WO2022235200A1

WO2022235200A1 - Enhancement of integrated access and backhaul downlink control information format

Info

Publication number: WO2022235200A1
Application number: PCT/SE2022/050452
Authority: WO
Inventors: Boris Dortschy; Lei BAO; Magnus ÅSTRÖM
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2021-05-07
Filing date: 2022-05-09
Publication date: 2022-11-10

Abstract

A method (1600) by a network node (760) operating as an Integrated Access Backhaul, IAB, node includes receiving (1602), from a first parent node of the IAB node, a first downlink control information, DCI, comprising a first availability indication for at least one resource for a cell. The network node also receives (1604), from a second parent node of the IAB node, a second DCI comprising a second availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell. Based on the second availability indication indicated in the second DCI, the network node determines (1606) to use the first availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell.

Description

ENHANCEMENT OF INTEGRATED ACCESS AND BACKHAUL DOWNLINK CONTROL INFORMATION FORMAT

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates, in general, to wireless communications and, more particularly, systems and methods for enhancement of Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) Downlink Control Information (DCI) format.

BACKGROUND

A mechanism that can be employed to satisfy the ever-increasing demand for more and more bandwidth/capacity in mobile networks is densification by increasing macro and/or micro base stations. Due to the availability of more spectrum in the millimeter wave (mmw) band, deploying small cells that operate in this band is an attractive deployment option for these purposes. However, deploying fiber to the small cells, which is the usual way in which small cells are deployed, can end up being very expensive and impractical. Thus, employing a wireless link for connecting the small cells to the operator’s network is a cheaper and practical alternative with more flexibility and shorter time-to-market. One such solution is an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) network, where the operator can utilize part of the radio resources for the backhaul link.

FIGURE 1 illustrates a multi-hop deployment in an IAB network. The IAB- donor has a wired connection to the core network (CN) and the IAB-nodes are wirelessly connected using New Radio (NR) to the IAB-donor, either directly or indirectly via another IAB-node. The connection between IAB-donor/node and user equipments (UEs) is called access link, whereas the connection between two IAB- nodes or between an IAB-donor and an IAB-node is called backhaul link.

FIGURE 2 depicts IAB terminologies in adjacent hops. Specifically, as shown in FIGURE 2, the adjacent upstream node which is closer to the IAB-donor of an IAB-node is referred to as a parent node of the IAB-node. The adjacent downstream node which is further away from the IAB-donor of an IAB-node is referred to as a child node of the IAB-node. The backhaul link between the parent node and the IAB-node is referred to as parent (backhaul) link, whereas the backhaul link between the IAB-node and the child node is referred to as child (backhaul) link.

As one major difference of the IAB architecture as compared to Rel-10 Long Term Evolution (LTE) relay (besides lower layer differences) is that the IAB architecture adopts the Central-Unit (CU)/Distributed-Unit (DU) split of gNodeBs (gNBs). In such a split, time-critical functionalities are realized in IAB-DU closer to the radio, and less time-critical functionalities are pooled in the CU with the opportunity for centralization. Based on this architecture, an IAB-donor contains both CU and DU functions. In particular, it contains all CU functions of the IAB-nodes under the same IAB-donor. Each IAB-node then hosts the DU function(s) of a gNB.

In order to be able to transmit/receive wireless signals to/from the upstream IAB-node or IAB-donor, each IAB-node has a mobile termination (MT), which is a logical unit providing a necessary set of UE-like functions. Via the IAB-DU, the IAB- node establishes Radio Link Control (RLC)-channel(s) to UEs and/or MTs of the connected IAB-node(s). Via the IAB-MT, the IAB-node establishes the backhaul radio interface towards the serving IAB-node or IAB-donor. FIGURE 3 illustrates a reference diagram for a two-hop chain of IAB-nodes under an IAB-donor.

Wireless backhaul links are vulnerable to blockage. Such blockages may be due to moving objects such as vehicles, seasonal changes (foliage), severe weather conditions (rain, snow or hail), or infrastructure changes (new buildings), as a few examples. Blockage also applies to IAB-nodes. Also, traffic variations can create uneven load distribution on wireless backhaul links, leading to local link or node congestion. In view of these concerns, the IAB topology supports redundant paths as another difference compared to the Rel-10 LTE relay.

FIGURE 4 illustrates examples for Spanning Tree (ST) and Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) topologies. In FIGURE 4, the arrow indicates the directionality of the graph edge.

It means that one IAB-node can have multiple child nodes and/or have multiple parent nodes. FIGURE 5 illustrates a variety of IAB multi -parent scenarios. For example, FIGURE 5 illustrates:

- IAB-9 connects to IAB-donor 1 via two parent nodes, IAB-5 and LAB- 6, which connect to the same grandparent node, IAB-1; - IAB-10 connects to IAB-donor 1 via two parent nodes, IAB-6 and IAB-7, which connect to different grandparent nodes, IAB-1 and IAB- 2;

- IAB-8 connects to two parent nodes, IAB-3 and IAB-4, which connect to different IAB-donors, IAB-donor 1 and IAB-donor 2.

The multi -connectivity or route redundancy may be used for back-up purposes. It is also possible that redundant routes are used concurrently such as, for example, to achieve load balancing, reliability, etc.

According to 3 GPP TR 38.874, when operating in SA-mode, an NR+NR dual connected IAB-node can add redundant routes by establishing a Master cell group- link (MCG-link) to one parent node IAB-DU and a Secondary cell group-link (SCG- link) to another parent node IAB-DU. The dual-connecting IAB-MT will enable the Secondary Cell Group (SCG) link according to Rel-15 New Radio-Dual Connectivity (NR-DC) procedures.

In case of in-band operation, the IAB-node is typically subject to the half duplex constraint. For example, an IAB-node can only be in either transmission or reception mode at one time. Rel-16 IAB mainly consider the time-division multiplexing (TDM) case where the IAB-MT and IAB-DU resources of the same IAB-node are separated in time. Based on this consideration, the following resource types have been defined for IAB-MT and IAB-DU, respectively.

From an IAB-MT point-of-view, as in Rel-15, the following time-domain resources can be indicated for the parent link: downlink (DL) time resource, uplink (UL) time resource, and flexible (F) time resource.

From an IAB-node DU point-of-view, the child link has the following types of time resources: DL time resource, UL time resource, F time resource, Not- Available (NA) time resources. The latter are resources that are not to be used for communication on the DU child links.

Each of the downlink, uplink and flexible time-resource types of the DU child link can belong to one of two categories:

- Hard (H): The corresponding time resource is always available for the DU child link

Soft (S): The availability of the corresponding time resource for the DU child link is explicitly and/or implicitly controlled by the parent node. The IAB-DU resources are configured per cell, and the H/S/NA attributes for the IAB-DU resource configuration are explicitly indicated per-resource type (DL/UL/F) in each slot. As a result, the semi-static time-domain resources of the IAB-DU part can be of seven types in total: Downlink-Hard (DL-H), Downlink-Soft (DL-S), Uplink-Hard (UL-H), Uplink-Soft (UL-S), Flexible-Hard (F-H), Flexible-

Soft (F-S), and NA. Table 1 lists the coordination relation between IAB-MT and IAB- DU resources of an IAB node.

Table 1

In Rel-16 IAB there are two ways for the parent nodes to indicate the availability of the soft time-domain DU resource: implicit indication and explicit indication. The explicit indication, referred to as Availability Indication (AI), uses DCI format 2 5 for dynamically indicating the availability of IAB-DU Soft resource in a slot. An excerpt from 3GPP TS 38.213 follows:

If an IAB-node is provided an Availabilitylndicator , the IAB-node is provided an AI-RNTI by ai-RNTI and a payload size of a DCI format 2 5 by dci-PayloadSize-AI . The IAB-node is also provided a search space set configuration, by SearchSpace, for monitoring PDCCH.

For each serving cell of an IAB-DU in a set of serving cells of the IAB- DU, the IAB-DU can be provided: - an identity of the IAB-DU serving cell by iabDuCellld-AI- a location of an availability indicator (AI) index field in DCI format 2 5 by positionlnDCI-AI- a set of availability combinations by availabilityCombinations , where each availability combination in the set of availability combinations includes- resourceAvailability indicating availability of soft symbols in one or more slots for the IAB-DU serving cell, and a mapping for the soft symbol availability combinations provided by resourceAvailability to a corresponding AI index field value in DCI format 2 5 provided by availabilityCombinationld

The IAB-DU can assume a same SCS configuration for availabilityCombinations for a serving cell as an SCS configuration provided by IAB-DU-Resource-Configuration-TDD-Config for the serving cell.

An AI index field value in a DCI format 2 5 indicates to an IAB-DU a soft symbol availability in each slot for a number of slots starting from the earliest slot of the IAB-DU which overlaps in time with the slot of the IAB-MT where the IAB-MT detects the DCI format 2 5. The number of slots is equal to or larger than a PDCCH monitoring periodicity for DCI format 2 5 as provided by SearchSpace. The AI index field includes ^ma^x { P°8 (maxAimdex ^{+ 1} ) [ ¹ } bq_s where max Alindex i s the maximum of the values provided by corresponding availabilityCombinationld. An availability for a soft symbol in a slot is identified by a corresponding value resourceAvailability as provided in Table 14-3.

Table 14-3: Mapping between values of resourceAvailability elements and types of soft symbol availability in a slot

If a PDCCH monitoring periodicity for DCI format 2 5 is smaller than a duration of an availability combination of soft symbols over a number of slots that the IAB-MT obtains at a PDCCH monitoring occasion for DCI format 2 5 by a corresponding AI index field value, and the IAB-MT detects more than one DCI formats 2 5 indicating an availability combination of soft symbols in a slot, the IAB-MT expects that each of the more than one DCI formats 2 5 indicates a same value for the availability combination of the soft symbols in the slot.

An excerpt from 3GPP TS 38.212 follows:

7.3.1.3.6 Format 2 5

DCI format 2 5 is used for notifying the availability of soft resources as defined in Clause 9.3.1 of [10, TS 38.473] The following information is transmitted by means of the DCI format

2 5 with CRC scrambled by AI-RNTT- Availability indicator 1, Availability indicator 2, ... , Availability indicator N.

The size of DCI format 2 5 is configurable by higher layers up to 128 bits, according to Clause 14 of [5, TS 38.213]

An excerpt from 3GPP TS 38.331 follows: Availabilitylndicator information element

- ASN1 START

- TAG-AVAILABILITYINDICATOR-START

Availabilit Indicator-rl6 ::= SEQUENCE { ai-RNTI-rl6 dci-PayloadSizeAI-rl6 INTEGER (L.maxAI-DCI-PayloadSize-rl6), availableCombToAddModList-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE(l..maxNrofDUCells-rl6)) OF

AvailabilityCombinationsPerCell-rl6 OPTIONAL, — Need N availableCombToReleaseList-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE(l..maxNrofDUCells-rl6)) OF

AvailabilityCombinationsPerCellIndex-rl6 OPTIONAL, — Need N

}

AI-RNTI-rl6 ::= RNTI-Value

- TAG-AVAILABILITYINDICATOR-STOP

- ASN1STOP

AvailabilityCombinationsPerCell information element

- ASN1 START

- TAG-AVAILABILITYCOMBINATIONSPERCELL-START

AvailabilityCombinationsPerCell-rl6 ::= SEQUENCE { availabilityCombinationsPerCellIndex-rl6 , iab-DU-CellIdentity-rl6 Cellldentity, positionInDCI-AI-rl6 INTEGER(0..maxAI-DCI-PayloadSize-rl6-l)

OPTIONAL, - Need M availabilityCombinations-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE

(L.maxNrofAvailabilityCombinationsPerSet-rl6)) OF AvailabilityCombination-rl6,

}

AvailabilityCombinationsPerCellIndex-rl6 ::= INTEGER(0..maxNrofDUCells-rl6)

AvailabilityCombination-rl6 ::= SEQUENCE { availabilityCombinationId-rl6 resourceAvailability-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE

(L.maxNrofResourceAvailabilityPerCombination-rl6)) OF INTEGER (0..7)

} AvailabilityCombinationId-rl6 ::= INTEGER (0..maxNrofAvailabilityCombinationsPerSet-rl6- 1)

- TAG-AVAILABILITYCOMBINATIONSPERCELL-STOP

- ASN1STOP

FIGURE 6 illustrates the signalling design for the DCI format 2 5. Specifically, FIGURE 6 illustrates the legacy time domain AI. For each of its cell, the IAB-DU is provided with a cell identity (iab-DU-Cellldentity-r 16), information about the location of AI information (bit position of information) in a DCI format 2 5 and a set of availability combinations. Each availability combination contains a sequence ( resourceAvailability j of values indicating the availability of soft symbols in one or more slots for the IAB-DU serving cell and an identity number (availabilityCombinationld) (used in the indices “Availability Indicator N” in DCI format 2 5) to map between symbol availability combinations provided by resourceAvailability and information provided via DCI format 2 5. The provisioning to the IAB-node of the combination of the cell Identity, location information and the set of availability combinations is by using an RRC information element.

Certain problems exist, however. According to 3GPP TS 38.213 and 3GPP TS 38.331, the resourceAvailability-rl6 in A vailabililyCombinalion-r I 6 can have a length between 1 to 256 (maxNrqfRe source A vailabilityPerC ombination- 16) elements. For Example, the AI index in the DCI format 2 5 can provide explicit availability indication for different numbers of resource slots for different IAB-DU cells. 3GPP TS 38.213 states also that the DCI format 2 5 starts from the earliest slot of the IAB-DU, which overlaps in time with the slot of the IAB-MT where the IAB- MT detects the DCI format 2 5. The DCI format 2 5 indication is valid from the same slot on in all indicated IAB-DU cells. The abovementioned two factors imply that it is possible that some slots will receive multiple DCI format 2 5 indications.

FIGURE 7 illustrates a potential problem when multiple DCI format 2 5 indications are received due to varied length of resourceAvailability configured for the same cell or configured for different cells.

In the example, the resourceAvailability for IAB-DU cell 1 can indicate AI for 4 slots, while the resourceAvailability for IAB-DU cell 2 can indicate AI for 6 slots. Assuming the (A+l)th DCI indication should start at the fifth slot, the 5^th and 6^th slots of IAB-DU cell 2 will receive both the last two indications of Mh DCI format 2 5 and the first two indications of ( V+l)th DCI format 2 5. For the sake of simplification, all slots are indicated as soft in FIGURE 7; however, the methods and techniques disclosed herein may be applied where not all slots are soft.

The current specification states that the receiving IAB-MT expects that each of the more than one DCI formats 2 5 indicates the same value and leaves it for implementation by the UE. As such, the parent IAB-node gives up control about having the same understanding of availability as the IAB-node. In case an IAB-node receives DCI format 2 5 from two or more parent IAB-nodes (as in DC scenarios), ambiguity is even more increased since one parent IAB-node does not know the extent of slots provided availability information for by the other parent IAB-node and, therefore, when overlap situations could occur.

Due to associating an AI-index information with a certain IAB-DU cell by the bit position of the index information, an AI-index cannot simply be skipped since that would change the position of following indices. Thus, a solution is needed to solve the ambiguity issue when a soft resource receives multiple DCI format 2 5 indications.

SUMMARY

Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. For example, according to certain embodiments, methods and systems are provided that include enhanced DCI format 2 5 signalling. Specifically, the enhanced DCI format 2 5 may include a “No Availabilitylndication (AI) Change” functionality to avoid multiple availability indications of the same IAB-DU resource due to overlapping DCI format 2 5 indications.

According to certain embodiments, a method by a network node operating as an IAB node includes receiving, from a first parent node of the IAB node, a first DCI comprising a first availability indication for at least one resource for a cell. The network node also receives, from a second parent node of the IAB node, a second DCI comprising a second availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell. Based on the second availability indication indicated in the second DCI, the network node determines to use the first availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell. According to certain embodiments, a network node operating as an IAB node is adapted to receive, from a first parent node of the IAB node, a first DCI comprising a first availability indication for at least one resource for a cell. The network node is adapted to receive, from a second parent node of the IAB node, a second DCI comprising a second availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell. Based on the second availability indication indicated in the second DCI, the network node is adapted to determine to use the first availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell.

According to certain embodiments, a method by a network node operating as a parent node with respect to at least one IAB node includes transmitting, to the IAB node, a first DCI comprising a first availability indication for at least one resource for a cell. The network node transmitting, to the IAB node, a second DCI comprising a second availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell. The second availability indication implicitly or explicitly indicating for the IAB node to disregard the second availability indication for the at least one resource.

According to certain embodiments, a network node operating as a parent node with respect to at least one IAB node is adapted to transmit, to the IAB node, a first DCI comprising a first availability indication for at least one resource for a cell. The network node is adapted to transmit, to the IAB node, a second DCI comprising a second availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell. The second availability indication implicitly or explicitly indicating for the IAB node to disregard the second availability indication for the at least one resource. Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. For example, one technical advantage may be that certain embodiments solve the ambiguity of multiple explicit availability indications of the same soft resource due to sequential DCI format 2 5 indications. As such, certain embodiments may reduce the misunderstanding between the IAB node and its parent IAB node(s) and, thereby, increase network utilization and performance. Furthermore, another technical advantage may be that certain embodiments may result in decreased signaling, leaving more resource for data.

Other advantages may be readily apparent to one having skill in the art. Certain embodiments may have none, some, or all of the recited advantages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a more complete understanding of the disclosed embodiments and their features and advantages, reference is now made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 illustrates a multi-hop deployment in an IAB network;

FIGURE 2 illustrates IAB terminologies in adjacent hops;

FIGURE 3 illustrates a reference diagram for a two-hop chain of IAB-nodes under an IAB -donor;

FIGURE 4 illustrates examples for ST and DAG topologies;

FIGURE 5 illustrates a variety of IAB multi -parent scenarios;

FIGURE 6 illustrates the signalling design for the DCI format 2 5;

FIGURE 7 illustrates a potential problem when multiple DCI format 2 5 indications are received due to varied length of re source Availability configured for the same cell or configured for different cells;

FIGURE 8 illustrates a hierarchy between IAB nodes in an example system, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 9 illustrates a typical DCI format 2 5 and functions based thereon, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 10 illustrates an example where the DCI format 2 5 of later arrival will only signal value “0” to the slots which receive multiple AIs from sequential DCI indication, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 11 illustrates an example translation of DCI signalled bit sequence into AI-indices, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 12 illustrates an example where an “all zero” pattern is used to signal “No AI indication” in the later arrived DCI format 2 5 to slots which receive multiple AIs from sequential DCI indication, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 13 illustrates an example where a repetition of the last AI of the Mh DCI format 2 5 may be provided in the beginning of ( V+l)th DCI format 2 5, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 14 illustrates an example wireless network, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 15 illustrates an example network node, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 16 illustrates an example wireless device, according to certain embodiments; FIGURE 17 illustrate an example user equipment, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 18 illustrates a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 19 illustrates a telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 20 illustrates a generalized block diagram of a host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection, according to certain embodiments;

FIGURE 21 illustrates a method implemented in a communication system, according to one embodiment;

FIGURE 22 illustrates another method implemented in a communication system, according to one embodiment;

FIGURE 23 illustrates another method implemented in a communication system, according to one embodiment;

FIGURE 24 illustrates another method implemented in a communication system, according to one embodiment;

FIGURE 25 illustrates a method by a network node operating as an IAB node, according to certain embodiments; and

FIGURE 26 illustrates a method by a network node operating as a parent node with respect to at least one IAB node, according to certain embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

In some embodiments, a more general term “network node” may be used and may correspond to any type of radio network node or any network node, which communicates with a UE (directly or via another node) and/or with another network node. Examples of network nodes are NodeB, Master eNodeB (MeNB), a network node belonging to Master Cell Group (MCG) or Secondary Cell Group (SCG), base station (BS), multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB (eNB), gNodeB (gNB), network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station (BTS), access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote Radio Unit (RRU), Remote Radio Head (RRH), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node (e.g., Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), etc.), Operations & Maintenance (O&M), Operations Support System (OSS), Self Organizing Node (SON), positioning node (e.g. Evolved-Serving Mobile Location Centre (E-SMLC)), Minimization of Drive Test (MDT), test equipment (physical node or software), etc.

In some embodiments, the non-limiting term UE or wireless device may be used and may refer to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and/or with another UE in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are target device, device to device (D2D) UE, machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), Unified Serial Bus (USB) dongles, UE category Ml, UE category M2, Proximity Services UE (ProSe UE), Vehicle-to- Vehicle UE (V2V UE), Vehicle-to-Anything UE (V2X UE), etc. Additionally, terminologies such as base station/gNB and UE should be considered non-limiting and do in particular not imply a certain hierarchical relation between the two; in general, “gNB” could be considered as device 1 and “UE” could be considered as device 2 and these two devices communicate with each other over some radio channel. In the following, the transmitter or receiver could be either a gNB or a UE.

FIGURE 8 illustrates a hierarchy between IAB nodes in an example system 100, according to certain embodiments. Specifically, FIGURE 8 illustrates a parent IAB node serving an IAB node, which serves a wireless device (such as, for example a UE) and a child IAB node. In the depicted hierarchy, the parent IAB-node has the complete information on DCI format 2 5 configuration for all IAB-DU cells (including the length of each resourceAvailability ), as well as which resource slots will receive multiple DCI format 2 5 indications. Thus, according to certain embodiments described below, the conflict can be avoided by enhanced configurations at the parent IAB-node or by disregarding certain overlapping information from two DCI format 2 5 for the same slot.

FIGURE 9 illustrates a typical DCI format 2 5 200 and functions based thereon. As depicted, the problem exists where the AI indices provided by two or more DCI for a slot/resource of a cell are different. Specifically, in the depicted example, the first DCI indicates a value of X2 for slot n+2 for cell 2 and the second DCI indicates a value of Y0 for slot n+2 for cell 2. Likewise, the first DCI indicates a value of X3 for slot n+3 for cell 2 and the second DCI indicates a value of Y1 for slot n+3 for cell 2. The problem arises where X2 is not equal to Y0 and where X3 is not equal to Y1.

Table 14-3 in 3 GPP TS 38.213 specifies the mapping between values of resourceAvailability elements and types of symbol availability in a slot. Specifically, 3GPP TS 38.213 currently states that (per cell):

If... the IAB-MT detects more than one DCI formats 2 5 indicating an availability combination of soft symbols in a slot, the IAB-MT expects that each of the more than one DCI formats 2 5 indicates a same value for the availability combination of the soft symbols in the slot. It may be understood that “ expects ” indicates that a deviation is an error and practical behavior is implementation dependent. Thus, one correct interpretation of the portion of 3GPP TS 38.213 cited above may be:

If... the IAB-MT detects more than one DCI formats 2 5 indicating an availability (value) combination of (for) soft symbols in a slot, the IAB-MT expects that each of the more than one DCI formats 2 5 indicates a same value for the availability combination of the soft symbols in the slot.

An availability combination would refer to an AvailabilityCombinationld (see table lower right in FIGURE 9) and makes the existing behavior description practically useless. Thus, according to certain embodiments, the problem may be solved by providing means and/or a behavior description allowing that, in a second DCI 2 5 (received at the same time or later), availability information can be provided for the slot which allows an improved performance/behavior of resource usage (of soft symbols in a slot).

Using Special Values to Resolve Conflicting Availability Indications As shown above in FIGURE 9, the value “0” has a meaning that is interpreted as “No indication for availability for soft symbols.” One approach to avoid multiple DCI format 2 5 indications is to exploit the value “0” to signal “there is no availability indication for the soft resource slot in case of multiple DCI indications.” As such, according to certain embodiments, if an IAB-DU receives multiple DCI indications for the same resource slot, it can disregard the later arrived DCI indications that are indicated with the value “0”.

Using the AvailabilityCombinations Table to Resolve Conflicting Availability Indications

According to certain other embodiments, one resourceAvailability of the AvailabilityCombinations table can be reserved to signal to the IAB-DU cell that “No Availability Indication is provided” in DCI format 2 5 for slots which receive multiple Availability Indicators (AIs).

For simplicity, in a particular embodiment, the reserved resourceAvailability can be an “all-zero sequence.” In such a scenario, the IAB-DU will disregard the availability information values 0 (according to Table 14-3, 3GPP TS 38.213) to the slots which receive multiple AIs from multiple DCI indications, when the IAB-DU receives an “all-zero sequence” in a DCI format 2 5. In this aspect, a “0” value (according to Table 14-3, 3GPP TS 38.213) is not considered as a different value when “the IAB-MT expects that each of the more than one DCI formats 2 5 indicates a same value” (3 GPP TS 38.213).

FIGURE 10 illustrates an example 300 where the DCI format 2 5 of later arrival will only signal value “0” to the slots which receive multiple AIs from sequential DCI indication, according to certain embodiments. For the sake of simplification, all slots are indicated as soft; however, the methods and techniques disclosed herein may be applied where not all slots are soft.

More specifically, FIGURE 10 illustrates an example where the Mh DCI format 2 5 provides AIs to 3 and 6 resource slots of IAB-DU cell 1 and cell 2, respectively, according to certain embodiments. Since the (N+l)th DCI format 2 5 starts at the 4^th slot, the 4^th-6^th slots of IAB-DU cell 2 will receive AIs from Mh and (M+l)th DCI format 2 5. The parent IAB-DU can configure the “all-zero” resourceAvailability for IAB-DU cell 2 in the (M+l)th DCI format 2 5. Thereby, the IAB-CU cell(s) will disregard the “all-zero” Availability Indication from the (M+l)th DCI format 2 5 and adopt/keep the AIs from the Mth DCI format 2 5.

The usage of the “0” sequence for overlapping resource slots of multiple DCI format 2 5 will occupy one resourceAvailabiliy of the AvailabilityCombinations table. Vox AvailabilityCombinations with practical sizes (it can contain up to 512 rows), it should not be a limitation.

According to certain embodiments, the described techniques may change the behavior of the child node from comparing values to comparing availability information. For example,

• By DCI-1: (value 1 for a slot N in cell X) ”DL soft symbols are indicated available/no other indication made” AND

• DCI-2: (value 0 for the slot N in the cell X) “No indication of availability for soft symbols” (see Al-index 1 in table lower right on slide before) results in no error and the parent node can better understand/predict the behavior of the IAB-node regarding usage of soft resources The parent node can provide a zero-value AI-index for a certain IAB-DU cell and can (i.e., in order to) predict what the IAB-node will do with soft resources in this cell, while the parent can still configure the use of soft resources in other cells.

According to certain embodiments, this technique may be extended such that any value 0 “No indication of availability for soft symbols” for a slot (amongst any values for other slots) may be treated as “a same value ” (according to specification). This may allow for any symbols having value combinations (i.e., in different DCIs) 0+x, x+0, 0+0 as resulting in no error.

Using a Special Index to Resolve Conflicting Availability Indications

In another particular embodiment, the reserved re source Availability with a special index in the table A vailabililyCombinalions e.g., AvailabilityCombinationld = 0 can have a special meaning (though index value 0 could be different and configurable, for example by RRC signalling). Accordingly, the IAB-DU will simply disregard the receiving of the availability information, when it detects AvailabilityCombinationld = 0, from a DCI format 2 5 of later arrival.

FIGURE 11 illustrates an example translation 400 of DCI (such as DCI format 2 5, for example) signalled bit sequence into AI-indices, according to certain embodiments. While the depicted signalling scheme is efficient, the signalling scheme does not allow the first AI-index bit to be skipped as it would change the bit position of the 2^nd, 3^rd, .... etc. Al-indices. An AI-index (i.e., bits) cannot be skipped. However, the child node may interpret certain Al-indices (or values of certain AI- indices) so as to disregard the Al-indices for further processing. For example, in a particular embodiment, an AI-index ==20 (may be configured/agreed on by the sender (i.e., parent node)/receiver (child node) such that the receiver is to disregard the AI-index in further processing.

Accordingly, certain embodiments may provide a “special” AI-index value. When decoded, the network node may determine to stop/ skip the further processing of new AI information from this AI-index (i.e., for a certain cell), thus causing no error state (i.e., non-expected behavior), and continue with any existing AI information/configuration (if already provided by another DCI at the same time or in the past). Processing for other cells (with an AI-index in another position in DCI 2 5) is not altered. The parent node can provide a “special” AI-index value for a certain IAB-DU cell and can (i.e., in order to) predict what the IAB-node will do with soft resources in this cell, while the parent can still configure the use of soft resources in other cells.

Using All Zero Pattern to Resolve Conflicting Availability Indications

In another particular embodiment, the DCI format 2 5 of later arrival can signal value “0” to the slots which receive multiple AIs from sequential DCI indications and, at the same time, signal AIs to the slots which receive single AIs from one DCI indication.

FIGURE 12 illustrates an example 500 where an “all zero” pattern is used to signal “No AI indication” in the later arrived DCI format 2 5 to slots which receive multiple AIs from sequential DCI indication. The same DCI format 2 5 can also signal AIs to slots that only receive a single AI. For the sake of simplification, all slots are indicated as soft; however, the methods and techniques disclosed herein may be applied where not all slots are soft.

More specifically, FIGURE 12 illustrates that the ( V+l)th DCI format 2 5 can use value “0” to signal “No Availability Indication is provided” for the first two resource slots, since they are overlapping with the last two resource slots of the Mh DCI format 2 5. Accordingly, the IAB-DU cell 2 will apply the AIs from the Mh DCI format 2 5 to the 5^th and 6^th resource slots.

The usage of value “0” for overlapping resource slots of multiple DCI format 2 5 implies a need for increased number of re source Availability . The current specification allows maximum 512 unique resourceAvailability sequences.

In a particular embodiment, the method can be applied to any resource slots with multiple DCI indications.

Aligning AIs to Resolve Conflict

Still other embodiments are motivated by the fact that the parent IAB-node has the complete information on DCI format 2 5 configuration for all IAB-DU cells (including the length of a resourceAvailability ), as well as which resource slots will receive multiple DCI format 2 5 indications. Thus, according to certain embodiments, an approach may include the parent IAB-node avoiding the conflict of multiple DCI indications for the same resource slots by aligning the AIs of the multiple DCI indications. Basically, the AIs in DCI format 2 5 of later arrival can be a repetition of the AIs from the first arrived DCI format 2 5.

FIGURE 13 illustrates an example 600 where a repetition of the last AI of the Mh DCI format 2 5 may be provided in the beginning of (N+l)th DCI format 2 5, according to certain embodiments. For the sake of simplification, all slots are indicated as soft; however, the methods and techniques disclosed herein may be applied where not all slots are soft.

Specifically, as illustrated in FIGURE 13, the parent IAB-node can choose a resour ce Availability for the (N+l)th DCI format 2_5 that repeats the last 2 AIs of Mh DCI format 2 5 in the first 2 resource slots of the (M+l)th DCI format 2 5. Thereby, the 5^th and 6^th slots of IAB-CU cell2 will receive identical values from Mth and (M+l)th DCI format 2_5.

This method may also imply a need for increased number of resourceAvailability . As explained earlier, the current specification allows maximum 512 unique resourceAvailability , which should not be a limitation.

In one embodiment, the method can be applied to any resource slots with multiple DCI indications.

Overwriting Values to Resolve Conflicting Availability Indications

According to certain other alternative embodiments, the values of resourceAvailability for overlapping slots provided by the Mth DCI format 2 5 are overwritten by the values provided in the (M+l)th DCI format 2_5. Alternatively, the values of resourceAvailability for overlapping slots provided by the (M+l)th DCI format 2 5 do not overwrite the values provided in the Nth DCI format 2 5.

FIGURE 14 illustrates a wireless network, in accordance with some embodiments. Although the subject matter described herein may be implemented in any appropriate type of system using any suitable components, the embodiments disclosed herein are described in relation to a wireless network, such as the example wireless network illustrated in FIGURE 14. For simplicity, the wireless network of FIGURE 14 only depicts network 706, network nodes 760 and 760b, and wireless devices 710. In practice, a wireless network may further include any additional elements suitable to support communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device, such as a landline telephone, a service provider, or any other network node or end device. Of the illustrated components, network node 760 and wireless device 710 are depicted with additional detail. The wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate the wireless devices’ access to and/or use of the services provided by, or via, the wireless network.

The wireless network may comprise and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or radio network or other similar type of system. In some embodiments, the wireless network may be configured to operate according to specific standards or other types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particular embodiments of the wireless network may implement communication standards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.

Network 706 may comprise one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet data networks, optical networks, wide-area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices.

Network node 760 and wireless device 710 comprise various components described in more detail below. These components work together in order to provide network node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments, the wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections.

FIGURE 15 illustrates an example network node 760, according to certain embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the wireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)). Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and may then also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Yet further examples of network nodes include multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi cell/multicast coordination entities (MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and/or MDTs. As another example, a network node may be a virtual network node as described in more detail below. More generally, however, network nodes may represent any suitable device (or group of devices) capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to enable and/or provide a wireless device with access to the wireless network or to provide some service to a wireless device that has accessed the wireless network.

In FIGURE 15, network node 760 includes processing circuitry 770, device readable medium 780, interface 790, auxiliary equipment 784, power source 786, power circuitry 787, and antenna 762. Although network node 760 illustrated in the example wireless network of FIGURE 13 may represent a device that includes the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise network nodes with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that a network node comprises any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Moreover, while the components of network node 760 are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, a network node may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component (e.g., device readable medium 780 may comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

Similarly, network node 760 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which network node 760 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeB’ s. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, network node 760 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium 780 for the different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 762 may be shared by the RATs). Network node 760 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 760, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 760.

Processing circuitry 770 is configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being provided by a network node. These operations performed by processing circuitry 770 may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 770 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.

Processing circuitry 770 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 760 components, such as device readable medium 780, network node 760 functionality. For example, processing circuitry 770 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 780 or in memory within processing circuitry 770. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 770 may include a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, processing circuitry 770 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 772 and baseband processing circuitry 774. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 772 and baseband processing circuitry 774 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 772 and baseband processing circuitry 774 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB or other such network device may be performed by processing circuitry 770 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 780 or memory within processing circuitry 770. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 770 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry 770 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 770 alone or to other components of network node 760 but are enjoyed by network node 760 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Device readable medium 780 may comprise any form of volatile or non volatile computer readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 770. Device readable medium 780 may store any suitable instructions, data or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry 770 and, utilized by network node 760. Device readable medium 780 may be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry 770 and/or any data received via interface 790. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 770 and device readable medium 780 may be considered to be integrated.

Interface 790 is used in the wired or wireless communication of signalling and/or data between network node 760, network 706, and/or wireless devices 710. As illustrated, interface 790 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 794 to send and receive data, for example to and from network 706 over a wired connection. Interface 790 also includes radio front end circuitry 792 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna 762. Radio front end circuitry 792 comprises filters 798 and amplifiers 796. Radio front end circuitry 792 may be connected to antenna 762 and processing circuitry 770. Radio front end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 762 and processing circuitry 770. Radio front end circuitry 792 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or wireless devices via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 792 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 798 and/or amplifiers 796. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 762. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 762 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 792. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 770. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, network node 760 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 792, instead, processing circuitry 770 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 762 without separate radio front end circuitry 792. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 772 may be considered a part of interface 790. In still other embodiments, interface 790 may include one or more ports or terminals 794, radio front end circuitry 792, and RF transceiver circuitry 772, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface 790 may communicate with baseband processing circuitry 774, which is part of a digital unit (not shown). Antenna 762 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna 762 may be coupled to radio front end circuitry 792 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna 762 may comprise one or more omni-directional, sector or panel antennas operable to transmit/receive radio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz. An omni directional antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals in any direction, a sector antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals from devices within a particular area, and a panel antenna may be a line of sight antenna used to transmit/receive radio signals in a relatively straight line. In some instances, the use of more than one antenna may be referred to as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna 762 may be separate from network node 760 and may be connectable to network node 760 through an interface or port.

Antenna 762, interface 790, and/or processing circuitry 770 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 762, interface 790, and/or processing circuitry 770 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment.

Power circuitry 787 may comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry and is configured to supply the components of network node 760 with power for performing the functionality described herein. Power circuitry 787 may receive power from power source 786. Power source 786 and/or power circuitry 787 may be configured to provide power to the various components of network node 760 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). Power source 786 may either be included in, or external to, power circuitry 787 and/or network node 760. For example, network node 760 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry 787. As a further example, power source 786 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry 787. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used.

Alternative embodiments of network node 760 may include additional components beyond those shown in FIGURE 15 that may be responsible for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, network node 760 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into network node 760 and to allow output of information from network node 760. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node 760.

FIGURE 16 illustrates an example wireless device 710. According to certain embodiments. As used herein, wireless device refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise noted, the term wireless device may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE). Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air. In some embodiments, a wireless device may be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a wireless device may be designed to transmit information to a network on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the network. Examples of a wireless device include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, a gaming console or device, a music storage device, a playback appliance, a wearable terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a tablet, a laptop, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mounted equipment (LME), a smart device, a wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), a vehicle- mounted wireless terminal device, etc. A wireless device may support device-to- device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3 GPP standard for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and may in this case be referred to as a D2D communication device. As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a wireless device may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another wireless device and/or a network node. The wireless device may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3 GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the wireless device may be a UE implementing the 3 GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) standard. Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home or personal appliances (e.g. refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personal wearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, a wireless device may represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation. A wireless device as described above may represent the endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a wireless device as described above may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.

As illustrated, wireless device 710 includes antenna 711, interface 714, processing circuitry 720, device readable medium 730, user interface equipment 732, auxiliary equipment 734, power source 736 and power circuitry 737. Wireless device 710 may include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by wireless device 710, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or set of chips as other components within wireless device 710.

Antenna 711 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected to interface 714. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna 711 may be separate from wireless device 710 and be connectable to wireless device 710 through an interface or port. Antenna 711, interface 714, and/or processing circuitry 720 may be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a wireless device. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a network node and/or another wireless device. In some embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna 711 may be considered an interface.

As illustrated, interface 714 comprises radio front end circuitry 712 and antenna 711. Radio front end circuitry 712 comprise one or more filters 718 and amplifiers 716. Radio front end circuitry 712 is connected to antenna 711 and processing circuitry 720 and is configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 711 and processing circuitry 720. Radio front end circuitry 712 may be coupled to or a part of antenna 711. In some embodiments, wireless device 710 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 712; rather, processing circuitry 720 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 711.

Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 722 may be considered a part of interface 714. Radio front end circuitry 712 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or wireless devices via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 712 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 718 and/or amplifiers 716. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 711. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 711 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 712. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 720. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

Processing circuitry 720 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other wireless device 710 components, such as device readable medium 730, wireless device 710 functionality. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry 720 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 730 or in memory within processing circuitry 720 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

As illustrated, processing circuitry 720 includes one or more of RF transceiver circuitry 722, baseband processing circuitry 724, and application processing circuitry 726. In other embodiments, the processing circuitry may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitry 720 of wireless device 710 may comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 722, baseband processing circuitry 724, and application processing circuitry 726 may be on separate chips or sets of chips. In alternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry 724 and application processing circuitry 726 may be combined into one chip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry 722 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In still alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 722 and baseband processing circuitry 724 may be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processing circuitry 726 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 722, baseband processing circuitry 724, and application processing circuitry 726 may be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 722 may be a part of interface 714. RF transceiver circuitry 722 may condition RF signals for processing circuitry 720.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by a wireless device may be provided by processing circuitry 720 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 730, which in certain embodiments may be a computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 720 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry 720 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 720 alone or to other components of wireless device 710, but are enjoyed by wireless device 710 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Processing circuitry 720 may be configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being performed by a wireless device. These operations, as performed by processing circuitry 720, may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 720 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored by wireless device 710, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.

Device readable medium 730 may be operable to store a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry 720. Device readable medium 730 may include computer memory (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or computer executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 720. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 720 and device readable medium 730 may be considered to be integrated.

User interface equipment 732 may provide components that allow for a human user to interact with wireless device 710. Such interaction may be of many forms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment 732 may be operable to produce output to the user and to allow the user to provide input to wireless device 710. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface equipment 732 installed in wireless device 710. For example, if wireless device 710 is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if wireless device 710 is a smart meter, the interaction may be through a screen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alert (e.g., if smoke is detected). User interface equipment 732 may include input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interface equipment 732 is configured to allow input of information into wireless device 710 and is connected to processing circuitry 720 to allow processing circuitry 720 to process the input information. User interface equipment 732 may include, for example, a microphone, a proximity or other sensor, keys/buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuitry. User interface equipment 732 is also configured to allow output of information from wireless device 710, and to allow processing circuitry 720 to output information from wireless device 710. User interface equipment 732 may include, for example, a speaker, a display, vibrating circuitry, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuitry sing one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits, of user interface equipment 732, wireless device 710 may communicate with end users and/or the wireless network and allow them to benefit from the functionality described herein.

Auxiliary equipment 734 is operable to provide more specific functionality which may not be generally performed by wireless devices. This may comprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wired communications etc. The inclusion and type of components of auxiliary equipment 734 may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.

Power source 736 may, in some embodiments, be in the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic devices or power cells, may also be used wireless device 710 may further comprise power circuitry 737 for delivering power from power source 736 to the various parts of wireless device 710 which need power from power source 736 to carry out any functionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry 737 may in certain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry 737 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in which case wireless device 710 may be connectable to the external power source (such as an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power circuitry 737 may also in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from an external power source to power source 736. This may be, for example, for the charging of power source 736. Power circuitry 737 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from power source 736 to make the power suitable for the respective components of wireless device 710 to which power is supplied.

FIGURE 17 illustrates one embodiment of a UE in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, a user equipment or UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter). UE 800 may be any UE identified by the 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) EE. EE 800, as illustrated in FIGURE 17, is one example of a wireless device configured for communication in accordance with one or more communication standards promulgated by the 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP’s GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or 5G standards. As mentioned previously, the term wireless device and UE may be used interchangeable. Accordingly, although FIGURE 17 is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to a wireless device, and vice-versa.

In FIGURE 17, UE 800 includes processing circuitry 801 that is operatively coupled to input/output interface 805, radio frequency (RF) interface 809, network connection interface 811, memory 815 including random access memory (RAM) 817, read-only memory (ROM) 819, and storage medium 821 or the like, communication subsystem 831, power source 833, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 821 includes operating system 823, application program 825, and data 827. In other embodiments, storage medium 821 may include other similar types of information. Certain UEs may utilize all of the components shown in FIGURE 17, or only a subset of the components. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

In FIGURE 17, processing circuitry 801 may be configured to process computer instructions and data. Processing circuitry 801 may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute machine instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored program, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or Digital Signal Processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 801 may include two central processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.

In the depicted embodiment, input/output interface 805 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, output device, or input and output device. UE 800 may be configured to use an output device via input/output interface 805. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a USB port may be used to provide input to and output from UE 800. The output device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. UE 800 may be configured to use an input device via input/output interface 805 to allow a user to capture information into UE 800. The input device may include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another like sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device may be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

In FIGURE 17, RF interface 809 may be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna. Network connection interface 811 may be configured to provide a communication interface to network 843a. Network 843a may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network 843a may comprise a Wi-Fi network. Network connection interface 811 may be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface used to communicate with one or more other devices over a communication network according to one or more communication protocols, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, SONET, ATM, or the like. Network connection interface 811 may implement receiver and transmitter functionality appropriate to the communication network links (e.g., optical, electrical, and the like). The transmitter and receiver functions may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.

RAM 817 may be configured to interface via bus 802 to processing circuitry 801 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during the execution of software programs such as the operating system, application programs, and device drivers. ROM 819 may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuitry 801. For example, ROM 819 may be configured to store invariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions such as basic input and output (I/O), startup, or reception of keystrokes from a keyboard that are stored in a non-volatile memory. Storage medium 821 may be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, or flash drives. In one example, storage medium 821 may be configured to include operating system 823, application program 825 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application, and data file 827. Storage medium 821 may store, for use by UE 800, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

Storage medium 821 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppy disk drive, flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM/RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 821 may allow UE 800 to access computer-executable instructions, application programs or the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied in storage medium 821, which may comprise a device readable medium.

In FIGURE 17, processing circuitry 801 may be configured to communicate with network 843b using communication subsystem 831. Network 843a and network 843b may be the same network or networks or different network or networks. Communication subsystem 831 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with network 843b. For example, communication subsystem 831 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication such as another wireless device, UE, or base station of a radio access network (RAN) according to one or more communication protocols, such as IEEE 802.8, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, or the like. Each transceiver may include transmitter 833 and/or receiver 835 to implement transmitter or receiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links (e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter 833 and receiver 835 of each transceiver may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.

In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of communication subsystem 831 may include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. For example, communication subsystem 831 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. Network 843b may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network 843b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-field network. Power source 813 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE 800.

The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of UE 800 or partitioned across multiple components of UE 800. Further, the features, benefits, and/or functions described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software or firmware. In one example, communication subsystem 831 may be configured to include any of the components described herein. Further, processing circuitry 801 may be configured to communicate with any of such components over bus 802. In another example, any of such components may be represented by program instructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitry 801 perform the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functionality of any of such components may be partitioned between processing circuitry 801 and communication subsystem 831. In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware. FIGURE 18 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 900 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) or to a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device or any other type of communication device) or components thereof and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines or containers executing on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments 900 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes 930. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node is not a radio access node or does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node), then the network node may be entirely virtualized.

The functions may be implemented by one or more applications 920 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) operative to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. Applications 920 are run in virtualization environment 900 which provides hardware 930 comprising processing circuitry 960 and memory 990. Memory 990 contains instructions 995 executable by processing circuitry 960 whereby application 920 is operative to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.

Virtualization environment 900, comprises general-purpose or special- purpose network hardware devices 930 comprising a set of one or more processors or processing circuitry 960, which may be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuitry including digital or analog hardware components or special purpose processors. Each hardware device may comprise memory 990-1 which may be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 995 or software executed by processing circuitry 960. Each hardware device may comprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 970, also known as network interface cards, which include physical network interface 980. Each hardware device may also include non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media 990-2 having stored therein software 995 and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry 960. Software 995 may include any type of software including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 950 (also referred to as hypervisors), software to execute virtual machines 940 as well as software allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein.

Virtual machines 940, comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 950 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual appliance 920 may be implemented on one or more of virtual machines 940, and the implementations may be made in different ways.

During operation, processing circuitry 960 executes software 995 to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 950, which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer 950 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine 940.

As shown in FIGURE 18, hardware 930 may be a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 930 may comprise antenna 9225 and may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 930 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or customer premise equipment (CPE)) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration (MANO) 9100, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 920.

Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

In the context of NFV, virtual machine 940 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of virtual machines 940, and that part of hardware 930 that executes that virtual machine, be it hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and/or hardware shared by that virtual machine with others of the virtual machines 940, forms a separate virtual network elements (VNE).

Still in the context of NFV, Virtual Network Function (VNF) is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more virtual machines 940 on top of hardware networking infrastructure 930 and corresponds to application 920 in FIGURE 18.

In some embodiments, one or more radio units 9200 that each include one or more transmitters 9220 and one or more receivers 9210 may be coupled to one or more antennas 9225. Radio units 9200 may communicate directly with hardware nodes 930 via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station.

In some embodiments, some signaling can be affected with the use of control system 9230 which may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes 930 and radio units 9200.

FIGURE 19 illustrates a telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer in accordance with some embodiments.

With reference to FIGURE 19, in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system includes telecommunication network 1010, such as a 3GPP- type cellular network, which comprises access network 1011, such as a radio access network, and core network 1014. Access network 1011 comprises a plurality of base stations 1012a, 1012b, 1012c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 1013a, 1013b, 1013c. Each base station 1012a, 1012b, 1012c is connectable to core network 1014 over a wired or wireless connection 1015. A first UE 1091 located in coverage area 1013c is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station 1012c. A second UE 1092 in coverage area 1013a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 1012a. While a plurality of UEs 1091, 1092 are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base station 1012.

Telecommunication network 1010 is itself connected to host computer 1030, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm. Host computer 1030 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Connections 1021 and 1022 between telecommunication network 1010 and host computer 1030 may extend directly from core network 1014 to host computer 1030 or may go via an optional intermediate network 1020. Intermediate network 1020 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network 1020, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network 1020 may comprise two or more sub networks (not shown).

The communication system of FIGURE 19 as a whole enables connectivity between the connected UEs 1091, 1092 and host computer 1030. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1050. Host computer 1030 and the connected UEs 1091, 1092 are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection 1050, using access network 1011, core network 1014, any intermediate network 1020 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTT connection 1050 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which OTT connection 1050 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, base station 1012 may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from host computer 1030 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 1091. Similarly, base station 1012 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 1091 towards the host computer 1030.

FIGURE 20 illustrates a host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments.

Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE, base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to FIGURE 20. In communication system 1100, host computer 1110 comprises hardware 1115 including communication interface 1116 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 1100. Host computer 1110 further comprises processing circuitry 1118, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry 1118 may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Host computer 1110 further comprises software 1111, which is stored in or accessible by host computer 1110 and executable by processing circuitry 1118. Software 1111 includes host application 1112. Host application 1112 may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as UE 1130 connecting via OTT connection 1150 terminating at UE 1130 and host computer 1110. In providing the service to the remote user, host application 1112 may provide user data which is transmitted using OTT connection 1150.

Communication system 1100 further includes base station 1120 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 1125 enabling it to communicate with host computer 1110 and with UE 1130. Hardware 1125 may include communication interface 1126 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 1100, as well as radio interface 1127 for setting up and maintaining at least wireless connection 1170 with UE 1130 located in a coverage area (not shown in FIGURE 20) served by base station 1120. Communication interface 1126 may be configured to facilitate connection 1160 to host computer 1110. Connection 1160 may be direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown in FIGURE 20) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown, hardware 1125 of base station 1120 further includes processing circuitry 1128, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application- specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Base station 1120 further has software 1121 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

Communication system 1100 further includes UE 1130 already referred to. Its hardware 1135 may include radio interface 1137 configured to set up and maintain wireless connection 1170 with a base station serving a coverage area in which UE 1130 is currently located. Hardware 1135 of UE 1130 further includes processing circuitry 1138, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. UE 1130 further comprises software 1131, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1130 and executable by processing circuitry 1138. Software 1131 includes client application 1132. Client application 1132 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 1130, with the support of host computer 1110. In host computer 1110, an executing host application 1112 may communicate with the executing client application 1132 via OTT connection 1150 terminating at UE 1130 and host computer 1110. In providing the service to the user, client application 1132 may receive request data from host application 1112 and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection 1150 may transfer both the request data and the user data. Client application 1132 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.

It is noted that host computer 1110, base station 1120 and UE 1130 illustrated in FIGURE 20 may be similar or identical to host computer 1030, one of base stations 1012a, 1012b, 1012c and one of UEs 1091, 1092 of FIGURE 19, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in FIGURE 20 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of FIGURE 19.

In FIGURE 20, OTT connection 1150 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between host computer 1110 and UE 1130 via base station 1120, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices. Network infrastructure may determine the routing, which it may be configured to hide from UE 1130 or from the service provider operating host computer 1110, or both. While OTT connection 1150 is active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network).

Wireless connection 1170 between UE 1130 and base station 1120 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE 1130 using OTT connection 1150, in which wireless connection 1170 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the data rate, latency, and/or power consumption and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, better responsiveness, and/or extended battery lifetime. A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 1150 between host computer 1110 and UE 1130, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 1150 may be implemented in software 1111 and hardware 1115 of host computer 1110 or in software 1131 and hardware 1135 of UE 1130, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which OTT connection 1150 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software 1111, 1131 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection 1150 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect base station 1120, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to base station 1120. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating host computer 1110’s measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that software 1111 and 1131 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTT connection 1150 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.

FIGURE 21 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to FIGURES 19 and 20. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIGURE 21 will be included in this section. In step 1210, the host computer provides user data. In substep 1211 (which may be optional) of step 1210, the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 1220, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step 1230 (which may be optional), the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried in the transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1240 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

FIGURE 22 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to FIGURES 19 and 20. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIGURE 22 will be included in this section. In step 1310 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional substep (not shown) the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 1320, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1330 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

FIGURE 23 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to FIGURES 19 and 20. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIGURE 23 will be included in this section. In step 1410 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 1420, the UE provides user data. In substep 1421 (which may be optional) of step 1420, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In substep 1411 (which may be optional) of step 1410, the UE executes a client application which provides the user data in reaction to the received input data provided by the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed client application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE initiates, in substep 1430 (which may be optional), transmission of the user data to the host computer. In step 1440 of the method, the host computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

FIGURE 22 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to FIGURES 17 and 18. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIGURE 22 will be included in this section. In step 1510 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In step 1520 (which may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 1530 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

FIGURE 25 illustrates a method 1600 by a network node 760 operating as an IAB node, according to certain embodiments. The method begins at step 1602 when the IAB node receives, from a first parent node of the IAB node, a first DCI comprising a first availability indication for at least one resource for a cell. At step 1604, the IAB node receives, from a second parent node of the IAB node, a second DCI comprising a second availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell. Based on a value of the second availability indication indicated in the second DCI, the IAB node determines to use the first availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell.

In a particular embodiment, when determining to use the first availability indication for the at least one resource, the IAB node determines to disregard the second availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell.

In a particular embodiment, the first availability indication comprises a first Availability Indication-Index, the second availability indication comprises a second Availability Indication-Index, and the IAB node determines to disregard the second availability indication for the at least one resource based on a value of the second Availability Indication-Index.

In a particular embodiment, the IAB node is configured to disregard the second availability indication when the second Availability Indication-Index has the value. For example, in a particular embodiment the value may be considered a special value such as, for example, a zero, and the IAB node may be configured to disregard the second availability indication when the value is zero.

In a particular embodiment, the IAB node determines an AvailabilityCombinationID that is associated with the second Availability-Index. The IAB node also determines a re source Availability value associated with the AvailabilityCombinationID . The IAB node then determines to disregard the second availability indication for the at least one resource based on the resourceAvailability value associated with the AvailabilityCombinationID .

In a further particular embodiment, the resourceAvailability value comprises a sequence that indicates that the second availability indication is to be disregarded. For example, in a particular embodiment, the resourceAvailability value may include a sequence of zeros.

In a further particular embodiment, the IAB node receives a mapping of the AvailabilityCombinationID to the associated resourceAvailability value. In a further particular embodiment, the mapping is received via a Radio Resource Control message. For example, the mapping may be received from a network node operating as a parent to the IAB node 760. The mapping may be generated by the network node operating as the parent to the IAB node, or the mapping may be generated by another network node such as a CU and then forwarded to the IAB node by the parent node. In still another example embodiment, the mapping may be received directly from the CU.

In a further particular embodiment, the mapping comprises a table indicating the associated resourceAvailability for each of a plurality of AvailabilityCombinationIDs for a number of slots.

In a particular embodiment, the first DCI comprises a first plurality of availability indications, and each availability indication indicating an availability for a corresponding number of slots for a corresponding cell. The second DCI comprises a second plurality of availability indications, and each availability indication indicating an availability for a corresponding number of slots for a corresponding cell. At least a first slot of the number of slots associated with the first DCI is different from at least a first slot of the number of slots associated with the second DCI .

In a particular embodiment, the first DCI is received by the IAB node before the second DCI is received by the IAB node.

In a particular embodiment, the first parent node and the second parent node are a same parent node.

FIGURE 26 illustrates a method 1700 by a network node 760 operating as a parent node with respect to at least one IAB node, according to certain embodiments. The method begins at step 1702 when the network node operating as the parent node transmits, to the IAB node, a first DCI comprising a first availability indication for at least one resource for a cell. At step 1704, the network node 760 transmits, to the IAB node, a second DCI comprising a second availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell. The second availability indication implicitly or explicitly indicates for the IAB node to disregard the second availability indication for the at least one resource.

In a particular embodiment, the second availability indication implicitly or explicitly indicates for the IAB node to disregard the second availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell.

In a further particular embodiment, the first availability indication comprises a first Availability Indication-Index, and the second availability indication comprises a second Availability Indication-Index.

In a further particular embodiment, the network node configures the IAB node to disregard the second availability indication when the second Availability-Index has the value. For example, in a particular embodiment the value may be considered a special value such as, for example, a zero, and the IAB node may be configured to disregard the second availability indication when the value is zero.

In a further particular embodiment, an AvailabilityCombinationID is associated with the second Availability-Index. A re source Availability value associated with the AvailabilityCombinationID , and the IAB node is configured to disregard the second availability indication for the at least one resource based on the resourceAvailability value associated with the AvailabilityCombinationID .

In a particular embodiment, the i value comprises a sequence that indicates that the second availability indication is to be disregarded. For example, in a particular embodiment, the resourceAvailability value may include a sequence of zeros.

In a particular embodiment, the network node 760 transmits, to the IAB node, via a RRC message, a mapping of the AvailabilityCombinationID to the associated resourceAvailability value. In an example embodiment, the mapping may be first received by the network node 760 from a CU and then transmitted (i.e., forwarded) to the IAB node. Thus, the mapping may be generated by a CU and then transmitted to the network node 760 operating as parent node for forwarding to the IAB node. In another example embodiment, the mapping may be generated by the network node 760. In a further particular embodiment, the mapping comprises a table indicating the associated resourceAvailability for each of a plurality of AvailabilityCombinationIDs for a number of slots.

In a particular embodiment, the first DCI is transmitted to the IAB node before the second DCI is transmitted to the IAB node.

EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Group A Embodiments

Example Embodiment A1. A method by a network node operating as a child node in an Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB) network, the method comprising: any of the network node steps, features, or functions described above, either alone or in combination with other steps, features, or functions described above.

Example Embodiment A2. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising one or more additional wireless device steps, features or functions described above.

Example Embodiment A3. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host computer via the transmission to the base station.

Group B Embodiments

Example Embodiment Bl. A method performed by a network node operating as a parent node in an Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB) network, the method comprising: any of the network node steps, features, or functions described above, either alone or in combination with other steps, features, or functions described above. Example Embodiment B2. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising one or more additional network node steps, features or functions described above.

Example Embodiment B3. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host computer or a wireless device.

Group C Example Embodiments

Example Embodiment Cl . A method by a network node operating as a child node in an Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB) network, the method comprising: receiving, from a first parent node, a first DCI indicating a first availability for at least one resource for a cell; receiving, from a second parent node, a second DCI indicating a second availability for the at least one resource for the cell; and based on the second availability indicated in the second DCI, determining to use the first availability for the at least one resource.

Example Embodiment C2. The method of Example Embodiment Cl, wherein the at least one resource comprises at least one slot.

Example Embodiment C3. The method of Example Embodiment Emboidment Cl, wherein the at least one resource comprises a plurality of sequential slots.

Example Embodiment C4. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to C3, wherein the at least one resource comprises at least one soft resource slot.

Example Embodiment C5. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to C4, wherein the first DCI is received by the child node before the second DCI is received by the child node.

Example Embodiment C6. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to C4, wherein the second DCI is received by the child node before the first DCI is received by the child node.

Example Embodiment C7. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to C6, wherein the second availability comprises a value of 0.

Example Embodiment C8. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to C7, wherein the first parent node and the second parent node are a same parent node. Example Embodiment C9. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to C8, wherein at least one of the first DCI and the second DCI comprise a DCI 2_5.

Example Embodiment CIO. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to C9, wherein the first availability and the second availability are overlapping since the first availability and the second availability both relate to the at least one resource.

Example Embodiment Cl 1.The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to CIO, wherein determining to use the first availability for the at least one resource based on the second availability comprises disregarding the second availability for the at least one resource.

Example Embodiment C12.The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to Cll, wherein at least one of the first availability and the second availability comprises a resourceAvailability element.

Example Embodiment Cl 3. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to Cl 2, wherein at least one of the first availability and the second availability comprises a availabilityCombinationID element.

Example Embodiment C14.The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to Cl 3, wherein at least one of the first availability and the second availability comprises a resource availability indication.

Example Embodiment Cl 5. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to Cl 4, wherein at least one of the first availability and the second availability comprises an index associated with a resource availability indication.

Example Embodiment Cl 6. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to Cl 5, wherein the second availability comprises a value, and the method further comprises: receiving, from the parent node, a mapping indicating, with regard to the at least one resource and based on the value of the second availability, that the child node is to use the first availability.

Example Embodiment Cl 7. The method of Example Embodiment C16, wherein the mapping comprises a table.

Example Embodiment Cl 8. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C16 to Cl 7, wherein the value is zero.

Example Embodiment Cl 9. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C16 to Cl 7, wherein the value is a sequence of zeros. Example Embodiment C20.The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to Cl 9, wherein the child node comprises an intermediate IAB node that serves at least one additional child node and/or a wireless device.

Example Embodiment C21.The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to C20, wherein the first DCI and the second DCI are received by a Mobile Termination (MT) of the child node.

Example Embodiment C22.The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to C22, further comprising one or more additional network node steps, features or functions described above.

Example Embodiment C23.A network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments Cl to C22.

Example Embodiment C24. A computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments Cl to C22.

Example Embodiment C25. A computer program product comprising computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments Cl to C22.

Example Embodiment C26. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments Cl to C22.

Group D Example Embodiments

Example Embodiment D1. A method by a network node operating as a child node in an Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB) network, the method comprising: receiving, from a first parent node, a first DCI indicating a first availability for at least one resource for a cell; receiving, from a second parent node, a second DCI indicating a second availability for the at least one resource for the cell; and based on the second availability indicated in the second DCI, determining to disregard the second availability information for the at least one resource.

Example Embodiment D2. The method of Example Embodiment Dl, wherein the second availability points to a placeholder sequence in a table, and the method further comprises determining, based on the placeholder sequence, no availability for the at least one resource. Example Embodiment D3. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D2, further comprising receiving the table via Radio Resource Control signalling.

Example Embodiment D4. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D3, wherein the second availability does not affect other information in the second DCI that relates to a resource other than the at least one resource.

Example Embodiment D5. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D4, wherein the at least one resource comprises at least one slot.

Example Embodiment D6. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D4, wherein the at least one resource comprises a plurality of sequential slots.

Example Embodiment D7. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D4, wherein the at least one resource comprises at least one soft resource slot.

Example Embodiment D8. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D7, wherein the first DCI is received by the child node before the second DCI is received by the child node.

Example Embodiment D9. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D8, wherein the second DCI is received by the child node before the first DCI is received by the child node.

Example Embodiment D10. The method of any one of Example

Embodiments D1 to D9, wherein the second availability comprises a value of 0.

Example Embodiment D11. The method of any one of Example

Embodiments D1 to D10, wherein the first parent node and the second parent node are a same parent node.

Example Embodiment D12. The method of any one of Example

Embodiments D1 to D11, wherein at least one of the first DCI and the second DCI comprise a DCI format 2 5.

Example Embodiment D13. The method of any one of Example

Embodiments D1 to D12, wherein the first availability and the second availability are overlapping since the first availability and the second availability both relate to the at least one resource.

Example Embodiment D14. The method of any one of Example

Embodiments D1 to D13, wherein at least one of the first availability and the second availability comprises a re source Availability element. Example Embodiment D15. The method of any one of Example

Embodiments D1 to D14, wherein at least one of the first availability and the second availability comprises a availabilityCombinationID element.

Example Embodiment D 16. The method of any one of Example

Embodiments D1 to D15, wherein at least one of the first availability and the second availability comprises a resource availability indication.

Example Embodiment D 17. The method of any one of Example

Embodiments D1 to D16, wherein at least one of the first availability and the second availability comprises an index associated with a resource availability indication.

Example Embodiment D 18. The method of any one of Example

Embodiments D1 to D17, wherein the second availability comprises a value, and the method further comprises: receiving, from the parent node, a mapping indicating, with regard to the at least one resource and based on the value of the second availability, that the child node is to use the first availability.

Example Embodiment D19. The method of Example Embodiment D 18, wherein the mapping comprises a table.

Example Embodiment D20. The method of any one of Example

Embodiments D18 to D19, wherein the value is zero.

Example Embodiment D21. The method of any one of Example

Embodiments D18 to D19, wherein the value is a sequence of zeros.

Example Embodiment D22. The method of any one of Example

Embodiments D1 to D21, wherein the child node comprises an intermediate IAB node that serves at least one additional child node and/or a wireless device.

Example Embodiment D23. The method of any one of Example

Embodiments D1 to D22, wherein the first DCI and the second DCI are received by a Mobile Termination (MT) of the child node.

Example Embodiment D24. The method of any one of Example

Embodiments D1 to D23, further comprising one or more additional network node steps, features or functions described above.

Example Embodiment D25. A network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments D1 to D24. Example Embodiment D26. A computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments D1 to D24.

Example Embodiment D27. A computer program product comprising computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments D1 to D24.

Example Embodiment D28. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments D1 to D24.

Group E Embodiments

Example Embodiment El. A method by a network node operating as a parent node with respect to at least one child node in an Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB) network, the method comprising: transmitting, to the child node, a first DCI indicating a first availability for at least one resource for a cell; transmitting, to the child node, a second DCI indicating a second availability for the at least one resource for the cell, the second availability implicitly or explicitly indicating for the child node to use the first availability for the at least one resource.

Example Embodiment E2. The method of Example Embodiment El, wherein the at least one resource comprises at least one slot.

Example Embodiment E3. The method of Example Embodiment Emboidment El, wherein the at least one resource comprises a plurality of sequential slots.

Example Embodiment E4. The method of any one of Example Embodiments El to E3, wherein the at least one resource comprises at least one soft resource slot.

Example Embodiment E5. The method of any one of Example Embodiments El to E4, wherein the first DCI is transmitted to the child node before the second DCI is transmitted to the child node.

Example Embodiment E6. The method of any one of Example Embodiments El to E4, wherein the second DCI is transmitted to the child node before the first DCI is transmitted to the child node.

Example Embodiment E7. The method of any one of Example Embodiments El to E6, wherein the second availability comprises a value of 0. Example Embodiment E8. The method of any one of Example Embodiments El to E7, wherein at least one of the first DCI and the second DCI comprise a DCI 2_5.

Example Embodiment E9. The method of any one of Example Embodiments El to E8, wherein the first availability and the second availability are overlapping since the first availability and the second availability both relate to the at least one resource.

Example Embodiment E10. The method of any one of Example Embodiments El to E9, further comprising configuring the child node to determine to use the first availability for the at least one resource based on the second availability

Example Embodiment El l. The method of Example Embodiment E10, wherein configuring the child node to determine to use the first availability for the at least one resource comprises configuring the child node to determine to disregard the second availability for the at least one resource.

Example Embodiment E12. The method of any one of Example Embodiments El to El l, wherein at least one of the first availability and the second availability comprises a resourceAvailability element.

Example Embodiment El 3. The method of any one of Example Embodiments El to D12, wherein at least one of the first availability and the second availability comprises a availabilityCombinationID element.

Example Embodiment E14. The method of any one of Example Embodiments El to El 3, wherein at least one of the first availability and the second availability comprises a resource availability indication.

Example Embodiment El 5. The method of any one of Example Embodiments El to El 4, wherein at least one of the first availability and the second availability comprises an index associated with a resource availability indication.

Example Embodiment E16. The method of any one of Example Embodiments El to El 5, wherein the second availability comprises a value, and the method further comprises: transmitting, to the child node, a mapping indicating, with regard to the at least one resource and based on the value of the second availability, that the child node is to use the first availability.

Example Embodiment E17. The method of Example Embodiment E16, wherein the mapping comprises a table. Example Embodiment El 8. The method of any one of Example Embodiments E16 to E17, wherein the value is zero.

Example Embodiment E19. The method of any one of Example Embodiments El 6 to El 7, wherein the value is a sequence of zeros.

Example Embodiment E20. The method of any one of Example Embodiments El to El 9, wherein the child node comprises an intermediate IAB node that serves at least one additional child node and/or a wireless device.

Example Embodiment E21. The method of any one of Example Embodiments El to E20, wherein the first DCI and the second DCI are transmitted to a Mobile Termination (MT) of the child node.

Example Embodiment E22. The method of any one of Example Embodiments El to E21, further comprising one or more additional network node steps, features or functions described above.

Example Embodiment E23. A network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments El to E22.

Example Embodiment E24. A computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments El to E22.

Example Embodiment E25. A computer program product comprising computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments El to E22.

Example Embodiment E26. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments El to E22.

Group F Example Embodiments

Example Embodiment FI. A method by a network node operating as a parent node with respect to a child node in an Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB) network, the method comprising: transmitting, to the at child node, a first DCI indicating a first availability for at least one resource for a cell; transmitting, to the at child node, a second DCI indicating a second availability for the at least one resource for the cell. Example Embodiment F2. The method of Example Embodiment FI, wherein the second availability points to a placeholder sequence in a table for determining, by the child node, no availability for the at least one resource.

Example Embodiment F3. The method of any one of Example Embodiments FI to F2, further comprising transmitting the table to the child node via Radio Resource Control signalling.

Example Embodiment F4. The method of any one of Example Embodiments FI to F3, wherein the second availability does not affect other information in the second DCI that relates to a resource other than the at least one resource.

Example Embodiment F 5. The method of any one of Example Embodiments FI to F4, wherein the at least one resource comprises at least one slot.

Example Embodiment F6. The method of any one of Example Embodiments FI to F4, wherein the at least one resource comprises a plurality of sequential slots.

Example Embodiment F7. The method of any one of Example Embodiments FI to F4, wherein the at least one resource comprises at least one soft resource slot.

Example Embodiment F8. The method of any one of Example Embodiments FI to F7, wherein the first DCI is transmitted to the child node before the second DCI is transmitted to the child node.

Example Embodiment F9. The method of any one of Example Embodiments FI to F8, wherein the second DCI is transmitted to the child node before the first DCI is transmitted to the child node.

Example Embodiment FI 0. The method of any one of Example Embodiments FI to F9, wherein the second availability comprises a value of 0.

Example Embodiment F 11. The method of any one of Example Embodiments FI to FI 1, wherein at least one of the first DCI and the second DCI comprise a DCI format 2_5.

Example Embodiment F 12. The method of any one of Example Embodiments FI to FI 1, wherein the first availability and the second availability are overlapping since the first availability and the second availability both relate to the at least one resource.

Example Embodiment F 13. The method of any one of Example Embodiments FI to FI 2, wherein at least one of the first availability and the second availability comprises a resourceAvailability element. Example Embodiment F 14. The method of any one of Example Embodiments FI to FI 3, wherein at least one of the first availability and the second availability comprises a availabilityCombinationID element.

Example Embodiment FI 5. The method of any one of Example Embodiments FI to FI 4, wherein at least one of the first availability and the second availability comprises a resource availability indication.

Example Embodiment FI 6. The method of any one of Example Embodiments FI to FI 5, wherein at least one of the first availability and the second availability comprises an index associated with a resource availability indication.

Example Embodiment FI 7. The method of any one of Example Embodiments FI to FI 6, wherein the second availability comprises a value, and the method further comprises: transmitting, to the child node, a mapping indicating, with regard to the at least one resource, that the child node is to use the first availability based on the value of the second availability.

Example Embodiment FI 8. The method of Example Embodiment F17, wherein the mapping comprises a table.

Example Embodiment FI 9. The method of any one of Example Embodiments F 17 to FI 8, wherein the value is zero.

Example Embodiment F20. The method of any one of Example Embodiments F 17 to FI 8, wherein the value is a sequence of zeros.

Example Embodiment F21. The method of any one of Example Embodiments FI to F20, wherein the child node comprises an intermediate IAB node that serves at least one additional child node and/or a wireless device.

Example Embodiment F22. The method of any one of Example Embodiments FI to F21, wherein the first DCI and the second DCI are transmitted to a Mobile Termination (MT) of the child node.

Example Embodiment F23. The method of any one of Example Embodiments FI to F22, further comprising one or more additional network node steps, features or functions described above.

Example Embodiment F24. A network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments FI to F23.

Example Embodiment F25. A computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments FI to F24. Example Embodiment F26. A computer program product comprising computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments FI to F24.

Example Embodiment F27. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments FI to F24.

Group G Example Embodiments

Example Embodiment G1. A method by a network node operating as a parent node with respect to a child node in an Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB) network, the method comprising: transmitting, to the child node, a first DCI with a first resource availability indication for at least one resource; aligning a second resource availability indication in the second DCI with the first resource availability indication in the first DCI; and transmitting, to the child, the second DCI comprising the second resource availability indication that aligns with the first resource availability indication in the first DCI.

Example Embodiment G2. The method of Example Embodiment Gl, wherein aligning the second resource availability indication in the second DCI with the first resource availability indication in the first DCI comprises copying the first resource availability indication in the first DCI into the second DCI.

Example Embodiment G3. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Gl to G2, further comprising determining that the second DCI is to be transmitted to the at least one child node relates to the at least one resource

Example Embodiment G4. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Gl to G3, wherein the at least one resource comprises a soft resource slot.

Example Embodiment G5. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Gl to G3, wherein the at least one resource comprises a plurality of sequential slots.

Example Embodiment G6. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Gl to G5, wherein the child node comprises an intermediate IAB node that serves at least one additional child node and/or a wireless device.

Example Embodiment G7. The method of any one of Example Embodiments Cl to C7, wherein: the first DCI is transmitted in a first slot, and the second DCI is transmitted in a second slot that is after the first slot. Example Embodiment G8. The method of any one of Example Embodiments G1 to G7, wherein the first DCI and the second DCI are transmitted to a MT of the at least one child node.

Example Embodiment G9. The method of any one of Example Embodiments G1 to G8, further comprising one or more additional network node steps, features or functions described above.

Example Embodiment G10. A network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments G1 to G9.

Example Embodiment G11. A computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments G1 to G9.

Example Embodiment G12. A computer program product comprising computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments G1 to G9.

Example Embodiment G13. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments G1 to G9.

Group H Example Embodiments

Example Embodiment HI. A network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A, B, C, D, E, F, or G Example Embodiments; power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the wireless device.

Example Embodiment H2. A communication system including a host computer comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a wireless device, wherein the cellular network comprises a network node having a radio interface and processing circuitry, the network node’s processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A, B, C, D, E, F, or G Example Embodiments.

Example Embodiment H3. The communication system of the previous embodiment further including the network node. Example Embodiment H4. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the wireless device, wherein the wireless device is configured to communicate with the network node.

Example Embodiment H5. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the wireless device comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

Example Embodiment H6. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a network node and a wireless device, the method comprising: at the host computer, providing user data; and at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the wireless device via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the network node performs any of the steps of any of the Group A, B, C, D, E, F, or G Example Embodiments.

Example Embodiment H7. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the network node, transmitting the user data.

Example Embodiment H8. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host computer by executing a host application, the method further comprising, at the wireless device, executing a client application associated with the host application.

Example Embodiment H9. A wireless device configured to communicate with a network node, the wireless device comprising a radio interface and processing circuitry configured to performs the of the previous 3 embodiments.

Example Embodiment HI 0. A communication system including a host computer comprising a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a wireless device to a network node, wherein the network node comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the network node’s processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A, B, C, D, E, F, or G Example Embodiments.

Example Embodiment HI 1. The communication system of the previous embodiment further including the network node.

Example Embodiment H12. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the wireless device, wherein the wireless device is configured to communicate with the network node. Example Embodiment HI 3. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; the wireless device is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data to be received by the host computer.

Example Embodiment H14. The method of any of the previous embodiments, wherein the network node comprises a base station.

Example Embodiment HI 5. The method of any of the previous embodiments, wherein the wireless device comprises a user equipment (UE).

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the systems and apparatuses described herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure. The components of the systems and apparatuses may be integrated or separated. Moreover, the operations of the systems and apparatuses may be performed by more, fewer, or other components. Additionally, operations of the systems and apparatuses may be performed using any suitable logic comprising software, hardware, and/or other logic. As used in this document, “each” refers to each member of a set or each member of a subset of a set.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the methods described herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure. The methods may include more, fewer, or other steps. Additionally, steps may be performed in any suitable order.

Although this disclosure has been described in terms of certain embodiments, alterations and permutations of the embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the above description of the embodiments does not constrain this disclosure. Other changes, substitutions, and alterations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure.

Claims

1. A method (1600) by a network node (760) operating as an Integrated Access Backhaul, IAB, node, the method comprising: receiving (1602), from a first parent node of the IAB node, a first downlink control information, DCI, comprising a first availability indication for at least one resource for a cell; receiving (1604), from a second parent node of the IAB node, a second DCI comprising a second availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell; and based on a value of the second availability indication indicated in the second DCI, determining (1606) to use the first availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell.

2. The method of Claim 1, wherein determining to use the first availability indication for the at least one resource comprises determining to disregard the second availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell.

3. The method of Claim 2, wherein: the first availability indication comprises a first Availability Indication-Index, the second availability indication comprises a second Availability Indication- Index, and the IAB node determines to disregard the second availability indication for the at least one resource based on a value of the second Availability Indication-Index.

4. The method of Claim 3, wherein the IAB node is configured to disregard the second availability indication when the second Availability Indication-Index has the value.

5. The method of Claim 3, further comprising: determining an A vailabilityCombinalionll) that is associated with the second Availability -Index; determining a re source Availability value associated with the

AvailabilityCombinationID , and wherein the IAB node determines to disregard the second availability indication for the at least one resource based on the re source Availability value associated with the AvailabilityCombinationID.

6. The method of Claim 5, wherein the resourceAvailability value comprises a sequence that indicates that the second availability indication is to be disregarded.

7. The method of any one of Claims 5 to 6, further comprising: receiving a mapping of the AvailabilityCombinationID to the associated resourceAvailability value.

8. The method of Claim 7, wherein the mapping is received via a Radio Resource Control message.

9. The method of Claim 8, wherein the mapping comprises a table indicating the associated resourceAvailability for each of a plurality of AvailabilityCombinationID^ for a number of slots.

10. The method of any one of Claims 1 to 9, wherein: the first DCI comprises a first plurality of availability indications, each availability indication indicating an availability for a corresponding number of slots for a corresponding cell; the second DCI comprises a second plurality of availability indications, each availability indication indicating an availability for a corresponding number of slots for a corresponding cell; and at least a first slot of the number of slots associated with the first DCI is different from at least a first slot of the number of slots associated with the second DCI .

11. The method of any one of Claims 1 to 10, wherein the first DCI is received by the IAB node before the second DCI is received by the IAB node.

12. The method of any one of Claims 1 to 11, wherein the first parent node and the second parent node are a same parent node.

13. A method (1700) by a network node (760) operating as a parent node with respect to at least one Integrated Access Backhaul, IAB, node, the method comprising: transmitting (1702), to the IAB node, a first downlink control information, DCI, comprising a first availability indication for at least one resource for a cell; transmitting (1704), to the IAB node, a second DCI comprising a second availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell, the second availability indication implicitly or explicitly indicating for the IAB node to disregard the second availability indication for the at least one resource.

14. The method of Claim 13, wherein the second availability indication implicitly or explicitly indicates for the IAB node to disregard the second availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell.

15. The method of Claim 14, wherein: the first availability indication comprises a first Availability Indication-Index; the second availability indication comprises a second Availability Indication-

Index.

16. The method of Claim 15, further comprising configuring the IAB node to disregard the second availability indication when the second Availability-Index has the value.

17. The method of Claim 15, wherein: an AvailabilityCombinationID is associated with the second Availability-

Index; a re source Availability value associated with the AvailabilityCombinationID , and wherein the IAB node is configured to disregard the second availability indication for the at least one resource based on the re source Availability value associated with the AvailabilityCombinationID.

18. The method of Claim 17, wherein the resourceAvailability value comprises a sequence that indicates that the second availability indication is to be disregarded.

19. The method of any one of Claims 17 to 18, further comprising: transmitting, to the IAB node, via a Radio Resource Control message, a mapping of the AvailabilityCombinationID to the associated resourceAvailability value.

20. The method of Claim 19, wherein the mapping comprises a table indicating the associated resourceAvailability for each of a plurality of AvailabilityCombinationIDs for a number of slots.

21. The method of any one of Claims 13 to 20, wherein: the first DCI comprises a first plurality of availability indications, each availability indication indicating an availability for a corresponding number of slots for a corresponding cell; the second DCI comprises a second plurality of availability indications, each availability indication indicating an availability for a corresponding number of slots for a corresponding cell; and at least a first slot of the number of slots associated with the first DCI is different from at least a first slot of the number of slots associated with the second DCI .

22. The method of any one of Claims 13 to 21 , wherein the first DCI is transmitted to the IAB node before the second DCI is transmitted to the IAB node.

23. A network node (760) operating as an Integrated Access Backhaul, IAB, node, the network node adapted to: receive, from a first parent node of the IAB node, a first downlink control information, DCI, comprising a first availability indication for at least one resource for a cell; receive, from a second parent node of the IAB node, a second DCI comprising a second availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell; and based on a value of the second availability indication indicated in the second DCI, determine to use the first availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell.

24. The network node of Claim 23, further adapted to perform any of the methods of Claims 2 to 12.

25. A computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Claims 1 to 12.

26. A computer program product comprising computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Claims 1 to 12.

27. A network node (760) operating as a parent node with respect to at least one Integrated Access Backhaul, IAB node, the network node adapted to: transmit, to the IAB node, a first downlink control information, DCI, comprising a first availability indication for at least one resource for a cell; transmit, to the IAB node, a second DCI comprising a second availability indication for the at least one resource for the cell, the second availability indication implicitly or explicitly indicating for the IAB node to disregard the second availability indication for the at least one resource.

28. The network node of Claim 27, further adapted to perform any of the methods of Claims 14 to 22.

29. A computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Claims 13 to 22.

30. A computer program product comprising computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Claims 13 to 22.