System and method for multi-hop configuration to reduce latency in IAB networks

Abstract

To provide a wireless communication system and method including an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network for improving efficiency.SOLUTION: A method for establishing a backhaul radio link control (RLC) channel comprises: generating a backhaul adaptation protocol (BAP) protocol data unit (PDU) including a BAP header that includes a destination field, a path field, and bits configured to indicate whether the destination field contains a unicast address or a multicast address; generating a multicast radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message including the BAP PDU; and processing unicast RRC reconfiguration completion messages received from multiple IAB nodes using the BAP in response to the transmission of the multicast RRC reconfiguration message.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This application relates generally to wireless communication systems, including Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) networks. [Background technology]

[0002] Wireless mobile communication technologies use various standards and protocols to transmit data between base stations and wireless mobile devices, including the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®) Long Term Evolution (LTE) (e.g., 4G) or New Radio (NR) (e.g., 5G), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard, commonly known to industry groups as worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), and the IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless local area networks (WLANs), commonly known to industry groups as Wi-Fi. In a 3GPP radio access network (RAN) of an LTE system, a base station may include a RAN node, such as an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node B (also commonly referred to as an evolved Node B, enhanced Node B, eNodeB, or eNB) and / or an E-UTRAN Radio Network Controller (RNC), which communicates with wireless communication devices known as user equipment (UE). In a fifth-generation (5G) wireless RAN, a RAN node may include a 5G node, an NR node (also referred to as a next-generation Node B, or gNode B (gNB)).

[0003] The RAN communicates between RAN nodes and UEs using radio access technologies (RATs). RANs may include global system for mobile communications (GSM), enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE) RAN (GERAN), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), and / or E-UTRAN, which provide access to communication services via a core network. Each RAN operates according to a particular 3GPP RAT. For example, GERAN implements GSM and / or EDGE RATs, UTRAN implements universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) RAT or other 3GPP RATs, E-UTRAN implements LTE RATs, and NG-RAN implements 5G RATs. In certain deployments, E-UTRAN may also implement a 5G RAT. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0004] To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit(s) of a reference number refers to the number of the figure in which that element is first introduced.

[0005] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) network.

[0006] [Figure 2A] FIG. 1 illustrates a signaling diagram of an example IAB network and corresponding BH RLC channel setup, according to one embodiment.

[0007] [Figure 2B] FIG. 1 illustrates a signaling diagram of an example IAB network with a backup link and corresponding BH RLC channel setup according to one embodiment.

[0008] [Figure 3] 10 illustrates a BAP PDU including a BAP header that may be modified according to one embodiment.

[0009] [Figure 4] FIG. 1 illustrates a signaling diagram of an IAB network and corresponding BH RLC channel setup with BAP header modification according to one embodiment.

[0010] [Figure 5] FIG. 1 illustrates a method according to one embodiment.

[0011] [Figure 6] FIG. 1 illustrates an IAB network and corresponding signaling diagram of a BH RLC channel setup with configuration transfer according to one embodiment.

[0012] [Figure 7] FIG. 1 illustrates a signaling diagram of an IAB network and corresponding BH RLC channel setup according to one embodiment.

[0013] [Figure 8] FIG. 1 illustrates a signaling diagram of an IAB network with a backup link and corresponding BH RLC channel setup according to one embodiment.

[0014] [Figure 9] FIG. 1 illustrates a method according to one embodiment.

[0015] [Figure 10] FIG. 1 illustrates an example MAC CE according to one embodiment.

[0016] [Figure 11] FIG. 1 illustrates a method according to one embodiment.

[0017] [Figure 12] FIG. 1 illustrates an infrastructure facility according to one embodiment.

[0018] [Figure 13] FIG. 1 illustrates a platform according to one embodiment.

[0019] [Figure 14] FIG. 2 illustrates components according to one embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0020] This disclosure relates to Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB), a feature designed by 3GPP to enable multi-hop routing. An IAB node serves as an access node to a UE and also provides a backhaul (BH) link to other IAB nodes. In wireless backhaul, the IP layer is carried over a Backhaul Adaptation Protocol (BAP) sublayer, which enables routing over multiple hops. The BAP allows IAB nodes to interact with each other and supports numerous functions, including, for example, mapping next-hop Radio Link Control (RLC) channels, routing to next-hop IAB nodes (both child and parent) based on traffic discrimination, indicating network events (e.g., Radio Link Failure (RLF)), data forwarding, and / or flow control feedback signaling.

[0021] On each backhaul link, BAP protocol data units (PDUs) are carried by a BH RLC channel. Multiple BH RLC channels can be configured on each BH link to enable traffic prioritization and quality of service (QoS) enforcement. BH-RLC channel mapping for BAP PDUs is performed by the BAP entity on each IAB node and IAB donor data unit (DU). In certain systems, RLC channel mapping is primarily performed via radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration messages from the donor control unit (CU) to each individual node. In some implementations of BH RLC channel establishment, separate RRC Reconfiguration messages are used to ensure setup for each hop to the final destination (at the UE).

[0022] Although the process of configuring individual IAB nodes is hop-by-hop, the configuration and messages themselves are the same across multiple IAB nodes, resulting in multiple RRCReconfiguration round-trip time latencies for this process. The latency issue is comparable for both one-to-one (1-1) and many-to-one (many-to-1) BH RLC mapping configurations. Network events such as RLF and node overload due to insufficient radio frequency (RF) coverage can cause additional delays in establishing a BH RLC channel to the UE. Therefore, applications with increased QoS, such as those requiring ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), can experience significant setup and maintenance latencies.

[0023] FIG. 1 illustrates an RRC Reconfiguration for BH RLC channel call flow in an example IAB network 100. The IAB network 100 includes an IAB donor 102 with fiber connectivity (e.g., via an NG interface) to a core network 104 (e.g., an NR core). The IAB network 100 also includes an IAB node 106 (denoted as IAB node 1) and an IAB node 108 (denoted as IAB node 2) in this example, although any number of IAB nodes, i.e., hop count, may be used to establish a connection between a UE 110 and the core network 104. The IAB donor 102 may also be referred to as a back-end node and includes a DU 112 and a CU 114. The IAB nodes 106 and 108 may also be referred to as intermediate, child, or relay nodes and each include two subcomponents: a DU (denoted as DU 116 and DU 118) and a mobile terminal (MT) (denoted as MT 120 and MT 122).

[0024] The MT comprises components that configure a network node (e.g., gNB) to operate similarly to a regular UE. For example, the protocols that a typical UE uses to connect to the network are supported in the MT, with additional extensions discussed in 3GPP Rel. 16 and Rel. 17. For example, the MT 122 enables the IAB node 108 to establish signaling radio bearers (SRBs) and / or data radio bearers (DRBs) with a parent node (IAB donor 102). The MT performs cell selection to identify which parent to join and sets up and utilizes RLC through the BAP layer, which provides the functionality to route data for different UE bearers via different paths through the network.

[0025] 1 , the IAB integration procedure 124 may include three phases (shown as Phase 1, Phase 2-1, and Phase 2-2) for an IAB node to join the IAB network 100. Phase 1 includes IAB node discovery integration, in which, for example, the IAB node 106, as a joining IAB node, may attempt to identify other IAB nodes, including the IAB node 108 and the IAB donor 102, to establish connectivity with the core network 104. For example, the IAB node 106 may perform an initial access procedure using its MT 120 functionality. In Phase 2-1, the IAB donor 102, the IAB node 106, and the IAB node 108 perform a routing update procedure to establish, between them, a routing management scheme through which data from the UE 110 (and other UEs connected to the IAB node 106) can reach the core network 104. For example, the IAB donor 102 may establish one or more BH RLC channels to one or more intermediate hops toward the IAB node 106 and update routing tables at those intermediate hops. Then, in phase 2-2, the DU 116 of the IAB node 106 is configured using the BH RLC connectivity established in phase 2-1. Once the DU 116 is set up, the IAB node 106 can provide service to the UE 110 and / or other UEs.

[0026] The UE 110 and the core network 104 may then perform a PDU session establishment / modification procedure 126, in which the UE 110 may send a measurement report 128 for the IAB node 106, and the core network 104 may send a PDU session setup request 130. However, as shown in FIG. 1, there may be multi-hop delays in receiving reconfiguration complete messages from each of the IAB nodes 108, 106, and UE 110 before the PDU session setup is complete and data flow 132 can begin between the UE 110 and the core network 104. For example, in response to the PDU session setup request 130, the IAB donor 102 sequentially sends RRCReconfiguration messages with BH information (bh-RLC-ChannelToAddModList) and receives RRCReconfigurationComplete messages from the IAB nodes 108 and 106. The IAB donor 102 then sends an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE 110 and receives an RRCReconfigurationComplete message in response, which is forwarded to the core network 104 to complete the PDU session establishment procedure. Such multi-hop delays may be undesirable for many applications.

[0027] 2A illustrates an example IAB network 202a and a corresponding BH RLC channel setup signaling diagram 204a in a certain network implementation. The IAB network 202a includes an IAB donor 206 with a fiber backhaul connection (e.g., via an NG interface) to a 5G core network 208. In this example, the IAB network 202a also includes an IAB node 210 (denoted as IAB node 1-1), an IAB node 212 (denoted as IAB node 2-1), and an IAB node 214 (denoted as IAB node 3-1). Also in this example, the IAB node 214 establishes communication between a UE 216 and the 5G core network 208 using wireless backhaul (e.g., using the NR-Uu interface). Those skilled in the art will recognize from the disclosure herein that any of the IAB nodes may also provide communication with other UEs. For example, the IAB node 210 may establish communication between a UE 218 and the 5G core network 208. As described above with respect to FIG. 1, IAB donor 206 includes a DU and a CU, and IAB node 210, IAB node 212, and IAB node 214 each include a DU and an MT.

[0028] Signaling diagram 204a illustrates a BH RLC channel setup procedure for an IAB network 202a implemented by a certain wireless network. The IAB donor 206 sends an RRCReconfiguration message 220 to an IAB node 210 and receives an RRCReconfigurationComplete message 222 in response. The IAB donor 206 then sends an RRCReconfiguration message 224 to an IAB node 212 and receives an RRCReconfigurationComplete message 226 in response. The IAB donor 206 then sends an RRCReconfiguration message 228 to an IAB node 214 and receives an RRCReconfigurationComplete message 230 in response. Finally, the IAB donor 206 sends an RRCReconfiguration message 232 to a UE 216 and receives an RRCReconfigurationComplete message 234 in response. The IAB donor 206 introduces delay into the BH RLC channel setup procedure by sequentially processing the RRCReconfiguration and RRCReconfigurationComplete messages for each hop.

[0029] As another example, FIG. 2B illustrates an example IAB network 202b with a backup link and a corresponding signaling diagram 204b of BH RLC channel setup in a certain network implementation. In this example, a preferred link between IAB node 210 and IAB node 214 is established via IAB node 212 (as shown in FIG. 2A), and a backup link between IAB node 210 and IAB node 214 is established via IAB node 236 (shown as IAB node 2-2). Signaling diagram 204b includes each of the RRCReconfiguration and RRCReconfigurationComplete messages shown in FIG. 2A, followed by additional messages to establish a path through the backup link. As shown in FIG. 2B, IAB donor 206 sends an RRCReconfiguration message 238 to IAB node 210 and receives an RRCReconfigurationComplete message 240. IAB donor 206 then sends an RRCReconfiguration message 242 to IAB node 236 and receives a responsive RRCReconfigurationComplete message 244. IAB donor 206 then sends an RRCReconfiguration message 246 to IAB node 214 and receives an RRCReconfigurationComplete message 248. Thus, the delay due to the sequentially sent RRCReconfiguration and RRCReconfigurationComplete messages shown in Figure 2B is increased over the delay shown in Figure 2A.

[0030] Thus, certain embodiments herein provide reduced configuration latency.

[0031] In certain embodiments, architectural changes are provided to improve efficiency. For example, grouping of network nodes may be used so that multiple nodes that belong to the same common configuration that needs to be updated can be updated using a single RRCReconfiguration message (e.g., a group page message). Groups may be created from IAB nodes that reach a UE (similar to Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP)). A subnetting concept may be used to create a layered architecture for an IAB network, where child nodes are part of the parent node's subnet. This reduces the multicast burden and allows a single subnet prefix to be used to address all recipients.

[0032] In certain embodiments, modification of the BAP header assists in accelerating DRB transmission. In other embodiments, configuration forwarding is used for both SRB and DRB flows to reduce configuration latency, where a single RRCReconfiguration message is forwarded to multiple intermediate nodes, with each intermediate node processing and responding to the configuration independently. In yet another embodiment, configuration multicast is used for both SRB and DRB flows for simultaneous configuration of IAB nodes and backups. In certain such embodiments, a method for fast activation of a backup link at an IAB node is provided.

[0033] I.BAP header correction

[0034] In one embodiment, one or more fields are added to the BAP header to simplify and / or speed up delivery of the RRCReconfiguration message to nodes in the path to the UE while retaining the reliability provided by the BAP. For example, under certain circumstances, the DESTINATION address in the BAP header may be treated as a multicast address. Furthermore, a single bit in the BAP header may be used to indicate whether the DESTINATION address should be treated as a unicast or multicast address.

[0035] For example, Figure 3 illustrates a BAP PDU 300 including a BAP header that may be modified in accordance with certain embodiments herein. The BAP header includes the first three octets of the BAP PDU 300. The first octet of the BAP header includes a D / C bit 302 that indicates whether the BAP PDU 300 is a BAP data PDU or a BAP control PDU, three reserved bits 304, and a first portion (e.g., 4 bits) of a DESTINATION field 306. The second octet of the BAP header includes a second portion (e.g., 6 bits) of the DESTINATION field 306 and a first portion (e.g., 2 bits) of a PATH field 308. The third octet of the BAP header includes the second portion (e.g., 8 bits) of the PATH field 308. Following the BAP header, the BAP PDU 300 includes data 310.

[0036] In one embodiment, one of the reserved bits 304 (e.g., the most significant reserved bit) is reconfigured as a BAP multicast bit that indicates whether the DESTINATION field 306 is configured as a unicast address (i.e., the BAP address of the destination IAB node or IAB donor DU) or as a multicast address. For example, the BAP multicast bit may be set to '1' to indicate to intermediate nodes that the address provided in the DESTINATION field 306 should be treated as a broadcast address for the BAP path identifier (PathID) in the PATH field 308, or the BAP multicast bit may be set to '0' to indicate that the DESTINATION field 306 should be treated as a unicast address. In certain embodiments, the actual RLC itself may be in transparent mode.

[0037] Using a BAP PDU 300 with a modified BAP header has several advantages. For example, since BAP is a network-specific protocol, it is exchanged only between IAB nodes. Furthermore, the protocol is extensible from unicast to broadcast and other mechanisms. Also, once the route is established, RRCReconfiguration can be used to address UEs differently (e.g., changing the BAP multicast bit to indicate that the DESTINATION field 306 should be treated as a unicast address).

[0038] Upon receiving the multicast RRCReconfiguration message, each IAB node responds with a unicast RRCReconfigurationComplete message via the BAP protocol, thus providing a faster way to aggregate and transmit responses to reduce round-trip latency.

[0039] In certain such embodiments, grouping of network nodes may be used as described above so that multiple IAB nodes reaching the UE can be within the subnet identified by the DESTINATION field 306. For example, FIG. 4 illustrates an IAB network 402 (i.e., IAB network 202b shown in FIG. 2B) according to one embodiment and a corresponding signaling diagram 404 of a BH RLC channel setup with BAP header modification. In this example, the IAB donor 206 generates an RRC Reconfiguration message 406 including a modified BAP header, where the BAP multicast bit is set (R=1) to indicate that the DESTINATION field is a multicast address (e.g., indicating "subnet / k") for the BAP PathID ("aaaaaa"). The IAB donor 206 may generate the RRC Reconfiguration message 406, for example, in response to receiving a PDU session setup request from the core network (see FIG. 1). The IAB donor 206 sends an RRCReconfiguration message 406 to the IAB node 210 .

[0040] The IAB node 210 responds with an RRCReconfigurationComplete message 408 to the IAB donor 206 and forwards the RRCReconfiguration message 406 to the IAB node 212. The IAB node 212 responds by sending an RRCReconfigurationComplete message 410 to the IAB donor 206 and forwards the RRCReconfiguration message 406 to the IAB node 214. The IAB node 214 also responds by sending an RRCReconfigurationComplete message 412 to the IAB donor 206. After the IAB node is configured with the multicast address, the IAB donor 206 sends a unicast RRCReconfiguration message 414 to the UE 216, and the UE 216 responds by sending an RRCReconfigurationComplete message 416 to the IAB donor 206. Similarly, the IAB donor 206 may send other unicast RRCReconfiguration messages to other UEs connected to the IAB node 214. After receiving the RRCReconfigurationComplete message 416, the IAB donor 206 may send a PDU session setup complete message to the core network (see FIG. 1).

[0041] As shown in signaling diagram 404 of Figure 4, round trip latency is reduced because the IAB donor 206 only sends one RRCReconfiguration message 406. Thus, using BAP header modifications for BH RLC channel setup results in six RRCReconfiguration and RRCReconfigurationComplete messages being used, which represents an overall latency reduction compared to the eight RRCReconfiguration and RRCReconfigurationComplete messages used in the example of Figure 2B.

[0042] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method 500 of backhaul radio link control (RLC) channel establishment using a backhaul adaptation protocol (BAP) in a wireless network, according to one embodiment. Method 500 may be performed, for example, by the IAB donor 206 shown in FIG. 4 and other figures herein. At block 502, method 500 includes generating a BAP protocol data unit (PDU) including a BAP header including a destination field, a route field, and a bit configured to indicate whether the destination field includes a unicast or multicast address. At block 504, method 500 includes generating a multicast radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message including the BAP PDU. At block 506, method 500 includes processing unicast RRC reconfiguration complete messages received using the BAP from multiple integrated access backhaul (IAB) nodes in response to transmitting the multicast RRC reconfiguration message.

[0043] Certain embodiments of method 500 further include setting the bit to instruct the IAB nodes to treat the address in the destination field of the BAP header as a multicast address for the route identifier in the route field. Method 500 may further include grouping the IAB nodes into a subnet corresponding to a subnet prefix and including the subnet prefix in the destination field of the BAP header.

[0044] In addition, or in another embodiment, the method 500 includes generating a BAP PDU in response to a PDU session setup request from a core network, transmitting a unicast RRC reconfiguration message to a user equipment (UE) in communication with one of the plurality of IAB nodes in response to processing a unicast RRC reconfiguration complete message from the plurality of IAB nodes, processing the RRC reconfiguration complete message from the UE, and transmitting a PDU session setup complete message to the core network in response to the RRC reconfiguration complete message from the UE. The plurality of IAB nodes may include a first IAB node for a preferred link in a first backhaul path between the UE and the core network and a second IAB node for a backup link in a second backhaul path between the UE and the core network.

[0045] II. Configuration Transfer

[0046] In certain embodiments, a single RRCReconfiguration message is forwarded to multiple intermediate nodes, with each intermediate node processing and responding to the configuration independently. New fields and / or information elements (IEs) may be created in the RRCReconfiguration message to allow hop-by-hop packet forwarding between nodes. In certain such embodiments, as described above, grouping of network nodes may be used to allow multiple IAB nodes within a single subnet to reach a UE.

[0047] In one example embodiment, a ForwardTo field (e.g., containing the Internet Protocol Address (ipAddress) of the next hop or a list of IP addresses for subsequent hops) is added to the RRCReconfiguration Message as an IE for the IAB node. Upon receiving the RRCReconfiguration with the ForwardTo field, each intermediate node responds with a unicast RRCReconfigurationComplete message. In certain embodiments, countdown hopping or hot potato routing may be used.

[0048] In the event of a transfer inability or failure, the IAB nodes may retry only those nodes that did not receive the RRCReconfiguration message. Additionally or alternatively, the IAB node that detects the failure may use the same RRC procedure until a threshold number of attempts have been made. The threshold number of attempts may be specified in an IE in the RRCReconfiguration message.

[0049] In one embodiment, an RRCReconfigurationComplete message is sent by each intermediate node along with the ID of that intermediate node. In another embodiment, the RRCReconfigurationComplete message is sent only by end nodes or nodes where a failure occurs (e.g., resulting in another attempt).

[0050] 6 illustrates an IAB network 602 (i.e., IAB network 202a shown in FIG. 2A) and a corresponding signaling diagram 604 of a BH RLC channel setup with configuration transfer, according to certain embodiments. In this example, the IAB donor 206 sends an RRCReconfiguration message 606 to the IAB node 210. The RRCReconfiguration message 606 may include a list of forwarding addresses (e.g., corresponding to IAB node 212 and IAB node 214). In response to the RRCReconfiguration message 606, the IAB node 210 responds with an RRCReconfigurationComplete message 608 to the IAB donor 206. The IAB node 210 determines the next-hop IP address from the list of forwarding addresses and sends the RRCReconfiguration message 606 to the IAB node 212. The IAB node 212 responds by sending an RRCReconfigurationComplete message 610 to the IAB donor 206 and determines the next hop IP address from the list of forwarding addresses. The IAB node 212 then sends an RRCReconfiguration message 606 to the IAB node 214. The IAB node 214 responds by sending an RRCReconfigurationComplete message 612 to the IAB donor 206. Thus, round-trip latency is reduced (e.g., compared to the example shown in FIG. 2A).

[0051] As another example, Figure 7 illustrates an IAB network 702 having a backup link (i.e., IAB network 202b shown in Figure 2B) and a signaling diagram 704 of a corresponding BH RLC channel setup, according to certain embodiments. The signaling diagram 704 includes the RRCReconfiguration and RRCReconfigurationComplete messages, respectively, shown in Figure 6, followed by additional messages to establish a path via the backup link for forwarding from the IAB donor 206 to the IAB node 214 via the IAB node 236 using the backup link. As shown in Figure 7, the IAB donor 206 sends an RRCReconfiguration message 706 to the IAB node 210. The RRCReconfiguration message 706 may include a list of forwarding addresses (e.g., corresponding to the IAB node 236 and the IAB node 214). In response to the RRCReconfiguration message 706, the IAB node 210 responds with an RRCReconfigurationComplete message 708 to the IAB donor 206. The IAB node 210 determines a next-hop IP address from the list of forwarding addresses and sends the RRCReconfiguration message 706 to the IAB node 236. The IAB node 236 responds by sending an RRCReconfigurationComplete message 710 to the IAB donor 206, determining a next-hop IP address from the list of forwarding addresses. The IAB node 236 then sends the RRCReconfiguration message 706 to the IAB node 214. The IAB node 214 responds by sending an RRCReconfigurationComplete message 712 to the IAB donor 206. Thus, the round-trip latency of the example shown in FIG. 7 is less than the example shown in FIG. 2B.

[0052] Alternatively, FIG. 8 illustrates a signaling diagram 804 of an IAB network 802 with a backup link (i.e., IAB network 202b shown in FIG. 2B) and corresponding BH RLC channel setup according to another embodiment with early path setup. In this example, the preferred link and the backup link may be set up simultaneously (or nearly simultaneously). For example, IAB donor 206 sends an RRC Reconfiguration message 806 to IAB node 210. The RRC Reconfiguration message 806 may include a list of forwarding addresses. In response to the RRC Reconfiguration message 806, IAB node 210 responds with an RRC Reconfiguration Complete message 808 to IAB donor 206. IAB node 210 determines the next hop IP addresses for both the preferred and backup links from the list of forwarding addresses and sends the RRC Reconfiguration message 706 to IAB node 212 and IAB node 236 simultaneously or nearly simultaneously. IAB node 212 and IAB node 236 respond by sending RRCReconfigurationComplete messages 810 and 812, respectively, to IAB donor 206. IAB node 212 and IAB node 236 also each send an RRCReconfiguration message 806 to IAB node 214. IAB node 214 may respond to IAB donor 206 with a single RRCReconfigurationComplete message 814. In another embodiment, IAB node 214 responds with an RRCReconfigurationComplete message 814 corresponding to the RRCReconfiguration message 806 received from IAB node 236 and an RRCReconfigurationComplete message 816 corresponding to the RRCReconfiguration message 806 received from IAB node 212. In either case, round-trip latency is reduced compared to the example shown in FIG. 7.

[0053] In certain embodiments, fast activation signals are used to activate and deactivate backup links established according to the examples shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, as described below.

[0054] III. RRC Reconfiguration with Multicast

[0055] In certain embodiments, configuration multicast is provided for simultaneous configuration of IAB nodes and backups. For example, to enable multicasting, an IAB donor and multiple child IAB nodes may be configured as a subnet. A single reconfiguration message may be sent to the subnet and all nodes belonging to that subnet. The reconfiguration message may be included in the ForSubnet IE.

[0056] This single-shot multi-configuration model can be used for all architectures involving multiple DU components (e.g., sideline (SL), non-terrestrial network (NTN), etc.). Furthermore, this single-shot multi-configuration model can be equally applicable to both one-to-one (1-1) and many-to-one (many-1) mapping configurations of RLC for IAB. If a UE's IP address belongs to the subnet, the UE applies the RRCReconfiguration configuration. The UE then responds with a unicast RRCReconfigurationComplete message. In certain embodiments, the network can also form ad-hoc configurations in this manner.

[0057] Advantages of this method include that it is scalable to mobile IAB nodes (eg, so that it can be applied to mobile NTN network nodes).

[0058] 9 is a flowchart of a method 900 of backhaul radio link control (RLC) channel establishment using configuration forwarding in a wireless network, according to one embodiment. Method 900 may be performed, for example, by the IAB donor 206 shown in FIGS. 6-8 and other figures herein. At block 902, method 900 includes generating a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message including an information element (IE) with a forwarding destination field, where the forwarding destination field includes a list of addresses for sequential hops between multiple integrated access backhaul (IAB) nodes. At block 904, method 900 includes transmitting the RRC reconfiguration message to a first IAB node of multiple IAB nodes for forwarding to a second IAB node of the multiple IAB nodes.

[0059] In certain embodiments, the method 900 further includes receiving an RRC reconfiguration complete message from each node of the plurality of IAB nodes.

[0060] In certain embodiments, the method 900 further includes receiving an RRC reconfiguration complete message from an end node of the plurality of IAB nodes, where the end node is in communication with a user equipment (UE) or has detected a failure along a path for establishing a connection with the UE. The method 900 may further include resending the RRC reconfiguration message to the failed IAB node of the plurality of IAB nodes based on the failure.

[0061] In certain embodiments, the method 900 further includes, based on receiving one or more RRC reconfiguration complete messages, attempting to retransmit the RRC reconfiguration message up to a threshold number of times until backhaul RLC channel establishment is complete.

[0062] In certain embodiments, the method 900 further includes grouping a plurality of IAB nodes into a subnet corresponding to a subnet prefix. The plurality of IAB nodes may establish a preferred link on a first path between the UE and the core network and a backup link on a second path between the UE and the core network. The RRC reconfiguration message may include a first RRC reconfiguration message corresponding to the first backhaul path including the preferred link, and the method 900 may further include generating a second RRC reconfiguration message including an IE with a forwarding destination field, where the forwarding destination field includes an address of a third IAB node for the backup link, and transmitting the second RRC reconfiguration message to a first IAB node of the plurality of IAB nodes for forwarding directly or indirectly to the third IAB node of the plurality of IAB nodes. The method 900 may also include receiving an RRC reconfiguration complete message corresponding to the first backhaul path before sending the second RRC reconfiguration message, simultaneously sending the first RRC reconfiguration message and the second RRC reconfiguration message to establish both the preferred link and the backup link, or processing a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) including an instruction to activate the backup link. The MAC CE may include an activation / deactivation field and a path identifier (ID) field, and the activation / deactivation field may indicate whether the second path corresponding to the backup link identified by the path ID field is activated or deactivated.

[0063] In certain embodiments, the method 900 further includes processing downlink control information (DCI) having a DCI format configured for exchange among a plurality of IAB nodes, the DCI format used to transmit a group of IAB commands for inter-IAB communication, the group of IAB commands including a command for activating a backup link.

[0064] IV. Fast activation of backup links in IAB nodes

[0065] In a scenario in which an IAB network loses a primary route due to RLF and requires the establishment of a secondary route, multiple RRCReconfiguration messages may be sent to ensure that the CU establishes a backup IAB route. See, for example, FIG. 2B. In certain embodiments herein, a configuration multicast technique is used to simultaneously establish multiple secondary backup links (see, for example, FIG. 8). However, using one of the forwarding techniques in the RRC to activate the backup links when an outage is detected introduces additional latency. Therefore, in certain embodiments, a technique is provided that uses Layer 1 (L1) and / or Layer 2 (L2) stacks to activate the established backup links.

[0066] In one embodiment, a new media access control (MAC) control element (CE) is provided for activation of a backup link. This may be similar to carrier aggregation (CA) activation for IAB nodes only, for example. For example, FIG. 10 shows an example MAC CE 1000 that includes an activation / deactivation field 1002 and a path ID field 1004. Multiple reserved bits (R) may also be included. The activation / deactivation field 1002 indicates whether the path identified by the path ID field 1004 (e.g., the path corresponding to the backup link) is activated or deactivated.

[0067] In another embodiment, a new downlink control information (DCI) format for exchanges between IAB nodes only may be used. For example, DCI format 4_0 may be used to transmit a group of IAB commands for inter-IAB communication by one or more IAB parent nodes. This DCI format may therefore be used to quickly activate or deactivate established links within an IAB network.

[0068] 11 is a flowchart of a method 1100 of backhaul radio link control (RLC) channel establishment using radio resource configuration (RRC) reconfiguration with multicasting, according to one embodiment. At block 1102, the method 1100 includes configuring an integrated access backhaul (IAB) donor node and one or more child IAB nodes as a subnet. At block 1104, the method 1100 includes generating a reconfiguration message for transmission to the subnet. The reconfiguration message includes an information element (IE) for the subnet that includes configuration settings for backhaul RLC channel establishment. The IE identifies the subnet to instruct the IAB donor node and one or more child IAB nodes with Internet Protocol (IP) addresses associated with the subnet to apply the configuration.

[0069] In one embodiment of the method 1100, the configuration setting is for one-to-one (1-1) or many-to-one (many-1) mapping configuration of RLC for IAB.

[0070] 12 illustrates an example of infrastructure equipment 1200 according to various embodiments. The infrastructure equipment 1200 may be implemented as a base station, a radio head, a RAN node, an AN, an application server, and / or any other element / device described herein. In other examples, the infrastructure equipment 1200 may be implemented within or by a UE.

[0071] The infrastructure equipment 1200 includes an application circuit 1202, a baseband circuit 1204, one or more radio front-end modules (RFEMs) 1206, a memory circuit 1208, a power management integrated circuit (shown as PMIC 1210), a power T circuit 1212, a network controller circuit 1214, a network interface connector 1220, a satellite positioning circuit 1216, and a user interface circuit 1218. In some embodiments, the device infrastructure equipment 1200 may include additional elements, such as memory / storage, a display, a camera, sensors, or an input / output (I / O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in two or more devices. For example, the circuits may be included separately in two or more devices for a CRAN, vBBU, or other similar implementation. The application circuit 1202 may include one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, as well as low dropout regulators (LDOs), an interrupt controller, SPI, I / O, and other similar implementations. 2The application circuitry 1202 may include, but is not limited to, one or more of the following circuits: a serial interface such as a Universal Programmable Serial Interface Module (UPLC), a real-time clock (RTC), a timer counter including interval and watchdog timers, a general-purpose input / output (I / O or IO), a memory card controller such as a Secure Digital (SD) Multimedia Card (MMC), a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) interface, and a Joint Test Access Group (JTAG) test access port. The processor (or core) of the application circuitry 1202 may be coupled to or may include memory / storage elements and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage elements to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the infrastructure equipment 1200. In some implementations, the memory / storage elements may be on-chip memory circuits, which may include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory, and / or any other type of memory device technology as described herein.

[0072] The processor of application circuit 1202 may include, for example, one or more processor cores (CPUs), one or more application processors, one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, one or more Acorn RISC machine (ARM) processors, one or more complex instruction set computing (CISC) processors, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, application circuit 1202 may include or be a special-purpose processor / controller operating in accordance with various embodiments herein. By way of example, the processor of application circuit 1202 may include one or more Intel Pentium®, Core®, or Xeon® processors; Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Ryzen® processors, Accelerated Processing Units (APU), or Epyc® processors; ARM-based processors licensed from ARM Holdings Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A family processors and ThunderX2® offered by Cavium™, Inc.; processors of MIPS-based designs offered by MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPS Warrior P-class processor; etc. In some embodiments, infrastructure facility 1200 may not utilize application circuit 1202 and instead may include a dedicated processor / controller to process IP data received from, for example, an EPC or 5GC.

[0073] In some implementations, application circuitry 1202 may include one or more hardware accelerators, which may be a microprocessor, a programmable processing device, or the like. The one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, a computer vision (CV) and / or a deep learning (DL) accelerator. By way of example, the programmable processing device may be one or more of: a field programmable device (FPD), such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA); a programmable logic device (PLD), such as a complex PLD (CPLD), a high-capacity PLD (HCPLD); an ASIC, such as a structured ASIC; a programmable system on a chip (PSoC), or the like. In such implementations, the circuitry of application circuitry 1202 may include logic blocks or logic fabric and other interconnected resources that can be programmed to perform various functions, such as the procedures, methods, and functions of various implementations described herein. In such embodiments, the circuitry of application circuit 1202 may include logic blocks, logic fabric, memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), antifuses, etc.)) used to store data, etc., such as in look-up tables (LUTs). Baseband circuit 1204 may be implemented, for example, as a soldered substrate containing one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits.

[0074] User interface circuitry 1218 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with infrastructure equipment 1200 or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interaction with infrastructure equipment 1200. User interfaces may include, but are not limited to, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), one or more indicators (e.g., light-emitting diodes (LEDs)), a physical keyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, a speaker or other audio-light emitting device, a microphone, a printer, a scanner, a headset, a display screen or device, etc. Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power interface, etc.

[0075] The radio front-end module 1206 may include a millimeter-wave (mm-wave) radio front-end module (RFEM) and one or more submillimeter-wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more submillimeter-wave RFICs may be physically separate from the mm-wave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays, and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both mm-wave and submillimeter-wave radio functionality may be implemented within the same physical radio front-end module 1206 that incorporates both mm-wave and submillimeter-wave antennas.

[0076] The memory circuit 1208 may include one or more of volatile memory, including dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and / or synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), and non-volatile memory (NVM), including high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as flash memory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc., and may incorporate Intel® and Micron® three-dimensional (3D) cross point (XPOINT) memory. The memory circuit 1208 may be implemented as one or more of a solder-packaged integrated circuit, a socketed memory module, and a plug-in memory card.

[0077] The PMIC 1210 may include a voltage regulator, a surge protector, a power alarm detection circuit, and one or more backup power sources such as a battery or capacitor. The power alarm detection circuit may detect one or more of brownout (undervoltage) and surge (overvoltage) conditions. The power T-circuit 1212 may supply power drawn from a network cable that provides both power and data connectivity to the infrastructure equipment 1200 using a single cable.

[0078] The network controller circuitry 1214 may provide connectivity to a network using a standard network interface protocol, such as Ethernet, Ethernet over a GRE tunnel, Ethernet over Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity may be provided to or from the infrastructure equipment 1200 using a physical connection via network interface connectors 1220, which may be electrical (commonly referred to as "copper"), optical, or wireless. The network controller circuitry 1214 may include one or more dedicated processors and / or FPGAs that communicate using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the network controller circuitry 1214 may include multiple controllers that provide connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0079] The positioning circuitry 1216 includes circuitry for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcast by a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning network. Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS), the Russian Global Navigation System (GLONASS), the European Union's Galileo system, China's Beidou navigation satellite system, regional navigation systems or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., Navigation by Indian Constellation (NAVIC), Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), France's Doppler Orbitography and Radio positioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS), etc.). The positioning circuitry 1216 includes various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc. to facilitate OTA communications) that communicate with components of the positioning network, such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 1216 may include a Micro-Technology for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (Micro-PNT) IC that uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 1216 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit 1204 and / or the radio front-end module 1206 to communicate with nodes and components of a positioning network. The positioning circuit 1216 may also provide position and / or time data to the application circuit 1202, which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructures, etc. The components shown in FIG. 12 may communicate with each other using interface circuitry, which may include a number of bus and / or interconnect (IX) technologies, such as Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Enhanced ISA (EISA), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Enhanced Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCix), PCI Express (PCie), or a number of other technologies. The bus / IX may be a proprietary bus used, for example, in an SoC-based system.Other bus / IX systems, among others, I. 2 C interface, SPI interface, point-to-point interface, and power bus may also be included.

[0080] FIG. 13 illustrates an example platform 1300 according to various embodiments. In embodiments, computer platform 1300 may be suitable for use as a UE, an application server, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. Platform 1300 may include any combination of the components illustrated in the example. The components of platform 1300 may be implemented as an integrated circuit (IC) adapted to computer platform 1300, as part thereof, as a separate electronic device, or as other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof, or as components otherwise incorporated within the chassis of a larger system. The block diagram of FIG. 13 is intended to provide an overhead view of the components of computer platform 1300. However, some of the illustrated components may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the illustrated components may occur in other implementations.

[0081] The application circuit 1302 includes one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one or more LDOs, an interrupt controller, an SPI, an I 2The application circuitry 1302 may include, but is not limited to, circuits such as serial interfaces such as a universal programmable serial interface module (UPLC), a timer counter including an RTC, interval and watchdog timers, a general-purpose IO, a memory card controller such as an SD MMC, a USB interface, a MIPI interface, and a JTAG test access port. The processor (or core) of the application circuitry 1302 may be coupled to or may include memory / storage elements and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage elements to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the platform 1300. In some implementations, the memory / storage elements may be on-chip memory circuits, which may include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory, and / or any other type of memory device technology as described herein.

[0082] The processor(s) of application circuit 1302 may include, for example, one or more processor cores, one or more application processors, one or more GPUs, one or more RISC processors, one or more ARM processors, one or more CISC processors, one or more DSPs, one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, multithreaded processors, very low voltage processors, embedded processors, some other known processing elements, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, application circuit 1302 may include or be a special purpose processor / controller that operates in accordance with various embodiments herein.

[0083] By way of example, the processor of the application circuit 1302 may include an Intel® Architecture Core™-based processor, such as a Quark™, ​​Atom™, i3, i5, i7, or MCU class processor available from Intel® Corporation, or another such processor. The processor of application circuit 1302 may also be one or more of an Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Ryzen® processor or accelerated processing unit (APU); AS-A9 processor(s) from Apple® Inc., Snapdragon™ processor(s) from Qualcomm® Technologies, Inc., Texas Instruments, Inc.® Open Multimedia Applications Platform (OMAP)™ processor(s); MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPS Warrior M-class, Warrior I-class, and Warrior P-class processors, ARM-based designs licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A, Cortex-R, and Cortex-M family of processors, and the like. In some implementations, the application circuit 1302 may be part of a system-on-chip (SoC) in which the application circuit 1302 and other components are formed in a single integrated circuit or a single package, such as an Edison™ or Galileo™ SoC board manufactured by Intel® Corporation.

[0084] Additionally or alternatively, application circuitry 1302 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more field programmable devices (FPDs) such as FPGAs, programmable logic devices (PLDs) such as composite PLDs (CPLDs) or high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), ASICs such as structured ASICs, programmable system-on-chips (PSoCs), etc. In such embodiments, the circuitry of application circuitry 1302 may include logic blocks or logic fabric and other interconnected resources that can be programmed to perform various functions, such as the procedures, methods, and functions of various embodiments described herein. In such embodiments, the circuitry of application circuitry 1302 may include memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), antifuses, etc.)) used to store logic blocks, logic fabric, data, etc., such as in look-up tables (LUTs).

[0085] The baseband circuitry 1304 may be implemented, for example, as a soldered board containing one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits.

[0086] The radio front-end module 1306 may include a millimeter-wave (mm-wave) radio front-end module (RFEM) and one or more submillimeter-wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more submillimeter-wave RFICs may be physically separate from the mm-wave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays, and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both mm-wave and submillimeter-wave radio functionality may be implemented within the same physical radio front-end module 1306 that incorporates both mm-wave and submillimeter-wave antennas.

[0087] The memory circuit 1308 may include any number and type of memory devices used to provide a given amount of system memory. By way of example, the memory circuit 1308 may include one or more of volatile memory, including random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM) and / or synchronous dynamic RAM (RAM), and non-volatile memory (NVM), including high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as flash memory), phase-change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc. The memory circuit 1308 may be developed according to a Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council (JEDEC) low-power double data rate (LPDDR)-based design, such as LPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, etc. The memory circuit 1308 may be implemented as one or more of a solder package integrated circuit, a single die package (SDP), a dual die package (DDP), or a quad die package (Q17P), a socketed memory module, a dual in-line memory module (DIMM) including a micro DIMM or a mini DIMM, and / or soldered onto a motherboard via a ball grid array (BGA). In low-power implementations, the memory circuit 1308 may be on-die memory or registers associated with the application circuit 1302. To provide persistent storage of information such as data, applications, and operating systems, the memory circuit 1308 may include one or more mass storage devices, which may include, among others, a solid-state disk drive (SSDD), a hard disk drive (HDD), a micro HDD, a resistive memory, a phase-change memory, a holographic memory, or a chemical memory. For example, the computer platform 1300 may incorporate three-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memory from Intel® and Micron®.

[0088] Removable memory circuitry 1326 may include devices, circuits, enclosures, ports or receptacles, etc. used to couple portable data storage devices with platform 1300. These portable data storage devices may be used for mass storage purposes and may include, for example, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, microSD cards, xD image cards, etc.), USB flash drives, optical disks, external HDDs, etc.

[0089] Platform 1300 may also include interface circuitry (not shown) used to connect external devices with platform 1300. External devices connected to platform 1300 via the interface circuitry include sensors 1322 and electromechanical components (shown as EMC 1324), as well as removable memory devices coupled to removable memory circuit 1326.

[0090] Sensors 1322 may include devices, modules, or subsystems intended to detect events or changes in the environment and transmit information about the detected events (sensor data) to some other device, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, among others, inertial measurement units (IMUs) including accelerometers, gyroscopes, and / or magnetometers, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) or nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) including 3-axis accelerometers, 3-axis gyroscopes, and / or magnetometers, level sensors, flow sensors, temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors), pressure sensors, barometric pressure sensors, gravimeters, altimeters, image capture devices (e.g., cameras or lensless apertures), light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors, proximity sensors (e.g., infrared detectors, etc.), depth sensors, ambient light sensors, ultrasonic transceivers, microphones or other similar audio capture devices, etc.

[0091] EMC 1324 includes devices, modules, or subsystems whose purpose is to enable platform 1300 to change its state, position, and / or orientation, or to move or control mechanisms or (sub)systems. Additionally, EMC 1324 may be configured to generate and send messages / signaling to other components of platform 1300 to indicate the current state of EMC 1324. Examples of EMC 1324 include one or more power switches, relays, including electromechanical relays (EMRs) and / or solid-state relays (SSRs), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), audible sound generators, visual warning devices, motors (e.g., DC motors, stepper motors, etc.), wheels, thrusters, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks, and / or other similar electromechanical components. In an embodiment, platform 1300 is configured to operate one or more EMCs 1324 based on one or more captured events and / or commands or control signals received from service providers and / or various clients. In some implementations, the interface circuitry may connect the platform 1300 to a positioning circuit 1316. The positioning circuit 1316 includes circuitry for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcast by a GNSS positioning network. Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include the United States' GPS, Russia's GLONASS, the European Union's Galileo system, China's Beidou navigation satellite system, regional navigation systems or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., NAVIC, Japan's QZSS, France's DORIS, etc.), etc. The positioning circuit 1316 includes various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc. to facilitate over-the-air (OTA) communications) that communicate with components of the positioning network, such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 1316 may include a Micro-PNT IC that uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance.The positioning circuit 1316 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit 1304 and / or the wireless front-end module 1306 to communicate with nodes and components of a positioning network. The positioning circuit 1316 may also provide position and / or time data to the application circuit 1302, which may use the data to synchronize operation with various infrastructures (e.g., wireless base stations), such as for turn-by-turn navigation applications.

[0092] In some implementations, the interface circuit may connect the platform 1300 with a near-field communication circuit (shown as NFC circuit 1312). The NFC circuit 1312 is configured to provide contactless, short-range communication based on the radio frequency identification (RFID) standard, and magnetic field induction is used to enable communication between the NFC circuit 1312 and an NFC-enabled device (e.g., an “NFC touchpoint”) external to the platform 1300. The NFC circuit 1312 comprises an NFC controller coupled to an antenna element and a processor coupled to the NFC controller. The NFC controller may be a chip / IC that provides NFC functionality to the NFC circuit 1312 by executing NFC controller firmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack may be executed by the processor to control the NFC controller, and the NFC controller firmware may be executed by the NFC controller to control the antenna element to emit short-range RF signals. The RF signal may power a passive NFC tag (e.g., a microchip embedded in a sticker or wristband) to transmit stored data to the NFC circuitry 1312, or may initiate data transfer between the NFC circuitry 1312 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smartphone or NFC-enabled POS terminal) in proximity to the platform 1300.

[0093] Driver circuitry 1318 may include software and hardware elements that operate to control particular devices embedded in, attached to, or otherwise communicatively coupled to platform 1300. Driver circuitry 1318 may include individual drivers that enable other components of platform 1300 to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that may be present in or connected to platform 1300. For example, driver circuitry 1318 may include a display driver that controls and allows access to a display device, a touchscreen driver that controls and allows access to a touchscreen interface of platform 1300, a sensor driver that obtains sensor readings of and controls and allows access to sensors 1322, an EMC driver that obtains actuator positions of and / or controls and allows access to EMC 1324, a camera driver that controls and allows access to an embedded capture device, and an audio driver that controls and allows access to one or more audio devices.

[0094] A power management integrated circuit (denoted as PMIC 1310) (also referred to as a "power management circuit") may manage the power supplied to various components of platform 1300. Specifically, with respect to baseband circuitry 1304, PMIC 1310 may control power source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion. If platform 1300 can be powered by a battery 1314, for example, if the device is included in a UE, PMIC 1310 may often be included.

[0095] In some embodiments, the PMIC 1310 may control or otherwise be a part of various power saving mechanisms of the platform 1300. For example, if the platform 1300 is in an RRC connected state and is still connected to a RAN node because it expects to receive traffic soon, after a period of inactivity the platform may enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX). While in this state, the platform 1300 may drop power for short intervals, thereby conserving power. If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the platform 1300 may transition to an RRC_idle state, disconnecting from the network and not performing operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The platform 1300 enters a very low power state, performs paging, where it again periodically wakes up to listen to the network, and then drops power again. The platform 1300 cannot receive data in this state and must transition to the RRC_connected state to receive data. In a further power saving mode, the device may be allowed to be unavailable from the network for a period longer than the paging interval (ranging from a few seconds to several hours). During this time, the device may not be able to reach the network at all and may be completely powered down. Any data transmitted during this time will be significantly delayed, but the delay is deemed acceptable.

[0096] A battery 1314 may power the platform 1300, although in some examples the platform 1300 may be deployed and mounted at a fixed location and may have a power source coupled to a power grid. The battery 1314 may be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, etc. In some implementations, such as for V2X applications, the battery 1314 may be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

[0097] In some implementations, the battery 1314 may be a “smart battery” that includes or is coupled to a battery management system (BMS) or battery monitoring integrated circuit. The BMS may be included in the platform 1300 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of the battery 1314. The BMS may be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 1314 to provide fault prediction, such as the state of health (SoH) and state of function (SoF) of the battery 1314. The BMS may communicate information about the battery 1314 to the application circuit 1302 or other components of the platform 1300. The BMS may also include an analog-to-digital (ADC) converter that allows the application circuit 1302 to directly monitor the voltage of or current from the battery 1314. Battery parameters may be used to determine operations that the platform 1300 may perform, such as transmission frequency, network operation, and sensing frequency.

[0098] A power block, or other power source coupled to the electric grid, may be coupled to the BMS to charge the battery 1314. In some examples, the power block may be replaced with a wireless power receiver to obtain power wirelessly, for example, via a loop antenna in the computer platform 1300. In these examples, wireless battery charging circuitry may be included in the BMS. The particular charging circuitry selected may depend on the size of the battery 1314 and therefore the current required. Charging may be performed using the Airfuel standard promulgated by the Airfuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standard promulgated by the Wireless Power Consortium, or the Rezence charging standard promulgated by the Alliance for Wireless Power, among others.

[0099] User interface circuitry 1320 includes various input / output (I / O) devices present within or connected to platform 1300, including one or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with platform 1300 and / or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interaction with platform 1300. User interface circuitry 1320 includes input device circuitry and output device circuitry. Input device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for accepting input, including, among others, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, a microphone, a scanner, a headset, etc. Output device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for displaying or otherwise communicating information, such as sensor readings, actuator position(s), or other similar information. The output device circuitry may include any number and / or combination of audio or visual displays, including, among others, one or more simple visual outputs / indicators such as binary status indicators (e.g., light-emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs, or more complex outputs such as a display device or touchscreen (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), an LED display, a quantum dot display, a projector, etc.) having output that is generated or created from operation of the platform 1300, such as text, graphics, multimedia objects, etc. The output device circuitry may also include speakers or other audio emitting devices, printer(s), and / or the like. In some embodiments, the sensors 1322 may be used as input device circuitry (e.g., image capture devices, motion capture devices, etc.), and one or more EMCs may be used as output device circuitry (e.g., actuators that provide tactile feedback, etc.).In another example, an NFC circuit comprising an NFC controller coupled to the antenna element and the processing device may be included to read electronic tags and / or connect with another NFC-enabled device. Peripheral component interfaces include, but are not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a USB port, an audio jack, a power interface, etc.

[0100] Although not shown, the components of platform 1300 may communicate with each other using any suitable bus or interconnect (IX) technology, which may include any number of technologies including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCIx, PCIe, Time Triggered Protocol (TTP) systems, FlexRay systems, or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX may be, for example, a proprietary bus / IX used in SoC-based systems. Other bus / IX systems, including, among others, I 2 C interface, SPI interface, point-to-point interface, and power bus may also be included.

[0101] 14 is a block diagram illustrating a component 1400 that may read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, according to some example embodiments. Specifically, FIG. 14 shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 1402, which may include one or more processors 1406 (or processor cores), one or more memory / storage devices 1414, and one or more communication resources 1424, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1416. In embodiments in which node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1422 may execute to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / sub-slices that utilize the hardware resources 1402.

[0102] Processor 1406 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP) such as a baseband processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, processor 1408 and processor 1410.

[0103] The memory / storage 1414 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof, including, but not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

[0104] Communications resources 1424 may include interconnect or network interface components or other suitable devices for communicating with one or more peripherals 1404 or one or more databases 1420 over network 1418. For example, communications resources 1424 may include wired communications components (e.g., for coupling via a Universal Serial Bus (USB)), cellular communications components, NFC components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communications components.

[0105] The instructions 1412 may include software, programs, applications, applets, apps, or other executable code for causing at least one of the processors 1406 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 1412 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processors 1406 (e.g., in a processor's cache memory), the memory / storage 1414, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 1412 may be transferred to the hardware resources 1402 from any combination of the peripherals 1404 or the database 1420. Accordingly, the memory of the processor 1406, the memory / storage 1414, the peripherals 1404, and the database 1420 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0106] In one or more embodiments, at least one of the components depicted in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods as described in the Examples section below. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in connection with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples described below. As another example, circuitry associated with a UE, a base station, a network element, etc., as described above in connection with one or more of the foregoing figures, may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples described below in the Examples section.

[0107] Examples Section

[0108] The following examples relate to further embodiments.

[0109] Example 1 is a method for backhaul radio link control (RLC) channel establishment using a backhaul adaptation protocol (BAP) in a wireless network, the method including: generating a BAP protocol data unit (PDU) including a BAP header including a destination field, a route field, and a bit configured to indicate whether the destination field includes a unicast address or a multicast address; generating a multicast radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message including the BAP PDU; and processing unicast RRC reconfiguration complete messages received from multiple integrated access backhaul (IAB) nodes using the BAP in response to transmitting the multicast RRC reconfiguration message.

[0110] Example 2 includes the method of example 1, further including setting the bit to instruct multiple IAB nodes to treat the address in the destination field of the BAP header as a multicast address for the route identifier in the route field.

[0111] Example 3 includes the method of example 2, further including: grouping a plurality of IAB nodes into a subnet corresponding to a subnet prefix; and including the subnet prefix in a destination field of the BAP header.

[0112] Example 4 includes the method of example 1, further including: generating a BAP PDU in response to a PDU session setup request from a core network; and in response to processing unicast RRC reconfiguration complete messages from the plurality of IAB nodes, sending a unicast RRC reconfiguration message to a user equipment (UE) in communication with one of the plurality of IAB nodes; processing the RRC reconfiguration complete message from the UE; and in response to the RRC reconfiguration complete message from the UE, sending a PDU session setup complete message to the core network.

[0113] Example 5 includes the method of example 4, in which the plurality of IAB nodes includes: a first IAB node for a preferred link in a first backhaul path between the UE and the core network; and a second IAB node for a backup link in a second backhaul path between the UE and the core network.

[0114] Example 6 is a method of backhaul radio link control (RLC) channel establishment using configuration forwarding in a wireless network, the method including: generating a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message including an information element (IE) having a forwarding destination field, the forwarding destination field including a list of addresses for sequential hops between a plurality of integrated access backhaul (IAB) nodes; and transmitting the RRC reconfiguration message to a first IAB node of a plurality of IAB nodes for forwarding to a second IAB node of the plurality of IAB nodes.

[0115] Example 7 includes the method of example 6, further including receiving an RRC reconfiguration complete message from each node of the plurality of IAB nodes.

[0116] Example 8 includes the method of example 6, further including receiving an RRC reconfiguration complete message from an end node of the plurality of IAB nodes, where the end node is in communication with a user equipment (UE) or has detected a failure along a path for establishing a connection with the UE.

[0117] Example 9 includes the method of example 8, further including: resending the RRC reconfiguration message to a failed IAB node of the plurality of IAB nodes based on the failure.

[0118] Example 10 includes the method of example 6, further including: based on receiving one or more RRC reconfiguration complete messages, attempting to retransmit the RRC reconfiguration message up to a threshold number of times until backhaul RLC channel establishment is completed.

[0119] Example 11 includes the method of example 6, further including grouping a plurality of IAB nodes into a subnet corresponding to a subnet prefix.

[0120] Example 12 includes the method of example 6, in which the multiple IAB nodes establish a preferred link on a first path between the UE and the core network, and establish a backup link on a second path between the UE and the core network.

[0121] Example 13 includes the method of Example 12, wherein the RRC reconfiguration message includes a first RRC reconfiguration message corresponding to a first backhaul path including a preferred link, and the method further includes: generating a second RRC reconfiguration message including an IE including a forwarding destination field, where the forwarding destination field includes an address of a third IAB node for the backup link; and sending the second RRC reconfiguration message to a first IAB node of the plurality of IAB nodes for forwarding directly or indirectly to the third IAB node of the plurality of IAB nodes.

[0122] Example 14 includes the method of example 13, further including: receiving an RRC reconfiguration complete message corresponding to the first backhaul path before sending the second RRC reconfiguration message.

[0123] Example 15 includes the method of example 13, further including: simultaneously sending the first RRC reconfiguration message and the second RRC reconfiguration message to establish both the preferred link and the backup link.

[0124] Example 16 includes the method of example 13, further including processing a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) including instructions to activate the backup link.

[0125] Example 17 includes the method of example 16, in which the MAC CE includes an activation / deactivation field and a path identifier (ID) field, and the activation / deactivation field indicates whether a second path corresponding to the backup link identified by the path ID field is activated or deactivated.

[0126] Example 18 includes the method of example 13, further including processing downlink control information (DCI) having a DCI format configured for exchange among a plurality of IAB nodes, the DCI format used to transmit a group of IAB commands for inter-IAB communication, the group of IAB commands including a command for activating a backup link.

[0127] Example 19 is a method for backhaul radio link control (RLC) channel establishment using radio resource configuration (RRC) reconfiguration with multicasting. The method includes configuring an integrated access backhaul (IAB) donor node and one or more child IAB nodes as a subnet and generating a reconfiguration message for transmission to the subnet, the reconfiguration message including an information element (IE) for the subnet including configuration settings for backhaul RLC channel establishment, the IE identifying the subnet to instruct the IAB donor node and one or more child IAB nodes having Internet Protocol (IP) addresses associated with the subnet to apply the configuration settings.

[0128] Example 20 includes the method of example 19, in which the configuration is for one-to-one (1-1) or multiple-to-one (multiple-1) mapping configuration of RLC for IAB.

[0129] Example 21 may include an apparatus including means for performing one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of the above examples, or any other method or process described herein.

[0130] Example 22 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media containing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of the above examples or any other method or process described herein.

[0131] Example 23 may include a device including logic, modules, or circuitry that performs one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of the above examples or any other method or process described herein.

[0132] Example 24 may include any method, technique, or process described in or related to any of the above examples or portions or parts thereof.

[0133] Example 25 may include an apparatus including one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process described in or related to any of the above examples or portions thereof.

[0134] Example 26 may include a signal described or related to any of the above examples or portions or parts thereof.

[0135] Example 27 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message described or related to any of the above examples or any portion or part thereof, or as described in the present disclosure.

[0136] Example 28 may include a signal encoded with data as described or related to any of the above examples or portions or parts thereof, or as described in this disclosure.

[0137] Example 29 may include a signal encoded using a datagram, packet, frame, segment, PDU, or message described or related to any of the above examples or any portion or part thereof, or described in the present disclosure.

[0138] Example 30 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, the execution of which by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process described in or related to any of the above examples or portions thereof.

[0139] Example 31 may include a computer program having instructions that, when executed by a processing element, cause the processing element to perform a method, technique, or process described in or related to any of the above examples or portions thereof.

[0140] Example 32 may include signals within a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0141] Example 33 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0142] Example 34 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0143] Example 35 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0144] Any of the above-described examples can be combined with any other example (or combination of examples) unless otherwise stated. The foregoing description of one or more implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be learned from practice of various embodiments.

[0145] Embodiments and implementations of the systems and methods described herein may include various operations that may be embodied in machine-executable instructions executed by a computer system. The computer system may include one or more general-purpose or special-purpose computers (or other electronic devices). The computer system may include hardware components that contain specific logic for performing the operations, or may include a combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0146] It should be appreciated that the systems described herein include descriptions of specific embodiments. These embodiments may be combined into a single system, partially combined into other systems, divided into multiple systems, or otherwise divided or combined. Additionally, it is contemplated that parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. of one embodiment may be used in another embodiment. It is recognized that parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. are described in one or more embodiments for clarity only, and that parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. may be combined with or substituted for parameters, attributes, etc. of other embodiments, unless specifically disclaimed herein.

[0147] It is well understood that the use of personal information should comply with generally recognized privacy policies and practices that meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. In particular, personal information data should be managed and handled in a manner that minimizes the risk of unintended or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized uses should be clearly indicated to users.

[0148] While the foregoing has been described in some detail for clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications can be made without departing from the principles thereof. It should be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing both the processes and apparatus described herein. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the description is not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. 1. A method for backhaul radio link control (RLC) channel establishment using configuration transfer in a wireless network, comprising: generating a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message including an information element (IE) including a forwarding destination field, the forwarding destination field including a list of addresses for sequential hops between a plurality of integrated access backhaul (IAB) nodes; transmitting the RRC reconfiguration message to a first IAB node of the plurality of IAB nodes for forwarding to a second IAB node of the plurality of IAB nodes; A method comprising:

2. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving an RRC reconfiguration complete message from each node of the plurality of IAB nodes.

3. 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving an RRC reconfiguration complete message from an end node of the plurality of IAB nodes, the end node being in communication with a user equipment (UE) or having detected a failure along a path for establishing a connection with the UE.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising: retransmitting the RRC reconfiguration message to a failed IAB node of the plurality of IAB nodes based on the failure.

5. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, based on receiving one or more RRC reconfiguration complete messages, attempting to retransmit the RRC reconfiguration message up to a threshold number of times until the backhaul RLC channel establishment is complete.

6. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising grouping the plurality of IAB nodes into a subnet corresponding to a subnet prefix.

7. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of IAB nodes establish a preferred link on a first path between a UE and a core network and establish a backup link on a second path between the UE and the core network.

8. the RRC reconfiguration message includes a first RRC reconfiguration message corresponding to the first path including the preferred link, and the method further comprises: generating a second RRC reconfiguration message including the IE including the forwarding destination field, wherein the forwarding destination field includes an address of a third IAB node for the backup link; transmitting the second RRC reconfiguration message to the first IAB node of the plurality of IAB nodes for forwarding directly or indirectly to the third IAB node of the plurality of IAB nodes; The method of claim 7 further comprising:

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising receiving an RRC reconfiguration complete message corresponding to the first path before transmitting the second RRC reconfiguration message.

10. 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: simultaneously transmitting the first RRC reconfiguration message and the second RRC reconfiguration message to establish both the preferred link and the backup link.

11. 10. The method of claim 8, further comprising processing a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) that includes instructions for activating the backup link.

12. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the MAC CE includes an activation / deactivation field and a path identifier (ID) field, the activation / deactivation field indicating whether the second path corresponding to the backup link identified by the path ID field is activated or deactivated.

13. 10. The method of claim 8, further comprising: processing a downlink control information (DCI) having a DCI format configured for exchange among the plurality of IAB nodes, the DCI format being used to transmit a group of IAB commands for inter-IAB communication, the group of IAB commands including a command for activating the backup link.

14. 14. A node comprising means for processing each of the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

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