Patent Publication Number: US-2023164793-A1

Title: Resource attribute configuration

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 63/004,192 entitled “APPARATUSES, METHODS, AND SYSTEMS FOR RESOURCE CONFIGURATION AND DUPLEXING ENHANCEMENT IN INTEGRATED ACCESS AND BACKHAUL” and filed on Apr. 2, 2020 for Majid Ghanbarinejad, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to wireless communications and more particularly relates to resource attribute configuration. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In certain wireless communications networks, resource attributes may be hard, soft, or unavailable. These resource attributes may correspond to a certain domain, but may be unknown for other domains and/or combinations of domains. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     Methods for resource attribute configuration are disclosed. Apparatuses and systems also perform the functions of the methods. One embodiment of a method includes receiving a first configuration for a resource. The first configuration includes a first parameter indicating a time-domain attribute associated with the resource, and the time-domain attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable. In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a second configuration for the resource. The second configuration includes a second parameter indicating a frequency-domain attribute associated with the resource, and the frequency-domain attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable. In certain embodiments, the method includes determining an attribute for the resource based on the time-domain attribute and the frequency-domain attribute. The attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable. In various embodiments, the method includes, in response to determining that the attribute is soft: determining whether the resource is indicated as available; and, in response to determining that the resource is indicated as available, performing an operation on the resource. The operation is a downlink transmission and/or an uplink reception. 
     One apparatus for resource attribute configuration includes a receiver that: receives a first configuration for a resource, wherein the first configuration includes a first parameter indicating a time-domain attribute associated with the resource, and the time-domain attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable; and receives a second configuration for the resource, wherein the second configuration includes a second parameter indicating a frequency-domain attribute associated with the resource, and the frequency-domain attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable. In various embodiments, the apparatus includes a processor that: determines an attribute for the resource based on the time-domain attribute and the frequency-domain attribute, wherein the attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable; and, in response to determining that the attribute is soft: determines whether the resource is indicated as available; and, in response to determining that the resource is indicated as available, performs an operation on the resource, wherein the operation is a downlink transmission and/or an uplink reception. 
     Another embodiment of a method for resource attribute configuration includes receiving a configuration for a symbol. The configuration includes a parameter indicating a first attribute associated with the symbol, and the first attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable. In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a first control message corresponding to a set of frequencies. In various embodiments, the method includes determining a second attribute for a resource on the symbol based on the first attribute and the first control message. The second attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable. In certain embodiments, the method includes, in response to determining that the second attribute is soft: determining whether the resource is indicated as available; and, in response to determining that the resource is indicated as available, performing an operation on the resource. The operation is a downlink transmission and/or an uplink reception. 
     Another apparatus for resource attribute configuration includes a receiver that: receives a configuration for a symbol, wherein the configuration includes a parameter indicating a first attribute associated with the symbol, and the first attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable; and receives a first control message corresponding to a set of frequencies. In various embodiments, the apparatus includes a processor that: determines a second attribute for a resource on the symbol based on the first attribute and the first control message, wherein the second attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable; and, in response to determining that the second attribute is soft: determines whether the resource is indicated as available; and, in response to determining that the resource is indicated as available, performs an operation on the resource, wherein the operation is a downlink transmission and/or an uplink reception. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A more particular description of the embodiments briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only some embodiments and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of scope, the embodiments will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG.  1    is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a wireless communication system for resource attribute configuration; 
         FIG.  2    is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an apparatus that may be used for resource attribute configuration; 
         FIG.  3    is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an apparatus that may be used for resource attribute configuration; 
         FIG.  4    is a diagram illustrating one embodiment of an IAB system; 
         FIG.  5    is a diagram illustrating one embodiment of an IAB system with single-panel and multi-panel IAB nodes; 
         FIG.  6    is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of an IAB system with single-panel and multi-panel IAB nodes; 
         FIG.  7    is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of an IAB system; 
         FIG.  8    is a timing diagram illustrating one embodiment of resource configuration in a frequency domain; 
         FIG.  9    is a flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a semi-static availability configuration; 
         FIG.  10    is a flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a hard and/or soft configuration; 
         FIG.  11    is a diagram illustrating one embodiment of a configuration of frequency-domain availability; 
         FIG.  12    is a flow chart diagram illustrating another embodiment of a hard and/or soft configuration; 
         FIG.  13    is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of activation and indication of frequency-domain availability (“F-AI”); 
         FIG.  14    is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of activation and indication of F-AI; 
         FIG.  15    is a flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a compatible dynamic indication; 
         FIG.  16    is a diagram illustrating one embodiment of a resource allocation in an IAB system; 
         FIG.  17    is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of BWP configurations; 
         FIG.  18    is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of BWL configurations; 
         FIG.  19    is a flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment of methods based on bandwidth parts; 
         FIG.  20    is a flow chart diagram illustrating another embodiment of methods based on bandwidth parts; 
         FIG.  21    is a flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment of an implicit method; 
         FIG.  22    is a flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method for resource attribute configuration; and 
         FIG.  23    is a flow chart diagram illustrating another embodiment of a method for resource attribute configuration. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the embodiments may be embodied as a system, apparatus, method, or program product. Accordingly, embodiments may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, embodiments may take the form of a program product embodied in one or more computer readable storage devices storing machine readable code, computer readable code, and/or program code, referred hereafter as code. The storage devices may be tangible, non-transitory, and/or non-transmission. The storage devices may not embody signals. In a certain embodiment, the storage devices only employ signals for accessing code. 
     Certain of the functional units described in this specification may be labeled as modules, in order to more particularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example, a module may be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom very-large-scale integration (“VLSI”) circuits or gate arrays, off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or other discrete components. A module may also be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices or the like. 
     Modules may also be implemented in code and/or software for execution by various types of processors. An identified module of code may, for instance, include one or more physical or logical blocks of executable code which may, for instance, be organized as an object, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, the executables of an identified module need not be physically located together, but may include disparate instructions stored in different locations which, when joined logically together, include the module and achieve the stated purpose for the module. 
     Indeed, a module of code may be a single instruction, or many instructions, and may even be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustrated herein within modules, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may be collected as a single data set, or may be distributed over different locations including over different computer readable storage devices. Where a module or portions of a module are implemented in software, the software portions are stored on one or more computer readable storage devices. 
     Any combination of one or more computer readable medium may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium may be a storage device storing the code. The storage device may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, holographic, micromechanical, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. 
     More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the storage device would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (“RAM”), a read-only memory (“ROM”), an erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM” or Flash memory), a portable compact disc read-only memory (“CD-ROM”), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
     Code for carrying out operations for embodiments may be any number of lines and may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages including an object oriented programming language such as Python, Ruby, Java, Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language, or the like, and/or machine languages such as assembly languages. The code may execute entirely on the user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through any type of network, including a local area network (“LAN”) or a wide area network (“WAN”), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). 
     Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment, but mean “one or more but not all embodiments” unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms “including,” “comprising,” “having,” and variations thereof mean “including but not limited to,” unless expressly specified otherwise. An enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms “a,” “an,” and “the” also refer to “one or more” unless expressly specified otherwise. 
     Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics of the embodiments may be combined in any suitable manner. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples of programming, software modules, user selections, network transactions, database queries, database structures, hardware modules, hardware circuits, hardware chips, etc., to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that embodiments may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of an embodiment. 
     Aspects of the embodiments are described below with reference to schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams of methods, apparatuses, systems, and program products according to embodiments. It will be understood that each block of the schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams, can be implemented by code. The code may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams block or blocks. 
     The code may also be stored in a storage device that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the storage device produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams block or blocks. 
     The code may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the code which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of apparatuses, systems, methods and program products according to various embodiments. In this regard, each block in the schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which includes one or more executable instructions of the code for implementing the specified logical function(s). 
     It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. Other steps and methods may be conceived that are equivalent in function, logic, or effect to one or more blocks, or portions thereof, of the illustrated Figures. 
     Although various arrow types and line types may be employed in the flowchart and/or block diagrams, they are understood not to limit the scope of the corresponding embodiments. Indeed, some arrows or other connectors may be used to indicate only the logical flow of the depicted embodiment. For instance, an arrow may indicate a waiting or monitoring period of unspecified duration between enumerated steps of the depicted embodiment. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart diagrams, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and code. 
     The description of elements in each figure may refer to elements of proceeding figures. Like numbers refer to like elements in all figures, including alternate embodiments of like elements. 
       FIG.  1    depicts an embodiment of a wireless communication system  100  for resource attribute configuration. In one embodiment, the wireless communication system  100  includes remote units  102  and network units  104 . Even though a specific number of remote units  102  and network units  104  are depicted in  FIG.  1   , one of skill in the art will recognize that any number of remote units  102  and network units  104  may be included in the wireless communication system  100 . 
     In one embodiment, the remote units  102  may include computing devices, such as desktop computers, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (“PDAs”), tablet computers, smart phones, smart televisions (e.g., televisions connected to the Internet), set-top boxes, game consoles, security systems (including security cameras), vehicle on-board computers, network devices (e.g., routers, switches, modems), aerial vehicles, drones, or the like. In some embodiments, the remote units  102  include wearable devices, such as smart watches, fitness bands, optical head-mounted displays, or the like. Moreover, the remote units  102  may be referred to as subscriber units, mobiles, mobile stations, users, terminals, mobile terminals, fixed terminals, subscriber stations, UE, user terminals, a device, or by other terminology used in the art. The remote units  102  may communicate directly with one or more of the network units  104  via UL communication signals. In certain embodiments, the remote units  102  may communicate directly with other remote units  102  via sidelink communication. 
     The network units  104  may be distributed over a geographic region. In certain embodiments, a network unit  104  may also be referred to and/or may include one or more of an access point, an access terminal, a base, a base station, a Node-B, an evolved node-B (“eNB”), a 5G node-B (“gNB”), a Home Node-B, a relay node, a device, a core network, an aerial server, a radio access node, an access point (“AP”), new radio (“NR”), a network entity, an access and mobility management function (“AMF”), a unified data management (“UDM”), a unified data repository (“UDR”), a UDM/UDR, a policy control function (“PCF”), a radio access network (“RAN”), a network slice selection function (“NSSF”), an operations, administration, and management (“OAM”), a session management function (“SMF”), a user plane function (“UPF”), an application function, an authentication server function (“AUSF”), security anchor functionality (“SEAF”), trusted non-3GPP gateway function (“TNGF”), or by any other terminology used in the art. The network units  104  are generally part of a radio access network that includes one or more controllers communicably coupled to one or more corresponding network units  104 . The radio access network is generally communicably coupled to one or more core networks, which may be coupled to other networks, like the Internet and public switched telephone networks, among other networks. These and other elements of radio access and core networks are not illustrated but are well known generally by those having ordinary skill in the art. 
     In one implementation, the wireless communication system  100  is compliant with NR protocols standardized in third generation partnership project (“3GPP”), wherein the network unit  104  transmits using an OFDM modulation scheme on the downlink (“DL”) and the remote units  102  transmit on the uplink (“UL”) using a single-carrier frequency division multiple access (“SC-FDMA”) scheme or an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (“OFDM”) scheme. More generally, however, the wireless communication system  100  may implement some other open or proprietary communication protocol, for example, WiMAX, institute of electrical and electronics engineers (“IEEE”) 802.11 variants, global system for mobile communications (“GSM”), general packet radio service (“GPRS”), universal mobile telecommunications system (“UMTS”), long term evolution (“LTE”) variants, code division multiple access  2000  (“CDMA2000”), Bluetooth®, ZigBee, Sigfoxx, among other protocols. The present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the implementation of any particular wireless communication system to architecture or protocol. 
     The network units  104  may serve a number of remote units  102  within a serving area, for example, a cell or a cell sector via a wireless communication link. The network units  104  transmit DL communication signals to serve the remote units  102  in the time, frequency, and/or spatial domain. 
     In various embodiments, a remote unit  102  may receive a first configuration for a resource. The first configuration includes a first parameter indicating a time-domain attribute associated with the resource, and the time-domain attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable. In some embodiments, the remote unit  102  may receive a second configuration for the resource. The second configuration includes a second parameter indicating a frequency-domain attribute associated with the resource, and the frequency-domain attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable. 
     In certain embodiments, the remote unit  102  may determine an attribute for the resource based on the time-domain attribute and the frequency-domain attribute. The attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable. In various embodiments, the remote unit  102  may, in response to determining that the attribute is soft: determine whether the resource is indicated as available; and, in response to determining that the resource is indicated as available, perform an operation on the resource. The operation is a downlink transmission and/or an uplink reception. Accordingly, the remote unit  102  may be used for resource attribute configuration. 
     In certain embodiments, a remote unit  102  may receive a configuration for a symbol. The configuration includes a parameter indicating a first attribute associated with the symbol, and the first attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable. In some embodiments, the remote unit  102  may receive a first control message corresponding to a set of frequencies. In various embodiments, the remote unit  102  may determine a second attribute for a resource on the symbol based on the first attribute and the first control message. The second attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable. In certain embodiments, the remote unit  102  may, in response to determining that the second attribute is soft: determine whether the resource is indicated as available; and, in response to determining that the resource is indicated as available, perform an operation on the resource. The operation is a downlink transmission and/or an uplink reception. Accordingly, the remote unit  102  may be used for resource attribute configuration. 
       FIG.  2    depicts one embodiment of an apparatus  200  that may be used for resource attribute configuration. The apparatus  200  includes one embodiment of the remote unit  102 . Furthermore, the remote unit  102  may include a processor  202 , a memory  204 , an input device  206 , a display  208 , a transmitter  210 , and a receiver  212 . In some embodiments, the input device  206  and the display  208  are combined into a single device, such as a touchscreen. In certain embodiments, the remote unit  102  may not include any input device  206  and/or display  208 . In various embodiments, the remote unit  102  may include one or more of the processor  202 , the memory  204 , the transmitter  210 , and the receiver  212 , and may not include the input device  206  and/or the display  208 . 
     The processor  202 , in one embodiment, may include any known controller capable of executing computer-readable instructions and/or capable of performing logical operations. For example, the processor  202  may be a microcontroller, a microprocessor, a central processing unit (“CPU”), a graphics processing unit (“GPU”), an auxiliary processing unit, a field programmable gate array (“FPGA”), or similar programmable controller. In some embodiments, the processor  202  executes instructions stored in the memory  204  to perform the methods and routines described herein. The processor  202  is communicatively coupled to the memory  204 , the input device  206 , the display  208 , the transmitter  210 , and the receiver  212 . 
     The memory  204 , in one embodiment, is a computer readable storage medium. In some embodiments, the memory  204  includes volatile computer storage media. For example, the memory  204  may include a RAM, including dynamic RAM (“DRAM”), synchronous dynamic RAM (“SDRAM”), and/or static RAM (“SRAM”). In some embodiments, the memory  204  includes non-volatile computer storage media. For example, the memory  204  may include a hard disk drive, a flash memory, or any other suitable non-volatile computer storage device. In some embodiments, the memory  204  includes both volatile and non-volatile computer storage media. In some embodiments, the memory  204  also stores program code and related data, such as an operating system or other controller algorithms operating on the remote unit  102 . 
     The input device  206 , in one embodiment, may include any known computer input device including a touch panel, a button, a keyboard, a stylus, a microphone, or the like. In some embodiments, the input device  206  may be integrated with the display  208 , for example, as a touchscreen or similar touch-sensitive display. In some embodiments, the input device  206  includes a touchscreen such that text may be input using a virtual keyboard displayed on the touchscreen and/or by handwriting on the touchscreen. In some embodiments, the input device  206  includes two or more different devices, such as a keyboard and a touch panel. 
     The display  208 , in one embodiment, may include any known electronically controllable display or display device. The display  208  may be designed to output visual, audible, and/or haptic signals. In some embodiments, the display  208  includes an electronic display capable of outputting visual data to a user. For example, the display  208  may include, but is not limited to, a liquid crystal display (“LCD”), a light emitting diode (“LED”) display, an organic light emitting diode (“OLED”) display, a projector, or similar display device capable of outputting images, text, or the like to a user. As another, non-limiting, example, the display  208  may include a wearable display such as a smart watch, smart glasses, a heads-up display, or the like. Further, the display  208  may be a component of a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a television, a table computer, a notebook (laptop) computer, a personal computer, a vehicle dashboard, or the like. 
     In certain embodiments, the display  208  includes one or more speakers for producing sound. For example, the display  208  may produce an audible alert or notification (e.g., a beep or chime). In some embodiments, the display  208  includes one or more haptic devices for producing vibrations, motion, or other haptic feedback. In some embodiments, all or portions of the display  208  may be integrated with the input device  206 . For example, the input device  206  and display  208  may form a touchscreen or similar touch-sensitive display. In other embodiments, the display  208  may be located near the input device  206 . 
     In some embodiments, the receiver  212 : receives a first configuration for a resource, wherein the first configuration includes a first parameter indicating a time-domain attribute associated with the resource, and the time-domain attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable; and receives a second configuration for the resource, wherein the second configuration includes a second parameter indicating a frequency-domain attribute associated with the resource, and the frequency-domain attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable. In various embodiments, the processor  202 : determines an attribute for the resource based on the time-domain attribute and the frequency-domain attribute, wherein the attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable; and, in response to determining that the attribute is soft: determines whether the resource is indicated as available; and, in response to determining that the resource is indicated as available, performs an operation on the resource, wherein the operation is a downlink transmission and/or an uplink reception. 
     In certain embodiments, the receiver  212 : receives a configuration for a symbol, wherein the configuration includes a parameter indicating a first attribute associated with the symbol, and the first attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable; and receives a first control message corresponding to a set of frequencies. In various embodiments, the processor  202 : determines a second attribute for a resource on the symbol based on the first attribute and the first control message, wherein the second attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable; and, in response to determining that the second attribute is soft: determines whether the resource is indicated as available; and, in response to determining that the resource is indicated as available, performs an operation on the resource, wherein the operation is a downlink transmission and/or an uplink reception. 
     Although only one transmitter  210  and one receiver  212  are illustrated, the remote unit  102  may have any suitable number of transmitters  210  and receivers  212 . The transmitter  210  and the receiver  212  may be any suitable type of transmitters and receivers. In one embodiment, the transmitter  210  and the receiver  212  may be part of a transceiver. 
       FIG.  3    depicts one embodiment of an apparatus  300  that may be used for resource attribute configuration. The apparatus  300  includes one embodiment of the network unit  104 . Furthermore, the network unit  104  may include a processor  302 , a memory  304 , an input device  306 , a display  308 , a transmitter  310 , and a receiver  312 . As may be appreciated, the processor  302 , the memory  304 , the input device  306 , the display  308 , the transmitter  310 , and the receiver  312  may be substantially similar to the processor  202 , the memory  204 , the input device  206 , the display  208 , the transmitter  210 , and the receiver  212  of the remote unit  102 , respectively. 
     In various embodiments, integrated access and backhaul (“IAB”) technology may be used. In such embodiments, the IAB technology may aim to increase deployment flexibility and reduce 5G rollout costs. Moreover, JAB technology may enable service providers to reduce cell planning and spectrum planning efforts while using the wireless backhaul technology. 
     In certain embodiments, IAB may relate to a specific multiplexing and duplexing scheme and/or time-division multiplexing (“TDM”) between upstream communications (e.g., with a parent IAB node and/or donor) and downstream communications (e.g., with a child JAB node or a UE). 
     In some embodiments, IAB may operate in a flexible time division duplex (“TDD”) mode. In such embodiments, each slot may be configured semi-statically to contain downlink (“DL” and/or “D”) symbols, uplink (“UL” and/or “U”) symbols, and flexible (“F”) symbols. Each flexible symbol may be configured to be a DL symbol or an UL symbol at an instance. The DL, UL, and/or F configurations may follow an UL-F-DL pattern (e.g., they may start with UL symbols and end with DL symbols) thereby providing flexibility over configurations that only follow a DL-F-UL pattern. 
     In various embodiments, in an JAB system, resources may be configured as hard (“H”) or soft (“S”), or if not H or S the resources may be considered not available (“NA”). In such embodiments, hard resources may be always available for scheduling communications with a UE or a child node; soft resources may be possibly available which may be indicated by DCI signaling; and NA symbols may not be available to an JAB node for scheduling its own communications with a UE or a child node (however, this does not mean that the JAB node may not communicate with its parent node using the NA symbols, perform measurements on the NA symbols, and so forth). 
     In certain embodiments, D, U, F, H, S, and/or NA attributes may be per OFDM symbol (e.g., the granularity for resource configuration with these attributes may be all available frequency resources (e.g., in the active bandwidth part) on time resources as short as one OFDM symbol). In such embodiments, if soft resources are to be indicated available or not available by DCI signaling, the granularity for availability indication (“AI”) may be a resource type in terms of D, U, and/or F per slot. That is, all symbols that are configured D, L, or F in a slot are indicated available or not available. This may indicate a coarser granularity (e.g., essentially all frequency resources on one or several OFDM symbols). 
     In some embodiments, there may be support for simultaneous operation (e.g., transmission and/or reception of signals) in an JAB system by enhancing resource multiplexing between child and parent nodes. In various embodiments, resource configuration and availability indication may only be enabled in the time domain. In certain embodiments, resource configuration and availability indication may be enabled in the frequency domain. In some embodiments, since there are a large number of physical resource blocks (“PRBs”) in a frequency domain (e.g., compared to the number of OFDM symbols in a slot), it may not be sufficient to replicate time-domain provisions for the frequency domain. 
       FIG.  4    is a diagram illustrating one embodiment of an JAB system  400 . The JAB system  400  includes a network  402  (e.g., core network) that communicates with an IAB donor  404  via a first communication link  406 . Moreover, the JAB system  400  also includes a first UE  408  that communicates with the IAB donor  404  via a second communication link  410 . Further, the JAB system  400  includes a first JAB node  412  that communicates with the IAB donor  404  via a third communication link  414 . The JAB system  400  also includes a second UE  416  that communicates with the first JAB node  412  via a fourth communication link  418 . Moreover, the JAB system  400  includes a second JAB node  420  that communicates with the first JAB node  412  via a fifth communication link  422 . Further, the IAB system  400  includes a third UE  424  that communicates with the second IAB node  420  via a sixth communication link  426 . 
     As illustrated in further detail, a network  426  is connected to the IAB donor  404  through a backhaul link  428 , which may be wired. The IAB donor  404  includes a CU (IAB-CU)  430  and a DU (IAB-DU)  432 . The IAB donor  404  communicates with all the DUs in the system through an F1 interface. Each IAB node (e.g.,  412  and  420 ) is functionally split into at least an MT (IAB-MT) (e.g.,  434 ,  436 ) and a DU (IAB-DU) (e.g.,  438 ,  440 ). An MT of an IAB node is connected to a DU of a parent node, which may be another IAB node or the IAB donor  404 . 
     A wireless connection (e.g.,  414 ,  422 ,  426 ,  442 ,  444 ) between an MT of an IAB node and a DU of a parent node, which may be a Uu link, is called a wireless backhaul link. In the wireless backhaul link, in terms of functionalities, the MT is similar to a UE and the DU of the parent node is similar to a base station in a conventional cellular wireless link. Therefore, a link from an MT to a serving cell that is a DU of a parent link is called an uplink, and a link in the reverse direction is called a downlink. In this disclosure, embodiments may simply refer to an is uplink or a downlink between IAB nodes, a link between a node and its parent, a link between a node and its child, and so forth without a direct reference to an MT, DU, serving cell, and so forth. 
     Each IAB donor or IAB node may serve UEs (e.g.,  446 ) through access links (e.g.,  448 ). IAB systems like IAB system  400  may be designed to enable multi-hop communications (e.g., a UE may be connected to the core network through an access link and multiple backhaul links between IAB nodes and an IAB donor). As used herein, unless stated otherwise, an “IAB node” may generally refer to an IAB node or an IAB donor as long as a connection between a CU and a core network is not concerned. 
     A node, link, etc. closer to an IAB donor and/or core network may be called an upstream node, link, etc. For example, a parent node of a subject node is an upstream node of the subject node and the link to the parent node is an upstream link with respect to the subject node. Similarly, a node, link, etc. farther from the IAB donor and/or core network is called a downstream node, link, etc. For example, a child node of a subject node is a downstream node of the subject node and the link to the child node is a downstream link with respect to the subject node. 
     Table 1 summarizes terminology used herein. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Terminology 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 Phrase 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Wireless backhaul link 
                 A connection between an MT of an IAB node and a DU of a serving cell 
               
               
                 Wireless access link 
                 A connection between a UE and (a DU of) a serving cell 
               
               
                 IAB-node 
                 RAN node that supports NR access links to UEs and NR backhaul links 
               
               
                   
                 to parent nodes and child nodes. 
               
               
                 IAB-MT 
                 IAB-node function that terminates the Uu interface to the parent node 
               
               
                 IAB-DU 
                 gNB-DU functionality supported by the IAB-node to terminate the NR 
               
               
                   
                 access interface to UEs and next-hop IAB-nodes, and to terminate the F1 
               
               
                   
                 protocol to the gNB-CU functionality on the IAB-donor 
               
               
                 IAB-donor 
                 gNB that provides network access to UEs via a network of backhaul and 
               
               
                   
                 access links. 
               
               
                 Parent [IAB] node 
                 An IAB node or IAB donor that comprises a serving cell of the subject 
               
               
                   
                 node. In some examples, IAB-node-MT&#39;s next hop neighbour node; the 
               
               
                   
                 parent node can be IAB-node or IAB-donor-DU. 
               
               
                 Child [IAB] node 
                 An IAB node that identifies the subject node as a serving cell. In some 
               
               
                   
                 examples, IAB-node-DU&#39;s next hop neighbour node; the child node is 
               
               
                   
                 also an IAB-node. 
               
               
                 Sibling [IAB] node 
                 An IAB node that has a common parent with the subject node 
               
               
                 Uplink (of a wireless backhaul link) 
                 A link from an MT to a DU of a parent node 
               
               
                 Downlink (of a wireless backhaul link) 
                 A link from a DU to an MT of a child node 
               
               
                 Upstream node/link/etc. 
                 A node, link, etc. (topologically) closer to the IAB donor and/or core 
               
               
                   
                 network. Direction toward parent node in IAB-topology 
               
               
                 Downstream node/link/etc. 
                 A node, link, etc. (topologically) farther from the IAB donor and/or core 
               
               
                   
                 network. Direction toward child node or UE in IAB-topology 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     As used herein, an “operation” or a “communication,” may refer to a transmission or a reception in an uplink (e.g., upstream) or a downlink (e.g., downstream). Moreover, the terms “simultaneous operation” or “simultaneous communications” may refer to multiplexing and/or duplexing transmissions and/or receptions by a node through one or more antennas and/or panels. Details of the simultaneous operation (or concurrent operation) may be understood from context. 
     In various embodiments, dynamic TDD may be used (e.g., in NR) through RRC configurations and lower layer control signaling. Dynamic TDD may enable NR systems to have more flexible slot formats for TDD operation that may be modified dynamically for adaptation to varying traffic. RRC signaling may configure slots for TDD operation using various IEs described herein. 
     TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon IE: this information element (“IE”) may determine a cell-specific uplink and/or downlink TDD configuration. The IE may contain a periodicity value between 0.5 ms and 10 ms and a reference subcarrier spacing (“SCS”). A slot configuration pattern (through one or two pattern fields) may be defined within the periodicity. The periodicity may contain multiple slots. The most general pattern for each periodicity may be a number of downlink slots and symbols at the beginning and a number of uplink symbols and slots at the end. All remaining slots and/or symbols in between may be flexible and may be overridden by a following UE-specific configuration. 
     TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated IE: this IE may determine a UE-specific uplink and/or downlink TDD configuration. The IE may configure a number of slot configurations. Each slot configuration may contain an index based on a periodicity defined by a cell-specific configuration, and a number of downlink and uplink symbols in the slot, which may override flexible symbols configured by the cell-specific configuration. 
     In certain embodiments, resources that are flexible (e.g., not configured downlink or uplink) by a cell-specific or UE-specific configuration may be dynamically indicated as downlink or uplink by a DCI format 2_0 for a UE or a group of UEs. Corresponding DCI may contain slot format indicators (“SFIs”) and an index to a table of slot formats may be configured by RRC signaling. The configuration from RRC signaling may refer to each slot format by an 8-bit number. 
     In some embodiments, 56 of 256 possible values (e.g., indexed 0-55) may be used to define slot formats of various combinations. The general format for each of slot formats may be DL-F-UL, where a slot format may contain one, two, or all of the three types of the symbols with various numbers in the specified order. In such embodiments, 41 more values (e.g., indexed 56-96) may be used for UL-F-DL formats for IAB to provide further flexibility for an IAB node that may start a slot with uplink symbols followed by downlink symbols. 
     In various embodiments, resources that are not configured or indicated as downlink or uplink by any signaling may be assumed to be reserved which may enable flexibility for cell management, coexistence, and so forth. 
     In certain embodiments, time-domain allocation parameters k0, k1, k2 (e.g., in NR) may be used herein and may defined. 
     PDSCH time-domain allocation: the RRC parameter k0 in RRC information element PDSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocation may indicate an offset between a slot that contains a DCI that schedules a PDSCH transmission and a slot that contains the PDSCH transmission. 
     PDSCH hybrid automatic repeat request (“HARQ”) feedback timing: the L1 parameter k1 may be provided by the ‘PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator’ field in DCI formats 1_0 and 1_1 (e.g., for scheduling a PDSCH transmission). 
     Physical uplink shared channel (“PUSCH”) time-domain allocation: the RRC parameter k2 in the RRC information element PUSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocation may to indicate an offset between a slot that contains a DCI that schedules a PUSCH transmission and a slot that contains the PUSCH transmission. 
     In some embodiments, such as in NR systems, control and shared channels may be communicated on bandwidth parts configured by RRC and further by MAC and layer-1. 
     In certain embodiments, a UE may be configured with bandwidth parts (“BWPs”) for downlink and/or uplink. 
     For downlink, a UE may be configured with a set of at most four BWPs for reception by the UE (e.g., DL BWP set) in a DL bandwidth by parameter BWP-Downlink or by parameter initialDownlinkBWP with a set of parameters configured by BWP-DownlinkCommon and BWP-DownlinkDedicated. If a UE is not provided with initialDownlinkBWP, an initial DL BWP may be defined by a location and a number of contiguous PRBs, starting from a PRB with the lowest index and ending at a PRB with the highest index among PRBs of a control resource set (“CORESET”) for Type0-PDCCH common search space (“CSS”) set, and a SCS and a cyclic prefix for physical downlink control channel (“PDCCH”) reception in the CORESET for Type0-PDCCH CSS set; otherwise, the initial DL BWP may be provided by initialDownlinkBWP. 
     For uplink, a UE can be configured a set of at most four BWPs for transmission by the UE (e.g., UL BWP set) in an UL bandwidth by parameter BWP-Uplink or by parameter initialUplinkBWP with a set of parameters configured by BWP-UplinkCommon and BWP-UplinkDedicated. For operation on a primary cell or on a secondary cell, a UE may be provided an initial UL BWP by initialUplinkBWP. If the UE is configured with a supplementary UL carrier, the UE may be provided an initial UL BWP on a supplementary UL carrier by initialUplinkBWP. 
     In some embodiments, if a UE has a dedicated BWP configuration, the UE may be provided by firstActiveDownlinkBWP-Id a first active DL BWP for receptions and by firstActiveUplinkBWP-Id a first active UL BWP for transmissions on a carrier of a primary cell. 
     In various embodiments, for each DL BWP or UL BWP in a set of DL BWPs or UL BWPs, respectively, a UE may be provided the following parameters for a serving cell: SCS, cyclic prefix (“CP”) length (normal or extended), a start RB and a number of contiguous RBs, an index in the set of DL BWPs or UL BWPs (e.g., by a respective BWP-Id), and a set of BWP-common and a set of BWP-dedicated parameters. 
     In certain embodiments, a BWP switching for a serving cell may be used to activate an inactive BWP and deactivate an active BWP at a time. The BWP switching may be controlled by a PDCCH transmission indicating a downlink assignment or an uplink grant, by the bwp-InactivityTimer, by RRC signaling, or by a MAC entity itself upon initiation of a random access procedure. Upon RRC configuration and/or reconfiguration of firstActiveDownlinkBWP-Id and/or firstActiveUplinkBWP-Id for SpCell or activation of an SCell, the DL BWP and/or UL BWP indicated by firstActiveDownlinkBWP-Id and/or firstActiveUplinkBWP-Id respectively may be active without receiving a PDCCH transmission indicating a downlink assignment or an uplink grant. The active BWP for a serving cell may be indicated by either RRC signaling or a PDCCH transmission. For an unpaired spectrum, a DL BWP may be paired with a UL BWP, and BWP switching may be common for both UL and DL. 
     In some embodiments, a bandwidth part indicator field may be configured in DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 1_1 for indicating an active UL BWP or an active DL BWP from a configured set. In such embodiments, a UE may set the active UL BWP or DL BWP to the indicated UL BWP or DL BWP. 
       FIG.  5    illustrates an IAB system (e.g., an IAB network). An IAB system or an IAB network may be connected to a core network through one or more IAB donors. Each JAB node may be connected to an IAB donor and/or other IAB nodes through wireless backhaul links. Each IAB donor and/or node may also serve UEs. 
       FIG.  5    is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of an JAB system  500 . The JAB system  500  includes an JAB network  502  and an IAB donor  504  (e.g., parent JAB node) connected by a first backhaul link  506 . The JAB system  500  includes a first UE  508  connected to the IAB donor  504  by a second backhaul link  510 . Moreover, the JAB system  500  includes a first JAB node  512  (e.g., single-panel node) connected to the IAB donor  504  by a third backhaul link  514 . Furthermore, the JAB system  500  includes a second JAB node  516  (e.g., multi-panel node) connected, through a first antenna panel of the JAB node  516 , to the IAB donor  504  by a fourth backhaul link  518 . The JAB system  500  includes a third JAB node  520  (e.g., child JAB node) connected to the second JAB node  516 , through a second antenna panel of the JAB node  516 , by a fifth backhaul link  522 . Moreover, the JAB system  500  includes a second UE  524  connected to the second JAB node  516 , through the first antenna panel or the second antenna panel of the JAB node  516 , by a sixth backhaul link  526 . Furthermore, the JAB system  500  includes a fourth JAB node  528  (e.g., child JAB node) connected to the first JAB node  512  by a seventh backhaul link  530 . The JAB system  500  includes a third UE  532  connected to the first JAB node  512  by an eighth backhaul link  534 . 
       FIG.  6    is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of an JAB system  600  with single-panel and multi-panel JAB nodes. The JAB system  600  includes a network  602  and an IAB donor  604  (e.g., parent JAB node) connected by a first backhaul link  606 . The JAB system  600  includes a first JAB node  608  (e.g., multi-panel node) connected, through a first antenna panel of the JAB node  608 , to the IAB donor  604  by a second backhaul link  610 . The JAB system  600  includes a second JAB node  612  (e.g., child JAB node) connected to the second JAB node  608 , through a second antenna panel of the JAB node  608 , by a third backhaul link  614 . Moreover, the JAB system  600  includes a first UE  616  connected to the first JAB node  608 , through the second antenna panel of the JAB node  608 , by a fourth backhaul link  618 . Furthermore, the JAB system  600  includes a third JAB node  620  (e.g., single-panel node) connected to the IAB donor  604  by a fifth backhaul link  622 . Furthermore, the JAB system  600  includes a fourth JAB node  624  (e.g., child JAB node) connected to the third JAB node  620  by a sixth backhaul link  626 . The JAB system  600  includes a second UE  628  connected to the third JAB node  620  by a seventh backhaul link  630 . 
     In some embodiments, there may be various options with regards to a structure and multiplexing and/or duplexing capabilities of an JAB node. For example, each JAB node may have one or more antenna panels, array, and/or sub-arrays. Each of the one or more antenna panels, array, and/or sub-arrays may be connected to a baseband unit through one or more RF chains One or more antenna panels may be able to serve a whole spatial area of interest in a vicinity of an JAB node, or each antenna panel or each group of antenna panels may provide a partial coverage (e.g., in a sector). An JAB node with multiple antenna panels, each serving a separate spatial area or sector, may be referred to as a single-panel JAB node as it behaves similarly to a single-panel JAB node for communications in each of the separate spatial areas or sectors. 
     In various embodiments, each antenna panel may be half-duplex (“HD”) (e.g., able to either transmit or receive signals in a frequency band at a time), or full-duplex (“FD”) (e.g., able to both transmit and receive signals in a frequency band simultaneously). Unlike full-duplex radio, half-duplex radio may be implemented and used in practice and may be assumed as a default mode of operation in a wireless systems. 
     Table 2 lists different duplexing scenarios that may be used if multiplexing is not constrained to time-division multiplexing (“TDM”). In Table 2, JAB node 1 (“N1”) is a single-panel JAB node; JAB node 2 (“N2”) is a multi-panel JAB node; spatial-division multiplexing (“SDM”) refers to either transmission or reception on downlink (or downstream) and uplink (or upstream) simultaneously; full duplex (“FD”) refers to simultaneous transmission and reception by the same antenna panel in a frequency band; and multi-panel transmission and reception (“MPTR”) refers to simultaneous transmission and reception by multiple antenna panels where each antenna panel either transmits or receives in a frequency band at a time. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                 TABLE 2 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Scenario 
                 IAB-MT 
                 IAB-DU 
                 Type 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
                 S1 (Case B) 
                 N1-DL-RX 
                 N1-UL-RX 
                 SDM 
               
               
                   
                 S2 (Case D) 
                 N1-DL-RX 
                 N1-DL-TX 
                 FD 
               
               
                   
                 S3 (Case A) 
                 N1-UL-TX 
                 N1-DL-TX 
                 SDM 
               
               
                   
                 S4 (Case C) 
                 N1-UL-TX 
                 N1-UL-RX 
                 FD 
               
               
                   
                 S5 (Case B) 
                 N2-DL-RX 
                 N2-UL-RX 
                 SDM 
               
               
                   
                 S6 (Case D) 
                 N2-DL-RX 
                 N2-DL-TX 
                 MPTR/FD 
               
               
                   
                 S7 (Case A) 
                 N2-UL-TX 
                 N2-DL-TX 
                 SDM 
               
               
                   
                 S8 (Case C) 
                 N2-UL-TX 
                 N2-UL-RX 
                 MPTR/FD 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In one example, consider scenario S6 in which a multi-panel JAB node N2 receives a downlink control information (“DCI”) message (e.g., called DCI1) on a control channel scheduling a physical downlink shared channel (“PDSCH”) transmission (e.g., called PDSCH1), from a parent node to N2. Suppose N2 intends to schedule another downlink channel, called PDSCH2, from N2 to a child node or a user equipment. Since N2 has multiple panels, the two PDSCHs may be scheduled simultaneously, in addition to full duplex (“FD”), through a multi-panel transmission and/or reception (“MPTR”) and/or frequency-division multiplexing (“FDM”) scheme. However, since panel and/or beam selection in N1 for receiving PDSCH1 depends on the transmission configuration indication (“TCI”) in DCI1, N2 may receive DCI1 sufficiently in advance to produce and transmit a DCI message (e.g., called DCI2) which schedules PDSCH2. If this condition is not satisfied, PDSCH2 may not be scheduled in a timely manner, which may result in inefficient utilization of the hardware. 
       FIG.  7    is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of an JAB system  700 . The JAB system  700  includes a network  702  and a parent node  704  (e.g., PN) connected by a first backhaul link  706 . The JAB system  700  includes an JAB node  708  (e.g., N) connected to the parent node  704  by a second backhaul link  710 . The JAB system  700  includes a child JAB node  712  (e.g., CN) connected to the JAB node  708  by a third backhaul link  714 . Moreover, the JAB system  700  includes a UE  716  connected to the JAB node  708  by a fourth backhaul link  718 . Each of the parent node  704 , the JAB node  708 , and the child node  712  may be single-panel or multi-panel as described herein. 
     In various embodiments, an JAB system may determine whether resource are available (e.g., either configured hard, soft, or indicated available). In such embodiments, a granularity of availability of resources may be a symbol at all frequencies (e.g., within an active BWP). Even if a resource is not configured hard because it has periodic signals configured on it, a whole symbol may be considered hard. 
     In some embodiments, either all frequency resources on a symbol are available or none are available. This may be an issue in various embodiments in which enhanced duplexing allows FDM between communications (e.g., including communications in downstream and upstream). 
     In certain embodiments, to determine availability of resources for duplexing, the following may be used: 1) explicit methods: this may use new signaling to configure and/or indicate availability of resources in a frequency domain; and 2) implicit methods: rules may be defined that allow an JAB node to determine availability of frequency resources. 
     In various embodiments, one way to realize FDM between upstream and downstream operations is to configure resources for each node explicitly. For example, resources may be configured in the frequency domain per slot for a period of multiple slots as shown in  FIG.  8   . 
       FIG.  8    is a timing diagram  800  illustrating one embodiment of resource configuration over a time domain  802  and a frequency domain  804 . The time  802  includes a first period  806  and a second period  808  (e.g., the second period  808  is a repetition of the first period  806 ). The first period  806  includes a first slot  810 , a second slot  812 , and a third slot  814 . Moreover, the second period  808  includes a first slot  816 , a second slot  818 , and a third slot  820 .  FIG.  8    illustrates PN transmission frequencies  822  in slots, guard bands  824  that occur between N transmission frequencies and either PN transmission frequencies or CN transmission frequencies, N transmission frequencies  826  in slots, CN transmission frequencies  828  in slots, and overlap frequencies  830 . 
     In  FIG.  8   , each resource set is configured for a node and labeled accordingly. The configuration is repeated in each period until released or modified. The following can be considered for the semi-static configurations: 1) a node can only use the resources that are configured available for it for scheduling downstream communications to and/or from a child node or a UE—scheduling upstream communications may be left to a parent node; 2) the granularity in the time domain may be slots, symbols, and so forth—the granularity in the frequency domain may be physical resource blocks (“PRBs”), RBGs, physical resource groups (“PRGs”), and so forth—the granularity values may be determined by specification or configured by the system; 3) resource configurations may be sent by a IAB donor CU and may be produced based on information such as the IAB system topology, link qualities (e.g., CSI), traffic intensity on each node, QoS of the traffic on each node, cross-link interference (“CLI”), and so forth; 4) resource configurations for adjacent IAB nodes or next hop neighbor nodes (e.g., a node N and its parent node PN) may depend on the nodes&#39; multiplexing capabilities—for example: a) if N is only capable of TDM, resource sets configured for N and PN may only be configured on separate time resources such as separate slots, b) if N is capable of FDM through a single half-duplex (“HD”) antenna and/or panel, non-overlapping resources may be configured for N and PN on the same time resources—such as the same slot, c) if N has multiple half-duplex (“HD”) antennas and/or panels, overlapping resources may be configured for N and PN on the same time resources—such as the same slot, and d) if N has a full-duplex (“FD”) antenna and/or panel, overlapping resources may be configured for N and PN on the same time resources such as the same slot; 5) resource configurations for N and PN may depend on other node capabilities—for example, if N requires a guard band or a guard time between upstream and downstream operations, that can be considered in the configurations for N and PN—a guard band may be considered between resources configured for N and resources configured for PN or CN—the guard band (e.g., in multiple PRBs for a reference subcarrier spacing) or a guard time (e.g., in terms of OFDM symbols and/or slots for a reference subcarrier spacing) required may depend on a node&#39;s capability and may be selected from a set of guard band or guard time possible values and/or may be dependent of the frequency band—the node may indicate its capability information to its PN or CU; and/or 6) overlapping resources may be configured for non-adjacent nodes (e.g., such as PN and CN in the second slot  812  and the second slot  818 ) unless a cross-link interference (“CLI”) is too high. 
     Tables 3 and 4 illustrate methods for CU and DU in an IAB system. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 3 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Method for CU 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 Receive or configure information for topology, route, channel state (“CSI”), traffic 
               
               
                 intensity, cross-link interference (“CLI”), multi-panel capability (“MP”), minimum guard 
               
               
                 time (Tmin), and/or minimum guard band (“Fmin”). 
               
               
                 Send semi-static resource configurations C, each including: 
               
               
                 a time period (T) and 
               
               
                 a resource set (R) in the frequency domain in a slot, wherein each resource in the 
               
               
                 resource set is configured as D, U, or F. 
               
               
                 such that: 
               
               
                 a size of the resource set and a location of the resource set in the time-frequency 
               
               
                 grid are determined based on channel state, traffic intensity, and/or cross-link 
               
               
                 interference; and 
               
               
                 guard times and guard bands between resource sets are determined based on 
               
               
                 information of topology (e.g., what node is what other node&#39;s parent node), multi- 
               
               
                 panel capability, minimum guard time, and/or minimum guard band. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 4 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Method for DU 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 Receive semi-static resource configurations C, each including: 
               
               
                 a time period (T) and 
               
               
                 a resource set (R) in the frequency domain in a slot, wherein each resource in the 
               
               
                 resource set is configured as D, U, or F. 
               
               
                 Receive indication of which flexible resources are downlink or uplink. 
               
               
                 Use resources in the resource sets for scheduling downlink and/or uplink channels for 
               
               
                 communications with child nodes (“CNs”) and/or UEs such that: 
               
               
                 Downlink resources and downlink-indicated flexible resources are used for scheduling 
               
               
                 downlink channels. 
               
               
                 Uplink resources and uplink-indicated flexible resources are used for scheduling 
               
               
                 uplink channels. 
               
               
                 Transmit downlink signals on downlink channels and/or receive uplink signals on uplink 
               
               
                 channels. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
       FIG.  9    is a flow chart diagram  900  illustrating one embodiment of a semi-static availability configuration. The flow chart diagram  900  includes a method for a CU including: receiving  902  or configuring information for topology, route, channel state (“CSI”), traffic intensity, cross-link interference (“CLI”), multi-panel capability (“MP”), minimum guard time (Tmin), and/or minimum guard band (“Fmin”); and sending  904  semi-static resource configurations C, each including: a time period (T) and a resource set (R) in the frequency domain in a slot, wherein each resource in the resource set is configured as D, U, F, such that: a size of the resource set and a location of the resource set in the time-frequency grid are determined based on channel state, traffic intensity, and/or cross-link interference; and guard times and guard bands between resource sets are determined based on information of topology (e.g., what node is what other node&#39;s parent node), multi-panel capability, minimum guard time, and/or minimum guard band. 
     The flow chart diagram  900  also includes a method for DU including: receiving  906  semi-static resource configurations C, each including: a time period (T) and a resource set (R) in the frequency domain in a slot, wherein each resource in the resource set is configured as D, U, or F; receiving  908  indication of which flexible resources are downlink or uplink; using  910  resources in the resource sets for scheduling downlink and/or uplink channels for communications with child nodes (“CNs”) and/or UEs such that: downlink resources and downlink-indicated flexible resources are used for scheduling downlink channels and uplink resources and uplink-indicated flexible resources are used for scheduling uplink channels; and transmitting  912  downlink signals on downlink channels and/or receive uplink signals on uplink channels. 
     The methods of  FIG.  9    may enable FDM between signals in the downstream and upstream through one or more antennas and/or panels. Once an IAB node receives a resource configuration, the IAB node considers the associated resources available for scheduling by the IAB node. Therefore, for an IAB node DU, a resource is either available or not available until configurations are released or modified. This semi-static configuration may not allow a dynamic management of resources, especially in large bandwidths. 
     In some embodiments, to improve the flexibility of resource configurations in the frequency domain, resources available to a node may be configured as H or S as follows: 1) a hard resource can always be assumed available for a node to schedule communications; and 2) a soft resource cannot be assumed available for the node until it is indicated available by further signaling. 
     In various embodiments, once a frequency resource is configured as soft, availability of the resource in each period may be determined by further signaling. For example, control signaling such as a DCI message may be used to determine which resources are available at time and frequency domains. 
     Certain embodiments may be used to indicate how to apply multi-panel, guard time, and guard band constraints if indicating availability of soft resources. 
     In some embodiments, a node receives information regarding constraints either directly from a child node or from a CU and applies the constraints if indicating availability and scheduling communications. One embodiment of a DU method is found in Table 5. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 5 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Method for DU 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 Receive semi-static resource configurations C, each including: 
               
               
                 a time period (T) and 
               
               
                 a resource set (R) in the frequency domain in a slot, wherein each resource in the 
               
               
                 resource set is configured as D, U, or F, and also configured as H or S. 
               
               
                 Receive information of MP and/or Fmin of CNs. 
               
               
                 Receive an indication of which flexible resources are downlink or uplink. 
               
               
                 Receive a first frequency-domain availability indication (“F-AI1”) from a PN. 
               
               
                 Transmit a second frequency-domain availability indication (“F-AI2”) to CNs. 
               
               
                 Use resources in the resource sets for scheduling downlink and/or uplink channels for 
               
               
                 communications with CNs and/or UEs such that: 
               
               
                 Downlink resources and downlink-indicated flexible resources are used for 
               
               
                 scheduling downlink channels, 
               
               
                 Uplink resources and uplink-indicated flexible resources are used for scheduling 
               
               
                 uplink channels, 
               
               
                 Soft resources are used only if indicated available by F-AI1, and 
               
               
                 Resources multiplexed with the resources indicated available by F-AI2 satisfy 
               
               
                 constraints based on information of multi-panel capability and/or minimum guard 
               
               
                 band of the CNs. 
               
               
                 Transmit downlink signals on downlink channels and/or receive uplink signals on uplink 
               
               
                 channels. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
       FIG.  10    is a flow chart diagram  1000  illustrating one embodiment of a hard and/or soft configuration. The flow chart diagram  1000  includes a method for DU including: receiving  1002  semi-static resource configurations C, each including: a time period (T) and a resource set (R) in the frequency domain in a slot, wherein each resource in the resource set is configured as D, U, or F, and also configured as H or S; receiving  1004  information of MP and/or Fmin of CNs; receiving  1006  an indication of which flexible resources are downlink or uplink; receiving  1008  a F-AI1 from a PN; transmitting  1010  a F-AI2 to CNs; using  1012  communications with CNs and/or UEs such that: downlink resources and downlink-indicated flexible resources are used for scheduling downlink channels, uplink resources and uplink-indicated flexible resources are used for scheduling uplink channels, soft resources are used only if indicated available by F-AI1, and resources multiplexed with the resources indicated available by F-AI2 satisfy constraints based on information of multi-panel capability and/or minimum guard band of the CNs; and transmitting  1014  downlink signals on downlink channels and/or receive uplink signals on uplink channels. 
     In certain embodiments, a CU applies constraints in a way that DUs do not need to be cognizant of the constraints. 
     In some embodiments, resource configuration and indication features are used. In such embodiments, only time-domain resource configuration and indication features may be used. However, in other embodiments, frequency-domain features may be used to determine whether frequency-domain resources such as PRBs are available for each H, S, and/or NA symbol that is configured. 
     In various embodiments, availability of a resource on a time-frequency grid may be determined by two values in two domains, tables such as Table 6 and Table 7 may be used. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 6 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
                 Hard 
                 Soft 
                 Not Available 
               
               
                 Hard 
                 Hard 
                 Soft 
                 Not Available 
               
               
                 Soft 
                 Soft 
                 Soft 
                 Not Available 
               
               
                 Not Available 
                 Not Available 
                 Not Available 
                 Not Available 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 7 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
                 Hard 
                 Soft 
                 Not Available 
               
               
                 Available 
                 Hard 
                 Soft 
                 Not Available 
               
               
                 Not Available 
                 Not Available 
                 Not Available 
                 Not Available 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In Table 6 and Table 7, each column may represent a resource configuration and/or indication in the time domain, and each row may represent a resource configuration and/or indication in the frequency domain. 
     Table 7 may be used for remaining embodiments described herein. However, extension of the embodiments to Table 6 may also be made. 
     According to Table 7, any symbol no matter whether it is configured {D, U, F} may be further configured available or not available for a certain sub-band and/or set of PRBs in a BWP. Interpretation of frequency-domain configuration and/or indication for H, S, and/or NA symbols according to Table 7 may be as follows: H symbol: if a symbol is configured as hard, any part of it in the frequency domain that is configured available is treated as a H resource and any part of it that is configured not available is treated as a NA resource; S symbol: if a symbol is configured as soft, any part of it in the frequency domain that is configured available is treated as a S resource and any part of it that is configured not available is treated as a NA resource—a soft resource may be subject to an availability indication—moreover, any soft resource may be indicated available in the frequency domain; and NA symbol: if a symbol is configured as not available, all frequency-domain resources will be treated as a NA resource—as an example behavior rule, further configuration of availability in the frequency domain may not change the symbol from NA. 
     In some embodiments, a configuration of frequency-domain availability may be treated as a “mask” on top of a time-domain resource configuration. 
       FIG.  11    is a diagram  1100  illustrating one embodiment of a configuration of frequency-domain availability in a slot  1102 . The slot includes hard symbols  1104 , soft symbols  1106 , and NA symbols  1108 . A frequency-domain availability  1110  illustrates specific frequencies that include hard resources  1112  and soft resources  1114 . 
     In various embodiments, if resources are configured as soft, they may be indicated as available by lower layers for a node to be able to allocate the resources for scheduling (e.g., dynamic indication of availability for soft resources). 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 8 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Method for DU 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 Receive semi-static resource configurations C, each including: 
               
               
                 a time period (T) and 
               
               
                 a resource set (R) in time and/or frequency, wherein each resource in the resource 
               
               
                 set is configured as D, U, or F, and also configured as H or S. 
               
               
                 Receive information about MP, minimum guard time (“Tmin”), and/or Fmin of CNs. 
               
               
                 Receive an indication of which flexible resources are downlink or uplink. 
               
               
                 Receive a T-AI1 and/or F-AI1 from a PN. 
               
               
                 Transmit a second T-AI2 and/or F-AI2 to CNs. 
               
               
                 Use resources in the resource sets for scheduling downlink and/or uplink channels for 
               
               
                 communications with CNs and/or UEs such that: 
               
               
                 Downlink resources and downlink-indicated flexible resources are used for 
               
               
                 scheduling downlink channels, 
               
               
                 Uplink resources and uplink-indicated flexible resources are used for scheduling 
               
               
                 uplink channels, 
               
               
                 Soft resources are used only if indicated available by T-AI1 and/or F-AI1 based on 
               
               
                 a table specifying joint time-frequency availability, and 
               
               
                 Resources multiplexed with the resources indicated available by T-AI2 and/or F- 
               
               
                 AI2 satisfy constraints based on information of multi-panel capability, minimum 
               
               
                 guard time, and/or minimum guard band of the CNs. 
               
               
                 Transmit downlink signals on downlink channels and/or receive uplink signals on uplink 
               
               
                 channels. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
       FIG.  12    is a flow chart diagram  1200  illustrating another embodiment of a hard and/or soft configuration. The flow chart diagram  1200  illustrates a method for DU including: receiving  1202  semi-static resource configurations C, each including: a time period (T) and a resource set (R) in time and/or frequency, wherein each resource in the resource set is configured as D, U, or F, and also configured as H or S; receiving  1204  information about MP, Tmin, and/or Fmin of CNs; receiving  1206  an indication of which flexible resources are downlink or uplink; receiving  1208  a T-AI1 and/or F-AI1 from a PN; transmitting  1210  a second T-AI2 and/or F-AI2 to CNs; using  1212  resources in the resource sets for scheduling downlink and/or uplink channels for communications with CNs and/or UEs such that: downlink resources and downlink-indicated flexible resources are used for scheduling downlink channels, uplink resources and uplink-indicated flexible resources are used for scheduling uplink channels, soft resources are used only if indicated available by T-AI1 and/or F-AI1 based on a table specifying joint time-frequency availability, and resources multiplexed with the resources indicated available by T-AI2 and/or F-AI2 satisfy constraints based on information of multi-panel capability, minimum guard time, and/or minimum guard band of the CNs; and transmitting  1214  downlink signals on downlink channels and/or receive uplink signals on uplink channels. 
     In various embodiments, an IAB donor CU sends frequency-domain resource configurations to JAB node DUs to enable non-TDM modes of operation. In some embodiments, lower layer signaling may be used for indicating availability of resources on soft symbols that are configured. Certain advantage of such embodiments may be that it only affects lower layer specifications while the upper layers are compatible with prior versions. As a result, it may be easier to manage resources in a system of heterogeneous JAB nodes where some nodes have different compatibilities. In such embodiments, frequency-domain resource management may be local. 
     In some embodiments, resource configurations may be at a time domain (e.g., at a symbol-level granularity), but control signaling at a physical layer (e.g., L1) may be used to provide an indication of resources at a frequency domain. This may be called frequency-domain availability indication (“F-AI”) and may be communicated by a new DCI format (e.g., DCI format 2_6) and/or a control message on a control channel (e.g., PDCCH). An availability indication (“AI”) may also be called time-domain availability indication (“T-AI”). 
     In certain embodiments, F-AI may be a bitmap where each bit represents availability in one PRB. However, this may use a large overhead, so a smaller granularity may be used. For example, a higher layer configuration may determine a number or group of PRBs as the granularity, such as a resource block group (“RBG”), and then a bitmap in the F-AI may indicate availability of each RBG. 
     In various embodiments, if the granularity at a frequency domain is a RBG, it may be noted that a RBG is configured by RRC signaling for each node. In some embodiments, for proper operation, an JAB node N may inform its PN of its RBG size. In certain embodiments, a PN may send its RBG size to N. In one example, the granularity at a frequency domain may be in terms of a different number of PRBs than a RBG size used for scheduling. The frequency domain granularity may be configured and/or determined based on the carrier bandwidth and/or operating frequency band. 
     In some embodiments, a start PRB and/or RBG and a number of PRBs and/or RBGs may be determined for contiguous F-AI. In such embodiments, a F-AI message (e.g., DCI format 2_6) may contain at least log 2 ┌M(M+1)/2┐, where M is the number of PRBs and/or RBGs in an active BWP. 
     In certain embodiments, two different formats for granularity may be defined. In such embodiments, two DCI formats may be used or a field in DCI determines which format is used. 
     In various embodiments, in addition to DCI signaling, MAC signaling may facilitate reducing signaling overhead by activating and/or deactivating available frequency resources on top of an RRC resource configuration. In such embodiments, a MAC CE message may activate and/or deactivate different frequency resources in a semi-persistent manner. The activation and/or deactivation may be for all CNs, a group of CNs, or one CN. Moreover, an F-AI DCI may indicate which activated frequency resources are available for each instance. 
     In some embodiments, MAC signaling may activate and/or deactivate PRBs and/or RBGs using a bitmap field. In such embodiments, an F-AI bitmap field indicates whether each of the contiguous partitions activated by the MAC signaling are available. One example is illustrated in  FIG.  13   . Specifically,  FIG.  13    is a block diagram  1300  illustrating one embodiment of F-AI. The block diagram  1300  illustrates RRC signaling  1302 , a MAC message  1304 , and DCI  1306 . The RRC signaling  1302  configures a symbol as soft and a number of PRBs  1308  per RBG is configured as 2. Then, the MAC message  1304  activates 3 contiguous partitions of RBGs (e.g., inactive partitions  1310 —with a value  1314  of “0”, activated partitions  1312 —activated with a value  1316  of “1”). Finally, the DCI message  1306  indicates 2 of the partitions are available (e.g., unavailable partitions  1310 —having a value  1314  of “0”, available partitions  1312 —having a value  1316  of “1”). Since there are 3 contiguous partitions activated by the MAC message  1304  (e.g., activation bitmap=“01101001”), the F-AI bitmap field contains 3 bits (e.g., “101”). 
     In certain embodiments, a MAC message includes more than one bitmap field, each field activating a number of PRBs and/or RBGs. Then, an F-AI bitmap field indicates whether the contiguous or non-contiguous partition activated by each of the bitmap fields in the MAC message is available. An example is illustrated in  FIG.  14   . Specifically,  FIG.  14    is a diagram  1400  illustrating another embodiment of activation and indication of F-AI. The block diagram  1400  illustrates RRC signaling  1402 , a first MAC message  1404 , a second MAC message  1406 , and DCI  1408 . The RRC signaling  1402  configures a symbol as soft and a number of PRBs  1410  per RBG is configured as 2. Then, a first and second MAC messages  1404  and  1406  activate 2 partitions of RBGs, each with a separate bitmap fields (e.g., inactive partitions  1412 —with a value  1416  of “0”, activated partitions  1414 —activated with a value  1418  of “1”). Finally, the DCI message  1408  indicates 1 of the partitions is available (e.g., unavailable partitions  1412 —having a value  1416  of “0”, available partitions  1414 —having a value  1418  of “1”). Since there are 2 partitions activated by the MAC messages (e.g., activation bitmaps=“01000001” and “00101000”), the F-AI bitmap field contains 2 bits (e.g., “10”). This embodiment provides more flexibility at the cost of a larger MAC overhead. 
     In various embodiments, a resource granularity of F-AI may be set to S-DL, S-UL, and/or S-F per slot. In such embodiments, one F-AI field, either a bitmap or a field in another format, applies to all of the frequency-domain resources on each one of: 1) all soft downlink symbols in a slot; 2) all soft uplink symbols in a slot; and/or 3) all soft flexible symbols in a slot. 
     In certain embodiments, since F-AI adds overhead, the following may be used to reduce overhead: 1) not all soft symbols may be indicated available in the frequency domain—or this reason, slots that may or may not be indicated available at the frequency domain may be distinguished by configuration—if a slot is not configured for F-AI, it may be treated similarly to a slot in other configurations; 2) not all slots have all types of D, U, and/or F symbols—therefore, if a slot does not have symbols of a certain type, F-AI for that type may be omitted—for example, suppose the standard specifications determine that F-AI in a DCI is to be indicated in this order: downlink, uplink, flexible—then, if a slot does not have any uplink symbols, F-AI will have two fields for downlink and flexible symbols, respectively; and/or 3) a new DCI format may be defined to have either or both T-AI and F-AI. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 9 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Method for DU 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 Receive semi-static resource configurations C, each including: 
               
               
                 a time period (T) and 
               
               
                 a resource set (R) in the time domain, wherein each resource in the resource set is 
               
               
                 configured as D, U, or F, and also configured as H or S. 
               
               
                 Receive information indicating MP, Tmin, and/or Fmin of CNs. 
               
               
                 Receive an indication of which flexible resources are downlink or uplink. 
               
               
                 Receive a T-AI1 from a PN. 
               
               
                 Receive a F-AI1 from a PN. 
               
               
                 Transmit a second T-AI2 to CNs. 
               
               
                 Transmit a second F-AI2 to CNs. 
               
               
                 Use resources in the resource sets for scheduling downlink and/or uplink channels for 
               
               
                 communications with CNs and/or UEs such that: 
               
               
                 Downlink resources and downlink-indicated flexible resources are used for 
               
               
                 scheduling downlink channels, 
               
               
                 Uplink resources and uplink-indicated flexible resources are used for scheduling 
               
               
                 uplink channels, 
               
               
                 Soft resources are used only if indicated available by T-AI1 and F-AI1 based on 
               
               
                 rules specifying joint time-frequency availability, and 
               
               
                 Resources multiplexed with the resources indicated available by T-AI2 and/or F- 
               
               
                 AI2 satisfy constraints based on information indicating multi-panel capability, 
               
               
                 minimum guard time, and/or minimum guard band of the CNs. 
               
               
                 Transmit downlink signals on downlink channels and/or receive uplink signals on uplink 
               
               
                 channels. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
       FIG.  15    is a flow chart diagram  1500  illustrating one embodiment of a compatible dynamic indication. The flow chart diagram  1500  may be for a method for DU including: receiving  1502  semi-static resource configurations C, each including: a time period (T) and a resource set (R) in the time domain, wherein each resource in the resource set is configured as D, U, or F, and also configured as H or S; receiving  1504  information indicating MP, Tmin, and/or Fmin of CNs; receiving  1506  an indication of which flexible resources are downlink or uplink; receiving  1508  a T-AI1 from a PN and/or a F-AI1 from a PN; transmitting  1510  a second T-AI2 to CNs and/or a second F-AI2 to CNs; using  1512  resources in the resource sets for scheduling downlink and/or uplink channels for communications with CNs and/or UEs such that: downlink resources and downlink-indicated flexible resources are used for scheduling downlink channels, uplink resources and uplink-indicated flexible resources are used for scheduling uplink channels, soft resources are used only if indicated available by T-AI1 and F-AI1 based on rules specifying joint time-frequency availability, and resources multiplexed with the resources indicated available by T-AI2 and/or F-AI2 satisfy constraints based on information indicating multi-panel capability, minimum guard time, and/or minimum guard band of the CNs; and transmitting  1514  downlink signals on downlink channels and/or receive uplink signals on uplink channels. 
     In some embodiments, FDM and/or SDM enhancements between upstream and downstream may be enabled by bandwidth part (“BWP”) signaling. In such embodiments, a CU configures and/or activates different BWPs for different nodes such that transmission and reception in the configured and/or activated BWPs satisfy multiplexing constraints of nodes. In such embodiments: 1) TDM constraints may include Tmin; and/or 2) FDM and/or SDM constraints may include Fmin and/or multi-panel and/or duplexing constraints. 
     In various embodiments, to configure and/or activate BWPs, a CU may obtain certain information (e.g., described above) by signaling, configurations, and/or preconfigurations. The configuration and/or preconfiguration information may be received from the nodes, received from the network, stored on a static memory such as a read-only memory (“ROM”), preconfigured by an operator, and so forth. In such embodiments, the information may be provided according to standard specifications and/or methods agreed between vendors and/or operators. As may be appreciated, the information may be received using any described method herein in any embodiments described herein. 
     In certain embodiments, if configurations and/or activations are static, resources may be wasted due to dynamic traffic and/or dynamic topology. As may be appreciated, cellular data traffic may be dynamic and in bursts and, since aggregated traffic shows self-similar and heavy-tail properties, the aggregated traffic at each IAB node may be expected to be dynamic and in bursts at different time scales. At smaller time scales, a new file transfer may be an example of an event triggering a significant change in load. At larger time scales, a rush-hour urban traffic may introduce changes in the load compared to other times of a day. 
     In some embodiments, an IAB system topology may be subject to change, even if the IAB nodes are static. One reason for a topology change may be a temporary failure of an IAB node. Another reason for a topology change may be a deliberate topological change by a network and/or CU to accommodate new traffic conditions. 
     In various embodiments, each node may need different amounts of resources at different times, which may be controlled by changing a BWP. In certain embodiments, up to four BWPs may be configured for each direction of downlink and uplink, and switching between bandwidth parts may be possible by RRC reconfiguration, MAC CE signaling, or DCI. 
     In some embodiments, an issue with BWP switching in IAB systems may be that a balance among frequency resources provided for different JAB nodes need to be maintained by an entity that performs the BWP switching, which may be an IAB donor CU if using RRC configuration or a parent IAB-DU if using MAC CE or DCI signaling. 
     In various embodiments, a CU may be able to collect proper information and signal to BWP switching for multiple JAB nodes. In such embodiments, latency to perform this operation may be too large. Moreover, in such embodiments, for faster reaction to changes in traffic, lower-layer signaling may be used and JAB nodes may be enabled to control BWP switching. 
     In certain embodiments, N may want to switch BWPs for communication with a child IAB-MT. However, in such embodiments, multiplexing constraints in a multi-hop system may add up and limit choices for JAB nodes further in a downstream direction. 
       FIG.  16    is a diagram  1600  illustrating one embodiment of a resource allocation in an JAB system. The diagram  1600  includes a first example  1602 , a second example  1604 , a third example  1606 , and a fourth example  1608 . Each of the first example  1602 , the second example  1604 , the third example  1606 , and the fourth example  1608  include a first node N1  1610 , a second node N2  1612 , a third node N3  1614 , and a fourth node N4  1616 . 
     In  FIG.  16   , N1 is a parent node of N2 and N3, and N4 is a child node of N2. It is assumed for simplicity that each node shares the same resources between DL BWP and UL BWP, hence the resulting  FIG.  16    can be shown as undirected. Even if a node is multi-panel, the panels may be constrained to use non-overlapping resources. 
     Therefore, in the first example  1602 , if a resource is used for link L12  1618 , it cannot be used for link L13  1620  and vice versa. Similarly, if a resource is used for link L12  1618 , it cannot be used for link L24  1622  and vice versa. Furthermore, there is cross-link interference between N3 and each of N2 and N4. Therefore, each resource in the time-frequency grid can only be used by one of the links L12, L13, and L24 as shown in the second example  1604 , the third example  1606 , and the fourth example  1608  by a used link  1624 , respectively. 
     In  FIG.  16   , N2 may control BWP activation for L24 in a way that the active BWP for L24 does not overlap with the active BWP for L12. However, N2 does not have information of, or control over, the active BWP on L13. Therefore, there is a possibility of an excessive CLI from N3 on N2 and/or N4 or vice versa. 
     In certain embodiments, since JAB nodes are not aware of all the BWP configurations, the multi-hop JAB topology, CLI, and so forth, the IAB nodes may not be able to satisfy different constraints if switching BWPs. In some embodiments, an IAB donor CU may be enabled to send, along BWP configurations, additional information for switching BWPs. By obtaining this information, for example, an IAB node may be able to react to signaling for BWP switching from a parent IAB-DU by signaling for BWP switching to a child IAB-MT. In various embodiments, an JAB node may be able to select a BWP ID for a child IAB-MT upon receiving a BWP combination ID from a parent IAB-DU. 
     In some embodiments, each JAB node receives a subset of BWP IDs that it may indicate for downstream communication with a child IAB-MT, wherein the subset is associated with a BWP ID in the upstream direction with a parent IAB-DU. Then, if a BWP1 is active in the upstream, the JAB node may activate a BWP2 for downstream only if BWP2 is in the subset of the BWP IDs associated with BWP1. 
       FIG.  17    is a block diagram  1700  illustrating one embodiment of BWP configurations. The diagram  1700  includes a link diagram  1702  which includes a first node N1  1704 , a second node N2  1706 , a third node N3  1708 , and a fourth node N4  1710 . In  FIG.  17   , N1 is a parent node of N2 and N3, and N4 is a child node of N2. Moreover, the link diagram  1702  includes link L12  1712 , link L13  1714 , and link L24  1716 . Furthermore, the block diagram  1700  illustrates BWPs  1718  for L13, BWPs  1720  for L24, and BWPs  1722  for L12 over available bandwidth  1724 . BWPs  1718 ,  1720 , and  1722  include BWPs “0”  1726 , “1”  1728 , “2”  1730 , and “3”  1732 . 
     In  FIG.  17   , at most 4 BWPs are configured per child node of a parent node (e.g., per link). It may be assumed that uplink BWPs and downlink BWPs occupy the same frequency resources. However, the method is applicable to asymmetric BWP configurations in downlink and uplink as well. 
     It can be seen in  FIG.  17    that some BWP combinations work (e.g., (0, 0, 0), (1, 2, 1), and (2, 3, 2)), where the values in each tuple represent BWP IDs for L13, L24, and L12, respectively. However, other BWP combinations may not work (e.g., (1, 2, 3) results in an overlap between BWPs of L13 and L12). 
     In certain embodiments, JAB nodes may receive the information for BWP activation shown in Table 10. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                   
                 TABLE 10 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Configuration for N2 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 BWP ID for L12 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
               
               
                 List of possible BWP IDs for L24 
                 0 
                 0, 1 
                 0, 1, 2 
                 0, 1, 2 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     It should be noted that the information in Table 10 may be received by configurations from the CU, which may be included in BWP configuration messages or received in separate configuration messages. 
     In some embodiments, by proper configuration from the IAB donor CU, a balance may be maintained between frequency resources available for different IAB nodes. 
     In various embodiments, configurations from an IAB donor CU may be expected to satisfy constraints introduced by capability information such as minimum guard band, multi-panel and/or duplexing capabilities, CSI and CLI information, and so forth. The capability information may be obtained by signaling or other means. 
     In certain embodiments, a large number of combinations are possible because of the simple topology and proper configurations.  FIG.  18    illustrates another example, which has similar BWP configurations for different links, but for an IAB system with a different topology. 
       FIG.  18    is a diagram  1800  illustrating another embodiment of BWP configurations. The diagram  1800  includes a link diagram  1802  which includes a first node N1  1804 , a second node N2  1806 , a third node N3  1808 , and a fourth node N4  1810 . In  FIG.  18   , N1 is a parent node of N2 and N3, and N4 is a child node of N2. Moreover, the link diagram  1802  includes link L12  1812 , link L23  1814 , and link L34  1816 . Furthermore, the block diagram  1800  illustrates BWPs  1818  for L12, BWPs  1820  for L23, and BWPs  1822  for L34 over available bandwidth  1824 . BWPs  1818 ,  1820 , and  1822  include BWPs “0”  1826 , “1”  1828 , “2”  1830 , and “3”  1832 . 
     In this example, IAB nodes receive the information indicated in Table 11 and Table 12 for BWP activation. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                   
                 TABLE 11 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Configuration for N2 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 BWP ID for L12 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
               
               
                   
                 List of possible BWP IDs for L23 
                 0 
                 0, 1 
                 0, 1, 2 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                   
                 TABLE 12 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Configuration for N3 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 BWP ID for L23 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
               
               
                   
                 List of possible BWP IDs for L34 
                 0 
                 1, 2 
                 3 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In some embodiments, several useful combinations may not be possible, which may result in wasting bandwidth or reducing flexibility. For example, the BWP ID combination (0, 1, 1) may not be possible by the above configuration, and if the CU intended to allow this combination, then the combination (1, 1, 2) would not be possible. 
     Therefore, in various embodiments, combinations of different BWPs are determined and numbered by BWP combination IDs. This may be performed by the CU and the information may be sent to JAB nodes. Then, for BWP activation, a BWP combination ID may be sent in addition to, or instead of, a BWP ID. In certain embodiments, JAB nodes may activate BWPs efficiently without a need for each JAB node to obtain knowledge of the topology, node capabilities, CLI, and so forth, which may only be collectively available at the CU. 
     According to various embodiments, JAB nodes may receive the information found is in Table 13. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 13 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 BWP 
                 BWP ID for L12 
                 BWP ID for L23 
                 BWP ID for L34 
               
               
                 combination 
                 (received by 
                 (received by 
                 (received by 
               
               
                 ID 
                 N1 and N2) 
                 N2 and N3) 
                 N3 and N4) 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 0 
                 0 
                 0 
                 0 
               
               
                 1 
                 0 
                 1 
                 1 
               
               
                 2 
                 1 
                 0 
                 0 
               
               
                 3 
                 1 
                 1 
                 1 
               
               
                 4 
                 1 
                 1 
                 2 
               
               
                 5 
                 2 
                 1 
                 1 
               
               
                 6 
                 2 
                 1 
                 2 
               
               
                 7 
                 2 
                 2 
                 3 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In Table 13, a BWP combination such as BWP combination ID  0  may be considered default, which then may be used to determine the default BWP ID for each of the nodes and/or links. 
     It should be noted that not all combinations need to be assigned a combination ID. For example, the combination (2, 0, 1) is not assigned a combination ID, because it may result in wasting a large bandwidth. The CU can therefore maintain a balance between resource utilization, node capabilities, CLI, and so forth, by defining proper BWPs and BWP combinations and without a need to continuously manage BWP activation in a fully centralized manner. The number of combination IDs may determine a bit-width for a DCI or a MAC control element (“CE”) message that carries a BWP combination ID. 
     For the sake of simplicity, links may be assumed symmetric between uplink and downlink and BWP IDs may be associated with links. In certain embodiments, a DL BWP and an UL BWP of a link between two nodes may not occupy the same resources and BWP IDs may be equivalently associated with a child JAB node or, more specifically, a child-MT. 
     In some BWP-based methods, an JAB node may select a BWP from a number of BWPs configured by an CU and indicated or down-selected by the CU or a parent node. However, if the JAB node has multiple options for selecting a BWP, it may consider other criteria for bandwidth part selection. For example, if the IAB-node may attempt to avoid selecting a downstream BWP that overlaps in resources with an active upstream BWP. If the attempt is not successful, and an overlap cannot be avoided, the JAB node may transmit an error message to a parent node and/or to the CU informing them of the overlap. Then, in response, the parent node may activate a different BWP for the JAB node, or the CU may change BWP configurations that avoid the overlap. 
     In various embodiments, JAB nodes may need to support a larger number of BWPs than four. The maximum number of BWPs may be a node capability that may be reported for each of downlink and uplink directions. Consequently, either the number of bits in the DCI field for BWP switching may be made flexible or a maximum of four of the active BWPs may be down-selected by signaling (e.g., a MAC CE signaling, and then a DCI field selects one of the down-selected BWPs). 
     In certain embodiments, provisions may be made to accommodate error cases if there is BWP switching by DCI. Since DCI may fail to be received by an JAB node, a default BWP is indicated to be used if no communications are received from a parent JAB node for a certain period. However, the default BWP for an IAB-MT may need to change to avoid a conflict with an active BWP with a parent IAB-DU. For this purpose, each BWP may be associated with a subset of BWP IDs in the downstream as the default BWP. Then, if BWP switching occurs by a parent IAB-DU to a new BWP1 and if the current default BWP for a child IAB-MT is not in the subset of BWP IDs associated with BWP1, the IAB node may signal to the child IAB-MT to change its default BWP to a new BWP2 that is in the subset. 
     In some embodiments, an IAB-node may select a BWP for IAB-DU based on the BWP used for IAB-MT. The BWP may be selected based on minimal overlap with IAB-MT BWP and/or configured based on a look-up table by the PN and/or determined based on a pre-defined rule or pattern (e.g., based on IAB-MT BWP ID and/or IAB-node ID). 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 14 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Method for CU 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 Receive or configure information a topology, route, CSI, traffic intensity, CLI, MP, and/or Fmin. 
               
               
                 Receive information indicating bandwidth part capability of IAB nodes. 
               
               
                 Send configurations C, each including: 
               
               
                 a bandwidth part identifier (ID), 
               
               
                 information of a bandwidth part (B), and 
               
               
                 a subset of bandwidth part IDs (I) associated with B, 
               
               
                 such that: 
               
               
                 a location of a bandwidth parts in the frequency domain is determined based on at 
               
               
                 least one information of channel state, traffic intensity, and/or cross-link interference; 
               
               
                 guard bands between bandwidth parts are determined based on information about 
               
               
                 topology (e.gl, what node is what other node&#39;s parent node), multi-panel capability, 
               
               
                 and/or minimum guard band; and 
               
               
                 a number of bandwidth configurations for an IAB node constrained by the 
               
               
                 bandwidth part capability of the IAB node. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 15 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Method for DU 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 Send information indicating bandwidth part capability of the IAB node. 
               
               
                 Receive configurations C, each including: 
               
               
                 a bandwidth part identifier (ID), 
               
               
                 information of a bandwidth part (B), and 
               
               
                 a subset of bandwidth part IDs (I) associated with B. 
               
               
                 Receive a first message indicating a first bandwidth part B1 by indicating an associated 
               
               
                 bandwidth part identifier ID1. 
               
               
                 Transmit a second message including a second bandwidth part B2 by indicating an 
               
               
                 associated bandwidth part identifier ID2, wherein ID2 is in the subset of BWP IDs I1 
               
               
                 associated with B1. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
       FIG.  19    is a flow chart diagram  1900  illustrating one embodiment of methods based on bandwidth parts. The flow chart diagram  1900  includes a method for a CU including: receiving  1902  or configuring information a topology, route, CSI, traffic intensity, CLI, MP, and/or Fmin; receiving  1904  information indicating bandwidth part capability of IAB nodes; and sending  1906  configurations C, each including: a bandwidth part identifier (ID), information of a bandwidth part (B), and a subset of bandwidth part IDs (I) associated with B, such that: a location of a bandwidth parts in the frequency domain is determined based on at least one information of channel state, traffic intensity, and/or cross-link interference; guard bands between bandwidth parts are determined based on information about topology (e.gl, what node is what other node&#39;s parent node), multi-panel capability, and/or minimum guard band; and a number of bandwidth configurations for an JAB node constrained by the bandwidth part capability of the JAB node. 
     The flow chart diagram  1900  includes a method for a DU including: sending  1908  information indicating bandwidth part capability of the JAB node; receiving  1910  configurations C, each including: a bandwidth part identifier (ID), information of a bandwidth part (B), and a subset of bandwidth part IDs (I) associated with B; receiving  1912  a first message indicating a first bandwidth part B1 by indicating an associated bandwidth part identifier ID1; and transmitting  1914  a second message including a second bandwidth part B2 by indicating an associated bandwidth part identifier ID2, wherein ID2 is in the subset of BWP IDs I1 associated with B1. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 16 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Method for CU 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 Receive or configure information for topology, route, CSI, traffic intensity, CLI, MP, and/or Fmin. 
               
               
                 Receive information indicating bandwidth part capability of IAB nodes. 
               
               
                 Send configurations C, each including: 
               
               
                 a bandwidth part identifier (“ID”) and 
               
               
                 information of a bandwidth part (B) 
               
               
                 such that: 
               
               
                 a location of a bandwidth part in the frequency domain is determined based on 
               
               
                 information of channel state, traffic intensity, and/or cross-link interference; 
               
               
                 guard bands between bandwidth parts are determined based on information of 
               
               
                 topology (e.g., what node is what other node&#39;s parent node), multi-panel capability, 
               
               
                 and/or minimum guard band; and 
               
               
                 a number of bandwidth configurations for an IAB node is constrained by the 
               
               
                 bandwidth part capability of the IAB node. 
               
               
                 Send configurations D, each including: 
               
               
                 a bandwidth part combination identifier (J) and 
               
               
                 a list of bandwidth part IDs (I) 
               
               
                 such that: 
               
               
                 bandwidth parts associated with the list of bandwidth part IDs satisfy constraints 
               
               
                 based on cross-link interference, topology (e.g., what node is what other node&#39;s 
               
               
                 parent node), multi-panel capability, and/or minimum guard band. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 17 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Method for IAB node 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 Send information of bandwidth part capability of the IAB node. 
               
               
                 Receive configurations C, each including: 
               
               
                 a bandwidth part identifier (ID) and 
               
               
                 information of a bandwidth part (B). 
               
               
                 Receive configurations D, each including: 
               
               
                 a bandwidth part combination identifier (J) and 
               
               
                 a list of bandwidth part IDs (I). 
               
               
                 Receive a first message including a first bandwidth part B1 by indicating an associated 
               
               
                 bandwidth part identifier ID1. 
               
               
                 Receive a bandwidth part combination identifier J1. 
               
               
                 Transmit a second message including a second bandwidth part B2 by indicating an 
               
               
                 associated identifier ID2, wherein ID2 is in the list of bandwidth part identifiers included 
               
               
                 by the bandwidth part configuration with the bandwidth part combination identifier J1. 
               
               
                 Transmit the bandwidth part combination identifier J1. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
       FIG.  20    is a flow chart diagram  2000  illustrating another embodiment of methods based on bandwidth parts. The flow chart diagram  2000  includes a method for a CU including: receiving  2002  or configuring information for topology, route, CSI, traffic intensity, CLI, MP, and/or Fmin; receiving  2004  information indicating bandwidth part capability of JAB nodes; sending  2006  configurations C, each including: a bandwidth part identifier (“ID”) and information of a bandwidth part (B) such that: a location of a bandwidth part in the frequency domain is determined based on information of channel state, traffic intensity, and/or cross-link interference; guard bands between bandwidth parts are determined based on information of topology (e.g., what node is what other node&#39;s parent node), multi-panel capability, and/or minimum guard band; and a number of bandwidth configurations for an JAB node is constrained by the bandwidth part capability of the JAB node; and sending  2008  configurations D, each including: a bandwidth part combination identifier (J) and a list of bandwidth part IDs (I) such that: bandwidth parts associated with the list of bandwidth part IDs satisfy constraints based on cross-link interference, topology (e.g., what node is what other node&#39;s parent node), multi-panel capability, and/or minimum guard band. 
     The flow chart diagram  2000  also includes a method for an JAB node including: sending  2010  information of bandwidth part capability of the JAB node; receiving  2012  configurations C, each including: a bandwidth part identifier (ID) and information of a bandwidth part (B); receiving  2014  configurations D, each including: a bandwidth part combination identifier (J) and a list of bandwidth part IDs (I); receiving  2016  a first message including a first bandwidth part B1 by indicating an associated bandwidth part identifier ID1; receiving  2018  a bandwidth part combination identifier J1; transmitting  2020  a second message including a second bandwidth part B2 by indicating an associated identifier ID2, wherein ID2 is in the list of bandwidth part identifiers included by the bandwidth part configuration with the bandwidth part combination identifier J1; and transmitting  2022  the bandwidth part combination identifier J1. 
     In some embodiments, although explicit indication is simple, it may impose signaling overhead. Therefore, implicit methods may be adopted instead of, or in addition to, explicit methods for indicating frequency-domain availability. 
     In certain embodiments, an example of implicit indication is that, except if an IAB node has full-duplex antennas, it may avoid transmitting or receiving signals simultaneously on the same resources on a same antenna and/or panel. In such embodiments: 1) single-panel node: the node must avoid transmitting or receiving signals on the same resource simultaneously; and 2) multi-panel node—the node must only allow transmitting or receiving signals on the same resources if the simultaneous operations are to be performed by different antenna panels and the cross-panel interference is not an issue. 
     In various embodiments, if a PN of an IAB node N schedules a communication on resources that are otherwise available to N, the PN may need to mark scheduled resources as NA and refrain from scheduling communications with its own CNs or UEs on the NA resources. 
     In some embodiments, there may be an issue with timing of scheduling. In a “typical” case where a PN schedules a channel for a communication with N in a slot by transmitting a DCI format 1_0 and/or 1_1 in the PDCCH of the same slot. In such embodiments, N does not have sufficient time to receive and decode the DCI; realize that some otherwise available resources are occupied for a communication with PN; and then, avoid scheduling its own communications on those resources. Therefore, PN may transmit the scheduling DCI sufficiently in advance to inform N in a timely manner. 
     In certain embodiments, a minimum time for PN to transmit scheduling DCI in advance is a minimum time for N to receive and decode the DCI and produce its own scheduling DCI. This may be set to a constant by a standard, configuration, or otherwise set to an IAB node capability. This capability may be similar to timeDurationForQCL. However, since timeDurationForQCL may include a time for applying spatial parameters according to an indicated QCL, a new parameter shown in Table 18 may be used. This parameter may be specified by a standard or may be reported by an IAB node as a capability. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 18 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Parameter 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 timeDurationForAI 
                 Defines the minimum time duration required 
               
               
                   
                 by the IAB node to perform PDCCH 
               
               
                   
                 reception and produce a DCI for availability 
               
               
                   
                 indication (AI/T-AI/F-AI). If the parameter is 
               
               
                   
                 expressed in units of OFDM symbols, the IAB 
               
               
                   
                 node may indicate one value of minimum 
               
               
                   
                 number of OFDM symbols for each value 
               
               
                   
                 of subcarrier spacing. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In some embodiments, there may be FDM for a PDSCH transmission from a PN to a N and a PDSCH transmission from the N to a CN and/or a UE. Since N needs sufficient time to receive and decode DCI from the PN and, then, proceed to transmit DCI to the CN and/or the UE, a higher layer parameter k0 for N may be set to a value that is not smaller than a minimum threshold, which is equal to timeDurationForAI for N plus a minimum time duration that is required for N to transmit a DCI of its own in advance. 
     That is: k0_min(PN):=T_min(N)+k0_min(N). 
     In this equation, k0_min(PN) is the minimum value of k0 for a PDSCH from PN, T_min(N) is timeDurationForAI for N, and k0_min(N) is the minimum value of k0 for a PDSCH from N. 
     In one example there is a 2-hop system PN-N-UE. In this example, PN schedules a PDSCH transmission for N and N schedules a PDSCH transmission for UE. Since N can schedule a PDSCH transmission for UE with k0=0, a setting of k0_min(N):=0 may be made. Then, k0_min(PN) only depends on the minimum decoding time for N, which can be set to a constant T_min(N):=T_min. 
     In another example there is a 3-hop system PN-N-CN-UE. In this example, {PN, N, CN} may schedule PDSCH transmissions for {N, CN, UE}, respectively. Then, the minimum value for k0 takes the following recursive forms: k0_min(PN):=T_min(N)+k0_min(N) and k0_min(N):=T_min(CN)+k0_min(CN). 
     Since CN may schedule a PDSCH transmission for a UE with k0=0, a setting of k0_min(CN):=0 may be made. Therefore: k0_min(N):=T_min(CN), and k0_min(PN):=T_min(N)+T_min(CN) 
     Assuming, for simplicity, that T_min(N):=T_min(CN):=T_min, the following may be obtained: k0_min(CN):=0, k0_min(N):=T_min, and k0_min(PN):=2×T_min. 
     Such a recursive rule may be extended to a larger number of hops. For example, in an m-hop IAB system Nm- . . . -N1-N0-UE, assuming that all values of minimum DCI decoding time are identical, there is the following: k0_min(N0):=0, k0_min(N1):=T_min, k0_min(Nm):=m×T_min. 
     A similar method may be applied to uplink communications or a combination of downlink and uplink communications where values of k2 may need to be further considered. The above calculations can be extended to the following. 
     PN transmits a PDSCH transmission to N; N receives a PUSCH transmission from CN: k0_min(PN):=T_min(N)+k2_min(N), and k2_min(N):=T_min(CN)+k0_min(CN). 
     PN transmits a PDSCH transmission to N; N transmits a PDSCH transmission to CN: k0_min(PN):=T_min(N)+k0_min(N), and k0_min(N):=T_min(CN)+k0_min(CN). 
     PN receives a PUSCH transmission from N; N transmits a PDSCH to CN: k2_min(PN):=T_min(N)+k0_min(N), and k0_min(N):=T_min(CN)+k2_min(CN). 
     PN receives a PUSCH transmission from N; N receives a PUSCH from CN: k2_min(PN):=T_min(N)+k2_min(N), and k2_min(N):=T_min(CN)+k2_min(CN). 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 19 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Method for CU 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 Receive or configure information including topology, MP, and/or timeDurationForAI 
               
               
                 (T_min) from a set of IAB nodes {N}. 
               
               
                 Send configurations C to {N}, each configuration including: 
               
               
                 values of k0 and k2, 
               
               
                 such that: 
               
               
                 information of which node is a PN or a CN of a node N in {N} is obtained from the 
               
               
                 information of topology, and 
               
               
                 values of k0 and k2 for {PN, N, CN} for each node N in {N} follow the specified 
               
               
                 equations with values of T_min. 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
       FIG.  21    is a flow chart  2100  diagram illustrating one embodiment of an implicit method  2100  for a CU including: receiving  2102  or configuring information including topology, MP, and/or timeDurationForAI (T_min) from a set of IAB nodes {N}; and sending  2104  configurations C to {N}, each configuration including: values of k0 and k2, such that: information of which node is a PN or a CN of a node N in {N} is obtained from the information of topology, and values of k0 and k2 for {PN, N, CN} for each node N in {N} follow the specified equations with values of T_min. 
     In some embodiments, the terms antenna, panel, and antenna panel are used interchangeably. An antenna panel may be hardware that is used for transmitting and/or receiving radio signals at frequencies lower than 6 GHz (e.g., frequency range 1 (“FR1”)0, or higher than 6 GHz (e.g., frequency range 2 (“FR2”) or millimeter wave (“mmWave”)). In certain embodiments, an antenna panel may include an array of antenna elements. Each antenna element may be connected to hardware, such as a phase shifter, that enables a control module to apply spatial parameters for transmission and/or reception of signals. The resulting radiation pattern may be called a beam, which may or may not be unimodal and may allow the device to amplify signals that are transmitted or received from spatial directions. 
     In various embodiments, an antenna panel may or may not be virtualized as an antenna port. An antenna panel may be connected to a baseband processing module through a radio frequency (“RF”) chain for each transmission (e.g., egress) and reception (e.g., ingress) direction. A capability of a device in terms of a number of antenna panels, their duplexing capabilities, their beamforming capabilities, and so forth, may or may not be transparent to other devices. In some embodiments, capability information may be communicated via signaling or capability information may be provided to devices without a need for signaling. If information is available to other devices, such as a CU, the information may be used for signaling or local decision making. 
     In some embodiments, a UE antenna panel may be a physical or logical antenna array including a set of antenna elements or antenna ports that share a common or a significant portion of a radio frequency (“RF”) chain (e.g., in-phase and/or quadrature (“I/Q”) modulator, analog to digital (“A/D”) converter, local oscillator, phase shift network). The UE antenna panel or UE panel may be a logical entity with physical UE antennas mapped to the logical entity. The mapping of physical UE antennas to the logical entity may be up to UE implementation. Communicating (e.g., receiving or transmitting) on at least a subset of antenna elements or antenna ports active for radiating energy (e.g., active elements) of an antenna panel may require biasing or powering on of an RF chain which results in current drain or power consumption in a UE associated with the antenna panel (e.g., including power amplifier and/or low noise amplifier (“LNA”) power consumption associated with the antenna elements or antenna ports). The phrase “active for radiating energy,” as used herein, is not meant to be limited to a transmit function but also encompasses a receive function. Accordingly, an antenna element that is active for radiating energy may be coupled to a transmitter to transmit radio frequency energy or to a receiver to receive radio frequency energy, either simultaneously or sequentially, or may be coupled to a transceiver in general, for performing its intended functionality. Communicating on the active elements of an antenna panel enables generation of radiation patterns or beams. 
     In certain embodiments, depending on a UE&#39;s own implementation, a “UE panel” may have at least one of the following functionalities as an operational role of unit of antenna group to control its transmit (“TX”) beam independently, unit of antenna group to control its transmission power independently, and/pr unit of antenna group to control its transmission timing independently. The “UE panel” may be transparent to a gNB. For certain conditions, a gNB or network may assume that a mapping between a UE&#39;s physical antennas to the logical entity “UE panel” may not be changed. For example, a condition may include until the next update or report from UE or include a duration of time over which the gNB assumes there will be no change to mapping. A UE may report its UE capability with respect to the “UE panel” to the gNB or network. The UE capability may include at least the number of “UE panels.” In one embodiment, a UE may support UL transmission from one beam within a panel. With multiple panels, more than one beam (e.g., one beam per panel) may be used for UL transmission. In another embodiment, more than one beam per panel may be supported and/or used for UL transmission. 
     In some embodiments, an antenna port may be defined such that a channel over which a symbol on the antenna port is conveyed may be inferred from the channel over which another symbol on the same antenna port is conveyed. 
     In certain embodiments, two antenna ports are said to be quasi co-located (“QCL”) if large-scale properties of a channel over which a symbol on one antenna port is conveyed may be inferred from the channel over which a symbol on another antenna port is conveyed. Large-scale properties may include one or more of delay spread, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, average delay, and/or spatial receive (“RX”) parameters. Two antenna ports may be quasi co-located with respect to a subset of the large-scale properties and different subset of large-scale properties may be indicated by a QCL Type. For example, a qcl-Type may take one of the following values: 1) ‘QCL-TypeA’: {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread}; 2) ‘QCL-TypeB’: {Doppler shift, Doppler spread}; 3) ‘QCL-TypeC’: {Doppler shift, average delay}; and 4) ‘QCL-TypeD’: {Spatial Rx parameter}. 
     In various embodiments, spatial RX parameters may include one or more of: angle of arrival (“AoA”), dominant AoA, average AoA, angular spread, power angular spectrum (“PAS”) of AoA, average angle of departure (“AoD”), PAS of AoD, transmit and/or receive channel correlation, transmit and/or receive beamforming, and/or spatial channel correlation. 
     In some embodiments, an “antenna port” may be a logical port that may correspond to a beam (e.g., resulting from beamforming) or may correspond to a physical antenna on a device. In certain embodiments, a physical antenna may map directly to a single antenna port in which an antenna port corresponds to an actual physical antenna. In various embodiments, a set of physical antennas, a subset of physical antennas, an antenna set, an antenna array, or an antenna sub-array may be mapped to one or more antenna ports after applying complex weights and/or a cyclic delay to the signal on each physical antenna. The physical antenna set may have antennas from a single module or panel or from multiple modules or panels. The weights may be fixed as in an antenna virtualization scheme, such as cyclic delay diversity (“CDD”). A procedure used to derive antenna ports from physical antennas may be specific to a device implementation and transparent to other devices. 
     In various embodiments, a transmission configuration indicator (“TCI”) state associated with a target transmission may indicate a quasi-collocation relationship between a target transmission (e.g., target RS of demodulation reference signal (“DM-RS”) ports of the target transmission during a transmission occasion) and source reference signals (e.g., synchronization signal block (“SSB”), channel state information reference signal (“CSI-RS”), and/or sounding reference signal (“SRS”)) with respect to quasi co-location type parameters indicated in a corresponding TCI state. A device may receive a configuration of multiple transmission configuration indicator states for a serving cell for transmissions on the serving cell (e.g., between a parent IAB-DU and IAB-node MT). 
     In some embodiments, spatial relation information associated with a target transmission may indicate a spatial setting between a target transmission and a reference RS (e.g., SSB, CSI-RS, and/or SRS). For example, a UE may transmit a target transmission with the same spatial domain filter used for receiving a reference RS (e.g., DL RS such as SSB and/or CSI-RS). In another example, a UE may transmit a target transmission with the same spatial domain transmission filter used for the transmission of a RS (e.g., UL RS such as SRS). A UE may receive a configuration of multiple spatial relation information configurations for a serving cell for transmissions on a serving cell. 
     As described herein, entities may be referred to as IAB nodes. As may be appreciated, an embodiments that refer to IAB nodes, may also refer to IAB donors (which are IAB entities connecting the core network to the IAB network). 
     The different steps described for different embodiments herein may be permuted. 
     Each configuration described herein may be provided by one or more configurations. In some embodiments, an earlier configuration described herein may provide a subset of parameters while a later configuration may provide another subset of parameters. In certain embodiments, a later configuration may override values provided by an earlier configuration or a pre-configuration. 
     In various embodiments, a configuration may be provided by radio resource control (“RRC”) signaling, medium-access control (“MAC”) signaling, physical layer signaling such as a downlink control information (“DCI”) message, and/or other means. Moreover, in such embodiments, a configuration may include a pre-configuration or a semi-static configuration provided by a standard, a vendor, a network, and/or an operator. Each parameter value received through a configuration or indication may override previous values for a similar parameter. 
     As may be appreciated, embodiments described herein may be applicable to wireless relay nodes and other types of wireless communication entities. 
     It should be noted that, an availability indication (“AI”) in a time domain may be specified and/or predetermined. Moreover, a time-domain availability indication (“T-AI”) may fully or partially refer to AI as specified and/or predetermined. 
     In some embodiments, vendor manufacturing IAB systems and/or devices and an operator deploying the IAB systems and/or devices may be enabled to negotiate capabilities of the systems and/or devices. In some embodiments, some of the information described may need signaling between entities and may be readily available to the devices. For example, by storing the information on a memory unit such as a read-only memory (“ROM”), exchanging the information using proprietary signaling methods, providing the information by a configuration and/or preconfiguration, or otherwise taking the information into account if creating hardware and/or software of the IAB systems and/or devices or other entities in a network. In this example, exchanging the information may be extended to embodiments in which the information is obtained by other methods. 
     In various embodiments, embodiments described herein may change based on a paired spectrum. As used herein, “HARQ-ACK” may represent collectively a positive acknowledge (“ACK”) and a negative acknowledge (“NACK”). ACK may mean that a transport block (“TB”) is correctly received while NACK (or NAK) may mean that a TB is erroneously received. 
       FIG.  22    is a flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method  2200  for resource attribute configuration. In some embodiments, the method  2200  is performed by an apparatus, such as the remote unit  102 . In certain embodiments, the method  2200  may be performed by a processor executing program code, for example, a microcontroller, a microprocessor, a CPU, a GPU, an auxiliary processing unit, a FPGA, or the like. 
     In various embodiments, the method  2200  includes receiving  2202  a first configuration for a resource. The first configuration includes a first parameter indicating a time-domain attribute associated with the resource, and the time-domain attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable. In some embodiments, the method  2200  includes receiving  2204  a second configuration for the resource. The second configuration includes a second parameter indicating a frequency-domain attribute associated with the resource, and the frequency-domain attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable. In certain embodiments, the method  2200  includes determining  2206  an attribute for the resource based on the time-domain attribute and the frequency-domain attribute. The attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable. In various embodiments, the method  2200  includes, in response to determining that the attribute is soft: determining  2208  whether the resource is indicated as available; and, in response to determining that the resource is indicated as available, performing an operation on the resource. The operation is a downlink transmission and/or an uplink reception. 
     In certain embodiments: the attribute is determined to be hard in response to the time-domain attribute being hard and the frequency-domain attribute being hard; the attribute is determined to be soft in response to: the time-domain attribute being soft and the frequency-domain attribute being not unavailable; or the time-domain attribute being not unavailable and the frequency-domain attribute being soft; and the attribute is determined to be unavailable in response to the time-domain attribute being unavailable or the frequency-domain attribute being unavailable. In some embodiments: the attribute is determined to be hard in response to: the time-domain attribute being hard; or the time-domain attribute being soft and the frequency-domain attribute being hard; the attribute is determined to be soft in response to the time-domain attribute being soft and the frequency-domain attribute being soft; and the attribute is determined to be unavailable in response to: the time-domain attribute being unavailable; or the time-domain attribute being soft and the frequency-domain attribute being unavailable. In various embodiments, determining that the resource is indicated as available comprises determining that a time-domain availability indication, a frequency-domain availability indication, or a combination thereof indicates that the resource is available. 
     In one embodiment, the time-domain availability indication, the frequency-domain availability indication, or the combination thereof is received no later than a time threshold, the time threshold is determined based on a capability to perform decoding a first control message, encoding a second control message, transmitting the second control message, or some combination thereof. In certain embodiments, the method  2200  further comprises, in response to determining that the attribute is hard, performing the operation on the resource. In some embodiments, the method  2200  further comprises, in response to determining that the attribute is unavailable, refraining from performing the operation on the resource. 
       FIG.  23    is a flow chart diagram illustrating another embodiment of a method  2300  for resource attribute configuration. In some embodiments, the method  2300  is performed by an apparatus, such as the remote unit  102 . In certain embodiments, the method  2300  may be performed by a processor executing program code, for example, a microcontroller, a microprocessor, a CPU, a GPU, an auxiliary processing unit, a FPGA, or the like. 
     In various embodiments, the method  2300  includes receiving  2302  a configuration for a symbol. The configuration includes a parameter indicating a first attribute associated with the symbol, and the first attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable. In some embodiments, the method  2300  includes receiving  2304  a first control message corresponding to a set of frequencies. In various embodiments, the method  2300  includes determining  2306  a second attribute for a resource on the symbol based on the first attribute and the first control message. The second attribute is hard, soft, and/or unavailable. In certain embodiments, the method  2300  includes, in response to determining that the second attribute is soft: determining  2308  whether the resource is indicated as available; and, in response to determining that the resource is indicated as available, performing an operation on the resource. The operation is a downlink transmission and/or an uplink reception. 
     In certain embodiments: the second attribute is determined to be hard in response to the first attribute being hard; the second attribute is determined to be soft in response to the first attribute being soft and a frequency of the resource being in the set of frequencies; and the second attribute is determined to be unavailable in response to the first attribute being unavailable. In some embodiments, the method  2300  further comprises, in response to determining that the second attribute is hard, performing the operation on the resource. In various embodiments, the method  2300  further comprises, in response to determining that the second attribute is unavailable, refraining from performing the operation on the resource. 
     In one embodiment, a method comprises: receiving a first configuration for a resource, wherein the first configuration comprises a first parameter indicating a time-domain attribute associated with the resource, and the time-domain attribute is hard, soft, unavailable, or some combination thereof; receiving a second configuration for the resource, wherein the second configuration comprises a second parameter indicating a frequency-domain attribute associated with the resource, and the frequency-domain attribute is hard, soft, unavailable, or some combination thereof; determining an attribute for the resource based on the time-domain attribute and the frequency-domain attribute, wherein the attribute is hard, soft, unavailable, or some combination thereof; and, in response to determining that the attribute is soft: determining whether the resource is indicated as available; and, in response to determining that the resource is indicated as available, performing an operation on the resource, wherein the operation is a downlink transmission, an uplink reception, or a combination thereof. 
     In certain embodiments: the attribute is determined to be hard in response to the time-domain attribute being hard and the frequency-domain attribute being hard; the attribute is determined to be soft in response to: the time-domain attribute being soft and the frequency-domain attribute being not unavailable; or the time-domain attribute being not unavailable and the frequency-domain attribute being soft; and the attribute is determined to be unavailable in response to the time-domain attribute being unavailable or the frequency-domain attribute being unavailable. 
     In some embodiments: the attribute is determined to be hard in response to: the time-domain attribute being hard; or the time-domain attribute being soft and the frequency-domain attribute being hard; the attribute is determined to be soft in response to the time-domain is attribute being soft and the frequency-domain attribute being soft; and the attribute is determined to be unavailable in response to: the time-domain attribute being unavailable; or the time-domain attribute being soft and the frequency-domain attribute being unavailable. 
     In various embodiments, determining that the resource is indicated as available comprises determining that a time-domain availability indication, a frequency-domain availability indication, or a combination thereof indicates that the resource is available. 
     In one embodiment, the time-domain availability indication, the frequency-domain availability indication, or the combination thereof is received no later than a time threshold, the time threshold is determined based on a capability to perform decoding a first control message, encoding a second control message, transmitting the second control message, or some combination thereof. 
     In certain embodiments, the method further comprises, in response to determining that the attribute is hard, performing the operation on the resource. 
     In some embodiments, the method further comprises, in response to determining that the attribute is unavailable, refraining from performing the operation on the resource. 
     In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises: a receiver that: receives a first configuration for a resource, wherein the first configuration comprises a first parameter indicating a time-domain attribute associated with the resource, and the time-domain attribute is hard, soft, unavailable, or some combination thereof; and receives a second configuration for the resource, wherein the second configuration comprises a second parameter indicating a frequency-domain attribute associated with the resource, and the frequency-domain attribute is hard, soft, unavailable, or some combination thereof; and a processor that: determines an attribute for the resource based on the time-domain attribute and the frequency-domain attribute, wherein the attribute is hard, soft, unavailable, or some combination thereof; and, in response to determining that the attribute is soft: determines whether the resource is indicated as available; and, in response to determining that the resource is indicated as available, performs an operation on the resource, wherein the operation is a downlink transmission, an uplink reception, or a combination thereof. 
     In certain embodiments: the attribute is determined to be hard in response to the time-domain attribute being hard and the frequency-domain attribute being hard; the attribute is determined to be soft in response to: the time-domain attribute being soft and the frequency-domain attribute being not unavailable; or the time-domain attribute being not unavailable and the frequency-domain attribute being soft; and the attribute is determined to be unavailable in response to the time-domain attribute being unavailable or the frequency-domain attribute being unavailable. 
     In some embodiments: the attribute is determined to be hard in response to: the time-domain attribute being hard; or the time-domain attribute being soft and the frequency-domain attribute being hard; the attribute is determined to be soft in response to the time-domain attribute being soft and the frequency-domain attribute being soft; and the attribute is determined to be unavailable in response to: the time-domain attribute being unavailable; or the time-domain attribute being soft and the frequency-domain attribute being unavailable. 
     In various embodiments, the processor determining that the resource is indicated as available comprises the processor determining that a time-domain availability indication, a frequency-domain availability indication, or a combination thereof indicates that the resource is available. 
     In one embodiment, the time-domain availability indication, the frequency-domain availability indication, or the combination thereof is received no later than a time threshold, the time threshold is determined based on a capability to perform decoding a first control message, encoding a second control message, transmitting the second control message, or some combination thereof. 
     In certain embodiments, the processor, in response to determining that the attribute is hard, performs the operation on the resource. 
     In some embodiments, the processor, in response to determining that the attribute is unavailable, refrains from performing the operation on the resource. 
     In one embodiment, a method comprises: receiving a configuration for a symbol, wherein the configuration comprises a parameter indicating a first attribute associated with the symbol, and the first attribute is hard, soft, unavailable, or some combination thereof; receiving a first control message corresponding to a set of frequencies; determining a second attribute for a resource on the symbol based on the first attribute and the first control message, wherein the second attribute is hard, soft, unavailable, or some combination thereof; and, in response to determining that the second attribute is soft: determining whether the resource is indicated as available; and, in response to determining that the resource is indicated as available, performing an operation on the resource, wherein the operation is a downlink transmission, an uplink reception, or a combination thereof. 
     In certain embodiments: the second attribute is determined to be hard in response to the first attribute being hard; the second attribute is determined to be soft in response to the first attribute being soft and a frequency of the resource being in the set of frequencies; and the second attribute is determined to be unavailable in response to the first attribute being unavailable. 
     In some embodiments, the method further comprises, in response to determining that the second attribute is hard, performing the operation on the resource. 
     In various embodiments, the method further comprises, in response to determining that the second attribute is unavailable, refraining from performing the operation on the resource. 
     In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises: a receiver that: receives a configuration for a symbol, wherein the configuration comprises a parameter indicating a first attribute associated with the symbol, and the first attribute is hard, soft, unavailable, or some combination thereof; and receives a first control message corresponding to a set of frequencies; and a processor that: determines a second attribute for a resource on the symbol based on the first attribute and the first control message, wherein the second attribute is hard, soft, unavailable, or some combination thereof; and, in response to determining that the second attribute is soft: determines whether the resource is indicated as available; and, in response to determining that the resource is indicated as available, performs an operation on the resource, wherein the operation is a downlink transmission, an uplink reception, or a combination thereof. 
     In certain embodiments: the second attribute is determined to be hard in response to the first attribute being hard; the second attribute is determined to be soft in response to the first attribute being soft and a frequency of the resource being in the set of frequencies; and the second attribute is determined to be unavailable in response to the first attribute being unavailable. 
     In some embodiments, the processor, in response to determining that the second attribute is hard, performs the operation on the resource. 
     In various embodiments, the processor, in response to determining that the second attribute is unavailable, refrains from performing the operation on the resource. 
     Embodiments may be practiced in other specific forms. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.