Patent Description:
Over the past few decades, mobile communications have evolved from voice services to high-speed broadband data services. With further development of new types of services and applications, e.g., enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive Machine-Type Communication (mMTC), Ultra Reliability Low Latency Communication (URLLC), etc., the demands for high-performance data transmission on mobile networks will continue to increase exponentially. Based on specific requirements in these emerging services, wireless communication systems should meet a variety of requirements, such as throughput, latency, data rate, capacity, reliability, link density, cost, energy consumption, complexity, and coverage.

3GPP R1-<NUM> and R1-<NUM> is a related prior art document.

The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein are directed to solving the issues related to one or more problems presented in the prior art, as well as providing additional features that will become readily apparent by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings. In accordance with some embodiments, exemplary systems, methods, and computer program products are disclosed herein. It is understood, however, that these embodiments are presented by way of example and not limitation, and it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art who read the present disclosure that various modifications to the disclosed embodiments can be made while remaining within the scope of the invention.

In a heterogeneous network of a <NUM>-communication system, a macro cell is divided into multiple small cells, and a relay node (RN) in each of the small cells acts as a BS of the respective small cell for communicating with the BS of the macro cell as well as its UE terminals. The RN can also communicate with its upper RN's and lower RN's to form a multi-hop network. Such multi-hop heterogeneous network can provides advantages such as an improved gain and system capacity compared to a traditional network structure. In a <NUM>-communication system, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) technology can be used to support a multi-hop heterogeneous network, wherein the network-side communication node (BS) is an IAB donor, which can directly communicate with RN's in small cells, which are denoted as "IAB nodes" hereinafter in the present disclosure. Each IAB node can directly communicate with its UE terminals and/or its direct lower-level and higher-level IAB nodes. Specifically, an IAB node can receive uplink data from a lower-level IAB node or a UE terminal and transmit to its upper-level IAB node or the IAB donor. Similarly, an IAB node can also receive downlink data from its upper-level IAB node or the IAB donor and transmits to its lower-level IAB node or UE terminal. Therefore, an IAB node cannot directly access core network but have to go through an IAB donor. A communication channel between an IAB node and its upper-level IAB node may be disconnected at any time. At this moment, data transmission from UE's of the IAB nodes to the IAB donor can be greatly affected. To solve this problem, the IAB node can communicate with adjacent IAB nodes to identify backup upper-level IAB nodes, which can be used to establish a new communication channel when the original link is disconnected. This method can greatly reduce the interruption time during data transmission. Therefore, if adjacent IAB nodes are not known to the IAB node for the IAB node to use as a backup upper-level IAB node, an interruption of data transmission can potentially occur. This disclosure presents a method and apparatus for allocating muting resources to detect SSBs transmitted from adjacent IAB nodes. As used herein, a "muting resource" refers to a resource in the time and frequency domain on which an IAB node terminates its originally scheduled reference signals (e.g., synchronization signal (SS) and Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) blocks, Channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS)) transmission and receives reference signals (e.g., SS and PBCH blocks, CSI-RS) transmitted from adjacent IAB nodes. In the following description, we take SSBs as an example of reference signals.

In one embodiment, a method performed by a first wireless communication node, includes: receiving at least one measurement resource from a second wireless communication node in a communication system; determining at least one overlapping resource between the at least one measurement resource and a first plurality of resource sets; and determining at least one muting resource set in the first plurality of resource sets, wherein the at least one muting resource set comprises the at least one overlapping resource.

Yet, in another embodiment, a method performed by a first wireless communication node, includes: transmitting at least one measurement resource to a second wireless communication node in a communication system for the second wireless communication node to determine at least one overlapping resource between the at least one measurement resource and a first plurality of resource set and further determine at least one muting resource set according to the at least one overlapping resource, wherein the at least one muting resource set comprises the at least one overlapping resource.

It is noted that various features are not necessarily drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions and geometries of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion.

Various exemplary embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the accompanying figures to enable a person of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention. As would be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, after reading the present disclosure, various changes or modifications to the examples described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments and applications described or illustrated herein. Additionally, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein are merely exemplary approaches. Based upon design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of steps of the disclosed methods or processes can be re-arranged while remaining within the scope of the present invention. Thus, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or acts in a sample order, and the invention is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless expressly stated otherwise.

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same or similar components may be designated by the same or similar reference numerals although they are illustrated in different drawings. Detailed descriptions of constructions or processes well-known in the art may be omitted to avoid obscuring the subject matter of the present invention. Further, the terms are defined in consideration of their functionality in embodiment of the present invention, and may vary according to the intention of a user or an operator, usage, etc. Therefore, the definition should be made on the basis of the overall content of the present specification.

<FIG> illustrates an exemplary wireless communication heterogeneous network <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In a wireless communication system, a network-side communication node can be a node B, an E-utran Node B (also known as Evolved Node B, eNodeB or eNB), a gNodeB in new radio (NR) technology, a pico station, a femto station, or the like, which is referred to as "IAB donor <NUM>-<NUM>" hereinafter in all the embodiments in this disclosure. A sub-cell side communication node can be a node B, an E-utran Node B (also known as Evolved Node B, eNodeB or eNB), a gNodeB in new radio (NR) technology, a pico station, a femto station, or the like, which is referred to as "IAB node <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>,. " hereinafter in all the embodiments in this disclosure. A terminal-side communication node can be a long range communication system like a mobile phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), tablet, laptop computer, or a short range communication system such as, for example a wearable device, a vehicle with a vehicular communication system and the like, which is referred to as "UE <NUM>" hereinafter in all the embodiments in this disclosure.

Such communication nodes may be capable of wireless and/or wired communications, in accordance with some embodiments of the invention. It is noted that all the embodiments are merely preferred examples, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Accordingly, it is understood that the system may include any desired combination of UE's <NUM>, IAB nodes102-<NUM>/<NUM>-<NUM>, and IAB donors <NUM>-<NUM>, while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the wireless communication heterogeneous network <NUM> includes an IAB donor <NUM>-0A, two first-level IAB nodes <NUM>-1A/<NUM>-1B, a second-level IAB node <NUM>-2A, and two UE's 104a/104b, (collectively referred to as UE's <NUM> herein). The BS <NUM> and the UE's <NUM> are contained within a geographic boundary of cell <NUM>. Although it is shown in the <FIG>, a first first-level IAB node <NUM>-1A directly communicates with the second-level IAB node <NUM>-2A and a second first-level IAB node <NUM>-1B directly communicates with the UE 104b. Both of the first level IAB nodes <NUM>-1A/<NUM>-1B directly communicate with the IAB donor <NUM>-0A, it should be noted that any other network configurations are within the scope of this invention. For example, the IAB donor <NUM>-0A, the first first-level IAB node <NUM>-1A, the second first-level IAB node <NUM>-1B, the second-level IAB node <NUM>-2A can support direct communication with UEs in the corresponding small cells.

A wireless transmission from a transmitting antenna of the IAB node <NUM>-1A to a receiving antenna of the IAB node <NUM>-0A is known as an backhaul link transmission 105a, and a wireless transmission from a transmitting antenna of the IAB node <NUM>-0A to a receiving antenna of the IAB node <NUM>-1A is known as an access link transmission 103A. Similarly, a wireless transmission from a transmitting antenna of the IAB node <NUM>-1B to a receiving antenna of the IAB node <NUM>-0A is known as an backhaul link transmission 105b, and a wireless transmission from a transmitting antenna of the IAB node <NUM>-0A to a receiving antenna of the IAB node <NUM>-1B is known as an access link transmission 103b. A wireless transmission from a transmitting antenna of the IAB node <NUM>-2A to a receiving antenna of the IAB node <NUM>-1A is known as an backhaul link transmission 105C, and a wireless transmission from a transmitting antenna of the IAB node <NUM>-1A to a receiving antenna of the IAB node <NUM>-1B is known as an access link transmission 103A. A wireless transmission from a transmitting antenna of the UE 104A to a receiving antenna of the IAB node <NUM>-2A is known as an uplink transmission 105D, and a wireless transmission from a transmitting antenna of the IAB node <NUM>-2A to a receiving antenna of the UE 104A is known as a downlink transmission 103D. A wireless transmission from a transmitting antenna of the UE 104B to a receiving antenna of the IAB node <NUM>-1B is known as an uplink transmission 105E, and a wireless transmission from a transmitting antenna of the IAB node <NUM>-1B to a receiving antenna of the UE 104B is known as a downlink transmission 103E. In the illustrated embodiment, a wireless transmission between the antennas of UE 104A and UE 104B is known as sidelink transmission <NUM>.

The UE 104B has a direct communication channel with the first-level IAB node <NUM>-1B operating at a first frequency resource f1 (e.g., carrier or bandwidth part) for downlink communication 103E and a second frequency resource f2 for uplink communication 105E. Similarly, the UE 104A also has a direct communication channel with the second-level IAB node <NUM>-2A operating at a third frequency resource f3 for downlink communication 103D and a fourth frequency resource f4 for uplink communication 105D. In some embodiments, the second frequency resource f2 and the fourth frequency resource f4 are different from the first frequency resource f1 and the third frequency resource f3. In some embodiments, the second frequency resource f2 and the fourth frequency resource f4 are different from each other. Therefore, the second frequency resource f2 and the fourth frequency resource f4 have different transmission characteristics, such as for example path loss, coverage, maximum transmission power, etc. In some embodiments, the bandwidth of the first frequency resource f1, the second frequency resource f2, the third frequency resource f3 and the fourth frequency resource f4 can be also different. Although only <NUM> UE's 104A/104B are shown in <FIG>, it should be noted that any number of UE's <NUM> can be included in the cell <NUM> and are within the scope of this invention.

In some embodiments, the coverage of uplink communication 105E is larger than that of the uplink communication 105D, as indicated by dotted circles <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively. The IAB nodes <NUM>-1B and <NUM>-2A are located within the region of the coverage areas <NUM> and <NUM> in order for the IAB nodes to perform uplink communication with the UE 104a and UE 104b in the cell <NUM>.

The direct communication channels 105D/105E (uplink transmission) and 103D/103E (downlink transmission) between the UE104B/104A and the corresponding IAB nodes <NUM>-1B/<NUM>-2A can be through interfaces such as an Uu interface, which is also known as UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) air interface. The direct communication channels 105A/105B/105C (backhaul link transmission) and 103A/103B/103C (access link transmission) between the IAB node (i.e., <NUM>-2A and <NUM>-1A) and between the IAB nodes <NUM>-1A/<NUM>-1B and IAB donor <NUM>-0A can be through interfaces such as Un interface. The direct communication channels (i.e., sidelink transmission) <NUM> between the UE's can be through a PC5 interface, which is introduced to address high moving speed and high density applications such as Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communications. The BS <NUM> is connected to a core network (CN) <NUM> through an external interface <NUM>, e.g., an Iu interface.

The UE's 104a and 104b obtains its synchronization timing from the corresponding IAB nodes <NUM>-2A and <NUM>-1B, which obtains its own synchronization timing further through the IAB donor <NUM>-0A and further from the core network <NUM> through an internet time service, such as a public time NTP (Network Time Protocol) server or a RNC (Radio Frequency Simulation System Network Controller) server. This is known as network-based synchronization. Alternatively, the IAB donor <NUM>-0A can also obtain synchronization timing from a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) (not shown) through a satellite signal <NUM>, especially for a large IAB donor in a large cell which has a direct line of sight to the sky, which is known as satellite-based synchronization.

<FIG> illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary wireless communication system <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The system <NUM> may include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operating features that need not be described in detail herein. In one exemplary embodiment, system <NUM> can be used to transmit and receive data symbols in a wireless communication environment such as the wireless communication network <NUM> of <FIG>, as described above.

System <NUM> generally includes <NUM> IAB donor <NUM>-0A, <NUM> first-level IAB node <NUM>-1A, and <NUM> second-level IAB node <NUM>-2A. The IAB donor <NUM>-0A includes an IAB donor transceiver module <NUM>, an IAB donor antenna array <NUM>, an IAB donor memory module <NUM>, an IAB donor processor module <NUM>, and a Network interface <NUM>, each module being coupled and interconnected with one another as necessary via a data communication bus <NUM>. The first-level IAB node <NUM>-1A includes an IAB node <NUM> transceiver module <NUM>, an IAB node <NUM> antenna <NUM>, an IAB node <NUM> memory module <NUM>, an IAB node <NUM> processor module <NUM>, and an input/output (I/O) interface <NUM>, each module being coupled and interconnected with one another as necessary via a date communication bus <NUM>. The second-level IAB node <NUM>-2A includes an IAB node <NUM> transceiver module <NUM>, an IAB node <NUM> antenna <NUM>, an IAB node <NUM> memory module <NUM>, an IAB node <NUM> processor module <NUM>, and an input/output (I/O) interface <NUM>, each module being coupled and interconnected with one another as necessary via a date communication bus <NUM>. The IAB donor <NUM>-0A communicates with the IAB node <NUM>-1A via a communication channel <NUM>, which can be any wireless channel or other medium known in the art suitable for transmission of data as described herein. The first-level IAB node <NUM>-1A communicates with the second-level IAB node <NUM>-2A via communication channel <NUM>, which can be any wireless channel or other medium known in the art suitable for transmission of data as described herein.

As would be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art, system <NUM> may further include any number of blocks, modules, circuits, etc. other than those shown in <FIG>.

A wireless transmission from a transmitting antenna of the IAB donor <NUM>-0A to a receiving antenna of the first-level IAB <NUM>-1A is known as an access link transmission, and a wireless transmission from a transmitting antenna of the first-level IAB node <NUM>-1A to a receiving antenna of the IAB donor <NUM>-0A is known as a backhaul link transmission. In accordance with some embodiments, a IAB donor transceiver <NUM> may be referred to herein as an "backhaul link" transceiver <NUM> that includes a RF transmitter and receiver circuitry that are each coupled to the IAB node <NUM> antenna <NUM>. Similarly, in accordance with some embodiments, the IAB donor transceiver <NUM> may be referred to herein as a "downlink" transceiver <NUM> that includes RF transmitter and receiver circuitry that are each coupled to the IAB donor antenna array <NUM>. A downlink duplex switch may alternatively couple the downlink transmitter or receiver to the downlink antenna array <NUM> in time duplex fashion. The operations of the two transceivers <NUM> and <NUM> are coordinated in time such that the uplink receiver is coupled to the uplink IAB node <NUM> antenna <NUM> for reception of transmissions over the wireless communication channel <NUM> at the same time that the downlink transmitter is coupled to the downlink antenna array <NUM>. Preferably, there is close synchronization timing with only a minimal guard time between changes in duplex direction. The IAB node <NUM> transceiver <NUM> communicates through the IAB node <NUM> antenna <NUM> with the IAB donor <NUM>-0A via the wireless communication channel <NUM> or with the second-level IAB node <NUM>-2A via the wireless communication channel <NUM>. The wireless communication channel <NUM> can be any wireless channel or other medium known in the art suitable for wireless transmission of data as described herein.

The IAB node <NUM> transceiver <NUM> and the IAB donor transceiver <NUM> are configured to communicate via the wireless data communication channel <NUM> and cooperate with a suitably configured RF antenna arrangement <NUM>/<NUM> that can support a particular wireless communication protocol and modulation scheme. In some embodiments, the IAB donor transceiver <NUM> is configured to transmit muting resource configuration parameters to the IAB node <NUM> transceiver <NUM>. In some embodiments, the IAB node <NUM> transceiver <NUM> is configured to receive the muting resource configuration parameters from the IAB donor transceiver <NUM> and/or receive the SSBs from neighboring IAB nodes so as to detect neighboring IAB nodes. In some exemplary embodiments, the IAB node <NUM> transceiver <NUM> and the IAB donor transceiver <NUM> are configured to support industry standards such as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) and emerging <NUM> standards, and the like. It is understood, however, that the invention is not necessarily limited in application to a particular standard and associated protocols. Rather, the IAB node <NUM> transceiver <NUM> and the IAB donor transceiver <NUM> may be configured to support alternate, or additional, wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variations thereof.

The IAB donor processor modules <NUM>, and IAB node processor modules <NUM>/<NUM> are implemented, or realized, with a general purpose processor, a content addressable memory, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, designed to perform the functions described herein.

Then, the IAB node <NUM> processor module <NUM> detects the PHR triggering message on the IAB node <NUM> transceiver module <NUM>, the IAB node processor module <NUM> is further configured to determine at least one muting resource based on at least one predefined criteria and the received at least one muting resource configuration from the IAB donor <NUM>-0A, wherein the at least one predefined algorithm is selected based on other parameters calculated or messages received which will be further discussed in detail below. The IAB node <NUM> processor module <NUM> is further configured to instruct the IAB node <NUM> transceiver module <NUM> to receive a SSB from and to transmit its scheduled SSBs to neighboring IAB nodes at a determined muting configuration.

Furthermore, the steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in firmware, in a software module executed by corresponding processor modules <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM>, respectively, or in any practical combination thereof. The memory modules <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM> may be realized as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In this regard, the memory modules <NUM> and <NUM> may be coupled to the processor modules <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively, such that the processors modules <NUM> and <NUM> can read information from, and write information to, memory modules <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM>, respectively. The memory modules <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM> may also be integrated into their respective processor modules <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM>. In some embodiments, the memory modules <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM> may each include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor modules <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM>, respectively. Memory modules <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM> may also each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions to be executed by the processor modules <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM>, respectively.

The network interface <NUM> generally represents the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic, and/or other components of the IAB donor <NUM>-0A that enable bi-directional communication between the IAB donor transceiver <NUM> and other network components and communication nodes configured to communication with the IAB donor <NUM>-0A. For example, network interface <NUM> may be configured to support internet or WiMAX traffic. In a typical deployment, without limitation, network interface <NUM> provides an <NUM> Ethernet interface such that IAB donor transceiver <NUM> can communicate with a conventional Ethernet based computer network. In this manner, the network interface <NUM> may include a physical interface for connection to the computer network (e.g., Mobile Switching Center (MSC)). The terms "configured for" or "configured to" as used herein with respect to a specified operation or function refers to a device, component, circuit, structure, machine, signal, etc. that is physically constructed, programmed, formatted and/or arranged to perform the specified operation or function. The network interface <NUM> could allow the IAB donor <NUM>-0A to communicate with other IAB donors, IAB nodes, or core network over a wired or wireless connection.

Referring again to <FIG>, as mentioned above, the IAB donor <NUM>-0A repeatedly broadcasts system information associated with the IAB donor <NUM>-0A directly to one or more UE's <NUM> and/or to one or more first-level IAB nodes so as to allow the UE <NUM> to access the network through IAB nodes/donor within the cell <NUM> where the IAB donor <NUM>-0A is located, and in general, to operate properly within the cell <NUM>. Plural information such as, for example, downlink and uplink cell bandwidths, downlink and uplink configuration, configuration for random access, etc., can be included in the system information, which will be discussed in further detail below. Typically, the IAB donor <NUM>-0A broadcasts a first signal carrying some major system information, for example, configuration of the cell <NUM> through a PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel). For purposes of clarity of illustration, such a broadcasted first signal is herein referred to as "first broadcast signal. " It is noted that the BS <NUM> may subsequently broadcast one or more signals carrying some other system information through respective channels (e.g., a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)), which are herein referred to as "second broadcast signal," "third broadcast signal," and so on.

Referring again to <FIG>, in some embodiments, the major system information carried by the first broadcast signal may be transmitted by the IAB donor <NUM>-0A to the first-level IAB node <NUM>-1A in a symbol format via the communication channel <NUM>. In some embodiments, the major system information may comprise muting resource configuration parameters. In some embodiments, the muting resource configuration parameters can be also transmitted by the first broadcast signal by a first-level IAB node (<NUM>-1A) to a second-level IAB node (<NUM>-2A). In accordance with some embodiments, an original form of the major system information may be presented as one or more sequences of digital bits and the one or more sequences of digital bits may be processed through plural steps (e.g., coding, scrambling, modulation, mapping steps, etc.), all of which can be processed by the IAB donor processor module <NUM>, to become the first broadcast signal. Similarly, when the IAB node <NUM>-1A receives the first broadcast signal (in the symbol format) using the IAB node <NUM> transceiver <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments, the IAB node <NUM> processor module <NUM> may perform plural steps (de-mapping, demodulation, decoding steps, etc.) to estimate the major system information such as, for example, bit locations, bit numbers, etc., of the bits of the major system information. The IAB node <NUM> processor module <NUM> is also coupled to the I/O interface <NUM>, which provides the IAB node <NUM>-1A with the ability to connect to other devices such as computers. The I/O interface <NUM> is the communication path between these accessories and the IAB node <NUM> processor module <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates a schematic of a radio frame structure <NUM> with a plurality of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. A SSB is used to carry resource information in the time-frequency domain for access-related signals including synchronization signal, physical broadcast channel (PBCH), corresponding demodulation reference signal (DMRS), etc. In the illustrated embodiment, a plurality of SSBs can be grouped together to form a SSB burst set <NUM>. The plurality of SSBs <NUM> in a SSB burst set <NUM> each carriers synchronization signals for a specific beam/port or a specific set of beams/ports <NUM>. A complete beam-sweeping can be performed with in a SSB burst set <NUM>, i.e., transmitting all the beams/ports in a SSB burst set. A SSB can also comprise PBCH and corresponding DMRS, other control channel, data channel, etc. In some embodiments, a plurality of SSBs can be grouped together into a SS burst set. Such structure is used for transmitting synchronization signals, and sweeping resources on the physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The plurality of SSBs of the SS burst set each carries a synchronization single of specific beams and/or ports. Beams/ports are transmitted after performing a beam sweeping on a SS burst set. In some embodiments, a SSB also comprises PBCH, corresponding DMRS and other control channel, data channel, etc. In some embodiments, when a plurality of SSBs are mapped to a same subframe or time slot, offsets of different SSBs relative to the edge of the subframe or the time slot are different. UE's located at different position in a cell can detect synchronization signal in a SSB. Time index of the SSBs which the UE <NUM> is synchronized to is required so as to achieve subframe timing and slot timing.

<FIG> illustrates a schematic of a SSB structure <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the SSB is used to carry signals and channels for initial accessing, for example, synchronization signals, physical broadcast channel and corresponding demodulation reference signal (DMRS), etc. In some embodiments, a SSB comprises <NUM> OFDM (orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing) symbols, i.e., a first OFDM symbol 302a, a second OFDM symbol 302b, a third OFDM symbol 302c, and a fourth OFDM symbol 302d. In some embodiments, on the first and third OFDM symbols 302a/302c, a primary synchronization signal (PSS) <NUM> and secondary synchronization signal (SSS) <NUM> are carried, respectively. In the illustrated embodiment, the PBCH 308a/308b can be transmitted on the second and fourth OFDM symbols 302b/302d, respectively. In some embodiment, the PSS/SSS <NUM>/<NUM> occupies <NUM> physical resource blocks (PRB's) <NUM> and the PBCH occupies <NUM> PRB's <NUM> in the frequency domain.

<FIG> illustrates a schematic of a SSB structure <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the SS/PHCH block is used to carry signals and channels for initial accessing, for example, synchronization signals, physical broadcast channel and corresponding demodulation reference signal (DMRS), etc. In some embodiments, a SS/PBCH block comprises <NUM> OFDM (orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing) symbols, i.e., a first OFDM symbol 402a, a second OFDM symbol 402b, a third OFDM symbol 402c, and a fourth OFDM symbol 402d. In some embodiments, on the first and third OFDM symbols 402a/402c, a primary synchronization signal (PSS) <NUM> and secondary synchronization signal (SSS) <NUM> are carried, respectively. In the illustrated embodiment, the PBCH 408a/408b can be transmitted on the second and fourth OFDM symbols 402b/402d, respectively, and the PBCH 408c is transmitted on the third OFDM symbol. In some embodiment, the PSS/SSS <NUM>/<NUM> occupies <NUM> physical resource blocks (PRB's) <NUM> and the PBCH 408a/408b on the second and fourth OFDM symbols 402b/402d occupies <NUM> PRB's <NUM> in the frequency domain. The PBCH 408c on the third OFDM symbol 402c occupies <NUM> PRB's. Specifically, the PBCH 408c occupies <NUM> PRB's on each side of the SSS <NUM> on the third OFDM symbol 402c.

<FIG> illustrates a schematic of a SSB mapping pattern <NUM> in a resource block, in accordance with some embodiment of the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment, a resource block (RB) <NUM> occupies a time slot <NUM>, which form <NUM> resource block <NUM> with <NUM> subcarriers <NUM> in the frequency domain. The time slot <NUM> in a subcarrier <NUM> comprises <NUM> OFDM symbols <NUM>. In the illustrated embodiment, the subcarrier <NUM> has a frequency of <NUM>. There are <NUM> SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> in the time slot <NUM>, and each of the <NUM> SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> occupies <NUM> OFDM symbols. Specifically, the first SSB <NUM> occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>; and the second SSB <NUM> occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. The first SSB <NUM> and second SSB <NUM> may occupy <NUM> subcarriers <NUM> in a PRB <NUM>. It should be noted that although the SSBs illustrated occupies <NUM> PRB <NUM>, this is not intended to be limiting. Any numbers of PRB's in the frequency domain that are occupied by a SSB are within the scope of this present disclosure.

<FIG> illustrates a schematic of a SSB mapping pattern <NUM> in a resource block, in accordance with some embodiment of the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment, a resource block (RB) <NUM> occupies two time slots, a first time slot 502a and a second time slot 502b. The RB <NUM> comprises <NUM> subcarriers <NUM> in the frequency domain. Each of the two time slots 502a and 502b in a subcarrier <NUM> comprises <NUM> OFDM symbols <NUM>. In the illustrated embodiment, the subcarrier <NUM> has a frequency of <NUM>. There are <NUM> SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> in the time slot <NUM>, and each of the two SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> occupies <NUM> SC-OFDM symbols. Specifically, the first SSB 514a of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>; and the second SSB 515a of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. The first SSB 514b of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>; and the second SSB 515b of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. The first SSBs 514a/514b and second SSBs 515a/515b of the first and the second time slots 502a/502b further occupy <NUM> subcarriers <NUM> in a PRB <NUM>. It should be noted that although the SSBs illustrated occupies <NUM> PRB <NUM>, this is not intended to be limiting. Any numbers of PRB's in the frequency domain that are occupied by a SSB are within the scope of this present disclosure.

<FIG> illustrates a schematic of a SSB mapping pattern <NUM> in a resource block, in accordance with some embodiment of the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment, a resource block (RB) <NUM> occupies two time slots, a first time slot 502a and a second time slot 502b. The RB <NUM> comprises <NUM> subcarriers <NUM> in the frequency domain. Each of the two time slots 502a and 502b in a subcarrier <NUM> comprises <NUM> OFDM symbols <NUM>. In the illustrated embodiment, the subcarrier <NUM> has a frequency of <NUM>. There are <NUM> SSB <NUM>/<NUM> in the time slot <NUM>, and each of the two SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> occupies <NUM> SC-OFDM symbols. Specifically, the first SSB 514a of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>; and the second SSB 515a of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. The first SSB 514b of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>; and the second SSB 515b of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. The first SSBs 514a/514b and second SSBs 515a/515b of the first and the second time slots 502a/502b further occupy <NUM> subcarriers <NUM> in a PRB <NUM>. It should be noted that although the SSB illustrated occupies <NUM> PRB <NUM>, this is not intended to be limiting. In some other embodiments, the SSBs 514a, 514b, 514c and 514d occupy a plurality of PRB's <NUM>. In some embodiments, the SSBs occupy <NUM> PRB's <NUM>. Any numbers of PRB's in the frequency domain that are occupied by the SSB system are within the scope of this present disclosure.

<FIG> illustrates a schematic of a SSB mapping pattern <NUM> in a resource block, in accordance with some embodiment of the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment, a resource block (RB) <NUM> occupies two time slots, a first time slot 502a and a second time slot 502b. The RB <NUM> comprises <NUM> subcarriers <NUM> in the frequency domain. Each of the two time slots 502a and 502b in a subcarrier <NUM> comprises <NUM> OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) symbols <NUM>. In the illustrated embodiment, the subcarrier <NUM> has a frequency of <NUM>. There are <NUM> SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> in the time slot <NUM>, and each of the two SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> occupies <NUM> SC-OFDM symbols. Specifically, the first SSB 514a of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>; and the second SSB 515a of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. The first SSB 514b of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>; and the second SSB 515b of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. The first SSBs 514a/514b and second SSBs 515a/515b of the first and the second time slots 502a/502b further occupy <NUM> subcarriers <NUM> in a PRB <NUM>. It should be noted that although the SSBs illustrated occupies <NUM> PRB <NUM>, this is not intended to be limiting. In some other embodiments, the SSBs 514a, 514b, 514c and 514d occupy a plurality of PRB's <NUM>. In some embodiments, the SSBs occupy <NUM> PRB's <NUM>. Any numbers of PRB's in the frequency domain that are occupied by the SSBs are within the scope of this present disclosure.

<FIG> illustrates a schematic of a SSB mapping pattern <NUM> in a resource block, in accordance with some embodiment of the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment, a resource block (RB) <NUM> occupies two time slots, a first time slot 502a and a second time slot 502b. The RB <NUM> comprises <NUM> subcarriers <NUM> in the frequency domain. Each of the two time slots 502a and 502b in a subcarrier <NUM> comprises <NUM> OFDM symbols <NUM>. In the illustrated embodiment, the subcarrier <NUM> has a frequency of <NUM>. There are <NUM> SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> in the time slot <NUM>, and each of the <NUM> SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> occupies <NUM> SC-OFDM symbols. Specifically, the first SSB 514a of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>; the second SSB 515a of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>; the third SSB 514b of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>; and the fourth SSB 515b of the first time slot 502a occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. The first SSB 514c of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>; the second SSB 515c of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>; the third SSB 514d of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>; and the fourth SSB 515d of the second time slot 502b occupies symbols <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. The four SSBs 514a/515a/514b/515b of the first time slot 502a and the four SSBs 514c/515c/514d/515d of the first time slot 502b further occupy <NUM> subcarriers <NUM> in a PRB <NUM>. It should be noted that although the eight SSBs illustrated occupies <NUM> PRB <NUM>, this is not intended to be limiting. In some other embodiments, the SSBs 514a/515a, 514b/515b, 514c/515c, and 514d/515d occupy a plurality of PRB's <NUM>. In some embodiments, the SSBs occupy <NUM> PRB's <NUM>. Any numbers of PRB's in the frequency domain that are occupied by the SSBs are within the scope of this present disclosure.

<FIG> illustrates schematics of radio frame structures <NUM> with a plurality of synchronization signal blocks (SSB) <NUM> in a half radio frame of <NUM> milliseconds (ms), in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. A maximum number of SSBs is <NUM> when the frequency is less than or equal to <NUM> gigaHertz (GHz), the maximum number of SSBs is <NUM> when the frequency is in a range between <NUM> and <NUM>, and the maximum number of SSBs is <NUM> when the frequency is in greater or equal to <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates a schematic of a half radio frame structure <NUM> with <NUM> time slots <NUM> in a subcarrier spacing of <NUM> for SSB transmission in a half radio frame <NUM> of <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the subcarrier spacing (SCS) is <NUM> and the maximum number of SSBs is <NUM>. One time slot in the half radio frame of <NUM> can carry <NUM> SSBs and comprise <NUM> symbols. Since there are two SSBs in a time slot <NUM> and each of the two time slots occupies <NUM>, a maximum number of <NUM> time slots and <NUM> SSBs are required in a half-frame of <NUM>. In the illustrated embodiment, first two times slots <NUM>-<NUM>/<NUM>-<NUM> each comprises <NUM> SSBs. It should be noted that the time slot with SSBs can occupy any <NUM> times slots in the half-frame of <NUM> and each SSB can occupy any <NUM> continuous symbols in the time slot, as discussed above in <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates a schematic of a half radio frame structure <NUM> with <NUM> time slots <NUM> in a subcarrier spacing of <NUM> for SSB transmission in a half radio frame <NUM> of <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the subcarrier spacing (SCS) is <NUM> and the maximum number of SSBs is <NUM>. One time slot in the half radio frame of <NUM> can carry <NUM> SSBs and comprise <NUM> symbols. Since there are two SSBs in a time slot <NUM> and each of the two time slots occupies <NUM>, a maximum number of <NUM> time slots and <NUM> SSBs are required in a half-frame <NUM> of <NUM>. In the illustrated embodiment, first four times slots <NUM>-<NUM>/<NUM>-<NUM>/<NUM>-<NUM>/<NUM>-<NUM> each comprises <NUM> SSBs. It should be noted that the time slot with SSBs can occupy any <NUM> times slots in the half-frame <NUM> of <NUM> and each SSB can occupy any <NUM> continuous symbols in the time slot, as discussed above in <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates a schematic of a half radio frame structure <NUM> with <NUM> time slots <NUM> in a subcarrier spacing of <NUM> for SSB transmission in a half radio frame <NUM> of <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the subcarrier spacing (SCS) is <NUM> and the maximum number of SSBs is <NUM>. One time slot in the half radio frame of <NUM> can carry <NUM> SSBs and comprise <NUM> symbols. Since there are two SSBs in a time slot <NUM> and each of the <NUM> time slots occupies <NUM>, a maximum number of <NUM> time slots and <NUM> SSBs are required in a half-frame <NUM> of <NUM>. In the illustrated embodiment, first <NUM> times slots <NUM>-<NUM>/<NUM>-<NUM> each comprises <NUM> SSBs. It should be noted that the time slot with SSBs can occupy any <NUM> times slots in the half-frame <NUM> of <NUM> and each SSB can occupy any <NUM> continuous symbols in the time slot, as discussed above in <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates a schematic of a half radio frame structure <NUM> with <NUM> time slots <NUM> in a subcarrier spacing of <NUM> for SSB transmission in a half radio frame <NUM> of <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the subcarrier spacing (SCS) is <NUM> and the maximum number of SSBs is <NUM>. One time slot in the half radio frame of <NUM> can carry <NUM> SSBs and comprise <NUM> symbols. Since there are <NUM> SSBs in a time slot <NUM> and each of the <NUM> time slots occupies <NUM>, a maximum number of <NUM> time slots and <NUM> SSBs are required in a half-frame <NUM> of <NUM>. In the illustrated embodiment, first four time slots <NUM>-<NUM>/<NUM>-<NUM>/<NUM>-<NUM>/<NUM>-<NUM> each comprises <NUM> SSBs. It should be noted that the time slot <NUM> with SSBs can occupy any <NUM> times slots in the half-frame <NUM> of <NUM> and each SSB can occupy any <NUM> continuous symbols in the time slot, as discussed above in <FIG> and <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates a schematic of a radio frame structure <NUM> with <NUM> time slots <NUM> in a subcarrier spacing of <NUM> for SSB transmission in a half radio frame <NUM> of <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the subcarrier spacing (SCS) is <NUM> and the maximum number of SSBs is <NUM>. One time slot in the half radio frame of <NUM> can carry <NUM> SSBs and comprise <NUM> symbols. Since there are <NUM> SSBs in a time slot <NUM> and each of the <NUM> time slots occupies <NUM>, a maximum number of <NUM> time slots and <NUM> SSBs are required in a half-frame <NUM> of <NUM>. In the illustrated embodiment, <NUM> time slots <NUM> in a subcarrier spacing of <NUM> each comprises <NUM> SSBs. It should be noted that the time slot <NUM> with SSBs can occupy any <NUM> times slots in the half-frame <NUM> of <NUM> and each SSB can occupy any <NUM> continuous symbols in the time slot, as discussed above in <FIG> and <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates a schematic of a half radio frame structure <NUM> with <NUM> time slots <NUM> in a subcarrier spacing of <NUM> for SSB transmission in a half radio frame <NUM> of <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the subcarrier spacing (SCS) is <NUM> and the maximum number of SSBs is <NUM>. One time slot in a subcarrier spacing of <NUM> in the half radio frame of <NUM> can carry <NUM> SSBs and comprise <NUM> symbols in a subcarrier spacing of <NUM>. Since there are <NUM> SSBs in a time slot <NUM> with a subcarrier spacing of <NUM> and each of the <NUM> time slots occupies <NUM>, a maximum number of <NUM> time slots and <NUM> SSBs are required in a half-frame <NUM> of <NUM>. It should be noted that the time slot <NUM> with SSBs can occupy any <NUM> times slots in the half-frame <NUM> and each SSB can occupy any <NUM> continuous symbols in the time slot, as discussed above in <FIG> and <FIG>. The time slot in a specific SCS comprises <NUM> consecutive OFDM symbols in the specific SCS.

In some embodiments, exemplary configurations of time slots in a half radio frame in <FIG>, illustrate all available time slots which can be potentially used for an IAB node <NUM> to transmit SSBs, i.e., for potential transmission of SSBs. It should be noted that the IAB node <NUM> can select any one or more time slots from these available ones in a half radio frame that can be actually used for the IAB node <NUM> to transmit SSBs, i.e., for actual transmission of SSBs. In some embodiments, time slots for actual transmission of SSBs is a subset of time slots for potential transmission of SSBs.

<FIG> illustrates a schematic of a radio frame structure <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment, the SSB transmission periodicity has the same length as a time window <NUM> and a SSB burst set <NUM>-1A for SSB transmission occupies a first half radio frame <NUM> with a periodicity <NUM> of <NUM> for actual transmission of SSBs. In some embodiments, a SSB transmission periodicity of <NUM> is used for detecting and receiving a SSB on a UE <NUM> for carriers that support initial access. The SSB burst set <NUM>-A has a length <NUM> of <NUM> and occupies a first <NUM> in the half radio frame <NUM> which has a length of <NUM>. The SSB burst set <NUM>-A comprises a plurality of SSBs <NUM>/<NUM>. Three other SSB burst sets <NUM>-B, <NUM>-C, and <NUM>-D in the periodicity <NUM> are for potential transmission of SSBs. The radio frame structure <NUM> occupies a system bandwidth and bandwidth part (BWP) <NUM>. In some embodiments, a BWP is a part of system bandwidth that can be used as the frequency range for data scheduling. It should be noted that the half radio frame <NUM> can occupy any one of the <NUM> half radio frames in the periodicity <NUM> for actual transmission of SSBs and the SSB burst set <NUM> can occupy any symbols in the half radio frame <NUM> as discussed in <FIG> and are within the scope of this disclosure.

In some embodiments, a SSB transmission periodicity can be one of the following: <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. In some embodiments, when the SSB transmission periodicity is <NUM>, two SSB burst sets <NUM> in the half radio frame <NUM> at odd (i.e., <NUM>-A and <NUM>-C) or even positions (<NUM>-B and <NUM>-D) can be used for the actual transmission of SSBs. In some embodiments, when the SSB transmission periodicity is <NUM>, all the four SSB burst sets <NUM> (i.e., <NUM>-A, <NUM>-B, <NUM>-C, and <NUM>-D) in the corresponding half radio frames <NUM> (i.e., <NUM>-A, <NUM>-B, <NUM>-C, and <NUM>-D) are used for the actual transmission of SSBs.

<FIG> illustrates a schematic of a half radio frame structure <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiments, a SSB transmission periodicity is <NUM> and occupies a first times lot <NUM>. Further, a SSB burst set <NUM> comprises <NUM> time slots <NUM>, i.e., 502A, 502B, 502C, 502D and 502E. Each of the time slots <NUM> occupies <NUM> BWP <NUM> and <NUM> OFDM symbols <NUM>. A first <NUM> times lots each comprises <NUM> SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> and each SSB occupies <NUM> OFDM symbols and a frequency range <NUM>, in which the frequency range <NUM> is smaller than the BWP <NUM>. In the illustrated embodiment, the two SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> occupies the same OFDM symbols in the first four time slots <NUM>. It should be noted that Figure <NUM> is an example and any configurations of the SSBs in the time slot and the SSB burst set in the half radio frame, as well as a different SSB transmission periodicity can be used and are within the scope of this disclosure.

In some embodiments, when a SSB burst set <NUM> in a SSB transmission period is required to be muted so that a corresponding IAB node <NUM> can detect SSBs transmitted from other IAB nodes <NUM>, resources occupied by all the eight SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> in a first half radio frame <NUM> can be configured as muting resources in the SSB transmission period. Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, the muting resources are SSBs 514A and 515A of the first time slot 502A, 514B and 515B of the second time slot 502B, 514C and 515C of the third time slot 502C, and 514D and 515D of the fourth time slot 502D, occupying <NUM> OFDM symbols <NUM> and a frequency range <NUM> of <NUM> PRB's.

In some embodiments, when a SSB burst set <NUM> in a SSB transmission period is required to be muted so that a corresponding IAB node <NUM> can detect SSBs transmitted from adjacent IAB nodes <NUM>, resources for the actual transmission of SSBs in a half radio frame <NUM> can be configured as muting resource in the SSB transmission period. Although there are eight total SSB blocks one SSB transmission period, <NUM> SSBs are not selected by the IAB node <NUM> for actual transmission of SSBs and these SSBs are not used as muting resources. Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, the muting resources are SSBs 514A of the first time slot 502A, 514B of the second time slot 502B, 514C of the third time slot 502C, and 514D and 515D of the fourth time slot 502D, occupying <NUM> OFDM symbols <NUM> and a frequency range <NUM> of <NUM> PRBs.

<FIG> illustrates a schematic of a half radio frame structure <NUM> in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiments, a SSB transmission periodicity <NUM> is <NUM> and occupies a first half radio frame <NUM>. Further, a SSB burst set <NUM> comprises <NUM> time slots <NUM>, i.e., 502A, 502B, 502C, 502D and 502E. Each of the time slots <NUM> occupies <NUM> BWP <NUM> and <NUM> OFDM symbols <NUM>. A first <NUM> times lots each comprises <NUM> SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> and each SSB occupies <NUM> OFDM symbols and a frequency range <NUM>, in which the frequency range <NUM> is smaller than the BWP <NUM>. Further, in the illustrated embodiment, the two SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> occupies the same OFDM symbols in the first four time slots <NUM>. It should be noted that Figure <NUM> is an example and any configurations of the SSBs in the time slot and the SSB burst set in the half radio frame, as well as a different SSB transmission periodicity can be used and are within the scope of this disclosure.

In some embodiments, when a SSB burst set <NUM> in a SSB transmission period <NUM> is required to be muted so that a corresponding IAB node <NUM> can detect SSB transmitted from other IAB nodes <NUM>, resources with a frequency range of an BWP <NUM> and on OFDM symbols <NUM> occupied by all the eight SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> in a half radio frame <NUM> can be configured as muting resources in the SSB transmission period. Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, the SSBs 514A and 515A of the first time slot 502A, 514B and 515B of the second time slot 502B, 514C and 515C of the third time slot 502C, and 514D and 515D of the fourth time slot 502D each occupies <NUM> OFDM symbols <NUM> (i.e., <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> symbols) and a frequency range <NUM> of <NUM> PRBs. The muting resources <NUM> (i.e., 1302A, 1302B, 1302C, 1302D, 1302E, 1302F, <NUM>, and <NUM>) occupy all the resources in the frequency domain (i.e., system bandwidth or BWP <NUM>) on <NUM> OFDM symbols corresponding to all of the eight SSBs <NUM>/<NUM>.

In some embodiments, when a SSB burst set <NUM> in a SSB transmission period <NUM> is required to be muted so that a corresponding IAB node <NUM> can detect SSBs transmitted from other IAB nodes <NUM>, resources with a frequency range of an BWP <NUM> and on OFDM symbols <NUM> occupied by SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> for actual transmission of SSBs in a half radio frame <NUM> can be configured as muting resources in the SSB transmission period. Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, SSBs 514A of the first time slot 502A, 514B of the second time slot 502B, 514C of the third time slot 502C, and 514D and 515D of the fourth time slot 502D each is used for the actual transmission of SSBs and occupies <NUM> OFDM symbols <NUM> in a time slot (i.e., <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> symbols) and a frequency range <NUM> of <NUM> PRBs. The muting resources <NUM> (i.e., 1302A, 1302C, 1302E, <NUM>, and <NUM>) occupy all the resources in the frequency domain (i.e., system bandwidth and BWP) on <NUM> OFDM symbols corresponding to the SSBs are SSBs 514A of the first time slot 502A, 514B of the second time slot 502B, 514C of the third time slot 502C, and 514D and 515D of the fourth time slot 502D.

In some embodiments, when a SSB burst set <NUM> in a SSB transmission period <NUM> is required to be muted so that a corresponding IAB node <NUM> can detect SSBs transmitted from other IAB nodes <NUM>, resources in all of the <NUM> time slots <NUM> with potential transmission of SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> can be configured as muting resources. Specifically, all the resources occupying all the OFDM symbols <NUM> in all of the <NUM> time slots <NUM> in the time domain (i.e., <NUM> OFDM symbols) and in a frequency range of the SSB <NUM> in the frequency domain are configured as muting resources. These resources comprise all the resources for the SSB transmission and for data transmission. In some embodiments, the muting resources comprises continuous resources in the time domain. In some embodiments, the muting resources are resources in all the <NUM> times slots <NUM> occupying <NUM> OFDM symbols <NUM> in the time domain and a frequency range <NUM> covering all the PRB's in the system bandwidth or BWP <NUM>.

In some embodiments, when a SSB burst set <NUM> in a SSB transmission period <NUM> is required to be muted so that a corresponding IAB node <NUM> can detect SSBs transmitted from other IAB nodes <NUM>, resources in time slot <NUM> with resources for actual transmission of SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> can be configured as muting resources. Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, SSBs 514A of the first time slot 502A, 514B of the second time slot 502B, and 514C of the third time slot 502C each is used for the actual transmission of SSBs and occupies <NUM> OFDM symbols <NUM> in a time slot and a frequency range <NUM> of <NUM> PRBs. The muting resources are resources in the time slots 502A, 502B and 502C occupying <NUM> OFDM symbols <NUM> in the time domain and a frequency range <NUM> of <NUM> PRB's in the frequency domain. In some other embodiments, the muting resources are resources in the time slots 502A, 502B and 502C occupying <NUM> OFDM symbols <NUM> in the time domain and a frequency range <NUM> covering all the PRB's in the system bandwidth or BWP <NUM>.

In some embodiments, when a SSB burst set <NUM> in a SSB transmission period is required to be muted so that a corresponding IAB node <NUM> can detect SSBs transmitted from other IAB nodes <NUM>, resources in the entire half radio frame <NUM> with a period for potential transmission of SSBs <NUM>/<NUM> can be configured as muting resources. In some embodiments, the muting resources are resources in the half radio frame <NUM> occupying <NUM> time slots <NUM> (i.e., <NUM> OFDM symbols) and a frequency range <NUM> of <NUM> RB. In some other embodiments, the muting resources are resources in the half radio frame <NUM> occupying <NUM> times lots <NUM> (i.e., <NUM> OFDM symbols) and a frequency range <NUM> covering all the PRB's in the system bandwidth or BWP <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates a method <NUM> to perform a muting period configuration for IAB nodes in a communication system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. It is understood that additional operations may be provided before, during, and after the method <NUM> of <FIG>, and that some operations may be omitted or reordered. The communication system comprises <NUM> IAB donor <NUM>-0A, <NUM> first-level IAB nodes <NUM>-1A and <NUM>-1B and <NUM> second-level IAB node <NUM>-2A. It should be noted that <FIG> is an example and a communication system comprising any number of IAB nodes are within the scope of this disclosure.

The method <NUM> starts with operation <NUM> in which a muting resource configuration information is transmitted from an upper-level IAB node (can also be called as parent IAB node) to a lower-level IAB node (can also be called as son IAB node). Specifically, a first first-level IAB node (<NUM>-1A) and a second first-level IAB node (<NUM>-1B) obtain the muting configuration information from the IAB donor <NUM>-0A. The second-level IAB node <NUM>-2A obtains the muting configuration information from the corresponding second first-level IAB node <NUM>-1B.

In some embodiments, the muting resources configuration information can be transmitted from an upper-level IAB node to a lower-level IAB node through one of the following: an existing system information block (e.g., SIB1 or SIB2), an IAB-related SIB (i.e., SIBn), and UE-specified radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In some embodiments, muting resources comprise resources in a SSB burst set. In some embodiments, the muting resource configuration information can be transmitted from the upper-level IAB node to the lower-level IAB node on a combination of system information and a RRC signaling.

In some embodiments, the muting resource configuration information comprises a muting periodicity, a muting pattern table index and a muting pattern index. In some embodiments, the muting periodicity is pre-defined by the system. In some embodiments, the value of the muting periodicity can be indicated from the upper-level IAB node to the lower-level IAB node using a bit field. For example, if there are <NUM> values of the muting periodicity (i.e., set of muting periodicity values), including <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>, <NUM>-bit index can be used to indicate these values. Specifically, <NUM> represents a muting periodicity of <NUM>; <NUM> represents a muting periodicity of <NUM>; <NUM> represents a muting periodicity of <NUM>; and <NUM> represents a muting periodicity of <NUM>. In some embodiments, the muting periodicity is a fixed value and pre-configured to all the IAB nodes and in this case, the muting resource configuration information does not comprise a muting periodicity.

<FIG> illustrates radio frame structure <NUM> for <NUM> IAB nodes <NUM> with a muting periodicity <NUM> of <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the muting periodicity <NUM> is pre-defined by the system. The first symbol of each of the muting periodicity <NUM> is defined as the starting edge of a radio frame, which satisfies SFN mod <NUM>=<NUM>. In some embodiments, a muting periodicity <NUM> occupies <NUM> radio frames. In the illustrated embodiment, the SSB transmission periodicity is <NUM> and there are <NUM> potential muting resources in <NUM> muting periodicity <NUM>. It should be noted that the SSB transmission periodicity <NUM> and the muting periodicity <NUM> can be other values, which may result in a different number of muting resources in <NUM> muting periodicity <NUM> and are within the scope of the present disclosure.

In the illustrated embodiment of <FIG>, there are three first-level IAB nodes, including a first first-level IAB node <NUM>-1A, a second first-level IAB node <NUM>-1B, and a third first-level IAB node <NUM>-1C. Each of the <NUM> IAB nodes has a muting periodicity of <NUM> and a SSB transmission periodicity of <NUM>. Specifically, the first first-level IAB node <NUM>-1A mutes on the muting resources <NUM>-<NUM> in a first SSB transmission period; the second first-level IAB node <NUM>-1B mutes on the muting resources <NUM>-<NUM> in a second SSB transmission period; and the third first-level IAB node <NUM>-1C mutes on the muting resources <NUM>-<NUM> in a third SSB transmission period.

Referring back to <FIG>, the muting pattern table is pre-defined by the system and a <NUM>-bit bit field can be used and transmitted to the lower-level IAB nodes for the indication of the muting pattern table index. For example, a muting pattern table index value of <NUM> corresponds to a muting pattern table <NUM>; a muting pattern table index value of <NUM> corresponds to a muting pattern table <NUM>; a muting pattern table index value of <NUM> corresponds to a muting pattern table <NUM>; and a muting pattern table index value of <NUM> corresponds to a muting pattern table <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrate exemplary muting pattern tables <NUM> with exemplary muting patterns, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Each of the <NUM> muting pattern tables <NUM> comprises <NUM> different muting patterns <NUM> and each of the <NUM> muting patterns in the tables are indexed with a muting pattern index <NUM>, i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>. Further, each of the <NUM> muting patterns comprises <NUM> SSB transmission resources, i.e., resources <NUM>-<NUM> for potential transmission of SSBs.

In the muting pattern table <NUM> of <FIG>, each of the <NUM> muting patterns comprises <NUM> muting resource and <NUM> regular SSB transmission resources. Specifically, at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, a SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of the SSB transmission resources ( i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>) are for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, a SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of the SSB transmission resources ( i.e., <NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>) are for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, a SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of the SSB transmission resources ( i.e., <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>) are for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, a SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of the SSB transmission resources ( i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>) are for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the <NUM>, a SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of the SSB transmission resources ( i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>) are for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, a SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of the SSB transmission resources ( i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>) are for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, a SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of the SSB transmission resources ( i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>, and <NUM>) are for actual transmission of SSBs; and at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, a SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of the SSB transmission resources ( i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>) are for actual transmission of SSBs.

In the muting pattern table <NUM> of <FIG>, each of the <NUM> muting patterns comprises <NUM> muting resources and <NUM> resource for actual transmission of SSBs. Specifically, at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, a SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a resource for actual transmission of SSBs and the rest are muting resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>); at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, a SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a resource for actual transmission of SSBs and the rest are muting resources (i.e., <NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>); at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, a SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a resource for actual transmission of SSBs and the rest are muting resources (i.e., <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>); at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, a SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a resource for actual transmission of SSBs and the rest are muting resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>); at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, a SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a resource for actual transmission of SSBs and the rest are muting resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>); at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, a SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a resource actual transmission of SSBs and the rest are muting resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>); at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, a SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a resource for actual transmission of SSBs and the rest are muting resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>, and <NUM>); and at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, a SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a resource for actual transmission of SSBs and the rest are muting resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>).

In the muting pattern table <NUM> of <FIG>, each of the <NUM> muting patterns comprises <NUM> muting resource and <NUM> resources for actual transmission of SSBs. Specifically, at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, SSB transmission resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are muting resources and SSB transmission resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, SSB transmission resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> are muting resources and SSB transmission resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, SSB transmission resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are muting resources and SSB transmission resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, SSB transmission resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are muting resources and SSB transmission resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, SSB transmission resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are muting resources and SSB transmission resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, SSB transmission resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are muting resources and SSB transmission resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, SSB transmission resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are muting resources and SSB transmission resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are for actual transmission of SSBs; and at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, SSB transmission resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are muting resources and SSB transmission resources <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are actual transmission of SSBs.

In the muting pattern table <NUM> of <FIG>, each of the <NUM> muting patterns comprises <NUM> muting resource and <NUM> resources for actual transmission of SSBs. Specifically, at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, SSB transmission resources <NUM> and <NUM> are muting resources and SSB transmission resources <NUM>-<NUM> are for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, SSB transmission resources <NUM> and <NUM> are muting resources and SSB transmission resources <NUM>-<NUM> are for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, SSB transmission resources <NUM>, and <NUM> are muting resources and SSB transmission resources <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM> for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, SSB transmission resources <NUM> and <NUM> are muting resources and SSB transmission resources <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, SSB transmission resources <NUM> and <NUM> are muting resources and SSB transmission resources <NUM>-<NUM>, and <NUM> are for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, SSB transmission resources <NUM> and <NUM> are muting resources and SSB transmission resources <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> are for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, SSB transmission resources <NUM> and <NUM> are muting resources and SSB transmission resources <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM> are for actual transmission of SSBs; and at a muting pattern index of <NUM> in the muting pattern table <NUM>, SSB transmission resources <NUM> and <NUM> are muting resources and SSB transmission resources <NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM> are for actual transmission of SSBs.

<FIG> are exemplary muting pattern tables with exemplary muting patterns and it should be noted any numbers of muting pattern tables comprising any number of muting patterns and different muting patterns are within the scope of this disclosure. Different muting pattern tables comprise different numbers of muting resource in a muting periodicity. In some embodiments, there is only <NUM> muting pattern table. In some embodiments, the number of muting resources in a muting periodicity of an IAB node may affect opportunities for being detected by adjacent IAB nodes and also may affect the opportunities to successfully detect the adjacent IAB nodes. For example, referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, when there are <NUM> muting resources in a muting periodicity for an IAB node <NUM>-1A, the opportunity for this IAB node <NUM>-1Ato be detected by IAB nodes <NUM>-1B/<NUM>-1C is thus low. For another example, when there are <NUM> resources in a muting periodicity for actual transmission of SSBs and only <NUM> muting resources for the IAB node <NUM>-1A, the IAB node <NUM>-1A detects SSBs from IAB nodes <NUM>-1B/<NUM>-1C on the same muting resource, which degrades the measurement performance of the IAB node <NUM>-1A on the muting resource. In some embodiments, the number of muting resources in a muting periodicity is determined by an upper-level IAB node according to the status of the wireless communication network, and a muting table can be determined and configured to the lower-level IAB nodes.

In some embodiments, in order to indicate a muting pattern in a muting pattern table, a bit field can be used for muting pattern index indication. Referring to <FIG> in which each muting pattern table comprises <NUM> muting patterns, a <NUM>-bit bit field can be used to indicate muting pattern index. In some embodiments, different IAB nodes may receive different <NUM>-bit bit fields corresponding to different muting patterns. In some embodiments, muting patterns in a muting pattern table is pre-defined by the system and transmitted from an upper-level IAB node to a lower-level IAB node in the muting resource configuration information.

In some embodiments, the muting pattern index in the muting pattern table can be determined by an upper-level IAB node, i.e., a parent IAB node. according to a cell identifications (ID) of a lower-level IAB node. For example, the muting pattern index can be determined using (a cell ID of the lower-level IAB node) mod (a number of resources for potential transmission of SSBs in a muting periodicity). Referring to <FIG>, there are <NUM> resources for potential transmission of SSBs in a muting periodicity of <NUM>. Specifically, when the cell ID of lower-level IAB node is <NUM> in binary which corresponds to <NUM> in decimal, the muting pattern index of the lower-level IAB node is equal to <NUM> (i.e., <NUM> mod <NUM>). The muting pattern index of <NUM> can be then used together with the muting table to locate the muting resources.

For another example, the upper-level IAB node can determine staggered resources for all the lower-level IAB nodes using cell ID mod <NUM>. IAB nodes with in the same group comprise the values on the <NUM> least-significant bits (LSB). Further, the muting pattern index can be determined using a similar method discussed above. Specifically, the muting pattern index for the lower-level IAB node can be determined by the <NUM> most-significant bits (MSB) of the cell ID of the corresponding lower-level IAB node (e.g., <NUM> in binary and <NUM> in decimal) and its number of resources for potential transmission of SSBs in a muting periodicity, e.g., <NUM> mod <NUM> which equals <NUM>. The muting pattern index of the IAB node with a cell ID of <NUM> is <NUM>. An overhead for the indication of muting pattern index according to the cell ID, can be comparably lower than that using an explicit indication, for example using a bit field.

In some embodiments, the upper-level IAB node can determine a set of <NUM> random numbers and each random number in the set is between <NUM> and <NUM> based on the cell ID of the lower-level IAB node as an initialization parameter. For example, the upper-level IAB node generates <NUM> random numbers (e.g., <NUM>) for the lower-level node. In a first muting periodicity, the SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>) are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; in a second muting periodicity, the SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>) are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; in a third muting periodicity, the SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>) are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; in a fourth muting periodicity, the SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>) are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; in a fifth muting periodicity, the SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>) are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; in a sixth muting periodicity, the SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>) are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; in a seventh muting periodicity, the SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>) are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; and in an eighth muting periodicity, the SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>) are resources for actual transmission of SSBs. In some embodiments, the set of random numbers can be reused after a number of muting periodicity. For example, after <NUM> muting periodicities, in a ninth muting periodicity, the muting resource configuration is the same as the one used in the first muting periodicity and the rest of the muting periodicities can be done in the same manner. In some other embodiments, after <NUM> muting periodicity, a different set of random number can be generated by the upper-level IAB node for the lower-level IAB node which can be used in the following muting periodicities.

In some embodiments, the muting resource configuration information comprises a muting periodicity and a muting pattern. In some embodiments, the muting periodicity is pre-defined by the system. In some embodiments, the value of the muting periodicity can be indicated from the upper-level IAB node to the lower-level IAB node using a bit field. For example, if there are <NUM> values of the muting periodicity, including <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>, <NUM><NUM>-bit index can be used to indicate these values. Specifically, <NUM> represents a muting periodicity of <NUM>; <NUM> represents a muting periodicity of <NUM>; <NUM> represents a muting periodicity of <NUM>; and <NUM> represents a muting periodicity of <NUM>. In some embodiments, the muting periodicity is a fixed value and pre-configured to all the IAB nodes and in this case, the muting resource configuration information does not comprise a muting periodicity.

In some embodiment, the muting pattern in the muting resource configuration information transmitted from a higher-level IAB node to a lower-level IAB node can be indicated by a bitmap. For example, referring back to <FIG> again, in which a muting periodicity comprises <NUM> resources for potential transmission of SSBs, an <NUM>-bit bitmap can be used by an upper-level IAB node for the indication of at least one muting resource to a lower-level IAB node. Specifically, a <NUM>-bit bitmap comprising "<NUM>", indicating a SSB transmission resource <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of the SSB transmission resources ( i.e., <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>) are for actual transmission of SSBs. In some embodiments, the bitmap for muting pattern indication can be transmitted on a RRC signaling from the upper-level IAB node to the lower-level IAB node.

In some embodiments, different SSB transmission periodicity can be used on different IAB nodes. For example, the SSB transmission periodicity of IAB node <NUM> is <NUM> and the SSB transmission periodicity of IAB node <NUM> is <NUM>. Under the same muting periodicity of <NUM>, there are <NUM> and <NUM> resources for potential transmission of SSBs for IAB node <NUM> and IAB node <NUM>, respectively. Therefore, different bitmaps (i.e., <NUM>-bit and <NUM>-bit bitmaps) can be used for IAB node <NUM> and IAB node <NUM>, respectively.

In some embodiments, a plurality of IAB nodes with different SSB transmission periodicities can share the same muting pattern table, which can be pre-defined by the upper-level IAB node. The upper-level IAB nodes determines a muting pattern table according to the largest SSB transmission periodicity in the different SSB transmission periodicities from the plurality of IAB nodes. For example, the SSB transmission periodicity of IAB node <NUM> is <NUM> and the SSB transmission periodicity of IAB node <NUM> is <NUM>. An upper-level IAB node selects <NUM> muting pattern table (e.g., table <NUM> of <FIG>) with <NUM> resources for potential transmission of SSBs for both of the IAB node <NUM> and IAB node <NUM>. IAB node <NUM> with <NUM> resources for potential transmission of SSBs can obtain its muting resources according to the table as discussed in various embodiments of the present disclosure.

On the other hand, IAB node <NUM> with <NUM> resources for potential transmission of SSBs can obtain its muting resources using the same table. For example, at a muting pattern index <NUM> of table <NUM>, SSB transmission resource <NUM> and <NUM> of IAB node <NUM> are muting resources, the rest of the SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>) are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index <NUM> of table <NUM>, SSB transmission resource <NUM> and <NUM> of IAB node <NUM> are muting resources, the rest of the SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>) are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index <NUM> of table <NUM>, SSB transmission resource <NUM> and <NUM> of IAB node <NUM> are muting resources, the rest of the SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>) are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index <NUM> of table <NUM>, SSB transmission resource <NUM> and <NUM> of IAB node <NUM> are muting resources, the rest of the SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>) are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index <NUM> of table <NUM>, SSB transmission resource <NUM> and <NUM> of IAB node <NUM> are muting resources, the rest of the SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>) are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index <NUM> of table <NUM>, SSB transmission resource <NUM> and <NUM> of IAB node <NUM> are muting resources, the rest of the SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>) are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index <NUM> of table <NUM>, SSB transmission resource <NUM> and <NUM> of IAB node <NUM> are muting resources, the rest of the SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>) are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; and at a muting pattern index <NUM> of table <NUM>, SSB transmission resource <NUM> and <NUM> of IAB node <NUM> are muting resources, the rest of the SSB transmission resources (i.e.,<NUM>-<NUM>) are resources for actual transmission of SSBs.

For another example, SSB transmission resources in the muting pattern table (e.g., table <NUM> of <FIG>) is for indication of muting resources at even or odd SSB transmission resources and the rest of SSB transmission resources are all used as resources for actual transmission of SSBs. Specifically, at a muting pattern index <NUM>, SSB transmission resource <NUM> of IAB node <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of the SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>) of IAB node <NUM> are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index <NUM>, SSB transmission resource <NUM> of IAB node <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of the SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>) of IAB node <NUM> are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index <NUM>, SSB transmission resource <NUM> of IAB node <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of the SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>) of IAB node <NUM> are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index <NUM>, SSB transmission resource <NUM> of IAB node <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of the SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>) of IAB node <NUM> are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index <NUM>, SSB transmission resource <NUM> of IAB node <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of the SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>) of IAB node <NUM> are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index <NUM>, SSB transmission resource <NUM> of IAB node <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of the SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>) of IAB node <NUM> are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; at a muting pattern index <NUM>, SSB transmission resource <NUM> of IAB node <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of the SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM>) of IAB node <NUM> are resources for actual transmission of SSBs; and at a muting pattern index <NUM>, SSB transmission resource <NUM> of IAB node <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of the SSB transmission resources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>) of IAB node <NUM> are resources for actual transmission of SSBs.

In some embodiments, the muting resource configuration information comprises a muting periodicity and a muting pattern index. In some embodiments, the muting periodicity is pre-defined by the system. In some embodiments, the value of the muting periodicity can be indicated from the upper-level IAB node to the lower-level IAB node using a bit field. For example, if there are <NUM> values of the muting periodicity, including <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>, <NUM><NUM>-bit index can be used to indicate these values. Specifically, <NUM> represents a muting periodicity of <NUM>; <NUM> represents a muting periodicity of <NUM>; <NUM> represents a muting periodicity of <NUM>; and <NUM> represents a muting periodicity of <NUM>. In some embodiments, the muting periodicity is a fixed value and pre-configured to all the IAB nodes and in this case, the muting resource configuration information does not comprise a muting periodicity.

In some embodiment, at least one muting resource for a lower-level IAB node can be directly obtained according to its corresponding cell ID. Referring to <FIG>, there are <NUM> resources for potential transmission of SSBs in a muting periodicity of <NUM>. For example, when the cell ID of lower-level IAB node is <NUM> in binary which corresponds to <NUM> in decimal, the muting pattern index of the lower-level IAB node is equal to <NUM>, i.e., (<NUM> mod <NUM>)+<NUM>. The muting resource for the lower-level IAB node with a cell ID of <NUM> is <NUM>. For another example, the upper-level IAB node can determine staggered resources for all the lower-level IAB nodes using cell ID mod <NUM>. IAB nodes with in the same group comprise the values on the <NUM> least-significant bits (LSB). Further, the muting resource can be determined using a similar method discussed above. Specifically, the muting resource for the lower-level IAB node can be determined by the <NUM> most-significant bits (MSB) of the cell ID of the corresponding lower-level IAB node (e.g., <NUM> in binary and <NUM> in decimal) and its number of resources for potential transmission of SSBs in a muting periodicity, e.g., (<NUM> mod <NUM>)+<NUM>, which equals <NUM>. The muting resource for the lower-level IAB node with a cell ID of <NUM> is <NUM>. An overhead for the indication of muting pattern index according to the cell ID, can be comparably lower than that using an explicit indication, for example using a bit field.

In some embodiments, a random number generated by the upper-level IAB node can be directly used to indicate a muting resource for the lower-level IAB node. For example, referring to <FIG> again, there are <NUM> resources for potential transmission of SSBs in a muting periodicity of <NUM>. Specifically, a random number (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>) can directly indicate at least one muting resource can be configured to the lower-level IAB node. For example the upper-level IAB node transmits a random number <NUM> for the lower-level IAB node and the SSB transmission source <NUM> is a muting resource and the rest of the SSB transmission sources (i.e., <NUM>-<NUM>, and <NUM>-<NUM>) are resources for actual transmission of SSBs. In some embodiments, the random number and thus the muting resource remain constant in at least one muting periodicity. In some embodiments, a different random number can be generated by the upper-level IAB node and thus a different muting resource can be indicated to the lower-level IAB node in a different muting periodicity. Therefore, a possibility for measurement of adjacent IAB nodes can be improved according to this method for the muting resource indication according to random numbers generated by the upper-level IAB node through a plurality of muting periodicity.

In some embodiments, at least one muting resource can be also determined by comparing the SSB transmission resources with measurement resources configured by the upper-level IAB node to the lower-level IAB node. In some embodiments, the measurement resources can be configured from the upper-level IAB node to the lower-level IAB nodes by at least one of the following: a measurement periodicity, a measurement offset, a measurement lasting time, and a measurement frequency. For example, the measurement periodicity is <NUM> radio frames, the measurement offset is <NUM> radio frames, the measurement lasting time is <NUM> radio frames. In some embodiments, an edge of a radio frame <NUM> is used is used as the starting point of a measurement period, the measurement is performed for <NUM> radio frames on the time domain; and on the frequency domain, the measurement is further performed in a frequency range, which has a center at the measurement frequency and a bandwidth that is the same as the bandwidth of the SSB.

In some embodiments, when a resource of a reference signal (e.g., SS and PBCH blocks, and CSI-RS) transmission resource completely or partially overlaps with a measurement resource in the time-frequency domain, the resource is a muting resource. As used herein, a "measurement resource" refers to a resource in the time and frequency domain on which an IAB node receives reference signals (e.g., SS and PBCH blocks and CSI-RS) transmitted from adjacent IAB nodes. In the following description, we take SSBs as an example of reference signals.

A SSB transmission resource and a measurement resource are considered overlap if at least one of the following is true: OFDM symbols occupied by the SSB transmission resources and OFDM symbols occupied by the measurement resource overlap; the SSB transmission resources overlap with the measurement resources in both time and frequency domain; a time offset between the SSB transmission resource and the measurement resource is smaller than or equal to a pre-determined threshold value (e.g., X OFDM symbols or a time T); and a frequency offset between the SSB transmission resource and the measurement resource is smaller than or equal to a pre-determined threshold value (e.g., Y RE's, Z RB's or a frequency M kHz). In some embodiments, when the SSB transmission resources overlap with the measurement resource configured by the high-level IAB node, the SSB transmission resources in the muting period can be muted for the measurement of adjacent IAB nodes according to the muting resource configurations discussed in detail above. In some embodiments, a plurality of measurement resources overlaps with a plurality of SSBs transmission resources, resulting in a plurality of muting resources in a muting periodicity.

Referring back to <FIG>, the method <NUM> continues to operation <NUM> in which at least one muting resource set comprising at least one muting resource in a half radio frame is determined according to some embodiments. The at least one muting resource set can be determined according to the muting resource configuration information and/or measurement resource configuration information as discussed above. Upon determining the at least one muting resource, muting resource configurations (i.e., maximum number of SSBs, OFDM symbols occupied by each SSB in a time slot) can be further performed by the lower-level IAB nodes according to various embodiments in <FIG>.

The method <NUM> continues to operation <NUM> in which IAB nodes <NUM>-1A, <NUM>-1B, and <NUM>-2A transmits its SS/PBCH on at least one resource for actual transmission of SSBs to adjacent IAB nodes and detects its adjacent IAB nodes on at least one muting resource, according to some embodiments. The actual transmission of SSBs and measurement of adjacent IAB nodes are performed according to the at least one muting resource.

A person of ordinary skill in the art would further appreciate that any of the some illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, means, circuits, methods and functions described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., a digital implementation, an analog implementation, or a combination of the two, which can be designed using source coding or some other technique), various forms of program or design code incorporating instructions (which can be referred to herein, for convenience, as "software" or a "software module), or combinations of both. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware or software, or a combination of these technique, depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans can implement the described functionality in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

Claim 1:
A method performed by a first wireless communication node, comprising:
receiving a configuration message indicating a configuration of at least one measurement resource from a second wireless communication node;
determining at least one overlapping resource between the at least one measurement resource and a first plurality of resources; and
determining at least one muting resource among the first plurality of resources based on a selected muting pattern within a selected muting pattern table, wherein the at least one muting resource comprises the at least one overlapping resource,
wherein the selected muting pattern table is selected from a plurality of muting pattern tables based on a muting pattern table index, and the selected muting pattern table comprises a plurality of muting patterns, and the selected muting pattern is selected from the plurality of muting patterns based on a muting pattern index.