Method and apparatus for wireless communications

Abstract

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a method performed by an IAB node may include transmitting a first resource configuration for a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node to a first IAB donor, where a distributed unit (DU) of the IAB node is connected to the first IAB donor and the MT of the IAB node is for connecting to or handing over to a second IAB donor, and receiving a second resource configuration for the DU of the IAB node from the first IAB donor, where the second resource configuration is determined based on the first resource configuration.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] FIELD Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication technologies, and more particularly to wireless communication in integrated access and backhaul (IAB) networks. [Background technology]

[0002] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasting, and so on. Wireless communication systems may employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of wireless communication systems may include fourth-generation (4G) systems, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth-generation (5G) systems, which are sometimes also referred to as New Radio (NR) systems.

[0003] To extend the coverage and availability of wireless communication systems (e.g., 5G systems), the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®) envisions an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) architecture to support multi-hop relays. In an IAB network, an IAB node may hop through one or more IAB nodes before reaching a base station (also called an “IAB donor” or “donor node”). A single hop may be considered a special case of multi-hop. Multi-hop backhauling is beneficial because it provides a relatively greater coverage extension compared to single-hop backhauling. In relatively high-frequency wireless communication systems (e.g., radio signals transmitted in frequency bands above 6 GHz), the coverage of relatively narrower or smaller signals may benefit from multi-hop backhauling techniques. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The industry wants technology to handle wireless communications on the IAB network. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node. The method may include transmitting a first resource configuration for a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node to a first IAB donor, where a distributed unit (DU) of the IAB node is connected to the first IAB donor and the MT of the IAB node is connected to or handed over to a second IAB donor, and receiving a second resource configuration for the DU of the IAB node from the first IAB donor, where the second resource configuration is determined based on the first resource configuration.

[0006] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the step of transmitting the first resource configuration by the DU of the IAB node to the first IAB donor may be performed after receiving the first resource configuration for the MT of the IAB node. In some examples, the first resource configuration may be received from a second IAB donor. In some examples, the first resource configuration may be received from a parent IAB node of the IAB node, which may be connected to the second IAB donor. In some examples, the first resource configuration may be received in a handover command from the first IAB donor.

[0007] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) donor. The method may include receiving a first resource configuration for a mobile terminal (MT) of an IAB node, where a distributed unit (DU) of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor and the MT of the IAB node may be connected to another IAB donor or may be handing over to another IAB donor, determining a second resource configuration for the DU of the IAB node based on the first resource configuration, and transmitting the second resource configuration to the IAB node.

[0008] In some examples, the first resource configuration may be received from a DU of the IAB node via an F1 interface. In some examples, the first resource configuration may be received from another IAB donor via Xn interface signaling or via NG interface signaling relayed by the core network.

[0009] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) donor. The method may include receiving a first resource configuration for a distributed unit (DU) of an IAB node, where a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node may be connected to or handed over to the IAB donor, and the DU of the IAB node may be connected to another IAB donor, and transmitting a second resource configuration for the MT of the IAB node to the IAB node, where the second resource configuration may be determined based on the first resource configuration.

[0010] In some examples, the first resource configuration may be received from another IAB donor via Xn interface signaling. In some examples, the first resource configuration may be received from another IAB donor via NG interface signaling relayed by the core network. In some examples, the first resource configuration may be received from an IAB node via radio resource control (RRC) signaling when an MT of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor.

[0011] In some examples, the second resource configuration may be transmitted to the IAB node via another IAB donor. In some examples, the second resource configuration may be transmitted to the IAB node via radio resource control (RRC) signaling when an MT of the IAB node may connect to the IAB donor.

[0012] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the method may further include transmitting the first resource configuration to a parent IAB node of the IAB node via an F1 interface, where the parent IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor, and receiving a second resource configuration from the parent IAB node via the F1 interface.

[0013] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the method may further include receiving multiplexing information of the IAB node from another IAB donor or receiving the multiplexing information from the IAB node via radio resource control (RRC) signaling when an MT of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor, and transmitting the multiplexing information to a parent IAB node of the IAB node via an F1 interface, where the parent IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor.

[0014] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the second resource configuration may be further determined based on the multiplexing information.

[0015] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) donor. The method may include receiving uplink (UL) ingress traffic information associated with an IAB node from another IAB donor, where a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor and a distribution unit (DU) of the IAB node may be connected to the other IAB donor, and transmitting at least one of a bearer mapping configuration associated with the IAB node and a UL routing configuration associated with the IAB node to the other IAB donor, where the bearer mapping configuration and the UL routing configuration are based on the UL ingress traffic information.

[0016] The UL incoming traffic information may indicate the incoming channel of the IAB node, or both the incoming channel and quality of service (QoS) information associated with the incoming channel.

[0017] The UL terminating traffic information may include at least one of an ID of a UL terminating backhaul (BH) radio link control (RLC) channel (CH) between the IAB node and a child IAB node of the IAB node, an ID of the UL terminating BH RLC CH and quality of service (QoS) information associated with the UL terminating BH RLC CH, UL user plane (UP) transport network layer (TNL) information, and UL UP TNL information, an ID of a data radio bearer (DRB) associated with the UL UP TNL information and QoS information associated with the DRB.

[0018] The bearer mapping configuration may indicate at least one of a mapping between a UL egress BH RLC CH and a UL terminating BH RLC CH between the IAB node and the parent node of the IAB node, and a mapping between a UL egress BH RLC CH and UL UP TNL information.

[0019] The UL routing configuration may indicate at least one of a mapping between a backhaul adaptation protocol (BAP) routing ID and a UL terminating BH RLC CH, and a mapping between a BAP routing ID and UL UP TNL information.

[0020] The QoS information associated with the UL BH RLC CH may include at least one of a guaranteed bit rate (GBR), an allocation and retention priority (ARP), and an aggregate maximum bit rate (AMBR).

[0021] The UL UP TNL information may include a General Packet Radio Service Tunneling Protocol-User Plane (GTP-U) tunnel endpoint identifier (TEID) and at least one of a TNL address, a transport layer address, and a transport layer Internet Protocol (IP) address.

[0022] At least one of the bearer mapping configuration and the UL routing configuration may be sent to another IAB donor via Xn interface signaling or via NG interface signaling relayed by the core network.

[0023] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) donor. The method may include transmitting uplink (UL) incoming traffic information associated with an IAB node to another IAB donor, where a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node may be connected to the other IAB donor and a distribution unit (DU) of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor, and receiving at least one of a bearer mapping configuration associated with the IAB node and a UL routing configuration associated with the IAB node from the other IAB donor, where the bearer mapping configuration and the UL routing configuration are based on the UL incoming traffic information.

[0024] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the method may further include transmitting at least one of the bearer mapping configuration and the UL routing configuration to the DU of the IAB node via an F1 interface.

[0025] The UL incoming traffic information may indicate the incoming channel of the IAB node, or both the incoming channel and quality of service (QoS) information associated with the incoming channel.

[0026] The UL terminating traffic information may include at least one of an ID of a UL terminating backhaul (BH) radio link control (RLC) channel (CH) between the IAB node and a child IAB node of the IAB node, an ID of the UL terminating BH RLC CH and quality of service (QoS) information associated with the UL terminating BH RLC CH, UL user plane (UP) transport network layer (TNL) information, and UL UP TNL information, an ID of a data radio bearer (DRB) associated with the UL UP TNL information, and QoS information associated with the DRB.

[0027] The bearer mapping configuration may indicate at least one of a mapping between a UL originating BH RLC CH and a UL terminating BH RLC CH between the IAB node and the IAB node's parent node, and a mapping between the UL originating BH RLC CH and UL UP TNL information. The UL routing configuration may indicate at least one of a mapping between a Backhaul Adaptation Protocol (BAP) routing ID and a UL terminating BH RLC CH, and a mapping between the BAP routing ID and UL UP TNL information. The QoS information related to the UL BH RLC CH may include at least one of a Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR), an Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP), and an Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate (AMBR). The UL UP TNL information may include a General Packet Radio Service Tunneling Protocol-User Plane (GTP-U) Tunnel Endpoint Identifier (TEID) and at least one of a TNL address, a transport layer address, and a transport layer Internet Protocol (IP) address.

[0028] At least one of the bearer mapping configuration and the UL routing configuration may be received from another IAB donor via Xn interface signaling or via NG interface signaling relayed by the core network.

[0029] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) donor. The method may include sending a message to an IAB node via an F1 interface to inquire whether a distributed unit (DU) of the IAB node should migrate to another IAB donor, where the DU of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor and a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node may be connected to the other IAB donor, and receiving a response message to the message from the IAB node via the F1 interface.

[0030] In some examples, the response message may approve the migration of the DU of the IAB node. In some examples, the response message may reject the migration of the DU of the IAB node. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the method may further include initiating a migration procedure of the DU of the IAB node to another IAB donor in response to the response message approving the migration of the DU of the IAB node.

[0031] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) donor. The method may include receiving a message from an IAB node via an F1 interface requesting migration of a distributed unit (DU) of the IAB node to another IAB donor, where the DU of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor and a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node may be connected to the other IAB donor, and in response to the message, initiating a migration procedure of the DU of the IAB node to the other IAB donor or sending a message to the IAB node via the F1 interface rejecting migration of the DU of the IAB node.

[0032] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node. The method may include receiving a message from an IAB donor via an F1 interface inquiring whether a distributed unit (DU) of the IAB node should migrate to another IAB donor, where the DU of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor and a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node may be connected to the other IAB donor, and sending a response message to the IAB donor via the F1 interface.

[0033] In some examples, the response message may approve the migration of the DU of the IAB node. In some examples, the response message may reject the migration of the DU of the IAB node.

[0034] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node. The method may include transmitting a message to an IAB donor via an F1 interface to request migration of a distributed unit (DU) of the IAB node to another IAB donor, where the DU of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor and a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node may be connected to the other IAB donor. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the method may further include receiving a message from the IAB donor via the F1 interface rejecting the migration of the DU of the IAB node.

[0035] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node. The IAB node may include a processor and a transceiver coupled to the processor, where the transceiver may be configured to: transmit, to a first IAB donor, a first resource configuration for a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node, where a distributed unit (DU) of the IAB node is connected to the first IAB donor and the MT of the IAB node is to connect to or hand over to a second IAB donor; and receive, from the first IAB donor, a second resource configuration for the DU of the IAB node, where the second resource configuration is determined based on the first resource configuration.

[0036] The transceiver may be configured to transmit the first resource configuration from the DU of the IAB node to the first IAB donor after receiving the first resource configuration for the MT of the IAB node. In some examples, the first resource configuration may be received from a second IAB donor. In some examples, the first resource configuration may be received from a parent IAB node of the IAB node, and the parent IAB node may be connected to the second IAB donor. In some examples, the first resource configuration may be received in a handover command from the first IAB donor.

[0037] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) donor. The IAB donor may include a transceiver, where the transceiver may be configured to receive a first resource configuration for a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node, where a distributed unit (DU) of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor, and where the MT of the IAB node may be connected to or may be handing over to another IAB donor, and a processor, coupled to the transceiver, where the processor may be configured to determine a second resource configuration for the DU of the IAB node based on the first resource configuration, and where the transceiver may be further configured to transmit the second resource configuration to the IAB node.

[0038] In some examples, the first resource configuration may be received from a DU of the IAB node via an F1 interface. In some examples, the first resource configuration may be received from another IAB donor via Xn interface signaling or via NG interface signaling relayed by the core network.

[0039] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) donor. The IAB donor may include a processor and a transceiver coupled to the processor, where the transceiver may be configured to: receive a first resource configuration for a distributed unit (DU) of an IAB node, where a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor or may be handing over to the IAB donor, and the DU of the IAB node may be connected to another IAB donor; and transmit a second resource configuration for the MT of the IAB node to the IAB node, where the second resource configuration may be determined based on the first resource configuration.

[0040] In some examples, the first resource configuration may be received from another IAB donor via Xn interface signaling. In some examples, the first resource configuration may be received from another IAB donor via NG interface signaling relayed by the core network. In some examples, the first resource configuration may be received from an IAB node via radio resource control (RRC) signaling when an MT of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor.

[0041] In some examples, the second resource configuration may be transmitted to the IAB node via another IAB donor. In some examples, the second resource configuration may be transmitted to the IAB node via radio resource control (RRC) signaling when an MT of the IAB node may connect to the IAB donor.

[0042] The transceiver may be configured to transmit a first resource configuration to a parent IAB node of the IAB node over an F1 interface, where the parent IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor, and to receive a second resource configuration from the parent IAB node over the F1 interface.

[0043] The transceiver may be configured to receive multiplexing information for the IAB node from another IAB donor, or to receive multiplexing information from the IAB node via radio resource control (RRC) signaling when an MT of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor, and to transmit the multiplexing information to a parent IAB node of the IAB node via an F1 interface, where the parent IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor. A second resource configuration may be further determined based on the multiplexing information.

[0044] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) donor. The IAB donor may include a processor and a transceiver coupled to the processor, where the transceiver may be configured to receive uplink (UL) incoming traffic information associated with an IAB node from another IAB donor, where a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor and a distribution unit (DU) of the IAB node may be connected to the other IAB donor, and to transmit to the other IAB donor at least one of a bearer mapping configuration associated with the IAB node and a UL routing configuration associated with the IAB node, where the bearer mapping configuration and the UL routing configuration are based on the UL incoming traffic information.

[0045] The UL incoming traffic information may indicate the incoming channel of the IAB node, or both the incoming channel and quality of service (QoS) information associated with the incoming channel.

[0046] The UL terminating traffic information may include at least one of an ID of a UL terminating backhaul (BH) radio link control (RLC) channel (CH) between the IAB node and a child IAB node of the IAB node, an ID of the UL terminating BH RLC CH and quality of service (QoS) information associated with the UL terminating BH RLC CH, UL user plane (UP) transport network layer (TNL) information, and UL UP TNL information, an ID of a data radio bearer (DRB) associated with the UL UP TNL information, and QoS information associated with the DRB.

[0047] The bearer mapping configuration may indicate at least one of a mapping between a UL originating BH RLC CH and a UL terminating BH RLC CH between the IAB node and the IAB node's parent node, and a mapping between the UL originating BH RLC CH and UL UP TNL information. The UL routing configuration may indicate at least one of a mapping between a Backhaul Adaptation Protocol (BAP) routing ID and a UL terminating BH RLC CH, and a mapping between the BAP routing ID and UL UP TNL information. The QoS information related to the UL BH RLC CH may include at least one of a Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR), an Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP), and an Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate (AMBR). The UL UP TNL information may include a General Packet Radio Service Tunneling Protocol-User Plane (GTP-U) Tunnel Endpoint Identifier (TEID) and at least one of a TNL address, a transport layer address, and a transport layer Internet Protocol (IP) address.

[0048] At least one of the bearer mapping configuration and the UL routing configuration may be sent to another IAB donor via Xn interface signaling or via NG interface signaling relayed by the core network.

[0049] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) donor. The IAB donor may include a processor and a transceiver coupled to the processor, where the transceiver may be configured to: send uplink (UL) incoming traffic information associated with the IAB node to another IAB donor, where a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node may be connected to the other IAB donor and a distribution unit (DU) of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor; and receive from the other IAB donor at least one of a bearer mapping configuration associated with the IAB node and a UL routing configuration associated with the IAB node, where the bearer mapping configuration and the UL routing configuration are based on the UL incoming traffic information.

[0050] The transceiver may be further configured to transmit at least one of a bearer mapping configuration and a UL routing configuration to a DU of the IAB node via an F1 interface.

[0051] The UL incoming traffic information may indicate the incoming channel of the IAB node, or both the incoming channel and quality of service (QoS) information associated with the incoming channel.

[0052] The UL terminating traffic information may include at least one of an ID of a UL terminating backhaul (BH) radio link control (RLC) channel (CH) between the IAB node and a child IAB node of the IAB node, an ID of the UL terminating BH RLC CH and quality of service (QoS) information associated with the UL terminating BH RLC CH, UL user plane (UP) transport network layer (TNL) information, and UL UP TNL information, an ID of a data radio bearer (DRB) associated with the UL UP TNL information, and QoS information associated with the DRB.

[0053] The bearer mapping configuration may indicate at least one of a mapping between a UL originating BH RLC CH and a UL terminating BH RLC CH between the IAB node and the IAB node's parent node, and a mapping between the UL originating BH RLC CH and UL UP TNL information. The UL routing configuration may indicate at least one of a mapping between a Backhaul Adaptation Protocol (BAP) routing ID and a UL terminating BH RLC CH, and a mapping between the BAP routing ID and UL UP TNL information. The QoS information related to the UL BH RLC CH may include at least one of a Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR), an Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP), and an Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate (AMBR). The UL UP TNL information may include a General Packet Radio Service Tunneling Protocol-User Plane (GTP-U) Tunnel Endpoint Identifier (TEID) and at least one of a TNL address, a transport layer address, and a transport layer Internet Protocol (IP) address.

[0054] At least one of the bearer mapping configuration and the UL routing configuration may be received from another IAB donor via Xn interface signaling or via NG interface signaling relayed by the core network.

[0055] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) donor. The IAB donor may include a processor and a transceiver coupled to the processor, where the transceiver may be configured to: send, via an F1 interface, to an IAB node, a message inquiring whether a distributed unit (DU) of the IAB node should migrate to another IAB donor, where the DU of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor and a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node may be connected to the other IAB donor; and receive, via the F1 interface, a response message to the message from the IAB node.

[0056] In some examples, the response message may approve the migration of the DU of the IAB node. In some examples, the response message may reject the migration of the DU of the IAB node.

[0057] In response to the response message approving the migration of the DU of the IAB node, the processor may be configured to initiate a migration procedure of the DU of the IAB node to another IAB donor.

[0058] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) donor. The IAB donor may include a transceiver, where the transceiver may be configured to receive a message from an IAB node via an F1 interface requesting migration of a distributed unit (DU) of the IAB node to another IAB donor, where the DU of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor, and where a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node may be connected to the other IAB donor, and a processor, coupled to the transceiver, where in response to the message, the processor may be configured to initiate a migration procedure of the DU of the IAB node to the other IAB donor, or the transceiver may be further configured to send a message to the IAB node via the F1 interface rejecting migration of the DU of the IAB node.

[0059] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node. The IAB node may include a processor and a transceiver coupled to the processor, where the transceiver may be configured to receive, from an IAB donor via an F1 interface, a message inquiring whether a distributed unit (DU) of the IAB node should migrate to another IAB donor, where the DU of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor and a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node may be connected to the other IAB donor, and to send, to the IAB donor via the F1 interface, a response message to the message.

[0060] In some examples, the response message may approve the migration of the DU of the IAB node. In some examples, the response message may reject the migration of the DU of the IAB node.

[0061] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node. The IAB node may include a processor and a transceiver coupled to the processor, where the transceiver may be configured to: transmit, to an IAB donor via an F1 interface, a message requesting migration of a distributed unit (DU) of the IAB node to another IAB donor, where the DU of the IAB node may be connected to the IAB donor and a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node may be connected to the other IAB donor. The transceiver may be further configured to receive, from the IAB donor via the F1 interface, a message rejecting migration of the DU of the IAB node.

[0062] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an apparatus. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the apparatus may include at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, at least one receiving circuit, at least one transmitting circuit, and at least one processor coupled to the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium, the at least one receiving circuit, and the at least one transmitting circuit, wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium and the computer-executable instructions, using the at least one processor, may be configured to cause the apparatus to perform a method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0063] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide technical solutions for facilitating the deployment of IAB nodes, which can facilitate and improve the implementation of various communication technologies, such as 5G NR.

[0064] To explain how the advantages and features of the present disclosure can be obtained, the disclosure will be described by reference to specific embodiments thereof that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. These drawings depict only exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and therefore should not be considered limiting of its scope. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0065] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is an example block diagram of a protocol stack for an IAB network, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is an example block diagram of a protocol stack for an IAB network, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of IAB node migration according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] 1 is a flowchart of an example procedure for wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6]1 is a flowchart of an example procedure for wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] 1 is a flowchart of an example procedure for wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] 1 is a flowchart of an example procedure for wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] 1 is a flowchart of an example procedure for wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] 1 is a flowchart of an example procedure for wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary apparatus according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0066] The detailed description of the accompanying drawings is intended as an illustration of preferred embodiments of the present disclosure and is not intended to represent the only form in which the present disclosure may be practiced. It is to be understood that the same or equivalent function may be accomplished by different embodiments that are intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0067] Reference will now be made in detail to some embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. For ease of understanding, the embodiments are provided under specific network architectures and new service scenarios, such as Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®) 5G (NR), 3GPP® Long Term Evolution (LTE) Release 8, etc. With the development of network architectures and new service scenarios, it is believed that all embodiments of the present disclosure are still applicable to similar technical problems, and further, the terms described in the present disclosure may change, which should not affect the principles of the present disclosure.

[0068] Compared with 4G communication systems, 5G communication systems have raised more stringent requirements for various network performance indicators, such as a 1000-fold increase in capacity, wider coverage requirements, ultra-high reliability, and ultra-low latency. Considering the abundant frequency resources of high-frequency carriers, the use of high-frequency small-scale base stations is becoming increasingly popular in hotspot areas to meet the ultra-high capacity needs of 5G. However, high-frequency carriers have poor propagation characteristics, are severely attenuated by obstacles, and have limited coverage. Therefore, dense deployment of small-scale base stations is required. Meanwhile, laying optical fiber for these small-scale base stations is difficult and costly. Therefore, an economical and convenient backhaul method is needed. To avoid laying optical fiber, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) technology, in which both the access link and the backhaul link use wireless transmission solutions, offers a solution to the above problems.

[0069] In an IAB network, a relay node (RN) or IAB node, or a wireless backhaul node / device may provide wireless access service to a UE. That is, a UE may connect to an IAB donor that is relayed by one or more IAB nodes. An IAB donor may also be referred to as a donor node or donor base station (e.g., DgNB, donor gNodeB). Furthermore, a wireless link between an IAB donor and an IAB node, or a wireless link between different IAB nodes, may be referred to as a "backhaul link."

[0070] An IAB node may include an IAB mobile terminal (MT) portion and an IAB distribution unit (DU) portion. When an IAB node connects to its parent node (which may be another IAB node or an IAB donor), the IAB node may be considered in the role of a UE, i.e., an MT. When an IAB node serves its child node (which may be another IAB node or a UE), the IAB node may be considered in the role of a network device, i.e., a DU.

[0071] An IAB donor can be an access network element with complete base station functionality or an access network element with separate forms of a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). The IAB donor may be connected to a core network (e.g., connected to a 5G core network (5GC)) and provide wireless backhaul functionality to IAB nodes. The CU of an IAB donor may be referred to as an "IAB donor CU" (or directly as a "CU"), and the DU of an IAB donor may be referred to as an "IAB donor DU." The IAB donor CU may be divided into a control plane (CP) and a user plane (UP). For example, a CU may include one CU-CP and one or more CU-UPs.

[0072] Considering the small coverage of high frequency bands, multi-hop networking may be adopted in IAB networks to guarantee the coverage performance of the network. Taking into account the requirements of service transmission reliability, IAB nodes may support dual connectivity (DC) or multi-connectivity to improve transmission reliability, in order to deal with abnormal situations that may occur in backhaul (BH) links, such as radio link failure (RLF) or blockage, load fluctuations, etc.

[0073] If an IAB network supports multi-hop and dual connectivity networking, there may be multiple transmission paths between a UE and an IAB donor. A transmission path may include multiple nodes, such as a UE, one or more IAB nodes, and an IAB donor (if the IAB donor is in the form of separate CU and DU, the IAB donor may also include an IAB donor DU and an IAB donor CU). Each IAB node may treat a neighboring node that provides backhaul services to that IAB node as a parent node (or parent IAB node), and each IAB node may be considered a child node (or child IAB node) of the IAB node's parent node.

[0074] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system 100 in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0075] 1, wireless communications system 100 may include several base stations (e.g., IAB donor 110A and IAB donor 110B), several IAB nodes (e.g., IAB node 120A, IAB node 120B, and IAB node 120C), and several UEs (e.g., UE 130A and UE 130B). Although a particular number of UEs, IAB nodes, and IAB donors are depicted in FIG. 1, it is contemplated that any number of UEs, IAB nodes, and IAB donors may be included in wireless communications system 100.

[0076] Each of IAB donor 110A, IAB donor 110B, IAB node 120A, IAB node 120B, and IAB node 120C may be directly connected to one or more IAB nodes according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. Each of IAB donor 110A, IAB donor 110B, IAB node 120A, IAB node 120B, and IAB node 120C may be directly connected to one or more UEs according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0077] The UEs 130A and 130B may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. For example, the UEs 130A and 130B may include computing devices such as desktop computers, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet computers, smart televisions (e.g., televisions connected to the Internet), set-top boxes, game consoles, security systems (including security cameras), in-vehicle computers, network devices (e.g., routers, switches, and modems). According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UEs 130A and 130B may include portable wireless communication devices, smartphones, cellular phones, flip phones, devices with subscriber identity modules, personal computers, selective call receivers, or any other devices capable of transmitting and receiving communication signals over a wireless network. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UEs 130A and 130B may include wearable devices such as smart watches, fitness bands, optical head-mounted displays, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, etc. Additionally, UE 130A and UE 130B may be referred to as subscriber units, mobiles, mobile stations, users, terminals, mobile terminals, wireless terminals, fixed terminals, subscriber stations, user terminals, or devices, or may be described using other terms used in the art.

[0078] The IAB donors 110A and 110B may communicate with a core network (not shown in FIG. 1). The core network (CN) may include multiple core network components, such as a mobility management entity (MME) (not shown in FIG. 1) or an access and mobility management function (AMF) (not shown in FIG. 1). The CN may act as a gateway for UEs to access the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and / or other networks (not shown in FIG. 1).

[0079] The wireless communication system 100 may correspond to any type of network capable of transmitting and receiving wireless communication signals. For example, the wireless communication system 100 may correspond to a wireless communication network, a cellular telephone network, a time division multiple access (TDMA)-based network, a code division multiple access (CDMA)-based network, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA)-based network, an LTE network, a 3GPP®-based network, a 3GPP® 5G network, a satellite communication network, a high altitude platform network, and / or other communication networks.

[0080] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the wireless communication system 100 conforms to the 5G NR standard of the 3GPP® protocol. For example, the IAB donors 110A and 110B may transmit data in the DL using an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation scheme. The UEs 130A and 130B may transmit data in the UL using a discrete Fourier transform-spread-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM) or cyclic prefix-OFDM (CP-OFDM) scheme. However, more generally, the wireless communication system 100 may implement some other open or proprietary communication protocol, such as WiMAX, among other protocols.

[0081] Those skilled in the art will understand that as technology develops and advances, the terms described in this disclosure may change, but this should not affect or limit the principles and spirit of the present disclosure.

[0082] Referring to FIG. 1 , IAB node 120A may be directly connected to IAB donors 110A and 110B, and IAB node 120B may be directly connected to IAB donor 110A. IAB donors 110A and 110B are parent nodes of IAB node 120A, and IAB donor 110A is the parent node of IAB node 120B. In other words, IAB nodes 120A and 120B are child IAB nodes of IAB donor 110A, and IAB node 120A is also a child IAB node of IAB donor 110B. IAB node 120C can reach IAB donor 110A by hopping through IAB node 120B. IAB node 120B is the parent IAB node of IAB node 120C. In other words, IAB node 120C is a child IAB node of IAB node 120B.

[0083] In some other embodiments of the present disclosure, an IAB node may be connected to IAB node 120C such that IAB donor 110A can be reached by hopping between IAB node 120C and IAB node 120B. This IAB node and IAB node 120C may be referred to as descendant IAB nodes of IAB node 120B.

[0084] UEs 130A and 130B may be connected to IAB nodes 120A and 120C, respectively. Uplink (UL) packets (e.g., data or signaling) from UE 130A or UE 130B may be transmitted to an IAB donor (e.g., IAB donor 110A or 110B) via one or more IAB nodes and then transmitted by the IAB donor to a mobile gateway device (such as a user plane function (UPF) in 5GC). Downlink (DL) packets (e.g., data or signaling) may be transmitted from the IAB donor (e.g., IAB donor 110A or 110B) after being received by the gateway device and then transmitted to UE 130A or 130B through one or more IAB nodes.

[0085] 1, UE 130A may transmit UL data to IAB donor 110A or 110B or receive DL data from those IAB donors via IAB node 120A. UE 130B may transmit UL data to IAB donor 110A or receive DL data from IAB donor 110A via IAB node 120C and IAB node 120B.

[0086] In an IAB deployment such as wireless communication system 100, a wireless link between an IAB donor (e.g., IAB donor 110A or 110B in FIG. 1) and an IAB node, or between two IAB nodes, may be referred to as a backhaul link (BL). A wireless link between an IAB donor (e.g., IAB donor 110A or 110B in FIG. 1) and a UE, or between an IAB node and a UE, may be referred to as an access link (AL). For example, in FIG. 1, wireless links 140A-140D are BLs, and wireless links 150A and 150B are ALs.

[0087] A protocol layer located above the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, the Backhaul Adaptation Protocol (BAP) layer, is introduced into the IAB system and can be used to realize packet routing, bearer mapping, and flow control on the wireless backhaul link.

[0088] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, for BAP routing in an IAB network, each UL or DL ​​packet on a BH link may be mapped to a specific BAP routing ID, which may be included in the BAP header. The BAP routing ID may include a BAP address indicating the BAP address of a destination node on the BH link. The destination nodes of the DL BH link and the UL BH link may be the access IAB node and the DU of the IAB donor, respectively. The BAP routing ID may also include a path ID indicating a routing path terminated at the destination node.

[0089] An F1 interface may be established between an IAB node (e.g., a DU portion of the IAB node) and an IAB donor (e.g., an IAB donor-CU). The F1 interface may support both a user plane protocol (e.g., F1-U) and a control plane protocol (e.g., F1-C). The user plane protocol of the F1 interface may include one or more of a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol-User Plane (GTP-U), a User Datagram Protocol (UDP), an Internet Protocol (IP), and other protocols. The control plane protocol of the F1 interface may include one or more of an F1 application protocol (F1AP), a stream control transport protocol (SCTP), IP, and other protocols.

[0090] Through the control plane of the F1 interface, the IAB node and the IAB donor can perform, for example, interface management, IAB-DU management, and UE context-related configuration. Through the user plane of the F1 interface, the IAB node and the IAB donor can perform, for example, user plane data transmission and downlink transmission status feedback functions.

[0091] 2 shows an example block diagram of a user plane (UP) protocol stack 200 for an IAB network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 shows an example block diagram of a control plane (CP) protocol stack 300 for an IAB network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a UE may be connected to an IAB donor via IAB node 2 and IAB node 1.

[0092] 2, the UP protocol stack of the UE may include a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and a physical (PHY) layer. The UP protocol stack of the DU of IAB node 2 may include a GTP-U layer, a UDP layer, an IP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer. The UP protocol stack of the MT of IAB node 2 or the DU or MT of IAB node 1 may include a BAP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer. The UP protocol stack of the DU of the IAB donor may include an IP layer, a BAP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer, where the PHY layer belongs to Layer 1 (L1), and the BAP layer, the RLC layer, and the MAC layer belong to Layer 2 (L2). The protocol stack of the IAB donor's CU-UP may include a GTP-U layer, a UDP layer, an IP layer, an SDAP layer, a PDCP layer, an L2 layer, and an L1 layer.

[0093] Referring to FIG. 3, the CP protocol stack of the UE may include a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a physical (PHY) layer. The CP protocol stack of the DU of IAB node 2 may include an F1AP layer, an SCTP layer, an IP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer. The CP protocol stack of the MT of IAB node 2 or the DU or MT of IAB node 1 may include a BAP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer. The CP protocol stack of the DU of the IAB donor may include an IP layer, a BAP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer, where the PHY layer belongs to L1 and the BAP layer, RLC layer, and MAC layer belong to L2. The protocol stack of the CU-CP of the IAB donor may include an RRC layer, a PDCP layer, an F1AP layer, an SCTP layer, an IP layer, an L2 layer, and an L1 layer.

[0094] The protocol stacks shown in Figures 2 and 3 are for illustrative purposes only. For example, the sequence of some of the protocol layers in the protocol stacks of Figures 2 and 3 may be rearranged for illustrative purposes. For example, the SDAP and PDCP layers belong to L2, but are shown above the GTP-U, UDP, and IP layers in the protocol stack of IAB Donor CU-UP in Figure 2.

[0095] Various resource allocation techniques and multiplexing schemes may be applied to IAB networks.

[0096] For example, the slot format of the IAB-DU or IAB-MT may include downlink symbols, uplink symbols, and flexible symbols. For example, for each serving cell of the IAB-MT, the IAB-MT may be provided with an indication of the slot format across several slots by a higher layer (e.g., RRC layer) parameter such as tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated-IAB-MT. For each serving cell of the IAB-DU, the IAB-DU may be provided with an indication of the slot format across several slots by a higher layer parameter such as IAB-DU-Resource-Configuration.

[0097] With respect to slots of the IAB-DU serving cell, the symbols of the slots of the IAB-DU serving cell can be configured to be hard, soft, or not available type. When a downlink, uplink, or flexible symbol is configured as hard, the IAB-DU serving cell can transmit, receive, or either transmit or receive in the symbol, respectively. In some examples, when a downlink, uplink, or flexible symbol is configured as soft, the IAB-DU can transmit, receive, or either transmit or receive in the symbol, respectively, only when: - IAB-MT does not send or receive symbols, - the IAB-MT transmits or receives on the symbol and the transmission or reception on the symbol is not changed due to the use of the symbol by the IAB-DU, or The IAB-MT detects a specific DCI format (e.g., DCI format 2_5 defined in the 3GPP specifications) and the available indication (AI) index field value indicates that soft symbols are available.

[0098] When a symbol is configured as unavailable, the IAB-DU neither transmits nor receives on the symbol.

[0099] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, an IAB node may perform IAB-MT and IAB-DU transmission and reception operations simultaneously according to different capabilities, and may support various combinations of multiplexing operations, such as IAB-MT and IAB-DU transmission, IAB-MT and IAB-DU reception, IAB-MT reception and IAB-DU transmission, and IAB-MT transmission and IAB-DU reception.

[0100] For example, the "Multiplexing info" information element (IE) defined in the 3GPP® specification shown below may contain information about the multiplexing capabilities between cells of the IAB-DU and cells configured in the collocated IAB-MT.

[0101] [Table 1]

[0102] In some scenarios, an IAB node may be migrated (or handed over) from one IAB donor (source IAB donor) to another IAB donor (target IAB donor). For example, referring again to FIG. 1, IAB node 120C or IAB node 120B may be migrated from IAB donor 110A to IAB donor 110B. During the migration, only the MT of the IAB node may be migrated to the target IAB donor. The DU of the IAB node, the descendant IAB nodes of the IAB node, and the UEs connected to the IAB node and the descendant IAB nodes may still be anchored to the source IAB donor. That is, the anchor node of the logical F1 connection may not change. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the F1 forwarding paths of the DUs of the IAB node and the DUs of the descendant IAB nodes of the IAB node may need to be migrated from the source path to the target path.

[0103] 4 shows a schematic diagram of IAB node migration according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The details described in all of the previous embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable to the embodiment shown in FIG.

[0104] 4, IAB donor 410A may include CU 475 and DU 465, and IAB donor 410B may include CU 476 and DU 466. IAB node 420A may be directly connected to IAB donor 410A and may include MT 451 and DU 461. IAB node 420B may be directly connected to IAB donor 410B and may include MT 452 and DU 462. IAB node 420C may include MT 453 and DU 463. IAB node 420D may be connected to IAB node 420C and may include MT 454 and DU 464, and UE 430 may be connected to IAB node 420D. IAB node 420D may be referred to as UE 430's access IAB node.

[0105] The left side of Figure 4 shows the IAB network before migration of IAB node 420C. In the left side of Figure 4, IAB node 420C can reach IAB donor 410A via IAB node 420A, and IAB node 420D can reach IAB donor 410A via IAB node 420C and IAB node 420A. Both MT 453 and DU 463 of IAB node 420C may be anchored to CU 476 of IAB donor 410A. 440C shows the F1 signaling flow between DU 463 and CU 475, and 440D shows the F1 signaling flow between DU 464 and CU 475.

[0106] The right side of Figure 4 shows the IAB network after the migration of IAB node 420C, where only MT 453 of IAB node 420C has migrated from IAB donor 410A to IAB donor 410B, and DU 463 of IAB node 420C is still under the control of IAB donor 410A. In other words, MT 453 is anchored to CU 476, and DU 463 is still anchored to CU 475. 440C' shows the F1 signaling flow between DU 463 and CU 475, and 440D' shows the F1 signaling flow between DU 464 and CU 475.

[0107] In the topology on the right side of Figure 4, some issues may need to be resolved.

[0108] One issue is that resource conflicts may occur between MT 453 and DU 463 of IAB node 420C. For example, during the migration of IAB node 420C and when the topology on the right side of Figure 4 stabilizes, some resource configuration issues may exist.

[0109] Another problem that needs to be solved is how to configure the routing and bearing mapping of IAB node 420C to MT 453. According to known mechanisms for configuring IAB-MT routing and bearing mapping, the IAB-MT routing and bearing mapping may be configured by F1AP messages between the IAB donor's CU and the collocated IAB-DU, which may deliver the configuration to the corresponding IAB-MT through an internal interface within the IAB node. Because DU 463 and MT 453 are under the control of different IAB donors or CUs, the known mechanisms may not be applicable to MT 453.

[0110] Yet another issue that needs to be resolved is whether DU 463 of IAB node 420C should be migrated after the migration of MT 453 of IAB node 420C.

[0111] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for enhancing the migration of IAB nodes, which can solve the above problems. Further details about the embodiments of the present disclosure are provided in the following text in combination with the accompanying drawings.

[0112] 5 illustrates a flowchart of an example wireless communication procedure 500 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The example procedure 500 illustrates a procedure for updating a resource configuration for a DU of an IAB node according to a resource configuration for an MT of the IAB node.

[0113] In some examples, IAB node 520B and IAB node 520C may function as IAB node 420B and IAB node 420C, respectively, in Figure 4. IAB donor 510A and IAB donor 510B may function as IAB donor 410A and IAB donor 410B, respectively, in Figure 4.

[0114] The details described in all of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable to the embodiment shown in Figure 5. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the order of the operations of the exemplary procedure 500 may be changed, and some of the operations of the exemplary procedure 500 may be deleted or modified, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0115] 5, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, IAB node 520C may be handed over from IAB donor 510A to IAB donor 510B. After the handover procedure, the MT of IAB node 520C may be connected to IAB donor 510B, and the DU of IAB node 520C may be connected to IAB donor 510A. IAB node 520B may be connected to IAB donor 510B and may be the parent node of IAB node 520C.

[0116] In some cases, resource conflicts may occur between the MT and DU of IAB node 520C. For example, when IAB node 520C supports only half-duplex communication, the resource configurations for the MT of IAB node 520C and the DU of IAB node 520C should satisfy the half-duplex communication restriction. However, because the MT of IAB node 520C has migrated (or is migrating) from IAB donor 510A to IAB donor 510B and the DU of IAB node 520C is still under the control of IAB donor 510A, the resource configuration of the DU of IAB node 520C and the resource configuration of the MT of IAB node 520C may be configured by different entities, which may cause resource conflicts.

[0117] In operation 513, IAB node 520C (eg, an MT of IAB node 520C) may receive a resource configuration for an MT of IAB node 520C (MT resource configuration) from IAB node 520B.

[0118] The MT resource configuration may include a time domain configuration, a frequency domain configuration, or both. In some examples, the frequency domain configuration for the MT of the IAB node 520C may include one or more of a frequency band, a combination of bands, a combination of a central frequency point and bandwidth, etc. In some examples, the time domain configuration for the MT of the IAB node 520C may include one or more of a system frame number, a time domain duration, a slot format indicating downlink, uplink, and flexible attributes of each subframe or each symbol, etc.

[0119] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the MT resource configuration for IAB node 520C may come from IAB donor 510B (e.g., a CU of IAB donor 510B). For example, in operation 511 (indicated as an option by the dotted arrow), IAB donor 510B may send the MT resource configuration to IAB node 520B, which may send the same configuration to IAB node 520C in operation 513.

[0120] In some other embodiments of the present disclosure, the timing of receiving the MT resource configuration may occur before the migration of the MT of IAB node 520C (e.g., during a handover procedure). In some cases, the MT resource configuration may be transmitted via a handover command. For example, IAB donor 510A may transmit the handover command from IAB donor 510B transparently (e.g., without decoding) to IAB node 520C. In another example, IAB donor 510A may decode the handover command and thus obtain the MT resource configuration. In this example, operation 515 or operation 515′ described below may be deleted.

[0121] In response to the MT resource reconfiguration of IAB node 520C, the resource configuration for the DUs of IAB node 520C may need to be updated accordingly.

[0122] In some examples, in operation 515, in response to receiving the MT resource configuration, the IAB node 520C (e.g., a DU of the IAB node 520C) may transmit the MT resource configuration to the IAB donor 510A (e.g., a CU of the IAB donor 510A). For example, the IAB node 520C may transmit the MT resource configuration to the IAB donor 510A immediately after receiving the MT resource configuration. The MT resource configuration may be transmitted over the F1 interface (or via an F1AP message).

[0123] In some other examples, the IAB donor 510B may send the MT resource configuration to the IAB donor 510A. The timing of sending the MT resource configuration may be up to the implementation of the IAB donor 510B.

[0124] For example, in operation 515′ (shown as an alternative to operation 515 by a dotted arrow), IAB donor 510B (e.g., the CU of IAB donor 510B) may transmit an MT resource configuration to IAB donor 510A (e.g., the CU of IAB donor 510A) via Xn interface signaling between them. In yet another example, IAB donor 510B (e.g., the CU of IAB donor 510B) may transmit the MT resource configuration to IAB donor 510A (e.g., the CU of IAB donor 510A) via NG interface signaling relayed by a core network (not shown in FIG. 5). For example, IAB donor 510B may transmit the MT resource configuration to the core network, and the core network may transmit the MT resource configuration to IAB donor 510A.

[0125] In operation 517, based on the received MT resource configuration, the IAB donor 510A (e.g., the CU of the IAB donor 510A) may determine an updated resource configuration for the DU of the IAB node 520C (DU resource configuration).

[0126] The DU resource configuration may include a time domain configuration, a frequency domain configuration, or both. In some examples, the frequency domain configuration for the DU of the IAB node 520C may include one or more of a frequency band, a combination of bands, a combination of a center frequency point and bandwidth, etc. In some examples, the time domain configuration for the DU of the IAB node 520C may include one or more of a system frame number, a time domain duration, a slot format indicating downlink, uplink, and flexible attributes of each subframe or each symbol, a hard, soft, or unavailable attribute of each symbol, etc.

[0127] In operation 519, the IAB donor 510A (eg, a CU of the IAB donor 510A) may configure a DU resource configuration to the DU of the IAB node 520C.

[0128] 6 illustrates a flowchart of an example procedure 600 for wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The example procedure 600 illustrates a procedure for updating a resource configuration for an MT of an IAB node according to a resource configuration for a DU of the IAB node.

[0129] In some examples, IAB node 620B and IAB node 620C may function as IAB node 420B and IAB node 420C, respectively, in Figure 4. IAB donor 610A and IAB donor 610B may function as IAB donor 410A and IAB donor 410B, respectively, in Figure 4.

[0130] The details described in all of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable to the embodiment shown in Figure 6. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the order of the operations of the exemplary procedure 600 may be changed, and some of the operations of the exemplary procedure 600 may be deleted or modified, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0131] The example procedure 600 may be performed when IAB node 620C is handing over from IAB donor 610A to IAB donor 610B. After the handover procedure, the MT of IAB node 620C may be connected to IAB donor 610B, and the DU of IAB node 620C may be connected to IAB donor 610A. IAB node 620B may be connected to IAB donor 610B and may be the parent node of IAB node 620C.

[0132] Similar to Figure 5, resource conflicts may occur between the MT and DU of IAB node 620C. During (or after) the migration of the MT of IAB node 620C, the resource configuration for the MT of IAB node 620C may be updated to be compatible with the resource configuration for the DU of IAB node 620C.

[0133] In some examples, in operation 611, the IAB donor 610A (e.g., the CU of the IAB donor 610A) may transmit a resource configuration (DU resource configuration) for the DU of the IAB node 620C to the IAB donor 610B (e.g., the CU of the IAB donor 610B) via Xn interface signaling between them.

[0134] In some other examples, the IAB donor 610A (e.g., a CU of the IAB donor 610A) may send a DU resource configuration to the IAB donor 610B (e.g., a CU of the IAB donor 610B) via NG interface signaling relayed by a core network (not shown in FIG. 6). For example, the IAB donor 610A may send a DU resource configuration to the core network, and the core network may send the DU resource configuration to the IAB donor 610B.

[0135] The timing of the transmission of the DU resource configuration may occur before the migration of the MT of the IAB node 620C (e.g., during a handover procedure). For example, the DU resource configuration may be transmitted via a handover required message and a handover request message. For example, the IAB donor 610A may transmit a handover required message carrying the DU resource configuration to the core network, and the core network may transmit a handover request message carrying the DU resource configuration to the IAB donor 610B.

[0136] The DU resource configuration may include a time domain configuration, a frequency domain configuration, or both. The above descriptions regarding the DU resource configuration, the time domain configuration, and the frequency domain configuration may apply here.

[0137] Furthermore, to facilitate updating the MT resource configuration of IAB node 620C so that the MT resource configuration of IAB node 620C may be compatible with the DU resource configuration of IAB node 620C, IAB donor 610B or a parent node of IAB node 620C (e.g., IAB node 620B) may need to know the multiplexing information (e.g., multiplexing capability, duplex mode, or both) of IAB node 620C. Therefore, IAB donor 610A (e.g., the CU of IAB donor 610A) may further transmit the multiplexing information to IAB donor 610B (e.g., the CU of IAB donor 610B). The multiplexing information and the DU resource configuration may be transmitted in the same or separate signaling messages.

[0138] In some examples, the multiplexing information may indicate whether the IAB node 620C supports simultaneous transmission or reception at its MT and DU, e.g., “MT Tx & DU Tx,” “MT Tx & DU Rx,” “MT Rx & DU Tx,” and “MT Rx & DU Rx.” “MT Tx & DU Tx” refers to simultaneous transmission at the MT and transmission at the DU, “MT Tx & DU Rx” refers to simultaneous transmission at the MT and reception at the DU, “MT Rx & DU Tx” refers to simultaneous reception at the MT and transmission at the DU, and “MT Rx & DU Rx” refers to simultaneous reception at the MT and reception at the DU.

[0139] The IAB donor 610B or the IAB node 620B may generate an MT resource configuration for the IAB node 620C that is compatible with the DU resource configuration.

[0140] For example, in operation 613, the IAB donor 610B (e.g., a CU of the IAB donor 610B) may send an MT resource configuration (and multiplexing information, if any) to the IAB node 620B (e.g., a DU of the IAB donor 610B) via the F1 interface. In operation 615, the IAB node 620B (e.g., a DU of the IAB donor 610B) may determine an MT resource configuration for the IAB node 620C based on the DU resource configuration (and multiplexing information, if any). In operation 617, the IAB node 620B (e.g., a DU of the IAB donor 610B) may send the determined MT resource configuration to the IAB donor 610B (e.g., a CU of the IAB donor 610B).

[0141] In another example, in operation 615′ (shown as an alternative to operations 613-617 by the dotted arrow), the IAB donor 610B (e.g., the CU of the IAB donor 610B) may determine the MT resource configuration for the IAB node 620C based on the DU resource configuration (and multiplexing information, if any).

[0142] In operation 619, the IAB donor 610B (e.g., the CU of the IAB donor 610B) may send the MT resource configuration to the IAB donor 610A (e.g., the CU of the IAB donor 610A). In operation 621, the IAB donor 610A (e.g., the CU of the IAB donor 610A) may send the MT resource configuration to the IAB node 620C (e.g., the MT of the IAB node 620C). In some examples, the MT resource configuration may be carried in a handover command.

[0143] 7 illustrates a flowchart of an example procedure 700 for wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The example procedure 700 illustrates a procedure for updating a resource configuration for an MT of an IAB node according to a resource configuration for a DU of the IAB node.

[0144] In some examples, IAB node 720B and IAB node 720C may function as IAB node 420B and IAB node 420C, respectively, in Figure 4. IAB donor 710A and IAB donor 710B may function as IAB donor 410A and IAB donor 410B, respectively, in Figure 4.

[0145] The details described in all of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable to the embodiment shown in Figure 7. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the order of the operations of the exemplary procedure 700 may be changed, and some of the operations of the exemplary procedure 700 may be deleted or modified, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0146] The example procedure 700 may be performed after handing over IAB node 720C from IAB donor 710A to IAB donor 710B. After the handover procedure, the MT of IAB node 720C may be connected to IAB donor 710B, and the DU of IAB node 720C may be connected to IAB donor 710A. IAB node 720B may be connected to IAB donor 710B and may be the parent node of IAB node 720C. After the handover (or migration) of the MT of IAB node 720C, the resource configuration for the MT of IAB node 720C may be updated to be compatible with the update of the resource configuration for the DU of IAB node 720C to meet duplex restrictions and avoid resource conflicts.

[0147] For example, in operation 711, the IAB donor 710A (e.g., a CU of the IAB donor 710A) may send a resource configuration for a DU of the IAB node 720C (a DU resource configuration) to the IAB node 720C (e.g., a DU of the IAB node 720C) via an F1AP message. The description above regarding the DU resource configuration may apply here. In response to the F1AP message, the DU of the IAB node 720C may update its resource configuration.

[0148] In some examples, the IAB node 720C (e.g., an MT of the IAB node 720C) may transmit a DU resource configuration for the IAB node 720C to the IAB donor 710B (e.g., a CU of the IAB donor 710B) via RRC signaling in operation 713. For example, the IAB node 720C may transmit the DU resource configuration to the IAB donor 710B immediately after receiving the DU resource configuration.

[0149] In some other examples, in operation 713′ (indicated as an alternative to operation 713 by a dotted arrow), the IAB donor 710A (e.g., the CU of the IAB donor 710A) may transmit the DU resource configuration for the IAB node 720C to the IAB donor 710B (e.g., the CU of the IAB donor 710B) via Xn interface signaling therebetween. In still other examples, the IAB donor 710A (e.g., the CU of the IAB donor 710A) may transmit the DU resource configuration for the IAB node 720C to the IAB donor 710B (e.g., the CU of the IAB donor 710B) via NG interface signaling relayed by the core network (not shown in FIG. 7).

[0150] Furthermore, to facilitate updating the MT resource configuration of IAB node 720C so that the MT resource configuration of IAB node 720C may be compatible with the DU resource configuration of IAB node 720C, the parent node (e.g., IAB node 720B) of IAB donor 710B or IAB node 720C may need to know the multiplexing information (e.g., multiplexing capability, duplex mode, or both) of IAB node 720C. Therefore, IAB node 720C (e.g., the MT of IAB node 720C) or IAB donor 710A (e.g., the CU of IAB donor 710A) may further transmit the multiplexing information to IAB donor 710B (e.g., the CU of IAB donor 710B). The multiplexing information and the DU resource configuration may be transmitted in the same or separate signaling messages. The discussion regarding multiplexing information above may apply here.

[0151] The IAB donor 710B or the IAB node 720B may generate an MT resource configuration for the IAB node 720C that is compatible with the DU resource configuration.

[0152] For example, in operation 715, the IAB donor 710B (e.g., a CU of the IAB donor 710B) may send a DU resource configuration (and multiplexing information, if any) to the IAB node 720B (e.g., a DU of the IAB donor 710B) via an F1 interface (e.g., an F1AP message). In operation 717, the IAB node 720B (e.g., a DU of the IAB donor 710B) may determine an MT resource configuration for the IAB node 720C based on the DU resource configuration (and multiplexing information, if any). In operation 719, the IAB node 720B (e.g., a DU of the IAB donor 710B) may send the determined MT resource configuration to the IAB donor 710B (e.g., a CU of the IAB donor 710B).

[0153] In another example, in operation 717′ (shown as an alternative to operations 715-719 by a dotted arrow), the IAB donor 710B (e.g., the CU of the IAB donor 710B) may determine an MT resource configuration for the IAB node 720C based on the DU resource configuration (and multiplexing information, if any).

[0154] At operation 721, the IAB donor 710B (eg, a CU of the IAB donor 710B) may send an MT resource configuration to the IAB node 720C (eg, an MT of the IAB node 720C) via RRC signaling.

[0155] 8 illustrates a flowchart of an example procedure 800 for wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The example procedure 800 illustrates a procedure for routing and bearing mapping configuration of an IAB node.

[0156] In some examples, IAB node 820C, IAB donor 810A, and IAB donor 810B may function as IAB node 420C, IAB donor 410A, and IAB donor 410B in FIG. 4, respectively.

[0157] The details described in all of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable to the embodiment shown in Figure 8. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the order of the operations of the exemplary procedure 800 may be changed, and some of the operations of the exemplary procedure 800 may be deleted or modified, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0158] The example procedure 800 may be performed after handing over IAB node 820C from IAB donor 810A to IAB donor 810B. After the handover procedure, the MT of IAB node 820C may be connected to IAB donor 810B, and the DU of IAB node 820C may be connected to IAB donor 810A. In the example procedure 800, a UL routing and bearer mapping configuration for the MT of IAB node 820C may be generated by IAB donor 810B (e.g., a CU of IAB donor 810B) and then sent to IAB donor 810A (e.g., a CU of IAB donor 810A). The IAB donor 810A (e.g., a CU of IAB donor 810A) may send the configuration to IAB node 820C (e.g., a DU of IAB node 820C) via an F1AP message.

[0159] For example, in operation 811, IAB donor 810A (e.g., a CU of IAB donor 810A) may transmit UL incoming traffic information associated with IAB node 820C to IAB donor 810B (e.g., a CU of IAB donor 810B). The UL incoming traffic information may indicate an incoming channel of IAB node 820C, or both an incoming channel of IAB node 820C and quality of service (QoS) information associated with the incoming channel.

[0160] In some examples, when IAB node 820C has a child IAB node, the UL incoming traffic information may indicate the identity of the UL incoming BH RLC channel (CH) between IAB node 820C and IAB node 820C's child IAB node, or both the identity of the UL incoming BH RLC CH and QoS information associated with the UL incoming BH RLC CH.

[0161] The QoS information related to the UL incoming BH RLC CH may include at least one of the following for the UL incoming BH RLC CH: Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR), Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP), Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate (AMBR), etc.

[0162] In some examples, when the IAB node 820C acts as an access IAB node for a served UE (e.g., the UE connects directly to the IAB node 820C to access the network), the UL incoming traffic information may indicate all of UL UP transport network layer (TNL) information, or UL UP TNL information, an ID of a data radio bearer (DRB) associated with the UL UP TNL information, and QoS information associated with the DRB. The UL UP TNL information may include a GTP-U tunnel endpoint identifier (TEID) and at least one of a TNL address, a transport layer address, and a transport layer IP address.

[0163] In operation 813, the IAB donor 810B (e.g., a CU of the IAB donor 810B) may generate a bearer mapping configuration associated with the IAB node 820C, a UL routing configuration associated with the IAB node 820C, or both. The configuration may be applied to the MT of the IAB node 820C.

[0164] For example, the IAB donor 810B may determine a corresponding UL outgoing BH RLC CH of the IAB node 820C for each UL incoming BH RLC CH of the IAB node 820C and a corresponding UL outgoing BH RLC CH of the IAB node 820C for each UL UP TNL information associated with the IAB node 820C. The IAB donor 810B may determine a UL routing configuration, path, strategy, or any combination thereof, which may include a BAP routing ID for each UL incoming BH RLC CH of the IAB node 820C and a BAP routing ID for each UL UP TNL information associated with the IAB node 820C.

[0165] In some examples, the bearer mapping configuration and UL routing configuration may be based on received UL terminating traffic information.

[0166] In some examples, the bearer mapping configuration may indicate a mapping (bearer mapping #1) between a UL-originated BH RLC CH (or its ID) and a UL-terminated BH RLC CH (or its ID) between IAB node 820C and a parent node of IAB node 820C. For example, for each UL-terminated BH RLC CH between IAB node 820C and a corresponding child IAB node of IAB node 820C, the bearer mapping configuration may indicate a corresponding UL-originated BH RLC CH (or its ID) between IAB node 820C and a parent node of IAB node 820C. Different UL-terminated BH RLC CHs may correspond to the same or different UL-originated BH RLC CHs.

[0167] In some examples, the bearer mapping configuration may indicate a mapping (bearer mapping #2) between the UL originating BH RLC CH (or its ID) and the UL UP TNL information between the IAB node 820C and the parent node of the IAB node 820C. For example, for each UL UP TNL information, the bearer mapping configuration may indicate a corresponding UL originating BH RLC CH between the IAB node 820C and the parent node of the IAB node 820C.

[0168] In some examples, the bearer mapping configuration may indicate both bearer mapping #1 and bearer mapping #2.

[0169] In some examples, the UL routing configuration may indicate a mapping (routing mapping #1) between a BAP routing ID and a UL terminating BH RLC CH (or its ID) between IAB node 820C and a child IAB node of IAB node 820C. For example, for each UL terminating BH RLC CH of IAB node 820C, the UL routing configuration may indicate a corresponding BAP routing ID.

[0170] In some examples, the UL routing configuration may indicate a mapping between a BAP routing ID and UL UP TNL information (routing mapping #2). For example, for each UL UP TNL information, the UL routing configuration may indicate a corresponding BAP routing ID.

[0171] In some instances, the UL routing configuration may indicate both routing mapping #1 and routing mapping #2.

[0172] In operation 815, the IAB donor 810B (e.g., the CU of the IAB donor 810B) may send at least one of a bearer mapping configuration associated with the IAB node 820C and a UL routing configuration associated with the IAB node 820C to the IAB donor 810A (e.g., the CU of the IAB donor 810A).

[0173] In some examples, the IAB donor 810B may transmit the above configuration related to the IAB node 820C to the IAB donor 810A via Xn interface signaling between them. In some other examples, the IAB donor 810B may transmit the above configuration related to the IAB node 820C to the IAB donor 810A via NG interface signaling relayed by the core network (not shown in FIG. 8).

[0174] In operation 817, the IAB donor 810A (e.g., a CU of the IAB donor 810A) may transmit at least one of a bearer mapping configuration associated with the IAB node 820C and a UL routing configuration associated with the IAB node 820C to the IAB node 820C (e.g., a DU of the IAB donor 810C), for example, via an F1 interface.

[0175] In operation 819, the DU of the IAB donor 810C may deliver the above configuration to the MT of the IAB donor 810C, for example, via an internal interface.

[0176] 9 illustrates a flowchart of an example procedure 900 for wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The example procedure 900 illustrates a procedure between an IAB donor and an IAB node for determining whether to perform migration of a DU of the IAB node after migration of an MT of the IAB node to another IAB donor.

[0177] The details described in all of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable to the embodiment shown in Figure 9. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the order of the operations of the exemplary procedure 900 may be changed, and some of the operations of the exemplary procedure 900 may be deleted or modified, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0178] In some examples, IAB donor 910A and IAB node 920C may function as IAB donor 410A and IAB node 420C, respectively, in FIG. 4. After handing over an MT of IAB node 920C from IAB donor 910A to another IAB donor (not shown in FIG. 9), the MT of IAB node 920C may be connected to the other IAB donor (target IAB donor), while the DU of IAB node 920C may still be connected to IAB donor 910A. Example procedure 900 may be performed to negotiate whether to hand over a DU of IAB node 920C to the target IAB donor.

[0179] 9, in operation 911, an IAB donor 910A (e.g., a CU of the IAB donor 910A) may send a message to an IAB node 920C (e.g., a DU of the IAB node 920C) via an F1 interface. The message may inquire whether a DU of the IAB node 920C should migrate to a target IAB donor. The message may be referred to as an IAB-DU handover query message, an IAB-DU migration query message, an F1 handover query message, or an F1 migration query message.

[0180] At operation 913, in response to the inquiry message, IAB node 920C (e.g., a DU of IAB node 920C) may send a response message to IAB donor 910A (e.g., a CU of IAB donor 910A) via the F1 interface.

[0181] In some examples, the response message may reject the migration of the DU of IAB node 920C. The response message may be referred to as an IAB-DU handover reject message, an IAB-DU migration reject message, an F1 handover reject message, or an F1 migration reject message.

[0182] In some examples, the response message may acknowledge the migration of the DU of IAB node 920C. The response message may be referred to as an IAB-DU handover acknowledge message, an IAB-DU migration acknowledge message, an F1 handover acknowledge message, or an F1 migration acknowledge message.

[0183] In operation 915 (indicated as optional by the dotted block), in response to the acknowledgement message, the IAB donor 910A (e.g., a CU of the IAB donor 910A) may initiate a procedure to handover or migrate the DU of the IAB node 920C to the target IAB donor. The procedure may be known as an IAB-DU handover procedure, an IAB-DU migration procedure, an F1 handover procedure, or an F1 migration procedure.

[0184] 10 illustrates a flowchart of an example procedure 1000 for wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The example procedure 1000 illustrates a procedure between an IAB donor and an IAB node for determining whether to perform migration of a DU of the IAB node after migration of an MT of the IAB node to another IAB donor.

[0185] The details described in all of the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable to the embodiment shown in Figure 10. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the order of the operations of the exemplary procedure 1000 may be changed and some of the operations of the exemplary procedure 1000 may be deleted or modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0186] In some examples, IAB donor 1010A and IAB node 1020C may function as IAB donor 410A and IAB node 420C, respectively, of FIG. 4. After handing over an MT of IAB node 1020C from IAB donor 1010A to another IAB donor (not shown in FIG. 10), the MT of IAB node 1020C may be connected to the other IAB donor (target IAB donor), while the DU of IAB node 1020C may still be connected to IAB donor 1010A. Exemplary procedure 1000 may be performed to negotiate whether to hand over a DU of IAB node 1020C to the target IAB donor.

[0187] 10, in operation 1011, an IAB node 1020C (e.g., a DU of the IAB node 1020C) may send a message to an IAB donor 1010A (e.g., a CU of the IAB donor 1010A) via an F1 interface. The message may request migration of the DU of the IAB node 1020C to the target IAB donor. The message may be referred to as an IAB-DU handover request message, an IAB-DU migration request message, an F1 handover request message, or an F1 migration request message.

[0188] In some examples, in operation 1013 (indicated as optional by the dotted arrow), in response to the request message, the IAB donor 1010A (e.g., the CU of the IAB donor 1010A) may send a response message to the IAB node 1020C (e.g., the DU of the IAB node 1020C) over the F1 interface rejecting the migration. The response message may be referred to as an IAB-DU handover reject message, an IAB-DU migration reject message, an F1 handover reject message, or an F1 migration reject message.

[0189] In some examples, in operation 1015 (indicated as optional by the dotted block), in response to the request message, the IAB donor 1010A (e.g., a CU of the IAB donor 1010A) may initiate a procedure to handover or migrate a DU of the IAB node 1020C to the target IAB donor. The procedure may be known as an IAB-DU handover procedure, an IAB-DU migration procedure, an F1 handover procedure, or an F1 migration procedure.

[0190] FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of an example apparatus 1100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0191] 11, the apparatus 1100 may include at least one processor 1106 and at least one transceiver 1102 coupled to the processor 1106. The apparatus 1100 may be an IAB donor or an IAB node.

[0192] In this figure, elements such as at least one transceiver 1102 and processor 1106 are described in the singular, but the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. In some embodiments of the present application, the transceiver 1102 may be divided into two devices, such as a receiving circuit and a transmitting circuit. In some embodiments of the present application, the apparatus 1100 may further include an input device, a memory, and / or other components.

[0193] In some embodiments of the present application, the device 1100 may be an IAB donor. The transceiver 1102 and the processor 1106 may interact with each other to perform the IAB donor-related operations described in FIGS. 1-10.

[0194] In some embodiments of the present application, the apparatus 1100 may be an IAB node. The transceiver 1102 and the processor 1106 may interact with each other to perform the operations related to the IAB node described in FIGS. 1-10.

[0195] In some embodiments of the present application, the apparatus 1100 may further include at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium.

[0196] For example, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may store computer-executable instructions for causing the processor 1106 to perform the IAB donor-related methods described above. For example, the computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause the processor 1106 to interact with the transceiver 1102 to perform the IAB donor-related operations described in FIGS. 1-10.

[0197] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may store computer-executable instructions for causing the processor 1106 to perform the IAB node-related methods described above. For example, the computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause the processor 1106 to interact with the transceiver 1102 to perform the IAB node-related operations described in FIGS. 1-10.

[0198] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the operations or steps of the methods described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Furthermore, in some aspects, the operations or steps of a method may reside as one, or any combination thereof, or set of codes and / or instructions on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.

[0199] While the present disclosure has been described using specific embodiments thereof, it is apparent that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, various components of the embodiments may be interchanged, added, or substituted in other embodiments. Also, not all elements in the figures are necessary for the operation of the disclosed embodiments. For example, one skilled in the art of the disclosed embodiments will be enabled to make and use the teachings of the present disclosure by simply employing the elements of the independent claims. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein are intended to be illustrative and not limiting. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0200] As used herein, the words "includes," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to encompass a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, product, or apparatus that includes a list of elements does not include only those elements, but may also include other elements not expressly listed or inherent in such process, method, product, or apparatus. Elements preceded by "a," "an," etc., are without further constraints and do not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, product, or apparatus that includes the element. Also, the word "another" is defined as at least a second or more. As used herein, words such as "having" and the like are defined as "including." Phrases such as "A and / or B" or "at least one of A and B" may include any and all combinations of the words listed with the phrase. For example, the phrase "A and / or B" or "at least one of A and B" may include A, B, or both A and B. The terms "first", "second", etc. are used merely to clearly describe embodiments of the present application and are not used to limit the scope of the present application. [Explanation of symbols]

[0201] 100 Wireless Communication System 110A IAB donor 110B IAB Donor 120A IAB node 120B IAB node 120C IAB node 130A UE 130B UE 140A~140D Wireless Link 150A Wireless Link 150B Radio Link 200 User Plane (UP) Protocol Stack 300 Control Plane (CP) Protocol Stack 410A IAB Donor 410B IAB Donor 420A IAB node 420B IAB node 420C IAB Node 420D IAB node 430 UE 440C F1 Signaling Flow 440C' F1 signaling flow 440D F1 Signaling Flow 440D' F1 signaling flow 451 MT 452 MT 453 MT 454 MT 461 DU 462 DU 463 DU 464 DU 465 DU 466 DU 475 CU 476 CU 500 steps 510A IAB Donor 510B IAB Donor 520B IAB node 520C IAB node 600 steps 610A IAB donor 610B IAB donor 620B IAB node 620C IAB node 700 steps 710A IAB donor 710B IAB donor 720B IAB node 720C IAB node 800 Procedures 810A IAB donor 810B IAB Donor 820C IAB node 900 steps 910A IAB Donor 920C IAB node 1000 steps 1010A IAB donor 1020C IAB node 1100 equipment 1102 Transceiver 1106 processor

Claims

1. 1. A method performed by an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) donor, comprising: sending uplink (UL) incoming traffic information associated with an IAB node to another IAB donor, wherein a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node is connected to the other IAB donor and a distributed unit (DU) of the IAB node is connected to the IAB donor, the UL incoming traffic information including quality of service (QoS) information associated with a UL incoming backhaul (BH) radio link control (RLC) channel (CH) between the IAB node and a child IAB node of the IAB node, the QoS information associated with the UL incoming BH RLC CH including at least one of a guaranteed bit rate (GBR), an allocation and retention priority (ARP), and an aggregate maximum bit rate (AMBR); receiving, from the other IAB donor, at least one of a bearer mapping configuration associated with the IAB node and a UL routing configuration associated with the IAB node, wherein the bearer mapping configuration and the UL routing configuration are based on the UL terminating traffic information; A method comprising:

2. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting at least one of the bearer mapping configuration and the UL routing configuration to the DU of the IAB node over an F1 interface.

3. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the UL incoming traffic information indicates an incoming channel of the IAB node, or both the incoming channel and quality of service (QoS) information associated with the incoming channel.

4. The UL incoming traffic information is the UL incoming BH RLC CH ID, UL User Plane (UP) Transport Network Layer (TNL) information, and the UL UP TNL information, an ID of a data radio bearer (DRB) associated with the UL UP TNL information, and QoS information associated with the DRB; The method of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of:

5. 1. An integrated access and backhaul (IAB) donor for wireless communications, comprising: At least one memory; at least one processor coupled to said at least one memory; and wherein the at least one processor provides the IAB donor with: transmitting uplink (UL) incoming traffic information associated with an IAB node to another IAB donor, wherein a mobile terminal (MT) of the IAB node is connected to the other IAB donor and a distributed unit (DU) of the IAB node is connected to the IAB donor, the UL incoming traffic information including quality of service (QoS) information associated with a UL incoming backhaul (BH) radio link control (RLC) channel (CH) between the IAB node and a child IAB node of the IAB node, the QoS information associated with the UL incoming BH RLC CH including at least one of a guaranteed bit rate (GBR), an allocation and retention priority (ARP), and an aggregate maximum bit rate (AMBR); receiving, from the other IAB donor, at least one of a bearer mapping configuration associated with the IAB node and a UL routing configuration associated with the IAB node, the bearer mapping configuration and the UL routing configuration being based on the UL terminated traffic information; The IAB donor is configured to:

6. 6. The IAB donor of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: cause the IAB donor to transmit at least one of the bearer mapping configuration and the UL routing configuration to the DU of the IAB node via an F1 interface.

7. 6. The IAB donor of claim 5, wherein the UL incoming traffic information indicates an incoming channel of the IAB node, or both the incoming channel and quality of service (QoS) information associated with the incoming channel.

8. The UL incoming traffic information is the UL incoming BH RLC CH ID, UL User Plane (UP) Transport Network Layer (TNL) information, and the UL UP TNL information, an ID of a data radio bearer (DRB) associated with the UL UP TNL information, and QoS information associated with the DRB; 6. The IAB donor of claim 5, further comprising at least one of:

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