Patent Description:
In other examples (e.g., in a next generation, a new radio (NR), or <NUM> network), a wireless multiple access communication system may include a number of distributed units (DUs) (e.g., edge units (EUs), edge nodes (ENs), radio heads (RHs), smart radio heads (SRHs), transmission reception points (TRPs), etc.) in communication with a number of central units (CUs) (e.g., central nodes (CNs), access node controllers (ANCs), etc.), where a set of one or more DUs, in communication with a CU, may define an access node (e.g., which may be referred to as a BS, next generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB), TRP, etc.). A BS or DU may communicate with a set of UEs on downlink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a BS or DU to a UE) and uplink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a UE to a BS or DU).

Examples of the respective technologies can be seen in disclosures of prior art such as <CIT>.

As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, there exists a need for further improvements in NR and LTE technology.

After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading the section entitled "Detailed Description" one will understand how the features of this disclosure provide advantages that include improved communications between wireless communication devices.

Embodiments and aspects that do not fall within the scope of the claims are merely examples used for explanation of the invention. Wording such as "may" and "for example" used in the description in conjunction with features of the independent claims should not be interpreted to mean that those features are merely optional.

The invention corresponds to the embodiments disclosed in <FIG> and <FIG> and the other embodiments are not encompassed by the wording of the claims but are considered as useful for understanding the invention. Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for power management based on an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) network. For example, power management techniques may be implemented using priority values configured at IAB-nodes. The priority values may be used by the IAB-nodes to determine whether to adjust transmission (TX) configurations in response to detection of interference. For instance, a lower priority IAB-node may reduce transmit power if communications of the IAB-node is causing interference to a higher priority IAB-node, as described in more detail herein.

For example, the network <NUM> may include an IAB-node (implemented as a UE <NUM> or BS <NUM>) configured to perform operations <NUM> of <FIG>, a network entity (e.g., a BS <NUM>) configured to perform operations <NUM> of <FIG>, and/or operations <NUM> of <FIG>.

The UEs <NUM> (e.g., 20x, 120y, etc.) may be dispersed throughout the wireless communication network <NUM>, and each UE <NUM> may be stationary or mobile.

<FIG> illustrates example components <NUM> of BS <NUM> and UE <NUM> (e.g., in the wireless communication network <NUM> of <FIG>), which may be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure. For example, antennas <NUM>, processors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or controller/processor <NUM> of the UE <NUM> and/or antennas <NUM>, processors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or controller/processor <NUM> of the BS <NUM> may be used to perform the various techniques and methods described herein.

It should be noted that though <FIG> illustrates UE <NUM> communicating with a BS <NUM>, a child IAB-node may similarly communicate with a parent IAB-node (or other network entity) and each may (e.g., respectively) have similar components as discussed with respect to <FIG>. In other words, a child IAB-node may have similar components as UE <NUM> and may be configured to perform operations <NUM> of <FIG>, while a parent IAB-node (or other network entity) may have similar components as BS <NUM> and may be configured to perform operations <NUM> of <FIG> or operations <NUM> of <FIG>.

The control information may be for the physical broadcast channel (PBCH), physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), physical hybrid automatic repeat request (ARQ) indicator channel (PHICH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), group common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), etc. The data may be for the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), etc. The processor <NUM> may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmit processor <NUM> may also generate reference symbols, such as for the primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and cell-specific reference signal (CRS). A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor <NUM> may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, the control symbols, and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide output symbol streams to the modulators (MODs) 232a-232t. Downlink signals from modulators 232a-232t may be transmitted via the antennas 234a-234t, respectively.

At the UE <NUM>, the antennas 252a-252r may receive downlink signals from the BS <NUM> or a parent IAB-node, or a child IAB-node may receive downlink signals from a parent IAB-node, and may provide received signals to the demodulators (DEMODs) 254a-254r, respectively. A MIMO detector <NUM> may obtain received symbols from all the demodulators 254a-254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and provide detected symbols. One or more of antennas <NUM>, demodulators <NUM>, MIMO detector <NUM>, receive processor <NUM>, transmit processor <NUM>, TX MIMO processor <NUM>, and/or the like may be components within a transceiver of the UE <NUM>.

On the uplink, at UE <NUM> or a child IAB-node, a transmit processor <NUM> may receive and process data (e.g., for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or the PSSCH) from a data source <NUM> and control information (e.g., for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or the PSCCH) from the controller/processor <NUM>. The symbols from the transmit processor <NUM> may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor <NUM> if applicable, further processed by the demodulators in transceivers 254a-254r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to the base station <NUM> or a parent IAB-node.

At the BS <NUM> or a parent IAB-node, the uplink signals from the UE <NUM> may be received by the antennas <NUM>, processed by the modulators <NUM>, detected by a MIMO detector <NUM> if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor <NUM> to obtain decoded data and control information sent by the UE <NUM>. One or more of antennas <NUM>, demodulators <NUM>, TX MIMO processor <NUM>, transmit processor <NUM>, MIMO detector <NUM>, receive processor <NUM>, and/or the like may be components within a transceiver of the BS <NUM>.

The controllers/processors <NUM> and <NUM> may direct the operation at the BS <NUM> and the UE <NUM>, respectively. The controller/processor <NUM> and/or other processors and modules at the BS <NUM> may perform or direct the execution of processes for the techniques described herein. The controller/processor <NUM> and/or other processors and modules at the UE <NUM> may perform or direct the execution of processes for the techniques described herein. The memories <NUM>, <NUM> may store data and program codes for BS <NUM> and UE <NUM>, respectively.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating examples of radio access networks, in accordance with various aspects of the disclosure.

As shown by reference number <NUM>, a traditional (for example, <NUM>, <NUM>, LTE) radio access network may include multiple base stations <NUM> (for example, access nodes (AN)), where each base station <NUM> communicates with a core network via a wired backhaul link <NUM>, such as a fiber connection. A base station <NUM> may communicate with a UE <NUM> via an access link <NUM>, which may be a wireless link. In some aspects, a base station <NUM> shown in <FIG> may correspond to a base station <NUM> shown in <FIG>. Similarly, a UE <NUM> shown in <FIG> may correspond to a UE <NUM> shown in <FIG>.

As shown by reference number <NUM>, a radio access network may include a wireless backhaul network. In some aspects or scenarios, a wireless backhaul network may sometimes be referred to as an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) network. An IAB network may include multiple base stations and the base stations may be of differing types or have differing operational characteristics. For example, in some aspects, an IAB network may have at least one base station that is an anchor base station <NUM>. The anchor base station may communicates with a core network via a wired backhaul link <NUM>, such as a fiber connection. An anchor base station <NUM> may also be referred to as an IAB donor. An IAB donor is an access node with wireline connection to a core network. An IAB node is an access node that relays traffic from/to Anchor through one or multiple hops. Anchor base stations can be configured to communicate with other types of base stations or other communication devices (e.g. in a radio network or IAB network).

The IAB network may also include one or more non-anchor base stations <NUM>. Non-anchor base stations may be referred to as relay base stations or IAB nodes. The non-anchor base station <NUM> may communicate directly with or indirectly with (for example, via one or more other non-anchor base stations <NUM>) the anchor base station <NUM> via one or more backhaul links <NUM> to form a backhaul path to the core network for carrying backhaul traffic. Backhaul link <NUM> may be a wireless link. Anchor base station(s) <NUM> or non-anchor base station(s) <NUM> may communicate with one or more UEs <NUM> via access links <NUM>, which may be wireless links for carrying access traffic. In some aspects, an anchor base station <NUM> or a non-anchor base station <NUM> shown in <FIG> may correspond to a base station <NUM> shown in <FIG>. Similarly, a UE <NUM> shown in <FIG> may correspond to a UE <NUM> shown in <FIG>.

As shown by reference number <NUM>, in some aspects, a radio access network that includes an IAB network may utilize a variety of spectrum types. For example, an IAB network may utilize a variety of differing radio frequency bands. In a few particular examples and according to some aspects, millimeter wave technology or directional communications can be utilized (for example, beamforming, precoding) for communications between base stations or UEs (for example, between two base stations, between two UEs, or between a base station and a UE). In additional or alternative aspects or examples, wireless backhaul links <NUM> between base stations may use millimeter waves to carry information or may be directed toward a target base station using beamforming, precoding. Similarly, the wireless access links <NUM> between a UE and a base station may use millimeter waves or may be directed toward a target wireless node (for example, a UE or a base station). In this way, inter-link interference may be reduced.

In some aspects, an IAB network may support a multi-hop network or a multi-hop wireless backhaul. Additionally, or alternatively, each node of an IAB network may use the same radio access technology (for example, <NUM>/NR). Additionally, or alternatively, nodes of an IAB network may share resources for access links and backhaul links, such as time resources, frequency resources, spatial resources. Furthermore, various architectures of IAB nodes or IAB donors may be supported.

In some aspects, an IAB donor may include a central unit (CU) that configures IAB nodes that access a core network via the IAB donor and may include a distributed unit (DU) that schedules and communicates with child nodes of the IAB donor.

In some aspects, an IAB node may include a mobile termination component (MT) that is scheduled by and communicates with a DU of a parent node, and may include a DU that schedules and communicates with child nodes of the IAB node. A DU of an IAB node may perform functions described in connection with base station <NUM> for that IAB node, and an MT of an IAB node may perform functions described in connection with UE <NUM> for that IAB node.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example of an IAB network architecture, in accordance with various aspects of the disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, an IAB network may include an IAB donor <NUM> that connects to a core network via a wired connection (for example, as a wireline fiber). For example, an Ng interface of an IAB donor <NUM> may terminate at a core network. Additionally, or alternatively, an IAB donor <NUM> may connect to one or more devices of the core network that provide a core access and mobility management function (AMF). In some aspects, an IAB donor <NUM> may include a base station <NUM>, such as an anchor base station, as described above in connection with <FIG>. As shown, an IAB donor <NUM> may include a CU, which may perform access note controller (ANC) functions or AMF functions. The CU may configure a DU of the IAB donor <NUM> or may configure one or more IAB nodes <NUM> (for example, an MT or a DU of an IAB node <NUM>) that connect to the core network via the IAB donor <NUM>. Thus, a CU of an IAB donor <NUM> may control or configure the entire IAB network that connects to the core network via the IAB donor <NUM>, such as by using control messages or configuration messages (for example, a radio resource control (RRC) configuration message, an F1 application protocol (F1AP) message).

As described above, the IAB network may include IAB nodes <NUM> (shown as IAB nodes <NUM> through <NUM>) that connect to the core network via the IAB donor <NUM>. As shown, an IAB node <NUM> may include an MT and may include a DU. The MT of an IAB node <NUM> (for example, a child node) may be controlled or scheduled by another IAB node <NUM> (for example, a parent node) or by an IAB donor <NUM>. The DU of an IAB node <NUM> (for example, a parent node) may control or schedule other IAB nodes <NUM> (for example, child nodes of the parent node) or UEs <NUM>. Thus, a DU may be referred to as a scheduling node or a scheduling component, and an MT may be referred to as a scheduled node or a scheduled component. In some aspects, an IAB donor <NUM> may include a DU and not an MT. That is, an IAB donor <NUM> may configure, control, or schedule communications of IAB nodes <NUM> or UEs <NUM>. A UE <NUM> may include only an MT, and not a DU. That is, communications of a UE <NUM> may be controlled or scheduled by an IAB donor <NUM> or an IAB node <NUM> (for example, a parent node of the UE <NUM>).

According to some aspects, certain nodes may be configured to participate in control/scheduling processes. For example in some aspects, when a first node controls or schedules communications for a second node (for example, when the first node provides DU functions for the second node's MT), the first node may be referred to as a parent node of the second node, and the second node may be referred to as a child node of the first node. A child node of the second node may be referred to as a grandchild node of the first node. Thus, a DU of a parent node may control or schedule communications for child nodes of the parent node. A parent node may be an IAB donor <NUM> or an IAB node <NUM>, and a child node may be an IAB node <NUM> or a UE <NUM>. Communications of an MT of a child node may be controlled or scheduled by a parent node of the child node.

As further shown in <FIG>, a link between a UE <NUM> and an IAB donor <NUM>, or between a UE <NUM> and an IAB node <NUM>, may be referred to as an access link <NUM>. Each access link <NUM> may be a wireless access link that provides a UE <NUM> with radio access to a core network via the IAB donor <NUM>, and potentially via one or more IAB nodes <NUM>.

As further shown in <FIG>, a link between an IAB donor <NUM> and an IAB node <NUM>, or between two IAB nodes <NUM>, may be referred to as a backhaul link <NUM>. Each backhaul link <NUM> may be a wireless backhaul link that provides an IAB node <NUM> with radio access to a core network via the IAB donor <NUM>, and potentially via one or more other intermediate IAB nodes <NUM>. In some aspects, a backhaul link <NUM> may be a primary backhaul link or a secondary backhaul link (for example, a backup backhaul link). In some aspects, a secondary backhaul link may be used if a primary backhaul link fails, becomes congested, or becomes overloaded. In an IAB network, network resources for wireless communications (for example, time resources, frequency resources, spatial resources) may be shared between access links <NUM> and backhaul links <NUM>.

As described above, in a typical IAB network, IAB nodes (for example, non-anchor base stations) are stationary (that is, non-moving). Next generation (<NUM>) wireless networks have stated objectives to provide ultra-high data rate and support wide scope of application scenarios. Integrated access and backhaul (IAB) systems have been studied in 3GPP as one possible solution to help support these objectives.

As noted above, in IAB, a wireless backhaul solution is adopted to connect cells (IAB-nodes) to the core network (which uses a wired backhaul). Some attractive characteristics of IAB are support for multi-hop wireless backhaul, sharing of the same technology (e.g., NR) and resources (e.g., frequency bands) for both access and backhaul links.

There are various possible architectures for IAB-nodes, including layer-<NUM> (L2) and layer-<NUM> (L3) solutions and a particular architecture deployed may depend on what layers of protocol stack are implemented in the intermediate nodes (IAB-nodes), for example, L2 relays may implement PHY/MAC/RLC layers.

As described herein, an IAB donor may be an enhanced gNB node with functions to control IAB-network. A CU may refer to the central entity that controls the entire IAB-network through configuration. The CU holds RRC/PDCP layer functions. A DU may be a scheduling node that schedules child nodes of this IAB-donor. The DU holds RLC/MAC/PHY layer functions. An IAB-node is a L2 relay node consisting of MT and DU functions, as described herein. MT is a scheduled node similar to UE scheduled by its parent IAB-node or IAB-donor. A DU is a scheduling node that schedules child nodes of this IAB-node.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure are directed to power management techniques for handling interference for integrated access and backhaul (IAB) networks. For example, a priority value may be configured for various IAB nodes, allowing the IAB nodes to determine whether to adjust transmission (TX) configurations in response to occurrence of interference, as described in more detail herein.

<FIG> illustrate example wireless systems implemented using a macro eNB (MeNB) <NUM> and a home eNB (HeNB) <NUM>. As illustrated in <FIG>, the HeNB <NUM> may serve a UE referred to as a home UE (HUE) <NUM> and the MeNB <NUM> may serve a UE referred to as a macro UE (MUE) <NUM>. As illustrated, the uplink transmission <NUM> from the HUE <NUM> may cause interference <NUM> to the MeNB. Therefore, HeNB <NUM> may estimate the pathloss (PL) from the HUE <NUM> to the victim eNB (e.g., the eNB to which interference is being caused, which is the MeNB <NUM> in this example). The PL may be determined based on signal measurements performed by the HUE <NUM> of prior eNB transmissions. For example, prior signal strength measurements based on transmissions from the MeNB <NUM> may be indicated to the HeNB <NUM>, allowing the HeNB to estimate the interference that may be caused to the MeNB <NUM> by UL transmissions from the HUE <NUM>. The HeNB may then transmit UL transmission power control (TPC) command to the HUE <NUM> to reduce the interference at the victim eNB (or other HeNB). A TPC controls uplink TX power for UE and IAB-node MT and may be sent by IAB-donor DU or IAB-node DU to adjust UL transmission power of child node for a desired received power and to minimize interference. TPC may be carried in downlink control information (DCI).

As illustrated in <FIG>, the downlink transmission <NUM> from the HeNB <NUM> may cause interference <NUM> to the MUE <NUM>. In this case, the HeNB may estimate the PL to MUE <NUM> directly or indirectly based on the estimation of PL to the MeNB <NUM>. The HeNB <NUM> then adjusts DL transmit power to reduce the interference at the victim MUE <NUM> (or other HUE). For example, the HeNB <NUM> may assume that the MUE <NUM> is close to the MeNB <NUM> and the HUE <NUM> is close to the HeNB <NUM>. Thus, the HeNB <NUM> may estimate the interference caused to the MUE <NUM> based on measurements of transmissions from the MeNB <NUM> performed by the HUE <NUM> and reported to the HeNB <NUM>.

<FIG>, <FIG> illustrate various communication systems showing difference interference scenarios in IAB networks. In certain aspects, IAB nodes (e.g., the MT of the IAB node) may perform signal measurements and may not have to rely on measurements done by a UE. An IAB node has L2 functionality, therefore, any L3 measurements performed by a UE may be reported to a CU due to the split of CU and DU as described herein.

As illustrated in <FIG>, a mobile IAB-node <NUM> (e.g., an IAB-node on a vehicle) may be serving a UE <NUM>. The mobile IAB-node <NUM> may transmit to a UE <NUM>, yet cause interference to a UE <NUM> that is served by a stationary IAB-node <NUM>. Similarly, the transmission by the IAB-node <NUM> to the UE <NUM> may cause interference to the UE <NUM> being served by the mobile IAB-node <NUM>. In this case, the mobile IAB-node <NUM>, causing interference to the stationary IAB-node <NUM>, may reduce the downlink (DL) transmit power to the UE <NUM> to reduce the interference.

In an over deployed network, or zero-network planning scenario, as illustrated in <FIG>, multiple IAB nodes may have overlapping coverage, causing interference to each other. As illustrated in <FIG>, UE <NUM> and UE <NUM> are both in an overlapping coverage area with overlapping coverage from both IAB-node <NUM> and IAB-node <NUM>. Therefore, tiebreaking rules may be used to determine which IAB node may reduce its DL transmit power, as described in more detail herein.

A multi-hop IAB implementation is illustrated in <FIG>. As illustrated, the IAB-donor <NUM> may serve IAB-nodes <NUM>, <NUM>, the IAB-node <NUM> may serve the UE <NUM>, and the IAB-node <NUM> may serve the child IAB-nodes <NUM>, <NUM>. The transmission to the UE <NUM> from the IAB-node <NUM> may be causing interference to the child IAB-node <NUM>. Moreover, the transmission to the child IAB-node <NUM> by the IAB-node <NUM> may cause interference to the UE <NUM>.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for determine which IAB-node is to yield (e.g., reduce its transmit power) in order to reduce the interference. For example, in such a scenario, the IAB-node <NUM> may yield to IAB-node <NUM> and reduce the DL transmit power to the UE <NUM>. In other words, the backhaul (BH) link to the child IAB-nodes <NUM>, <NUM> may be favored over the access link between the IAB-node <NUM> and the UE <NUM>. Moreover, the IAB-node <NUM> has a higher load, and thus, may be prioritized for power management.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure are directed to an implementation of a power-management (PM) priority value that may be used for determining which of interfering IAB-nodes' DUs and/or child IAB-nodes' MTs (as well as child UEs) are to modify their respective DL TX configuration and UL TX configuration to reduce interference affecting the function of other nodes. As used herein, an IAB-node may also refer to an IAB-donor DU.

<FIG> is a flow diagram illustrating example operations <NUM> for wireless communication, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. The operations <NUM> may be performed by a first wireless node, such as an IAB-node (e.g., IAB-node <NUM>).

Operations <NUM> may be implemented as software components that are executed and run on one or more processors (e.g., controller/processor <NUM> of <FIG>). Further, the transmission and reception of signals by the first wireless communication device in operations <NUM> may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas (e.g., antennas <NUM> of <FIG>). In certain aspects, the transmission and/or reception of signals by the first wireless communication device may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., controller/processor <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>) obtaining and/or outputting signals.

Operations <NUM> begins, at block <NUM>, by determining, at a first wireless node ( an IAB-node <NUM>), a priority value associated with the first wireless node to configured to serve one or more child nodes (e.g., child IAB-nodes <NUM>, <NUM>). In certain aspects, determining the priority value may include receiving an indication of the priority value. The priority value is specific to a beam to be used for communications or a band associated with the communications.

At block <NUM>, the first wireless node determines occurrence of interference to communications of the first wireless node or a second wireless node ( another IAB-node, such as IAB-node <NUM>) (or both the first wireless not and the second wireless node). In certain aspects, determining the occurrence of the interference may include receiving an indication of the interference.

At block <NUM>, the first wireless node takes one or more actions in response to the determination of the interference and based on the priority value. The first wireless node determines a priority value associated with the second wireless node, the one or more actions being further based on the priority value associated with the second wireless node.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure are directed to techniques for handing interference when the first wireless node is a victim of interference. For example, determining the occurrence of the interference may include determining that the communications of the second wireless node are causing interference with the communications of the first wireless node. In this case, the first wireless node may perform at least one of transmitting an indication of the interference or adjusting a transmission configuration associated with the communications of the first wireless node. For example, the one or more actions taken at block <NUM> may include facilitating interference management by transmitting the indication of the interference or adjusting the transmission configuration.

Certain aspects provide techniques for handing interference when the first and second wireless nodes have equal priorities or the priorities of both wireless nodes are unknown. In other words, if the priority value associated with the first wireless node is equal to a priority value associated with the second wireless node or the priority value associated with the second wireless node is unknown by the first wireless node, the one or more actions may include adjusting a transmission configuration associated with the communications of the first wireless node, or transmitting an indication of the occurrence of the interference. In some aspects, adjusting the transmission configuration associated with the communication of the first wireless node may include adjusting the transmission configuration of the first wireless node itself, or one or more child nodes (e.g., child IAB-nodes <NUM>, <NUM>) served by the first wireless node.

Certain aspects provide techniques for handing interference when the first wireless node is the aggressor. In other words, determining the occurrence of the interference may include determining that the communications of the first wireless node are causing interference to the second wireless node. In this case, the one or more actions may include adjusting a transmission configuration associated with the communications of the first wireless node in response to the determination if the priority value associated with the first wireless node is less than a priority value associated with the second wireless node.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure are directed to time break policies for handing scenarios where the first and second wireless nodes have equal priorities or the priorities of both wireless nodes are unknown. For example, if the priority value associated with the first wireless node is equal to the priority value associated with the second wireless node or the priority value associated with the second wireless node is unknown by the first wireless node, the one or more actions further may include determining whether to adjust a transmission configuration associated with the communications of the first wireless node based on a randomization algorithm. As an example, adjusting the transmission configuration may include setting a back-off timer in accordance with the randomization algorithm or transmitting with random probability in accordance with the randomization algorithm. During the back-off timer of a respective wireless node, the wireless node may defer transmissions in an attempt to prevent interference. In some cases, a randomization seed associated with the randomization algorithm may correspond to the priority value associated with the first wireless node. For instance, if IAB-nodes do not know each other's PM priority values, the one with the lower priority may yield a higher probability (e.g., since the random seed is a function of the PM-priority value), or the one with lower priority may wait longer on average.

In some cases, the tie break rules may be deterministic (e.g., instead of being random). For instance, if the priority value associated with the first wireless node is equal to the priority value associated with the second wireless node or the priority value associated with the second wireless node is unknown by the first wireless node, the one or more actions may include determining whether to adjust a transmission configuration associated with the communications of the first wireless node based on identifiers associated with the first wireless node and the second wireless node. For instance, the wireless node with a higher (or lower) identifier may adjust its transmission configuration in such a scenario.

In some cases, a threshold may be configured for detecting excessive interference. For example, determining the occurrence of the interference may be based on whether a parameter corresponding to the interference exceeds a threshold. The threshold may be dependent on the priority value.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for reporting priority values. For example, the first wireless node may report the priority value associated with the first wireless node to the second wireless node or a control node or broadcast the priority value. In some cases, the first wireless node may receive a reporting configuration, the priority value being reported in accordance with the reporting configuration. For instance, the reporting configuration may indicate one or more events that trigger the reporting or a schedule for the reporting.

In some cases, the priority value may be reported using an explicit indication of the priority value or implied by resources used for transmission of a message for reporting the priority value. For instance, using first resources for transmission of the message may indicate a high priority and using second resources for transmission of the message may indicate a low priority. In certain aspects, the first wireless node may transmit a message requesting a priority value associated with the second wireless node, and receive an indication of the priority value associated with the second wireless node. In this case, the one or more actions in response to the determination of the interference is further based on the priority value of the second wireless node.

In some cases, the first wireless node may receive an indication of a priority value associated with the second wireless node, and report the priority value of the second wireless node to a control node. For example, the first wireless node may receive a reporting configuration, the priority value being reported in accordance with the reporting configuration.

<FIG> is a flow diagram illustrating example operations <NUM> for wireless communication, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. The operations <NUM> may be performed by a first wireless node such as a control node.

Operations <NUM> may be implemented as software components that are executed and run on one or more processors (e.g., controller/processor <NUM> of <FIG>). Further, the transmission and reception of signals by the first wireless communication device in operations <NUM> may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas (e.g., antennas <NUM> of <FIG>). In certain aspects, the transmission and/or reception of signals by the first wireless communication device may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., controller/processor <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or <NUM>) obtaining and/or outputting signals.

Operations <NUM> begin, at block <NUM>, by determining, at a control node, a priority value associated with a second wireless node ( an IAB-node, such as IAB-node <NUM>) configured to serve one or more child nodes (e.g., child IAB-nodes <NUM>, <NUM>). At block <NUM>, the control node determines occurrence of interference to communications of the second wireless node or a third wireless node ( another IAB-node, such as IAB-node <NUM>) (or both the second wireless node and the third wireless node). At block <NUM>, the control node takes one or more actions in response to the determination of the interference and based on the priority value.

The control node determines a priority value associated with the third wireless node, the one or more actions being further based on the priority value associated with the third wireless node. In some cases, the determination of the occurrence of the interference may include receiving an indication of the occurrence of the interference. For instance, the control node may receive an indication that the interference has occurred from one of the second wireless node or the third wireless node. In some cases, the control node may transmit, to at least one of the second wireless node or the third wireless node, an indication of a threshold for triggering the occurrence of the interference.

In certain aspects, the control node may transmit at least one of an indication of the priority value associated with the second wireless node or an indication of a priority value associated with the third wireless node to at least one of the second wireless node or the third wireless node. In certain aspects, the indication of the priority value may include a configuration message based on which the at least one of the second wireless node or the third wireless node computes the priority value.

In certain aspects, the second wireless node may be the aggressor. For example, determining the occurrence of the interference may include determining that the communications of the second wireless node are causing interference to a third wireless node (e.g., another IAB-node).

In some cases, the second wireless node may be the aggressor with lower priority than the third wireless node. In other words, the one or more actions may include the control node transmitting an indication, to the second wireless node, to adjust a transmission configuration associated with the communications of the second wireless node if the priority value associated with the second wireless node is less than a priority value associated with the third wireless node. In certain aspects, the indication of adjust the transmission configuration may include indicating a new transmission configuration to be applied.

Certain aspects provide techniques for reporting priority values. For example, the control node may receive a report of the priority value from the second wireless node. In some cases, the control node may transmit a reporting configuration, the reception of the report of the priority value being in accordance with the reporting configuration. The reporting configuration may indicate one or more events that trigger the reporting of the priority value or a schedule for the reporting of the priority value. In certain aspects, the priority value may be reported using an explicit indication of the priority value or implied by resources used for reception of a message reporting the priority value, as described herein.

In certain aspects, the control node may receive a request for priority values to be reported. For example, the control node may determining a priority value associated with the third wireless node, receive, from the second wireless node, a message requesting a priority value of the third wireless node, and transmit, to the second wireless node, an indication of the priority value associated with the third wireless node.

In certain aspects, the control node may receive, from the second wireless node, an indication of a priority value of the third wireless node. In some cases, the control node may transmit a reporting configuration, the reception of the indication of the priority value of the third wireless node being in accordance with the reporting configuration.

In certain implementations, the control node may set policies for interference management for various scenarios. These scenarios may include situations where the second and third wireless nodes are unaware of each other's priority values to be used for interference management, or where the priority values are equal.

Operations <NUM> begin, at block <NUM>, by determining, at a first wireless node (e.g., control node), a policy for handing interference between a second wireless node (e.g., IAB-node <NUM>) and a third wireless node (e.g., IAB-node <NUM>), each of the second wireless node and the third wireless node being configured to serve one or more child nodes (e.g., child IAB-nodes <NUM>, <NUM> or UE <NUM>). The policy may be based on a priority value associated with at least one of the second wireless node or the third wireless node.

At block <NUM>, the control node may transmit an indication of the policy to at least one of the second wireless node or the third wireless node. For example, the policy may indicate, to the second wireless node, how to handle the interference if the priority values associated with the second wireless node and the third wireless node are equal or if the priority value associated with the third wireless node is unknown by the second wireless node. Indicating how to handle the interference may include indicating to determine whether to adjust a transmission configuration associated with communications by the second wireless node based on an identifier associated with the second wireless node and the third wireless node.

As another example, indicating how to handle the interference may include indicating to determine whether to adjust a transmission configuration associated with communications of the second wireless node based on a randomization algorithm. In some cases, the policy may indicate, to the second wireless node, a threshold for determining an occurrence of the interference between the second wireless node and the third wireless node. For example, the policy may indicate that the threshold is to be dependent on the priority value associated with the second wireless node.

In certain aspects, the priority value (e.g., also referred to a power management (PM) priority value) may be either assigned to an IAB-node by a control node, another IAB-node, or computed by the IAB-node itself. Computing the PM priority value may be preconfigured (e.g., follow specification rules) or follow a control node's configuration (e.g., configured by the CU of IAB-donor). The computed priority value may be reported to the control node or another node (e.g., parent node). The PM priority value may be one of a discrete range of values.

The PM priority value may reflect various configurations of the IAB-node such as mobility state, hop count, node relationship (e.g. parent IAB-node vs. child IAB-node), node type (e.g. IAB-node vs. IAB-donor, IAB-node vs. eNB (e.g., since eNB may access NR network)), network load, load type (e.g., access vs. BH), quality of service (QoS) requirement of child service, control vs. data, or mode of operation (e.g., whether configured as fully active or in power-save (PS) mode with limited service). For example, it may be important to avoid interfering with an IAB node when the IAB-node wakes up from PS mode. In certain implementations, the PM priority value may be beam-specific or frequency-specific. Different PM priority values are computed for each beam or band since different beams and bands may be associated with different interference levels. Thus, an IAB-node may attain multiple PM priority values.

As used herein, a TX configuration may refer to various configurations that aim to reduce interference, such as TX power or power range, periodicity of transmission, number of TX occasions per period (duty cycle), frequency domain resources (e.g. resource blocks (RBs)/bandwidth parts (BWPs) used for communication, beam sweep configuration for measurement reference signal (RS)/broadcast signals and messages (e.g., number of beams and beam shape), beam configuration for control/data communication (e.g., beam width), or any combination thereof. For example, the TX power of a specific signal/channel/resource may be set using the TX configuration since it may be important to have selective power profile for a more flexible power control.

As referred to herein, a node function may refer to the interaction, both TX and RX, with other nodes such as a parent node, child node, or UE. In certain aspects, an actual TX power or a maximum TX power may be determined based at least on one of the aggressor's (e.g., node causing interference) and/or victim's priority level and the estimated PL (or RSSI/RSRP) to the victim cell.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for communicating PM-priority values of various IAB-nodes, allowing the IAB-nodes to perform interference management. In certain aspects, a second IAB-node may indicate a PM priority value via a broadcast message. For example, the PM-priority value may be indicated via a system information block (e.g., SIB1), a reference signal or over an established link towards an IAB-node. An IAB-node may report to a control node an acquired PM priority value of a second IAB-node, in certain implementations. As used herein, a control node may refer to a CU, parent node, or a local control node. In some implementations, the report transmitted to the control node may be transmitted along with a measurement report being sent to the control node. A control node may send to an IAB-node a PM priority value of another IAB-node to facilitate interference management. In certain aspects, a control node may request that an IAB-node to send a PM priority value of the IAB-node itself or the priority value of one or more other nodes to be used for interference management.

An IAB-node may request to be indicated a PM priority value of another IAB-node from a control node or the other IAB-node itself. In some aspects, a UE or IAB-node MT may read a PM priority value in a broadcast message of another IAB-node, and indicate the value to a control node. For example, the UE or IAB-node MT may receive the broadcast message and transmit an RRC measurement report to indicate the priority value to the control node, allowing the control to manage interference accordingly.

In certain aspects of the present disclosure, a threshold may be defined/configured to be used to determine whether one IAB-node is causing excessive interference on another IAB-node, as described herein. In certain aspects, the threshold may be dependent on the PM-priority value (e.g., the PM-priority value of the IAB-node that is the aggressor, or the PM-priority value of the IAB-node that is the victim of interference). For instance, an IAB-node may determine that it is causing excessive interference (e.g., and take corrective action accordingly) if the interference being caused is above a first threshold corresponding to a first PM-priority value, of if the interference is above a second threshold corresponding to a second PM-priority value.

In some cases, an IAB-node may modify its DL TX configuration and/or the UL TX configuration of one or more child MTs/UEs to suppress interference at a victim node upon determining that the IAB-node or a child node is causing interference at the victim node and the victim node has higher priority.

In certain aspects, a victim IAB-node may indicate (e.g., send a complaint about interference) to another IAB-node or the control node indicating that the other IAB-node is causing interference. The victim IAB-node may request that the other IAB-node modify its DL TX configuration and/or the UL TX configuration of one or more child MTs/UEs upon determining that the other IAB-node is causing interference at the victim IAB-node/child node and that the other IAB-node has lower priority.

An IAB-node that determines that the IAB-node (or a child MT/UE) is causing interference to another IAB-node or receives interference from another IAB-node (or second IAB-node's child MT/UE), and is aware that the other IAB-node has equal priority or unknown priority, may modify its DL TX configuration or its child MT/UE's UL TX configuration, or send an indication (e.g., a complaint about interference) to the other IAB-node or control node, as described herein.

Upon receiving a complaint about interference, a control node may coordinate configurations among nodes. For example, the control node may indicate to the lower priority node to modify its DL TX configuration or a child's UL TX configuration, where the lower and/or higher priority node may be complaining to the control node. The control node may also break a tie among two nodes with same priority level (e.g. which may be unknown to both nodes). For example, the control node may indicate to one of the two nodes having the same priority to take action for reducing interference as described herein.

If a control node is not involved in the configuration for interference management, two conflicting IAB-nodes that are unaware of each other's PM priority values or realize that the their priory values are equal, may break the tie randomly. For example, the IAB-nodes may transmit/schedule child MT/UE or modify a TX configuration in accordance with a probability, or back-off transmission/scheduling for a random time. In certain implementations, a random seed for the randomization (e.g., a randomization algorithm) may be a function of the PM priority value of the respective IAB-node, as described herein. In other words, if the IAB-nodes do not know each other's PM priority values, the one with the lower priority may yield a higher probability (e.g., since the random seed is a function of the PM-priority value), or the one with lower priority may wait longer on average.

In some cases, breaking a tie may deterministic, as described herein. For example, if the IAB-nodes are aware of each other's physical cell ID (PCI), the IAB-node with the smaller PCI may yield to the IAB-node with the higher PCI. The tie breaking rules may apply to IAB-nodes with equal PM-priority values or IAB-nodes that do not know each other PM-priority values.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure are directed to techniques for modifying TX configuration or sending an indication of interference. For example, modifying DL TX configuration/a child's UL TX configuration or sending an indication (e.g., interference complaint) may be carried out by an IAB-node following a preconfigured rule (e.g., per specification), or in accordance with a configuration of a control node.

Reporting a PM priority value to a control node, or in a broadcast message, or to another IAB-node via a reference signal or on an established link may be explicitly signaled (e.g., via an information element), or implicitly signals. For example, the PM-priority value may be implied by the resources over which a signal is transmitted (e.g., to a control node).

In certain aspects, an IAB-node may receive a reporting configuration to be used for reporting of a PM priority value such that the PM priority value can be used for interference management, as described herein. For example, the configuration may indicate that a PM priority value is to be reported after a time period has elapsed (e.g., periodically), or upon occurrence of an event. For example, the reporting may be conditioned on interference measurements (e.g., when the IAB-node measures interference above a certain threshold), conditioned on a PM priority value of the IAB-node (e.g., report when the PM priority value changes), conditioned on learning a PM priority value of another IAB-node, or conditioned on receiving a request to indicate the PM priority value of the IAB-node.

A reporting configuration of a PM priority value of an IAB-node, requesting configuration of a PM priority value of another IAB-node and policy configuration in relation to a PM priority value of another IAB-node may be indicated to an IAB-node via an radio resource control (RRC) message, F1-AP message, medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), L1 RS, downlink control information (DCI), uplink control information (UCI) or broadcast message.

The communications device <NUM> includes a processing system <NUM> coupled to a transceiver <NUM> (e.g., a transmitter and/or a receiver). The transceiver <NUM> can, for example, include one or more components of UE <NUM> with reference to <FIG>, including, for example, demodulators <NUM>, MIMO detector <NUM>, receive processor <NUM>, transmit processor <NUM>, TX MIMO processor <NUM>, and/or the like. Additionally or alternatively, the transceiver <NUM> can, for example, include one or more components of BS <NUM> with reference to <FIG>, including, for example, demodulators <NUM>, TX MIMO processor <NUM>, transmit processor <NUM>, MIMO detector <NUM>, receive processor <NUM>, and/or the like.

The processing system <NUM> includes a processor <NUM> coupled to a computer-readable medium/memory <NUM> via a bus <NUM>. In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium/memory <NUM> is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that when executed by the processor <NUM>, cause the processor <NUM> to perform the operations illustrated in <FIG>, or other operations for performing the various techniques discussed herein for interference management in an IAB network. In certain aspects, computer-readable medium/memory <NUM> stores code <NUM> for determining (e.g., determining a priority value, determining occurrence of interference, or determining a policy for handling interference); code <NUM> for taking one or more actions (e.g., to manage interference); and code <NUM> for transmitting or receiving (e.g., transmitting an indication of a policy). In certain aspects, the processor <NUM> has circuitry configured to implement the code stored in the computer-readable medium/memory <NUM>. The processor <NUM> includes circuitry <NUM> for determining (e.g., determining a priority value, determining occurrence of interference, or determining a policy for handling interference); circuitry <NUM> for taking one or more actions (e.g., to manage interference); and circuitry <NUM> for transmitting or receiving (e.g., transmitting an indication of a policy).

For example, means for transmitting (or means for outputting for transmission) may include a transmitter and/or an antenna(s) <NUM> of the BS <NUM> or transmitter and/or antenna(s) <NUM> of the UE <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> and/or circuitry <NUM> and/or transceiver <NUM> of the communication device <NUM> in <FIG>. Means for receiving (or means for obtaining) may include a receiver and/or an antenna(s) <NUM> of the BS <NUM> or a receiver and/or antenna(s) <NUM> of the UE <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> and/or circuitry <NUM> and/or transceiver <NUM> of the communication device <NUM> in <FIG>. Means for determining and means for taking one or more actions may include a processing system, which may include one or more processors, such as the transmit processor <NUM>, the TX MIMO processor <NUM>, the receive processor <NUM>, and/or the controller/processor <NUM> of the BS <NUM> or the receive processor <NUM>, the transmit processor <NUM>, the TX MIMO processor <NUM>, and/or the controller/processor <NUM> of the UE <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> and/or the processing system <NUM> of the communication device <NUM> in <FIG>.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication technologies, such as 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA), and other networks.

An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as NR (e.g. <NUM> RA), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) <NUM> (Wi-Fi), IEEE <NUM> (WiMAX), IEEE <NUM>, Flash-OFDMA, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS).

NR access (e.g., <NUM> NR) may support various wireless communication services, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) targeting wide bandwidth (e.g., <NUM> or beyond), millimeter wave (mmW) targeting high carrier frequency (e.g., <NUM> or beyond), massive machine type communications MTC (mMTC) targeting non-backward compatible MTC techniques, and/or mission critical targeting ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC).

NR may utilize OFDM with a CP on the uplink and downlink and include support for half-duplex operation using time division duplexing (TDD).

Generally, where there are operations illustrated in figures, those operations may have corresponding counterpart means-plus-function components.

For example, in some cases, processors such as those shown in <FIG> may be configured to perform operations <NUM> of <FIG>, operations <NUM> of <FIG>, and/or operations <NUM> of <FIG>.

Claim 1:
A method for power management in an Integrated Access and Backhaul, IAB, wireless network comprising IAB nodes, the method comprising:
determining (<NUM>), at a first IAB node, a priority value associated with the first IAB node configured to serve one or more child nodes;
determining (<NUM>), at the first IAB node, an occurrence of interference to communications of the first IAB node or a second IAB node;
determining, at the first IAB node, a priority value associated with the second IAB node; and
taking (<NUM>), by the first IAB node, one or more actions in response to the determination of the occurrence of interference based on the priority value associated with the first IAB node and the priority value associated with the second IAB node, wherein each priority value is specific to a beam to be used for the communications or a band associated with the communications.