change confirmation message.

[0083] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for receiving, from the first donor node, an indication of a maximum amount of confirmation feedback that the first donor node can process in a single confirmation feedback message, wherein sending the confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request may be based on receiving the indication of the maximum amount of confirmation feedback.

[0084] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for sending a request for a maximum amount of acknowledgment feedback to the first donor node, wherein receiving an indication of the maximum amount of acknowledgment feedback may be based on sending the request for the maximum amount of acknowledgment feedback.

[0085] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, one or more sub-nodes include a UE served by a relay node, one or more UEs served by a descendant relay node of the relay node, MT functionality of one or more additional relay nodes served by the relay node, MT functionality of one or more descendant relay nodes of the relay node, or a combination thereof.

[0086] The foregoing has generally outlined the features and technical advantages of the examples according to the present disclosure so that the detailed description that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages will be described below. The concepts and specific examples disclosed may be readily used as a basis for modifying or designing other structures to achieve the same objectives of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. The features of the concepts disclosed herein, their organization and method of operation, and associated advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Each figure is provided for illustration and description purposes only and not as a definition of limitations of the claims.

[0087] Although various aspects and embodiments are described in this application by illustrating some examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that additional implementations and use cases can be generated in many different arrangements and scenarios. The innovations described herein can be implemented across many different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and packaging arrangements. For example, embodiments and / or uses can be implemented via integrated chip embodiments and other devices based on non-module components (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial devices, retail / purchase devices, medical devices, devices supporting artificial intelligence (AI), etc.). Although some examples may be dedicated or not dedicated to use cases or applications, the innovations described may have a variety of applicability. The range of implementations can range from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations, and further to aggregated, distributed, or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) devices or systems incorporating one or more aspects of the innovation. In some actual settings, the devices incorporating the described aspects and features may also necessarily include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described embodiments. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals necessarily include multiple components for both analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antennas, radio frequency (RF) chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders / summers, etc.). The innovations described herein can be practiced in devices of various sizes, shapes, and structures, chip-level components, systems, distributed arrangements, end-user devices, etc. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0088] Figures 1 to 3 An example of a wireless communication system supporting enhanced context transfer for an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0089] Figure 4 An example of a global identifier format supporting enhanced context transfer of IAB nodes according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0090] Figure 5 An example of a process flow supporting enhanced context transfer of an IAB node according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0091] Figure 6 An example of a wireless communication system supporting enhanced context transfer of IAB nodes in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0092] Figure 7 An example of a process flow supporting enhanced context transfer of an IAB node according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0093] Figure 8 and Figure 9A block diagram of an apparatus supporting enhanced context transfer of an IAB node according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0094] Figure 10 A block diagram of a communications manager supporting enhanced context transfer for IAB nodes is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0095] Figure 11 A diagram is shown of a system including devices supporting enhanced context transfer for IAB nodes in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0096] Figures 12 to 15 A flow chart illustrating a method of supporting enhanced context transfer of an IAB node according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0097] A wireless communication system may include access nodes to facilitate wireless communication between user equipment (UE) and a network. For example, a long term evolution (LTE) or new radio (NR) base station may provide access to the internet to a mobile device (e.g., a UE) via a wireless network. In some examples, the access node has a high-capacity, wired, backhaul connection (e.g., fiber) to the network. However, in some deployments, it may be desirable to deploy more access nodes in a small area to provide acceptable coverage to users. In such deployments, it may be impractical to connect each access node to the network via a wired connection, and some networks or portions thereof may be configured as integrated access and backhaul (IAB) networks, in which one or more access nodes have a wireless backhaul connection to the network.

[0098] For example, an IAB network architecture may include a chain of connected wireless devices (e.g., starting from a donor node connected to a core network and ending with a UE, with any number of relay nodes in between). The wireless devices may be connected via link resources that support network access (e.g., NR access) and backhaul capabilities (e.g., wired backhaul or wireless backhaul). An IAB node may communicate with a parent node via a parent link, with a child node via a child link, and with one or more service UEs. A relay node or relay network device may refer to an intermediate node in a relay chain (e.g., an intermediate node in an IAB relay chain). For example, a relay node may relay communications between a parent node (e.g., an IAB donor, or an upstream or higher IAB node on a relay chain) and a child node (e.g., an upstream or lower IAB node on a relay chain). Thus, a relay node may have an established communication link with a parent node (e.g., an established parent link for backhaul communications) and an established communication link with each child node (e.g., one or more established child links). Although the various examples provided herein describe an IAB network, the techniques described for improved resource management communication efficiency of parent and child links in an IAB network are generally applicable to various types of wireless networks.

[0099] The IAB donor node may include a central unit (CU) function and a distributed unit (DU) function, wherein the CU function may configure the network (e.g., via a radio resource control (RRC) or packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer function). The IAB relay node may be split into an associated mobile terminal (MT) function and a DU function. The MT function of the relay node may be controlled and / or scheduled by the parent node of the established connection (e.g., the donor node or another upstream node as the parent node relative to the relay node) via the access and backhaul links of the coverage area. The DU function may schedule the child IAB node and the UE, and may control the access link and the backhaul link within the coverage area of ​​the DU function.

[0100] In some cases, the first IAB donor node may perform a handover process to transfer a child node (e.g., an IAB relay node) to another IAB donor node. The first donor node may also transfer any child nodes or devices downstream of the relay node. During the handover, various aspects of the relay node configuration may change. For example, a cell served by a relay node may be associated with a cell identifier (e.g., a new radio cell global identifier (NCGI), a physical cell identifier (PCI), etc.), which may include an identifier corresponding to the donor node. When the relay node is transferred to a new donor node, the cell identifier may be updated to include an identifier associated with the new donor node. However, after updating the cell identifier, the first donor node may be unable to communicate with the child node or UE. Although the various examples provided herein describe a handover process, the described technology may be generally applicable to any type of context transfer.

[0101] As an example, a first donor node may perform a context transfer for the MT function of a relay node to a second donor node and may perform a handover procedure for the MT. The first donor node may attempt to perform a context transfer for the child MT of the relay node, followed by a handover of the child MT. However, since the relay node has already been completely transferred to the second donor node before the child node is transferred, the first donor node may have lost the source path to the child node and may therefore not be able to communicate with the child node to perform the context transfer. Alternatively, the first donor node may determine to perform an MT context transfer for the relay node and then perform an MT context transfer for the child node, and may delay the MT handover and the child MT handover until after the context transfer. However, in this case, the NCGI may be updated to the NCGI of the second donor node during the MT context transfer, and the first donor node may not be aware of the updated NCGI. Therefore, the first donor node may not be able to indicate the target cell for the handover to the child MT of the relay node.

[0102] In order to enable the first donor node to transfer the relay node and any downstream child nodes or UEs of the relay node to the second donor node, the donor node can determine the context transfer of the combined relay node and child nodes. The first donor node can indicate the correlation between the context transfers to the second donor node. For example, using one or more context transfer requests, the first donor node can include an identifier, such as a label, an identifier of the relay or child MT, a routing identifier of the relay node, etc. The context transfer request and any identifiers can be sent in the same message or in separate messages. The second donor node can receive the context transfer request including the identifier and can determine the correspondence between the context transfers. For example, the second donor node can receive a first context transfer request message and a second context transfer request message, wherein the two context transfer request messages include the same identifier indicating the correspondence between the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request. The second donor node can determine, based on the identifier, that the second context transfer request message is for a child node of the relay node indicated in the first context transfer request message and therefore corresponds to the first context transfer request.

[0103] The first donor node may utilize a context transfer request message or include other indications in the context transfer request message. For example, the first donor node may indicate (e.g., using a first context transfer request message or a second context transfer request message) that a subsequent related context transfer request message is imminent, or that no more related context transfer request messages are expected (when used herein with reference to a context transfer request message, related may mean corresponding and vice versa). In some cases, the first donor node may transfer several descendant nodes of a relay node and may include a depth value indicating the number of hops relative to the relay node. The first or second donor node may indicate to each other their capabilities, such as the maximum depth value that the node can handle in a single message, or may query each other for such information. In some cases, the second donor node may provide an identifier to the first donor node for a related indication (e.g., a corresponding or other associated indication).

[0104] After receiving the context transfer request message, the second donor node may send an acknowledgment message to the first donor node. The acknowledgment message may include an RRC configuration, which the first donor node may forward to the transfer relay node and its child nodes. In some cases, the acknowledgment message may be sent as a single acknowledgment message for each separate context transfer request message. For example, the second donor node may send a first acknowledgment request message after receiving the first context transfer request message, a second acknowledgment request message after receiving the second context transfer request message, and so on. In some other cases, the second donor node may include multiple acknowledgments for multiple context transfer request messages in a single acknowledgment message.

[0105] Certain aspects of the subject matter described herein can be implemented to achieve one or more advantages. The described techniques can support improvements in system efficiency such that a donor node can transfer a relay node and some or any descendant nodes or devices to a second donor node without losing communication with the descendant nodes or devices. As a result, downstream devices can avoid performing a process to reestablish a connection with the donor node (e.g., via a RACH process). This can result in improved system efficiency, reliability, robustness, reduced device and system latency, and the like. Thus, the supported techniques can include improved network operation and, in some examples, can promote device and network efficiency, among other benefits.

[0106] Various aspects of the present disclosure are initially described in the context of wireless communication systems, process flows, and cell identifier messages. Various aspects of the present disclosure are further illustrated and described through apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flow diagrams involving enhanced context transfer for IAB nodes.

[0107] Figure 1An example of a wireless communication system 100 supporting enhanced context transfer for an IAB node according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The wireless communication system 100 may include one or more base stations 105, one or more UEs 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may be an LTE network, an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, or an NR network. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may support enhanced broadband communication, ultra-reliable (e.g., mission-critical) communication, low-latency communication, communication with low-cost and low-complexity devices, or any combination thereof.

[0108] Base stations 105 may be dispersed throughout a geographic area to form wireless communication system 100 and may be devices of varying forms or capabilities. Base stations 105 and UEs 115 may communicate wirelessly via one or more communication links 125. Each base station 105 may provide a coverage area 110 over which UEs 115 and base stations 105 may establish one or more communication links 125. Coverage area 110 may be an example of a geographic area in which base stations 105 and UEs 115 may support communication of signals according to one or more radio access technologies.

[0109] The UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout the coverage area 110 of the wireless communication system 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary, mobile, or both at different times. The UEs 115 may be devices of different forms or capabilities. Figure 1 Some exemplary UEs 115 are shown in FIG. The UEs 115 described herein can communicate with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115, base stations 105, or network devices (e.g., core network nodes, relay devices, IAB nodes, or other network devices), such as Figure 1 shown.

[0110] The base stations 105 can communicate with the core network 130, or with each other, or both. For example, the base stations 105 can interface with the core network 130 via one or more backhaul links 120 (e.g., via S1, N2, N3, or other interfaces). The base stations 105 can communicate with each other over the backhaul links 120 (e.g., via X2, Xn, or other interfaces) directly (e.g., directly between the base stations 105) or indirectly (e.g., via the core network 130), or both. In some examples, the backhaul links 120 can be or include one or more wireless links.

[0111] One or more of the base stations 105 described herein may include or may be referred to by one of ordinary skill in the art as a transceiver base station, a wireless base station, an access point, a wireless transceiver, a Node B, an e-node (eNB), a next-generation Node B, or a giganode B (any of which may be referred to as a gNB), a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, or other appropriate terminology.

[0112] UE 115 may include or be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitable terminology, where a "device" may also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, among other examples. UE 115 may also include or be referred to as a personal electronic device, such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. In some examples, UE 115 may include or be referred to as a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or a machine type communication (MTC) device, and the like, which may be implemented in various objects, such as home appliances, vehicles, meters, and the like.

[0113] The UE 115 described herein is capable of communicating with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115, which may sometimes act as relays, as well as base stations 105 and network devices including macro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, or relay base stations, such as Figure 1 shown.

[0114] The UE 115 and the base station 105 can wirelessly communicate with each other on one or more carriers via one or more communication links 125. The term "carrier" can refer to a set of radio frequency spectrum resources having a defined physical layer structure for supporting the communication link 125. For example, a carrier used for the communication link 125 can include a portion of a radio frequency spectrum band (e.g., a bandwidth portion (BWP)) operating according to one or more physical layer channels of a given radio access technology (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR). Each physical layer channel can carry acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals, system information), control signaling to coordinate carrier operation, user data, or other signaling. The wireless communication system 100 can use carrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation to support communication with the UE 115. Depending on the carrier aggregation configuration, the UE 115 can be configured with multiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink component carriers. Carrier aggregation can be used with frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD) component carriers.

[0115] In some examples (e.g., in a carrier aggregation configuration), a carrier may also have acquisition signaling or control signaling that coordinates the operation of other carriers. A carrier may be associated with a frequency channel (e.g., an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (EARFCN)) and may be located according to a channel raster for discovery by a UE 115. A carrier may operate in a standalone mode, where initial acquisition and connection may be performed by a UE 115 via the carrier, or in a non-standalone mode, where the connection is anchored using a different carrier (e.g., the same or different radio access technology).

[0116] The communication link 125 shown in the wireless communication system 100 may include an uplink transmission from the UE 115 to the base station 105, or a downlink transmission from the base station 105 to the UE 115. A carrier may carry downlink or uplink communications (e.g., in FDD mode) or may be configured to carry both downlink and uplink communications (e.g., in TDD mode).

[0117] A carrier can be associated with a particular bandwidth of radio frequency spectrum, and in some examples, the carrier bandwidth can be referred to as the "system bandwidth" of the carrier or wireless communication system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth can be one of a plurality of determined bandwidths of a carrier for a particular radio access technology (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, or 80 megahertz (MHZ)). The devices of the wireless communication system 100 (e.g., base station 105, UE 115, or both) can have a hardware configuration that supports communication on a particular carrier bandwidth, or can be configured to support communication on one of a set of carrier bandwidths. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 can include a base station 105 or UE 115 that supports simultaneous communication via carriers associated with multiple carrier bandwidths. In some examples, each served UE 115 can be configured to operate on a portion (e.g., a sub-band, BWP) or the entire carrier bandwidth.

[0118] The signal waveform transmitted on the carrier may be composed of multiple subcarriers (e.g., using a multicarrier modulation (MCM) technique, such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM)). In a system employing MCM technology, a resource element may include one symbol period (e.g., the duration of one modulation symbol) and one subcarrier, where the symbol period and subcarrier spacing are inversely related. The number of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme, the coding rate of the modulation scheme, or both). Therefore, the more resource elements received by the UE 115 and the higher the order of the modulation scheme, the higher the data rate of the UE 115 may be. Wireless communication resources may refer to a combination of radio frequency spectrum resources, time resources, and spatial resources (e.g., spatial layers or beams), and the use of multiple spatial layers may further increase the data rate or data integrity used for communication with the UE 115.

[0119] One or more digital symbols for a carrier may be supported, where the digital symbols may include a subcarrier spacing (Δf) and a cyclic prefix. A carrier may be divided into one or more BWPs having the same or different values. In some examples, a UE 115 may be configured with multiple BWPs. In some examples, a single BWP for a carrier may be active at a given time, and communications for the UE 115 may be limited to the one or more active BWPs.

[0120] The time interval of the base station 105 or the UE 115 can be expressed as a multiple of the basic time unit, for example, T s =1 / (Δf max ·N f ) seconds sampling period, where Δf max It can represent the maximum supported subcarrier spacing, and N f The maximum supported Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) size may be indicated. Time intervals for communication resources may be organized according to radio frames, each having a specified duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms)). Each radio frame may be identified by a System Frame Number (SFN) (e.g., ranging from 0 to 1023).

[0121] Each frame may include multiple consecutively numbered subframes or time slots, and each subframe or time slot may have the same duration. In some cases, the frame may be divided into (e.g., in the time domain) subframes, and each subframe may be further divided into multiple time slots. Alternatively, each frame may include a variable number of time slots, and the number of time slots may depend on the subcarrier spacing. Each time slot may include multiple symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of the cyclic prefix that precedes each symbol period). In some wireless communication systems 100, the time slot may also be divided into multiple mini-slots containing one or more symbols. In addition to the cyclic prefix, each symbol period may contain one or more (e.g., N f ) sampling periods. The duration of a symbol period may depend on the subcarrier spacing or the operating band.

[0122] A subframe, slot, mini-slot, or symbol may be the smallest scheduling unit (e.g., in the time domain) of the wireless communication system 100 and may be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI). In some cases, the TTI duration (e.g., the number of symbol periods in a TTI) may be variable. Additionally or alternatively, the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communication system 100 may be dynamically selected (e.g., in bursts of shortened TTIs (sTTIs)).

[0123] Physical channels can be multiplexed on a carrier according to various techniques. Physical control channels and physical data channels can be multiplexed on a downlink carrier, for example, using time division multiplexing (TDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. A control region (e.g., a control resource set (CORESET)) for physical control channels can be defined by multiple symbol periods and can extend across the system bandwidth or a subset of the system bandwidth of a carrier. One or more control regions (e.g., CORESETs) can be configured for a set of UEs 115. For example, one or more UEs 115 can monitor or search a control region for control information according to one or more search space sets, and each search space set can include one or more control channel candidates in one or more aggregation levels arranged in a cascaded manner. An aggregation level for a control channel candidate can refer to multiple control channel resources (e.g., control channel elements (CCEs)) associated with coded information for a control information format having a given payload size. A search space set can include a common search space set configured to transmit control information to multiple UEs 115 and a UE-specific search space set used to transmit control information to a specific UE 115.

[0124] Each base station 105 can provide communication coverage via one or more cells (e.g., macro cells, small cells, hot spots or other types of cells, or various combinations thereof). The term "cell" can refer to a logical communication entity used to communicate with the base station 105 (e.g., via a carrier) and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID), or other) used to distinguish adjacent cells. In some examples, a cell can also refer to a geographic coverage area 110 or a portion of a geographic coverage area 110 (e.g., a sector) on which the logical communication entity operates. Depending on various factors, such as the capabilities of the base station 105, the scope of such a cell can range from a smaller area (e.g., a structure, a subset of a structure) to a larger area. For example, a cell can be or include a building, a subset of a building, an external space between or overlapping the geographic coverage area 110, etc.

[0125] A macro cell typically covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access to UEs 115 with a service subscription to a network provider that supports the macro cell. Small cells may be associated with lower-power base stations 105 than macro cells, and small cells may operate in the same or different (e.g., licensed, unlicensed, etc.) frequency bands as macro cells. Small cells may provide unrestricted access to UEs 115 with a service subscription to a network provider, or may provide restricted access to UEs 115 associated with the small cell (e.g., UEs 115 in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEs 115 associated with users in a home or office, etc.). A base station 105 may support one or more cells and may also support communications over the cells using one or more component carriers.

[0126] In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., MTC, narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that provide access to different types of devices.

[0127] In some examples, base stations 105 can be mobile and, therefore, provide communication coverage for mobile geographic coverage areas 110. In some examples, different geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies can overlap, but the different geographic coverage areas 110 can be supported by the same base station 105. In other examples, overlapping geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies can be supported by different base stations 105. The wireless communication system 100 can include, for example, a heterogeneous network in which different types of base stations 105 provide coverage for various geographic coverage areas 110 using the same or different radio access technologies.

[0128] The wireless communication system 100 can support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations 105 can have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations 105 can be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the base stations 105 can have different frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations 105 can be misaligned in time. The techniques described herein can be used for either synchronous or asynchronous operation.

[0129] Some UEs 115 (e.g., MTC or IoT devices) may be low-cost or low-complexity devices and may provide automatic communication between machines (e.g., via machine-to-machine (M2M) communication). M2M communication or MTC may refer to data communication technology that allows devices to communicate with each other or with a base station 105 without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTC may include communications from a device that integrates sensors or meters to measure or capture information and relay that information to a central server or application that may use the information or present it to a person interacting with the program or application. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collect information or implement automatic behavior of a machine or other device. Examples of applications for MTC devices include smart metering, inventory monitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, medical monitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological event monitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing, physical access control, and transaction-based business charging.

[0130] Some UEs 115 may be configured to employ a mode of operation that reduces power consumption, such as half-duplex communication (e.g., a mode that supports one-way communication via transmission or reception but not simultaneous transmission and reception). In some examples, half-duplex communication may be performed at a reduced peak rate. Other power saving techniques for UEs 115 include entering a power-saving "deep sleep" mode when not engaged in active communications, operating over a limited bandwidth (e.g., according to narrowband communication), or a combination of these techniques. For example, some UEs 115 may be configured to operate using a narrow bandwidth protocol type that is associated with a defined portion or range (e.g., a set of subcarriers or resource blocks (RBs)) within a carrier, within a guard band of a carrier, or outside of a carrier.

[0131] The wireless communication system 100 can be configured to support ultra-reliable communication or low-latency communication or various combinations thereof. For example, the wireless communication system 100 can be configured to support ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) or mission-critical communication. UE 115 can be designed to support ultra-reliable, low-latency or critical functions (e.g., mission-critical functions). Ultra-reliable communication can include private communication or group communication and can be supported by one or more mission-critical services (e.g., mission-critical push-to-talk (MCPTT), mission-critical video (MCVideo), or mission-critical data (MCData)). Support for mission-critical functions may include a priority level for the service, and mission-critical services can be used for public safety or general commercial applications. The terms "ultra-reliable," "low-latency," "mission-critical," and "ultra-reliable, low-latency" are used interchangeably herein.

[0132] In some examples, UE 115 can also communicate directly with other UEs 115 via device-to-device (D2D) communication links 135 (e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) or D2D protocol). One or more UEs 115 utilizing D2D communication may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of base station 105. Other UEs 115 in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of base station 105 or unable to receive transmissions from base station 105. In some cases, a group of UEs 115 communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE 115 transmits to each other UE 115 in the group. In some examples, base station 105 facilitates the scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication is performed between UEs 115 without the involvement of base station 105.

[0133] In some systems, the D2D communication link 135 can be a communication channel between vehicles (e.g., UE 115), such as an example of a sidelink communication channel. In some examples, vehicles can communicate using vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, or some combination of these communications. Vehicles can signal information related to traffic conditions, signal scheduling, weather, safety, emergency situations, or any other information related to the V2X system. In some examples, vehicles in a V2X system can communicate with roadside infrastructure such as roadside units, or communicate with a network using vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication via one or more network nodes (e.g., base station 105), or communicate with both.

[0134] The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC) and may include at least one control plane entity (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility management function (AMF)) to manage access and mobility, and at least one user plane entity (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW), a packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW), a user plane function (UPF)) to route packets or interconnect to external networks. The control plane entities may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions, such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management, for UEs 115 served by base stations 105 associated with the core network 130. User IP packets may be transferred via the user plane entities, which may provide IP address allocation and other functions. The user plane entities may connect to network operator IP services 150. Operator IP services 150 may include access to the internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), or packet-switched streaming services.

[0135] Some network devices (e.g., base stations 105) may include subcomponents such as access network entities 140, which may be examples of access node controllers (ANCs). Each access network entity 140 may communicate with the UE 115 through one or more other access network transport entities 145, which may be referred to as radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmit / receive points (TRPs). Each access network transport entity 145 may include one or more antenna panels. In some configurations, the various functions of each access network entity 140 or base station 105 may be distributed across various network devices (e.g., radio heads and ANCs) or consolidated into a single network device (e.g., base station 105).

[0136] The wireless communication system 100 can operate using one or more frequency bands ranging from 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz), for example. Typically, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is known as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because the wavelengths range in length from approximately one decimeter to one meter. UHF waves can be blocked or directed by buildings and environmental features, but for macrocells, the waves can penetrate structures sufficiently to provide service to UEs 115 located indoors. Transmissions using UHF waves can be associated with smaller antennas and shorter ranges (e.g., less than 100 kilometers) compared to transmissions using the lower frequencies and longer wavelengths of the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portions of the spectrum below 300 MHz.

[0137] The wireless communication system 100 can also operate in the super high frequency (SHF) region, which can also be referred to as the centimeter band, using a spectrum from 3 GHz to 30 GHz; or in the extremely high frequency (EHF) region of the spectrum (e.g., from 30 GHz to 300 GHz), which is also referred to as the millimeter band. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 can support millimeter wave (mmW) communications between the UE 115 and the base station 105, and the EHF antennas of the respective devices can be smaller and more closely spaced than the UHF antennas. In some examples, this may facilitate the use of antenna arrays within the device. However, the propagation of EHF transmissions may suffer from even greater atmospheric attenuation and a shorter range than SHF or UHF transmissions. The technology disclosed herein can be employed across transmissions using one or more different frequency regions, and the designated use of frequency bands across these frequency regions may vary by country or regulatory body.

[0138] The wireless communication system 100 can utilize licensed and unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communication system 100 can employ license assisted access (LAA), LTE unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technology in an unlicensed band such as the 5-GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band. When operating in the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band, devices such as the base station 105 and the UE 115 can employ carrier sensing for collision detection and avoidance. In some examples, operations in the unlicensed band can be based on a carrier aggregation configuration combined with component carriers operating in a licensed band (e.g., LAA). Operations in the unlicensed spectrum can include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, P2P transmissions, D2D transmissions, etc.

[0139] The base station 105 or UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas, which may be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications, or beamforming. The antennas of the base station 105 or UE 115 may be located within one or more antenna arrays or antenna panels, which may support MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antenna assembly (e.g., an antenna tower). In some examples, the antennas or antenna arrays associated with the base station 105 may be located at different geographical locations. The base station 105 may include an antenna array having multiple rows and columns of antenna ports, which the base station 105 may use to support beamforming for communications with the UE 115. Similarly, the UE 115 may have one or more antenna arrays that may support various MIMO or beamforming operations. Additionally or alternatively, the antenna panels may support radio frequency beamforming for signals transmitted via the antenna ports.

[0140] The base station 105 or UE 115 can use MIMO communication to exploit multipath signal propagation and improve spectral efficiency by sending or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers. This technique is called spatial multiplexing. For example, multiple signals can be sent by a transmitting device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Similarly, multiple signals can be received by a receiving device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Each of the multiple signals can be referred to as a separate spatial stream and can carry bits associated with the same data stream (e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams (e.g., different codewords). Different spatial layers can be associated with different antenna ports for channel measurement and reporting. MIMO technologies include single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO), in which multiple spatial layers are sent to the same receiving device, and multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO), in which multiple spatial layers are sent to multiple devices.

[0141] Beamforming (which may also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception) is a signal processing technique that can be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a base station 105 or a UE 115) to shape or steer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming can be achieved by combining signals communicated via antenna elements of an antenna array so that some signals propagating in a particular direction relative to the antenna array experience constructive interference, while other signals experience destructive interference. Adjustments to the signals communicated via the antenna elements can include the transmitting device or the receiving device applying an amplitude offset, a phase offset, or both to the signals carried via each antenna element associated with the device. The adjustments associated with each antenna element can be defined by a set of beamforming weights associated with a particular direction (e.g., relative to the antenna array of the transmitting device or the receiving device, or relative to some other direction).

[0142] The base station 105 or the UE 115 may use beam scanning techniques as part of a beamforming operation. For example, the base station 105 may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays (e.g., antenna panels) to perform beamforming operations for directional communication with the UE 115. Some signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) may be transmitted multiple times by the base station 105 in different directions. For example, the base station 105 may transmit signals according to different sets of beamforming weights associated with different transmit directions. Transmissions along different beam directions may be used to identify (e.g., by a transmitting device such as the base station 105 or a receiving device such as the UE 115) the beam direction for subsequent transmission and / or reception by the base station 105.

[0143] Some signals (e.g., data signals associated with a particular receiving device) may be transmitted by base station 105 in a single beam direction (e.g., a direction associated with a receiving device such as UE 115). In some examples, a beam direction associated with transmissions along a single beam direction may be determined based at least in part on signals transmitted in different beam directions. For example, UE 115 may receive one or more signals transmitted by base station 105 in different directions, and UE 115 may report to base station 105 an indication of the signal it received with the highest signal quality or other acceptable signal quality.

[0144] In some examples, transmissions by a device (e.g., a base station 105 or a UE 115) can be performed using multiple beam directions, and the device can use a combination of digital precoding or radio frequency beamforming to generate a combined beam for transmission (e.g., from the base station 105 to the UE 115). The UE 115 can report feedback indicating precoding weights for one or more beam directions, and the feedback can correspond to a configured number of beams across the system bandwidth or one or more subbands. The base station 105 can send a reference signal (e.g., a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)), which can be precoded or unprecoded. The UE 115 can provide feedback for beam selection, which can be a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) or codebook-based feedback (e.g., a multi-panel codebook, a linear combination codebook, a port selection codebook). Although these techniques are described with reference to signals sent by base station 105 in one or more directions, UE 115 may employ similar techniques to send signals multiple times in different directions (e.g., to identify beam directions for subsequent transmission or reception by UE 115), or to send signals in a single direction (e.g., to send data to a receiving device).

[0145] When receiving various signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) from base station 105, a receiving device (e.g., UE 115) can try multiple reception configurations (e.g., directional listening). For example, the receiving device can try multiple reception directions by receiving via different antenna subarrays, processing received signals according to different antenna subarrays, receiving according to different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array (e.g., different directional listening weight sets), or processing received signals according to different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, any of which can be referred to as "listening" according to different reception configurations or reception directions. In some examples, the receiving device can use a single reception configuration to receive along a single beam direction (e.g., when receiving data signals). The single reception configuration can be aligned on a beam direction determined based on listening according to different reception configuration directions (e.g., based on the beam direction determined to have the highest signal strength, highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or other acceptable signal quality based on listening according to multiple beam directions).

[0146] The wireless communication system 100 can be a packet-based network that operates according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane, communications at the bearer or PDCP layer can be IP-based. The radio link control (RLC) layer can perform packet segmentation and reassembly to communicate over logical channels. The medium access control (MAC) layer can perform priority processing and multiplexing of logical channels to transport channels. The MAC layer can also use error correction technology, error correction technology, or both to support retransmission at the MAC layer to improve link efficiency. In the control plane, the RRC protocol layer can provide the establishment, configuration, and maintenance of an RRC connection between the UE 115 and the base station 105 or the core network 130 that supports the radio bearer of the user plane data. At the physical layer, the transport channel can be mapped to the physical channel.

[0147] The UE 115 and the base station 105 may support retransmission of data to increase the likelihood of successful reception of the data. Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback is a technique for increasing the likelihood of correctly receiving data over the communication link 125. HARQ may include a combination of error detection (e.g., using a cyclic redundancy check (CRC), forward error correction (FEC), and retransmission (e.g., automatic repeat request (ARQ)). HARQ may improve the throughput of the MAC layer in poor radio conditions (e.g., low signal-to-noise ratio conditions). In some examples, a device may support same-slot HARQ feedback, wherein the device may provide HARQ feedback in a particular slot for data received in a previous symbol in the slot. In other cases, the device may provide HARQ feedback in a subsequent slot or according to some other time interval.

[0148] A first donor node (e.g., a base station 105 in an IAB system) can serve a relay node, which in turn can serve a child node. The first donor node can determine to transfer the relay node to a second donor node (e.g., via a handover process). The first donor node can send a first context transfer request for the relay node to the second donor node, and can send a second context transfer request for a child node of the relay node to the second donor node. The first donor node can indicate the correlation between the two context transfers. As an example, the first donor node can include an identifier with one or both context transfers. When the same identifier is received in two context transfers, the second node can determine that the relationship between the transferred devices (e.g., the second device is a child device of the first device) and the context transfer requests are related.

[0149] Figure 2 An example of a wireless communication system 200 supporting enhanced context transfer for IAB nodes according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In some examples, the wireless communication system 200 can implement aspects of the wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 200 can support one or more nodes 205 (e.g., network devices such as base stations) that support network access for one or more UEs 115 within a cell coverage area 110. The infrastructure and spectrum resources used for network access within the wireless communication system 200 can additionally support wireless backhaul link 215 capabilities to supplement the wired backhaul connection 220, thereby providing an IAB network architecture.

[0150] The various aspects of the support functions of node 205 may be referred to as an IAB node. For example, the wireless communication system 200 (e.g., an NR system) may be configured to connect an access node (e.g., node 205-a) in the wireless communication system 200 to a core network (e.g., as described in reference to FIG. 2 ) by connecting an access node (e.g., node 205-a) in the wireless communication system 200 to a core network (e.g., as described in reference to FIG. 2 ). Figure 1The core network 130 described above implements the IAB architecture, while other nodes 205 in the wireless communication system 200 (e.g., node 205-b, node 205-c, node 205-d, and node 205-e) can use wireless backhaul links 215 (e.g., wireless backhaul connections using beamforming) to exchange access services via a wireless backhaul network and a fiber point backhaul connection 220. Each node 205 can use an access link 210 (e.g., a wireless access connection using beamforming) to communicate access services with one or more UEs 115 it serves on the access network.

[0151] In wireless communication systems that employ wired links for backhaul communications, wireless nodes may have robust wired links to a network entity that coordinates aspects of backhaul communications (e.g., the network entity provides timing information, cell identities, etc.) for neighboring nodes to coordinate backhaul transmissions. However, in some systems, deploying wired links to wireless nodes may result in significant expense and resource expenditures. For example, wireless nodes operating in the mmW frequency range may be associated with reduced coverage areas (e.g., smaller geographic footprint, directional transmissions, etc.), which may result in the deployment of more access nodes (e.g., nodes 205 or IAB nodes) to provide acceptable coverage areas to users. As a result, multiple nodes 205 within a wireless communication system may not be coupled to a wired backhaul link, but may instead use wireless backhaul links 215 for backhaul communications in a wireless backhaul network.

[0152] In some cases, the node 205 (e.g., node 205-a) may be split into associated base station CU and DU functions (e.g., reference Figure 3 ), where one or more DUs may be controlled in part by an associated CU. The CU functionality of node 205-a may facilitate connectivity between the core network 130 and node 205-a (e.g., via a wired backhaul connection 220 or, in some cases, via a wireless connection to the core network). The CU entity may control a portion or all of the IAB network via configuration. The DU functionality of node 205-a may control or schedule functionality of additional devices (e.g., relay base stations or relay IAB nodes 205, such as node 205-b, node 205-c, and UE 115) based on the configured wireless backhaul link 215 and wireless access link 210. Based on the supporting entity (e.g., CU entity) at node 205-a, node 205-a may be referred to as an IAB donor or donor node.

[0153] A relay node (e.g., node 205-b or node 205-c) may support a link connection with an IAB donor (e.g., node 205-a) as part of a relay chain within the IAB network architecture. For example, node 205-b may be split into associated MT and DU functions (e.g., as described in the referenced embodiment). Figure 3 ), where the MT function of node 205-b may be controlled or scheduled by the DU entity of node 205-a. In some examples, the DU associated with node 205-b may be controlled by the MT function of node 205-b. Furthermore, in some cases, one or more DU functions of node 205-b may be partially controlled by signaling messages (e.g., via the F1 Application Protocol (AP)) from a CU entity of an associated IAB donor node (e.g., the CU of node 205-a) of the network connection. The DU of node 205-b may support a serving cell of an IAB network coverage area (e.g., as described in reference Figure 1 ), and may provide communication with one or more UEs 115 via access link 210. Node 205-b may be referred to as a relay node, an IAB node, a relay node, etc., based on the supported entity at the node 205-b.

[0154] Node 205 (for example, relay node) therefore can be configured for access network function (ANF) and UE function (UEF), to allow node 205 to act as a scheduling entity and receive (for example, scheduled) entity. Each function can operate via one or more backhaul links 215. The ANF function can enable node 205 to operate as a scheduling entity on one or more access links 210 and communicate with one or more UE 115 located in the IAB network. The ANF function can further enable node 205 to operate as a scheduling entity on one or more coupled backhaul links 215 to promote communication (for example, via mesh topology) between one or more other nodes 205 of the IAB network. The UEF function can enable node 205 to operate as a scheduled entity and communicate with one or more other nodes 205 to receive data. In some cases, node 205 can include a routing table for checking received data packets and forwarding packets to the designated IP address of the destination of the packet along the path of the IAB network. In some cases, each relay node 205 can be associated with a single MT function, and therefore can adopt a backhaul relay as shown in the figure. In some cases, the relay node 205 may support multiple MT functions, in which case the relay node 205 is capable of multi-connecting cellular backhaul.

[0155] The wireless communication system 200 can use one or more wireless access links 210 to establish mobile access to one or more coupled UEs 115. Each of the node 205 and the UE 115 can be configured to support a cellular radio access technology (RAT), such as a mmW-based RAT, for access services between the UE 115 and the node 205. In addition, each node 205 can share resources of the configured RAT for access services with backhaul services through the network (e.g., as in the case of IAB). Due to the enhancement of wireless link capacity, IAB network solutions may become increasingly advantageous as cellular technology evolves. Specifically, IAB network solutions can provide solutions for the densification of network cells (i.e., reduced costs for small cell deployments) and the increase in data services, as a means of maximizing spectral efficiency by jointly optimizing and integrating access and backhaul resources within the network. For example, IAB network solutions may be suitable for mmW RATs due to the large bandwidth of each channel and the ability to mitigate short-term signal congestion.

[0156] In some examples, a donor node in an IAB network may determine to migrate a child node (e.g., a child IAB node or a descendant IAB node, a descendant relay node, etc.) or a child device (e.g., a UE) to another donor node (e.g., to a CU function of another IAB donor) via a context transfer. However, such a transfer may not be successful due to reasons such as loss of the source path, lack of relevant information, etc. As described herein, a first donor node may indicate a correlation between a first context transfer of a relay node and one or more context transfers of descendants of the relay node. Thus, the relay node and any child nodes or devices may be migrated from the first donor node to the second donor node without losing communication between the nodes.

[0157] Figure 3 An example of a wireless communication system 300 that supports enhanced context transfer for IAB nodes according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In some examples, the wireless communication system 300 can implement aspects of the wireless communication system 100 or the wireless communication system 200.

[0158] The wireless communication system 300 may be an example of an IAB system or an IAB network (e.g., as described in reference Figure 2 For example, the wireless communication system 300 may include an IAB donor node 310, which may be as described in more detail in reference Figure 2 The wireless communication system 300 may also include an IAB node 315, which may be an example of an IAB donor node 205-a. Figure 23. The example of the IAB node 205 described above. In some examples, multiple IAB nodes can be connected inline to improve coverage. In such an example, for a given IAB node, another IAB node that is closer to the IAB donor node (e.g., a closer descendant in the IAB node chain) can be referred to as a parent node or parent base station, and a connected IAB node that is further away from the IAB donor node can be referred to as a child node or child base station. The parent IAB node can be an IAB donor node 310 or an IAB node 315 (which can be an example of an IAB relay node). In some aspects, the IAB node 315 (e.g., a relay node) may not be directly connected to a wired backhaul. Instead, the IAB node 315 can be connected to the core network 305 using a wireless backhaul link 345 via other IAB nodes (e.g., any number of additional IAB nodes 315 and IAB donor nodes 310).

[0159] The parent IAB node may have a coverage area, which may be as shown in FIG. Figure 1 10. The coverage area for an IAB node 315 or IAB donor node 310 may be divided into sectors that form part of a geographic coverage area. Each sector may be associated with a cell. For example, an IAB node 315-c may be in the coverage area served by an IAB node 315-a (e.g., a parent IAB node), but may also have coverage on a cell serving a UE 115-e. A transition along a wireless backhaul link 345 (e.g., a wireless backhaul link 345-c between a parent IAB node 315-a and a child IAB node 315-c) or along an access link 340 (e.g., an access link 340-c between a parent IAB node 315-a and a child UE 115-c) may be considered a hop.

[0160] The IAB donor node 310 may include a CU 320 and a DU 325. The CU 320 of the IAB donor node 310 may host Layer 3 (L3) functions (e.g., RRC, Service Data Adoption Protocol (SDAP), PDCP) and signaling, and may control the IAB network. The DU 325 of the IAB donor node 310 may host lower layer operations, such as Layer 1 or Layer 2 (e.g., RLC, MAC, PHY) functions and signaling. In addition, the DU 325 of the IAB donor node 310 may support serving cells within the network coverage area based on connections associated with the wireless backhaul link 345 and access link 340 of the IAB network. The DU 325 may control the access link and backhaul link within the corresponding network coverage, and may provide control and scheduling for descendant (i.e., child) IAB nodes 315 (e.g., IAB relay nodes) or UE 115.

[0161] For example, IAB donor node 310 may communicate with core network 305. IAB donor node 310 may communicate with one or more IAB nodes 315 (e.g., IAB relay nodes) via DU 325. For example, DU 325 may communicate with IAB node 315-a and IAB node 315-b via wireless backhaul link 345-a and wireless backhaul link 345-b, respectively. DU 325 may also communicate with UE 115-a and UE 115-b via wireless access link 340-a and wireless access link 340-b, respectively.

[0162] IAB node 315 may be an example of an access node. In some cases, IAB node 315 may relay traffic to or from IAB donor node 310 via one or more hops. For example, IAB node 315-c may not be directly connected to a wired backhaul. Instead, IAB node 315-c may connect to core network 305 using wireless backhaul links 345-c and 345-a via other IAB nodes, such as IAB node 315-a. In some other cases, IAB node 315 may connect to core network 305 using wireless backhaul link 345 via any number of additional IAB nodes 315 and IAB donor node 310.

[0163] An IAB node 315 (e.g., a relay IAB node) may include one or both of an MT 330 and a DU 335. Each IAB node 315 may communicate with a descendant child node or device via its respective DU. For example, DU 335-a (e.g., belonging to IAB node 315-a) may communicate with UE 115-c via wireless access link 340-c and with child IAB nodes 315-c and 315-d via wireless backhaul links 345-c and 345-d, respectively. DU 335-b (e.g., belonging to IAB node 315-d) may communicate with UE 115-d via wireless access link 340-d. In some cases, child relay nodes such as IAB nodes 315-c and 315-d may also communicate with one or more child nodes or devices (e.g., via their respective DUs). For example, DU 335-c (e.g., belonging to IAB node 315-c) can communicate with UE 115-e via wireless access link 340-e, and DU 335-d (e.g., belonging to IAB node 315-d) can communicate with UE 115-f via wireless access link 340-f.

[0164] In some cases, the DU 335 of the IAB node 315 may be partially controlled by signaling messages from the CU 320 corresponding to the IAB donor node 310. The DU 335 of the IAB node 315 may support a serving cell in a network coverage area. For example, the DU 335-a of the IAB node 315-a may perform the same or similar functions as the DU 325 of the IAB donor node 310. The DU 335-a of the IAB node 315-a may support the access link 340-c for the UE 115-c, or support one or more of the wireless backhaul links 345-c and 345-d for the downstream IAB nodes 315-c and 315-d, respectively, or both. The DU 335 may be a scheduling node within the IAB node 315. In some cases, the DU 335 may schedule child IAB nodes 315 or child UEs 115 of the corresponding IAB node 315. For example, DU 335-a of IAB node 315-a may schedule child UE 115-c via access link 340-c and may schedule IAB nodes 315-c and 315-d via wireless backhaul links 345-c and 345-d, respectively.

[0165] Each IAB node 315 may include a MT 330. MT 330 may act as a scheduled node. For example, MT 330-c and MT 330-d behave similarly to UE 115-c because each is scheduled by its parent IAB node 315-a. Similarly, MT 330-a may support scheduling of IAB node 315-a by DU 325 of IAB donor node 310. DU 325 may also schedule IAB node 315-b via MT 330-b. In some cases, the MT functionality of an IAB node 315 (e.g., an IAB relay node) may be controlled or scheduled by the parent IAB node via a wireless backhaul link 345. The IAB node 315 may use the MT functionality to send upstream (e.g., toward the core network 305) in the IAB system. For example, the IAB node 315-d may use the MT functionality to send uplink messages to the IAB node 315-a along the wireless backhaul link 345-d.

[0166] In some cases, the wireless communication system 300 may include a cell corresponding to an IAB node 315. The IAB node 315 may support a cell over a coverage area. The IAB node 315 and the corresponding cell may be associated with a given PCI. The PCI may be an identifier of the cell or IAB node 315. For example, the PCI may be an identifier of the IAB node 315-a or its corresponding cell. The cell or IAB node 315 may select an associated PCI, or the PCI may be selected for the cell by a parent node (e.g., the IAB donor node 310) or by the core network 305. In the case of an NR network, cells with the same PCI may be distinguished by different NCGIs. The UE 115 or the child IAB node 315 may be associated with the NCGI or PCI of its parent node.

[0167] In some cases, the NCGI or PCI of an IAB node 315 may change. For example, an IAB network may include a mix of fixed or mobile IAB nodes 315 or fixed or mobile UEs 115. In these cases, the IAB node 315 and UE 115 may change locations within the IAB network. For example, the IAB node 315 may be installed in a vehicle (e.g., a bus, train, or car). In some cases, a mobile IAB node 315 may be a "leaf" node in the IAB network. A leaf node may be the last-hop IAB node 315 to which a child access UE 115 is connected. For example, IAB node 315-c may be a mobile IAB node 315 and may serve UE 115-e via access link 340-e. In this case, IAB node 315-c may be a leaf node. As a mobile IAB node 315 or UE 115 moves around the mobile IAB network, it may transition to and from different cells, which may be associated with different NCGIs or PCIs, or both. In other cases, the parent node (e.g., IAB donor node 310) may determine to transition (e.g., via a context transfer) the IAB node 315 to another donor node (e.g., due to channel degradation, system latency, physical location of the device or node, system congestion, etc.), and the other donor node may be associated with a different NCGI or PCI.

[0168] As an example, the wireless signal of the neighboring cell (i.e., the target cell) can provide an enhanced connection with the UE 115 relative to the current cell (e.g., the source cell). In these cases, the UE 115 can be handed over from the source cell to the target cell (e.g., the UE 115 can be handed over to or from the base station 105, the IAB node 315, the IAB donor node 310, etc.). For example, if the connection with the IAB node 315-a can provide enhanced coverage for the UE 115-d, the UE 115-d can release the connection with the IAB node 315-b (e.g., the source IAB node) and establish a connection with the IAB node 315-a (e.g., the target IAB node). Similarly, the IAB node 315-a can be handed over from the IAB donor node 310 to another donor node. This technique can include a handover process.

[0169] As an example, IAB donor node 310 may determine to migrate IAB node 315 to another donor node. IAB donor node 310 may send a context transfer request message to the second donor node to transfer IAB node 315-a, and then may perform a handover procedure to switch IAB node 315-a to the second donor node. In these examples, MT 330-a may migrate from CU 320 of IAB donor node 310 to the CU entity of the second donor node, and DU 335-a of IAB node 315-a may also migrate to the second donor node.

[0170] If IAB node 315-a (e.g., a relay node) migrates to a second donor node, child IAB nodes 315-c and 315-d, as well as UE 115-c, may also migrate to the second donor node. However, for child IAB nodes 315-c and 315-d, as well as UE 115-c, the migration may result in a change in the NCGI or PCI, or both (e.g., if the second donor node is associated with a different NCGI or PCI than that of IAB donor node 310). In some cases, IAB donor node 310 or the second donor node may not be aware of the NCGI or PCI used to migrate the downstream device. Consequently, IAB donor node 310 and the second donor node may not be able to complete the context transfer or handover process within the new NCGI or PCI. In some examples, performing a context transfer of MT 330 may result in disconnecting the source path, resulting in a failure to migrate the descendant device via the DU of the migrating IAB or relay node. For example, if MT 330-a of IAB node 315-a is transferred from CU 320 of IAB donor node 310 to a CU entity of a second donor node, and then IAB node 315-a is transferred to the second donor node via a handover process, the source path to one or more of child IAB node 315-c, child IAB node 315-d, or UE 115-c may be lost. In other words, after performing the context transfer of MT 330-a, IAB donor node 310 may be unable to provide context transfer information or commands to downstream devices via DU 335-a. As a result, IAB donor node 310 may be unable to perform a handover process for one or more devices to which the source path has been lost.

[0171] To enable IAB donor node 310 to transfer IAB node 315-a and child IAB nodes 315-c and 315-d, as well as UE 115-c, IAB donor node 310 may send relevant context transfer requests for various context transfers. Various techniques are described herein for explicitly indicating such dependencies or providing information based on which dependencies can be inferred by the target donor node. Thus, IAB node 315-a, child IAB nodes 315-c and 315-d, and UE 115-c can migrate from IAB donor node 310 to a second donor node while maintaining continuous connectivity.

[0172] Figure 4 An example of a global identifier format 400 supporting enhanced context transfer for an IAB node according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In some examples, the global identifier format 400 can implement aspects of wireless communication systems 100, 200, or 300. For example, the global identifier format 400 can be used with a cell or an IAB node (e.g., as referenced in FIG. Figure 2 and Figure 3In other words, the global identifier format 400 may be an identifier of an IAB node or its corresponding cell.

[0173] In an NR network such as an IAB network, an NCGI 405 may be assigned to an NR cell. In an IAB network, a cell served by a DU of an IAB donor node or an IAB relay node may be identified by the NCGI 405. The NCGI 405 may include a public land mobile network (PLMN) ID 410 and an NR cell identity (NCI). In some examples, the PLMN ID 410 may include a total of 24 bits between a mobile country code (MCC) 420 and a mobile network code (MNC) 425. For example, the MCC 420 may include 12 bits, and the MNC 425 may include 12 bits. The MCC 420 may identify the country in which the cell is operating, and the MNC 425 may identify the network within that country. The NCI 415 may include 36 bits. In some examples, the leftmost 22 to 33 bits (e.g., higher priority or most significant bits) may form the GNB-ID 430, while the remaining bits (e.g., lower priority or less significant bits) may be the local cell ID 435. The GNB-ID 430 may be unique to a given GNB and therefore may be common to all cells served by that GNB. In other words, the GNB-ID 430 may be common to all cells served by the CU of the donor node DU and any cells served by the DU of a descendant IAB node. The PLMN ID 410 and the GNB-ID 430 together may globally identify a base station.

[0174] In some examples, in addition to the NCGI 405, the cells supported by the DU may have a PCI. The PCI may identify the geographic location of the cell. However, in some cases, the PCI may not be unique. For example, there may be different options for the PCI values ​​supported by the network (for example, in an NR system, the PCI may have a total of 1008 supported values). Therefore, due to the limited number of values, the PCI can be reused by multiple geographically separated cells in the network. In this case, cells with the same PCI can be distinguished from each other by their unique cell global identifier (CGIS). In the case of an NR network, cells with the same PCI can be distinguished by different NCGI 405. The PCI can be carried by a primary synchronization signal (PSS) or a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) in a synchronization signal block (SSB).

[0175] In some cases, signals or physical channels may be scrambled (e.g., signals from multiple UEs 115 to a base station 105 or an IAB node or an IAB donor node, etc. may be interleaved or multiplexed in time or frequency). PCI may be used to determine a scrambling sequence (e.g., a scrambling seed) for many physical signals or physical channels. PCI may be used as a scrambling seed for some types of transmissions (e.g., a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) CoreSet0, or a cell-specific physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission). In some channels and transmission types, PCI or different scrambling seeds may be used. PCI may be used to determine a scrambling sequence for one or more physical signals or physical channels.

[0176] In some examples, the migrating node may have a new NCGI 405, PCI, or both. For example, if a UE 115 or a relay IAB node migrates from one cell to another, the NCGI 405 of the new cell, the PCI of the new cell, or both may be different from the NCGI 405, PCI, or both of the source cell. In such an example, the NCGI 405, PCI, or both may be known or generated by the DU of the serving IAB node. However, if the serving IAB node is a descendant device of the new donor node, the new donor node may not know the NCGI 405, PCI, or both of the target cell. In some cases, the new donor node may know the updated NCGI 405, PCI, or both, but the old donor node (e.g., the source donor node) may not know the target NCGI 405, PCI, or both. In such an example, the source donor node, the target donor node, or both may not be able to successfully complete a migration process (e.g., a handover process) for descendant devices and IAB nodes from the migration relay node without knowing the target NCGI 405, PCI, or both. To increase the likelihood of a successful migration process for downstream or descendant devices and IAB nodes, the source donor node may provide information indicating dependencies between context transfers to the target donor node.

[0177] Figure 5 An example of a process flow 500 for supporting enhanced context transfer of an IAB node according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The process flow 500 may include a UE 115-g, a source base station 105-a, and a target base station 105-b, which may be described herein including reference Figures 1 to 3Examples of corresponding devices. For example, base station 105-a can be an example of an IAB node (e.g., a source donor node), and base station 105-b can be an example of another IAB node (e.g., a target donor node). Each of base station 105-a and base station 105-b may include a CU that communicates with the core network. The following alternative examples can be implemented, in which certain steps can be performed in a different order than described or not performed at all. In some implementations, the steps may include additional features not mentioned below, or further steps may be added.

[0178] Base stations 105-a and 105-b may support cell deployments across different coverage areas or cells. UE 115-g and source base station 105-a may have an established connection and may communicate via a communication link. UE 115-g may be configured in an RRC connected state (e.g., an RRC_CONNECTED state). In some cases, source base station 105-a may determine to transfer a subnode or device to another base station. For example, due to signaling interference or mobility within a wireless communication system, UE 115-g may experience a decrease in signal quality or a decrease in signal power. Source base station 105-a in communication with UE 115-g may determine to perform a handover of UE 115-g from source base station 105-a to target base station 105-b based on a handover process. The handover process may involve source base station 105-a sending a handover request message to prepare to handover UE 115-g to target base station 105-b.

[0179] At 505, the source base station 105-a may initiate a handover procedure and send a handover request message to the target base station 105-g (e.g., via an Xn interface). In some cases, the decision to perform the handover may be triggered by a measurement report sent by the UE 115-g. For example, the UE 115-g may measure one or more channels to monitor the channel quality of other channels. The measurement report may indicate that another channel, coverage area, cell, base station, IAB node, etc. has a higher quality than the current serving channel, coverage area, cell, base station, IAB node, etc. Based on the measurement report, the source base station 105-a may send a handover message.

[0180] At 510, the target base station 105-b may perform admission control to determine whether the handover request is allowable. For example, the base station 105-b may determine whether sufficient resources are available to serve the UE 115-g. In some cases, the target base station 105-b may determine an RRC configuration for the UE 115-g to use for communicating with the target base station 105-b.

[0181] At 515, the target base station 105-b may admit the UE 115-g and may send a handover request confirmation message. The handover request confirmation message may include the RRC configuration determined by the target base station 105-b. For example, the configuration may indicate a reconfiguration of at least one radio bearer used for communication with the target base station 105-b. In some cases, the response may include an indication of a handover command to be sent from the source base station 105-a to the UE 115-g at 520.

[0182] At 520, source base station 105-a may send a handover command to UE 115-g indicating the RRC configuration to be used for the handover. The handover command may include instructions to release the connection with base station 105-a and initiate a connection with base station 105-b.

[0183] At 525, UE 115-g may move the RRC connection to a target cell served by target base station 105-b. For example, UE 115-g may initiate a random access channel (RACH) procedure with the target cell. UE 115-g may reconfigure its radio bearers for communication with target base station 105-b.

[0184] At 530 , UE 115 - g may send an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the target cell, eg, after a RACH procedure.

[0185] At 535, target base station 105-b may indicate (e.g., via RRC reconfiguration or authorization) to source base station 105-a that the handover was successful. Base station 105-b may send a UE context release message indicating that base station 105-a will release the connection with UE 115-g.

[0186] However, as referenced Figure 6 As described, in some examples, it is not the UE 115-g but the IAB node that may perform the handover process (or other migration process). The IAB node may be a parent node, a relay node, etc., and may serve one or more UEs 115, child nodes, or other relay nodes, which in turn serve one or more descendant IAB nodes or devices, etc. Regardless of the order in which such context transfer and migration processes are performed, they may result in context transfer failure, connection loss, increased system latency, etc. for descendant devices and IAB nodes. Therefore, the base station 105-a may send multiple context transfer requests (e.g., in one or more handover requests, as shown in 505) to the base station 105-b for multiple devices or IAB nodes that are descendants of the migrating IAB node, and may indicate the correlation between the context transfer requests.

[0187] Figure 6An example of a wireless communication system 600 that supports enhanced context transfer for IAB nodes according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In some examples, the wireless communication system 600 can implement aspects of the wireless communication systems 100, 200, or 300. The wireless communication system 600 can be an example of an IAB system or network (e.g., as described in reference to FIG. Figure 2 The wireless communication system 600 may include IAB donor nodes 605-a and 605-b, which may be as described in reference Figure 2 The wireless communication system 600 may also include IAB relay nodes 620 and 635, which may be reference Figure 2 Examples of other IAB nodes 205 are described.

[0188] The IAB donor node 605-a may include a CU 610-a and a DU 615-a, which may communicate via an IP connection. The DU 615-a may communicate with a MT 625 of an IAB relay node 620 that is part of an IAB network (e.g., an NR network). The IAB relay node 620 may also include a DU 630-a. In some cases, the IAB relay node 620 may communicate with one or more child devices or nodes. For example, the DU 630-a may communicate with a MT 640 of an IAB relay node 635 (which may be a child node of the IAB relay node 620) and with a UE 115-h. The IAB relay node 635 may be a leaf node and may communicate with a UE 115-i via a DU 645.

[0189] As described herein, a donor node (e.g., IAB donor node 605-a) may determine to transfer (e.g., via context transfer) a relay node (e.g., IAB relay node 620) to a second donor node (e.g., IAB donor node 605-b). For example, IAB donor node 605-a may perform a migration procedure (e.g., a handover procedure, a secondary node addition procedure, a secondary node modification procedure, a secondary node change procedure, etc.) to migrate IAB relay node 620 to IAB donor node 605-b. IAB donor node 605-b may include CU 610-b and DU 615-b. However, since IAB relay node 620 serves downstream devices including UE 115-h, IAB relay node 635, and UE 115-i (via IAB relay node 635), IAB donor nodes 605-a and 605-b may also perform a migration procedure for each downstream device.

[0190] As an example, CU 610-a may determine to perform a context transfer for MT 625 of IAB relay node 620. CU 610-a may also migrate DU 630-a of IAB relay node 620. However, the migration of DU 630-a may include a change in the NCGI or PCI of the cell served by DU 630-a. In this case, the NCGI or PCI of downstream devices (e.g., UE 115-h, IAB relay node 635, and UE 115-i) may also change. For example, UE 115-h may switch from a cell of IAB relay node 620 having a first NCGI or PCI associated with DU 630-a (e.g., which is connected to CU 610-a) to a second cell supported by the same IAB relay node 620 but associated with a second NCGI or PCI associated with DU 630-b (e.g., which is connected to CU 610-b). That is, the DU functionality (e.g., DU 630) may change based on the cell it serves, physical location, etc. Thus, the NCGI or PCI or both used for DU 630-b (e.g., the DU functionality of the IAB relay node 620 if connected to CU 610-a) may be different from the NCGI or PCI or both used for DU 630-a (e.g., the DU functionality of the IAB relay node 620 if connected to CU 610-b).

[0191] In some examples, performing a migration process for MT 625 before attempting a migration process for downstream devices and nodes may result in a disruption in the source path to one or more of UE 115-h, IAB relay node 635, and UE 115-i. For example, CU 610-a may first perform a context transfer for MT 625, then perform a handover process for MT 625 (and subsequently perform a handover from DU 630-a to DU 630-b as a result of the MT 625 handover). However, after performing the handover process for MT 625, CU 610-a may have lost the source path to descendant devices such as UE 115-h and IAB relay node 635. That is, CU 610-a may no longer be able to communicate with the descendant devices via MT 625 or DU 630-a. Therefore, after losing the source path to the descendant devices and IAB nodes of IAB relay node 620, CU 610-a will be unable to perform a successful context transfer or handover procedure with UE 115-h, IAB relay node 635, or UE 115-i.

[0192] One or both donor nodes performing the context transfer may not be aware of the change in NCGI / PCI, which may result in an incomplete or failed context transfer for one or more of UE 115-h, IAB relay node 635, UE 115-i, or any combination thereof. The cell ID of the descendant device may change, or may remain the same but may subsequently change for CU 610-b, but may initially remain the same and be unknown to CU 610-b. For example, at the time of the context transfer of IAB relay node 620, the cell identifier of the descendant device or node may remain the same. After executing the context transfer request, the cell ID of UE 115-h, for example, for CU 610-b may change. However, at the time of the context transfer of IAB relay node 620, CU 610-b may not be aware of the cell of UE 115-i. This may occur because the DU 630-b of the IAB relay node 620 may not have an F1-C connection to the CU 610-b before the context transfer of the MT 625 of the IAB relay node 620. Therefore, the CU 610-b may not be aware of the cells configured on the DU 630-b of the IAB relay node 620.

[0193] Thus, regardless of whether the cell ID of the IAB relay node 620 changes, if the CU 610-a indicates the cell as a target cell for the UE 115-h or MT 640 without knowing the cell ID, the CU 610-b can understand that the cell will be discovered later (e.g., when an F1-C connection is established between the DU 630-b and the CU 610-b after the context transfer of the MT 625 of the IAB relay node 620). In order for the CU 610-b to determine whether the UE 115-h or MT 640 will be served by a cell on the DU 630-b of the IAB relay node 620 (e.g., but not yet known to the CU 610-b and will be discovered in due time later), a context transfer request can be associated. Thus, when a new F1-C connection is established between DU 630-b and CU 610-b, DU 630-b of the IAB relay node 620 may indicate to CU 610-b the cells that DU 630-b initially served. Due to the combined context transfer, CU 610-b may already be familiar with or have identified these cells. CU 610-b may determine to reconfigure the identified cells on DU 630-b and change the NCGI or PCI or both of these cells, which may be done when establishing the F1-C connection with DU 630-b. Thus, the combined or correlated context transfer may allow CU 610-b to infer the topology of the migration subtree (e.g., IAB relay node 620, IAB relay node 635, UE 115-h, and UE 115-i) even before establishing an F1-C connection between CU 610-b and the DUs of the relay nodes of the subtree.

[0194] For example, if CU 610-a and CU 610-b first perform an MT context transfer for MT 625 and then attempt to perform a context transfer for one or more downstream devices of IAB relay node 620, the context transfer for the downstream devices may be incomplete because CU 610-a and CU 610-b may not know the target NCGI for (for example) UE 115-i. UE 115-i may have changed its physical location or the cell serving it, or both. While IAB relay node 635 may know the target NCGI, CU 610-a and CU 610-b may not know this information. Therefore, the context transfer for UE 115-i (or any other downstream device, such as IAB relay node 635 and UE 115-h) may be incomplete or unsuccessful. In such examples, UE 115 - i may expend valuable resources and battery power attempting to maintain or regain lost connections, establish new connections, etc., resulting in increased system latency, increased system congestion, reduced battery power, and a degraded user experience.

[0195] To enable continuous communication without failed context transfers or handovers, the CU 610-a may indicate that context transfers for descendant devices of the IAB relay node 620 are correlated with the context transfer of the IAB relay node 620. After indicating this correlation, the CU 610-a and the CU 610-b may successfully perform a migration procedure for the IAB relay node 620 and all descendant devices and nodes without losing the source path to these devices or failing to complete the procedure due to a lack of relevant information about downstream cells.

[0196] For example, the CU 610-a of the IAB donor node 605-a may send a context transfer request message for the IAB relay node 620 to the CU 610-b of the IAB donor node 605-b (e.g., via an X2 interface, an Xn interface, etc.). The CU 610-a may include an indication that the context transfer request is associated with the MT 625 of the IAB relay node 620. The CU 610-a may also send context transfer requests for one or more descendant devices or nodes of the IAB relay node 620 to the CU 610-b via the Xn interface. For example, the CU 610-a may provide a context transfer request for the UE 115-h, a context transfer request for the IAB relay node 635 (e.g., a child node), and a context transfer request for the UE 115-i. The context transfer requests may be part of the same message or may be sent separately. In either example, the context transfer request message may be sent as part of a switch request message, a secondary node add request message, a secondary node change request message, a secondary node modification request message, etc. (e.g., depending on the type of migration process performed by CU 610-a and CU 610-b).

[0197] CU 610-a may indicate a correlation between the context transfer of MT 625 and one or more additional context transfers (e.g., a context transfer of UE 115-h). For example, the correlation may indicate that UE 115-h is a child device of IAB relay node 620. In some cases, the correlation may be indicated via a migration procedure identifier included in the first context transfer, the second context transfer, or both. For example, the identifier may be a tag associated with the first context transfer request, a device identifier associated with the child device (e.g., UE 115-h), a device identifier associated with IAB relay node 620 (e.g., associated with base station interface communications between first IAB donor node 605-a and second IAB donor node 605-b, such as an NG-RAN node UE application protocol ID reference), or a combination thereof.

[0198] Additionally or alternatively, the identifier may include address information assigned to the IAB relay node 620 (e.g., by the second IAB donor node 605-b, such as an Internet Protocol (IP) address or a Backhaul Adaptation Protocol (BAP) address). In some examples, the CU 610-a may include such an identifier in the second context transfer request (e.g., for the UE 115-h). The presence of such an identifier may indicate to the CU 610-b that the context transfer requests are related. For example, if the identifier is a value also included in the first context transfer request (e.g., a tag associated with the related context transfer request, a device identifier of the UE 115-h or the IAB relay node 620, etc.), the CU 610-b may determine that the context transfer requests are related. Alternatively, if all context transfer requests are included in a single context transfer request message, the CU 610-b may determine that all included context transfer requests are related.

[0199] In some examples, CU 610-b may provide information to CU 610-a that may be used by CU 610-a as a migration process identifier. For example, CU 610-b may provide a routing identifier for IAB relay node 620, such as an IP address or BAP address assigned to IAB relay node 620 by CU 610-b. In some examples, CU 610-b may provide this information autonomously or based on one or more rules. In some examples, CU 610-a may request this information from CU 610-b, receive this information from CU 610-b, and generate a second context transfer request to include the requested routing information. Upon receiving the first context transfer request for IAB relay node 620 and the second transfer request including routing information associated with IAB relay node 620, CU 610-b may determine that the first and second context transfer requests are related.

[0200] In some cases, CU 610-a may send additional context transfer request messages for each child device of IAB relay node 620. For example, CU 610-a may send context transfer requests for UE 115-h, MT 640 of IAB relay node 635, and UE 115-i. One or more additional context transfer requests may be sent in a single message or in any number of separate messages. For example, a first message may include context transfer requests for IAB relay node 620 and UE 115-h, and context transfer request messages for IAB relay node 635 and UE 115-i may be sent in a separate message different from the first message. Alternatively, each context transfer request may be sent in a separate message. In some cases, CU 610-a may include (e.g., with a first context transfer request message) an indication of subsequent context transfer request messages to be sent. For example, CU 610-a may indicate that one or more additional context transfer requests will be present in separate messages. In some cases, the CU 610-a may include a count indicating the number of upcoming context transfer requests related to the first context transfer request or the number of context transfer requests previously sent related to the first context transfer request. Additionally or alternatively, the CU 610-a may indicate (e.g., in the first context transfer request or the second context transfer request) that there are no upcoming subsequent context transfer requests.

[0201] In some examples, CU 610-b may have an upper limit on the maximum number of context transfer requests that it can process in a single message. CU 610-b may send an indication of the maximum number to CU 610-a autonomously or based on one or more rules. In some examples, CU 610-a may request an indication of the maximum number from CU 610-b, and CU 610-b may send the maximum number to CU 610-a based on the request. In either case, CU 610-a may configure the context transfer requests accordingly. As an example, CU 610-b may indicate a maximum number of two context transfer requests per message. Thus, CU 610-a may include a context transfer request for IAB relay node 620 and UE 115-h in a first message, and may include a context transfer request for IAB relay node 635 (e.g., a child node) and UE 115-i in a second message.

[0202] In the case where the IAB relay node 620 is connected to a child device or node (e.g., UE 115-g, IAB relay node 635, and UE 115-i), CU 610-a may include (e.g., using a first context transfer request message) a depth value associated with the context transfer request. The depth value may indicate the number of hops in the node chain relative to the IAB relay node 620. For example, CU 610-a may include a depth value of 2 in the context transfer request message for MT 625 of IAB relay node 620, indicating that there are two additional levels of downstream devices to be sent. Therefore, CU 610-b may infer the number of additional context transfer requests that can be sent from CU 610-a. In some examples, CU 610-b may be limited in the depth values ​​it can process in a single message. CU 610-b may autonomously indicate a maximum depth value to CU 610-a, or CU 610-a may request the maximum depth value from CU 610-b. CU 610-a may then configure the context transfer request message accordingly. In some examples, the first context transfer request may indicate the total count of context transfer requests that are being correlated or will be correlated (e.g., the total count of four related context transfer requests for IAB relay node 620, UE 115-h, IAB relay node 635, and UE 115-i). In some examples, the first context transfer request may indicate a combination of the number of hops and the total count (e.g., the number of hops is 2 and the total count is 4). CU 610-b may use such information to identify and prepare all related context transfer requests.

[0203] In some examples, the correlation between context transfers can be indicated via a cell identifier (e.g., NCGI, PCI, etc.). For example, CU 610-a can include a cell identifier associated with IAB donor node 605-a (e.g., target NCGI) with the second context transfer request. CU 610-b can then infer that the second context transfer is associated with the first context transfer (e.g., because the first context transfer includes the same cell identifier). In such an example, the target indicator cell can be configured on DU 630-b.

[0204] In some examples, CU 610-a may include a cell identifier associated with CU 610-b for a cell not served by IAB donor node 605-b in the second context transfer request message. CU 610-b may use the cell identifier that it does not serve to infer that the second context transfer request is associated with the first context transfer request. In some examples, CU 610-b may provide a list of cell identifiers served by IAB donor node 605-b. CU 610-a may request a list of cell identifiers served by IAB donor node 605-b, and CU 610-b may provide them in response to the request. Upon receiving the list of cell identifiers, CU 610-a may identify cells not included in the list (e.g., cells of downstream devices such as UE 115-i) and may indicate a target NCGI for the identified cells. In some examples, CU 610 - b may provide a list of cell identifiers based on an indication from CU 610 - a (e.g., an indication that the first context transfer request is for MT 625 of IAB relay node 620 , or an indication that an upcoming related context transfer is imminent, etc.).

[0205] Upon receiving one or more context transfer request messages, CU 610-b may identify the migration process identifier and determine that the context transfer is relevant. For example, CU 610-b may receive a first context transfer request message including a migration process identifier. CU 610-b may receive a second context transfer request message including the same migration process identifier and may determine that the first and second context transfer request messages are relevant. Alternatively, CU 610-b may identify a migration process identifier in the second context transfer request message that corresponds to the first context transfer request message or to CU 610-a or IAB relay node 620 (for example, where the first context transfer request message does not include an identifier) ​​and may infer relevance based thereon.

[0206] CU 610-b may send confirmation feedback to CU 610-a after receiving one or more context transfer request messages and determining their relevance. Confirmation feedback for each context transfer request may be sent in a single message or in multiple messages. For example, CU 610-b may confirm receipt of a context transfer request sent in separate messages or multiple context transfer requests included in a single message in a single message. In some examples, CU 610-b may provide a confirmation message for each context transfer request message received. CU 610-b may send a separate confirmation message for each context transfer request message received, regardless of whether the context transfer request was sent in a single message or in separate messages, or may send separate confirmation messages for all received related context transfer requests. If CU 610-b sends multiple confirmation messages (e.g., one for each received context transfer request message), CU 610-b may refrain from sending confirmation feedback until all related context transfer requests are received (e.g., until the total number of related context transfer requests indicated by the first context transfer request is received, or until a final context transfer request indicates that no more context transfer requests are to be sent). In some cases, the CU 610-b may send an acknowledgement feedback message after each received context transfer request message, regardless of whether a subsequent related context transfer request is to be sent. In any case, each acknowledgement message may be sent as a handover request acknowledgement message, a secondary node add request acknowledgement message, a secondary node change request acknowledgement message, a secondary node modification request acknowledgement message, etc. (e.g., depending on the migration process performed for the IAB relay node 620).

[0207] In some cases, CU 610-a can receive a limited number of acknowledgement messages in a single message. CU 610-a can send an indication to CU 610-b of the maximum number of acknowledgement messages that CU 610-a can process in a single message. In some examples, CU 610-b can request an indication of the maximum number from CU 610-a. CU 610-b can configure the acknowledgement message based on the indication.

[0208] After CU 610-a receives one or more confirmation feedback messages from CU 610-b, CU 610-a may send a reconfiguration message to IAB relay node 620. The reconfiguration message may instruct IAB relay node 620 to establish a connection with IAB donor node 605-b. In some examples, the reconfiguration message may instruct IAB relay node 620 to release the connection with IAB donor node 605-a. CU 610-b may send a message to CU 610-a with instructions to release the connection with IAB relay node 620 and any child devices or child nodes. These connections may be RRC connections, FI-C connections, or both.

[0209] Figure 7 An example of a process flow 700 for supporting enhanced context transfer of IAB nodes according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The process flow 700 may include nodes 205-f, 205-g, and 205-h, which may be described herein including reference Figures 1 to 6 For example, node 205-f may be a reference Figure 3 and Figure 6 In some cases, relay node 205-f may serve one or more child nodes or devices. Nodes 205-g and 205-h may be examples of a first donor node and a second donor node, respectively, as described in reference to FIG. Figure 6 As described. Relay node 205-f may be a child node of donor node 205-g. Alternative examples below may be implemented in which some steps may be performed in a different order than described or not performed at all. In some implementations, the steps may include additional features not mentioned below, or further steps may be added.

[0210] At 705, the donor node 205-g may determine to transfer (e.g., via a handover process or other migration process) the relay node 205-f to the donor node 205-h. In the event that the relay node 205-f is in communication with one or more child nodes or devices, the donor node 205-g may also transfer any descendant nodes or devices of the relay node 205-f to the donor node 205-h. In this case, the donor node 205-g may send a context transfer request for the relay node 205-f and the one or more descendant nodes in a single message or multiple messages. However, the donor node 205-h may have a limit on the maximum number of corresponding context transfer request messages that it can process in a single message. Therefore, at 710, the donor node 205-h may send an indication of the maximum number (e.g., autonomously or based on one or more rules or standardized procedures). In some examples, at 705 , donor node 205 - g may request an indication of the maximum number from donor node 205 - h , and at 710 , donor node 205 - h may send the indication of the maximum number in response to the request received at 705 .

[0211] At 715, donor node 205-g may send a message to donor node 205-h requesting an indication of a migration process identifier. The migration process identifier may be, for example, a routing identifier of relay node 205-f, such as an IP address or BAP address information assigned to relay node 205-f by donor node 205-h. At 735, such routing identifier information may be included in the context transfer request, as described herein.

[0212] At 720, donor node 205-g may send a message to relay node 205-f requesting an indication of a migration process identifier. The migration process identifier may be, for example, a routing identifier of relay node 205-f, such as an IP address or BAP address information assigned to relay node 205-f by donor node 205-h. At 735, such routing identification information may be included in the context transfer request, as described herein. In some examples, donor node 205-g may request routing information from either donor node 205-h or relay node 205-f (e.g., but not both).

[0213] At 725, the donor node 205-h may determine and send an indication of a migration process identifier (eg, in response to the request received at 715). The migration process identifier may include address information.

[0214] At 730, the relay node 205-f may send an indication of the migration process identifier to the donor node 205-g (eg, in response to the request received at 720). The migration process identifier may include address information.

[0215] At 735, donor node 205-g may send one or more context transfer request messages for relay node 205-f to donor node 205-h. At least one context transfer request may be associated with the MT functionality of relay node 205-f, and donor node 205-g may indicate this association in the context transfer request message. If relay node 205-f is communicating with one or more child nodes or devices, donor node 205-g may also transfer any descendant nodes of relay node 205-f to donor node 205-h and may indicate a correlation between the context transfer request for relay node 205-f and the context transfer requests for the descendant nodes and devices. Thus, at 735, donor node 205-g may send an additional context transfer request for each descendant node of relay node 205-f. For example, relay node 205-f may serve one or more child nodes, and each child node may in turn serve additional child nodes or devices. In these cases, each context transfer request can be associated with a UE served by the relay node 205-f, the MT functionality of one or more child nodes served by the relay node 205-f, the MT functionality of additional child nodes associated with the DU functionality of one or more child nodes, or any combination thereof.

[0216] Context transfer requests for relay node 205-g and descendant nodes can be sent in the same or separate messages. For example, donor node 205-g can send a first context transfer request message for relay node 205-f and can send a second context transfer request message for a descendant node of relay node 205-f in a separate message. Alternatively, donor node 205-g can send context transfer requests for both relay node 205-f and a descendant node in the same message. If relay node 205-f has additional descendant nodes or devices, donor node 205-g can send a context transfer request for each additional descendant node or device using a first context transfer request message, a second context transfer request message, or one or more additional context transfer request messages.

[0217] For example, if the context transfer requests for relay node 205-f and the first child node are sent in the same message, donor node 205-g may include context transfer requests for additional child nodes in the same message or in separate messages. Conversely, if the context transfer requests for relay node 205-f and the first child node are sent in separate messages, donor node 205-g may include context transfer requests for additional child nodes in a second context transfer request message (e.g., along with the first child node context transfer request) or in one or more additional separate messages. Each context transfer request message may be sent as a handover request message, a secondary node add request message, a secondary node change request message, a secondary node modify request message, etc.

[0218] At 710, if the donor node 205-h indicates a maximum number of context transfer requests that the donor node 205-h can receive in a single message, the donor node 205-g may accordingly configure the number of context transfer request messages sent at 735. For example, the donor node 205-g may include the first and second context transfer requests in a single message, or may send the first and second context transfer requests separately based on the capacity indicated by the donor node 205-h at 710.

[0219] In some cases, the donor node 205-g may include, along with the first context transfer request message sent at 735, an indication of one or more additional context transfer requests to be sent. In some other cases, the indication of one or more additional context transfer requests may be sent in a second context transfer request message. For example, the first context transfer request message may include an indication of the number of subsequent context transfer requests (e.g., second context transfer requests) corresponding to the first context transfer request. In some examples, the donor node 205-g may include (e.g., in the second context transfer request message) an indication of the number of previously sent context transfer request messages (e.g., the number of previously sent context transfer requests or context transfer request messages corresponding to the second context transfer request). The donor node 205-g may also include (e.g., in the first context transfer request or the second context transfer request) an indication that no subsequent context transfer requests are imminent. For example, if the relay node 205-f serves a single UE 115, the first context transfer request (e.g., in the first message) may indicate one subsequent context transfer request (e.g., for a descendant UE 115), or a total of two related context transfer requests. The second context transfer request (eg, in the second message) may include an indication of a previously sent context transfer request (eg, in the first message), or may include an indication that no subsequent related context transfer requests will be sent by the donor node 205-g, or both.

[0220] In some cases, the donor node 205-g may include a migration process identifier in the first or second context transfer request to indicate the correlation between the first and second context transfer requests. The migration process identifier may be based on an indication that the first context transfer request message is associated with the MT function of the relay node 205-f (e.g., included in the first context transfer request message). The migration process identifier may be a tag included in the first context transfer, an identifier of the MT function of the child UE 115 or child node corresponding to the second context transfer, or the like. The migration process identifier may be an identifier of the relay node 205-f used by the donor node 205-g and the donor node 205-h (e.g., so that the donor node 205-h can determine that related context transfer requests are all associated with the same relay node 205-f). The migration process identifier may be address information, as indicated at 725 or 730. The donor node 205-g may include the migration process identifier in the second context transfer request message sent at 735, and in some cases, in any additional context transfer request messages associated with the first or second context transfer request.

[0221] In some examples, donor node 205-g may include a cell identifier in the second transmission request message. For a cell served by donor node 205-g, the cell identifier may be associated with donor node 205-g. Donor node 205-h may infer that the second context transfer request message is associated with the first context transfer request message (e.g., because the first context transfer request message includes the same cell identifier).

[0222] In some examples, donor node 205-g may (e.g., using the first context transfer request message) include a depth value indicating the number of hops in the node chain that includes relay node 205-f and any child nodes of relay node 205-f. The depth value may indicate the number of hops in the node chain relative to relay node 205-f. For example, donor node 205-g may indicate a depth value of two, indicating that there are two additional levels of downstream devices to be transferred. Donor node 205-h may infer the number of additional context transfer requests that can be sent from donor node 205-g. In some examples, donor node 205-h may be limited in the depth values ​​it can handle in a single message. Donor node 205-h may indicate a maximum depth value for donor node 205-g, or donor node 205-g may request a maximum depth value from donor node 205-h. Donor node 205-g may configure the context transfer request message accordingly.

[0223] At 740, after receiving the one or more context transfer request messages, donor node 205-h may identify a migration process identifier included in the one or more context transfer request messages. For example, donor node 205-h may identify a migration process identifier in a second context transfer request message corresponding to a first context transfer request message. If donor node 205-h sent an indication of the migration process identifier to donor node 205-g at 725, identifying the migration process identifier at 740 may be based on the indication.

[0224] In some examples, the migration process identifier may be a cell identifier that is not served by the donor node 205-h. For example, at 745, the donor node 205-g may send a request to the donor node 205-h for a list of cell identifiers served by the donor node 205-h. At 750, the donor node 205-h may send the list of cell identifiers served by the donor node 205-h to the donor node 205-g (e.g., in response to the request at 745 or autonomously or based on one or more standardized rules). The donor node 205-g may determine, based on the list of cell identifiers, a cell identifier associated with the donor node 205-h that is not served by the donor node 205-h, and may include the cell identifier with the second context transfer request message.

[0225] In some examples, at 750, the donor node 205-h may send a cell identifier for use by the donor node 205-g in a subsequent context transfer request message, e.g., regardless of whether the donor node 205-g requested a list of cell identifiers at 745. The donor node 205-h may determine the cell identifier to send at 750 based on an indication from the donor node 205-g, e.g., that the first context transfer request is for the MT of the relay node 205-f, or that an upcoming related context transfer is imminent.

[0226] At 755, the donor node 205-h may determine that the context transfers are related using the migration process identifier identified at 740. For example, the donor node 205-h may receive a second context transfer request message including a migration process identifier that matches the migration process identifier included in the first context transfer request message, and may determine that the first and second context transfer request messages are related. Alternatively, the donor node 205-h may identify a migration process identifier in the second context transfer request message that corresponds to the first context transfer request message (e.g., where the first context transfer request message does not include an identifier).

[0227] After receiving one or more context transfer request messages, donor node 205-h can send confirmation feedback corresponding to each context transfer request message. However, donor node 205-g may have a limit on the maximum number of confirmation messages that it can receive in a single message (e.g., due to processing limitations). At 765, donor node 205-g may send an indication of the number of confirmation messages that donor node 205-g can receive in a single message to donor node 205-h. Donor node 205-h can autonomously send the number of confirmation messages it can receive and process in a single message, or it can do so based on one or more standardized rules. In some cases, at 760, donor node 205-h may request capability information, which includes the maximum number of confirmation messages that donor node 205-g can receive in a single message. In such an example, at 765, donor node 205-g may send capability information in response to the request at 760.

[0228] At 770, donor node 205-h may send one or more confirmation feedback messages corresponding to the context transfer request message to donor node 205-g. Donor node 205-h may configure the confirmation feedback messages based on the capability indication sent at 765. Confirmation feedback for each context transfer request may be sent in a single message or in multiple messages. For example, donor node 205-h may confirm receipt of a context transfer request sent in a separate message or a single message in a single message. Alternatively, donor node 205-h may send a separate confirmation message for each context transfer request message received in a single message or in multiple messages. Each confirmation message may be sent as a handover request confirmation message, a secondary node add request confirmation message, a secondary node change request confirmation message, a secondary node modification request confirmation message, etc.

[0229] At 775, the donor node 205-g may send a reconfiguration message to the relay node 205-f. The reconfiguration message may include instructions for the relay node 205-f and one or more child nodes to establish a connection with the donor node 205-h. The reconfiguration message may also include instructions for the relay node 205-f and one or more child nodes to release the connection with the donor node 205-g.

[0230] At 780, relay node 205-f may send a connection message to donor node 205-h requesting establishment of a first connection with donor node 205-h. The connection request message may be based on the confirmation feedback sent to donor node 205-g at 770. The connection request message may also include a request for one or more child nodes or devices of relay node 205-f to establish a connection with donor node 205-h.

[0231] At 785, donor node 205-h may send a connection release message to donor node 205-g. The connection release message may instruct donor node 205-g to release the connection with relay node 205-f. In some cases, the connection release message may also instruct donor node 205-g to release the connection with one or more child devices of relay node 205-f. The connection release message may be based on the connection request message received at 780.

[0232] Thus, by associating various context transfer requests as described herein, donor node 205 - g and donor node 205 - h may successfully migrate relay node 205 - f and any child relay nodes, child nodes, or child devices.

[0233] Figure 8A block diagram 800 is shown of a device 805 that supports enhanced context transfer for an IAB node according to aspects of the present disclosure. The device 805 can be an example of aspects of a base station 105 as described herein. The device 805 can include a receiver 810, a communication manager 815, and a transmitter 820. The device 805 can also include a processor. Each of these components can communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0234] The receiver 810 may receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to enhanced context transfer of IAB nodes). The information may be delivered to other components of the device 805. The receiver 810 may be a reference Figure 11 Examples of aspects of the described transceiver 1120. The receiver 810 may utilize a single antenna or a collection of antennas.

[0235] The communication manager 815 can send a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request to the second donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with the MT function of the relay node, the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and being associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node, receive confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request from the second donor node, and send one or more reconfiguration messages to the relay node based on the received confirmation feedback, the one or more reconfiguration messages including instructions for establishing a first connection with the second donor node for one or more child nodes and the relay node (for example, one reconfiguration message for each node or UE 115).

[0236] The communication manager 815 may also receive a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request from the first donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with the MT function of the relay node, the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and being associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node, send confirmation feedback to the first donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request, and based on sending confirmation feedback for the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request to the first donor node, receive a connection message from the relay node requesting establishment of a first connection with the second donor node for the relay node and the one or more child nodes. The communication manager 815 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 1110 described herein.

[0237] The communication manager 815 or its subcomponents may be implemented in hardware, code executed by a processor (e.g., software or firmware), or any combination thereof. If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functions of the communication manager 815 or its subcomponents may be performed by a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, configured to perform the functions described herein.

[0238] The communication manager 815 or its subcomponents can be physically located in a variety of locations, including being distributed so that portions of the functionality are implemented by one or more physical components at different physical locations. In some examples, the communication manager 815 or its subcomponents can be separate and distinct components according to various aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, the communication manager 815 or its subcomponents can be combined with one or more other hardware components, including but not limited to input / output (I / O) components according to various aspects of the present disclosure, a transceiver, a network server, another computing device, one or more other components described in the present disclosure, or a combination thereof.

[0239] The transmitter 820 can transmit signals generated by other components of the device 805. In some examples, the transmitter 820 can be co-located with the receiver 810 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 820 can be a reference Figure 11 Examples of aspects of the transceiver 1120 are described. The transmitter 820 may utilize a single antenna or a collection of antennas.

[0240] Figure 9 A block diagram 900 is shown of a device 905 supporting enhanced context transfer for an IAB node according to aspects of the present disclosure. The device 905 can be an example of aspects of the device 805 or base station 105 as described herein. The device 905 can include a receiver 910, a communication manager 915, and a transmitter 940. The device 905 can also include a processor. Each of these components can communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0241] The receiver 910 may receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to enhanced context transfer of IAB nodes, etc.). The information may be delivered to other components of the device 905. The receiver 910 may be a reference Figure 11 Examples of aspects of the described transceiver 1120. The receiver 910 may utilize a single antenna or a collection of antennas.

[0242] The communication manager 915 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 815 as described herein. The communication manager 915 may include a context transfer request manager 920, an acknowledgment feedback manager 925, a reconfiguration message manager 930, and a connection message manager 935. The communication manager 915 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 1110 as described herein.

[0243] The context transfer request manager 920 may send a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request to the second donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with the MT function of the relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and being associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node. The confirmation feedback manager 925 may receive confirmation feedback from the second donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request. The reconfiguration message manager 930 may send one or more reconfiguration messages to the relay node based on receiving the confirmation feedback, the one or more reconfiguration messages including instructions for establishing a first connection with the second donor node for the one or more child nodes and the relay node.

[0244] The context transfer request manager 920 may receive a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request from a first donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with the MT function of the relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node. The confirmation feedback manager 925 may send confirmation feedback to the first donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request. The connection message manager 935 may receive a connection message from the relay node based on sending confirmation feedback for the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request to the first donor node, the connection message requesting establishment of a first connection with the second donor node for the relay node and the one or more child nodes.

[0245] The transmitter 940 can transmit signals generated by other components of the device 905. In some examples, the transmitter 940 can be co-located with the receiver 910 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 940 can be a reference Figure 11 Examples of aspects of the transceiver 1120 are described. The transmitter 940 may utilize a single antenna or a collection of antennas.

[0246] Figure 10A block diagram 1000 is shown of a communication manager 1005 that supports enhanced context transfer for an IAB node in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The communication manager 1005 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 815, the communication manager 915, or the communication manager 1110 described herein. The communication manager 1005 may include a context transfer request manager 1010, an acknowledgment feedback manager 1015, a reconfiguration message manager 1020, a migration procedure identifier manager 1025, a depth value manager 1030, a processing capability manager 1035, a cell identifier manager 1040, a connection message manager 1045, and a connection release message manager 1050. Each of these modules may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0247] The context transfer request manager 1010 may send a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request to the second donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with the MT function of the relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node. In some examples, the context transfer request manager 1010 may receive the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request from the first donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with the MT function of the relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node.

[0248] In some examples, context transfer request manager 1010 may send a single message including a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request. In some examples, context transfer request manager 1010 may send a first message including the first context transfer request. In some examples, context transfer request manager 1010 may send a second message including the second context transfer request.

[0249] In some examples, the context transfer request manager 1010 may send a third context transfer request corresponding to the second context transfer request to the second donor node, the third context transfer request being associated with an MT function of one or more additional child nodes of the relay node, the one or more additional child nodes being associated with a DU function of one or more child nodes, or a combination thereof. In some examples, the context transfer request manager 1010 may include an indication of the one or more context transfer requests to be sent in the first context transfer request. In some examples, the context transfer request manager 1010 may include an indication of a number of one or more subsequent context transfer requests corresponding to the first context transfer request in the first message including the first context transfer request, the one or more subsequent context transfer requests including the second context transfer request.

[0250] In some examples, the context transfer request manager 1010 may include, in a second message including the second context transfer request, an indication of the number of one or more previously sent context transfer requests corresponding to the second context transfer request. In some examples, the context transfer request manager 1010 may include, in the first context transfer request or the second context transfer request, an indication that no subsequent context transfer request is imminent. In some examples, the context transfer request manager 1010 may include, in the first message, an indication that the first context transfer request is associated with an MT function of the relay node, wherein receiving a migration procedure identifier from the second donor node is based on the indication that the first context transfer request is associated with the MT function of the relay node. In some examples, the context transfer request manager 1010 may include, in the first context transfer request message, an indication of one or more context transfer requests to be sent, wherein receiving a migration procedure identifier from the second donor node is based on an indication of a subsequent context transfer request.

[0251] In some examples, the context transfer request manager 1010 may receive a single message including the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request.

[0252] In some examples, the context transfer request manager 1010 may receive a first message including a first context transfer request. In some examples, the context transfer request manager 1010 may receive a second message including a second context transfer request. In some examples, the context transfer request manager 1010 may receive a third context transfer request corresponding to the second context transfer request from the first donor node, the third context transfer request being associated with an MT function of one or more additional child nodes of the relay node, the one or more additional child nodes being associated with a DU function of one or more child nodes, or a combination thereof. In some examples, the context transfer request manager 1010 may identify, in the first context transfer request, an indication of one or more context transfer requests to be sent.

[0253] In some examples, context transfer request manager 1010 may identify, in a first message including the first context transfer request, an indication of the number of one or more context transfer requests to be sent corresponding to the first context transfer request, the one or more subsequent context transfer requests including a second context transfer request. In some examples, context transfer request manager 1010 may identify, in a second message including the second context transfer request, an indication of the number of one or more previously sent context transfer requests corresponding to the second context transfer request. In some examples, context transfer request manager 1010 may identify, in either the first context transfer request or the second context transfer request, an indication that no subsequent context transfer request is imminent.

[0254] In some examples, the context transfer request manager 1010 may identify an indication in the first message that the first context transfer request is associated with the MT functionality of the relay node, wherein sending the migration procedure identifier to the first donor node is based on the indication that the first context transfer request is associated with the MT functionality of the relay node. In some examples, the context transfer request manager 1010 may identify an indication in the first message of one or more context transfer requests to be sent, wherein sending the migration procedure identifier from the second donor node is based on the indication of the one or more context transfer requests to be sent.

[0255] In some cases, the single message is a handover request message, a secondary node add request message, a secondary node change request message, or a secondary node modification request message. In some cases, the first message is a handover request message, a secondary node add request message, or a secondary node modification request message. In some cases, the second message is a handover request message, a secondary node add request message, a secondary node change request message, or a secondary node modification request message. In some cases, the single message includes a first context transfer request, a second context transfer request, and a third context transfer request.

[0256] In some cases, the first message includes a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request, and the second message includes a third context transfer request. In some cases, the first message includes a first context transfer request, the second message includes a second context transfer request, and the third message includes a third context transfer request.

[0257] In some cases, the first message includes a first context transfer request, wherein the indication of one or more context transfer requests to be sent includes a second context transfer request in the first message. In some cases, the first message includes the first context transfer request, and the indication of one or more context transfer requests to be sent includes the second context transfer request in the second message.

[0258] In some cases, the one or more child nodes include a UE served by the relay node, one or more UEs served by a descendant relay node of the relay node, the MT function of one or more additional relay nodes served by the relay node, the MT function of one or more descendant relay nodes of the relay node, or a combination thereof. In some cases, the single message is a handover request message, a secondary node add request message, a secondary node change request message, or a secondary node modification request message. In some cases, the first message is one of the handover request message, the secondary node add request message, or the secondary node modification request message, and the second message is one of the handover request message, the secondary node add request message, the secondary node change request message, or the secondary node modification request message. In some cases, the first message includes a first context transfer request, a second context transfer request, and a third context transfer request. In some cases, the first message includes the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request, wherein the second message includes the third context transfer request.

[0259] In some cases, the first message includes a first context transfer request, the second context transfer request includes a second context transfer request, and the third message includes a third context transfer request.

[0260] In some cases, the first message includes a first context transfer request, and the indication of one or more context transfer requests to send includes a second context transfer request in the first message.

[0261] In some cases, the one or more sub-nodes include a UE served by the relay node, one or more UEs served by a descendant relay node of the relay node, the MT functionality of one or more additional relay nodes served by the relay node, the MT functionality of one or more descendant relay nodes of the relay node, or a combination thereof.

[0262] The confirmation feedback manager 1015 may receive confirmation feedback from the second donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request. In some examples, the confirmation feedback manager 1015 may send confirmation feedback to the first donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request. In some examples, the confirmation feedback manager 1015 may receive a confirmation message including confirmation feedback for the first context transfer request and confirmation feedback for the second context transfer request.

[0263] In some examples, the confirmation feedback manager 1015 may receive a first confirmation message including confirmation feedback of the first context transfer request. In some examples, the confirmation feedback manager 1015 may receive a second confirmation message including confirmation feedback of the second context transfer request.

[0264] In some examples, the confirmation feedback manager 1015 may send a confirmation message that includes confirmation feedback for the first context transfer request and confirmation feedback for the second context transfer request.

[0265] In some examples, the confirmation feedback manager 1015 may send a first confirmation message including confirmation feedback of the first context transfer request. In some examples, the confirmation feedback manager 1015 may send a second confirmation message including confirmation feedback of the second context transfer request. In some cases, the confirmation message includes one of a handover request confirmation message, a secondary node add request confirmation message, a secondary node modify request confirmation message, or a secondary node change confirmation message.

[0266] In some cases, the first confirmation message includes one of a handover request confirmation message, a secondary node add request confirmation message, a secondary node modify request confirmation message, or a secondary node change confirmation message, and wherein the second confirmation message includes one of a handover request confirmation message, a secondary node add request confirmation message, a secondary node modify request confirmation message, or a secondary node change confirmation message. In some cases, the confirmation message includes one of a handover request confirmation message, a secondary node add request confirmation message, a secondary node modify request confirmation message, or a secondary node change confirmation message. In some cases, the first confirmation message includes one of a handover request confirmation message, a secondary node add request confirmation message, a secondary node modify request confirmation message, or a secondary node change confirmation message, and wherein the second confirmation message includes one of a handover request confirmation message, a secondary node add request confirmation message, a secondary node modify request confirmation message, or a secondary node change confirmation message.

[0267] The reconfiguration message manager 1020 may send one or more reconfiguration messages to the relay node based on receiving the confirmation feedback, the one or more reconfiguration messages including instructions for the one or more child nodes and the relay node to establish a first connection with the second donor node. The reconfiguration message manager 1020 may send one or more reconfiguration messages to the relay node based at least in part on receiving the confirmation feedback, the one or more reconfiguration messages including instructions for the one or more child nodes or the relay node or both to release one or more second connections with the first donor node, the relay node or both.

[0268] The connection message manager 1045 may receive a connection message from the relay node requesting establishment of a first connection with the second donor node for the relay node and one or more child nodes based on sending confirmation feedback for the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request to the first donor node.

[0269] The migration procedure identifier manager 1025 may include a migration procedure identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request in the second context transfer request, wherein receiving the confirmation feedback is based on the migration procedure identifier. In some examples, the migration procedure identifier manager 1025 may receive an indication of the migration procedure identifier from the second donor node or relay node, wherein including the migration procedure identifier in the second context transfer request is based on receiving the indication of the migration procedure identifier. In some examples, the migration procedure identifier manager 1025 may send a request for an indication of the migration procedure identifier to the second donor node or relay node, wherein receiving the indication of the migration procedure identifier from the second donor node or relay node is based at least in part on sending the request for the indication of the migration procedure identifier.

[0270] In some examples, the migration procedure identifier manager 1025 may receive a migration procedure identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request from the second donor node in response to sending a first message including the first context transfer request. In some examples, the migration procedure identifier manager 1025 may include the migration procedure identifier in a second message including the second context transfer request. In some examples, the migration procedure identifier manager 1025 may identify the migration procedure identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request in the second context transfer request, wherein sending the confirmation feedback is based on identifying the migration procedure identifier. In some examples, the migration procedure identifier manager 1025 may send an indication of the migration procedure identifier to the first donor node, wherein identifying the migration procedure identifier in the second context transfer request is based on sending the indication of the migration procedure identifier to the first donor node.

[0271] In some examples, the migration process identifier manager 1025 may receive a request for an indication of a migration process identifier from the first donor node, wherein sending the indication of the migration process identifier is based on receiving the request for an indication of the migration process identifier. In some examples, the migration process identifier manager 1025 may send a migration process identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request to the first donor node in response to receiving a first message including the first context transfer request. In some examples, the migration process identifier manager 1025 may identify the migration process identifier in a second message including the second context transfer request. In some cases, the migration process identifier matches a second migration process identifier included in the first context transfer request, the second migration process identifier including a tag associated with the first context transfer request, one or more device identifiers for one or more child nodes, or a combination thereof.

[0272] In some cases, the migration process identifier includes a device identifier for the relay node, the device identifier being associated with base station interface communications between the first donor node and the second donor node. In some cases, the migration process identifier includes address information assigned to the relay node by the second donor node. In some cases, the migration process identifier matches a second migration process identifier included in the first context transfer request, the second migration process identifier including a tag associated with the first context transfer request, one or more device identifiers for one or more child nodes, or a combination thereof. In some cases, the migration process identifier includes a device identifier for the relay node, the device identifier being associated with base station interface communications between the first donor node and the second donor node. In some cases, the migration process identifier includes address information assigned to the relay node by the second donor node.

[0273] The depth value manager 1030 may include a depth value in the first context transfer request, the depth value indicating the number of hops in the node chain including the relay node and the one or more child nodes.

[0274] In some examples, depth value manager 1030 may identify a depth value in the first context transfer request that indicates a number of hops in a node chain including a relay node and one or more child nodes.

[0275] The processing capacity manager 1035 may receive, from the second donor node, an indication of a maximum number of corresponding context transfer requests that the second donor node can process in a single message.

[0276] In some examples, the processing capacity manager 1035 can configure a single message including the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request, or a first message including the first context transfer request and a second message including the second context transfer request, based on receiving the indication of the maximum number. In some examples, the processing capacity manager 1035 can send the request for the maximum number to the second donor node, wherein receiving the indication of the maximum number is based on sending the request for the maximum number. In some examples, the processing capacity manager 1035 can send an indication of a maximum amount of acknowledgment feedback that the first donor node can process in a single acknowledgment feedback message to the second donor node, wherein receiving acknowledgment feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is based on sending the indication of the maximum amount of acknowledgment feedback.

[0277] In some examples, the processing capacity manager 1035 may receive a request for a maximum amount of acknowledgement feedback from the second donor node, wherein sending an indication of the maximum amount of acknowledgement feedback is based on receiving the request for the maximum amount of acknowledgement feedback. In some examples, the processing capacity manager 1035 may send an indication of a maximum number of corresponding context transfer requests that the second donor node can process in a single message to the first donor node, wherein receiving the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is based on sending the indication of the maximum number. In some examples, the processing capacity manager 1035 may receive a request for the maximum number from the first donor node, wherein sending the indication of the maximum number is based on receiving the request for the maximum number.

[0278] In some examples, the processing capacity manager 1035 may receive, from the first donor node, an indication of a maximum amount of acknowledgment feedback that the first donor node can process in a single acknowledgment feedback message, wherein sending the acknowledgment feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is based on the indication of the maximum amount of received acknowledgment feedback. In some examples, the processing capacity manager 1035 may send a request for the maximum amount of acknowledgment feedback to the first donor node, wherein the indication of the maximum amount of received acknowledgment feedback is based on sending the request for the maximum amount of acknowledgment feedback. In some cases, the number of one or more additional context transfer requests in the first transfer request message exceeds the processing capacity per received message of the second donor node.

[0279] The cell identifier manager 1040 may include, in the second context transfer request, a cell identifier associated with the first donor node for a cell served by the DU function of the relay node, wherein receiving confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is based on including the cell identifier of the cell served by the DU function of the relay node. In some examples, the cell identifier manager 1040 may include, in the second context transfer request, a cell identifier associated with the second donor node for a cell not served by the second donor node, wherein receiving confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is based on including the cell identifier of the cell not served by the second donor node. In some examples, the cell identifier manager 1040 may send a request to the second donor node for a list of cell identifiers served by the second donor node.

[0280] In some examples, the cell identifier manager 1040 can receive, from the second donor node, a list of cell identifiers served by the second donor node, wherein the cell identifiers associated with the second donor node that include cells not served by the second donor node are based on receiving the list of cell identifiers served by the second donor node. In some examples, the cell identifier manager 1040 can identify, in the second context transfer request, a cell identifier associated with the first donor node for a cell served by the relay node.

[0281] In some examples, the cell identifier manager 1040 may determine, based on the cell identifier, that the second context transfer request corresponds to the first context transfer request, wherein sending confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is based on determining that the second context transfer request corresponds to the first context transfer request. In some examples, the cell identifier manager 1040 may identify, in the second context transfer request, a cell identifier associated with the second donor node of a cell that is not served by the second donor node. In some examples, the cell identifier manager 1040 may determine, based on the cell identifier that is not served by the second donor node, that the second context transfer request corresponds to the first context transfer request, wherein sending confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is based on determining that the second context transfer request corresponds to the first context transfer request.

[0282] In some examples, the cell identifier manager 1040 can receive a request from the first donor node for a list of cell identifiers served by the second donor node. In some examples, the cell identifier manager 1040 can send the list of cell identifiers served by the second donor node to the first donor node, wherein the cell identifier associated with the second donor node that identifies cells not served by the second donor node is based on the list of cell identifiers served by the second donor node. The connection release message manager 1050 can send a connection release message to the first donor node instructing the first donor node to release the second connection with the one or more child nodes based on receiving the connection message.

[0283] Figure 11A diagram of a system 1100 including a device 1105 supporting enhanced context transfer for an IAB node according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 1105 may be an example of or include components of the device 805, device 905, or base station 105 as described herein. The device 1105 may include components for two-way voice and data communications, including components for sending and receiving communications, including a communications manager 1110, a network communications manager 1115, a transceiver 1120, an antenna 1125, a memory 1130, a processor 1140, and an inter-station communications manager 1145. These components may communicate electronically via one or more buses (e.g., bus 1150).

[0284] The communication manager 1110 can send a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request to the second donor node, where the first context transfer request is associated with the MT function of the relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponds to the first context transfer request and is associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node, receive confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request from the second donor node, and send one or more reconfiguration messages to the relay node based on the received confirmation feedback, where the one or more reconfiguration messages include instructions for establishing a first connection with the second donor node for one or more child nodes and the relay node.

[0285] The communication manager 1110 may also receive a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request from the first donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with the MT function of the relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and being associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node, send confirmation feedback to the first donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request, and based on sending confirmation feedback for the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request to the first donor node, receive a connection message from the relay node, the connection message requesting establishment of a first connection with the second donor node for the relay node and the one or more child nodes.

[0286] The network communications manager 1115 may manage communications with the core network (eg, via one or more wired backhaul links). For example, the network communications manager 1115 may manage the transfer of data communications for client devices (eg, one or more UEs 115).

[0287] The transceiver 1120 can communicate bidirectionally via one or more antennas, wired, or wireless links as described herein. For example, the transceiver 1120 can represent a wireless transceiver and can communicate bidirectionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 1120 can also include a modem for modulating packets and providing the modulated packets to the antenna for transmission, and demodulating packets received from the antenna.

[0288] In some cases, a wireless device may include a single antenna 1125. However, in some cases, a device may have more than one antenna 1125, which may be capable of concurrently sending or receiving multiple wireless transmissions.

[0289] The memory 1130 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM), or a combination thereof. The memory 1130 may store computer-readable code 1135 including instructions that, when executed by a processor (e.g., processor 1140), cause the device to perform the various functions described herein. In some cases, the memory 1130 may include, for example, a basic I / O system (BIOS), which may control basic hardware or software operations, such as interaction with peripheral components or devices.

[0290] The processor 1140 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof). In some cases, the processor 1140 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some cases, the memory controller may be integrated into the processor 1140. The processor 1140 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 1130) to cause the device 1105 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks that support enhanced context transfer of an IAB node).

[0291] The inter-site communication manager 1145 can manage communications with other base stations 105 and can include a controller or scheduler for cooperating with other base stations 105 to control communications with UE 115. For example, the inter-site communication manager 1145 can coordinate the scheduling of transmissions to UE 115 for various interference mitigation techniques such as beamforming or joint transmission. In some examples, the inter-site communication manager 1145 can provide an X2 interface within an LTE / LTE-A wireless communication network technology to provide communications between base stations 105.

[0292] The code 1135 may include instructions for implementing various aspects of the present disclosure, including instructions for supporting wireless communications. The code 1135 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as system memory or other types of memory. In some cases, the code 1135 may not be directly executable by the processor 1140, but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform the functions described herein.

[0293] Figure 12 A flow chart illustrating a method 1200 for supporting enhanced context transfer for an IAB node according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1200 may be implemented by a base station 105 or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1200 may be performed by a communication manager, as described with reference to FIG. Figures 8 to 11 In some examples, the first donor node or base station may execute a set of instructions to control functional elements of the first donor node or base station to perform the functions described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the first donor node or base station may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the functions described herein.

[0294] At 1205, the first donor node may send a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request to the second donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with the MT function of the relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and being associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node. Operation 1205 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of operation 1205 may be performed by a context transfer request manager, as described with reference to Figures 8 to 11 described.

[0295] At 1210, the first donor node may receive confirmation feedback from the second donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request. Operation 1210 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of operation 1210 may be performed by a confirmation feedback manager, such as in reference to Figures 8 to 11 described.

[0296] At 1215, the first donor node may send one or more reconfiguration messages to the relay node based on receiving the confirmation feedback, the one or more reconfiguration messages including instructions for one or more child nodes and the relay node to establish a first connection with the second donor node. Operation 1215 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of operation 1215 may be performed by a reconfiguration message manager, as described with reference to Figures 8 to 11 described.

[0297] Figure 13A flow chart illustrating a method 1300 for supporting enhanced context transfer for an IAB node according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1300 may be implemented by a base station 105 or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1300 may be performed by a communication manager, as described with reference to FIG. Figures 8 to 11 In some examples, the first donor node or base station may execute a set of instructions to control functional elements of the first donor node or base station to perform the functions described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the first donor node or base station may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the functions described herein.

[0298] At 1305, the first donor node may send a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request to the second donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with the MT function of the relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and being associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node. Operation 1305 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of operation 1305 may be performed by a context transfer request manager, as described with reference to Figures 8 to 11 described.

[0299] At 1310, the first donor node may include a migration process identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request in the second context transfer request. Operation 1310 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of operation 1310 may be performed by a migration process identifier manager, as described with reference to Figures 8 to 11 described.

[0300] At 1315, the first donor node receives confirmation feedback from the second donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request. Operation 1315 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of operation 1315 may be performed by a confirmation feedback manager, such as described in reference to Figures 8 to 11 described.

[0301] At 1320, the first donor node may send one or more reconfiguration messages to the relay node based on receiving the confirmation feedback, the one or more reconfiguration messages including instructions for one or more child nodes and the relay node to establish a first connection with the second donor node. Operation 1320 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of operation 1320 may be performed by a reconfiguration message manager, as described with reference to Figures 8 to 11 described.

[0302] Figure 14A flow chart illustrating a method 1400 for supporting enhanced context transfer for an IAB node according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1400 may be implemented by a base station 105 or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1400 may be performed by a communication manager, as described with reference to FIG. Figures 8 to 11 In some examples, the second donor node or base station may execute a set of instructions to control functional elements of the second donor node or base station to perform the functions described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the second donor node or base station may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the functions described herein.

[0303] At 1405, the second donor node may receive a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request from the first donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with the MT function of the relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and being associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node. Operation 1405 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of operation 1405 may be performed by a context transfer request manager, as described with reference to Figures 8 to 11 described.

[0304] At 1410, the second donor node may send confirmation feedback to the first donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request. Operation 1410 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of operation 1410 may be performed by a confirmation feedback manager, such as with reference to FIG. Figures 8 to 11 described.

[0305] At 1415, the second donor node may receive a connection message from the relay node based on sending confirmation feedback for the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request to the first donor node, the connection message requesting to establish a first connection with the second donor node for the relay node and the one or more child nodes. Operation 1415 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of operation 1415 may be performed by a connection message manager, as described with reference to Figures 8 to 11 described.

[0306] Figure 15 A flow chart illustrating a method 1500 for supporting enhanced context transfer for an IAB node according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1500 may be implemented by a base station 105 or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1500 may be performed by a communication manager, as described with reference to FIG. Figures 8 to 11In some examples, the second donor node or base station may execute a set of instructions to control functional elements of the second donor node or base station to perform the functions described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the second donor node or base station may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the functions described herein.

[0307] At 1505, the second donor node may receive a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request from the first donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with the MT function of the relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and being associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node. Operation 1505 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of operation 1505 may be performed by a context transfer request manager, as described with reference to Figures 8 to 11 described.

[0308] At 1510, the second donor node sends confirmation feedback to the first donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request. Operation 1510 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of operation 1510 may be performed by a confirmation feedback manager, such as in reference to Figures 8 to 11 described.

[0309] At 1515, the second donor node may receive a connection message from the relay node based on sending confirmation feedback for the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request to the first donor node, the connection message requesting to establish a first connection with the second donor node for the relay node and one or more child nodes. Operation 1515 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of operation 1515 may be performed by a connection message manager, such as with reference to Figures 8 to 11 described.

[0310] At 1520, the second donor node may send a connection release message to the first donor node based on receiving the connection message, the connection release message instructing the first donor node to release the second connection with the one or more child nodes. Operation 1520 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of operation 1520 may be performed by a connection release manager, such as with reference to Figures 8 to 11 described.

[0311] The following provides an overview of various aspects of the present disclosure:

[0312] Aspect 1: A method for wireless communication at a first donor node, comprising: sending a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request to a second donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with an MT function of a relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to the first context transfer request and being associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node; receiving confirmation feedback from the second donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request; and sending one or more reconfiguration messages to the relay node based at least in part on receiving the confirmation feedback, the one or more reconfiguration messages including instructions for establishing a first connection with the second donor node for the one or more child nodes and the relay node.

[0313] Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, wherein sending the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request comprises: sending a single message including the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request.

[0314] Aspect 3: The method of aspect 2, wherein the single message is a handover request message, a secondary node addition request message, a secondary node change request message, or a secondary node modification request message.

[0315] Aspect 4: The method of aspect 1, wherein sending the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request comprises: sending a first message including the first context transfer request; and sending a second message including the second context transfer request.

[0316] Aspect 5: The method of Aspect 4, wherein the first message is a switching request message, a secondary node adding request message or a secondary node modifying request message; and the second message is a switching request message, a secondary node adding request message, a secondary node changing request message or a secondary node modifying request message.

[0317] Aspect 6: The method of any one of Aspects 1 to 5, further comprising: including a migration process identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request in the second context transfer request, wherein receiving the confirmation feedback is based at least in part on the migration process identifier.

[0318] Aspect 7: The method of Aspect 6, wherein the migration process identifier matches a second migration process identifier included in the first context transfer request, the second migration process identifier comprising a tag associated with the first context transfer request, one or more device identifiers for one or more child nodes, or a combination thereof.

[0319] Aspect 8: The method of any one of Aspects 6 to 7, wherein the migration process identifier comprises a device identifier for the relay node, the device identifier being associated with the base station interface communication between the first donor node and the second donor node.

[0320] Aspect 9: The method of any one of Aspects 6 to 8, wherein the migration process identifier includes address information allocated to the relay node by the second donor node.

[0321] Aspect 10: The method of aspect 9, further comprising: receiving an indication of a migration procedure identifier from the second donor node or the relay node, wherein including the migration procedure identifier in the second context transfer request is based at least in part on receiving the indication of the migration procedure identifier.

[0322] Aspect 11: The method of Aspect 10 further includes: sending a request for an indication of a migration process identifier to a second donor node or relay node, wherein receiving the indication of the migration process identifier from the second donor node or relay node is at least partially based on sending the request for an indication of the migration process identifier.

[0323] Aspect 12: The method of any one of Aspects 1 to 11 further includes: sending a third context transfer request corresponding to the second context transfer request to the second donor node, the third context transfer request being associated with the MT function of one or more additional child nodes of the relay node, the one or more additional child nodes being associated with the DU function of one or more child nodes, or a combination thereof.

[0324] Aspect 13: The method of Aspect 12, wherein a single message includes the first context transfer request, the second context transfer request, and the third context transfer request.

[0325] Aspect 14: The method of Aspect 12, wherein the first message includes a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request, and the second message includes a third context transfer request.

[0326] Aspect 15: The method of Aspect 12, wherein the first message includes a first context transfer request, the second message includes a second context transfer request, and the third message includes a third context transfer request.

[0327] Aspect 16: The method of any one of Aspects 1 to 15, further comprising: including in the first context transfer request an indication of one or more context transfer requests to be sent.

[0328] Aspect 17: The method of Aspect 16, wherein the first message comprises a first context transfer request, and the indication of one or more context transfer requests to be sent comprises a second context transfer request in the first message.

[0329] Aspect 18: The method of Aspect 16, wherein the first message comprises a first context transfer request, and the indication of one or more context transfer requests to be sent comprises a second context transfer request in the second message.

[0330] Aspect 19: The method of any one of Aspects 1 to 18 further includes: in a first message including a first context transfer request, including an indication of the number of one or more subsequent context transfer requests corresponding to the first context transfer request, the one or more subsequent context transfer requests including a second context transfer request; and in a second message including a second context transfer request, including an indication of the number of one or more previously sent context transfer requests corresponding to the second context transfer request.

[0331] Aspect 20: The method of any one of Aspects 1 to 18, further comprising: including in the first context transfer request or the second context transfer request an indication that no subsequent context transfer request is imminent.

[0332] Aspect 21: The method of any one of Aspects 1 to 20, further comprising: including a depth value in the first context transfer request, the depth value indicating the number of hops in the node chain including the relay node and the one or more child nodes.

[0333] Aspect 22: The method of any one of Aspects 1 to 21 further includes: receiving an indication of the maximum number of corresponding context transfer requests that the second donor node can process in a single message from the second donor node; and configuring a single message including the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request, or a first message including the first context transfer request and a second message including the second context transfer request, based at least in part on receiving the indication of the maximum number.

[0334] Aspect 23: The method of Aspect 22, further comprising: sending a request for the maximum number to the second donor node, wherein receiving the indication of the maximum number is based at least in part on sending the request for the maximum number.

[0335] Aspect 24: The method of any one of Aspects 1 to 23 further includes: in response to sending a first message including a first context transfer request, receiving a migration process identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request from a second donor node; and including the migration process identifier in a second message including a second context transfer request.

[0336] Aspect 25: The method of Aspect 24 further includes: including in the first message an indication that the first context transfer request is associated with the MT function of the relay node, wherein receiving the migration process identifier from the second donor node is at least partially based on the indication that the first context transfer request is associated with the MT function of the relay node.

[0337] Aspect 26: The method of any one of Aspects 24 to 25, further comprising: including in the first context transfer request message an indication of one or more context transfer requests to be sent, wherein receiving the migration process identifier from the second donor node is at least partially based on the indication of the subsequent context transfer request.

[0338] Aspect 27: The method of any one of Aspects 1 to 26, further comprising: including in the second context transfer request a cell identifier associated with the first donor node for the cell served by the DU function of the relay node, wherein receiving confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is at least partially based on including the cell identifier of the cell served by the DU of the relay node.

[0339] Aspect 28: The method of any one of Aspects 1 to 27, further comprising: including in the second context transfer request a cell identifier associated with the second donor node for a cell not served by the second donor node, wherein receiving confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is at least partially based on including the cell identifier for the cell not served by the second donor node.

[0340] Aspect 29: The method of Aspect 28 further includes: sending a request for a list of cell identifiers served by the second donor node to the second donor node; and receiving a list of cell identifiers served by the second donor node from the second donor node, wherein the list includes cell identifiers associated with the second donor node for cells not served by the second donor node based at least in part on receiving the list of cell identifiers served by the second donor node.

[0341] Aspect 30: The method of any one of Aspects 1 to 29, wherein receiving confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request includes: receiving a confirmation message including confirmation feedback on the first context transfer request and confirmation feedback on the second context transfer request.

[0342] Aspect 31: The method of Aspect 30, wherein the confirmation message includes one of a handover request confirmation message, a secondary node addition request confirmation message, a secondary node modification request confirmation message, or a secondary node change confirmation message.

[0343] Aspect 32: The method of any one of Aspects 1 to 29, wherein receiving confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request includes: receiving a first confirmation message including confirmation feedback on the first context transfer request; and receiving a second confirmation message including confirmation feedback on the second context transfer request.

[0344] Aspect 33: The method of Aspect 32, wherein the first confirmation message includes one of a switching request confirmation message, a secondary node adding request confirmation message, a secondary node modification request confirmation message or a secondary node change confirmation message, and the second confirmation message includes one of a switching request confirmation message, a secondary node adding request confirmation message, a secondary node modification request confirmation message or a secondary node change confirmation message.

[0345] Aspect 34: The method of any one of Aspects 1 to 33 further includes: sending an indication of the maximum amount of confirmation feedback that the first donor node can process in a single confirmation feedback message to the second donor node, wherein receiving the confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is at least partially based on sending the indication of the maximum amount of confirmation feedback.

[0346] Aspect 35: The method of Aspect 34, further comprising: receiving a request for a maximum amount of acknowledgment feedback from the second donor node, wherein sending the indication of the maximum amount of acknowledgment feedback is based at least in part on receiving the request for the maximum amount of acknowledgment feedback.

[0347] Aspect 36: The method of any one of Aspects 1 to 35, wherein the one or more sub-nodes include a UE served by a relay node, one or more UEs served by a descendant relay node of the relay node, an MT function of one or more additional relay nodes served by the relay node, an MT function of one or more descendant relay nodes of the relay node, or a combination thereof.

[0348] Aspect 37: The method of any one of Aspects 1 to 36 further includes: sending one or more reconfiguration messages to the relay node based at least in part on receiving confirmation feedback, the one or more reconfiguration messages including instructions for releasing one or more second connections with the first donor node, the relay node, or both, for one or more child nodes or relay nodes, or both.

[0349] Aspect 38: A method for wireless communication at a second donor node, comprising: receiving a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request from a first donor node, the first context transfer request being associated with an MT function of a relay node, and the second context transfer request corresponding to a context transfer request and associated with one or more child nodes of the relay node; sending confirmation feedback to the first donor node in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request; and receiving a connection message from the relay node based at least in part on sending confirmation feedback for the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request to the first donor node, the connection message requesting establishment of a first connection with the second donor node for the relay node and the one or more child nodes.

[0350] Aspect 39: The method of Aspect 38, wherein receiving the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request comprises: receiving a single message comprising the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request.

[0351] Aspect 40: The method of Aspect 39, wherein the single message is a handover request message, a secondary node addition request message, a secondary node change request message, or a secondary node modification request message.

[0352] Aspect 41: The method of Aspect 38, wherein receiving the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request comprises: receiving a first message including the first context transfer request; and receiving a second message including the second context transfer request.

[0353] Aspect 42: The method of Aspect 41, wherein the first message is a switching request message, a secondary node adding request message or a secondary node modifying request message; and the second message is a switching request message, a secondary node adding request message, a secondary node changing request message or a secondary node modifying request message.

[0354] Aspect 42: The method of any one of Aspects 38 to 42, further comprising: identifying, in the second context transfer request, a migration process identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request, wherein sending the confirmation feedback is based at least in part on identifying the migration process identifier.

[0355] Aspect 44: The method of Aspect 43, wherein the migration process identifier matches a second migration process identifier included in the first context transfer request, the second migration process identifier comprising a tag associated with the first context transfer request, one or more device identifiers for one or more child nodes, or a combination thereof.

[0356] Aspect 45: The method of any one of Aspects 43 to 44, wherein the migration process identifier comprises a device identifier for the relay node, the device identifier being associated with base station interface communications between the first donor node and the second donor node.

[0357] Aspect 46: The method of any one of Aspects 43 to 45, wherein the migration process identifier comprises address information allocated to the relay node by the second donor node.

[0358] Aspect 47: The method of Aspect 46, further comprising: sending an indication of the migration process identifier to the first donor node, wherein identifying the migration process identifier in the second context transfer request is based at least in part on sending the indication of the migration process identifier to the first donor node.

[0359] Aspect 48: The method of Aspect 47, further comprising: receiving a request for an indication of the migration procedure identifier from the first donor node, wherein sending the indication of the migration procedure identifier is based at least in part on receiving the request for the indication of the migration procedure identifier.

[0360] Aspect 49: The method of any one of Aspects 38 to 48 further includes: receiving a third context transfer request corresponding to the second context transfer request from the first donor node, the third context transfer request being associated with the MT function of one or more additional child nodes of the relay node, the one or more additional child nodes being associated with the DU function of one or more child nodes, or a combination thereof.

[0361] Aspect 50: The method of Aspect 49, wherein a single message includes the first context transfer request, the second context transfer request, and the third context transfer request.

[0362] Aspect 51: The method of Aspect 49, wherein the first message includes a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request, and the second message includes a third context transfer request.

[0363] Aspect 52: The method of Aspect 49, wherein the first message comprises a first context transfer request, the second message comprises a second context transfer request, and the third message comprises a third context transfer request.

[0364] Aspect 53: The method of any one of Aspects 38 to 52, further comprising: identifying, in the first context transfer request, an indication of one or more context transfer requests to be sent.

[0365] Aspect 54: The method of Aspect 53, wherein the first message comprises a first context transfer request, and the indication of one or more context transfer requests to be sent comprises a second context transfer request in the first message.

[0366] Aspect 55: The method of Aspect 54, wherein the number of the one or more additional context transfer requests in the first transfer request message exceeds a processing capability per received message of the second donor node.

[0367] Aspect 56: The method of any one of Aspects 38 to 55, further comprising: in a first message including a first context transfer request, identifying an indication of the number of one or more subsequent context transfer requests to be sent corresponding to the first context transfer request, the one or more subsequent context transfer requests including a second context transfer request; and in a second message including the second context transfer request, identifying an indication of the number of one or more previously sent context transfer requests corresponding to the second context transfer request.

[0368] Aspect 57: The method of any one of Aspects 38 to 55, further comprising: identifying an indication in the first context transfer request or the second context transfer request that no subsequent context transfer request is imminent.

[0369] Aspect 58: The method of any one of Aspects 38 to 57, further comprising: identifying, in the first context transfer request, a depth value indicating a number of hops in a node chain comprising the relay node and the one or more child nodes.

[0370] Aspect 59: The method of any one of Aspects 38 to 58 further includes: sending an indication to the first donor node of the maximum number of corresponding context transfer requests that the second donor node can process in a single message, wherein receiving the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is at least partially based on sending the indication of the maximum number.

[0371] Aspect 60: The method of Aspect 59, further comprising: receiving a request for a maximum number from the first donor node, wherein sending the indication of the maximum number is based at least in part on receiving the request for the maximum number.

[0372] Aspect 61: The method of any one of Aspects 38 to 60 further includes: in response to receiving a first message including a first context transfer request, sending a migration process identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request to the first donor node; and identifying the migration process identifier in a second message including a second context transfer request.

[0373] Aspect 62: The method of Aspect 61 further includes: identifying in the first message an indication that the first context transfer request is associated with the MT function of the relay node, wherein sending the migration process identifier to the first donor node is at least partially based on the indication that the first context transfer request is associated with the MT function of the relay node.

[0374] Aspect 63: The method of any one of Aspects 61 to 62, further comprising: identifying in the first message an indication of one or more context transfer requests to be sent, wherein sending the migration process identifier from the second donor node is at least partially based on the indication of one or more context transfer requests to be sent.

[0375] Aspect 64: The method of any one of Aspects 38 to 63 further includes: identifying a cell identifier associated with the first donor node for a cell served by the DU function of the relay node in the second context transfer request; and determining, based at least in part on the cell identifier, that the second context transfer request corresponds to the first context transfer request, wherein sending confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is based at least in part on determining that the second context transfer request corresponds to the first context transfer request.

[0376] Aspect 65: The method of any one of Aspects 38 to 64 further includes: identifying a cell identifier associated with the second donor node for a cell not served by the second donor node in the second context transfer request; and determining that the second context transfer request corresponds to the first context transfer request based at least in part on the cell identifier of the cell not served by the second donor node, wherein sending confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is based at least in part on determining that the second context transfer request corresponds to the first context transfer request.

[0377] Aspect 66: The method of Aspect 65 further includes: receiving a request for a list of cell identifiers served by the second donor node from the first donor node; and sending the list of cell identifiers served by the second donor node to the first donor node, wherein the cell identifier associated with the second donor node for identifying cells not served by the second donor node is at least partially based on the list of cell identifiers served by the second donor node.

[0378] Aspect 67: The method of any one of Aspects 38 to 66, wherein sending confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request includes: sending a confirmation message including confirmation feedback on the first context transfer request and confirmation feedback on the second context transfer request.

[0379] Aspect 68: The method of Aspect 67, wherein the confirmation message comprises one of a handover request confirmation message, a secondary node addition request confirmation message, a secondary node modification request confirmation message, or a secondary node change confirmation message.

[0380] Aspect 69: The method of any one of Aspects 38 to 66, wherein sending confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request includes: sending a first confirmation message including confirmation feedback on the first context transfer request; and sending a second confirmation message including confirmation feedback on the second context transfer request.

[0381] Aspect 70: The method of Aspect 69, wherein the first confirmation message includes one of a switching request confirmation message, a secondary node adding request confirmation message, a secondary node modification request confirmation message or a secondary node change confirmation message, and the second confirmation message includes one of a switching request confirmation message, a secondary node adding request confirmation message, a secondary node modification request confirmation message or a secondary node change confirmation message.

[0382] Aspect 71: The method of any one of Aspects 38 to 70 further includes: receiving an indication of a maximum amount of confirmation feedback that the first donor node can process in a single confirmation feedback message from the first donor node, wherein sending the confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is at least partially based on the indication of the maximum amount of received confirmation feedback.

[0383] Aspect 72: The method of Aspect 71, further comprising: sending a request for a maximum amount of acknowledgment feedback to the first donor node, wherein receiving an indication of the maximum amount of acknowledgment feedback is based at least in part on sending the request for the maximum amount of acknowledgment feedback.

[0384] Aspect 73: The method of any one of Aspects 38 to 72, wherein the one or more sub-nodes include a UE served by a relay node, one or more UEs served by a descendant relay node of the relay node, an MT function of one or more additional relay nodes served by the relay node, an MT function of one or more descendant relay nodes of the relay node, or a combination thereof.

[0385] Aspect 74: An apparatus for wireless communication at a first donor node, comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executed by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of aspects 1 to 37.

[0386] Aspect 75: An apparatus for wireless communication at a first donor node, comprising at least one means for performing the method of any one of aspects 1 to 37.

[0387] Aspect 76: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a first donor node, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform the method of any one of aspects 1 to 37.

[0388] Aspect 77: An apparatus for wireless communication at a second donor node, comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of aspects 38 to 73.

[0389] Aspect 78: An apparatus for wireless communication at a second donor node, comprising at least one means for performing the method of any one of Aspects 38 to 73.

[0390] Aspect 79: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a second donor node, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform the method of any one of aspects 38 to 73.

[0391] It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possible implementations, and that the operations and steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified, and other implementations are possible. Furthermore, aspects from two or more methods may be combined.

[0392] Although aspects of LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR systems may be described for purposes of example, and the terminology of LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR may be used throughout much of the description, the techniques described herein are applicable beyond LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR networks. For example, the techniques described herein are applicable to various other wireless communication systems, such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WIMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, and other systems and wireless technologies not explicitly mentioned herein.

[0393] Any of a variety of different technologies and methods may be used to represent the information and signals described herein. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips mentioned throughout the description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0394] The various exemplary blocks and components described in conjunction with the present disclosure may be implemented or executed by a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, CPU, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof for performing the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative embodiment, the processor may be any processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a DSP core, or any other such configuration).

[0395] The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored in a computer-readable medium or transmitted as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, the functions described above may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or any combination thereof. Features that implement the functions may also be physically located in various locations, including being distributed so that parts of the functions are implemented at different physical locations.

[0396] Computer readable medium includes non-transitory computer storage medium and communication medium, and wherein communication medium includes any medium that is convenient to transmit computer program from one place to another place.Non-transitory storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by general-purpose computer or special-purpose computer.By way of example and not limitation, non-transitory computer readable medium can include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, compact disc (CD) ROM or other optical disc storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage device or can be used for carrying or storing the program code unit with instruction or data structure form and can be accessed by general-purpose computer or special-purpose computer or general processor or special-purpose processor any other medium.In addition, any connection can be appropriately referred to as computer readable medium.For example, if software is to be transmitted from website, server or other remote source using coaxial cable, optical fiber cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) or wireless technology such as infrared, wireless and microwave, so coaxial cable, optical fiber cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technology such as infrared, wireless and microwave are included in the definition of described medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs use lasers to reproduce data optically. The above combinations should also be included within the scope of protection of computer-readable media.

[0397] As used herein, including in the claims, "or" used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items beginning with a phrase such as "at least one" or "one or more") means an inclusive list, so that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Moreover, as used herein, the phrase "based on" should not be interpreted as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an exemplary step described as "based on condition A" can be based on both condition A and condition B without departing from the scope of this disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase "based on" should be interpreted in the same manner as the phrase "based at least in part on."

[0398] As used herein, the terms "determine" or "determining" include various actions, and thus, "determining" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., via looking up in a table, a database, or another data structure), determining, etc. Furthermore, "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), etc. Furthermore, "determining" may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, and other similar actions.

[0399] In the accompanying drawings, similar components or features may have the same reference label. In addition, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label with a dash and a second label that distinguishes the similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description applies to any similar component having the same first reference label, regardless of the second or subsequent reference labels.

[0400] The description set forth herein in conjunction with the accompanying drawings describes exemplary configurations and does not represent all examples that may be implemented or within the scope of the claims. The term "exemplary" as used herein means "serving as an example, instance, or illustration," rather than "preferred" or "superior to other examples." The detailed description includes specific details to provide an understanding of the described techniques. However, these techniques may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.

[0401] The description herein is provided to enable those skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein, but should be given the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication at a first donor node, comprising: sending a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request to a second donor node, wherein the first context transfer request is for a mobile terminating function of a relay node and the second context transfer request is for one or more child nodes served by a distributed unit function of the relay node, wherein the second context transfer request includes a migration procedure identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request, and wherein the migration procedure identifier indicates that the second context transfer request is for the one or more child nodes served by the distributed unit function of the relay node; receiving, from the second donor node, confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request based at least in part on the migration procedure identifier included in the second context transfer request; and One or more reconfiguration messages are sent to the relay node based at least in part on receiving the confirmation feedback, the one or more reconfiguration messages including instructions for the one or more child nodes and the relay node to establish a first connection with the second donor node.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein Sending the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request includes: A single message is sent that includes the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein Sending the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request includes: sending a first message including the first context transfer request; and A second message including the second context transfer request is sent.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A third context transfer request corresponding to the second context transfer request is sent to the second donor node, wherein the third context transfer request is associated with a mobile termination function of one or more additional child nodes of the relay node, one or more additional child nodes associated with a distributed unit function of the one or more child nodes, or a combination thereof.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: An indication of one or more context transfer requests to be sent is included in the first context transfer request.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: In a first message including the first context transfer request, an indication of a number of one or more subsequent context transfer requests corresponding to the first context transfer request is included, the one or more subsequent context transfer requests including the second context transfer request.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A depth value indicating the number of hops relative to the relay node in a node chain including the relay node and the one or more child nodes is included in the first context transfer request.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from the second donor node, an indication of a maximum number of corresponding context transfer requests that the second donor node can process in a single message; as well as Based at least in part on receiving the indication of the maximum number, configuring a single message including the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request, or a first message including the first context transfer request and a second message including the second context transfer request.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving, in response to sending a first message including the first context transfer request, from the second donor node the migration process identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request; as well as The migration procedure identifier is included in a second message including the second context transfer request.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: including, in the second context transfer request, a cell identifier associated with the first donor node for a cell served by the distributed unit function of the relay node, wherein receiving the confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is based at least in part on including the cell identifier for the cell served by the distributed unit function of the relay node.

11. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: and including, in the second context transfer request, a cell identifier associated with the second donor node for a cell not served by the second donor node, wherein receiving the confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is based at least in part on including the cell identifier for the cell not served by the second donor node.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein Receiving the confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request includes: A confirmation message including confirmation feedback for the first context transfer request and confirmation feedback for the second context transfer request is received.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein Receiving the confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request includes: receiving a first confirmation message including confirmation feedback of the first context transfer request; and A second confirmation message including confirmation feedback for the second context transfer request is received.

14. A method for wireless communication at a second donor node, comprising: receiving a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request from a first donor node, wherein the first context transfer request is for a mobile terminating function of a relay node and the second context transfer request is for one or more child nodes served by a distributed unit function of the relay node, wherein the second context transfer request includes a migration procedure identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request, and wherein the migration procedure identifier indicates that the second context transfer request is for the one or more child nodes served by the distributed unit function of the relay node; sending, to the first donor node, confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request based at least in part on the migration procedure identifier included in the second context transfer request; and At least in part based on sending the confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request to the first donor node, receiving a connection message from the relay node, the connection message being used to request establishment of a first connection with the second donor node for the relay node and the one or more child nodes.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein Receiving the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request includes: A single message including the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is received.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein Receiving the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request includes: receiving a first message including the first context transfer request; and A second message including the second context transfer request is received.

17. The method according to claim 14, further comprising: A third context transfer request corresponding to the second context transfer request is received from the first donor node, wherein the third context transfer request is associated with a mobile termination function of one or more additional child nodes of the relay node, one or more additional child nodes associated with a distributed unit function of the one or more child nodes, or a combination thereof.

18. The method according to claim 14, further comprising: An indication of one or more context transfer requests to send is identified in the first context transfer request.

19. The method according to claim 14, further comprising: In a first message including the first context transfer request, an indication of a number of one or more subsequent context transfer requests to be sent corresponding to the first context transfer request, the one or more subsequent context transfer requests including the second context transfer request, is identified.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising: A depth value indicating a number of hops relative to the relay node in a node chain including the relay node and the one or more child nodes is identified in the first context transfer request.

21. The method of claim 14, further comprising: sending, to the first donor node, an indication of a maximum number of corresponding context transfer requests that the second donor node can process in a single message, wherein receiving the first and second context transfer requests is based at least in part on sending the indication of the maximum number.

22. The method of claim 14, further comprising: In response to receiving a first message including the first context transfer request, sending the migration process identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request to the first donor node; as well as The migration procedure identifier is identified in a second message comprising the second context transfer request.

23. The method of claim 14, further comprising: identifying, in the second context transfer request, a cell identifier associated with the first donor node for a cell served by the distributed unit of the relay node; as well as A determination is made based at least in part on the cell identifier that the second context transfer request corresponds to the first context transfer request, wherein sending the confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is based at least in part on determining that the second context transfer request corresponds to the first context transfer request.

24. The method of claim 14, further comprising: identifying, in the second context transfer request, a cell identifier associated with the second donor node for a cell not served by the second donor node; as well as Based at least in part on the cell identifier not served by the second donor node, determining that the second context transfer request corresponds to the first context transfer request, wherein sending the confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request is based at least in part on determining that the second context transfer request corresponds to the first context transfer request.

25. The method according to claim 14, wherein Sending the confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request includes: Sending a confirmation message including confirmation feedback of the first context transfer request and confirmation feedback of the second context transfer request.

26. The method according to claim 14, wherein Sending the confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request includes: sending a first confirmation message including confirmation feedback of the first context transfer request; and A second confirmation message including confirmation feedback for the second context transfer request is sent.

27. An apparatus for wireless communication at a first donor node, comprising: processor; a memory coupled to the processor; as well as Instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the device to perform the following operations: sending a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request to a second donor node, wherein the first context transfer request is for a mobile terminating function of a relay node and the second context transfer request is for one or more child nodes served by a distributed unit function of the relay node, wherein the second context transfer request includes a migration procedure identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request, and wherein the migration procedure identifier indicates that the second context transfer request is for the one or more child nodes served by the distributed unit function of the relay node; receiving, from the second donor node, confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request based at least in part on the migration procedure identifier included in the second context transfer request; and One or more reconfiguration messages are sent to the relay node based at least in part on receiving the confirmation feedback, the one or more reconfiguration messages including instructions for the one or more child nodes and the relay node to establish a first connection with the second donor node.

28. An apparatus for wireless communication at a second donor node, comprising: processor; a memory coupled to the processor; as well as Instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the device to perform the following operations: receiving a first context transfer request and a second context transfer request from a first donor node, wherein the first context transfer request is for a mobile terminating function of a relay node and the second context transfer request is for one or more child nodes served by a distributed unit function of the relay node, wherein the second context transfer request includes a migration procedure identifier corresponding to the first context transfer request, and wherein the migration procedure identifier indicates that the second context transfer request is for the one or more child nodes served by the distributed unit function of the relay node; sending, to the first donor node, confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request based at least in part on the migration procedure identifier included in the second context transfer request; and At least in part based on sending the confirmation feedback in response to the first context transfer request and the second context transfer request to the first donor node, receiving a connection message from the relay node, the connection message being used to request establishment of a first connection with the second donor node for the relay node and the one or more child nodes.

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